Month: August 2022

Categories
Sports

NRL rising star ‘ended’ wild brawl with alleged stabbing

NRL rising star 'ended' wild brawl with alleged stabbing

NRL rising star Manase Fainu did not start a bloody brawl in a church parking lot but he “ended it” when he plunged a steak knife into the back of a youth leader, a court has been told.

Mr Fainu, 24, is fighting allegations that he stabbed Faamanu Levi in ​​the back during a brawl outside a Mormon church dance nearly three years ago.

The Manly Sea Eagles hooker has pleaded not guilty to wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after Mr Levi was stabbed in the back near his shoulder blade and cut above his right eye.

Mr Fainu’s trial has entered its final stages, with Crown prosecutor Emma Curran using closing submissions on Tuesday to point to the evidence of one eyewitness who told the court that he had seen Mr Fainu stab Mr Levi.

Mr Fainu during his evidence said he played no part in the brawl, which took place between two parked cars in a parking lot at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Wattle Grove in Sydney’s southwest.

NRL player Manase Fainu says he played no part in a wild brawl in a church parking lot. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian GillesSource: News Corp Australia

During his evidence on Monday, Mr Fainu said he was approximately 10 to 12m from the fight between his friends and another group of men when he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.

He had undergone shoulder surgery a month earlier and on October 25, 2019, he had his left arm in a sling.

Tony Quach said he saw Mr Fainu stab his friend Mr Levi and was able to identify him by his sling.

During his evidence, Mr Quach said Mr Fainu had not started the fight but “he ended it” by stabbing Mr Levi.

“Manase Fainu jumped over a fence into the grounds of the church, he was with four of his friends and the group of them approached Mr Levi and his friends,” Ms Curran said.

“A brawl broke out and when things looked like they were getting out of hand, Mr Fainu pulled out a knife and plunged it into the back of Mr Levi, causing a wound that punctured his lung and caused internal bleeding.”

CCTV footage shows Manase Fainu jumping a fence into a Mormon church dance shortly before a wild brawl. Picture: SuppliedSource: Supplied

Mr Quach said he saw Mr Fainu with an angry look on his face and a knife in his right hand and his arm bent at a 90-degree angle.

It is not an issue that Mr Fainu was in the car park, his left arm was in a sling, and there was a brawl during which Mr Levi was stabbed before Mr Fainu scaled the wall once again and ran to his car.

However, the identity of Mr Levi’s attacker is in dispute.

Ms Curran said another man, Kupi Toilalo, said he saw a man approach him and his friends with his left arm in a sling holding a knife.

“When Kupi saw this, he was at arm’s length away from the person holding the knife, nothing obstructing his view,” Ms Curran said

Faamanu Levi was stabbed in the back following a brawl at a Mormon church dance. Picture: Shannon TonkinSource: Supplied
Tony Quach said he saw Mr Fainu stab a man in the back. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles.Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Fainu told the jury on Monday that he was “scared” because he knew he could not defend himself if he became involved in the fight.

He denied brandishing a 10cm steak knife that was used to stab Mr Levi, saying he did not see any of his friends with a weapon on the night.

Mr Levi underwent surgery after the stab wound punctured his lung and caused internal bleeding.

Mr Fainu is fighting allegations he stabbed a church youth leader in the back. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles.Source: News Corp Australia

Mr Fainu said he went to the church because his friend Uona “Big Buck” Faingaa was seeking to recover money owed to him by a man.

The court was told that before the brawl, two of Mr Fainu’s friends were involved in an altercation on the dance floor and were asked to leave.

Mr Fainu said he left the church grounds as his mates were being escorted out, apologizing to a security guard on the way out.

CCTV footage showed Mr Fainu and four of his friends shortly afterwards jumping a fence from a Coles carpark back onto the church grounds.

Mr Fainu testified that he had told his friends that he would go inside to collect Mr Faingaa’s money by himself; however, they followed him over.

Defense barrister Margaret Cunneen SC said Mr Fainu had been identified as being present during the brawl because of the distinguishing nature of his sling, but all of the eyewitnesses were mistaken about him being the stabber.

“Mr Manase Fainu is a man who was never before in trouble for any violence whatsoever,” Ms Cunneen said.

“He did not stab Mr Levi. No one condom what happened to Mr Levi, it’s appalling.”

The jury will withdraw to consider its verdict after Ms Cunneen’s closing submissions.

The trial before Judge Nanette Williams continues.

.

