Democrats prepare to vote in Nevada amid controversy over Trump, Stone and Russia

Trump has taken a typically bizarre jab at the Oscars for awarding this year’s best picture honor to Parasite, because the film is South Korean. “The winner is a movie from South Korea, what the hell was that all about?” Trump asked at a rally. “We got enough problems with South Korea with trade and on top of it, they give them the best movie of the year.”

Today, Trump and vice-president Mike Pence will hold a rally in Las Vegas, an event obviously meant to wind up the Democrats as they get ready for the next vote in their primary season in Nevada tomorrow.

Leading Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, and Amy Klobuchar are all campaigning there today. Mike Bloomberg is not on the ballot – he is joining the race on 3 March for Super Tuesday.

Sanders – the socialist Vermont senator who is now the frontrunner in the Democratic race – seems to have increased his lead in Nevada. Latest polling averages show him with an impressive 14-point lead over his ailing centrist rival Biden. The former VP’s fellow moderate Buttigieg and Warren – like Sanders, a leftwing senator – are neck and neck close behind Biden, with businessman Tom Steyer and centrist Klobuchar fighting for fifth place.

Sanders has also strengthened his lead in national Demcoratic polling, and is now 11 points clear of Biden in the popular-vote horse-race. Bloomberg is now in third place, and very close behind Biden. Warren, Buttigieg and Klobuchar slot in after that.

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Trump’s and a self-described political dirty trickster, was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his attempts to sabotage a congressional investigation that posed a political threat to the president. After his sentencing, a representative for Stone urged Trump to “right this horrible wrong” and pardon him – before the president suggested he might do so.

Elizabeth Warren’s strong debate performance has re-energized her campaign and fired up supporters in Nevada before the state’s Democratic caucuses.