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#jiliko There have been plenty of critics of the way the Lakers organization is handling Bronny James. Now you can add one more. Charles Barkley called it “awful” when discussing the way the organization has handled the development of the oldest son of star LeBron James. The Lakers have opted to have Bronny play home games for the team’s NBA G-League affiliate, South Bay, and then call him back up to the NBA when the development team goes on the road. The kid is not ready to play in the NBA. He should be in the G-League so he can play basketball,” Barkley said during an appearance on “The Bettor Angle” over the weekend. “And also, this thing where he’s only gonna play homes games. It’s stupid, it’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to the team. Can you imagine the coach of that team? You come off a road trip and you have a player you haven’t seen in a week or two. And then you probably feel like you gotta play him,” he continued. “I don’t think they are doing Bronny any favors. They have just handled this thing very bad. It’s a bad look for the Lakers. I really like everything LeBron has done. But it’s a bad look for him [too], in my opinion.” Bronny has appeared in six games for the Lakers this season, averaging 0.7 points per game in 2.3 minutes per game. Down with South Bay, Bronny has averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 assists in 28.5 minutes in two appearances for the G League club. The Lakers have faced plenty of questions about the potential nepotism involved in the decision to draft Bronny after just one season at USC and concerns over his readiness to go pro. Those questions have only grown since the Lakers’ plan for Bronny became public.

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence which should be true in all situations. They presented him the words: ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ “How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! — how consoling in the depths of affliction!” — Abraham Lincoln, 1859 ••• Weary and wary, Americans have emerged from yet another “most important election in the nation’s history.” By my count it was at least our 17th consecutive most-important-campaign-ever. (Dwight Eisenhower’s re-election in 1956 was something of a snoozer, particularly for us 4-year-olds.) Anyhow, we’re now fully engaged on at least our 17th consecutive post-vote debate over the causes and consequences of the most seismic political realignment in generations (or something like that) — an outcome the estimable Ross Douthat of the New York Times recently labeled “a real turning point in history, an irrevocable shift from one era to another.” Well, maybe. Donald Trump’s restoration might mark a watershed in American culture and governance. We have reached such moments before, and will again. And surely the president-elect’s comeback against an utterly unprecedented grand alliance of establishment institutions determined to stop him by almost any means (two impeachments, four indictments, untold investigations, trials and lawsuits, petitions to banish him from ballots, etc., etc.) does constitute the most astounding personal vindication in the annals of American rabble-rousing. And yet, it’s also quite possible that Trump’s hair-raising triumph remains at bottom a mere continuation of our decadeslong age of indecision and serial upheaval. Republicans have now won two of the last three presidential elections. But Democrats have won three of the last five. The parties have evenly split the last eight. And Republicans hold a one-election edge in the last 12. This is hardly an epoch in which political shifts, however striking, can safely be assumed to be “irrevocable.” The electorate’s affections weren’t always so fickle. Between 1896 and 1928 Republicans won seven of nine presidential contests. Democrats then won seven of the following nine (1932 to 1964) — after which the GOP took five out of six (1968 to 1988). According to Bruce Mehlman’s “Age of Disruption” Substack , the 2024 vote also was the sixth in a row, including off-year elections, to change party control of at least one of Washington’s three elective power centers — presidency, House and Senate. It’s the longest such streak of instability in American history. Meantime, Trump’s margins were shallow, if respectably widespread. And as a lame duck who can never be on the ballot again, he will have to defy historic norms once more to achieve transformative policy change in his final term. One hesitates in his case to say anything is impossible just because it’s unheard of — but still. All this being said in the somewhat forlorn hope of chastening MAGA end zone dancers and consoling afflicted progressives, the 2024 election actually may have revealed that on one big issue a turning point has already been reached. The results suggest that America may at long last be on its way toward a compromise on abortion. Perhaps “settlement” would be a better word for making a hard and bitter peace with differing state-by-state resolutions on legal access to