The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Elon Musk

Pushing Xmas Government Shutdown, Trump And Musk Block Disaster Aid

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have succeeded in getting House Republicans to kill what was expected to be an easily-passed continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the federal government open and avert a costly and confusing shutdown just days before Christmas.

Early on Wednesday evening, Republicans rejected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s bill, according to the Washington Post.

“The chances of a shutdown have now increased quite a bit,” CNN’s Manu Raju had reported at 4:35 PM ET, amid the fast-moving developments. “Congress hasn’t even discussed a debt ceiling hike. And Trump is inserting that toxic fight on top of the government funding bill that is already at risk of collapsing amid a revolt on the right.”

“And just like that,” observed NBC News’ Garret Haake, “we’re teetering on the edge of a government shutdown, as Trump & Vance come out against Speaker Johnson’s CR.”

“Suddenly Trump and Vance now say they want to negotiate on the debt ceiling, as the CR+ deal goes absolutely sideways in less than 24 hours,” noted longtime congressional correspondent Jamie Dupree.

“Trump-Vance statement trashes the bipartisan stopgap funding bill and now calls for adding a DEBT CEILING INCREASE, which is nowhere in the mix. Two days till government shuts down,” noted NBC News’ Sahil Kapur.

Trump and his Vice President-elect, JD Vance, had issued a statement after Musk’s many hours of attacking the continuing resolution, which the Post attributes to killing the CR.

“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” the statement read.

Democrats are not calling for the federal government to shut down.

“It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief,” it also states, which is false. “THIS CHAOS WOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IF WE HAD A REAL PRESIDENT. WE WILL IN 32 DAYS!”

On Wednesday morning, PBS News had reported: “Congressional leaders have unveiled a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government funded through March 14 and provide more than $100 billion in emergency aid to help states and local communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.”

“President Joe Biden has sought about $114 billion in disaster aid, submitting a $99 billion request in November, telling lawmakers the funding was ‘urgently needed.’ The administration subsequently updated its request to include funding to repair federal facilities damaged due to natural disasters.”

“The bill will provide $100.4 billion in disaster relief, with an additional $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers struggling with low commodity prices and high input costs.”

Musk, Donald Trump’s incoming co-chair of the non-federal government Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), on Wednesday had been calling for Congress to stop passage of all legislation until the President-elect is sworn in to office on January 20. For more than 12 hours it appeared Musk was actively undermining the CR that was meant to avert a shutdown at 12:01 AM Saturday.

“No bills should be passed Congress until Jan 20, when @realDonaldTrump takes office. None. Zero,” Musk, late Wednesday afternoon, posted to his social media platform X.

“Kill the Bill,” Musk declared to his more than 207 million followers, referring to the continuing resolution. The CR must be passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Biden before the midnight Friday deadline to avert a costly and disruptive government shutdown right before Christmas.

Musk’s remark was in response to a post from far-right Congressman Jim Banks, who is now the Republican Senator-elect from Indiana.

Banks had claimed the CR “funds the censorship of conservative speech for the entire first year of the Trump administration. Unacceptable!”

“‘Shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill,” Musk also claimed.

CBS News’s Jim LaPorta, a former Marine who has written extensively on the military and veterans, responded to Musk’s claim by saying, “The impact to military families, particularly at the lowest ranks where there’s food insecurity and families living paycheck to paycheck are impacted. Child care centers which some service members depend on can shut down during a shutdown—a critical function for them.”

In response to a post falsely claiming the bill also includes a 40 percent pay raise for members of Congress, Musk wrote: “Unconscionable.”

Musk also wrote, and pinned to the top of his feed, this: “How can this be called a ‘continuing resolution’ if it includes a 40% pay increase for Congress?”

The pay raise, the first for Congress since 2009, would increase salaries by about four percent, not 40 percent.

“Rank-and-file lawmakers in both chambers earn $174,000 annual salary, with those in leadership earning more. The maximum potential member pay adjustment in January 2025 under the stopgap spending bill would be 3.8 percent, which would result in a salary of $180,600, an increase of $6,600,” Politico reported.

Musk had kicked off the day attacking the continuing resolution.

“At 4:15 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Musk tweeted that ‘This bill should not pass,’ and he’s gotten noticeably more strident as the day has gone along,”Mediaite reported Wednesday afternoon. “In a raging tweetstorm over the last hour or so, Musk has called the bill a ‘scam,’ a ‘criminal bill,’ an ‘insane crime against the American people,’ ‘an outrage,’ ‘terrible,’ and ‘madness.'”

“’The more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this spending bill is a crime. It even includes funding for the worst illegal censorship operation in the entire government (GEC)!!’ mused Musk in one post.”

At 3:58 PM Musk claimed the continuing resolution was “dead.”

House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) warned that if the government shuts down, Republicans will own it: “House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) also issued a warning: “Remember what this is all about: Trump wants Democrats to agree to raise the debt ceiling so he can pass his massive corporate and billionaire tax cut without a problem. Shorter version: tax cut for billionaires or the government shuts down for Christmas.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff for Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, offered this observation: “Trump and Vance intervening to personally block states from getting disaster relief – including red states hit by Helene – after weeks of flat out lying to the country about the emergency response is one of the most cynical and depraved things I’ve ever seen in this town.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Donald Trump

Trump Won Vowing To 'Get Prices Down Fast' -- But Now 'It's Very Hard'

As a candidate, Donald Trump campaigned—and won—this year on the promise he would lower prices for Americans angry after the COVID pandemic’s inflation brought steep price increases, but now he’s backtracking, saying he’s not sure he will actually be able to fulfill those vows. Outrage at Trump, and the people who voted for him based on that pledge, was palpable on Thursday.

As recently as Sunday, MSNBC reports, Trump insisted, “We’re going to bring those prices way down.”

On Monday, Fox News reported: “Pointing to high grocery prices, Trump says, ‘I won an election based on that'”

But in his TIME magazine “Person of the Year” interview, Trump suggested he might not be able to lower prices as he promised to do. Appearing to remove himself from the equation, he declared: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”

Sam Stein of The Bulwark and MSNBC noted via social media, “’Prices will come down,’ Trump told voters during a speech last week laying out his vision for a return to the White House. ‘You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.'”

The President-elect told TIME he would “like to bring them down” when asked, “If the prices of groceries don’t come down, will your presidency be a failure?” but insisted if prices do not drop he doesn’t think that will make his second term a failure.

