NationalWatch

Former CNN Anchor Stelter to Discuss ‘Threats to Democracy’ as Harvard Fellow

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Former CNN Anchor Stelter to Discuss 'Threats to Democracy' as Harvard Fellow brian stelter stands before a cnn logo Brian Stelter (Dennis Van Tine/AP)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 12 September 2022 02:29 PM EDT

Former CNN host Brian Stelter is joining Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.

The recently fired Stelter will be the fall 2022 Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow, the school announced.

Stelter will convene a series of discussions about "threats to democracy and the range of potential responses from the news media," the school said.

"These discussions with media leaders, policy makers, politicians, and Kennedy School students, fellows, and faculty will help deepen public and scholarly understanding about the current state of the information ecosystem and its impacts on democratic governance," the announcement said.

Stelter took to Twitter to announce his plans.

"Personal news: I'm joining the @ShorensteinCtr at Harvard Kennedy School. This fall I'll be the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow, convening discussions, some of which will be live-streamed. Grateful to @nancygibbs and her team for the home!" Stelter tweeted.

One of CNN's most vituperative hosts, Stelter was fired last month and his media affairs show "Reliable Sources" canceled by new CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht, who reportedly has been trying to return the network to its more mainstream and newsgathering roots.

During his final "Reliable Sources" broadcast Aug. 21, Stelter said that it was not partisan to stand up for decency, democracy, and dialogue.

"It's not partisan to stand up to demagogues," he said. "It's required. It's patriotic. We must make sure we don't give platforms to those who are lying to our faces. But we also must make sure we are representing the total spectrum of debate and representing what's going on in the country and the world."

Axios reported Monday that Stelter, 37, sees the fellowship as bringing the "Reliable Sources" show to campus, with longer discussions about media and democracy than on TV.

Stelter has been criticized by former President Donald Trump's supporters for his partisan coverage of the former chief executive. The host has shared anti-Trump posts on his Twitter feed.

He previously was a media reporter at The New York Times before joining CNN.

Original Article

Ariz. GOP Senate hopeful Black Masters: Biden’s open border the top issue with Ariz. voters

by
Neil W. McCabe — OAN National Political Correspondent
UPDATED 9:18 AM PT – Monday, September 12, 2022

The Arizona Republican nominee for Senate told reporters his most effective pitch to voters is his pledge to secure his state’s border with Mexico in the last two months before the November election at the National Conservatism Conference held Sept. 11 through Sept. 13 in Miami at a press gaggle shortly after his speech to a closed-the-press reception for conference participants.

“It’s the wide-open southern border,” said Blake Masters, the former president of Thiel Capital, the private family investment vehicle for Peter Thiel’s family. “Which was a choice. Joe Biden made that choice.”

Masters said his rival, Sen. Mark E. Kelly (D.-Ariz.), also made the choice to leave the border open.

“Mark Kelly, my opponent in Arizona, he’s done more than anyone in the whole country to help Biden implement this disastrous open border policy, so you’ve got 500,000 actually about 300,000 illegals coming through every month,” he said. “Five million have come here since Joe Biden and Mark Kelly to open the Southern border.”

Masters said the open border not only brings in illegal migrants, but also dangerous drugs.

“It’s all the fentanyl, it’s the drug overdoses. It’s the crime attendant to that open border,” said the married father of three.

The border and crime are also connected to how Democrats have handled the nation’s economy.

“It’s law and order–crime. It’s also inflation of course, and inflation is an abstract economic term,” he said.

“What it really means is the Democrats have made life too expensive,” said the 36-year-old Denver native.

“They’ve made life unaffordable for so many people, uh, at the gas pump at the grocery store,” Masters said. “Everything you need to live is more expensive because of Joe Biden and Mark Kelly’s demented economic policies.”

The man who co-wrote the book “Zero to One” with his former boss Peter Thiel, said he has concerns about how the 2022 election is conducted, after the mismanagement of the 2020 election.

“I’m worried, but you know, a lot of people worried about this and I think in Arizona, we’ve made some progress,” said he said.

“We’ll go to war here in November with a better set of election integrity laws than we had in November of 2020,” Masters said.

One of the problems is the model of big tech interference practiced by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, who spent more than $400 million to sway the 2020 election to former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Zuckerberg also told Joe Rogan on his podcast that Facebook deliberately suppressed news related to the Hunter Biden laptop after the FBI told him it was part of a Russian information offensive.

“I’m mostly worried about big tech,” he said.

“Zuckerberg literally just admitted that the FBI coerced Facebook into censoring, true information about Hunter Biden in the weeks before the 2020 election, so when you have the FBI, when you have federal law enforcement working closely with multibillion-dollar corporations to put their thumb on the scale, to decide what Americans get to hear about in the weeks leading up to an election–I think we should all worry about that,” Masters said.

“How could you not be worried about that?” he asked.

This election is critical because of the radical plans the Democrats would execute if they keep control of the House and gain an absolute majority in the Senate, he said.

“We’re seeing it—look how bad we’re suffering under just two years of Biden-Harris under just two years. Look what they’ve done in 18 months, so imagine what Hillary Clinton would’ve accomplished in six years,” he said. “It’s game over. It’d be too late,” he said.

“If the Democrats take control of the Senate, if they can actually get Biden’s agenda through, they will pack the Supreme Court. They will federalize elections. They will add new states to the union,” Masters said.

“Like the Biden says that anyone who cares about the Constitution, anyone who wants to put America first, he says, that’s fascist,” he said.

“What Biden is doing is this creeping, bureaucratic totalitarianism that they’re ushering in. That’s gonna be the end of America. If we don’t put a stop to it right now,” he said.

Masters said in the Senate, that he would work to reform the federal civil service system, which protects the federal employees, specifically to hold them accountable for job performance and to remove their extraordinary job security.

“I just think that people who work for the government shouldn’t have lifetime tenure. Maybe there should be some performance reviews,” said former investment banker said.

“Maybe you should give the good people, a raise and fire, the bad people. How about that? Instead of just this entrenched bureaucracy where nobody can, can ever be fired for any reason like that doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.

The Senate candidate said government employees are treated in a way that is completely unknown in the private sector.

“Imagine running a business that way—ludicrous–if you, if you were the CEO and you could never fire an employee, whether they were good or not, you think that company would work,” he said.

Masters said he does not believe the civil service has become feudalism. “I wouldn’t say that. I just think the civil service’s become mind, numbingly, bureaucratic and increasingly left-wing.”

Because the civil servants are immune to accountability, they can outlast a president they oppose, he said.

“Their whole concept is to just wait out a president, right?” he said. “Look at how hard they dug in and resisted President Trump’s agenda. They just wait out Republican administrations because they know they can never be fired. I think that’s a problem.”

The graduate of Sanford Law School said there are a number of senators he looks forward to working with if he is sworn in in January.

“We have a lot of good ones. Sen. Josh Hawley, Holly, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Pau—and Cy, Cynthia Lummis is doing interesting stuff on crypto,” he said.

“Mike Lee is always a joy to work with and talk to about the Constitution,” he said.

“We have a good bench and I don’t think the Democrats do.”

Original Article Oann

Ariz. GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters: Biden’s open border top issue

by

Neil W. McCabe — OAN National Political Correspondent
UPDATED 9:18 AM PT – Monday, September 12, 2022

The Arizona Republican nominee for Senate told reporters his most effective pitch to voters is his pledge to secure his state’s border with Mexico in the last two months before the November election at the National Conservatism Conference held Sept. 11 through Sept. 13 in Miami at a press gaggle shortly after his speech to a closed-the-press reception for conference participants.