abortion. But if any one public policy choice was squarely before voters this year, it was whether America would continue to tolerate being a “house divided” on abortion. Returning abortion regulation to the separate states was the essence of the Supreme Court’s landmark “Dobbs” decision in 2022, overturning nationwide legal abortion guaranteed for a half century by the Roe vs. Wade ruling. This year’s election was the second in which a vow to restore abortion rights coast to coast was the Democrats’ central, almost single-minded campaign theme. Kamala Harris and company also were foursquare for “Democracy,” of course. But it wasn’t clear what that meant beyond keeping Trump out of office. Otherwise, it was easier to list bold progressive positions Harris had abandoned than ones she championed. She had more to say about small-business subsidies than climate change. But restoring “reproductive freedom” — while preventing Republicans from imposing abortion bans on every state — was a clarion battle cry. Trump helped sharpen the issue when he declared that he did not favor any kind of federal one-size-fits-all policy. In the 2022 off-year election, Democrats’ abortion-centered campaign had enjoyed considerable success, blunting GOP gains in Congress. Along with voter approval of several state ballot measures favoring abortion rights — including one in Republican-leaning Ohio in 2023 — this led to high hopes that the anti-Dobbs backlash could boost Democratic prospects again in 2024. No fewer than 10 states had referenda guaranteeing abortion rights on their Nov. 5 ballots, measures pushed not least in hopes that they would fuel progressive turnout and provide “reverse coattails” for Democratic candidates from Harris on down. It didn’t turn out that way. The abortion rights ballot measures did well; seven out of 10 passed . But Trump carried four of those seven states, including two battleground states (Arizona and Nevada). And of course Trump also carried Ohio, along with Kentucky, Kansas and battleground Michigan, all states whose voters had earlier approved referenda protecting abortion rights. This could be evidence that as the state-by-state abortion debate has unfolded, more voters have accepted the idea of supporting abortion rights in their own states while letting other states go their own way. Or at least that fewer feel they must let the cause of nationwide abortion rights override other considerations in their votes for president and Congress. While 27% of voters in 2022 told exit polls that abortion was their most important issue, barely half that, 14%, said that Nov. 5 . Reinforcing this interpretation, an analysis for KFF Health News shows that in all 10 states with abortion referenda on the ballot, abortion rights polled significantly more votes than Harris did, “indicating that many people voted both to elect Donald Trump and to protect access to abortion.” In Arizona and Nevada, abortion rights outpolled Harris by 14 and 17 percentage points, respectively. If support for or opposition to legal abortion is becoming disconnected from partisan allegiances, at least at the national level, that’s a realignment of some note, with at least some potential to lower the ideological temperature in America. But it won’t necessarily please fevered advocates on either side of the issue. Following this year’s votes, 19 states across the South and Great Plains — what used to be called the Bible Belt — will have abortion bans or limits in place beyond what Roe permitted. The other 31 retain Roe-era laws or have enacted more spacious abortion rights. Hence America now enforces far too much restriction on reproductive freedom for some, and far too little protection for the unborn for others. Doubtless state-level battles will continue. In the near term it’s anti-abortion forces who will feel tempted to reimpose uniformity – to use the GOP’s trifecta control of Washington to enact a nationwide restriction. Despite Trump’s disavowal, I warned of this among other hazards in a recent column making an ill-fated wish for post-election gridlock . Clearly the sentiment that human rights cannot properly differ from one state to another is potent and pungent on both sides of the abortion divide. In “The Party of Lincoln Resurrects the Corpse of Stephen Douglas,” in the Claremont Review of Books, conservative essayist and novelist Mark Helprin denounces Trump and other Republicans who would disinter the pre-Civil War doctrine of “popular sovereignty,” which held that each state was free to decide the issue of slavery for itself. America, Helprin argues, must not again tolerate “two contradictory answers to a fundamental question that demands only one.” Is abortion that kind of question? Or is there some irreducible moral uncertainty, some room for different social settlements, about where to draw the line between a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and a fetus’ right to live? If nothing else, the 2024 election suggests America is irrevocably grappling with that question. D.J. Tice is a retired Minnesota Star Tribune commentary editor.

