Leonardo DiCaprio throws his support behind vegan trainer brand loved by Hollywood A-listers and royalty – with pairs selling for an eye-popping £200

By Geraint Llewellyn For Mailonline

Published: 04:26 EDT, 18 September 2023 | Updated: 08:44 EDT, 18 September 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he believes World War Three could become a reality if the U.S. does not continue to support Ukraine having already contributed roughly $70 billion towards the effort.

Speaking on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Zelensky compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler.

‘The whole world [has to] decide whether we want to stop Putin, or whether we want to start the beginning of a world war. We can’t change Putin. Russian society has [lost] the respect of the world,’ Zelensky said. 

‘They elected him and re-elected him and raised a second Hitler. They did this. We cannot go back in time. But we can stop it here.’ 

Zelensky is expected at the White House and on Capitol Hill this week as he visits the U.S. during the United Nations General Assembly. 

The Ukrainian president made a wartime visit to Washington in December 2022 and delivered an impassioned address to a joint meeting of Congress. 

At the time, it was his first known trip outside his country since Russia invaded in February 2022. 

He is expected to to make the case for the U.S. to continue to provide support for his war-torn country. 

‘We’re defending the values of the whole world. And these are Ukrainian people who are paying the highest price. We are truly fighting for our freedom, we are dying. We are not fiction, we are not a book. We are fighting for real with a nuclear state that threatens to destroy the world,’ Zelensky told CBS News.

‘If Ukraine falls, what will happen in ten years? Just think about it. If [the Russians] reach Poland, what’s next? A Third World War?’ he asked.

This time, however, Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Ukraine as the war is well into its second year. 

Biden has sought a package of $13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian support. It also includes $2.3 billion for financing and to catalyze donors through the World Bank.

But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Donald Trump, the former president, are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.

Noting the $70 billion the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine, Zelensky was asked if he expected that level of support to continue.

‘The United States of America [is] supporting Ukraine financially and I’m grateful for this,’ Zelensky said. 

Zelensky noted how he had not received some military aide fast enough but is thankful for the support of President Biden. 

‘I just think they’re not supporting only Ukraine. If Ukraine falls, Putin will surely go further. What will the United States of America do when Putin reaches the Baltic states? When he reaches the Polish border? He will. This is a lot of money. We have a lot of gratitude. What else must Ukraine do for everyone to measure our huge gratitude? We are dying in this war.’

When asked how much more money would Ukraine need, Zelensky was unable to  specify a figure. 

‘I don’t have an answer,’ Zelensky said, noting that Putin will continue to threaten the possibility of nuclear war stoking instability in the United States and Europe.

‘I think that he’s going to continue threatening,’ Zelensky said. ‘He is waiting for the United States to become less stable. He thinks that’s going to happen during the U.S. election. He will be looking for instability in Europe and the United States of America. He will use the risk of using nuclear weapons to fuel that [instability]. He will keep on threatening.’

During Sunday night’s interview Zelensky admitted how progress had been slow in the Ukrainian counter-offensive but insisted the troops were steadily moving forward with around 40,000 shells a day being fired by Ukrainian troops.

‘It’s a difficult situation. I will be completely honest with you. We have the initiative. This is a plus. We stopped the Russian offensive and we moved onto a counter-offensive. And despite that, it’s not very fast. It is important that we are moving forward every day and liberating territory.

‘We need to liberate our territory as much as possible and move forward, even if it’s less than [half a mile or] a hundred [yards] we must do it,’ Zelensky continued. ‘We mustn’t give Putin a break.’

Zelensky was asked what he thought Putin was trying to achieve by killing civilians in the country.

‘To break [us]. And by choosing civilian targets, Putin wanted to achieve exactly this – to break [us]. This person who has made his way with such bloody actions, with everything he has said, cannot be trusted. There is no trust in such a person because he has not been a human being for a long time,’ Zelensky said. 

Our flight to New Zealand was ruined because we were sat next to a snorting, farting emotional support dog for 13 hours – it dribbled on my husband’s leg

• Gill and Warren Press, from NZ, were on a 13 hour flight from Paris to Singapore 

By Milo Pope

Published: 13:03 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 13:03 EDT, 8 September 2023

Suspended Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales has reportedly been ordered to increase his child support payments after being taken to court by his ex-wife.

The 46-year-old dad-of-three, now facing backlash after his unsolicited kiss of World Cup-winning player Jenni Hermoso, is said to have been forced to pay double the amount he previously handed over due to a ‘tenfold’ increase in his income.

Spanish TV station La Sexta reported a court in the east coast city of Valencia had ordered Rubiales to up his payments for each of his daughters from 400 to 800 euros a month.