“It’s the wide-open southern border,” said Blake Masters, the former president of Thiel Capital, the private family investment vehicle for Peter Thiel’s family. “Which was a choice. Joe Biden made that choice.”

Masters said his rival, Sen. Mark E. Kelly (D.-Ariz.), also made the choice to leave the border open.

“Mark Kelly, my opponent in Arizona, he’s done more than anyone in the whole country to help Biden implement this disastrous open border policy, so you’ve got 500,000 actually about 300,000 illegals coming through every month,” he said. “Five million have come here since Joe Biden and Mark Kelly to open the Southern border.”

Masters said the open border not only brings in illegal migrants, but also dangerous drugs.

“It’s all the fentanyl, it’s the drug overdoses. It’s the crime attendant to that open border,” said the married father of three.

The border and crime are also connected to how Democrats have handled the nation’s economy.

“It’s law and order–crime. It’s also inflation of course, and inflation is an abstract economic term,” he said.

“What it really means is the Democrats have made life too expensive,” said the 36-year-old Denver native.

“They’ve made life unaffordable for so many people, uh, at the gas pump at the grocery store,” Masters said. “Everything you need to live is more expensive because of Joe Biden and Mark Kelly’s demented economic policies.”

The man who co-wrote the book “Zero to One” with his former boss Peter Thiel, said he has concerns about how the 2022 election is conducted, after the mismanagement of the 2020 election.

“I’m worried, but you know, a lot of people worried about this and I think in Arizona, we’ve made some progress,” said he said.

“We’ll go to war here in November with a better set of election integrity laws than we had in November of 2020,” Masters said.

One of the problems is the model of big tech interference practiced by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, who spent more than $400 million to sway the 2020 election to former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Zuckerberg also told Joe Rogan on his podcast that Facebook deliberately suppressed news related to the Hunter Biden laptop after the FBI told him it was part of a Russian information offensive.

“I’m mostly worried about big tech,” he said.

“Zuckerberg literally just admitted that the FBI coerced Facebook into censoring, true information about Hunter Biden in the weeks before the 2020 election, so when you have the FBI, when you have federal law enforcement working closely with multibillion-dollar corporations to put their thumb on the scale, to decide what Americans get to hear about in the weeks leading up to an election–I think we should all worry about that,” Masters said.

“How could you not be worried about that?” he asked.

This election is critical because of the radical plans the Democrats would execute if they keep control of the House and gain an absolute majority in the Senate, he said.

“We’re seeing it—look how bad we’re suffering under just two years of Biden-Harris under just two years. Look what they’ve done in 18 months, so imagine what Hillary Clinton would’ve accomplished in six years,” he said. “It’s game over. It’d be too late,” he said.

“If the Democrats take control of the Senate, if they can actually get Biden’s agenda through, they will pack the Supreme Court. They will federalize elections. They will add new states to the union,” Masters said.

“Like the Biden says that anyone who cares about the Constitution, anyone who wants to put America first, he says, that’s fascist,” he said.

“What Biden is doing is this creeping, bureaucratic totalitarianism that they’re ushering in. That’s gonna be the end of America. If we don’t put a stop to it right now,” he said.

Masters said in the Senate, that he would work to reform the federal civil service system, which protects the federal employees, specifically to hold them accountable for job performance and to remove their extraordinary job security.

“I just think that people who work for the government shouldn’t have lifetime tenure. Maybe there should be some performance reviews,” said former investment banker said.

“Maybe you should give the good people, a raise and fire, the bad people. How about that? Instead of just this entrenched bureaucracy where nobody can, can ever be fired for any reason like that doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.

The Senate candidate said government employees are treated in a way that is completely unknown in the private sector.

“Imagine running a business that way—ludicrous–if you, if you were the CEO and you could never fire an employee, whether they were good or not, you think that company would work,” he said.

Masters said he does not believe the civil service has become feudalism. “I wouldn’t say that. I just think the civil service’s become mind, numbingly, bureaucratic and increasingly left-wing.”

Because the civil servants are immune to accountability, they can outlast a president they oppose, he said.

“Their whole concept is to just wait out a president, right?” he said. “Look at how hard they dug in and resisted President Trump’s agenda. They just wait out Republican administrations because they know they can never be fired. I think that’s a problem.”

The graduate of Sanford Law School said there are a number of senators he looks forward to working with if he is sworn in in January.

“We have a lot of good ones. Sen. Josh Hawley, Holly, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Pau—and Cy, Cynthia Lummis is doing interesting stuff on crypto,” he said.

“Mike Lee is always a joy to work with and talk to about the Constitution,” he said.

“We have a good bench and I don’t think the Democrats do.”

Original Article Oann

Ariz. GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters: Biden’s open border top issue

by

Neil W. McCabe — OAN National Political Correspondent
UPDATED 9:18 AM PT – Monday, September 12, 2022

The Arizona Republican nominee for Senate told reporters his most effective pitch to voters is his pledge to secure his state’s border with Mexico in the last two months before the November election at the National Conservatism Conference held Sept. 11 through Sept. 13 in Miami at a press gaggle shortly after his speech to a closed-the-press reception for conference participants.

“It’s the wide-open southern border,” said Blake Masters, the former president of Thiel Capital, the private family investment vehicle for Peter Thiel’s family. “Which was a choice. Joe Biden made that choice.”

Masters said his rival, Sen. Mark E. Kelly (D.-Ariz.), also made the choice to leave the border open.

“Mark Kelly, my opponent in Arizona, he’s done more than anyone in the whole country to help Biden implement this disastrous open border policy, so you’ve got 500,000 actually about 300,000 illegals coming through every month,” he said. “Five million have come here since Joe Biden and Mark Kelly to open the Southern border.”

Masters said the open border not only brings in illegal migrants, but also dangerous drugs.

“It’s all the fentanyl, it’s the drug overdoses. It’s the crime attendant to that open border,” said the married father of three.

The border and crime are also connected to how Democrats have handled the nation’s economy.

“It’s law and order–crime. It’s also inflation of course, and inflation is an abstract economic term,” he said.

“What it really means is the Democrats have made life too expensive,” said the 36-year-old Denver native.

“They’ve made life unaffordable for so many people, uh, at the gas pump at the grocery store,” Masters said. “Everything you need to live is more expensive because of Joe Biden and Mark Kelly’s demented economic policies.”

The man who co-wrote the book “Zero to One” with his former boss Peter Thiel, said he has concerns about how the 2022 election is conducted, after the mismanagement of the 2020 election.

“I’m worried, but you know, a lot of people worried about this and I think in Arizona, we’ve made some progress,” said he said.

“We’ll go to war here in November with a better set of election integrity laws than we had in November of 2020,” Masters said.

One of the problems is the model of big tech interference practiced by Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, who spent more than $400 million to sway the 2020 election to former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Zuckerberg also told Joe Rogan on his podcast that Facebook deliberately suppressed news related to the Hunter Biden laptop after the FBI told him it was part of a Russian information offensive.

“I’m mostly worried about big tech,” he said.

“Zuckerberg literally just admitted that the FBI coerced Facebook into censoring, true information about Hunter Biden in the weeks before the 2020 election, so when you have the FBI, when you have federal law enforcement working closely with multibillion-dollar corporations to put their thumb on the scale, to decide what Americans get to hear about in the weeks leading up to an election–I think we should all worry about that,” Masters said.

“How could you not be worried about that?” he asked.