Categories
US

Atlanta park: Shooting during ball game leaves 2 dead and 4 wounded, including 6-year-old

Atlanta park: Shooting during ball game leaves 2 dead and 4 wounded, including 6-year-old

The violence began during a baseball or softball game at Dunbar Recreational Center inside Rosa L. Burney Park in southwest Atlanta around 7 pm Sunday, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton said. The game was interrupted by an argument that escalated to an exchange of gunfire, and six people were shot, he said.

A man in his 30s and an adult woman were shot and killed, while a 6-year-old was struck and transported to Children’s Egleston Hospital in critical condition, Hampton said. The other four victims were in stable condition, he said.

Police released images of the suspect and are asking the public to help identify them by contacting the Atlanta Police Department’s homicide unit or submitting a tip to Crime Stoppers for a potential reward of up to $2,000.
The Atlanta police department released these photos of the suspect.

Police are still investigating what happened and what relationship, if any, the six victims had to each other, Hampton said.

“As we’ve said countless times, we’re just asking the citizens just to find a way to resolve conflict without weapons. We’re just asking people to step away, we’re asking people just to let bygones be bygones,” Hampton said.

“Any time that we have any tragedy like this — any death is a tragedy — then as we have kids that are also involved… This is not a place for gunplay. So, we’re just asking everyone to leave the guns at home.”

The shooting represents the 18th mass shooting in Georgia this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as any incident in which four or more people are shot, excluding the gunman.
As of July 30, there have been 88 homicides in Atlanta this year, a 9% increase from the same point last year, according to Atlanta Police data. Aggravated assaults, a category that includes non-fatal shootings, are also up 4% this year compared to this point last year, the data shows.

CNN’s Eric Levenson, Jarrod Wardwell and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.

.

Categories
Technology

Intel Arc Pro A-series graphics announced to compete with NVIDIA Quadro GPUs

Intel Arc Pro A-Series Graphics

What you need to know

  • Intel just introduced its Arc Pro A-series range of graphics.
  • The series is aimed at professionals with demanding graphical workloads, such as those in architecture, engineering, and construction.
  • The Intel Arc Pro A30M, A40, and A50 are the first products from the range.
  • All of the new GPUs support ray tracing, machine learning, and AV1 hardware coding and acceleration.

Intel just showed off its new range of professional GPUs from the Intel Arc Pro lineup. The Intel Arc Pro A30M, A40, and A50 are the first GPUs from the lineup, and they are designed for professionals with graphically demanding workloads. The A30M is for laptops, while the A40 and A50 are for desktops.

Despite unveiling the new graphics components, Intel was shy on a release date, only stating that the GPUs will be available “starting later this year from leading mobile and desktop ecosystem partners.”

Categories
Sports

‘I can’t do this forever’: Serena Williams drops retirement hint at Canadian Open | Serena Williams

Serena Williams hinted that retirement might not be far away after winning her first singles match for more than a year.

The 40-year-old defeated world No 57 Nuria Párrizas Díaz 6-3, 6-4 at the Canadian Open in Toronto for her first taste of success in singles since the French Open in the spring of 2021.

Williams had been very vague about her future plans after returning from a year out at Wimbledon but, asked in Canada about her motivation to keep playing, she told reporters: “I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know, I’m getting closer to the light. Lately that’s been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light.”

Asked what the light represented, she replied: “Freedom. I love playing though, so it’s amazing. But I can’t do this forever. So sometimes you just want to try your best to enjoy the moments and do the best that you can.”

Williams lost to Harmony Tan at Wimbledon in her first singles match for a year and will be hoping to find something like her old form before the US Open later this month. “I was happy to have a win,” she said. “It’s been a very long time. I forgot what it felt like. I felt like I competed well and I think that’s what I needed to do is just to compete. Mentally I feel I’m getting there. I’m not where I normally am and I’m not where I want to be. But I think any match that I play, whether I win or lose, it helps me get there.

“Physically I feel much better in practice, it’s just getting that to the court. But literally I’m the kind of person who just takes one or two things and then it clicks. So I’m just waiting on that to click.”

Venus Williams, who turned 42 in June, was unable to win her first singles match since last year’s Wimbledon, though, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.

The Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won her first match as a grand-slam winner, battling past Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-1, while last year’s US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez made a winning return from a foot injury suffered at the French Open, beating Storm Sanders 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

Ninth seed Emma Raducanu makes her debut at the tournament on Tuesday against big-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi.

Categories
Australia

NSW building commissioner’s resignation letter set to be made public

NSW building commissioner's resignation letter set to be made public

The confidential resignation letter of the NSW building commissioner is likely to be released to state parliament amid scrutiny over the conduct of the recently dumped fair trading minister Eleni Petinos.