His ex, who has been described as a lawyer and named in Spain as Maria Manuela Delicado Vega, is said to have asked for a revision of Rubiales’ child support payments after the football chief’s annual net income jumped from 97,000 euros in 2011 to a massive 955,000 euros nine years later.

In 2020, when Rubiales was on a near six-figure salary, she is said to have earned just 26,600 euros after tax.

The suspended FA chief, now a step closer to being prosecuted over the ‘unconsented’ kiss he gave World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso after she made a formal complaint, spoke about his daughters Lucia, Ana and Elena in a Spanish TV interview earlier this year.

He told interviewer Risto Mejide:’ They are very strong, stronger than me.’

He went on to describe his eldest daughter as a History of Art student, saying: ‘She’s a very sensitive person and has a strong compromise with herself and society.

‘The middle one is the one who is most like me, perhaps the most activist of the three. She’s also someone with an amazing intelligence.’

He also revealed in the interview how one of his daughters had once been ‘close to death’ after a fall which left medics needing to ‘drill her brain’ because of her head injuries.

His three daughters, believed to be aged 20, 17 and around 15, were present at a Spanish FA meeting last month when he insisted repeatedly he was not going to resign after the so-called ‘Kissgate’ scandal unfolded before his ex-hairdresser mum Angeles Bejar went on a brief hunger strike in support of her son.

Rubiales appeared to suggest he had a good relationship with his ex-wife in the interview, saying: ‘I think we have always done the best for the girls.

‘I don’t think the marriage was a failure, we were very happy, but when you move on to another phase in your life, well you move on.’

The reports about the increased child support payments, first published by respected media outlet El Periodico de España before La Sexta outlined more details from leaked court documents, state the decision was made by Valencia’s Provincial Court on June 19.

The decision pre-dated his suspension as Spanish FA president, which has led to him being deprived of his massive salary and other perks, and it is not yet clear what effect that may have on the amount he is expected to hand over in child support payments.

Rubiales’ ex is known to live in a modest house in a small town near Valencia with at least one of her daughters.

She declined to comment last month – to both Spanish and UK media – after the ‘Kissgate’ scandal broke.

Rubiales has not yet made any official comment.

On Wednesday it emerged Jenni Hermoso had paved the way for the prosecution of Rubiales by filing a formal complaint against him over his infamous World Cup kiss.

Prosecutors had given her 15 days to accuse Rubiales of sexually assaulting her by kissing her on the lips without her consent after Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory over England last month.

The action, which Rubiales says was consensual and has described as a ‘peck’, sparked the Kissgate scandal which led to the dad-of-three being suspended by Fifa for 90 days, a church hunger strike by his pensioner mum and the sacking of team manager Jorge Vilda.

Without it state prosecutors, now expected to ask a Spanish court to place the football chief under criminal investigation in the next few days, would have been unable to prosecute Rubiales.

A judge at Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid would be tasked with conducting the probe and decide whether Rubiales should face charges before inviting prosecutors to indict the suspended Spanish FA president.

That is because the kiss which has caused turmoil in Spanish football happened in Australia and other courts in Spain do not have the authority to act.

Prosecutors agreed late last month to invite Jenni Hermoso to file a formal complaint against Rubiales.

The footballer has said the kiss left her feeling vulnerable and a victim of aggression. She has described it as ‘an impulsive, sexist act, out of place and without any type of consent on my part.’

Rubiales, who has apologised for grabbing his crotch during post-match celebrations in front of Spain’s Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter, said in a lengthy statement last week: ‘The spontaneity and happiness of the historic moment led us to carry out a mutual and consensual act, a product of great enthusiasm.

‘At no time was there any aggression, indeed, there was not even the slightest discomfort, but an overflowing joy in both of us.’

Rubiales’ 72-year-old mum broke off her hunger strike at a church in her son’s hometown of Motril near Granada on Wednesday of last week after being rushed to hospital 48 hours into her protest.

She said she had launched it to get Jenni, who has now returned to the Mexican city of Pachuca where she plays her club football, to ‘tell the truth’ about the kiss.

Speaking from the inside of the church before falling ill, she said: ‘I just want the truth to be told.

‘She knows my son is very honest. If she tells the truth everything will be fixed.’

Referring to the World Cup kiss that has led to the so-called ‘Kissgate’ scandal, she added: ‘It was an anecdote, as she herself said, and look how far it’s gone.

‘She should have a conscience and act according to it.

‘My son is very worried and has asked me not to continue, to stop, but I will be here until I drop and my body can continue.’

