NationalWatch

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UPDATED 11:46 AM PT – Friday, October 28, 2022

45th President Donald J. Trump says he is “very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands.”

Trump celebrated Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in a Truth Social post on Friday. He said that Twitter must now work very hard to get rid of bots and fake accounts.

The celebration comes after Musk notably fired the executive who had a pivotal role in banning Trump from the site as one of his first moves in charge. However, in his post, Trump did not say if he plans on returning to Twitter if his ban is lifted.

The former president also touted the success of his site, calling Truth Social somewhat of a phenomenon and pointing out that it outperformed all other platforms last week.

Original Article Oann

Sen. Cruz to Newsmax: Democratic Party Supports Racism (Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Solange Reyner | Friday, 28 October 2022 06:30 PM EDT

Today's Democratic Party supports racism and its history of pitting Americans against each other is "really dangerous," says Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Fla.

"The Democrat party has always supported racism," Cruz said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax TV's "Chris Salcedo Show" while discussing his book, "Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System."

"The Ku Klux Klan was founded by Democrats, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Klan, was a delegate to the 1860 Democrat National Convention. If you look at Jim Crow laws, Jim Crow laws were written by Democrat politicians to prevent the voters, many of them African American voters, from voting the Democrat politicians out of office.

"If you look now today, just a year ago, the then incumbent Democrat governor of Virginia in his yearbook had put a picture of a man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit and he had said when that first broke a picture of a man in a Klan outfit and a man in blackface, he said yeah, I could have been one of those two guys. As I say in the book, 'Listen, if you cannot say categorically, I have never dressed up as a Klansman, maybe you shouldn't be running for elected office.'"

Cruz also suggested elite universities like Harvard Yale "actively discriminate against Asian Americans.

"They have quotas to keep them out because they're concerned if they just had admissions based on merit, too many Asian Americans would get in and I think that's wrong, I think discrimination based on race is wrong and should be illegal and is illegal."

President Joe Biden, he added, is perpetuating the issue.

"Under President Trump, the Department of Justice had opened a civil rights investigation and was going after Yale for discriminating against Asian Americans. What did Joe Biden do within days of Biden becoming president? The Biden Department of Justice dismissed the lawsuit because today's Democrats embrace racism and racism is integral to critical race theory. It's based on racism, it's based on turning the races against each other, it teaches that America is fundamentally an irredeemably racist it's a terrible lie."

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Trump on Jerry Lee Lewis: He Was 'Beloved by Everyone' (Francois Durand/Getty Images)

By Nicole Wells | Friday, 28 October 2022 06:25 PM EDT

As the world mourned the death of irrepressible rock 'n' roll trailblazer Jerry Lee Lewis, former President Donald Trump issued a statement on the death of the electrifying performer who called himself "The Killer."

"Jerry Lee Lewis was beloved by everyone, a real bundle of talent, energy, and everything else necessary to be a star," Trump said. "He just passed away. Our warmest regards to his wife, Judith, and family. He will be missed!"

Best known for hits "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," the piano-pounding Lewis was able to sustain a career over six decades despite personal scandal that rocked and nearly ended his career.

The last surviving member of a generation of legendary performers that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, Lewis died Friday morning at home in Memphis, Tennessee, according to his representative Zach Farnum. He was 87.

CNN reports that, when reached by phone, Farnum said Lewis died of natural causes.

News of his death came two days after TMZ inaccurately reported, and later retracted, that he had passed away.

While Lewis toured England in 1958, the press learned he married his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown, while still being married to his first wife. The tour was canceled, Lewis was blacklisted from the radio and his earnings collapsed to virtually nothing overnight.

In the following decades, Lewis battled drug and alcohol addiction and struggled with legal disputes and physical illness.

He reinvented himself as a country artist in the 1960s and revived his career, going on to win three Grammys and record with some of the industry's biggest stars.

Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:58 AM PT – Friday, October 28, 2022

Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter. The first thing he did as the new head of the social media company was fire a number of the company’s chief executives.

Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal, and Chief Financial Officer, Ned Segal, left the company’s San Francisco headquarters earlier on Thursday. In addition, Musk fired Twitter’s Chief Lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, who allegedly was behind the decision to ban Donald Trump.

Musk also reportedly backtracked on his plan to dismiss 75% of Twitter staff. However, he still plans to integrate the company into his bigger project known as “X.”