On the campaign trail Trump repeatedly promised he would lower prices and inflation, asHuffPostreported Thursday:

“’We will end inflation and make America affordable again, and we’re going to get the prices down, we have to get them down,’ Trump said at a rally in September. ‘It’s too much. Groceries, cars, everything. We’re going to get the prices down.'”

“’We will cut your taxes and inflation, slash your prices, raise your wages and bring thousands of factories back to America,’ Trump said at a Georgia rally in October, reciting a line he used in speeches at several other events.”

“Trump also specifically promised to get gas prices down: ‘I will cut your energy prices in half within 12 months.'”

Stein’s post earlier Thursday morning quoting Trump saying “You know, it’s very hard” to bring prices down set of an explosion of anger at the incoming occupant of the White House.

“Trump has already folded on prices. He has no plans to make life more affordable for the majority of Americans,” declared Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative.

“All of you idiots who voted for Trump over food prices should feel pretty stupid,” journalist Roland Martin remarked in response.

Politico White House reporter Adam Cancryn responded to Stein: “Trump in Asheville in August: ‘From the day I take the oath of office, we will rapidly drive prices down, and make America affordable again’ ‘Prices will come down. You just watch. They’ll come down and they’ll come down fast. Not only with insurance, with everything.'”

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake added: “Trump on Sept. 23: ‘Vote Trump, and your incomes will soar. Your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down.'”

“Oh, Trump doesn’t have a plan to bring down costs for Americans? I’m shocked,” snarked Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

Tom Bonier, a veteran Democratic political strategist noted, “He’s likely right, which is why the Biden record of increasing wages while slowing inflation has put our country on the right track, but of course no one could admit that until Trump won by running against inflation.”

Ron Fournier, a business executive and former journalist asked, “Wait. He promised to bring them down. Did he …

… lie?”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump Threatens To Stop Childhood Vaccinations After 'Big Discussion' With RFK Jr.

Saying he will be the one to decide—in consultation with anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—which vaccines the federal government should cut, Donald Trump on Thursday again invoked the false and widely debunked conspiracy theory that links autism to the life-saving drugs. The President-elect’s remarks were met with concern and condemnation.

“When asked in an interview for TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year whether he would approve of an end to childhood vaccination programs, Trump said he would have a ‘big discussion’ with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” TIME magazine reported Thursday, noting Trump has nominated RFK Jr., an attorney who has no medical training or experience leading a massive organization, to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible,” Trump told TIME, which debunked his remarks in its reporting. “If you look at things that are happening, there’s something causing it.”

Reuters also reported, “Trump says [he] could get rid of some vaccinations ‘if I think it’s dangerous.'”

“When asked if the discussion could result in his administration getting rid of some vaccinations, Trump said: ‘It could if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end.'”

Like RFK Jr., Trump has no medical training or background.

While “Trump did not explicitly say in the interview that vaccines cause autism,” which it classified as “a false claim that traces back to a retracted study from the 1990s,” TIME reports that when “pressed on the issue, Trump said his administration will complete ‘very serious testing,’ after which ‘we will know for sure what’s good and what’s not good.'”

Dr. Ashish Kumar Jha is a physician, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, and served as the Biden White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. He characterized Trump’s remarks that he will speak with RFK Jr. and possibly cut some vaccines, as an “extraordinarily bad idea.”

“RFK jr doesn’t seem to understand the data on vaccines,” Dr. Jha wrote. “He should have no role in deciding which vaccines should be available, recommended.”

Dr. Priya Pal of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Division of Infectious Diseases, commenting on Trump’s remarks, referenced creators of some of the most important vaccines in history: “Never could Pasteur, Salk, Jenner, Sabin have imagined people celebrating the return of childhood diseases that they and others worked so hard to prevent.”

Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, clinical professor of pediatrics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., a senior advisor to Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, and the CEO and founder of Their Future, Our Vote. She responded to the news by snarking, “Congratulations preventable infectious diseases!”

Infectious disease physician Apu Akkad, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine wrote: “Wow. This sounds hugely problematic. RFK has no business deciding which vaccines should and shouldn’t be used — most especially without first gathering further data.”

TIME also dove in to Trump’s allegation about the perceived rise in autism.

“It’s true that autism is diagnosed much more frequently now than in the past—but not because vaccines are causing the condition. Researchers have explored possible reasons for the uptick, including rising parental ages and environmental triggers. But much of the increase, research suggests, stems from changes to diagnostic criteria, widespread awareness of the condition, and improvements in screening. Detection jumps have been particularly steep among children of color, girls, and young adults, all of whom have historically been diagnosed less frequently.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated, “There’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Former President Donald Trump

Trump Vows To Suspend 'All Environmental Approvals' For Any Billion-Dollar Investor

President-elect Donald Trump pledged to fast-track permits and tamp down regulations, including environmental, for any entity that wants to invest $1 billion or more in America, while offering no specifics or parameters, including how the federal government could arbitrarily overrule state and local laws.

“Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals. GET READY TO ROCK!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.

During the campaign, Trump told oil and gas executives and lobbyists at a closed-door Mar-a-Lago fundraiser that if they invested $1 billion in his campaign, he would scale back or remove environmental regulations.

“Attendees included executives from ExxonMobil, EQT Corporation and the American Petroleum Institute, which lobbies for the oil industry,” The New York Times had reported in May. “The event was organized by the oil billionaire Harold Hamm, who has for years helped to shape Republican energy policies.”

Trump has announced his nominee for Secretary of the Interior will be North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

“Under the National Environmental Policy Act,” Forbes reports, “the federal government is required to conduct environmental reviews before approving energy production plans, infrastructure builds and other projects. How Trump will help investors get around regulations isn’t clear, but Trump has vowed to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas, projects that are often stymied or killed in the regulatory process.”

Critics blasted Trump’s statement.

314Action, which says it is “the only organization in the nation focused on recruiting, training, and electing Democrats with a background in science to public office,” wrote: “To tackle the climate crisis, Congress needs to pass and enforce bold, evidence-based legislation. However, Donald Trump doesn’t believe that billionaires should have to follow the law. In his world, they can pay-to-play and bypass crucial environmental protections. That’s why we’ll always fight to #ElectScientists who will fight back against his anti-science agenda and hold these bad actors accountable.”

“A government of oligarchs that will exist to solely serve the interests of oligarchs while distracting working people with culture wars. Foreign corporations & persons can loot & pollute the US and bypass regs that protect the health of Americans as long as they got lots of cash,” observed MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski.