This election is critical because of the radical plans the Democrats would execute if they keep control of the House and gain an absolute majority in the Senate, he said.

“We’re seeing it—look how bad we’re suffering under just two years of Biden-Harris under just two years. Look what they’ve done in 18 months, so imagine what Hillary Clinton would’ve accomplished in six years,” he said. “It’s game over. It’d be too late,” he said.

“If the Democrats take control of the Senate, if they can actually get Biden’s agenda through, they will pack the Supreme Court. They will federalize elections. They will add new states to the union,” Masters said.

“Like the Biden says that anyone who cares about the Constitution, anyone who wants to put America first, he says, that’s fascist,” he said.

“What Biden is doing is this creeping, bureaucratic totalitarianism that they’re ushering in. That’s gonna be the end of America. If we don’t put a stop to it right now,” he said.

Masters said in the Senate, that he would work to reform the federal civil service system, which protects the federal employees, specifically to hold them accountable for job performance and to remove their extraordinary job security.

“I just think that people who work for the government shouldn’t have lifetime tenure. Maybe there should be some performance reviews,” said former investment banker said.

“Maybe you should give the good people, a raise and fire, the bad people. How about that? Instead of just this entrenched bureaucracy where nobody can, can ever be fired for any reason like that doesn’t make any sense at all,” he said.

The Senate candidate said government employees are treated in a way that is completely unknown in the private sector.

“Imagine running a business that way—ludicrous–if you, if you were the CEO and you could never fire an employee, whether they were good or not, you think that company would work,” he said.

Masters said he does not believe the civil service has become feudalism. “I wouldn’t say that. I just think the civil service’s become mind, numbingly, bureaucratic and increasingly left-wing.”

Because the civil servants are immune to accountability, they can outlast a president they oppose, he said.

“Their whole concept is to just wait out a president, right?” he said. “Look at how hard they dug in and resisted President Trump’s agenda. They just wait out Republican administrations because they know they can never be fired. I think that’s a problem.”

The graduate of Sanford Law School said there are a number of senators he looks forward to working with if he is sworn in in January.

“We have a lot of good ones. Sen. Josh Hawley, Holly, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Pau—and Cy, Cynthia Lummis is doing interesting stuff on crypto,” he said.

“Mike Lee is always a joy to work with and talk to about the Constitution,” he said.

“We have a good bench and I don’t think the Democrats do.”

Original Article Oann

Former Speaker Gingrich Reminds GOP to Focus on What Matters

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Former Speaker Gingrich Reminds GOP to Focus on What Matters Newt Gingrich Former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. (AP)

By Nicole Wells | Monday, 12 September 2022 01:49 PM EDT

In a reminder to his party to focus on what matters, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich unveiled "the Republican formula" for midterm victories this year, in an opinion piece published by the Washington Examiner on Monday.

Despite polls showing Democrat gains among voters following the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade reversal, Gingrich maintains that "Republicans have the potential for a surprisingly big victory come this November's midterm elections."

The bestselling author tells GOP candidates that the public is currently dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, soaring energy costs, rising crime, and the consequences of the Biden administration's southern border policy that has resulted in a massive influx of illegal drugs and immigrants.

"On virtually every front, people are finding themselves frustrated and frightened by a Democratic Party that is simply failing," Gingrich said. "President Joe Biden's bizarre Philadelphia speech (with its ominous, red-colored setting and its shameless and totally inappropriate use of the Marine Corps) furthered the sense that the Democratic Party is both disastrous and dangerous."

According to a Trafalgar poll released last week, 57% believe Biden's speech at Independence Hall "represents a dangerous escalation in rhetoric and is designed to incite conflict amongst Americans." Just 36% agreed that "it is acceptable campaign messaging that is to be expected in an election year."

The University of Virginia Center for Politics published an analysis Sept. 8 using two different models to develop an election forecast. Both predict large Republican wins of 37 to 44 seats in the House and smaller Republican wins of three to five seats in the Senate.

According to Gingrich, GOP candidates need to "ignore the media's efforts" to divert their attention to the 2024 presidential election and the "unending effort to smear" former President Donald Trump.

"Your job is to stay focused on the issues that matter in the lives of everyday people," he said. "The cost-of-living crisis, especially the skyrocketing cost of food, comes first. The ripple effects of the cost-of-living crisis on electricity prices, gasoline prices, heating oil in the Northeast, diesel fuel, fertilizer and other necessities should be a part of your campaign."

The podcast host added that Republican candidates should "explain big-government socialist spending as the major cause of inflation," and campaign at grocery stores and gas stations.

Crime, Gingrich writes, may be the issue to watch this fall, as a whopping 70% of Philadelphians consider crime and safety their biggest issue and the city is on track to suffer a record number of homicides this year.

There are two convicted murderers working on the campaign of Pennsylvania Democrat Senate candidate John Fetterman, Gingrich points out, and Fetterman voted to release other convicted murderers from prison.

Next, the massive influx of migrants and illicit drugs coming across the southern border is something that Republican candidates should address, especially with overdose deaths now topping 100,000 people per year.

With 84% believing that parents should know what is being taught to their children, GOP candidates should campaign on the right of parents to know what is going on in the classroom, Gingrich said.

Lastly, Gingrich said Republican candidates should "emphasize that we need a military focused on defeating America's enemies, not on being a woke social service center."

Original Article

Trujillo: What Does Charlie Crist Really Believe?

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Trujillo: What Does Charlie Crist Really Believe? democratic candidate for florida governor charlie crist

Florida gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., giving a victory speech after defeating gubernatorial candidate, Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, in the primary election: Aug. 23, 2022 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)

By Carlos Trujillo | Monday, 12 September 2022 01:04 PM EDT

Charlie Crist is consistently inconsistent.

All we really know is that whatever he believes today will likely change in six months or a year when it’s time to run for reelection.

Our votes are too valuable to spend on a candidate who so readily abandons the platforms on which he got elected. Crist is no stranger to politics; this is his fifth decade running for office.

In the last 15 years he served as a Republican governor in 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate, then he switched parties registering as an Independent.

He became a Democrat in 2012, ran for governor in 2014 as a Democrat, and lost. Crist did win a U.S. House seat in 2016, and today he's running for Florida governor, as a Democrat.

Education

Floridians are passionate about school choice, the process that gives parents options to decide which educational opportunities best fit their child's needs.

As governor, Crist supported school choice and signed an expansion bill in 2010 that funded more opportunities for students and parents. Then, when he ran as a Democrat a few years later, he wanted to defund the program.

Today, anti-choice Crist chooses a school union leader as his running mate.

Karla Hernández-Mats has publicly disdained parents; last October she tweeted a meme on parents who express their views at school-board meetings to serial killers and horror-movie villains and commented, "For any of you following the school board meetings, you know the craziness is real."

Immigration

In 2010, when Crist was running for U.S. Senate, Crist supported legal immigration and sealing the border.

In an interview, then-Republican Gov. Crist took a stronger position on the pathway to citizenship, saying that illegal immigrants "shouldn’t feel advantaged by the fact that they got here illegally" and "should go to the back of the line, go through the regular process, what the law requires, in order to attain their citizenship."

In 2014, Crist flip-flopped during his campaign against Rick Scott.

Crist’s campaign website said, "We must immediately pass legislation that allows the children of undocumented parents to attend Florida colleges and universities at in-state tuition levels.

"It simply isn’t fair to punish children of undocumented parents."

In 2017, Crist supported an $827 billion bill funding multiple projects including former President Donald Trump's border wall.