Musk stressed that he will ensure freedom of speech and impartiality on Twitter moving forward. On Thursday night, the new Twitter owner tweeted “the bird is freed.”

Original Article Oann

Poll: Most Voters Don't Want Biden or Trump in 2024

(Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Luca Cacciatore | Friday, 28 October 2022 05:04 PM EDT

A new USA Today/Suffolk University survey found that most likely voters support President Joe Biden in a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump, but it remains close.

In the poll, Biden leads Trump among respondents by four percentage points, 46% to 42%. That's the same as Biden's popular vote advantage against Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a 4.2-point margin.

But even more substantial is the measure to which voters don't want to see the matchup reoccur.

Around 64% of voters don't want Biden to run again in 2024, compared to 26% who do. In addition, 68% said they don't want Trump to run again either, compared to 27% who would support it.

Democrats and Republicans are virtually split on whether they want to see Biden or Trump, respectively, win their parties' nominations. Only 45% of Democrats said they want Biden to run again, with 43% answering the opposite.

Trump's numbers within the GOP were better, earning 56% of likely Republican voters' support, compared to 39% who said they wanted someone else.

Meanwhile, Biden's job approval is underwater by nine percentage points, with 53% disapproval to 44% who approve of his performance.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken by landline and cellphone from Oct. 19 to Oct. 24. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Original Article

'Vicious, Biased': Trump Assails Judge in N.Y. Fraud Lawsuit (AP)

MICHAEL R. SISAK Friday, 28 October 2022 03:52 PM EDT

Donald Trump is lashing out at the judge handling the New York attorney general's fraud lawsuit against him and his company, calling him “vicious, biased, and mean” in a social media post just days before the case’s first court hearing.

The former president, who has been on the losing side of Judge Arthur Engoron’s rulings in the past, coupled Friday’s criticism with complaints that — as a politician — he shouldn't be forced to deal with legal action until after the midterm elections on Nov. 8.

In a separate case, opening statements are set for Monday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial following the completion of jury selection Friday.

Trump, who has been laying groundwork for a possible comeback run for president in 2024, grumbled in a post on his Truth Social platform about having to deal with simultaneous court action on the eve of an election that could put Republicans back in control of one or both houses of Congress.

“In breaking with a long standing and powerful tradition where cases involving politicos are not to be brought or tried just prior to, or during, a major Election (the Midterms), I have THREE, all run and inspired by Democrats, who absolutely refused to move the date,” Trump wrote. “They demanded it be now. So much for tradition and unwritten rules and laws!!!”

There are currently three active cases involving Trump or the Trump Organization active in New York courts.

The company’s criminal tax fraud trial, which involves allegations that senior executives received off-the-books compensation, could last into December. Six alternate jurors were picked Friday to complete the panel needed for the trial.

On Monday, jury selection is scheduled to begin in the Bronx in a civil lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were roughed up by Trump’s security guards.

Trump’s outburst about Engoron came in the third case, a civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Letitia James, after an administrative judge refused Tuesday to have the matter reassigned to another judge.

Engoron repeatedly had ruled against Trump in disputes over subpoenas, holding him in contempt and fining him $110,000 for being slow to turn over documents and forcing him to sit for a deposition — testimony in which Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 times.

On Truth Social, Trump said the only person worse than James was Engoron.

“His name is Arthur Engoron & he is a vicious, biased, and mean ‘rubber stamp’ for the Communist takeover of the great & prosperous American company that I have built over a long period of years," Trump wrote.

A court spokesperson said Engoron, a judge since 2003, had no comment.

James' lawsuit, the product of a three-year investigation in Trump's business practices, alleges that he and the Trump Organization inflated his net worth by billions of dollars and misled banks and others for years about the value of assets, including golf courses, hotels and his Mar-a-Lago estate.

James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million and a permanent ban on Trump, a Republican, doing business in the state.

At a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Engoron will weigh James' request for an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s activities after she alleged the company was taking steps to dodge potential penalties, such as incorporating a new entity named Trump Organization II.

At the same time, the FBI is continuing to investigate Trump’s storage of sensitive government documents at Mar-a-Lago, a special grand jury in Georgia is investigating whether Trump or others attempted to influence state election officials and, last week, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach issued a subpoena to Trump.