United States Congressman and former NFL star Burgess Owens is voicing his support for Donald Trump‘s campaign and slamming President Joe Biden as ‘the last segregationist in American politics.’

Owens, an African-American Republican from Utah’s fourth district, specifically credited Trump for helping black business owners during his lone term in office.

‘Donald Trump delivered record-breaking growth to all communities,’ Owens, a former Jets and Raiders defensive back, said in a statement. ‘As a child born in the segregated south, I witnessed Donald Trump help the black community more than any president in my lifetime. Record growth for black business owners, then to answer this, the Democrats nominated the last segregationist in American politics, Joe Biden.’

Owens, 72, supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, when the former Jets and Raiders defensive back was first elected to the House of Representatives.

‘Biden declared to the world if you don’t support him, ‘you ain’t black,’ well, once again, I don’t support him,’ Owens continued. ‘I’m proud to support Donald Trump in 2024, and I pray he gets the opportunity to finish the record growth he started. We need his boldness to reverse the damage Joe Biden has done before it’s too late.’

Trump has regularly pointed to job numbers for African Americans during his term to support his status as a job creator.

‘We reignited America’s job creation and achieved record-low unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women — almost everyone,’ Trump has said.

Job creation actually slowed in 2017, Trump’s first year in office, to about 2 million, compared with nearly 2.5 million in 2016, Obama’s last year in office.

Of course, then came the COVID-19 pandemic that cost the US economy 10 million jobs, making Trump the first president since Herbert Hoover to oversee a net loss in that area. And the job losses have fallen disproportionately on Black Americans, Hispanics and women, according to a 2022 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

Before the coronavirus, nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs were added under Trump, somewhat better than the nearly 400,000 gained during Obama’s second term. Still, even before the pandemic, the US had 4.3 million fewer factory jobs than it did in 2001, the year China joined the World Trade Organization and a flood of cheaper imports from that country entered the US.

The country did have the most jobs on record before the pandemic, but some experts chalk that up to a growing population.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer looked at Trump’s economic growth record. Growth under Trump averaged 2.48 percent annually before the pandemic, topping the 2.41 percent gains achieved during Obama’s second term. By contrast, the economic expansion that began in 1982 during Reagan’s presidency averaged 4.2 percent a year.

A University of Miami standout before the school’s glory years of the 1980s, Owens was picked 14th overall by the Jets in the 1973 NFL Draft.

He would go on to win Super Bowl XV as a member of the Los Angeles Raiders before retiring in 1982.

It was during that final season that he and his wife became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which led him to move to the religion’s cultural mecca of Utah.

In addition to getting active in charitable organizations, Owens also became a regular guest contributor on Fox News and parlayed that notoriety to a successful congressional campaign in 2020 – the same year he spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Currently Owens sits on the Education and Labor as well as the Judiciary committees.

Owens previously highlighted former President Donald Trump’s ability to shine light on true American values, and focus on what matters most. He told the Daily Caller in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, that ‘what our country is all about, what our conservatism is all about, what our American way is all about, is Head, Heart, Hands and Home. Head being education, Heart being God, Hands being industry and the free market, and Home being family.’

Owens is the second Utah lawmaker to endorse Trump’s 2024 campaign in August. Mayor Trent Staggs of Riverton, Utah, who is running to unseat Sen. Mitt Romney, announced his endorsement for Trump on Aug. 3 while decrying President Joe Biden’s record in office.

Owens, played 10 seasons in the NFL with both the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders.

You won’t find ‘Covid response’ ranking among the voters’ top concerns in any of the public opinion polls.

Justified fears over the economy, inflation, crime, and education are the issues grabbing all the headlines.

But think for a moment: The COVID pandemic lingers like a hangover over everything.

Did your business go under?

Have you struggled to buy baby formula?

Is your neighborhood less safe?

Did your child lose out on a year’s worth of learning?

Pandemic policies factored into all of these anxieties.

There are four states choosing governors today which best exemplify the harsh political battles over Covid policy.

And in a stunning rebuke of draconian, business-crushing, school-closing lockdowns, the leaders who were first to reopen are cruising to victory, while the panicked, power-hungry politicians, who drank most deeply from the cup of COVID madness are holding their collective breath this Election Day.

In the free states of Georgia and Florida Govs. Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis, who both won squeakers four years ago, are up by as much as double digits.

In Michigan and New York, Govs. Gretchen Whitmer and Kathy Hochul, who were once thought to be untouchable, are now fighting for their political lives.

And let’s not forget Stacey Abrams, the perennial gubernatorial candidate who still thinks she won the 2018 Georgia race. Her Covid hysteria helped to destroy her 2022 chances.

