Is This a Sign That Michelle Obama Will Run in 2020?

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Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance Sunday night at the Grammy Awards, alongside female entertainers Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lady Gaga, and Grammy Awards host, Alicia Keys.

NBC News reports that Obama, clad in a shimmering green jumpsuit, was greeted by a “25-second standing ovation as she spoke about the importance of music” to her life.

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘Who Run the World’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story, and I know that’s true for everybody here,” Obama told the audience. “Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in. Music shows us that all of it matters. Every story within every voice, every note within every song. Is that right, ladies?” . . .

Michelle Obama has been on something of a world publicity tour of late, after publishing her landmark book, “Becoming,” which quickly became an international bestseller. The former First Lady has also embarked on a multi-city arena book tour, sold out almost everywhere, dwarfing other authors on her imprint, and largely embarrassing her competitors — notably, Bill and Hillary Clinton who have all but canceled their joint book tour.

The PR full court press has left many wondering if Michelle Obama is being groomed for a future in national politics, particularly whether Michelle will run for president in either 2020 or 2024. (Read more from “Is This a Sign That Michelle Obama Will Run in 2020?” HERE)

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University Actually Puts Student Protesters in Their Place After Demands to Cut Ties With ICE

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Johns Hopkins University is standing firm in its ongoing commitment to train Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents despite protest from its student population.

Last Wednesday, JHU students protested the university’s continued ties with ICE by walking out of class (of course) and demanding the school stop its programs to help the agency. The university has, for years, contracted with ICE to train agents mainly through its medical school. Students have now staged four such protests, according to Campus Reform. . .

Student protesters circulated a petition created last July by associate professor Drew Daniel to demand JHU stop supporting ICE through its training programs. The protest gained more than 2,000 signatures, but failed to sway the school’s administration. . .

JHU President Ronald Daniels refused to give in to the protesters’ demands. Karen Lancaster, assistant vice president for external relations, told Campus Reform that “Johns Hopkins University respects and appreciates student and faculty efforts to engage in dialogue and debate on significant national policy issues, including the current discussion on immigration topics.” . . .

In a statement to WJZ-TV, a university spokesperson said the “specialized training and leadership programs with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have no relationship to the enforcement of immigration policies by the current or any other administration.” (Read more from “University Actually Puts Student Protesters in Their Place After Demands to Cut Ties With ICE” HERE)

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Dems Turn on Anti-Semitic Ilhan Omar

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House Republicans, as well as average Americans, want to see Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) stripped of her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The calls for her removal come after Omar made statements alleging lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of buying support for Israel. . .

Rep. Elliot Engel, the Committee Chair, released a statement but failed to address whether or not Omar was staying on the Committee.

“As I have said, as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will ensure support for Israel remains strong and bipartisan and I will shine a light on the evil of anti-Semitism and the danger it poses,” Engel said. “I will make the case to Members on both side of the aisle that our alliance and friendship with Israel are important to our countries’ shared interests, security, and values.”

A Change.org petition was started by Jacob Wohl, demanding Omar be removed. (Read more from “Dems Turn on Anti-Semitic Ilhan Omar” HERE)

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Newspaper Drops Cartoonist After Reader Finds Nasty Hidden Message to Trump

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The Butler Eagle newspaper in Pennsylvania fired syndicated cartoonist Wiley Miller on Monday after a reader reported a hidden anti-Trump message in Miller’s Sunday cartoon. The cartoon tells Trump to “go f*** yourself.”

. . .

“A reader brought to our attention that one of the syndicated comic strips which appears in the Sunday Butler Eagle may contain a hidden message which was apparently placed there by someone in the creative department of the creator of the comic strip or the syndication which controls it,” said Ron Vodenichar, Eagle publisher and general manager. “Neither the Butler Eagle nor any other newspaper that includes this strip had an opportunity to remove it even if they had discovered it before distribution.”

(Read more from “Newspaper Drops Cartoonist After Reader Finds Nasty Hidden Message to Trump” HERE)

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Preventing a Shutdown: Congress Comes to an Agreement on Border Security

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By Townhall. For the past two weeks, members of Congress have negotiated on border security and spending in an attempt to avoid another government shutdown. When President Donald Trump signed a stop gap spending bill he told Democrats they have until Feb. 15th to come to a compromise with Republicans or a second shutdown would occur.

Republican Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey are the two who made the announced that they made a deal “in principle” following a closed-door meeting on the Hill.

