Only forty-eight hours after Donald Trump admitted to Fox News that he has a lot more free time after being banned from Twitter, a host on the same network invoked his “valuable time” to end an interview as the former president ranted about the destruction of America.
“Do you feel like you have a lot more time on your hands without being on Twitter so much?” Laura Ingraham asked on Thursday.
“Actually, I do,” Trump replied. Actually, I do, it’s very true.” Continue reading.
Then–President Donald Trump’s call to widen libel laws to make it easier to sue media outlets for defamation was, at the time, seen as one of his many political theatrical stunts, throwing red meat to his voting base (New York Times, 1/10/18). Following his lead, his supporters had long referred to the press as “fake news,” sometimes using the Nazi expression lügenpresse, meaning “lying press” (Time, 10/25/16).
Corporate media covered it, but dismissed the threat. The Los Angeles Times (9/8/18) said we shouldn’t worry, because “changing our libel laws is easier said than done,” and CNBC (1/10/18) reassured that “experts say there is very little Trump could actually change about how libel laws work.” Continue reading.
Since the passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, Republicans have attempted to take credit for the legislation — despite the fact that not a single one voted for it.
Now, a new poll shows these efforts have overwhelmingly failed.
A poll this week by Invest in America shows that voters credit Biden and Democrats for the relief provided by the American Rescue Plan by a 49-point margin, with 48% of Republicans saying the same.
Other recent polls by Vox and Data for Progress show that 62 percent of voters were in favor of passing the expansive American Rescue Plan when contrasted with a smaller, more targeted relief proposed by GOP lawmakers — including nearly 50 percent of Republicans. Continue reading.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) griped after she was prohibited from blocking other Twitter accounts as part of a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles-based political action committee.
The Georgia Republican agreed to pay $10,000 in legal fees to MeidasTouch LLC, which will donate the money to two nonprofit groups, after Greene blocked the PAC’s account for posting criticism of her and former president Donald Trump — and the lawmaker fumed afterward.
“Because of this PAC’s frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m not allowed to block people that threaten my life and my children’s lives every single day on social media,” Greene tweeted. “And they are bragging about donating the money to organizations that want to take away my guns, so I couldn’t defend myself and my children, when people show up to murder us like they threaten.” Continue reading.
The former chief of staff to ex-President Donald Trump on Saturday pushed back against his former boss’ recent attempt to whitewash the history of the January 6 Capitol riot.
Mick Mulvaney, who stepped down as Trump’s special envoy to Northern Ireland after the insurrection, called Trump’s comments that his supporters were “hugging and kissing” police officers and posed “zero threat,” despite widespread violence, “manifestly false.”
“I was surprised to hear the President say that. Clearly there were people who were behaving themselves, and then there were people who absolutely were not, but to come out and say that everyone was fine and there was no risk, that’s just manifestly false — people died, other people were severely injured,” Mulvaney told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “Newsroom.” Continue reading.
Chauvin case to add to national racial legacy
George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has become a defining moment of our time.
What began 10 months ago at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue has transformed into nothing less than an American reckoning on justice, racial equity, the proper role of law enforcement and the historical wrongs society has perpetrated on Black people.
Monday morning, that moment leads to the 18th-floor courtroom of the Hennepin County Government Center, where a jury will begin to hear a murder and manslaughter case against since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin. Continue reading.
Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator under President Donald Trump, said most coronavirus deaths in the United States could have been prevented if the Trump administration had acted earlier and more decisively.
Birx made her comments in the CNN documentary “Covid War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out,” a clip from which the network released Saturday. The full documentary will air 9 p.m. Sunday.
In it, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta asked Birx how much of a difference she thinks it would have made had the United States “mitigated earlier, … paused earlier and actually done it,” referring to extending shutdowns, urging people to wear masks and implementing other steps to slow the spread of the virus. Continue reading.
Major corporations are finding ways to sidestep their pledges from January to withhold campaign contributions for GOP lawmakers who objected to the 2020 presidential election results.
Dozens of companies said after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that they would stop donating to the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the results, but recent financial disclosures show some are now making direct contributions to the House and Senate GOP campaign arms that dole out funds to those same lawmakers.
Tech giant Intel Corp., for example, contributed $15,000 from its political action committee (PAC) to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) last month. Continue reading.
It was Thursday afternoon before a Senate recess was about to begin, and senators were in a hurry — especially Marsha Blackburn.
As senators bolted from the chamber after the week’s final vote to catch their afternoon flights, the Tennessee Republican hopped in a waiting car along with an aide and made her way down Constitution Avenue. But the car was pulled over by US Capitol Police.
Blackburn then jumped out of the car, identified herself as a senator and showed the officer her congressional pin, according to a text message and a source familiar with the matter. The officer then let the car go. Continue reading.
The South Dakota governor has now managed to piss off almost everyone.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem seemed to be on the fast track: a national profile, a good relationship with former President Donald Trump, and the favor of conservatives in her state and across the country. But a bill targeting transgender athletes—and the no-win politics that have engulfed the legislation—now suddenly threatens to sideline her ambitions.
House Bill 1217 in the South Dakota legislature would prohibit transgender women from participating in female sports. And while Noem first celebrated the measure’s passage in early March, the ramifications of such a law, and the subsequent changes Noem is now seeking, have drawn ire from conservative activists and right-wing media.
“I’m excited to sign this bill very soon,” a tweet from her official account stated on March 8.
But then she didn’t. And by March 11, Noem began backing away from the bill as business and sports interests in this basketball-mad state made it clear they were not happy with the legislation. Continue reading.