David Chandler, tasked in 2019 with cleaning up NSW’s construction industry as the state’s first building commissioner, tendered his resignation last month despite having recently signed a contract extension.

David Chandler tendered his resignation last month despite having recently signed a contract extension.

David Chandler tendered his resignation last month despite having recently signed a contract extension.Credit:Kate Geraghty

The NSW opposition on Tuesday said it would use Legislative Council powers to compel the government to release the letter after it was revealed that Petinos met representatives from a property development company that employed former deputy premier John Barilaro.

The opposition queried the meetings between Petinos and Coronation Property, given a stop work order had been placed on one of its major projects, and also called on the premier to provide Chandler’s resignation letter.

Chandler, who reported to Petinos, had oversight of stop-work orders and whether to revoke them. Perrottet told question time that Chandler’s resignation was not a factor in his decision to sack Petinos as minister, but added that he had not read the letter in question.

Opposition fair trading spokeswoman Courtney Houssos said the government needed to provide more clarity over Chandler’s snap departure.

Former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos.

Former fair trade minister Eleni Petinos.Credit:Wolter-Peeters

“We think it’s important that the public has the opportunity to see why the building commissioner resigned so suddenly from his post. It’s not good enough for us to keep trying to piece together this picture,” she said.

“I’m really concerned that the premier has not taken the time to read this letter after we’ve been asking about it for several weeks. It’s either extreme negligence, or maybe there is something in there that he doesn’t want to know.”

Categories
US

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China was using the military drills it launched in protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as a game-plan to prepare for an invasion of the
self-ruled island.

Joseph Wu, speaking at a press conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own.

He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continued with China often breaching the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait.

“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said.

“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.

“After the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear image of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan”, Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China effectively controlling the strait.

A Pentagon official said on Monday that Washington was sticking to its assessment that China would not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years.

Wu spoke as military tensions simmer after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of the largest-ever Chinese exercises surrounding the island – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated sea and air attacks in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it would conduct fresh joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations – confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defences.

On Tuesday, the command said it continued to hold military drills and exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on blockades and resupply logistics.

A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday a continuing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan.

“China continued to try to press in to the median line,” the person said.

“Taiwan forces there have been trying to keep the international waterways open.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that China’s continued military exercises “highlight that its threat of force has not decreased.”

As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also ditched some lines of communication with the United States, including theater level military talks and discussions on climate change.

Taiwan started its own long-scheduled drills on Tuesday, firing howitzer artillery out to sea in the southern county of Pingtung, attracting a small crowd of curious onlookers to a nearby beach.

US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but he was not worried about Taiwan.

“I’m concerned they are moving as much as they are,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said the US military would continue to carry out voyages through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks.

China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force and on Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China was conducting normal military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional way, adding Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

.

Categories
Technology

Get updated and educated with Episode 514 of the top-rated Tech Guide podcast

Get updated and educated with Episode 514 of the top-rated Tech Guide podcast



Get updated and educated with Episode 514 of the top rated Tech Guide podcast hosted by editor Stephen Fenech to stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and reviews.

On this week’s show: rumors are swirling about the new iPad after some leaked renders, why does Gen Z love subtitles when watching TV shows and movies and Uniden has released a higher resolution wireless security camera.

In the Tech Guide reviews, we check out the new Google Pixel Buds Pro earphones, we take a look at the Lenovo Slim 7 X Pro laptop and we’ll tell you about Oppo’s affordable new smartphone.

In the Tech Guide Help Desk we talk about how to solve the buffering issues when streaming content in your home.

You can listen to the Tech Guide podcast right here using the podcast player below.

Tech Guide’s podcast is also available through Apple Podcasts here.

And we’d love to hear your feedback – you can tweet me @StephenFenech









Stephen is the Tech Guide editor and one of Australia’s most respected tech journalists. He is a regular on radio and TV talking about the latest tech news, products and trends.


Categories
Sports

Nick Kyrgios opens up on positive impact his girlfriend has had on his career

Nick Kyrgios opens up on positive impact his girlfriend has had on his career

Nick Kyrgios says his way of thinking has changed and admits that being in a serious relationship has had a positive impact on his career as he now has a “partner I see a future with and I want to provide for.”

Kyrgios, 27, started dating Costen Hatzi in late 2021 and his girlfriend has been accompanying him at tournaments throughout the entire 2022 season. Kyrgios looks extremely happy on and off the court as he has been playing the tennis of his life in 2022.