Crist then issued a statement questioning its merit the next day.

In 2019, Crist voted in favor of terminating Trump's emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The order had allowed Trump to reallocate funds for the wall by bypassing Congress.

When it comes to foreign relations, Charlie Crist has stood in lockstep with Joe Biden on Cuba and Venezuela. He has played nice with the dictators, and supports the removal of sanctions on Venezuela and the corrupt Maduro regime.

Second Amendment

Crist was a staunch pro-gun supporter.

In 1998, as a state senator, he said, "And for us to make moves that would disarm our law-abiding citizens would be inappropriate."

In his 2006 primary against Republican rival Tom Gallagher, who supported some gun-control restrictions, Crist put out an ad calling Gallagher "anti-gun."

The ad concluded, with "Charlie Crist: endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA)."

A few years later when Crist became governor, he appointed NRA favorites to the Florida Supreme Court and signed legislation allowing 500,000 concealed weapons permit-holders to bring their guns to work.

He even garnered an "A" rating from the NRA.

In June of 2022, Crist praised the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and supports universal background checks and a ban on sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

While Charlie Crist has flip-flopped on policies and politics for decades, Gov. DeSantis has never wavered.

DeSantis is a leader who advocates and protects Floridian’s freedoms, the right to go and worship, the right to earn a living, and the right for our children to attend school five days a week.

He championed the largest expansion of school choice in Florida history, stood against dictators, answered the call on illegal immigration, and most importantly, he kept Florida open.

Gov. DeSantis has made the sunshine state a place where people want to live, work, and raise their families.

Carlos Trujillo served as Ambassador to the Organization of American States after he was appointed to the post in 2017 by Donald J Trump. Prior, Trujillo served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives for eight years.

Original Article

Media says lower gas prices may help midterm Democrats

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Gas prices are displayed at a station, July 7, 2022, in Sandston, Virginia. (AP Photo)

Gas prices are displayed at a station, July 7, 2022, in Sandston, Virginia. (AP Photo)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:20 AM PT – Monday, September 12, 2022

Mainstream media claims the recent retreat in gas prices may be helping Democrats in midterm elections. The national average gas price fell to $3.74 last week from more than $5 per gallon in the beginning of the Summer.

As a result, Democrats are trying to tout this retreat as President Joe Biden’s achievement on the campaign trail. However, US gas prices are still up 60 cents per gallon from a year ago, while the US National Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1985. Additionally, economists have warned energy prices could surge again this Winter.

“There is ripple effects and as the European industry shuts down, a good part of their industry will shut down this winter,” said Christopher Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy. “That’s inflationary effects across the industry. As Russia plays politics with cutting back oil exports we can see oil prices double from where they are today.”

The Biden administration plans to impose a “price cap” on Russian oil in December and Moscow said it will stop selling oil to countries that join that price cap. As a result, global oil prices could skyrocket due to a looming lack of supply.

MORE NEWS: Biden’s ‘Economic Blueprint’ Rewrites Past Two Years

Original Article Oann

Rasmussen Poll: Biden’s Philly Speech Leaves Voters Divided

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Rasmussen Poll: Biden's Philly Speech Leaves Voters Divided Joe Biden President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)

By Eric Mack | Monday, 12 September 2022 12:28 PM EDT

President Joe Biden might have campaigned on unifying the country, but he effectively split the country in two with his recent speech denouncing "MAGA Republicans," according to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.

The poll asked likely voters whether they agreed with Biden's Sep. 1 speech in Philadelphia, where he said: "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic."

The results show how wide the partisan divide has split under Biden. While 80% of Democrats agree with Biden's statement, there were 76% of Republicans who disagreed. Notably, a majority of those not with either of those two parties (independents and third-party voters) disagreed with Biden's remarks. Biden had just 40% support for his divisiveness.

Overall, 48% of likely voters agree with Biden (36% strongly), while 47% disagree (39% strongly).

A tweet from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was also poll tested by Rasmussen: "Joe Biden should quit blaming 'MAGA Republicans' and get to working on the economy he ruined."

Jordan's remarks were more widely accepted than Biden's in the poll:

  • 58% agreed with Jordan (46% strongly).
  • Just 38% disagreed with Jordan (26% strongly).

Jordan also won the unaffiliated/third-party nod, with only Democrats against him, too:

  • 83% of Republicans agreed with Jordan.
  • 60% of Democrats disagreed with Jordan.
  • 55% of unaffiliated voters agreed with Jordan.
  • Just 38% of unaffiliated voters disagreed with Jordan.

Among the 69% of likely voters that closely followed the news reports of Biden's speech (39% very closely), there were 50% disagreeing with his remarks. That topped the 47% that agreed with Biden.

Rasmussen Reports polled 1,000 likely U.S. voters Sept. 6-7. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Original Article

Allan Ryskind: Liz Cheney’s Big Lie

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Allan Ryskind: Liz Cheney's Big Lie Liz Cheney Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. (Getty Images)

By Allan Ryskind | Monday, 12 September 2022 11:40 AM EDT

When Liz Cheney was picked by Nancy Pelosi to serve as vice-chair of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, the Wyoming lawmaker launched one of her biggest lies.

Cheney said she took the job to ensure the committee would achieve its goal of conducting a "nonpartisan, professional and thorough investigation" of the Capitol riots.

But her time on the panel has not been nonpartisan, professional or thorough.

From the very start, she helped load the scales against Donald Trump. At no time did Cheney bother to act judiciously or fairly.

She came to the Select Committee with the mindset of a hanging judge. Before the panel had completed its investigation, she charged that what Trump did on Jan. 6 was both unconstitutional and illegal." She knew from its inception that the panel had been heavily stacked by Pelosi against anyone who believed that Trump was not guilty of a crime, even though many distinguished jurists thought the case against Trump was non-existent.

Two liberal publications, the Washington Post and the New York Times — institutions that loathe the former president — took that exact position in their news stories. Instead of finding him guilty of any criminal conduct, they found him innocent of all the serious charges that Liz Cheney and her Democrat allies had insisted he had broken.

No matter. Cheney not only brazenly tilted facts to put Trump behind bars, but in this crucial election year, she began working overtime to purge from public office several conservative GOP lawmakers who also don't believe that the former president committed a crime. If successful, of course, her actions will widen the Democrat majority in both the Senate and the House.

Here's a reminder on how Cheney collaborated with Pelosi to transform the Jan. 6 Select Committee into the kangaroo court that it became. Under its rules, the speaker was given complete authority, without the need to consult any Republican, to appoint eight of its members. She chose all eight of the Democrats, each in the anti-Trump camp. The minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, was permitted to appoint five, but only with the speaker's consent. The first Republican chosen by Pelosi to serve on the Select Committee was Cheney, who had already claimed the president was guilty of criminal conduct. She never disagreed with Pelosi on any of her demonstrably partisan tactics. Nor did she take issue with Pelosi when the only other Republican she chose was Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), who, along with Cheney, had voted for Trump's impeachment.

More major Pelosi stacking was to come. On July 21, 2020, the speaker blocked two of McCarthy's choices, Republicans Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ind.) — both of whom supported Trump's decision to contest the election. This action was perfectly legal, had been done by Democrats several times in this century, was vigorously defended by Nancy Pelosi and could have made John Kerry president in 2005. (See Karl Rove's Sept. 18 splendid history lesson in the Wall Street Journal.)