Original Article

Obama to Turn His Dem Star Power on Key Ga. Senate Race (AP)

James Oliphant Friday, 28 October 2022 03:44 PM EDT

Democrats will call in their biggest star, Barack Obama, on Friday in the hopes that the former president can excite voters in Georgia and help the party hold onto a critical U.S. Senate seat.

Obama, a two-term Democrat who left office in 2017, will stump in Atlanta for Sen. Raphael Warnock, who faces Donald Trump-backed Republican challenger Herschel Walker, and Stacey Abrams, who is running against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

Polls show the race between Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker to be tight, while Abrams has consistently trailed Kemp in that race.

Georgia is a top takeover target for Republicans, who need to pick up just one seat to gain control of the Senate. The historically conservative state elected President Joe Biden and both Warnock and Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff two years ago, suggesting the stirrings of a political realignment.

"Georgia played a determinative role last cycle and could likely be in the same position in a few weeks," said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for Obama. "Given the stakes of this year’s elections, our goal is simple: inspire voters to cast their ballots."

Obama's trip comes as Democrats are growing increasingly anxious about the Senate race. For months, Warnock had held a steady polling edge over Walker, a former football star at the University of Georgia who has dogged by questions about his turbulent personal life.

Walker has since closed the gap. On Thursday, the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, was caught by a television camera microphone at an event telling Biden the race in Georgia was going "downhill."

"It's hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker," Schumer told Biden.

Walker has faced allegations of domestic violence from his ex-wife. More recently, two women have claimed that Walker pressured them to have abortions during their relationships, allegations he has denied.

Walker opposes abortion but has been inconsistent regarding whether it should be allowed in cases of rape or incest or to safeguard the health of the mother. Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, supports abortion rights.

On Friday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, an arm of the party that backs Warnock, launched a new TV ad highlighting the domestic violence allegations as part of a $7 million investment in the race's closing days.

Prior to the evening event with Obama, Warnock campaigned in rural Dalton, north of Atlanta. Walker meanwhile was stumping in the southeastern part of the state along side evangelical activist Ralph Reed.

On his campaign Facebook page, Walker posted the video with Schumer and Biden, saying, "The momentum is on our side, but the game's not over until the clock hits zero."

Obama's appearance is the start of a five-state tour that will take him to the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. That last appearance, on the Saturday before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, will be joint with President Joe Biden, who has held back from campaigning in some key battlegrounds as he struggles with low public approval ratings.

Beyond Georgia, Republicans have focused their efforts on flipping a Democratic Senate seat in Arizona or Nevada.

Georgia has seen a record-breaking number of early voters, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. More than 1.1 million residents have already voted as of Thursday, far ahead of the total (730,706) at this point in 2018, the year of the last midterm election.

A surge of Black voters helped power Warnock’s victory two years ago, and he will need them again to win, said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

“African-American voters are going to be crucial (for) Democrats’ chances,” Gillespie said. “Bringing in President Obama helps to underscore the importance of African-American vote, while also exciting other voters.”

Republicans are also expected to win enough seats to take over the U.S. House of Representatives. Controlling both chambers will enable them to stonewall Biden’s agenda, block his executive branch nominees and launch investigations of his administration.

Original Article

Ye's Twitter Now Visible Again (Newsmax)

By Jeffrey Rodack | Friday, 28 October 2022 11:54 AM EDT

Kanye West's Twitter account was visible again Friday — not even 24 hours after Elon Musk completed his purchase of the social media giant.

Twitter had suspended his account after West, who now goes by the name of Ye, posted antisemitic comments earlier in October.

Axios reported it could not independently confirm whether Twitter granted Ye access to the account or if he had posting privileges.

As of late Friday morning, the most recent tweet from Ye was Oct. 8.

Musk has said he would reinstate Donald Trump's account, but the former president previously said he would not return.

Reuters noted Trump was banned from Twitter after the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump on Friday said he was happy Twitter Inc. was in "sane hands" after Musk formally took over but did not say whether he would return.

Michigan GOP Hopeful Barrett to Newsmax: Slotkin 'Can Keep' Cheney's Nod Michigan state Sen. Tom Barrett. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Friday, 28 October 2022 11:22 AM EDT

Michigan state Sen. Tom Barrett Friday told Newsmax that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin "can keep" the endorsement she's gotten from GOP Rep. Liz Cheney in the race for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, as he plans to work once elected to the House to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts.