Winners, losers as Browns stun Steelers 24-19 in prime time snow gameVertiv Holdings Co ( NYSE:VRT – Get Free Report ) shares were down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $113.70 and last traded at $114.67. Approximately 1,433,155 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 8,007,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.88. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In VRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Vertiv from $126.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Vertiv from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Vertiv from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Vertiv from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Vertiv in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertiv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.09. View Our Latest Stock Report on VRT Vertiv Stock Down 3.2 % Vertiv ( NYSE:VRT – Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.07. Vertiv had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 55.33%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertiv Holdings Co will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year. Vertiv Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.0375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Vertiv’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. Vertiv’s payout ratio is currently 6.67%. Insider Buying and Selling at Vertiv In related news, EVP Stephen Liang sold 86,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.07, for a total value of $11,353,152.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,551 shares in the company, valued at $2,562,549.57. The trade was a 81.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, Director Jakki L. Haussler sold 15,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.38, for a total transaction of $2,108,370.86. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,526.50. This trade represents a 81.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 171,527 shares of company stock valued at $23,105,682. Insiders own 5.01% of the company’s stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertiv Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertiv by 10,825.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,600,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,306 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Vertiv during the 2nd quarter worth about $331,091,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vertiv by 271.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,915,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860,181 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in Vertiv by 215.6% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 1,864,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertiv during the 3rd quarter worth about $110,517,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.92% of the company’s stock. About Vertiv ( Get Free Report ) Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Vertiv Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vertiv and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

NoneLucknow: The Tricentanary celebration of Lokmata Ahilyabai Holkar , former Maratha queen of Indore, at CMS Gomtinagar was inaugurated by RSS joint general secretary Alok Kumar here on Sunday. An exhibition on Ahilyabai's life was also organised. Kumar praised Ahilyabai's bravery, strategic insight and her dedication to social harmony . He highlighted her progressive stance against Sati and her efforts to uplift widows of soldiers. IPL 2025 mega auction IPL Auction 2025: Who got whom IPL 2025 Auction: Updated Full Team Squads Kumar also emphasised Ahilyabai's contribution to infrastructure development and her pioneering pension scheme for wives of dead soldiers." National secretary of the Tricentenary celebration committee, Mala Thakur, highlighted Ahilyabai's commitment to social harmony, particularly during a time of societal divisions. She also emphasised need for unity and social harmony drawing inspiration from Lokmata's inclusive approach. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak was also present on the occasion. There were cultural activities including dance, drama, demonstration of war skills and a short film on Ahilyabai's life and 300 girls came dressed as Ahilyabai symbolising her enduring legacy. The Tricentenary Celebration Committee plans to organise diverse events throughout the year, including seminars, workshops and community outreach programmes to commemorate Ahilyabai's life and work.Cooper Rush passed for two touchdowns, Dallas returned two kicks for scores and the visiting Cowboys held off the Washington Commanders in a wild fourth quarter for a 34-26 win. Dallas led 10-9 after three quarters. With Washington trailing 27-26, Jayden Daniels hit Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left, but Austin Seibert missed his second extra point of the game. Juanyeh Thomas of the Cowboys then returned the onside kick 43 yards for a touchdown. Rush completed 24 of 32 passes for 247 yards for Dallas (4-7), which snapped a five-game losing streak. Rico Dowdle ran 19 times for 86 yards and CeeDee Lamb had 10 catches for 67 yards. Jayden Daniels was 25-of-38 passing for 274 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for reeling Washington (7-5), which has lost three straight. He ran for 74 yards and one score. McLaurin had five catches for 102 yards. Trailing 20-9 late in the fourth quarter, Daniels drove Washington 69 yards in nine plays and hit Zach Ertz for a 4-yard touchdown. Daniels