Journalist David Leavitt asked, “How many animals will go extinct because of this? How much quicker will this hasten the destruction of our planet?”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Tulsi Gabbard

Former National Security Officials Urge Closed Senate Hearings On Gabbard

Dozens of the nation’s former national security officials say they are “alarmed” about President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the top official overseeing the entire U.S. Intelligence Community. They are calling for closed-door sessions during the confirmation process so senators can “consider all information available to the U.S. government” regarding the former member of Congress.

The ex-officials cite what they say is Gabbard’s lack of experience and her “sympathy for dictators,” which “raises questions about her judgment and fitness.”

“As the Director of National Intelligence, Ms. Gabbard would be entrusted with oversight of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the identification and protection of human sources working in the most dangerous settings around the world to defend our national security, and the protection of our most sensitive sources and methods of gathering intelligence,” the officials write.

“In light of this extraordinary responsibility,” they say in the letter published by Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio (below), “Senators must carefully scrutinize her qualifications as an intelligence professional and her record, including her uncoordinated trip to Syria in 2017 to meet with President Bashar al-Assad. Several of Ms. Gabbard’s past actions call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus.”

The national security experts, nearly 100, warn of Gabbard’s “sympathy for dictators like Vladimir Putin and Assad” and say it “raises questions about her judgment and fitness.”

In their letter, they suggest America’s intelligence partners may be unwilling to continue to share valuable information and assets if Gabbard is confirmed. They also suggest she is not qualified.

“Ms. Gabbard, if confirmed, would be the least experienced Director of National Intelligence since the position was created. Prior directors had executive branch experience working on intelligence matters or served on a congressional intelligence committee. Most have also had significant management experience. The Senate must carefully evaluate whether Ms. Gabbard is equipped to effectively oversee an organizational structure as unique and large as the National Intelligence Program and also the effect of her holding this position on the willingness of our closest allies to share intelligence with the U.S.”

The officials also “ask that the Senate fully exercise its constitutional advice and consent role with respect to this and other nominees, including through appropriate vetting, hearings, and regular order. In particular, Senate committees should consider in closed sessions all information available to the U.S. government when considering Ms. Gabbard’s qualifications to manage our country’s intelligence agencies, and more importantly, the protection of our intelligence sources and methods.”

In 2017, during his first few months in office and just after firing then-FBI Director Jim Comey, Trump threatened America’s relationship with its intelligence partners around the world by handing highly classified information to Russian officials during a closed-door Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. No other Americans were in the room, but a Russian photographer was, and Russian media published his photos.

The letter from the former national security officials is dated Thursday. It is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat, and his incoming Republican successor, Senator John Thune of South Dakota.

Some of the more well-known officials whose names appear on the letter include Wendy Sherman, former Deputy Secretary of State; Anthony Lake, a former National Security Advisor and Executive Director of UNICEF, Tom Malinowski, a former Member of Congress and Assistant Secretary of State; Daniel Kurtzer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel; Rose Gottemoeller, a former Deputy Secretary General of NATO; and John Tien, a former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

“The DNI has access to every single secret that the United States has, every single bit of information that we know,” It’s the keys to the intelligence community kingdom,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), The Hillreported last month. A former CIA officer, Rep. Spanberger sits on the House Intelligence Committee. She said she was “appalled” by the selection of Gabbard for DNI.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Matt Gaetz

Trump Defiant As Women Reveal Gaetz Sex Payments, Illegal Drug Use

The Trump transition team is doubling down in defiance, proclaiming the president-elect’s nominee for Attorney General will become the nation’s next top law enforcement officer, even after an attorney who represents two women says his clients told the House Ethics Committee that then-Congressman Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one says she saw the Florida Republican having sex with a minor at a house party.

“She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” Florida attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News (video below).

“Just to be clear, both of your clients testified that they were paid by Rep. Gaetz to have sex?” ABC News’ Juju Chang asked Leppard.

“That’s correct,” Leppard replied.

“The House was very clear about that and went through each. They essentially put the Venmo payments on the screen and asked about them. And my clients repeatedly testified, ‘What was this payment for?’ ‘That was for sex,'” Leppard said.

ABC News’ Jay O’Brien on Monday added, “We also know this attorney says that his clients told the House committee that they witnessed parties, that there were illicit drugs allegedly there, and then, of course, that they witnessed those alleged sexual encounters that Matt Gaetz has denied.”

The Trump team is not backing down.

“Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system,” Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told ABC News in response to the latest news. “These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing. The only people who went to prison over these allegations were those lying about Matt Gaetz.”

The Department of Justice did not “clear” Congressman Gaetz, it declined to bring any charges.

Gaetz has denied all allegations.

Last week Leppard called for the House Ethics Committee to release the report on its years-long investigation into the Florida Republican congressman who resigned immediately after President-elect Trump nominated him. In general, the ethics committee will not release a report if the subject is no longer a member of Congress.

“As the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, several questions demand answers,” Leppard said, ABC News reports. “What if multiple credible witnesses provided evidence of behavior that would constitute serious criminal violations?”

Another attorney, John Clune, who “represents the former minor at the center of the probe,” the one with whom Gaetz allegedly had sex with when she was a minor, “called for the release of the Ethics Committee’s report on Thursday,” ABC added.

As for Gaetz’s nomination, ABC News noted, “President-elect Trump has repeatedly urged GOP leadership to bypass the traditional confirmation process through recess appointments, whereby Trump could appoint his cabinet while Congress is out of session.”

The ethics committee has said it was investigating allegations that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”

It is widely believed the committee also investigated allegations Gaetz may have engaged in sex trafficking of a minor and sex with a minor.

On his website, Leppard last year wrote:

“’Statutory rape’ is a term referring to sexual activity between an adult and a minor below the legal age of consent. But what defines this age?”

“In Florida, the age of consent is 18. So, any sexual engagement with someone under 18 by an individual 18 or older is considered statutory rape, even if the minor consented.”

He also referred to Florida’s “Romeo & Juliet” law, which “is designed for those close to age, emphasizing genuine youthful relationships.” It does not appear Gaetz would have been protected by that law given he was older than 24 at the time of the alleged act.

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump's 'Bat Signal' To Terrorist Proud Boys Raises Alarm

Trump's 'Bat Signal' To Terrorist Proud Boys Raises Alarm

Donald Trump over the past few weeks has occasionally been discarding his iconic blue suit, red tie, and red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, and instead wearing a black suit, gold tie, and black and gold MAGA hat. Black and gold are the colors of the far-right group the Proud Boys, who “instigated critical breaches of the Capitol” during the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was handed a sentence last year of “22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 election.”