"I spent 22 years of my life in the Army," Barrett, the GOP nominee for the race, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "I committed my entire adult life to the Army. I got deployed to Iraq in Liz Cheney's father's war. And what does she do? She turns around and endorses my opponent in this race against me."

Cheney was defeated in the primary to keep her Wyoming seat after she became the vice-chair of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks and after her strong opposition to former President Donald Trump, and her endorsement of a Democrat brought her under further fire from conservatives.

Barrett told Newsmax that Cheney backed Slotkin as a "desperate attempt to get her across the finish line and preserve Nancy Pelosi's tenure as speaker of the House and the Democrats' majority in Congress."

He added that he has had "tremendous experiences" in the military, but he does not favor sending American troops to every single conflict around the world.

"My opponent and Liz Cheney are the warhawks," Barrett said, accusing the two of being part of the "establishment forces" that want to keep him out of Congress.

"Elissa Slotkin wants war with China, and I want to keep American troops home," he also said.

Meanwhile, Barrett said he thinks his campaign is on the cusp of turning the seat, created through redistricting that encompasses almost all the area he holds in the state Senate, from blue to red.

The race has proven to be the most expensive congressional race in the country, with almost $30 million spent, said Barrett.

"The lion's share of that is by my opponent who is trying to preserve Nancy Pelosi's 10 years as speaker of the House and the Democrats' grip on America," said Barrett. "We can't allow that to happen … we are in a dead heat right now in our polls. We just need the effort to get over the last hurdle."

The district, he added, is a "bellwether" location that must be won.

"The biggest issues that folks are talking about in my district are the costs of living challenges that families like mine are facing," said Barrett. "My wife and I are raising four little kids here, right in the heart of this district."

"The cost of living, whether that's inflation at the grocery store or higher gas prices at the gas pump families simply can't afford to live under Joe Biden and Elissa Slotkin and their policies," Barrett said. "My opponents voted for every single runaway spending bill that Joe Biden has put before her."

Crime is also a serious issue in the 7th District, which includes Lansing, which has been named as the ninth most dangerous city nationally on the FBI's violent crimes list, said Barrett.

"We have a wide-open border," he said. "Fentanyl overdose deaths are literally killing more Americans now than ever before in history. The leading cause of death of Americans my age in this country is fentanyl because we have an unsecured border and Joe Biden and Elissa Slotkin refused to do anything about it."

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Original Article

Fred Fleitz to Newsmax: US, Saudi Relationship Downhill Since Biden's Campaign Mohammed bin Salman (Abaca Press/AP)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Friday, 28 October 2022 08:27 AM EDT

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is not only about energy, but it is a matter of "crucial security" that has been in trouble since President Joe Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would make the nation a "pariah" on the world stage, Fred Fleitz, the vice-chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, told Newsmax.

"He shunned them repeatedly at the beginning of his administration, and the relationship went downhill since then," Fleitz, a Newsmax contributor and former chief of staff to the National Security Council, told Friday's "Wake Up America."

Fleitz pointed out The New York Times detailed how, when Biden visited Saudi Arabia over the summer, he thought he had reached a secret deal to increase oil production before the year's end.

"The Saudis not only didn't honor that deal, but they also decreased oil production just before the election," Fleitz said. "Let's be clear: They were sending a message to Joe Biden that they don't like the way they've been treated."

In comparison, former President Donald Trump, in comparison to Biden, knew the United States must have "good relationships with nations that may not have perfect human rights records," Fleitz added.

"Most presidents have recognized that," he said. "Joe Biden has worked in the foreign policy world for decades. One would think he understood that."

By shunning the Saudis, the United States also invited China and Russia to enter the region, and "they already have," Fleitz added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia "almost immediately" after Biden took office to take advantage of the wavering relationship between the United States and the Middle East nation, he pointed out.

"The Russians have struck a defense agreement and the Saudis even have started pricing some oil in Chinese currency," Fleitz said.

Meanwhile, Putin in a Thursday speech referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as "grandma," and Fleitz said that is because the Russian leader liked Trump, but also "likes to try to get the attention of the U.S. to try to throw us off balance."

The Russian leader is in trouble in Ukraine, he continued, and is "looking for a way out."

Fleitz said he would like to see negotiations underway in the ongoing war, adding he is concerned about Putin's claims of the potential use of nuclear weapons or a dirty bomb in Ukraine.