Cheney had a chance to partially redeem herself with her Republican colleagues by coming to McCarthy's defense and telling Pelosi that the Jan. 6 committee would never be viewed as an impartial body if it didn't permit any pro-Trump lawmakers as participants. But the vice chair was in no mood to be conciliatory. Instead, she rushed to issue a statement on the Capitol steps, remarking: "I agree with what the speaker has done." Translated, she agreed with her decision to make it impossible for the ex-president to get a fair hearing.

Even the New York Times thought Cheney had abused her authority. In a front page story, the Times told its readers that the committee is employing prosecutorial techniques "typically used against mobsters and terrorists" as it seeks to "develop evidence that could prompt a criminal case" against Trump and his allies. The Times then pointedly noted that the Select Committee "has no authority to pursue criminal charges."

Cheney has never stopped twisting the facts to get Trump indicted, even though she has never produced the tiniest piece of evidence to support her magnificent obsession. She recently maintained that Trump, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, were all conspiring to forcibly overthrow the U.S. government. The Wall Street Journal, which has relentlessly trashed Trump's "stolen election" theory, said her "seditious conspiracy" accusation was in no way persuasive and that Cheney "offered no evidence" (emphasis added) that Trump had communicated directly with either group. Surely that tells us all we need to know about Cheney's "character," a word she says too many other Republicans lack.

The Washington Post completed a remarkable report back in January quoting distinguished prosecutors, defense lawyers, law professors and judges on whether our country's former chief executive would be criminally charged for any of his actions on Jan. 6, 2021 — or even on days leading up to that event.

The Post didn't think so. Did Trump prompt the crowd marching to the Capitol to engage in violence, as so many Americans believe? "(T)here is no evidence," the Post stressed, "that he knew they planned to storm the building." (repeat: "no evidence.") Indeed, the record distinctly shows that Trump repeatedly told the portion of the crowd that was marching to the Capitol to go peacefully.

The Post raised major doubts that Trump could even be prosecuted for demanding that Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, come up with enough votes to overcome Biden's lead in the Peach state. "I just wanted to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump told Raffensperger. Even "Ever Trumpers" found this language disturbing. He might have been vulnerable to federal criminal prosecution if he had let that "request" stand. But he added this mitigating comment which his enemies usually omit: "Because we won the state."

Credible legal authorities told the Times and the Post that if the president genuinely believed the election was stolen it would be hard to charge him with a crime for contesting the outcome.

"The key to pretty much all these crimes he's been accused of," former federal prosecutor Randall Ellison told the Post, "would be proving corrupt intent." But there would be no corrupt intent if Trump could argue there was an overload of seemingly credible election fraud to challenge a Biden victory and that his key legal adviser on elections had told him that Vice President Mike Pence could deny Biden the presidency. (The adviser, John Eastman, had said that Pence had that authority. Pence, famously, repudiated Eastman's advice.)

Other constitutional experts interviewed by the Times, another powerful anti-Trump publication, thought it would be difficult to prove he violated any laws dealing with the chaos that occurred on Jan. 6. Daniel L. Zelenko, a defense lawyer and former prosecutor, sided with Ellison. "The key," he told the Times, "is having contemporaneous evidence that Trump knew the election was not stolen but tried to stay in power anyway." Samuel W. Buell, a Duke University law professor, made the same case. "You need to show" he also told the Times, "that he knew what he was doing was wrongful and had no legal basis." No such evidence has materialized, though that hasn't deterred Cheney from obsessing with ways to put Trump in an orange jump suit.

Every Republican knows what the stakes are in the November elections. The House is barely — but clearly — controlled by the Democrats as passage of the multi-billion dollar "Inflation Reduction Act" reveals. The final vote was 220 to 207, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed.

The Democrats in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, carried the day when Vice President Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote for the Administration.

But Cheney has become so vengeful that her current tactics are not only focused on Trump but every Republican who doesn't roundly condemn him. She claims she still holds Republican values but is doing everything she can to give the Democrats a boost and hinder the effort by GOP party stalwarts to increase their margins in the Congress. Her assault against her party is providing the Democrats with an abundance of verbal ammunition that Democrats will almost certainly deploy to defeat the Republicans in November. She has already accused GOP lawmakers of palling around with "anti-semites" and "enemies" of the U.S. Constitution for failing to embrace her view that Trump is guilty of criminal conduct.

She insists the GOP leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, is too ignorant of the Constitution to hold public office. She has harshly criticized Republicans who thought investigations should be made of significant vote fraud allegations before Congress formally approved the Biden delegations for president. In her zeal to strike back at her own party for ignoring her advice, she has issued a fatwa against three prominent Republican lawmakers in the House and the Senate and a well-known governor: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

And it looks as if she's eager to hurl similar broadsides against other GOP lawmakers whom she regards as soft on the former president.

Cheney has shown she's willing to falsify the case against Republicans she dislikes. She has bitterly assailed Cruz as if he had embraced Trump's assertion that the election was stolen. Cruz never said it was. He did call for a 10-day investigation of significant fraud allegations prior to certification of Biden delegates by the Congress. But on Jan. 23, 2021 — almost two years ago — Cruz condemned Trump's claims as "reckless and irresponsible" since he was relying on speculation and had never produced any proof.

No apologies from Cheney, naturally.

Her outburst against Gov. DeSantis was especially puzzling. Unlike Cheney, DeSantis thinks the best way to return the country to sound Republican policies that Cheney says she still embraces — she voted for Trump's policies 93 percent of the time — is to expand the conservative Republican influence in Congress. But asked if she could support the Florida governor for the presidency, she immediately nixed the idea.

Had the governor joined Trump in insisting the election was stolen? No. Had he challenged presidential delegates who had been awarded to Biden? No evidence of that has come to light. His unforgivable sin? She assailed him for campaigning for GOP candidates whom she accused of being "election deniers." According to her broad definition, that means every Republican who may not share her minority view in the legal community that Trump should go to jail for what occurred on Jan. 6.

If Republicans follow her lead, the Democrats would be more likely to keep control of the Senate and the House in November, with a larger margin in both chambers and the defeat of a core of solid GOP office holders — some of whom have an excellent chance of winning the White House in 2024. Wyoming Republicans wisely turned against her, but she can still cause a great deal of harm.

The final report of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, with Cheney determined to play a major role, is expected to come out closer to the election. The report is likely to be a document that will savage both Trump and scores of Republican lawmakers for what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. Cheney will then make sure that the most damning charges, whether true or false, are spread nationwide by the Democrats' media allies. If the Republicans do poorly this fall, the Democrats should toss a Hollywood-style party for Liz.

Allan H. Ryskind, a columnist and former editor and owner of Human Events, is the author of "Hollywood Traitors" (Regnery, 2015), a book on how the Communist Party attempted to seize the movie industry.

Original Article

Trump Urges Judge to Stick With Special Master Ruling

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Trump Urges Judge to Stick With Special Master Ruling former president donald trump gesturing at a rally Former President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 12 September 2022 11:28 AM EDT

Former President Donald Trump on Monday encouraged a federal judge to stick with her order that blocked the Justice Department from continuing its criminal investigation surrounding the government documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

The DOJ on Thursday filed a notice with the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying it was contesting U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to name an independent arbiter (special master) to review records taken by the FBI agents from Trump's Florida home during an Aug. 8 raid.

Trump on Monday urged Cannon to keep her order in place, Politico reported.

"In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records," Trump's attorneys wrote in a 21-page filing.

The DOJ insists Cannon's directive harms national security.