Months before the insurrection trump had infamously signaled, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

“The Proud Boys are back in the news today,” wrote Rolling Stone senior writer Tim Dickinson. “Trump is not only bat signaling to the fight club with a black and gold MAGA hat — he’s campaigning for a far-right congressional candidate who had a Proud Boy on payroll.”

Dickinson pointed to his reporting on Republican Joe Kent, a “far-right candidate for the House, with connections to white nationalists,” who has “extremist views and affiliations, including reportedly paying a Proud Boy as a consultant.”

Attorney Tristan Snell, who helped lead New York’s successful $25 million prosecution in the Trump University case, warns: “MAGA’s colors have always been red and white. Yet Trump is suddenly wearing black and gold MAGA hats — and even wore a black suit and gold tie the other day, rather than his habitual blue suit and red tie. The Proud Boys colors are black and gold. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE.”

Calling it “a harbinger of potential chaos,” The New York Times on Monday reports: “Groups backing former President Donald J. Trump recently sent messages to organize poll watchers to be ready to dispute votes in Democratic areas. Some posted images of armed men standing up for their rights to recruit for their cause. Others spread conspiracy theories that anything less than a Trump victory on Tuesday would be a miscarriage of justice worthy of revolt.”

One post, “from an Ohio chapter of the Proud Boys, the far-right organization that was instrumental in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” read: “The day is fast approaching when fence sitting will no longer be possible.”

“You will either stand with the resistance or take a knee and willingly accept the yoke of tyranny and oppression.”

Pointing to “the growth and increased sophistication of the election denialism movement,” The Times reports its “analysis of more than one million messages across nearly 50 Telegram channels with over 500,000 members found a sprawling and interconnected movement intended to question the credibility of the presidential election, interfere with the voting process and potentially dispute the outcome.”

Posts from groups like the Proud Boys, “questioned why states might not be able to fully tally election results on election night and repeated misleading claims about voter registration numbers in Michigan. In one video, a truck with a Confederate flag chased after immigrant children, with a caption reading: ‘1/20/25: Trump is sworn in as President. 1/21/25: Me and the Proud Boys begin the deportation.’”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Lots Of Empty Seats' At Closing Trump Rallies In Swing States

'Lots Of Empty Seats' At Closing Trump Rallies In Swing States

Win or lose on Election Day, it’s unlikely the 78-year old Donald Trump will ever hold another presidential campaign rally again, and yet some of his supporters over the past week have stopped showing up for his final tour, leading reporters on several networks to mention there are “a lot of empty seats.”

Who will win the presidential election is anyone’s guess, but for the Republican nominee coming to the end of his third campaign, some expected more people would be out to get one last rush of the MAGA experience.

“Very low energy,” is how Mother Jones’ D.C. bureau chief David Corn described Trump’s rally Monday in Reading, Pennsylvania—a must-win state both candidates have been focusing on.

NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard, who says he’s been covering Trump since 2015, notes Trump’s first rally on the last day before Election Day is just 70 percent full—and Trump was 40 minutes late.

And he talked about the “far smaller crowds” they’ve been seeing, including this one in North Carolina.

“I wanna show you guys real fast what this crowd looks like,” Hillyard told MSNBC viewers. “We’re looking at about a capacity, about 70% full here, and for nine years … we have talked about the enthusiasm in the masses that have come out for Trump’s rallies, time and again, even at his politically lowest points, including in 2022.”

Biden White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, from his personal account on X responded: “The act got old.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein posted video from Trump’s Sunday rally in Macon, Georgia.

Revealing just how tired Trump’s supporters have, the comedy team of The Good Liars, who frequently go to Trump rallies and interview his supporters, on Monday caught several people holding Trump signs leaving but his rally early.

The Lincoln Project posted a video, originally posted by Hillyard, remarking, “This is how the MAGA movement is dying, like a bad club when the lights come on.”

Another Trump rally today with “a lot of empty seats.”

A CNN reporter for that same rally agreed: “a lot of empty seats.”

Democratic former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill noted that a Trump rally on Saturday also had “a lot of empty seats.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump's Latest Excuse: 'I Didn't Know Anything About The Comedian'

Trump's Latest Excuse: 'I Didn't Know Anything About The Comedian'

Facing mounting backlash, Donald Trump on Wednesday again sought to distance himself from the racist “jokes” made by a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally Sunday.

Tony Hinchcliffe, who has a history of racist remarks, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean,” and said, “these Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country,” before talking about Black people carving watermelons.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., retweeted a post of Hinchcliffe defending his remarks despite the Trump campaign issuing a statement distancing it from the Hinchcliffe.

Sitting in a garbage truck with the “Trump” logo emblazoned on the side, that he said was “in honor” of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump on Wednesday (video below) told reporters, “I don’t know anything about the comedian. I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made his statement, but it was just a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you? I know nothing about him. I don’t know why he’s there, but you put comedians up and I guess you went on earlier to show, I don’t know who he is.”

The backlash has been extensive.

Top Latino stars and superstars rushed to endorse and support Vice President Harris, Trump’s Democratic presidential opponent. They include Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Marc Antony, and Luis Fonsi. Lopez on Instagram has 250 million followers.

On Wednesday afternoon Nicky Jam, a Puerto Rican-Dominican singer and Reggaeton star who had recently endorsed Trump, pulled his support, citing the racist remarks at Trump’s rally.

“Never in my life did I think that just one month later a comedian would show up and criticize my country, and speak poorly of my country. And for that, I revoke any support for Donald Trump and I’m stepping aside from any kind of political situation. Puerto Rico is to be respected,” Jam told his 43.5 million followers, in Spanish, in an Instagram video, NBC News reports.

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Harris Campaign Chief Says She's 'Confident' As Undecideds Swing Democratic

Harris Campaign Chief Says She's 'Confident' As Undecideds Swing Democratic

In a rare move seven days before Election Day, the chair of the Harris campaign has released a video in an apparent effort to tamp down nervousness in the Democratic base.

Jen O’Malley Dillon told supporters, “we’re on track to win a very close election,” “we feel really good with what we’re seeing,” but “we still have a lot of work to do.”

The video (below) has gone viral, with nearly 400,000 views on the social media platform X in just 90 minutes.

“I know you’re anxious,” O’Malley Dillon says, “I know you’re worried because you know what the stakes are and it’s okay to be worried, but what we can do for you is help you channel that anxiety into helping us in this campaign.” And she asked supporters to “go knock on doors.”