With girlfriend on his side, Kyrgios’ motivation to do well is off the charts. “Honestly, I feel as if I’m a lot older, a lot more mature, and I feel like when you get older, you realize you shouldn’t be taking these things for granted, the way you’re feeling, the way your body feels.

Also, I have a partner with me now I see a future with and I kind of see that I have to provide for. So I feel like my motivation is a lot higher than it used to be,” Kyrgios said, per Sportskeeda.

Kyrgios on those who still think he is bad for the game

“I don’t care about what people say about my tennis, like always disrespectful to the sport, all this, all that.

I know that deep down that I try really hard to do it my own way. I know that I inspire millions of people, and I’m just playing for them,” Kyrgios said. The 2022 season has been absolutely great for Kyrgios, who became a Grand Slam champion earlier this year after he and Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Australian Open men’s doubles title.

After winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title, Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon. Kyrgios fell short to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final but won his first title of the year last week after beating Yoshihito Nishioka in the final. This week, Kyrgios plays Sebastian Baez in the Montreal first round.

Categories
Australia

James Marape will be Papua New Guinea’s prime minister after an election marred by violence

A man speaks into a microphone in front of a clapping supporter

Papua New Guinea’s incumbent Prime Minister, James Marape, has been returned to the top job.

Mr Marape was voted in as prime minister unopposed, with unanimous support from all MPs present in the first parliamentary sitting following the country’s controversial, and at times violent, national election.

He is set to lead at least 17 parties in a coalition government.

Mr Marape first became PNG’s leader in 2019 after leading a walk-out on then-prime-minister Peter O’Neill.

Mr Marape fended off similar attempts to oust him from the job the following year, before leading the country to the polls in July.

PNG’s ‘worst’ election in living memory

The first parliamentary sitting was delayed for almost three hours while some late writs were delivered.

As the country’s newly elected MPs gathered, some of the 118 seats were empty.

The results for 105 MPs were presented to parliament.

After a series of delays and extensions, vote is continuing counting in most of the outstanding 13 seats.

Politicians sit at their seats in a bright green carpeted chamber. Several chairs are empty
A handful of seats remained empty at the first parliamentary sitting after the election.(ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

Extensions have been granted for electorates that need more time to declare a winner, which is not uncommon in PNG elections.

Controversy hangs over several seats where counting was interrupted or completed ballots were burned, or in areas where there is mounting evidence of vote-rigging.

The prime minister’s political rival and predecessor Mr O’Neill went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to have the parliamentary sitting delayed until counting was completed, but the bid failed.

At a ceremony at Government House yesterday, Mr Marape’s PANGU Party was invited to attempt to form government on the floor of parliament after securing the most seats of any party in the election, with at least 36.

“The greater the responsibility, the greater the mandate, the higher and greater the obligation of those of us elected to parliament, to give back the trust you’ve given to us,” he said after the ceremony.

Peter O'Neill wearing a blue suit jacket and brown hat.
Former prime minister Peter O’Neill had pushed to have the first parliamentary sitting delayed to allow more time for counting votes.(ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

The election has been described by several analysts and MPs as the worst they have seen.

Mr Marape insists the issues in the election affected all candidates evenly and said most of the country polled well, describing the issues as a “minor difficulty”.

He defended the government funding of what he said was an independently run process, adding: “We have washed our hands clean of the electoral process.”

But he said his government would implement changes to try to address issues with transparency and the problems with the common roll, which saw an estimated 1 million people unable to vote.

“The census that will take place in 2023, from that we will overlap with a modernized electronic voter ID system,” he said.

Women return to PNG parliament for the first time since 2017

For the past five years, Papua New Guinea had no female MPs, making it one of only four countries in the world where that was the case.

This election, at least two women have secured seats in parliament.

Rufina Peter has been elected as the governor for Central Province, as a member of Mr O’Neill’s People’s National Congress (PNC) Party.

Rufina Peter
The PNC Party’s Rufina Peter (left) has been elected governor for Central Province.(Supplied)

She took a seat on the opposition benches next to Mr O’Neill.

At her declaration, Ms Peter paid tribute to the women and men of her province for voting in their first female leader.

“You decided it was time to give women a chance, and so we have come into this victory,” she said to applause from her supporters.

While parliament was sitting, another female candidate, Kessy Sawang, was elected in the Rai Coast Open seat.

Counting there finished this morning and her declaration was underway while her fellow MPs were being sworn in. She will join parliament when it next sits.