“We’ve had a good evening and we reached an agreement in principle between us on Homeland Security and the other six bills,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL). “Our staffs are going to be working feverishly to put all the particulars together.” (Read more from “Preventing a Shutdown: Congress Comes to an Agreement on Border Security” HERE)

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Lawmakers Reach Border Deal ‘in Principle,’ Including $1.375B for Physical Barriers

By Washington Examiner. House and Senate negotiators late Monday struck a bipartisan deal “in principle” that would dodge a second partial government shutdown by providing President Trump $1.375 billion in funding for physical barriers along 55 miles of the Rio Grande Valley.

The accord, which must pass the House and Senate and receive the president’s signature, resolved a weekend impasse over illegal immigrant detentions.

By Monday night, both sides were claiming victory in the talks, although the exact details of the agreement weren’t yet clear, and two of the major claims seemed to contradict each other.

For example, Democrats over the weekend were first trying to cap the number of illegal immigrant detentions but backed away from that demand. However, a top Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner that Democrats had secured a 17 percent reduction in detention beds needed to hold illegal immigrants, although it wasn’t clear how that reduction was calculated. . .

On the other side, Republicans were claiming victory because the deal includes no statutory caps on the illegal immigrant detention population and secures “the funding and flexibility necessary to maintain its current detention population and respond to surges in apprehensions,” a senior Republican aide told the Washington Examiner. (Read more from “Lawmakers Reach Border Deal ‘in Principle,’ Including $1.375B for Physical Barriers” HERE)

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Liberals Were Not Happy Over This Word President Trump Used to Describe Democrats During SOTU

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Democrats really don’t like this word to describe their party or agenda. President Trump’s State of the Union did call for unity, but MSNBC host Kasie Hunt lamented that the president using the word “Democrat” instead of Democratic to describe the party was inherently partisan. Well, this set off similar reactions from the liberal Twitterverse.

(Read more from “Liberals Were Not Happy Over This Word President Trump Used to Describe Democrats During SOTU” HERE)

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New Mexico Gov. Grisham Is Allowing the Invasion of Her State

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If a governor wishes a border invasion away, does that make her state safer? In the case of New Mexico’s Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, it appears so. Her method of dealing with the plea of her citizens in border counties for more resources is to yank even the existing insufficient resources while proclaiming that no border emergency exists.

Last week, I profiled Hidalgo County, New Mexico, as the hot spot for human and drug trafficking by the Sinaloa cartel. Despite what Gov. Grisham says, the numbers don’t lie. There has been an unconscionable 1,602 percent increase in family units crossing in the El Paso sector for the first three months of this fiscal year relative to this time in FY 2018. The number of unaccompanied alien minors also spiked the most in this sector. While illegal immigration has spiked in most border sectors since last year, no other border sector comes close in terms of increase in trajectory. The El Paso sector includes three border counties in New Mexico and two in west Texas. Most of the latest criminal activity appears to be coming in on the New Mexico side because the state lacks the political will Texas has to deter the cartels and also has limited resources in its border counties.

But in response to a letter written by Hidalgo County officials pleading for more resources to deal with the crime, health concerns, and sanitation problems both from the migrants and the cartel criminals, the governor rudely rebuffed the request and accused the local ranchers of being anti-immigrant stooges of President Trump. Now she has announced she is pulling the National Guard troops away from the border. The guard troops have been there since last April, when the president ordered the deployment in concert with the state governors.

“I’m not going to participate, nor do I think it’s appropriate in any shape or fashion to use the National Guard to attempt to militarize the border where we’re dealing with asylum seekers who their constitutional rights continue to be breached,” Grisham said at a press conference.

Well, the fact that she is at least admitting that there are now record numbers of asylees coming over is an improvement from her denying the crisis altogether. But she is purposely ignoring the fact that the cartels are using the bogus asylees as diversions to bring in all the criminal activity. I’ve got news for Grisham: the cartels have already militarized the border.

An open invitation to the cartels

Maybe Grisham should speak with border agents in the area. She might then understand that thousands of “asylum seekers” don’t just come over on their own. Ramiro Cordero, a local border agent, told the Albuquerque Journal that the cartels are bringing over drugs when agents are tied up with the asylum seekers, especially in areas with no fencing. He explained that this is why we are actually hardly catching any drugs between points of entry any more – because the cartels have our agents strapped down managing the invasion rather than deterring it:

Such seizures have become less common, however, Cordero said, due to the number of agents “busy” with large migrant groups crossing the southern border.

In 2006, he said most migrants were Mexican nationals and could be turned back to their country of origin, but now many are from Central America and have to be detained.

“You can imagine what that does to personnel,” he said. “This is what we’re facing.”

Yet Grisham opposes more manpower and more fencing at the border. As of now, Hidalgo County has either Normandy-style vehicle barriers or barbed-wire fencing only a few feet high that anyone can walk across. . .