ran for two points and Washington trailed 20-17 with 3:02 remaining. KaVontae Turpin muffed the ensuing kickoff, picked it up at the one, and raced 99 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-17. Austin Seibert's 51-yard field goal pulled the Commanders within 27-20 with 1:40 left, With the score tied 3-3, Washington took the second half kick and went 60 yards in 10 plays. On third-and-three from the Dallas 17, Daniels faked a handoff, ran left and scored his first rushing touchdown since Week 4. Seibert missed the point after and Washington led 9-3. Dallas answered with an 80-yard drive. A 23-yard pass interference penalty gave the Cowboys a first-and-goal at the 4. Two plays later Rush found Jalen Tolbert in the end zone and the extra point made it 10-9. Brandon Aubrey's 48-yard field goal made it 13-9 with 8:11 remaining in the game. On the next play, Daniels hit John Bates for 14 yards, but Donovan Wilson forced a fumble and Dallas recovered at the Washington 44. Five plays later, Rush found Luke Schoonmaker down the middle for a 22-yard touchdown and Dallas led 20-9 with 5:16 left. The first quarter was all about field goals. Aubrey's field goal attempt was blocked on the opening drive and Michael Davis returned it to the Dallas 40. Washington later settled for Seibert's 41-yard field goal. On the next Dallas drive, Aubrey hit the right upright from 42 yards out, and then Seibert missed from 51 yards. With 14 seconds left in the half, Rush found Jalen Brooks for a 41-yard gain to the Washington 28. On the next play Aubrey connected from 46 yards to tie it. --Field Level Media

Iceland's centre-left Social Democrats look on course to win the most votes in a snap election, suggesting the political landscape is likely to be shaken up, although a snowstorm could still delay tallying of ballots. or signup to continue reading The North Atlantic island nation, home to 384,000 people, has enjoyed relative political stability since 2017 and ranks among the wealthiest countries in Europe per capita, bolstered by tourism, fisheries and cheap geothermal- and hydroelectric-powered aluminium production. However, inflation and borrowing costs that are near their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis have helped spark an economic slowdown, propelling growing hardship to the forefront of voters' concerns. A series of volcanic eruptions near the capital Reykjavik, causing displacement of thousands of people and costly infrastructure repairs, have also dampened tourism. A snowstorm in the northern and eastern part of the country could still delay the final result early on Sunday, according to public broadcaster RUV. Opinion polls ahead of the election had indicated that the ruling coalition of the Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party, and the centre-right Progressive Party, in power for the last seven years, was likely to be unseated. However, the Independence Party led by Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson placed second after polls closed with just over 18 per cent of votes according to preliminary results, benefiting from a late surge in support. It was very closely followed by the centre-right Liberal Reform Party with just under 18 per cent, according to RUV. The centre-left Social Democratic Alliance, which was last in government between 2009 and 2013, stood to come in first by taking over 20 per cent of votes. Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement resigned as prime minister in April to run for the presidency, a bid she lost. Her replacement, Bjarni Benediktsson, dissolved parliament in October and called an election following escalating coalition disagreements and public discontent over migration and energy and housing issues. Iceland's population has surged by 20 per cent over the past decade, the most significant increase among OECD nations, fueloed by high immigration rates, further pressuring housing and healthcare. While inflation and interest rates have recently started to decline, the cost of living crisis has reignited the question of EU membership in election debates. Polls suggest the pro-EU Social Democrats and the Liberal Reform Party combined would garner 40 per cent of votes. "The biggest issue here right now is cost of living," Social Democratic leader Kristrun Frostadottir told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. The 36-year-old economist, who took over as party leader two years ago, is a champion of the Nordic welfare model and a favourite to become the new prime minister. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement

Penn State's polarizing QB Drew Allar puts critics on mute and keeps winning games

Reykjavik, Iceland, Dec 1 (AP) Icelanders voted to elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call an early election. All polling stations managed to open despite fierce weather in the sub-Arctic nation that left roads in many areas blocked by snow. Ballot-counting began after polls closed at 10 pm local time (2200GMT), with results expected early Sunday. Also Read | Bangladesh: ISKCON Claims Arrest of 2 More Monks, Ranganath Das Brahmachari and Chinmoy Krishna Das' Assistant Adipurush Shyamdas Without Warrant Amid Row. This is Iceland's sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability. Opinion polls suggested the country could be in for another upheaval, with support for the three governing parties plunging. Benediktsson, who was named prime minister in April following the resignation of his predecessor, struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement. Also Read | Gautam Adani Breaks Silence on US