"There should be some kind of forum underway in Vienna with our allies and U.S. representatives talking about how to end the war, an exchange of POWS, and the reconstruction of Ukraine," Fleitz said. "While the Ukrainian army is on the march and making gains, I understand they don't want to back down and they don't want to make a deal with a leader who they think is a war criminal, but ultimately, I think it's going to come down to that."

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Original Article

Fred Fleitz to Newsmax: US, Saudi Relationship Downhill Since Biden's Campaign Mohammed bin Salman (Abaca Press/AP)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Friday, 28 October 2022 08:54 AM EDT

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is not only about energy, but it is a matter of "crucial security" that has been in trouble since President Joe Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would make the nation a "pariah" on the world stage, Fred Fleitz, the vice-chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, told Newsmax.

"He shunned them repeatedly at the beginning of his administration, and the relationship went downhill since then," Fleitz, a Newsmax contributor and former chief of staff to the National Security Council, told Friday's "Wake Up America."

Fleitz pointed out The New York Times detailed how, when Biden visited Saudi Arabia over the summer, he thought he had reached a secret deal to increase oil production before the year's end.

"The Saudis not only didn't honor that deal, but they also decreased oil production just before the election," Fleitz said. "Let's be clear: They were sending a message to Joe Biden that they don't like the way they've been treated."

In comparison, former President Donald Trump, in comparison to Biden, knew the United States must have "good relationships with nations that may not have perfect human rights records," Fleitz added.

"Most presidents have recognized that," he said. "Joe Biden has worked in the foreign policy world for decades. One would think he understood that."

By shunning the Saudis, the United States also invited China and Russia to enter the region, and "they already have," Fleitz added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia "almost immediately" after Biden took office to take advantage of the wavering relationship between the United States and the Middle East nation, he pointed out.

"The Russians have struck a defense agreement and the Saudis even have started pricing some oil in Chinese currency," Fleitz said.

Meanwhile, Putin in a Thursday speech referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as "grandma," and Fleitz said that is because the Russian leader liked Trump, but also "likes to try to get the attention of the U.S. to try to throw us off balance."

The Russian leader is in trouble in Ukraine, he continued, and is "looking for a way out."

Fleitz said he would like to see negotiations underway in the ongoing war, adding he is concerned about Putin's claims of the potential use of nuclear weapons or a dirty bomb in Ukraine.

"There should be some kind of forum underway in Vienna with our allies and U.S. representatives talking about how to end the war, an exchange of POWS, and the reconstruction of Ukraine," Fleitz said. "While the Ukrainian army is on the march and making gains, I understand they don't want to back down and they don't want to make a deal with a leader who they think is a war criminal, but ultimately, I think it's going to come down to that."

About NEWSMAX TV:

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Conservatives Blast Cheney for Endorsing Democrat

(Newsmax/"Eric Bolling The Balance")

By Jeremy Frankel | Thursday, 27 October 2022 10:47 PM EDT

Conservatives slammed Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for endorsing a Democrat, Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

Cheney announced her endorsement Thursday in a statement, saying she is "proud" to support Slotkin. The statement also said that Cheney will campaign with Slotkin next week at an "Evening for Patriotism and Bipartisanship" in Michigan.

In the endorsement, Cheney called Slotkin an "honorable public servant" who "wants what's best for the country and is in this for the right reasons."

Several prominent conservatives spoke out about Cheney's endorsement.

NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham tweeted regarding Cheney's endorsement of a Democrat, "When you do this, you're not really conservative or Republican." National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker commented similarly in a tweet, "At this point, Cheney is a Democrat. That is fine…but she should declare as one.”

Editor-in-chief of the Federalist and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway noted that the Wyoming Republican Party censured Cheney for her vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump and that Cheney was removed from House leadership as well, saying, “People who have been removed by their state GOP from party rolls, been removed from GOP leadership, are hand selected by Dem leaders to run anti-GOP operations, been utterly renounced by GOP voters and support election of Democrats are many things. ‘GOP’ is not one of them.”

Slotkin's opponent, state Sen. Tom Barrett, tweeted approvingly of Cheney's endorsement, saying, "It's no surprise the Cheney family is joining her and it exposes the permanent Washington establishment's War-First, America-Last agenda. Elissa Slotkin can keep Liz Cheney while I work to keep America out of senseless wars."