Trump's lawyers disagree, saying in the new filing that prosecutors are overstating the national-security concerns and that "there is no indication any purported 'classified records' were disclosed to anyone," The Washington Post reported.

Federal prosecutors also asked Cannon to withhold her ruling that the FBI not use the more than 100 classified documents seized in the search until they are reviewed by an outside legal expert.

The DOJ asked Cannon to exempt the classified documents from review by the outside expert, saying that requiring such a review would unnecessarily complicate the national security issues, Post reported.

On Friday, the DOJ and Trump's attorneys said they were divided over whether classified records seized by the FBI should be reviewed by a special master, and they each put forth a separate list of candidates for the job.

Both sides proposed different sets of possible candidates for the special master job, and added they intended to inform the court about their views on the other side's candidate list by Monday.

The DOJ previously said FBI agents who raided Mar-a-Lago removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret.

Trump and allies insist the former president had declassified White House documents that were brought to Florida.

Reuters contributed to this story.

Original Article

McCarthy Continues Drive to Defeat GOP Detractors Before Speaker Bid

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McCarthy Continues Drive to Defeat GOP Detractors Before Speaker Bid house minority leader kevin mccarthy speaking during a press briefing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Getty Images)

By Brian Freeman | Monday, 12 September 2022 10:38 AM EDT

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's allies have helped defeat his potential detractors in Republican primaries nationwide, with the New Hampshire GOP vote Tuesday offering the final chance to wipe out dissenters who might derail his speakership bid next year, Politico reported on Monday.

Conservative rivals of McCarthy are furious over what they allege is a leadership-backed campaign to help the California Republican obtain the House's top role next year after a possible GOP takeover.

Outside spending in New Hampshire's Republican House primaries on behalf of Matt Mowers and Keene Mayor George Hansel has angered the other GOP contenders.

"This is coming from McCarthy," said Bob Burns, who is challenging Hansel in the Republican primary to take on Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster.

"He's dead to me at this point. I'm not going to support him," Burns said, adding that "quite frankly, if it boils down to it, I may run against him."

The race in New Hampshire to take on Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas became particularly heated after the McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund backed Mowers over his top competitor, Karoline Leavitt, a Generation Z former Donald Trump communications official, according to Politico.

Leavitt, when asked if she would vote for McCarthy, said: "I am the only candidate in this race that the establishment is viciously attacking. They're spending millions and millions of dollars to slow down my momentum. I'm not beholden to anyone in D.C."

Several groups in the past few months have spent millions to defeat some of McCarthy's biggest detractors in primaries from Virginia to Texas to Florida, and he has moved to win over some skeptical candidates who won Republican nominations.

This means that only a handful of Republican nominees have said they will oppose a McCarthy run for speaker, making it easier for him to take on the role if the GOP wins control of the House.

Perhaps the best example of McCarthy successfully winning over detractors to his side was Ohio's J.R. Majewski, a Trump supporter.

Majewski said in late April that he believed McCarthy "did, in fact, conspire" with Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the anti-Trump congresswoman, declaring that "he and his minions can no longer be trusted," according to Politico.

Majewski vowed to do everything in his power to stop "the establishment" and "the insiders" from gaining the speakership, saying he would instead back "constitutional warriors" like Rep. Paul Gosar.

But just a few months later, McCarthy joined Majewski in Ohio to aid his campaign against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, and Majewski praised McCarthy as "a great leader and partner in my race."

Majewski told Politico that "McCarthy came to Ohio to campaign with me and I am grateful for it. He is working hard to win the majority and put a check on the reckless Biden/Kaptur agenda. That is exactly what our party needs."

Original Article

Border Patrol Probes Retweets of Anti-Biden Posts

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Border Patrol Probes Retweets of Anti-Biden Posts U.S.-Mexico borde A stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in West Texas (Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 12 September 2022 10:32 AM EDT

Retweets of posts from a former Trump administration official by West Texas Border Patrol are "totally unacceptable" and will be investigated, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner said.

CBP West Texas shared posts — related to crime and also critical of President Joe Biden and the media — on Saturday made by Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to then-President Donald Trump.

"Violent criminals lay waste to our communities undisturbed while the immense power of the state is arrayed against those whose only crime is dissent," Miller tweeted and West Texas CBP shared. "The law has been turned from a shield to protect the innocent into a sword to conquer them."

"The media's greatest power is its ability to frame what is a dire national crisis (eg 'cops are racist' summer '20) and what is not. Biden's eradication of our border means we are no longer a Republic — he's ended nearly 250 years of constitutional government. The media is silent," said another Miller tweet shared by West Texas CBP.

The retweets later were deleted from the CBP West Texas Twitter account, which the agency said would be deactivated. The account remained active on Monday morning,

"Totally unacceptable and disappointing that any CBP Twitter account was used to R/T offensive, unauthorized content. … This must not happen again," tweeted Magnus, who added that the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility will investigate the incident.

Miller, who helped drive Trump's immigration policy, blasted the Biden administration's decision to investigate the matter.

"Joe Biden's soulless open border crusade is killing thousands of innocents. Death and destruction everywhere. But instead of going after the murderous cartels, they are going after agents for RTs of pro-border messages. The Biden Administration hates the law and law enforcement," Miller tweeted Sunday night.

A Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) report last month revealed that 4.9 million migrants — including 900,000-plus "got-aways" who eluded apprehension from border officials — have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since Biden took office in January 2021.

CBP statistics showed that 199,976 encounters with migrants occurred in July — the first month in five that the total was below 207,000.

Original Article

Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: ‘Criminalization of Civil Behavior’ Creeping Into US

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Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: 'Criminalization of Civil Behavior' Creeping Into US rep. claudia tenney speaking during a hearing Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y. (Getty Images)

By Cathy Burke | Monday, 12 September 2022 10:00 AM EDT

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., on Monday decried the "criminalization of civil behavior" in the United States.

In an interview on Newsmax TV's "Wake Up America," Tenney, fresh from a trip overseas that included a visit to Taiwan, said the behavior is not just evident in authoritarian countries overseas.

"Everyone is obsessed right now with this criminalization of civil behavior that's something authoritarian regimes like China do," she said, adding, "we see this creating the relentless assault on [former] President [Donald] Trump and everything Trump and any Trump supporter. I find it really disturbing."

Tenney noted that "even flying into Taiwan — just the lockdowns and the kind of the lack of freedom that you feel sometimes especially dealing with COVID.

"Everything was masked in China and flying back in the United States, you still get that sense of freedom, even though Taiwan compared to the People's Republic of China, and the mainland is a democracy, you feel that oppression. … It really concerns me, this authoritarianism. The criminalization of civil behavior by Merrick Garland or FBI … really concerns me."

Tenney dismissed the speculation bubbling up over Trump's hush-hush visit to Washington, D.C, on Sunday, saying "I think the president likes the mystery."

"I'm wondering if maybe he's heading to London to go participate in with the Queen's funeral and that type of situation. I really don't know," she said.

"There's been a lot of speculation about this. Here we are five weeks removed from the raid on Mar-a-Lago — is he meeting with attorneys about the special master? I read a report that said that he's going to Walter Reed [hospital] to get a COVID booster because he's afraid of being poisoned or something like that," she said referring to speculation reviewed in a Raw Story report.

"But he's only been back in D.C. once since leaving office and the speculation is rampant. Nobody seems to know why the 45th president is in our nation's capital right now. Curious."

Tenney had high praise for Taiwan's independence and vigor — and bashed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) visit there as "all about" herself.