O’Malley Dillon, who also served as President Joe Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaign manager, and his White House deputy chief of staff, recorded the three-and-a-half-minute “campaign update” to “tell you why you don’t have to feel anxious and you can feel good,” insisting “we have multiple pathways to get to 270 electoral votes.”

Declaring it “truly is a margin of error race,” O’Malley Dillon says, “every single state, the blue wall, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, the sun belt, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina … are in play, and in each of these states, every week we see and we monitor our numbers, we monitor the work that’s happening, and we’re seeing growing enthusiasm and we’re so excited about it.”

And she insists, “we feel really good about what we’re seeing out there.”

She says that Republicans, who historically have not taken advantage of early voting but this year are, at the behest of the RNC and occasionally Donald Trump, are simply “changing their mode of voting.”

“We are seeing Republicans voting early, but these are Republicans that are gonna vote no matter what.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are “voting at the levels we need them to vote in order for us to win,” she adds, and says early Democratic voters “are our lower propensity voters,” meaning voters who do not tend to vote in every election.

She says undecided voters are still out there, but they are moving more toward Harris than Trump, a claim confirmed in recent news reporting.

Last week the Monmouth University Poll reported the number of undecideds who are “motivated … is only 1%.”

Newsweek reported that “Emerson College polling, conducted between October 14 and 16, shows that among undecided voters who chose who they would vote for in the past week or month, 60 percent opted for the Democratic vice president, while 36 percent opted for Republican former President Donald Trump.”

She urged Harris and Walz supporters to go talk to the undecideds.

“They need to have people at their doors, they need to get phone calls, they need to see us wherever they are in any part of their life, so we leave no stone unturned.”

“Maybe you can make phone calls,” she asked, “or send texts from your home or maybe you can do something that only you can do, which is talk to people in your own lives. The people that you see every day. Maybe you work with them, maybe there are people in your life that you don’t always want to talk politics about because I know talking about politics is hard, but we need you to have those conversations. And if you even just have one of those hard conversations, that is gonna make a difference in this race.”

The Daily Beast reports Tuesday morning, O’Malley Dillon told reporters, “We’re confident we’re going to win.”

“And it’s not because we’re running away with it. It’s because we’re confident we’re on a path to win a very close election,” she said.

“She added that the Harris campaign has seen a ‘growth of support’ since Trump’s Sunday rally, where a comedian’s insulting joke about Puerto Rico offended many Latino voters.”

Watch O’Malley Dillon’s video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Arson Hits Ballot Drop Boxes In Oregon And Washington

Arson Hits Ballot Drop Boxes In Oregon And Washington

With little more than one week until Election Day, a ballot drop box in Vancouver, Washington was set on fire, destroying hundreds of ballots. And in nearby Portland, Oregon, a ballot drop box was also set on fire, but a fire suppressant minimized the loss—just three ballots were damaged. An elections analyst said Vancouver is a strong source of Democratic votes in that congressional district, where the race is seen as extremely tight.

“Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s Third Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be one of the closest U.S. House races in the country, between first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent,” The Associated Press reports. “Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey in Vancouver told The Associated Press that the ballot drop box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center … had a fire suppression system inside, but for some reason it wasn’t effective. Responders pulled a burning pile of ballots from inside the box, and Kimsey said hundreds were lost.”

“It’s a direct attack on democracy,” Kimsey told the AP, calling it, “heartbreaking.”

Washington state Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, suggested the fire was an act of terror and “said the state would not tolerate threats or acts of violence meant to derail voting.”

“I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state,” Secretary Hobbs said.

Washington and Oregon are vote by mail states.

Professor of law and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance called it “utterly unacceptable & criminal behavior,” and said “the local US Attys will make this a top priority for prosecution. No 60 day rule for election violence.”

Rick Hasen, a professor of law and noted elections law expert added, “Lighting ballot boxes on fire in a federal election is a serious crime. It is going to need to be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice in federal and state courts.”

Elections expert Trygve Olson, a senior advisor to The Lincoln Project, commented, “there is nothing less American than the idea you would do something like this to your fellow Americans. It is an insult to our founders, to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, and for those around the world who would give just about anything to have the right to vote.”

Talking Points Memo publisher Josh Marshall called for “a massive (FBI/brings in the Feds level) effort to find these culprits and severely punish them. For all the ways confidence and the reliability of our voting system has been damaged. Destruction of ballots takes things to a dramatic and unsustainable new level which tears at the fabric which still mostly ensures civic peace.”

FiveThirtyEight senior elections analyst says Vancouver, Washington “is the biggest source of Dem[ocratic] votes in WA-03 (which went about 50 percent - 46 percent for Trump overall). Vancouver has ~200k people and is the main city in Clark County, a county that provided about 70 percent of all WA-03 Dem votes in 2020.”

According to FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracking, the last two polls in that district were tied, 46 percent to 46 percent.

The FBI is investigating and working with local and state officials.

KATU photographer was able to capture video of the ballot box on fire in Vancouver, Washington.

Voters in Vancouver “who dropped off ballots at that location after 11 a.m. Saturday need to contact the Election Auditor’s Office IMMEDIATELY for a new ballot,” KATU reports. “A link to the Clark County Elections page, with contact information for the Auditor’s Office, can be found HERE. Washington voters can track the status of their ballots HERE.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Furious Over Trump's Racist Rally, Latino Superstars Vow Payback On Election Day

Furious Over Trump's Racist Rally, Latino Superstars Vow Payback On Election Day

Popular, famous, and highly-influential Latino stars, and superstars including Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi, Jennifer Lopez, and Ricky Martin, are lashing out at Donald Trump after his six-hour Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday served up racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic rhetoric. A New York Times headline described it as "Trump's racist rally."

The most-noted racist remarks came from a comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, in an attack calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean,” and saying, "these Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country,” before talking about Black people carving watermelons.

The Trump campaign waited several hours before issuing a statement saying, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” It was unclear why other racist remarks made throughout the event, including by Hinchcliffe, were not addressed by the campaign.

"Battleground Pennsylvania," NBC News reports, "where polling margins show a razor-thin race between Trump and Harris, is home to the third-largest Puerto Rican diaspora in the country. Last month, the former president invited Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA onstage at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to publicly throw his support behind the Republican ticket."

Variety reports, "Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin were among the notable industry figures who boosted Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Sunday after a speaker at Donald Trump‘s political rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico 'a floating island of garbage.'"

