Mutual Destruction

Wednesday night featured the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses next Monday.

Two of the tree candidates who qualified showed up — DeSantis and Haley. The third and the frontrunner in the polls did not.

That would be Trump.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, DeSantis and Haley spent most of their time attacking each other as opposed to going after Trump. Their criticisms of the former president have escalated somewhat in recent weeks but still remain tepid.

Accordingly, they probably succeeded in undermining each other more than cutting into his lead.

Meanwhile, the only openly anti-Trump candidate in the Republican field, Christie, suspended his campaign.

So it’s increasingly likely that Trump will be the Republican Party nominee, barring some major shift in the next few weeks.

HEADLINES:

• Violent political threats surge as 2024 begins, haunting American democracy (WP)

• Judge in Trump’s Civil Fraud Case Faces Bomb Threat at Home (NYT)

• Chris Christie ends 2024 presidential campaign (CNN)

• Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at House committee hearing to hold him in contempt (NBC)

• Liz Cheney knocks ‘circus’ around Hunter Biden during House hearing (The Hill)

• Ex-Prosecutor Surprised By ‘Jarring’ Aspect To Trump Court Appearance (HuffPost)

• Trump warns of ‘bedlam,’ declines to rule out violence after court hearing (WP)

• Allegations Against Prosecutors Bolster Trump’s Criticism of Georgia Case (NYT)

• After historic gaffes, Iowa caucuses struggle to stay relevant (Axios)

• Trump rhetoric and Republican candidates’ ads frighten immigrants in Iowa (WP)

• Secretary Austin’s Strange Health Secrecy (WSJ)

• Salesforce and Slack pause all hiring in technology and product divisions, according to leaked memo (Fortune)

• White House confronted over Elon Musk security clearance and alleged drug use (Independent)

• Saudi-Israel Ties Depend on Steps Toward a Palestinian State, Blinken Says (NYT)

• Video appears to show the Israeli army shot 3 Palestinians, killing 1, without provocation (AP)

• US and UK navies repel largest Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping (BBC)

• Ecuador deems drug gangs 'terrorist groups' after live TV attack (Euronews)

• Iraq seeks quick exit of US forces but no deadline set, PM says (Reuters)

• There are holes in Europe’s AI Act — and researchers can help to fill them (Nature)

• Alexa just got three new generative AI skills - here's how to try them (ZDNet)

• Quiz: Who Said It, Donald Trump Or Hitler? (The Onion)