Cheney lost her Republican primary to attorney Harriet Hageman in August by over 37 points.

Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 3:13 PM PT – Thursday, October 27, 2022

Kanye West was escorted out of Skechers corporate headquarters after showing up uninvited and unannounced.

Skechers issued a statement following the incident on Wednesday. The company said that the rapper was engaged in unauthorized filming before two-executives escorted the 45-year-old from the Los Angeles, California building.
The company also made it known that they have no intentions of working with West and condemned his recent anti-Semitic remarks.
In the light surrounding West’s controversies, he has been notably dropped by his high-profile partnerships with Adidas as well as several other brands over his comments. West’s own school, Donda Academy, announced on Thursday that it will be closing down for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year.

Original Article Oann

Kelly Tshibaka to Newsmax: DC Won't Control Alaska's Choice for Senate (Newsmax/"Eric Bolling The Balance")

By Jeremy Frankel | Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:38 PM EDT

The choice for Alaska's next senator will not be decided by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., or anyone else in the Washington, D.C., establishment, candidate Kelly Tshibaka told Newsmax Thursday.

Tshibaka is looking to defeat Republican incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and McConnell is spending millions to help Murkowski, against the wishes of the Alaska Republican Party, which endorsed Tshibaka. The Alaska GOP censured and removed Murkowski last year, and recently voted to censure McConnell as well.

"McConnell is more concerned about preserving his position as leader even if we have a minority than he is about getting us a Republican majority and pushing back on this radical Biden agenda," Tshibaka told "Eric Bolling the Balance."

"He knows that he can control Lisa Murkowski. She's bought and bullied and boxed in by the establishment. He doesn't care that he's defying the determination of the delegates of the Republican Party in Alaska. They censured her and removed her before I ever announced my candidacy.

"Our Republican Party didn't start in Washington, D.C. It started as a grassroots movement of people here in the states, of the people, by the people, for the people, and so he comes in here and try to tell us who is going to be our senator, it's very upsetting to us," Tshibaka continued.

"He's invested millions and millions in dark money in this campaign, forcing his will on the people of Alaska. I don't believe it's going to work."

Tshibaka noted differences between herself and Murkowski, such as Murkowski's support of President Joe Biden's environmentalist nominees, who, according to Tshibaka, "have killed our industry and our jobs up here in Alaska."

"Alaskans are really suffering," Tshibaka said.

Tshibaka noted as well that Murkowski "looks out for the interests of D.C., not Alaskans. She says one thing in Alaska and then does the opposite in D.C. She ran paid ads up here, saying that Biden was coming to grab our guns, while she worked with McConnell and Biden on gun control legislation and red flag laws."

Murkowski is also "accepting millions and millions in dark money contributions," Tshibaka added. "There's been more dark money spent on her behalf than either her or my campaign has spent combined.

"We don't want a senator who speaks for dark money, lower forty-eight interests and Washington, D.C. We want a senator who represents the voices of Alaska, won't be silenced, won't be bullied and won't be controlled by the establishment. That independent voice is what's needed right now to lead our nation forward."

Tshibaka maintains that, despite all that is working against it, the momentum is with her campaign.

"Alaskans aren't fooled," Tshibaka said. "I've knocked on thousands of doors and talked with thousands of people across our great state. We are ready for a change. We are ready for Alaska to become, once again, the source of power for our nation, and we can create the nation and advance it with our minerals, build the nation with our timber, we can secure the nation with our national security posture, feed the nation with our fish; of course, we inspire the nation with our tourism.

"But we can't do any of that for the United States of America with Biden shutting us down, and he targeted us on Day One, and Murkowski is helping him. We need strong leadership in D.C., and I'm that person."

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Original Article

Biden Falsely Claims Gas Was $5 When He Took Office (Newsmax)

By Luca Cacciatore | Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:18 PM EDT

President Joe Biden got ahead of himself on Thursday while touting a recent drop in gas prices, incorrectly claiming that gas was higher when he took office than it is now, the Daily Mail reported.

"We're down $1.25 since the peak this summer, and they've been falling for the last three weeks as well as well, and adding up real savings for families today," Biden said, adding that the "most common price of gas in America is $3.39 down from over $5 when I took office."

However, the data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the American Automobile Association showed gas was hovering around $2.39 per gallon nationally when Biden took office on January 20, 2021, compared to a $3.76 per gallon average on Thursday.