"Although they called themselves the Republic of China, they really do have a unique democracy in the midst of China's aggression all around that region of the world, which is why we also visited South Korea," Tenney said of the tour.

"And we visited Mongolia, of all the places, the country sandwiched between authoritarian Russia and authoritarian China.

"It was great to be back again to see just what a great example of Taiwan is. And how under siege they are by the People's Republic. I'm glad that some Republican members from the House are finally visiting. I wish that Nancy Pelosi made her visit five weeks ago more bipartisan. I think that would have had an even bigger effect. But she made it about herself."

Tenney also justified military support for Taiwan given current tensions.

"We have the Taiwan Relations Act, which actually authorizes the United States to provide defensive strength and defensive weapons to Taiwan in the event that China continues to show aggression towards Taiwan there," she said.

"They've been doing military exercises in the strait and near in that region. They've been projecting a lot of hostility towards members of Congress

"But this is a really important part of the world where we see vibrancy and democracy which we need to protect and to … flourish in a part of the country and part of the world where you're seeing authoritarianism.

"Taiwan is a fascinating place. Very modern. The people really appreciate the fact that they are able to elect their leaders."

About NEWSMAX TV:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!

Original Article

Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: ‘Criminalization of Civil Behavior’ Creeping Into US

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Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: 'Criminalization of Civil Behavior' Creeping Into US rep. claudia tenney speaking during a hearing Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y. (Getty Images)

By Fran Beyer | Monday, 12 September 2022 10:48 AM EDT

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., on Monday decried the "criminalization of civil behavior" in the United States.

In an interview on Newsmax TV's "Wake Up America," Tenney, fresh from a trip overseas that included a visit to Taiwan, said the behavior is not just evident in authoritarian countries overseas.

"Everyone is obsessed right now with this criminalization of civil behavior that's something authoritarian regimes like China do," she said, adding, "we see this creating the relentless assault on [former] President [Donald] Trump and everything Trump and any Trump supporter. I find it really disturbing."

Tenney noted that "even flying into Taiwan — just the lockdowns and the kind of the lack of freedom that you feel sometimes especially dealing with COVID.

"Everything was masked in China and flying back in the United States, you still get that sense of freedom, even though Taiwan compared to the People's Republic of China, and the mainland is a democracy, you feel that oppression. … It really concerns me, this authoritarianism. The criminalization of civil behavior by Merrick Garland or FBI … really concerns me."

Tenney dismissed the speculation bubbling up over Trump's hush-hush visit to Washington, D.C, on Sunday, saying, "I think the president likes the mystery."

"I'm wondering if maybe he's heading to London to go participate in with the Queen's funeral and that type of situation. I really don't know," she said.

"There's been a lot of speculation about this. Here we are five weeks removed from the raid on Mar-a-Lago — is he meeting with attorneys about the special master? I read a report that said that he's going to Walter Reed [hospital] to get a COVID booster because he's afraid of being poisoned or something like that," she said referring to speculation reviewed in a Raw Story report.

"But he's only been back in D.C. once since leaving office and the speculation is rampant. Nobody seems to know why the 45th president is in our nation's capital right now. Curious."

Tenney had high praise for Taiwan's independence and vigor — and bashed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) visit there as "all about" herself.

"Although they called themselves the Republic of China, they really do have a unique democracy in the midst of China's aggression all around that region of the world, which is why we also visited South Korea," Tenney said of the tour.

"And we visited Mongolia, of all the places, the country sandwiched between authoritarian Russia and authoritarian China.

"It was great to be back again to see just what a great example of Taiwan is. And how under siege they are by the People's Republic. I'm glad that some Republican members from the House are finally visiting. I wish that Nancy Pelosi made her visit five weeks ago more bipartisan. I think that would have had an even bigger effect. But she made it about herself."

Tenney also justified military support for Taiwan given current tensions.

"We have the Taiwan Relations Act, which actually authorizes the United States to provide defensive strength and defensive weapons to Taiwan in the event that China continues to show aggression towards Taiwan there," she said.

"They've been doing military exercises in the strait and near in that region. They've been projecting a lot of hostility towards members of Congress.

"But this is a really important part of the world where we see vibrancy and democracy which we need to protect and to … flourish in a part of the country and part of the world where you're seeing authoritarianism.

"Taiwan is a fascinating place. Very modern. The people really appreciate the fact that they are able to elect their leaders."

About NEWSMAX TV:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!

Original Article

Ron DeSantis Moving PAC Money to Help State Republicans

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Ron DeSantis Moving PAC Money to Help State Republicans ron desantis speaks at a summit Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Getty Images)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 12 September 2022 10:28 AM EDT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is using his large campaign coffer to help fellow state Republicans.

DeSantis moved $2.5 million from his political committee to the Florida Republican Senatorial Committee, Politico reported Monday.

The amount is the single largest contribution to the committee – which is controlled by incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo – since its creation in 2014.

DeSantis' contribution surpassed the $2 million given by Senate President Wilton Simpson from his political committee back in July. Simpson is running for agriculture commissioner.

Republicans, seeking to build a supermajority from their current 23-16 majority, are targeting Democrat incumbents such as Sens. Janet Cruz and Loranne Ausley, Politico reported.

Florida Senate Democrats, who spent money to help defend Minority Leader Lauren Book against a primary challenge, had less than $600,000 in their main campaign account, Politico said.

"I expect ours [account] to grow nicely over the next few weeks, and not from donors who live among aliens," said State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat, taking a dig at entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, who donated $10 million to DeSantis' PAC and who said aliens are "right under people's noses."

Politico reported that DeSantis apparently wants to help Senate Republicans across the board to grow support for his legislative agenda, assuming he wins another term.

DeSantis' PAC reported during a one-week period that it shifted $6.5 million to the Republican Party of Florida, Politico reported.

Open Secrets reported that DeSantis' political operation, as of Aug. 19, raised $172 million, more than 11 times the $15.3 million Democrat gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist's political operation reported raising.

Politico said DeSantis has more than $122.5 million unspent — which doesn't reflect any future planned expenditures — while Crist has more than $4.1 million.

DeSantis raised more than $2.83 million from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, while Crist raised nearly $1.39 million, Politico reported.

Billionaire investor and Trump megadonor Peter Thiel, speaking at the National Conservatism Conference on Sunday, praised DeSantis "probably the best of the governors in terms of offering a real alternative to California," Business Insider reported.

Original Article

Mark Morgan to Newsmax: Biden Admin Lying About Border Statistics

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Mark Morgan to Newsmax: Biden Admin Lying About Border Statistics mark morgan speaking at a news conference Mark Morgan (Getty Images)

By Cathy Burke | Monday, 12 September 2022 09:15 AM EDT

The Biden administration isn't being honest — and Vice President Kamala Harris is outright lying — about the rising number of illegal entries at the nation's southern border, former Trump administration acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan said Monday on Newsmax.

In an interview on "Wake Up America," Morgan lamented the number of illegal entries is "above 200,000 again, shattering every lifetime record."

"What I'm hearing right now … actually in August [the numbers are] going to be higher than they were in July," he said.

"This administration also will not be honest with the American people about when this happens, when you open your borders and [there are] increases, especially during this time," he said.

Morgan said another increased number is even more horrifying.

"What's also increased, what's another record — they shattered the number of dead migrants piling up on our border," he asserted, saying "over 1,000 migrants have been found deceased on our Southwest border because of this administration's open border policy. They have blood on their hands yet you will never hear a word mentioned about this from this administration."

According to Morgan, migrants are taking advantage of lax U.S. border policies.