Fraud Charges, Says 'Every Attack Makes Us Stronger, Every Obstacle Becomes Stepping Stone for More Resilient Adani Group'. “My expectation is like, something new (is) going to happen, hopefully," said Hörður Guðjónsson, voting in the capital, Reykjavik. “We always have had these old parties taking care of things. I hope we see the light now to come in with a younger people, new ideas.” Iceland, a nation of about 400,000 people, is proud of its democratic traditions, describing itself as arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy. The island's parliament, the Althingi, was founded in 930 by the Norsemen who settled the country. How does the election work? Voters are choosing 63 members of the Althingi in an election that will allocate seats both by regional constituencies and proportional representation. Parties need at least 5 per cent of the vote to win seats in parliament. Eight parties were represented in the outgoing parliament, and 10 parties are contesting this election. Turnout is traditionally high by international standards, with 80 per cent of registered voters casting ballots in the 2021 parliamentary election. Why now? A windswept island near the Arctic Circle, Iceland normally holds elections during the warmer months of the year. But Benediktsson decided on Oct 13 that his coalition couldn't last any longer, and he asked President Halla Tómasdóttir to dissolve the Althingi. "The weakness of this society is that we have no very strong party and we have no very strong leader of any party," said Vilhjálmur Bjarnason a former member of parliament. “We have no charming person with a vision ... That is very difficult for us.” Despite the electoral headwinds, Benediktsson expressed confidence that his Independence Party could emerge on top. “It was an uphill battle for my party, initially, but as we moved on into the election campaign, I think things started to turn our way and I feel that this will be a very exciting election day,” he said. Why is Iceland's politics so fractured? The splintering of Iceland's political landscape came after the 2008 financial crisis, which prompted years of economic upheaval after the country's debt-swollen banks collapsed. The crisis led to anger and distrust of the parties that had traditionally traded power back and forth, and prompted the creation of new parties ranging from the environment focused Left-Green Alliance to the Pirate Party, which advocates direct democracy and individual freedoms. “This is one of the consequences of the economic crash,' said Eva H Önnudóttir, a professor of political science at the University of Iceland. “It's just the changed landscape. Parties, especially the old parties, have maybe kind of been hoping that we would go back to how things were before, but that's not going to happen.” What are the issues? Like many Western countries, Iceland has been buffeted by the rising cost of living and immigration pressures. Inflation peaked at an annual rate of 10.2 per cent in February 2023, fuelled by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While inflation slowed to 5.1 per cent in October, that is still high compared with neighbouring countries. The US inflation rate stood at 2.6 per cent last month, while the European Union's rate was 2.3 per cent. Iceland is also struggling to accommodate a rising number of asylum-seekers, creating tensions within the small, traditionally homogenous country. The number of immigrants seeking protection in Iceland jumped to more than 4,000 in each of the past three years, compared with a previous average of less than 1,000. What about the volcano? Repeated eruptions of a volcano in the southwestern part of the country have displaced thousands of people and strained public finances. One year after the first eruption forced the evacuation of the town of Grindavik, many residents still don't have secure housing, leading to complaints that the government has been slow to respond. But it also added to a shortage of affordable housing exacerbated by Iceland's tourism boom. Young people are struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder at a time when short-term vacation rentals have reduced the housing stock available for locals, Önnudóttir said. “The housing issue is becoming a big issue in Iceland,' she said. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

Knight stops 20 shots, Florida rolls past Carolina 6-0 for 2nd win over 'Canes in as many daysWASHINGTON — For years, Pat Verhaeghe didn’t think highly of Donald Trump as a leader. Then Verhaeghe began seeing more of Trump’s campaign speeches online and his appearances at sporting events. There was even the former president’s pairing with Bryson DeChambeau as part of the pro golfer’s YouTube channel series to shoot an under-50 round of golf while engaging in chitchat with his partner. “I regret saying this, but a while ago I thought he was an idiot and that he wouldn’t be a good president,” said the 18-year-old first-time voter. “I think he’s a great guy now.” Verhaeghe isn’t alone among his friends in suburban Detroit or young men across America. Although much of the electorate shifted right to varying degrees in 2024, young men were one of the groups that swung sharply toward Trump. More than half of men under 30 supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast , a survey of more than 120,000 voters, while Democrat Joe Biden had won a similar share of this group four years earlier. White men under 30 were solidly in Trump’s camp this year — about 6 in 10 voted for Trump — while young Latino men were split between the two candidates. Most Black men under 30 supported