Michael Daly

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Daly

The 100 mugshots set out like campaign yard signs on the North Lawn of the White House might as well have each borne the name “Guillermo Horton.”The function of these photos of the largely Hispanic “worst illegal immigrant criminals” was the same as the mugshot in the infamous Willie Horton ads that Republicans aired during George H.W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign against Mike Dukakis, then the Democratic governor of Massachusetts.

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Daly

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook and the other tech billionaires who crowded onto the stage at the Capitol for President Donald Trump’s inauguration have all subsequently come up big losers, in terms of both wealth and esteem. One business leader in attendance who sat out of camera range has since done considerable good for his company and the country, and therefore, by his measure, for himself.

2 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Daly

What might be called Day of the Dead Living is being continually played out at a Social Security Administration (SSA) office in upstate New York, and likely across the country. “We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, ‘I’m not dead, I’m alive!” says Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst with 15 years of experience at the agency who handles the most challenging cases at the Schenectady office.

3 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Daly

The last time President Donald Trump visited the Vatican, a man who generally seems to believe only in material goods appeared to be touched by the power of moral good. “He is something, he’s really good,” Trump said after meeting with Pope Francis in May of 2017.

3 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Michael Daly |Michael Black |Janna Brancolini |Kenneal Patterson

The Trump administration’s five-page extortion letter threatening to withhold federal funding for Harvard if the university does not comply with onerous ideological demands was addressed to its president , Dr. Alan Garber. It was also addressed to the most senior member of its board of governors, Penny Pritzker. Pritzker is also widely viewed as the dominant member of the ultra-wealthy Pritzker family that was Donald Trump’s partner in his first big real estate deal in Manhattan back in 1975.