Early on in the pandemic, New York state and Michigan infamously forced elderly Covid patients from hospitals back into nursing homes to deadly results. And that was just the beginning of the parade of policy horrors.

Hochul’s disgraced predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, was a hero to the left and the media – even nauseatingly winning an Emmy for staging self-serving daily COVID briefings.

That morbid obsession came to a screeching halt after he was exposed as a sexual harasser and a fraud, whose administration ghoulishly tried to hide the lethal impact of his nursing home policy.

And who can forget the cavalcade of capricious Covid restrictions, changing every day or so for over a year in places like New York City and Detroit.

Small businesses that would not and could not comply were just destroyed; some estimates say as many as one third of all of them in Gotham.

Cops raided Mac’s Public House in Staten Island because the pub refused to enforce mask mandates. They were fined and harassed. Now, they seem prescient.

Hochul could have blazed a new path.

But she didn’t.

She clung like a determined despot to the emergency powers granted to her under the state’s COVID disaster declaration, renewing them month after month, until finally realizing in September that New Yorkers had moved on.

Now the party that enabled this is getting their just deserts.

And who can forget the hypocrisy?

Remember the smiling faces of Hochul and Abrams in photos with masked school children, mocking not just the kids and their parents, but common sense itself.

The rules that were imposed on all the little people, didn’t apply to the rule-makers.

Whitmer discouraged out of state travel for Michiganders only to be found jet setting off to Florida for some much-needed R & R.

So, does Whitmer have any regrets about crushing her state with lockdowns?

A local TV news channel tried to ask her that just this week. And wouldn’t you know the governor suddenly had ‘audio problems,’ and couldn’t answer the question.

Last but assuredly not least, we are only now learning of the harm, yes harm, done to children in lockdown states who were denied the basic right to go to school.

Florida was the first state to reopen schools for 5 days a week of in-person learning. Texas was close behind.

They opened businesses, opened churches, opened bars and restaurants. They banned mask and vaccines mandates. And they were pilloried for it.

The Atlantic Magazine blared a bogus headline accusing Kemp of engaging in ‘human sacrifice’ in Georgia. DeSantis was cast by the media as something between a murderer and a war criminal.

It was a full court press of smears and false allegations from our dear legacy media, but it didn’t work.

Republican governors listened to their voters, not experts like Fauci and the clown car at the CDC. Now those voters are rewarding them.

Kemp, DeSantis, and Texas governor Gregg Abbott, are dominating their reelection campaigns.

But if you think that on the eve of the elections, Democrats learned their lesson – think again.

Abrams was on television on Sunday, accusing Kemp of ‘prematurely’ reopening his state.

How long would she have kept us in our basements? For eternity?

If you woke up on Election Day living in Florida or Georgia you live in a state that has experienced a strong economic rebound, to which people are actually moving, not fleeing.

Between the pandemic’s start in early 2020 and the summer of 2022, red states had added 341,000 jobs, blue states were still in a 1.3 million job deficit.

Need I say more?

If on the other hand you woke up in New York or Michigan the exact opposite is true.

If you’re still not convinced, consider this: One of the few safe Democrat incumbent governors, Jared Polis in Colorado was just about the only leader with a D after his name who showed restraint and didn’t just shut it all down.

‘The emergency is over,’ he declared in December 2021. Meanwhile, toddlers in New York City were still wearing masks.

Polis is on the 2024 presidential shortlist these days.

As people go to the polls, it is clear as the summer’s sun that anti-lockdown governors are being rewarded.

The elections in this quartet of states send an important message. Even if Hochul and Whitmer hold on in their races, they were supposed to be cakewalks, not public rebukes.

When all is said and done, the lockdowns may have lost.

Elon Musk says he’s ‘undecided’ on whether or not he would support former President Donald Trump in a 2024 presidential bid after he previously indicated that he would back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder was pressed on the issue when he was interviewed virtually on Tuesday by Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

Musk initially dodged the question but when asked again directly if he would support Trump, he responded: ‘I think I’m undecided at this point on that election.’

The billionaire has described himself as a moderate in recent years but has shown a shift to conservatism in recent months. His political allegiance was became more clear in a barrage of tweets last week where he indicated his support for DeSantis. 

However, in the Bloomberg interview Tuesday, Musk was asked to elaborate on his tweet about potentially creating a ‘Super Moderate Super PAC’ that supports political candidates with centrist views. 

Musk at first said he would invest ‘non-trivial amount’ and when pressed for a specific amount, he said would be willing to spend ‘$20 million or $25 million’ if he decides to move forward with the idea.