Democrat Kamala Harris, but about one-third were behind Trump. Young Latino men’s views of the Democratic Party were much more negative than in 2020, while young Black men’s views of the party didn’t really move. About 6 in 10 Latino men under 30 had a somewhat or very favorable view of the Democrats in 2020, which fell to about 4 in 10 this year. On the other hand, about two-thirds of young Black men had a favorable view of the Democrats this year, which was almost identical to how they saw the party four years ago. “Young Hispanic men, and really young men in general, they want to feel valued,” said Rafael Struve, deputy communications director for Bienvenido, a conservative group that focused on reaching young Hispanic voters for Republicans this year. “They’re looking for someone who fights for them, who sees their potential and not just their struggles.” Struve cited the attempted assassination of Trump during a July rally in Pennsylvania as one of the catalyzing moments for Trump’s image among many young men. Trump, Struve said, was also able to reach young men more effectively by focusing on nontraditional platforms like podcasts and digital media outlets. “Getting to hear from Trump directly, I think, really made all the difference,” Struve said of the former president’s appearances on digital media platforms and media catering to Latino communities, like town halls and business roundtables Trump attended in Las Vegas and Miami. Not only did Trump spend three hours on Joe Rogan’s chart-topping podcast, but he took up DeChambeau’s “Break 50” challenge for the golfer’s more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers. Trump already had an edge among young white men four years ago, although he widened the gap this year. About half of white men under 30 supported Trump in 2020, and slightly less than half supported Biden. Trump’s gains among young Latino and Black men were bigger. His support among both groups increased by about 20 percentage points, according to AP VoteCast — and their feelings toward Trump got warmer, too. It wasn’t just Trump. The share of young men who identified as Republicans in 2024 rose as well, mostly aligning with support for Trump across all three groups. “What is most alarming to me is that the election is clear that America has shifted right by a lot,” said William He, founder of Dream For America, a liberal group that works to turn out young voters and supported Harris’ presidential bid. With his bombastic demeanor and a policy agenda centered on a more macho understanding of culture, Trump framed much of his campaign as a pitch to men who felt scorned by the country’s economy, culture and political system. Young women also slightly swung toward the former president, though not to the degree of their male counterparts. It’s unclear how many men simply did not vote this year. But there’s no doubt the last four years brought changes in youth culture and how political campaigns set out to reach younger voters. Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign rolled out policy agendas tailored to Black and Latino men, and the campaign enlisted a range of leaders in Black and Hispanic communities to make the case for the vice president. Her campaign began with a flurry of enthusiasm from many young voters, epitomized in memes and the campaign’s embrace of pop culture trends like the pop star Charli XCX’s “brat” aesthetic. Democrats hoped to channel that energy into their youth voter mobilization efforts. “I think most young voters just didn’t hear the message,” said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, a liberal group that engages younger voters. Mayer said the Harris campaign’s pitch to the country was “largely convoluted” and centered on economic messaging that he said wasn’t easily conveyed to younger voters who were not already coming to political media. “And I think that the policies themselves were also very narrow and targeted when what we really needed was a simple, bold economic vision,” said Mayer. Trump also embraced pop culture by appearing at UFC fights, football games and appearing alongside comedians, music stars and social media influencers. His strategists believed that the former president’s ability to grab attention and make his remarks go viral did more for the campaign than paid advertisements or traditional media appearances. Trump’s campaign also heavily cultivated networks of online conservative platforms and personalities supportive of him while also engaging a broader universe of podcasts, streaming sites, digital media channels and meme pages open to hearing him. “The right has been wildly successful in infiltrating youth political culture online and on campus in the last couple of years, thus radicalizing young people towards extremism,” said He, who cited conservative activist groups like Turning Point USA as having an outsize impact in online discourse. “And Democrats have been running campaigns in a very old fashioned way. The battleground these days is cultural and increasingly on the internet.” Republicans may lose their broad support if they don’t deliver on improving Americans’ lives, Struve cautioned. Young men, especially, may drift from the party in a post-Trump era if the party loses the president-elect’s authenticity and bravado. Bienvenido, for one group, will double down in the coming years to solidify and accelerate the voting pattern shifts seen this year, Struve said. “We don’t want this to be a one and done thing,” he said. Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, and AP polling editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report.

Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to be ambassador to France

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With Penn State's strong push for a spot in the College Football Playoff still a couple of wins from completion, the biggest roadblock to a bid for the Nittany Lions in this favorable final third of their schedule has appeared with a trip to Minnesota . That's why this week, naturally, is too early for them to talk about making the inaugural 12-team tournament — as enticing as their prospects might be. “I think the quality of teams that we go in and play each week speaks for itself,” quarterback Drew Allar said. "But as far as rankings, it doesn’t really matter until it matters.” Penn State (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) is fourth in both the AP poll and the CFP rankings this week, needing help for a long-shot hope of reaching the Big Ten title game because of a loss to now-No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 2. In this new era of playoff expansion, the Nittany Lions are on firm footing for an at-large bid. Lose to the unranked Gophers (6-4, 4-3), however, and that ground could become shaky given the current collection of standout two-loss teams in the SEC. In case the Nittany Lions needed proof of the danger of letting focus diverge, coach James Franklin and his staff can call up the tape from Nov. 9, 2019. That's when an undefeated Penn State team came to Minnesota and lost 31-26 . The Nittany Lions lost again at Ohio State two weeks later and finished 11-2, one of several not-quite performances for this storied program that last went unbeaten in 1994 and hasn't been recognized as national champions since 1986. The Gophers were undefeated themselves after that game before losses to rivals Iowa and Wisconsin ended their Rose Bowl quest. This team isn't on that level of talent and success from five years ago, but the chemistry has been off the charts. Coach P.J. Fleck drew attention to some of the individual standout performances that fueled the signature victory in 2019 in meetings with players this week. “We need our best playmakers to play their best. Penn State’s going to need their playmakers to be their best. That’s what happens in November,” Fleck said. Tyler Warren has already shattered nearly every record for Penn State tight ends. The do-it-all senior become such a force his teammates insist he’s worthy of the Heisman Trophy, tracking toward the top of the NFL draft board for his position next spring. “He’s the best tight end in America, but he’s also the most complete tight end in America," Allar said. Warren is coming off a 190-yard performance at Purdue that included 63 yards on three rushes and 127 yards on eight receptions. “He has the ability to take a play that should be 2 or 3 yards and turn it into 30 or 40,” Gophers defensive end Danny Striggow said. Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter has 171⁄2 tackles for loss, the second-most in the FBS, and eight sacks to match the third-most in the Big Ten. He has a challenging matchup this week with Minnesota left tackle Aireontae Ersery across from him in a battle of projected first-round NFL draft picks. Gophers coaches told Striggow and his fellow defensive linemen a couple of seasons ago to relish the opportunity to face Ersery in practice. “That’s one of the best looks in the country that you’re going to get,” Striggow said. Carter has successfully made the transition from linebacker this season. “He is impacting the game in a number of ways, which creates opportunities for other guys on our defensive line and within our defense and causes a lot of headaches,” Franklin said. “He is becoming more and more of a leader every single day.” Allar and the Nittany Lions have paid particular attention to protecting the ball this week, given the Gophers have 16 interceptions, one short of the national lead. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar feels he’ll need to be especially accurate this weekend considering Minnesota has 16 interceptions on the season. “We’re just going to have to be disciplined and stick to our game plan,” Allar said. The Gophers have a strong group of departing players who will take the field at Huntington Bank Stadium for the final time, including Ersery, quarterback Max Brosmer, wide receiver Daniel Jackson, right guard Quinn Carroll, cornerback Justin Walley, kicker Dragan Kesich and Striggow. “It’s been good to reflect, but it’s not over yet," Striggow said. "Those short windows of reflection, I cut ’em out and then say, ‘We’ve got some more memories to make.’” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football .