He made the comments on a trip to Syracuse, New York, where he emphasized that his administration has provided economic results for manufacturing compared to the "broken promises" made by former President Donald Trump.

"The previous president made a string of broken promises in places like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio," the president claimed. "On my watch, we've kept our commitments. On my watch, made in America isn't just a slogan. It's a reality."

Biden also highlighted the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides billions in subsidies to domestic chip manufacturers and led to Micron Technology's recent plan to invest billions in central New York.

"Today is another win for America and another massive new investment in America spurred by my economic plan," he stated. "Micron, an American company, is investing $20 billion this decade and up to $100 billion over 20 years in chips manufacturing in upstate New York, creating tens of thousands of good paying jobs."

Original Article

Musk Completes Twitter Takeover (AP)

By Newsmax staff | Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:10 PM EDT

Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter is now a done deal, according to the Washington Examiner and wire service reports. With that, the world's richest man has taken the reins of perhaps the most influential platform on social media, suggesting he has plans for significant content changes.

The takeover, for which Musk offered $44 billion, follows months of legal wrangling.

The Examiner report said Musk now has a chance to overhaul an enterprise he hopes to make profitable and, in his view, less inclined to censor dissenting views and controversial posters.

One move he may be eyeing is restoring former President Donald Trump's acccount, though Trump, barred from Twitter amid claims his frequent posts were misleading and inciting, has indicated he has no plan to go back on what was once his favorite web platform.

Reports said Musk assumed control Thursday night, with the chief executive and chief financial officer exiting Twitter's San Francisco HQ with no plans to return.

Original Article

Musk Completes Twitter Takeover (AP)

Newsmax staff Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:35 PM EDT

Elon Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives, U.S. media reported late Thursday, in a deal that puts one of the top platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world's richest man.

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources.

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.

The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.

Musk tweeted on Thursday that he was buying Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner."

The billionaire even shared a picture of himself socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.

And the New York Stock Exchange posted a pending order to suspend trading in Twitter before Friday's session.

– 'Chief Twit' –

Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was canceling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake "bot" accounts — allegations rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he'd changed his mind.

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the agreement.

With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

Musk signaled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posting a video of himself walking into the company's California headquarters carrying a sink.

"Let that sink in!" he quipped.

Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was "excited" about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are "overpaying."

– Twitter free-for-all? –

Some employees who would prefer not to work for Musk have already left, said a worker who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely.

"But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now," the employee said of Musk.

The idea of Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.

But Musk said he realizes Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences."

Musk has vowed to dial content moderation back to a bare minimum, and is expected to clear the way for former President Donald Trump to return to the platform.

The then-president was blocked due to concerns he would ignite more violence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss.

Musk Completes Twitter Takeover (AP)

Newsmax staff Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:35 PM EDT

Elon Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives, U.S. media reported late Thursday, in a deal that puts one of the top platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world's richest man.

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources.

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.

The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.

Musk tweeted on Thursday that he was buying Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner."

The billionaire even shared a picture of himself socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.

And the New York Stock Exchange posted a pending order to suspend trading in Twitter before Friday's session.

– 'Chief Twit' –

Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was canceling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake "bot" accounts – allegations rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he'd changed his mind.

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the agreement.

With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

Musk signaled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posting a video of himself walking into the company's California headquarters carrying a sink.

"Let that sink in!" he quipped.

Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was "excited" about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are "overpaying."

– Twitter free-for-all? –

Some employees who would prefer not to work for Musk have already left, said a worker who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely.

"But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now," the employee said of Musk.

The idea of Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.

But Musk said he realizes Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences."

Musk has vowed to dial content moderation back to a bare minimum, and is expected to clear the way for former President Donald Trump to return to the platform.

The then-president was blocked due to concerns he would ignite more violence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss.

Original Article

Musk Completes Twitter Takeover (AP)

Newsmax staff Thursday, 27 October 2022 09:35 PM EDT

Elon Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives, U.S. media reported late Thursday, in a deal that puts one of the top platforms for global discourse in the hands of the world's richest man.

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources.

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.

The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.

Musk tweeted on Thursday that he was buying Twitter "because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner."

The billionaire even shared a picture of himself socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.

And the New York Stock Exchange posted a pending order to suspend trading in Twitter before Friday's session.

– 'Chief Twit' –

Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was canceling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake "bot" accounts – allegations rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he'd changed his mind.