"We know that there have been fake families, that kids are actually being bought and sold and rented to … fake family to also be released," he said.

"We know that individuals are … taking advantage of the vulnerabilities," he said, noting "last year we heard about someone" claiming to be 70 when it turned out he was 24."

Morgan also lamented the 2021 case of a stabbing death of a man by an illegal immigrant who claimed to be a teenager at the border but turned out to be 24.

"That's the reality of what's happening," he charged.

Morgan slammed Harris for asserting during an NBC News interview Sunday that the "border is secure."

"It's a blatant lie," Morgan said. "The only time she has come near the Southwest border she didn't leave the confines of an air conditioned hanger, and she was miles away from the epicenter with respect to the catastrophic crisis.

"Under this administration, there have been over one million 'got-aways' because 90% of [our] resources are pulled off the frontline.

"This administration has literally had an operational control over the cartels, they push drugs across at an alarming rate, more than we've ever seen killing Americans," Morgan added. "We know there are criminal aliens, including murder, rapists, pedophiles, aggravated felons and gang members."

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Original Article

NY Times: Polls May Give Dems False Hope

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NY Times: Polls May Give Dems False Hope a voter sits at a poll kiosk A voter sits alone at a poll kiosk to cast his vote at a Mississippi Second Congressional District Primary election precinct, in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 7. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 12 September 2022 08:29 AM EDT

The left-leaning New York Times expressed skepticism over Democrats' improved showing in recent polls for November's midterms.

Although recent surveys indicate Democrats are expected to retain control of the Senate and lose control of the House – both narrowly – the Times suggested that polling might not give a true picture of the current landscape.

The newspaper based its concern on the 2020 election final polls, which overstated President Joe Biden’s strength, especially in places such as North Carolina, Wisconsin and Ohio – states with key Senate races this year.

"One factor seems to be that Republican voters are more skeptical of mainstream institutions and are less willing to respond to a survey," Times senior writer David Leonhardt said Monday. "If that's true, polls will often understate Republican support, until pollsters figure out how to fix the problem."

The outlet said there's also uncertainty about how polls are affected by former President Donald Trump not being on the ballot, as he was in 2016 and 2020. YouGov’s chief scientist Douglas Rivers told the Times that "there is something particular about Trump that complicates polling."

The Times, noting pollsters' challenge to find likely voters willing to respond to surveys, said "there are still some big mysteries about the polls’ recent tendency to underestimate Republican support."

Times' chief political analyst Nate Cohn even suggested this year's surveys could be off due to pollsters "understating Democratic support this year by searching too hard for Republican voters in an effort to avoid repeating recent mistakes."

One issue in trying to assure survey accuracy nationwide is that not all states have produced questionable polling results.

For example, polls in states such as Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania have been fairly accurate in recent years.

The Times said the 2020 election "does have two dynamics" that might help Democrats – the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Trump's continued influence on Republican supporters.

"As a result, this year's election may feel less like a referendum on the current president and more like a choice between two parties," the Times said.

Still, midterms usually hurt the party — especially in the House — of the sitting president.

Emphasizing that every election cycle is unique, the Times said, "there’s always a way to spin up a rationale for why old rules won't apply."

"In the end, history usually prevails," Leonhardt said. "That’s a good thing to keep in mind right now as Democrats show strength that seems entirely at odds with the long history of the struggles of the president’s party in midterm elections.

"But this cycle, there really is something different — or at the very least, there is something different about the reasons this cycle might be different."

Original Article

Trump’s Quiet Trip to D.C. Sparks Flurry of Speculation

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Trump's Quiet Trip to D.C. Sparks Flurry of Speculation donald trump gestures while smiling Former President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

By Fran Beyer | Monday, 12 September 2022 08:11 AM EDT

Former President Donald Trump's flight to Washington, D.C., on Sunday set off a wave of new speculation — both serious and silly — about his future political plans.

Photos of his flight from a New Jersey airport Sunday evening, and a flight plan filed for Dulles airport in Virginia — one often used by those headed to the nation's capital — were widely posted on Twitter.

The former president's landing at Dulles was also photographed, as was the ride in a blacked-out SUV from the airport.

Trump made no remarks about the trip to Washington, or about what he was doing, but others theorized it may have been a fundraising trip to meet with donors, or possibly a meeting with GOP leaders amid the controversy over the FBI's raid of Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago home, where they took away classified documents kept there.

A special master will now review records seized by the FBI during its August raid that Trump has labeled a "political witch hunt."

Last week, former Attorney General Bill Barr defended the raid, saying Trump was getting dangerously close to being indicted.

News outlet Raw noted some Twitter posters had more ludicrous theories about the journey — including that Trump was moving more documents, this time to his Virginia golf course.

But weighing on many posters' minds was whether an indictment may be at hand. Lawyer George Conway, an ardent Trump critic, tweeted the weather has been "arraigning — I mean, raining."

Meanwhile, Mary Trump, the former president's niece who is also a constant critic, told MSNBC on Sunday the Department of Justice doesn't typically base its decisions on political risks, Raw reported.

"So, the real question here is will it be too dangerous not to prosecute Donald if, indeed, he is potentially guilty of committing serious crimes against this country," she said.

"It seems pretty clear to me that either way we are going to be in a lot of trouble. We already are," she asserted about her famous uncle's influence.

"We would be much worse off, even if it created a dangerous situation if we refused to do anything and allowed this kind of criminality to stand," she added.

Other speculation swirled around whether Trump's visit was a Walter Reed trip for some kind of medical treatment — though he wouldn't have to go to Walter Reed for medical care, Raw pointed out.

However, Walter Reed is subject to any Freedom of Information Act requests while other medical clinics would not be, the news outlet reported.

Original Article

Will Trump Go to Queen’s Funeral?

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Will Trump Go to Queen's Funeral? donald trump looks on Former President Donald Trump (Brandon Bell/Getty)

By Nick Koutsobinas | Monday, 12 September 2022 07:12 AM EDT

President Joe Biden has been permitted to bring other presidents as guests to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

On Friday, CNN host Jake Tapper sent Twitter into a tailspin after suggesting Biden ask former President Donald Trump to attend the funeral with him.

"In the spirit of giving and forgiving … I think that the clever move is to invite him and see if he goes," Tapper said.

Tapper's deference toward Trump sent Twitter user's writing in, according to The List, a series of vehement comments.

"Trump stole classified documents and kept them at his home! He demanded a new election! He's a threat to national security! He deserves NOTHING!" one user wrote.

"Trump didn't even have the dignity & class to attend Biden's inauguration. Why should he be invited to the queen's funeral?" another commented.

Original Article

Will Trump Go to Queen’s Funeral?

by

Will Trump Go to Queen's Funeral? donald trump looks on Former President Donald Trump (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

By Nick Koutsobinas | Monday, 12 September 2022 07:52 AM EDT

President Joe Biden has been permitted to bring other presidents as guests to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

On Friday, CNN host Jake Tapper sent Twitter into a tailspin after suggesting Biden ask former President Donald Trump to attend the funeral with him.

"In the spirit of giving and forgiving … I think that the clever move is to invite him and see if he goes," Tapper said.

Tapper's deference toward Trump sent Twitter user's writing in, according to The List, a series of vehement comments.

"Trump stole classified documents and kept them at his home! He demanded a new election! He's a threat to national security! He deserves NOTHING!" one user wrote.

"Trump didn't even have the dignity & class to attend Biden's inauguration. Why should he be invited to the queen's funeral?" another commented.

Original Article