MPs ‘camp’ at private resort while public calls for basic services

Members of the new government’s coalition have been gathered at an island resort in the days leading up to Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting.

The system of “camping” is a standard practice to illustrate and control the numbers needed to govern in PNG, where coalitions are vital and notoriously unstable.

.

Categories
US

Trump’s 108-minute CPAC speech is branded ‘unapologetic fascism’ with ‘blood-and-soil rhetoric’

Trump's 108-minute CPAC speech is branded 'unapologetic fascism' with 'blood-and-soil rhetoric'

Donald Trump has been accused of spewing “unapologetic fascism” and “blood-and-soil rhetoric” in his rambling speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas over the weekend.

The former president pushed the notion from the stage in Dallas on Saturday that the US has been decimated since he left the White House in January of last year. He claimed that crime is out of control and that unemployment was skyrocketing – despite official figures showing that it’s at its lowest level in half a century.

His dark remarks drew outcry on social media, with Texas Monthly journalist Michael Hardy accusing him of inciting violence.

Mr Trump began his 108-minute address at the conclusion by greeting “proud patriots” in the audience after taking the stage to the tune of “God Bless the USA”.

Joined by former White House doctor and current Texas GOP Congressman Ronnie Jackson, Mr Trump noted that he “was an admiral, a doctor, and now he’s a congressman”.

He added that he had asked what Dr Jackson preferred. “He sort of indicated doctor, because he loved to look at my body. It was so strong and powerful,” Mr Trump said.

“This is no time for complacency. We have to seize this opportunity to deal with the radical left socialist lunatic fascists,” he said. “We have to hit them very, very hard. It has to be a crippling defeat.”

Former President Donald Trump delivers the final remarks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022

(AP)

He criticized moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation cleared a procedural vote while Mr Trump was speaking on Saturday, following a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. The bill later passed the Senate on Sunday.

Mr Trump went on to criticize Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying that he’s “the most unpopular politician in the country, even more so than crazy Nancy Pelosi, and something has to be done”.

I have claimed that President Joe Biden “surrendered our strength and our everything” when withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, adding that “they surrendered our dignity”.

Texas Monthly senior editor Mr Hardy tweeted that Mr Trump’s language about the withdrawal from Afghanistan echoed “the Nazi ‘stab in the back theory’ of losing WWI”.

“The streets of our Democrat-run cities are drenched in the blood of innocent victims,” Mr Trump went on to claim. “Bullets are killing little beautiful little children who never had a chance. Carjackers lay in wait like predators.”

“This is some literal blood-and-soil rhetoric,” Mr Hardy said, referring to the Nazi slogan expressing the idea that “ethnic identity is based on only blood descent and the territory in which an individual lives”, according to CNN.

“We need the courage to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done,” Mr Trump added.

“This is a rallying cry for street violence and worse,” Mr Hardy tweeted.

Mr Trump claimed that “many people say” that what the January 6 rioters have been charged with “aren’t crimes”.

“The only countries that don’t have a drug problem are the ones that institute the death penalty for drug crimes,” the former president added.

He also called President Xi Jinping of China a “strong man”.

“Before the plague came in, I had a great relationship with President Xi. Strong man. He’s a great guy in many respects,” he said.

“The next president should use every power at his disposal to restore order” in Chicago, Mr Trump said.

“Even if that includes sending in National Guard,” he added.

Mr Trump said that he “wanted to send in the Guards, I wanted to send in the troops” in areas such as Portland and Minneapolis.

“Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t,” he said, adding that he wants troops sent to San Francisco, New York, and Chicago – large cities run by Democrats.

After calling for the relocation of the homeless from large cities, calling migrants crossing the southern border an “invasion”, and listing instances of undocumented migrants committing murder, Mr Hardy tweeted that “Trump’s rhetoric is significantly more extreme than even a few years ago. this might be [the] most frightening speech I’ve ever heard. Full-on, unapologetic fascism”.

“Trump has either been reading Mein Kampf or having someone read it to him,” Mr Hardy added.

He went on to say that “this is some seriously bloodthirsty s**t”.

Mr Hardy tweeted that Mr Trump called for “new legislation allowing [the] president to remove any government employee they deem corrupt. This is a call for a total purge of government”.

Tim Miller, the communications director for the 2016 Jeb Bush campaign and a former RNC staffer, tweeted that “I know everyone in the DC GOP is just hoping Trump will die but it’s impossible to watch this CPAC speech and not come to the conclusion that he’s going to run and be very hard to beat in a primary. Sorry to be the bearer of bad weekend news.”