Musk last Tuesday revealed that he had voted Republican for the first time, casting a ballot for new Texas Congresswoman Maya Flores.

The world’s richest man went on to tout the win as a victory, while predicting a massive red wave in the upcoming November midterm elections.

‘I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican,’ Musk wrote.

The mogul added: ‘Massive red wave in 2022.’

Then, when asked who he is leaning toward supporting in 2024, the tech billionaire responded simply: ‘DeSantis.’

Musk was also asked what he thought of Andrew Yang, who ran in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. He said: ‘I supported Yang last time, but DeSantis has a better chance of winning.’

Speaking at a conference in Madeira Beach Wednesday, DeSantis commented on news of Musk’s potential support with a joke that played off the billionaire’s South African heritage.

‘I’m focused on 2022, but I welcome support from African Americans,’ the conservative quipped to a reporter.

The well-timed remark drew laughs from the crowd, and added fuel to the fervor surrounding DeSantis’ rumored presidential aspirations.

The unexpected endorsement came as DeSantis has continued to emerge as a central figure in the ongoing culture wars between the woke Left and those with other political ideologies.

A conservative known for his anti-woke political policies, DeSantis has yet to announce a White House bid for 2024, but is widely believed to be mulling one over.

He came under fire earlier this year for signing parental rights bill into law that barred public schools from teaching topics pertaining to gender identity and sexual orientation to kids under 10 – which the Left dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill.’

Meanwhile, Musk, a staunch libertarian and businessman who has saw his wealth swell during the pandemic, has demonstrated a shift towards the political right, after previously being heralded by progressives as a new, more hip breed of businessman.

Musk’s changing political views were thrust into the limelight in April, after he announced his intention to purchase a majority stake in Twitter for an astounding $44 billion.

His offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share was made public on April 14. 

On Tuesday, Twitter’s board has recommended unanimously that shareholders approve the proposed $44 billion sale of the company, according to a regulatory filing.

Musk reiterated his desire to move forward with the acquisition last week during a virtual meeting with Twitter employees, though shares of Twitter remain far below his offering price, signaling considerable doubt that it will happen.

Shares rose about 3% to $38.98 before the opening bell Tuesday, far short of the $54.20 per-share that Musk has offered for each share. The company’s stock last reached that level on April 5 when it offered Musk a seat on the board before he had offered to buy all of Twitter.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detailing on Tuesday detailing a litter to investors, Twitter’s board of directors said that it ‘unanimously recommends that you vote (for) the adoption of the merger agreement.’ 

If the deal were to close now, investors in the company would pocket a profit of $15.22 for each share they own.

Many Democrats and liberals are concerned that Musk’s vision for Twitter will allow for the spread of more misinformation on the platform.

Meanwhile, GOP politicians and those that are more right-leaning have hailed his potential takeover as a victory for free speech.

Some Republican figures are hopeful that they may see GOP accounts reinstated on the platform, having been previously banned – particularly that of President Donald Trump.

However, those hopes were stifled when Musk announced that his takeover had been put on hold week later, citing concerns over fake accounts on Twitter.

Musk then shocked the world further when he announced would be switching political allegiances and vote for the Republican party in the next election due to liberal bias at the San Francisco company.

Speaking via video link at a tech summit in Miami, Florida in May, hosted by the All-In podcast, Musk confirmed he would be changing his vote.

‘The reality is that Twitter at this point, you know, has a very far left bias,’ Musk told attendees. ‘I would classify myself as a moderate, neither Republican nor Democrat.’

Musk went on to assert that he has ‘overwhelmingly’ voted for Democrats in the past.

‘I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Like I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,’ Musk said. He then declared: ‘Now this election I will.’  

Insider reported that he did not clarify whether he meant he would vote for the eventual Republican candidate during the 2024 presidential election, or for a GOP candidate in the up-coming November mid-terms.

Musk, the top executive at Tesla and founder of SpaceX, has a net worth of more nearly $209billion – $86billion than the world’s next richest man, Jeff Bezos.

For a man so wealthy, Musk’s history of political donations in DeSantis’ Florida is somewhat sparse – not to mention bipartisan.

In 2014, he donated identical $2,500 sums to each of the men running for governor that year: Democrat Charlie Crist and then-GOP Gov. Rick Scott.

In 2010, he gave Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz $1,000 in 2010.

In 2006, Musk donated at least $5,000 to Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, also of Florida.

He’s also given Republican Senator Marco Rubio at least $15,200 through the years.