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the agreement.

With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

Musk signaled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posting a video of himself walking into the company's California headquarters carrying a sink.

"Let that sink in!" he quipped.

Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was "excited" about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are "overpaying."

– Twitter free-for-all? –

Some employees who would prefer not to work for Musk have already left, said a worker who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely.

"But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now," the employee said of Musk.

The idea of Musk running Twitter has alarmed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.

But Musk said he realizes Twitter "cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences."

Musk has vowed to dial content moderation back to a bare minimum, and is expected to clear the way for former President Donald Trump to return to the platform.

The then-president was blocked due to concerns he would ignite more violence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss.

Spy Agencies Pulled 2020 Vote Study After Internal Dissent (AP)

NOMAAN MERCHANT Thursday, 27 October 2022 08:40 PM EDT

As U.S. spy agencies ramped up their work to catch foreign meddling in this year’s election, a team of CIA experts studied lessons learned from the contentious 2020 vote. Unexpectedly, their report sparked a controversy within parts of the intelligence community.

In a rare move, their study was withdrawn shortly after it was issued in the spring after rank-and-file officers protested that it failed to address the allegations of politics seeping into intelligence that arose in the 2020 election and that remain unresolved for some today.

Reissued in September, the study remains classified and its full contents aren’t publicly known. Several people familiar with the matter would say only that it included recommendations on how intelligence leaders could best examine and report election threats attributed to Russia, China and other American adversaries.

The dispute over a relatively routine study and its unusual withdrawal highlight ongoing concerns over how to address the varying foreign threats to U.S. elections — including disinformation, cyber espionage and the amplification of existing divisions within American society. In an increasingly polarized America, some of those tensions have spilled over inside the nominally apolitical world of intelligence, some former officers say.

Some officers have alleged intelligence leaders in 2020 played down findings on Russia to suit the demands of former President Donald Trump, who fired a director of national intelligence in one dispute over Moscow's supposed election meddling. Others say election-related intelligence on China in particular was wrongly played down out of a belief that politicians would misuse it.

The study was requested by the former election threats executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the 18 U.S. spy agencies. It was ultimately republished with what's known as a “scope note” explaining the study was focused primarily on senior leaders and not intended to delve into the politicization of intelligence or other potential issues around elections.

Several people described the debate over the study on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

Tim Barrett, the top spokesman for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, said intelligence officials have expanded training on objectivity in analysis and worked to better collaborate across agencies.

“We are committed to impartial and inclusive analysis and will continue to provide the insights needed to safeguard our democracy," Barrett said in a statement.

The CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence produces internal histories of key moments and issues faced across the intelligence community. Its reports are intended to guide current and future officers.

Nicholas Dujmovic, a retired CIA officer who served on the agency’s history staff, said any decision to withdraw a study would be unusual, but not unprecedented. Dujmovic, now a professor at the Washington-based Catholic University of America, said he did not have specific knowledge of the recently republished study.

“We’re in the intelligence business. We’re in the truth business,” he said. “Occasionally, if we have information that a study is flawed, we might pull it back and rework it.”

One of the study's recommendations was for intelligence agencies to adopt a definition across countries of “election influence” and “election interference.”

The lack of a standard practice was flagged by the intelligence community’s analytic ombudsman, Barry Zulauf, shortly after the 2020 election. Zulauf wrote in a separate report — an unclassified version of which was released in January 2021 — that analysts studying Russia and China defined “influence” differently, possibly leading to the analysts drawing different conclusions about each country's intentions and actions.

Some officers accused Trump’s top appointees of delaying and distorting some intelligence findings for political reasons, Zulauf said. Some of Trump’s attacks on election-related intelligence became public in 2020, including his firing of the director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, after his office briefed Congress with highly contested claims that Russia was trying to boost Trump’s reelection campaign.

Zulauf also found the political pressure may have affected analysts focused on China, who “appeared hesitant to assess Chinese actions as undue influence or interference,” in part because they felt Trump would use their findings to attack China and downplay Russia’s interventions in support of him.

This year, U.S. officials are warning of more foreign campaigns to influence midterm races along with the spread of domestic disinformation, the prospect of cyberattacks, and threats and harassment toward election workers.

“The current election threat environment is more complex than it has ever been,” said Jen Easterly, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm, in a recent media briefing.

Original Article