Author: Data and Research Manager

Biden rips Trump’s ‘big lie’ in voting rights address

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President Biden on Tuesday decried inflammatory and false claims from former President Trump and his allies about the 2020 election and broader efforts to restrict access to the ballot in a major speech on voting rights.

Biden blasted efforts from Trump and others to sow doubt about the election months after it concluded, which have spurred action from GOP-led state legislatures to push new elections laws that would limit absentee voting and make it more difficult for certain groups to vote.

“It’s clear, for those who challenge the results or question the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny or such high standards. ‘The big lie’ is just that, a big lie,” Biden said at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Continue reading.

‘It’s devastating’: Unvaccinated woman thought she could ‘escape’ COVID-19 – now she says she’ll ‘never be the same’

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After a rough battle with COVID-19, a North Carolina woman who was unvaccinated is now urging people to get the shot, 13News reports.

“I thought I was healthy enough and that I could escape it,” said Linda Edwards, who contracted the virus about three weeks ago. “Really, it was the most frightening thing I’ve ever been through in my life.” 

“It was devastating. I had no dreams of ever staying that long. It’s the longest I’ve ever been in the hospital,” she said of her two-week hospital stay. “I was there hoping and praying my son was okay here because he had tested positive, too.” Continue reading.

On TikTok, audio gives new virality to misinformation

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The Institute for Strategic Dialogue analyzed 124 TikTok videos featuring vaccine misinformation that garnered more than 20 million views and 2 million likes, comments and shares.

In December, a Wisconsin man who goes by the username the_alpha_k9 on TikTok uploaded a testimonial-style video to the platform, telling his thousands of followers that he wouldn’t be taking a Covid-19 vaccine. 

“You’re telling me in 40 years of research there is no vaccine for HIV … for cancer, no vaccine … the common cold, no vaccine,” he said. “Yet in one year we’ve developed a vaccine for COVID-19 and you want me to take that … thanks, but no thanks.”

It was one of the many debunked, run-of-the-mill anti-vaccination talking points that have permeated many social platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic. But on TikTok, where users regularly reuse popular audio tracks to make their own videos, it took on a life of its own. More than 4,500 videos featuring the audio have been made, which have been viewed more than 16 million times, according to a report published Monday by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based organization that tracks disinformation. Continue reading.

‘Stop lying!’ After quitting GOP, Jenna Ellis throws a fit at Ronna McDaniel by leaking election email

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Jenna Ellis, who fought to overturn the 2020 election on behalf of Donald Trump, leaked an email on Tuesday to show that the Republican National Committee (RNC) did not take the former president’s election fraud claims seriously.

Earlier this week, Ellis said that she was quitting the Republican Party after GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel blocked her on Twitter. 

During a Tuesday morning appearance on Newsmax, McDaniel was asked about claims that the Republican Party misused $220 million that it had raised in the wake of Trump’s November election loss. Continue reading.

Furious Trump demanded leaker who revealed he fled to his bunker during protests be executed: report

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According to Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender’s bombshell book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, a furious Donald Trump demanded that officials in his government find out who leaked the story that he fled to his bunker during the George Floyd protests in D.C. and wanted them tried for treason and then executed.

As the report notes, Trump, his wife Melania and son Barron were escorted to the bunker — news of which quickly made it to the press, which caused the president to blow up.

Bender reports the former president, “held a tense meeting with top military, law enforcement and West Wing advisers, in which he aired grievances over the leak.” Continue reading.

Bans on critical race theory could have a chilling effect on how educators teach about racism

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Perhaps no topic has dominated education news in 2021 like the debate over whether or not critical race theory should be taught – or whether it is even being taught – in America’s schools.

Critical race theory is an academic framework that holds that racism is embedded in American society and its institutions. 

The debate about whether K-12 students should be exposed to this theory has prompted some Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass laws to make sure that never happens. As of early July 2021, six states have passed laws that seek to ban instruction on critical race theory in K-12 schools, although the laws rarely mention critical race theory by name. Continue reading.

In a surreal moment, Trump told the truth about his lies at CPAC

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During a speech filled with lies, boasts, and bullying attacks that observers have come to expect, former President Donald Trump offered a rare moment of self-effacing honesty over the weekend to the audience at CPAC.

He brought up the conservative conference’s practice of holding a straw poll to see who attendees favor to be the Republican Party’s next presidential nominee — a contest which other polls suggest he still dominates. But while he was speaking, the poll hadn’t been finished yet, so he telegraphed exactly how he will react no matter the results.

“You have a poll coming out, unfortunately — I want to know what it is,” he said. “Now if it’s bad, I disown — I say it’s fake. If it’s good, I say that’s the most accurate poll perhaps ever.” Continue reading.

The bogus GOP claim that Biden is responsible for higher gasoline prices

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“As millions of Americans travel this holiday weekend, they are feeling the cost of Biden’s policies at the pump. Gas prices are at their highest level in 7 years.”

— Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, in a tweet, July 3

“Nowhere are Americans feeling the pain more than at the pump. Gasoline prices have spiked about 70 cents per gallon since President Biden was inaugurated. They will only continue to climb.”

— Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), in a Fox News opinion article, July 2

“Average gas price: June 2020: $2.21 June 2021: $3.07 President Biden’s economy!”

— Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), in a tweet, June 21

It’s that time of year again: Gasoline prices have spiked, and politicians are trying to make political hay.

The Fact Checker has had to deal with this faux issue for decades. We wrote about it in 1996 when then-Sen. Bob Dole campaigned for president and urged a repeal of the 4.3 cent gasoline tax because gasoline then was on track to reach $1.31 a gallon. We wrote about it in 2000 when gas prices appeared to have popped to the highest level ever. We wrote about it in 2012 when Republicans misleadingly complained that gasoline prices had doubled in President Barack Obama’s term.

And here we are again. President Biden has been president for only six months, and somehow his policies have already led to high gasoline prices. Continue reading.

Trump getting tougher for Senate GOP to ignore

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Senate Republican leaders have tried to put former President Trump in the rearview mirror, rarely mentioning his name and keeping focused instead on the Democratic agenda, but Trump’s iron grip on the party’s grassroots is making it tougher and tougher to keep ignoring him.

Mainstream Republicans are getting increasingly caught up in the party’s internal battle over Trump’s legacy, with even stalwart conservatives such as Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) getting called out as insufficiently loyal to Trump or “Republicans in name only.”

Trump again showed his lock on the party’s activist base over the weekend by winning the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll with 70 percent of the vote, crushing the second-place winner, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in a distant second with 21 percent. Continue reading.

In the Know: July 15, 2021

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Governor Tim Walz
Gov. Walz To Sign Executive Order Banning Conversion Therapy In Minnesota, WCCO
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to Ban LGBTQ Conversion Therapy by Executive Order, Newsweek

Minnesota News
As the Third Precinct burned, Minneapolis police officers in another precinct destroyed case files, Star Tribune
Mankato will keep metropolitan status, Star Tribune
Line 3 pipeline opponents appeal to Minnesota Supreme Court, Pioneer Press 

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris News
Harris to hold talks with Germany’s Merkel, the first foreign leader she’s hosting, Los Angeles Times
Biden pitches huge budget, says Dems will ‘get a lot done’, Associated Press
Joe Biden is determined that China should not displace America, The Economist

Republican Party News
The leader of the Republican Party *not* named Donald Trump, CNN
Texas Republicans veer further right despite state’s demographic shifts, The Guardian
My Body, My Choice? The Paradox of Republican Anti-vaxxers, Vogue
New Trump revelations underscore his undimmed danger, CNN

U.S. Representative Angie Craig (CD2, D)
Representatives Angie Craig, Adrian Smith Lead Bipartisan Effort From Congressional Biofuels Caucus In Introducing Legislation To Allow Year-Round E15 Sales, Rep Angie Craig Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Klobuchar expects to hear if Canadian border is opening up soon, KVRR
Lawmakers introduce bill allowing higher ethanol blend in gasoline after ruling, The Hill

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (CD5, D)
Rep. Omar Advances Over $14 Million in Funding for Minnesota’s 5th District, Rep. Ilhan Omar Press Release 

U.S. News
Why a Covid-19 vaccine isn’t available for kids yet, CNN
Texas Democrats meet with supportive senators on voting rights, seeking to sustain momentum., New York Times
Democrats Roll Out $3.5 Trillion Budget to Fulfill Biden’s Broad Agenda, New York Times

Upcoming Events:

You can find non-DFL Party events on our Action Alert post.

  • July 17, 12:00 to 3:00 PM — SD49 DFL Picnic, Rosland Park Shelter, 4300 W 66th St, Edina, MN 55435. Join them for a great opportunity to meet statewide, legislative officials as well as local office holders and candidates in Bloomington and Minnetonka
  • July 21, 7:00 to 9:00 PM — CD3 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, agenda has been emailed to members, email info@dfl3cd.org for specifics if you’d like to join
  • July 28, 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD47 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, more information as it becomes available
  • July 31, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM — DFL Day of Action — Knock in Your Neighborhood! More information and RSVP here.
  • August 3, 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD37 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
  • August 4
    • 6:30 to 9:00 PM — SD50 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD33 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
  • August 5, 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD46 DFL Central Committee Meeting, St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd, St. Louis Park, MN 55416
  • August 7 — State DFL Central Committee Meeting, more information as it becomes available.
  • August 9
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD44 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD49 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
  • August 12
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD36 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD48 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information
  • August 18, 7:00 to 9:00 PM — CD3 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, more information as it becomes available
  • August 26 through September 6 — Minnesota State Fair
  • August 28 — DFL Volunteer Day at Minnesota State Fair, more information to come
    • 7:00 to 9:00 PM — SD47 DFL Virtual Central Committee Meeting, contact them for more information