cnn-opinion

Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN (CNN) — It’s perhaps one of the strangest conspiracy theories of all time. Some fans of former President Donald Trump believe pop star Taylor Swift has been employed in a kind of covert government operation to prop up Joe Biden’s reelection bid and have therefore tried to stigmatize her. Polling

CNN Opinion by Richard Galant, CNN (CNN) — In the closing days of World War II, Soviet agents arrested artillery officer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn for derisively calling dictator Joseph Stalin “the man with the mustache” in a letter to a friend. He would spend eight years in prisons and labor camps, an experience he channeled to

Opinion by Sasha Vasilyuk (CNN) — The announcement from the Russian prison service that Alexey Navalny, the most prominent Russian opposition leader, had died in prison at 47, sent ripples throughout the world and reached me in California when I woke up Friday morning. As someone who grew up between Ukraine and Russia, I used to go

Opinion by Daniel Treisman (CNN) — People used to ask Alexey Navalny why, knowing the risks, he chose to go back to Russia in 2021 after he was poisoned with a rare nerve agent originally developed in the Soviet Union and almost died. Rather than return to face almost certain imprisonment, he could have stayed abroad to lead the

Analysis by Tim Lister (CNN) — The Russian advance into the ruins of the city of Avdiivka was only a matter of time. Ukrainian forces were vastly outnumbered and had suffered a daily onslaught since October, in a city that has been on the frontlines since Russian-backed separatists launched a rebellion against Kyiv in the

Analysis by Nathan Hodge, CNN (CNN) — Alexey Navalny once represented an alternative future for Russia: an optimistic, forward-looking place, free of the one-man rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the death of the opposition leader in a prison north of the Arctic Circle, Russia’s bleak political landscape is now many shades darker. It

Opinion by Peter Bergen (CNN) — We don’t yet know the exact details of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s death, reported Friday by the Russian prison service — and we may never find the precise truth. But as US Vice President Kamala Harris put it in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, “Whatever story they tell, let us

Opinion by David Orentlicher (CNN) — Between March and August, prosecutors indicted former President Donald Trump four times for alleged crimes. In September, New York civil court Judge Arthur Engeron ruled that Trump had committed business fraud when seeking financing for his real estate deals, and on Friday Engeron imposed his penalties for the civil offenses: The

Analysis by Harry Enten, CNN (CNN) — Sometimes, when Donald Trump loses, he somehow seems to win as well. That may have been the case Thursday when two of the four criminal indictments against the former president appeared, at least momentarily, to turn in opposite directions. The trial date in his New York hush money

Analysis by Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Munich, Germany (CNN) — The what is known, but the how may never be clear. It is the why that is already the largest question, after the untimely death of Alexey Navalny. We don’t know whether the Kremlin had a hand in his death, but they certainly failed in

Opinion by Mark Dent (CNN) — For the second year in a row — the third time in five years — fans crowded into the heart of Kansas City, Missouri before dawn to hail their victorious Chiefs. Schools closed for the day on Wednesday to give the Super Bowl-winning team’s youngest fans a chance to

Analysis by Krystal Hur, CNN New York (CNN) — A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. Before the Bell is off Monday, February 19, and

Analysis by Oliver Darcy, CNN New York (CNN) — Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. “The Biden crime family.” It has been one of the most dominant narratives in right-wing media and the GOP, used endlessly

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN Washington (CNN) — Every day, America gets dragged deeper into Donald Trump’s legal, political and constitutional morass. This plight was exacerbated by a day of raw drama Thursday in a handful of cities, in multiple cases involving defiant personalities often trading personal smears that tightened the fateful knot between

CNN Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN Washington (CNN) — Every day, America gets dragged deeper into Donald Trump’s legal, political and constitutional morass. This plight was exacerbated by a day of raw drama Thursday in a handful of cities, in multiple cases involving defiant personalities often trading personal smears that tightened the fateful knot between

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN Washington (CNN) — Every day, America gets dragged deeper into Donald Trump’s legal, political and constitutional morass. This plight was exacerbated by a day of raw drama Thursday in a handful of cities, in multiple cases involving defiant personalities often trading personal smears that tightened the fateful knot between the

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN (CNN) — The coming months are going to provide former President Donald Trump with the reality of campaigning from outside a courtroom. He has, heretofore, chosen to attend various court dates. When his criminal trial in Manhattan gets under way in late March, he could conceivably have locked up

CNN Opinion by William Cooper (CNN) — While presiding over the investigation and prosecution of former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies for attempting to reverse Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has made two severe lapses in judgment — two too many. In June 2022, she held a fundraiser for the political opponent of Republican Georgia state Sen.

Opinion by Frida Ghitis (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin fired off a few intriguing statements during a Wednesday television interview with loyal journalist Pavel Zarubin. Among them was his claim that he would prefer that President Joe Biden win the 2024 US presidential election. The remarks brought to mind a long night I spent in Havana, Cuba, listening to

Analysis by Krystal Hur, CNN New York (CNN) — A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. Wall Street struggled this week to accept the cold