"Bad Bunny, one of the world’s biggest music superstar[s] with more than 45 million Instagram followers, boosted Harris’ campaign video targeting voters in Puerto Rico and noting what a contentious relationship that Trump had with the island during his tenure in the White House. Lopez posted Harris campaign material targeted at Puerto Rico as well as the same video pitch that Bad Bunny boosted."

"Singer-actor Ricky Martin, with 18.6 million Instagram followers, did the same thing on his Instagram Stories feed, adding the comment 'I remember' on the Harris video. He also included a clip of Hinchcliffe’s 'garbage' comment."

Variety continued, reporting, "Luis Fonsi, the Puerto Rican singer who had a worldwide smash in 2017 with 'Despacito,' also reposted the Harris video and added a comment."

“We are not OK with this constant hate. It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote,” Fonsi wrote. “I purposely wrote this in English cause yes we’re American too.”

Political strategist, CNN commentator, and co-host of ABC's The View, Ana Navarro has two million followers on the social media platform X and is a highly-influential Republican.

"Today, @KamalaHarris released policy proposals to help Puerto Rico. On the other hand at the Trump rally, this is going on," she wrote, pointing to a clip of Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

"But nah. They’re not piece of s--- racists who treat Puerto Ricans as second-class US citizens. It’s just our imagination. Puerto Ricans, pay attention!"

She also noted posted a screenshot of Bad Bunny's post, in which he shared Vice President Harris's proposal for Puerto Rico with his 45 million followers.

And, pointing to Hinchcliffe's racist remarks about Latinos making babies, Navarro wrote:

"Latinos, defend our community’s dignity.

Show some self-respect.

A vote against racism is a vote for @KamalaHarris."

Monday morning on The View, co-host Sunny Hostin, who is Puerto Rican, served up a monologue strongly criticizing Donald Trump.

"This Puerto Rican has something to say about the island that I love, where my family is from," Hostin began. "Puerto Rico is 'trash'? We are Americans, Donald Trump. Americans. We voluntarily serve disproportionately high in the military, while you have bone spurs."

"And we vote."

"Pennsylvania is home to almost half a million Puerto Ricans. North Carolina, 115,000. Georgia, 100,000. Arizona, 64,000. Wisconsin, 61,000. Michigan, 43,000. Nevada, 27,000. We vote Donald Trump."

"Trash?"

"And by the way, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi, and Mark Anthony have over 345 million followers on Instagram. I think you only have 26 million, since you care so much about size. And we don't like what was said about Puerto Rico. And we know how to take the trash out Donald Trump. Trash that has been collecting since 2016. And that's you, Donald Trump. And finally, my fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is November 5th, 2024. Don't forget it."

Former Fox News political commentator Geraldo Rivera let loose Sunday night:

"'A floating island of garbage…?' Referring to Puerto Rico??? 'Poisoning the blood of our nation…?' We have 'murder in our genes….?' Fuck these racists. Latino men of good will, have pride in yourselves and your ancestors. A vote for Trump is a vote against self-respect."

Monday morning he added: "Latino men, for the love of your parents and children, for your pride and your honor tell this little gringo s--- to go f--- himself."

See the video and social media posts above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

MAGA Intimidation Silences Anti-Fascist Lecturer At Naval Academy

MAGA Intimidation Silences Anti-Fascist Lecturer At Naval Academy

The U.S. Naval Academy is under fire after it invited — then uninvited — a distinguished expert on authoritarianism and fascism to give a lecture.

Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, where her bio says she “writes about fascism, authoritarianism, propaganda, and the threats these present to democracies around the world.” She is the author of books on fascism and serves as an advisor to the nonpartisan nonprofit organization Protect Democracy. She is also an MSNBC opinion columnist, where she appears as a commentator, as she does on other news networks.

For weeks, since early October, right-wing media has been criticizing the U.S. Naval Academy for inviting her to speak.

The Daily Caller, founded by Tucker Carlson, described Dr. Ben-Ghiat as “an outspoken anti-Trump guest” who was invited to “give the keynote speech at a high-level lecture this month.”

“Ben-Ghiat announced that she’d be speaking at the event in an op-ed last month and further claimed that former President Donald Trump was an ‘authoritarian ‘and drew comparisons between him and world dictators,” The Daily Caller’s Jake Smith wrote in an opinion piece.

For weeks, since early October, right-wing media has been criticizing the U.S. Naval Academy for inviting her to speak.

“Anti-Trump historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat is scheduled to lecture midshipmen on ‘authoritarianism,'” two Heritage Foundation officials, Mathew Lee and Wilson Beaver, wrote at The Daily Signal in a piece marked commentary. They called for the Naval Academy to retract the invitation to Dr. Ben-Ghiat.

The Heritage Foundation is the headquarters of Project 2025. The ACLU calls Project 2025, “a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, ‘Mandate For Leadership,’ is a 900-page manual for reorganizing the entire federal government agency by agency to serve a conservative agenda.”

Dr. Ben-Ghiat in her Substack piece also wrote about Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where a cemetery official was “pushed,” allegedly by Trump campaign staffers, according to an Army report. A judge on Tuesday ordered the Pentagon to release its records related to Trump’s visit there in August, by the end of this week.

“The conduct of Trump and his campaign on those hallowed grounds violated federal prohibitions against election-linked activities at military cemeteries,” Ben-Ghiat wrote. “The photos and videos they took there also showed graves of U.S. service members whose families had not given permission. Additionally, a Trump aide shoved an Arlington employee who was trying to enforce the rules, and Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung claimed she initiated the aggression and was having a ‘mental health episode.'”

“It seems counter-intuitive when you are running for president and commander-in-chief to insult the U.S. military,” she added. “But that hasn’t stopped Trump: insulting and mocking the military are among his most consistent habits.”

On Tuesday, in an opinion piece in the Baltimore Banner, Rick Hutzell slammed the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 for getting Dr. Ben-Ghiat’s lecture canceled. (The U.S. Naval Academy is based in Annapolis, Maryland.)

“If Trump wins, the right-wing thought police will come for the Naval Academy,” Hutzell wrote in a scorching editorial.

“You could hear the spittle fly as the Heritage Foundation shouted out its latest intellectual assault on the Naval Academy,” he wrote. “All over Ruth Ben-Ghiat and a lecture the midshipmen likely will never hear.”

“Her politics were the problem, not her lecture.”