Ministers must provide ‘strong blueprint’ on how to roll out electric car charging infrastructure Britain ‘craves’

By John Abiona For The Daily Mail

Updated: 03:36 EDT, 19 June 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

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Kevin McCarthy has only 24 hours to convince more than a dozen members of his own party to vote for him for Speaker – as one dissenter cemented his opposition by calling the GOP Leader a member of the ‘swamp cartel.’

Representative Bob Good said he expects up to 15 Republican lawmakers to vote against McCarthy and told Fox & Friends on Monday morning that he is ‘part of the problem, not the solution.’

A group of five GOP lawmakers voiced their opposition to McCarthy’s bid for Speaker last month, vowing not to give into concessions unless they all discussed it first. A New Year’s Day letter added nine more Republicans to the list of those who say they won’t vote for McCarthy.

McCarthy needs 218 votes to win Speaker, meaning he can only afford to lose the support of four Republicans.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry demanded that McCarthy ‘get out of the way.’

McCarthy appeared to be claiming a hasty victory on Monday as he was seen entering the House Speaker suite on the second floor of the Capitol.

He told Punchbowl News, surprisingly, that he is feeling ‘actually really good’ about his chances of winning. 

Good said his constituents in Virginia’s 5th congressional district ‘told me not to support Kevin McCarthy’ for Speaker. 

He also claimed that while the group of 14 lawmakers who have already publicly said they won’t back McCarthy don’t necessarily have an alternative in mind – they just want to block him from taking over from outgoing Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Virginia Republican said they will likely all write-in the ballot for Representative Andy Biggs, another anti-McCarthy Republican and influential member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Biggs lost his bid to be the Republican nominee against McCarthy in a 188–31 secret ballot vote. Five other Republicans wrote in names other than McCarthy or Biggs.

‘If it’s not Kevin, who would you vote for?’ Good was asked on Monday.

‘What we will do is block Kevin,’ he replied. ‘I suspect there will be 10 to 15 members who will vote against him on the first ballot tomorrow – that will vote for Andy Biggs.’

‘But then I think you will see on the second ballot an increasing number of members vote for a true candidate who can represent the conservative conference. Motivate the base,’ Good said.

The House majority has only failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot once since the Civil War – and the last time it happened was exactly 100 years ago in 1923.

McCarthy has tried to garner some favor with those in the party against his continued leadership by conceding to a demand that he lowers the threshold needed to remove a House speaker from their post.

A ‘motion to vacate the chair’ has only ever been used twice in U.S. history.  In practical terms, it’s akin to a vote of ‘no confidence’ in which members can submit a request for the current leader to step down.

The parliamentarian procedure was first invoked in 1910 against Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon and the second time was more than 100 years later in 2015 against Republican Speaker Mark Meadows – who later served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff.

The five original ‘Never Kevin’ lawmakers who rallied against McCarthy are Representatives Good, Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

The nine additional Republicans who pledged to vote against McCarthy in the Sunday letter are Representatives Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Chip Roy of Texas, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Harris of Maryland and Andrew Clyde of Georgia; along with Representative-elects Andy Ogales of Tennessee, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Eli Crane of Arizona.

Perry, who is Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, posted the letter to his Twitter calling for change and a shake-up in leadership.

‘Nothing changes when nothing changes, and that must start from the top,’ Perry wrote. ‘Time to make the change or get out of the way.’

Good slammed McCarthy for allowing massive omnibus spending bills to pass the House before breaking for the holidays.

‘There is nothing that indicates to me that he is going to change his pattern since he has been in leadership where he is part of the swamp cartel,’ the Virginia Republican said. ‘He is the reason on the Republican side why we pass massive omnibus spending bills that just got rammed down our throats by Republicans in the Senate. He was part of that in leadership.’

The ‘swamp cartel’ reference stems from Trump, who dubbed Washington, D.C. a ‘swamp’ in his 2016 presidential campaign and said he was going to go to the nation’s capital to ‘drain the swamp’. 

‘There is nothing about Kevin McCarthy that indicates he will bring the change that’s needed to Washington or that’s needed in the Congress, or he will bring the fight against Biden-Schumer agenda and represent the interest of the voters who sent us to Washington to bring us real change.’

Opposition to McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker appears to only be growing after the nine Republican members who wrote the stinging letter on Sunday warned how electing him would continue the status quo ‘dysfunction’ in the lower chamber.

The group said that McCarthy had 14 years in House GOP leadership, and lamented that his election could mean a ‘continuation of past, and ongoing, Republican failures.’

On Sunday, McCarthy held a private conference call with Republicans in an attempt to garner support for his speakership vote on Tuesday, January 3, which is when the new Congress takes office.

While McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes if he wants to clinch the Speakership, the call appeared to worsen his outlook from five dissenters last week to 14 total just 24 hours before the vote.  

On New Year’s Eve McCarthy wrote a letter entitled ‘Restoring the People’s House and Ending Business as Usual,’ where he admitted to dysfunction in the House of Representatives and pledged to make it right.

‘For someone with a 14-year presence in senior House Republican leadership, Mr. McCarthy bears squarely the burden to correct the dysfunction he now explicitly admits across that long tenure,’ the nine GOP members wrote in their letter.

They added that his ‘statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd.’

‘At this state, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial points still under debate are insufficient. This is especially true with respect to Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker because the times call for radical departure from the status quo – not a continuation of past and ongoing, Republican failures,’ the letter stated. 

‘McCarthy’s statement also continues to propose to restrict the availability of the traditional motion to vacate the chair as a means of holding leadership accountable to its promises; we have from the beginning made clear that we will not accept following Nancy Pelosi’s example by insulating leadership in this way,’ the nine House GOP members said in their letter on Sunday. 

‘We also note that the statement fails completely to address the issue of leadership working to defeat conservatives in open primaries. The progress made thus far has been helpful and should guide our thinking going forward.’ 

Members of the Freedom Caucus, the most conservative group in the House, led the calls for a shake-up in leadership. Rep. Andy Biggs, a former chairman of the caucus, had launched a bid against McCarthy within the Party to be the nominee for Speakership, but was defeated in a secret ballot.

Biggs of Arizona, along with Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Rosendale of Montana were all part of the initial ‘Never Kevin’ lawmakers publicly expressing their plans to vote against McCarthy in the January 3 elections.

While Perry is vice chair of the Freedom Caucus, the current chairman and co-founder of the caucus, Representative Jim Jordan, is an ally of McCarthy.

He could be the only person who can get through to the detractors.

In recent weeks, Jordan has gone to bat for McCarthy by arguing on several right-leaning media outlet interviews that the current GOP Leader deserves the gavel.

The five original ‘Never Kevin’ lawmakers have organized to prevent McCarthy from garnering the 218 votes needed to take the gavel from outgoing Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

They have also vowed not to be picked off individually by McCarthy and said they would discuss any concessions he offers.

McCarthy announced on the private call Sunday evening that he would give into one of the top demands from detractors, which is shrinking the threshold needed to vote out the Speaker in exchange for his ascent to the position.

Under the current rules, only a member of the House leadership can initiate a motion to remove the Speaker, but McCarthy’s proposal would allow any House member to force a vote to remove the Speaker at any time.

Currently, only members of House leadership are able to do so, under rules implemented by Pelosi.

The letter is proof that those who oppose his speakership don’t think this concession from McCarthy is enough.

When asked if McCarthy has what it takes to be Speaker, Democratic House Leader Steny Hoyer said on Sunday: ‘We’ll see.’

He added that if McCarthy wins the election, it’s proof that he’s able to at least put in the work against adversity.

‘He obviously – if he gets 218 votes – has the ability to put together the votes to be the leader of the Party,’ Hoyer told CNN. ‘And he will then be tested as to whether or not he can lead.’

‘But, you know, he’s worked pretty hard at it. He got close to the Holy Grail, and he had to step back. He didn’t give up, he kept going. And it appears to me that he will be the Speaker.’

McCarthy’s efforts to nab the gavel at the start of the new Congress comes seven years after his last failed bid to become Speaker. 

To secure the speakership, McCarthy needs at least 218 votes, but with the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House with 222 seats, any additional defections could jeopardize his chances. 

During his meeting with fellow GOP members he acknowledged how rank-and-file members would be able to call for the speaker’s removal, although it is unclear how many members would need to sign on to the motion. 

Earlier on Sunday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he would be surprised if Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy weren’t elected by his party to become the next Speaker – but stopped short of saying whether he’s up to the task.

‘I would be surprised if he doesn’t [win],’ Representative Hoyer insisted to CNN‘s State of the Union on Sunday morning. ‘My expectation – he’ll be Speaker.’

The new Congress will convene on Tuesday, January 3 and will see Republicans take back a majority in the lower chamber – but not in the Senate.

Most voters were happy with the debt ceiling bill and wanted to see it pass Congress – even though more conservative lawmakers railed against Speaker Kevin McCarthy for striking the deal with President Joe Biden.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that McCarthy’s approval rating has jumped by 10 percent since the beginning of the year – and after he reached the deal with the president to raise the debt ceiling.

The results are indicative of Americans’ desire to see more bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., while members of McCarthy’s own party lamented the bill and slammed the Speaker for agreeing to it.