“As controversies go, it was easy to miss this one. It all took place within the conservative media ecosystem. But it could foreshadow what might happen to the U.S. service academies if Trump is elected next month,” he added. “Deep within Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s 925-page roadmap for the next Republican president, its authors say they want the service academies scrubbed of anything and anyone deemed insufficiently pure of thought — exactly what they did to Ben-Ghiat.”

Ben-Ghiat in an email told Hutzell: “The lecture had nothing to do with contemporary America and I was not going to mention Mr. Trump at all in this strictly nonpartisan event at an institution, the U.S. Naval Academy, which I greatly admire.”

Hutzell wrote that Heritage “Foundation ‘researchers’ Matthew Lee and Wilson Beaver made the connection a month after Ben-Ghiat’s announcement and simply made up the rest, assuming she planned to attack Trump.” He also pointed to another piece at The Daily Signal by “Heritage Foundation mouthpieces Hans von Spakovsky and Cully Stimson,” and n0ted that “U.S. Rep. Keith Self — a West Point graduate who represents a district north and northeast of Dallas — wrote Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids, the academy superintendent, and demanded that she cancel the lecture.”

He also reports The Daily Signal’s managing editor called for an apology from the Naval Academy, and Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee “called for an explanation.”

“The harrumph over Ben-Ghirat smacks of hamfisted stagecraft. It’s not about protecting young minds from learning what tools authoritarians use, it’s about preparing the case for an intellectual bloodletting,” Hutzell concluded.

Others lashed out at the Naval Academy.

“This is a shameful move by @NavalAcademy. If our armed services are truly training people to be loyal to the Constitution, not to an individual, this is one lecture they need to hear. Very disappointing,” declared attorney and former FBI Special Agent Asha Rangappa, a legal and national security expert.

She also blasted the “members of Congress who do not want students at service academies to learn what happens when you turn into Hitler’s generals,” likely a response to news of Trump allegedly praising Hitler and saying he had wanted “Hitler’s generals.”

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, a professor of law and MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst, pointing to Ben-Ghiat being disinvited, warned: “This is exactly what she’s been warning about—caving in to the demands of authoritarian leaders, even before they’re in place. Dangerous & shameful.”

Historian and professor of strategic studies Phillips P. O’Brien, author of several books including, “How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II,” called Hutzell’s editorial a “terribly worrying story about how MAGA pressure is already leading to censorship in the US military. The US Naval Academy disinvited the distinguished historian @ruthbenghiat from delivering a major lecture because of Heritage-MAGA pressure.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump Won't Condemn Gunman Who Allegedly Threatened FEMA Workers

Trump Won't Condemn Gunman Who Allegedly Threatened FEMA Workers

Donald Trump came under fire Monday after not condemning an armed gunman who was arrested for allegedly threatening FEMA workers trying to help North Carolina victims of Hurricane Helene. Trump also continued to spread lies about FEMA and the federal government’s response to that devastating and deadly event.

A reporter told Trump about the man who had been arrested, and that his threats had caused FEMA to “stand down” for safety reasons, which inhibited their ability to help victims. He asked the ex-president if it was “helping” the recovery efforts “to keep making these claims that FEMA is not doing their job?”

Trump defended his lies and false attacks on the agency, and immediately replied, “I think you have to let people know how they’re doing.”

The ex-president, CNN reported earlier this month, “has delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene.” The network noted he “has been one of the country’s leading deceivers on the subject. Over a span of six days, in public comments and social media posts, Trump has used his powerful megaphone to endorse or invent false or unsubstantiated claims.”

“If they were doing a great job, I think we should say that too,” Trump also told reporters Monday, “because I think they should be rewarded, but if they’re not doing, does that mean that if they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say it? These people are entitled to say it. And these are honest people behind us. If we were doing well, they would be saying they did a good job.”

There has been strong bipartisan praise of the Biden-Harris administration’s response to Helene. Democratic and Republican governors impacted by Helene have complimented FEMA as well.

“Some of the claims swirling around federal responders have been amplified by former president Donald Trump as he seeks to return to the White House,” The Washington Postreported earlier this month. “Trump has alleged, without evidence, that the federal government was ‘going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas’ and repeatedly claimed that FEMA was diverting disaster relief money for migrants.”

The arrested man charged with threatening FEMA workers, William Jacob Parsons, was found by law enforcement officers “armed with a handgun and a rifle.” He had “posted a message on Facebook calling for people to ‘overtake’ the FEMA site in Lake Lure based on what he says were social media reports that FEMA was withholding supplies from hurricane survivors,” WGHP had reported.

“Upon arriving at Lake Lure, however, Parsons said he realized the situation was different than he had imagined,” WGHP also reported.

“I went up and saw that there was absolutely nothing there, so I stayed, and I volunteered all day,” said Parsons, who “insists he was simply exercising his Second Amendment rights.”'

In Tennessee, FEMA workers were also threatened, as this local news report shows:

Meanwhile, on Monday Trump had also falsely claimed, “you’ve obviously seen nothing but, uh, you know, very bad statements coming out about the job that FEMA and this administration has done having to do with this area North Carolina as a whole and by the way, other states also, they’re also complaining.”

And he falsely said, “look, a lot of the [FEMA] money is gone, they don’t have any money, they have to have they have to have a meeting in Washington, a special meeting in Washington to get money. It’s all gone. They’ve spent it on illegal migrants.”

“Many of them are murderers, many of them are drug dealers, many of them come out of mental institutions and insane asylums, and many of them are terrorists,” Trump falsely charged, “and they spent money to bring these people into our country and they don’t have money to take care of the people from North Carolina and other states.”

The Associated Press reported that Trump was “repeating the falsehood that the response was hampered because FEMA spent its budget helping people who crossed the border illegally, a claim that was debunked weeks ago by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., who stood behind Trump as he spoke.”

Trump also went on to claim that “our FEMA,” meaning when he was president, did a “really incredible job,” but that same agency under the Biden-Harris administration did not.

Progressive news site Tennessee Hollernoted: “Trump expresses zero remorse about FEMA workers being threatened by armed gunmen (including in Carter County, TN) — and immediately continues to lie about the response efforts.”

“Trump has endangered and destroyed countless lives with COVID, the climate, and the January 6 insurrection. Now he threatens American citizens again, encouraging violence against FEMA workers who bring aid during a crisis. The only ‘enemy from within’ is Donald Trump,” The Lincoln Project wrote, referring to Trump’s repeated attacks on Democrats, including one on Sunday.