The California lawmaker’s prominence in striking the deal is likely contributing to his polling jump from 40 percent approval in January to 50 percent approval in the survey conducted May 30 through June 1.

Thirty-nine percent of the 1,012 likely voters polled view McCarthy unfavorably and 11 percent aren’t sure how they feel about the Republican House Speaker.

Multiple conservative members of the House and Republican members of the Senate were not happy with McCarthy striking the deal with Biden and claimed that the provisions don’t go far enough.

Additionally, 69 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of Republicans voters said that they are in favor of Congress passing the compromise bill.

President Biden on Saturday signed a bill that lifts the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever federal default.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation last week after Biden and McCarthy reached an agreement following months of tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday if Congress failed to act by then, which would have triggered an unprecedented default.

The White House released a 10-second video clip of Biden signing the bill in the Oval Office, but opted to avoid the type of public ceremony that often accompanies the signing of hard-fought measures.

Republicans had refused to raise the country’s borrowing limit unless Democrats agreed to cut spending, leading to a standoff that was not resolved until weeks of intense negotiations between the White House and McCarthy.

The final agreement, passed by the House on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, suspends the debt limit until 2025 – after the next presidential election – and restricts government spending. 

It gives lawmakers budget targets for the next two years in hopes of assuring fiscal stability as the political season heats up.

Raising the nation’s debt limit, now at $31.4 trillion, will ensure that the government can borrow to pay debts already incurred.

‘Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,’ Biden said in a speech from the Oval Office on Friday evening. ‘Nothing would have been more catastrophic,’ he said, than defaulting on the country’s debt.

‘No one got everything they wanted but the American people got what they needed,’ Biden said, highlighting the ‘compromise and consensus’ in the deal. ‘We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.’

‘Our economy would have been thrown in recession,’ Biden intoned in a low voice.

He also used the address to pledge to go after ‘tax cheats’ and hike taxes on the wealthy, even after Republican negotiators nixed his revenue proposals as a way to pay for spending that gets trimmed under the deal.

‘We also have to raise revenue to go after tax cheats and make sure everybody’s paying their fair share,’ Biden said.

He repeated his pledge not to hike taxes on people earning more than $400,000 per year, and defended a boost in funds for IRS audits and technology – although the debt deal actually pares back an $80 billion infusion by about $20 billion. 

He also called for closing ‘special interest tax loopholes for big oil, crypto traders, hedge fund billionaires, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.’

‘Republicans defended every single one of these special interest loopholes. Every single one. But I’m going to come back with your help. I’m going to win,’ he vowed – although to become law the legislation must originate in the Republican-dominated House.

Biden also used the opportunity to itemize the achievements of his first term as he runs for reelection, including support for high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure investments and financial incentives for fighting climate change. He also highlighted ways he blunted Republican efforts to roll back his agenda and achieve deeper cuts.

‘We´re cutting spending and bringing deficits down at the same time,’ Biden said. ‘We’re protecting important priorities from Social Security to Medicare to Medicaid to veterans to our transformational investments in infrastructure and clean energy.’

Biden’s remarks were the most detailed comments from the Democratic president on the compromise he and his staff negotiated. 

He largely remained quiet publicly during the high-stakes talks, a decision that frustrated some members of his party but was intended to give space for both sides to reach a deal and for lawmakers to vote it to his desk.

Biden praised McCarthy and his negotiators for operating in good faith, and all congressional leaders for ensuring swift passage of the legislation. ‘They acted responsibly, and put the good of the country ahead of politics,’ he said.

Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas pipeline that many Democrats oppose. 

Some environmental rules were modified to help streamline approvals for infrastructure and energy projects – a move long sought by moderates in Congress.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could actually expand total eligibility for federal food assistance, with the elimination of work requirements for veterans, homeless people and young people leaving foster care.

The legislation also bolsters funds for defense and veterans, cuts back some new money for the Internal Revenue Service and rejects Biden’s call to roll back Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy to help cover the nation´s deficits. 

But the White House said the IRS’ plans to step up enforcement of tax laws for high-income earners and corporations would continue.

The agreement imposes an automatic overall 1% cut to spending programs if Congress fails to approve its annual spending bills – a measure designed to pressure lawmakers of both parties to reach consensus before the end of the fiscal year in September.

In both chambers, more Democrats backed the legislation than Republicans, but both parties were critical to its passage. 

In the Senate the tally was 63-36 including 46 Democrats and independents and 17 Republicans in favor, 31 Republicans along with four Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats opposed.

The vote in the House was 314-117.