Watch the videos below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Stephen Miller

'Modern-Day Enemies Lists': The Peril Of Unchecked Power For Trump

The Harris-Walz campaign is warning if Donald Trump becomes president again, he will have “unchecked power,” thanks in part to plans made by his transition team that include “modern-day enemies lists.”

“Trump is literally preparing modern-day enemies lists, at the same time he’s under fire for calling other Americans ‘the enemy within’,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams wrote Wednesday. “It’s all making it very clear: Trump will have no one to restrain his worst instincts in another term. Unchecked power. No guardrails.”

Sams also pointed to a Politico report that says, “Trump team preps list of banned staffers.”

“The lists of undesirable staffers include people linked to the Project 2025 policy blueprint; officials who resigned in protest of Trump’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; and others perceived as disloyal to the former president, said two former Trump officials familiar with the discussions.”

The claim anyone linked to Project 2025 would be banned is questionable, given many of Trump’s White House top officials are deeply embedded in the operation.

CNN reported in July that “at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025, a CNN review found, including more than half of the people listed as authors, editors and contributors to Mandate for Leadership, the project’s extensive manifesto for overhauling the executive branch.”

“Overall, CNN found nearly 240 people with ties to both Project 2025 and to Trump, covering nearly every aspect of his time in politics and the White House – from day-to-day foot soldiers in Washington to the highest levels of his government. The number is likely higher because many individuals’ online résumés were not available.”

They include Stephen Miller, the chief architect of Trump’s “zero tolerance” anti-immigrant child separation policy that stripped over 5000 children from their parents “with no tracking process or records that would allow them to be reunited,” PBS News reported in 2022.

Miller has been a very active surrogate for Trump during this campaign, including speaking at his rallies. PBS News reported last week Miller “is expected to take a senior role in the White House if Trump wins.”

CNN said Miller is “a key player in forming Trump’s immigration agenda. Another is the Center for Renewing America, founded by Russ Vought, former acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, who wrote for Project 2025 a detailed blueprint for consolidating executive power.”

“Vought recently oversaw the Republican Party committee that drafted the new platform heavily influenced by Trump,” CNN adds. “In addition to Vought, two other former Trump Cabinet secretaries wrote chapters for ‘Mandate for Leadership’: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. Three more former department heads – National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, acting Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury and acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella – are listed as contributors.”

The Harris campaign on Wednesday posted video of several of those victims who spoke at a campaign event Wednesday:

Watch the video above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Kamala Harris

Harris Going All In With Charlemagne, Rogan And Fox Interviews

Vice President Kamala Harris is pulling out all the stops with just three weeks until Election Day and early voting currently underway in dozens of states. As the polls show the race between the Democratic presidential nominee and Donald Trump tightening, Harris is heading into less-friendly territory this week, sitting down for an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Charlemagne the God Tuesday afternoon, and possibly even Joe Rogan.

Harris reportedly is looking to make gains with male voters, and she will instantly gain access to millions of them—many of whom may not be current supporters— with these interviews.

“Charlamagne, a Black comedian and author who hosts radio program ‘The Breakfast Club,’ is known for his blunt interviews of celebrities,” Reuters reports. “A Harris supporter, he has been critical of her and President Joe Biden in the past and called Democrats ‘cowards’ for ineffectively prosecuting a case against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.”

Tuesday’s show will be a town hall style event, “recorded live in Detroit, Michigan, a key swing state in this year’s race. It comes amid a busy week for Harris, who is campaigning in the Great Lake State, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,”USA Today adds. “The radio personality and comedian asked Michigan residents to submit questions before his chat with Harris.”

Charlamagne has eight million monthly listeners.

"Numerous public polls suggest Republican nominee Donald Trump could outperform among young men of all races,” Reuters adds. “On Monday, the vice president released a new set of policy proposals to appeal to Black male voters and her campaign is ramping up outreach to the typically Democratic voting group.”

The Harris campaign is also currently in talks with Joe Rogan, the nation’s number one podcaster whose show, The Joe Rogan Experience, has 14.5 million followers.

Some Harris supporters are wary of her Fox News and possible Rogan interviews, but some say the Vice President should do them.

“Fox News and Rogan in the closing weeks,” notes Adam Carlson, a market researcher and former pollster. “It’s almost as if she was waiting until voters were the most tuned in to do these types of interviews. It’s almost as if her campaign knows what it’s doing.”

“If you hate Fox News & Joe Rogan (as I do), then good,” Carlson also says, “These interviews aren’t for you. You’re already voting for her.”

“Fox News is targeting the small but important block of Rs that don’t like Trump,” he adds. “Rogan is for men & less engaged/low info voters.”

“The goal is to win not placate.”

Matthew Sheffield, a self-described former right-wing operative turned progressive podcaster, adds: “Kamala Harris going on Joe Rogan is a long overdue for a major Dem. He and Alex Cooper occupy similar cultural niches. Rogan is conservative, but he’s not a Fox hack. This group needs to be addressed rather than ceded to Trump. She’s got the facts his audience needs.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Tim Walz

Trump Campaign Enraged As Walz Slams Former Guy's Reckless Rhetoric

The Trump campaign lashed out at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Monday after the Democratic vice presidential nominee quoted the Republican presidential candidate who repeatedly over the weekend has been saying he would like to use the U.S. military against American citizens.

As NCRM reported, the Republican presidential nominee said he thinks the U.S. Armed Forces should be used against Americans who oppose him, called his critics “the enemy from within,” and declared they are more dangerous than America’s greatest foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and North Korea.

“I always say we have the outside enemy, so you can say China, you can say Russia, you can say, Kim Jung-Un,” Trump told supporters at an Aurora, Colorado rally on Friday. But, he added: “It’s the enemy from within, all the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia,” he said as the audience cheered.

Then, on Sunday, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo of his desire to use armed forces against Americans on Election Day.

“I think the bigger problem are the people from within, we have some very bad people, we have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military.”

Trump War Room, the official social media account of the Trump campaign, posted video of Walz on Monday speaking with supporters.

“Donald Trump over the weekend was talking about using the U.S. Army against people who disagree with him,” Walz had said. “Just so you’re clear about that, that’s you. That’s what he’s talking about. This is not some mythical thing out there. He called it the ‘enemy within.'”

The Trump War Room social media account wrote: “Tim Walz peddles a disgusting lie that President Trump will use the U.S. Army against his political opponents: ‘That’s you, that’s what he’s talking about.’ This is reckless, dangerous rhetoric,” the campaign stated. “Tim should be ASHAMED of himself.”

See the videos below or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.