The chicken wire will really stop them! The governor feels no need for a real wall or for the National Guard to help those border agents overwhelmed by the invasion.

County Manager Green, a registered Democrat (no tool of President Trump!), told me that her county is “nowhere close to where we need to be” in terms of resources from the state and the feds. She said she has just four sheriff’s deputies to deal with the increased crime from the cartels, and the state has only provided six troopers from the Department of Public Safety and 12 National Guardsmen.

“We still receive calls from ranchers who don’t feel they have been heard,” said Green. “Nor do they feel like a real solution is in the works by the state. This has been problematic for years, yet it seems to be more pronounced over the last three months. Most ranchers are fearful for several reasons to report incidents that continue to occur; therefore there isn’t an accurate data collection of actual occurrences they are faced with daily!”

Green bemoaned the fact that the cartels know they have absolutely no law enforcement on duty from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. every day.

The cartels have already targeted New Mexico as the new soft spot of our border, and this decision will only further embolden them. Jaeson Jones, retired captain for the Texas Department of Public Safety, who actively monitors cartel movements through a series of informants, was very concerned about the growing trend of migration in New Mexico due to the dynamics of the cartel warfare. “The decision to pull our military off the border in New Mexico will have serious consequences for American citizens,” said Jones. “The cartels had already begun moving more people toward New Mexico to avoid the buildup of military along the Texas/Mexico border and to avoid cartel-on-cartel violence in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Illegal apprehensions crossing into New Mexico have risen by hundreds of percent in the last few months. The cartels will exploit this troop withdrawal, and crime across New Mexico will increase dramatically.”

Indeed, the stepped-up enforcement in Texas has already worked to drive the migration westward. Reuters is reporting that between the extra-military presence in Central Texas, the violence of the Zetas splinter cartels on the Mexican side, and the promise from the governor of the Coahuila state to block all migrants, the latest caravan of 1,700 Central Americans is looking to head west. The New Mexico governor’s decision to pull back the troops is an invitation for them to come through the neighboring Mexican states controlled by Sinaloa and enter the U.S. at Antelope Wells in Hidalgo County.

So, if more manpower or fencing is not needed, what is Grisham’s plan to protect her state?

She has none.

Evidently, Grisham feels that she represents 7.8 billion people of the world but not her own citizens, whom she swore an oath to protect. She believes that the Constitution grants an affirmative right for anyone to demand immigration status, but not for ranchers to be protected from the cartels and a U.S. county to be shielded from an external invasion.

The president can act and fill the void of Grisham’s betrayal

It’s time for the president to take over the New Mexico Guard and do the job the governor refuses to do. Last April, when President Trump called out the Guard to help assist the border patrol, he did so using Title 32 authority, which works with the consent of the governor while keeping the individual state Guard units under the control of the governors. However, with Gov. Grisham refusing to cooperate, President Trump can use Title 10 status to federalize the Guard units and keep them solely under his control at the border (the same way he can deploy them to Afghanistan or elsewhere) if he feels we are facing an invasion or problems that cannot be dealt with by civilian law enforcement.

This law is pursuant to Congress’ enumerated power in Art. I Sec. 8 to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions” and “to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States.” The reason why we have the National Guard, referred to as “organized militias” during our Founding, is precisely to repel this sort of invasion from belligerent criminal organizations. While there was much debate among our Founders, and even concern, about the power to use the militia internally to deal with rebellion, nobody doubted its use to repel foreign invasions like those we are experiencing today from the Mexican cartels.

As then-Vice President James Monroe wrote to the chairman of the Senate Military Committee in February 1815, “The power which is thus given to Congress by the people of the United States, to provide for calling forth the militia for the purposes specified in the Constitution, is unconditional.” He explains that it is “a complete power, vested in the National government, extending to all those purposes” because if it were “dependent on the assent of the Executives of the individual States it might be entirely frustrated.”

During his visit today to El Paso, Trump would be wise to call the National Guard into federal service and designate the cartels as terrorist groups. These are all powers he holds unquestionably, and using them would be an effective leverage point in budget negotiations over the border wall.

Hidalgo County, in many ways, reflects America. It has picked the winner of the presidential election in almost every race since 1932. The county officials are of mixed background and work together. They have enough resources to deal with 5,000 peaceful citizens, but they don’t have the resources to protect 5,000 square miles from paramilitary organizations invading their jurisdiction. County Manager Tisha Green told me that “to ensure the safety and welfare of its citizens” they are “hiring two additional officers out of our general fund budget.” But they need more, and they shouldn’t have to pay for a federal and state responsibility dealing with an external challenge to national sovereignty. If the New Mexico governor wants to bury her head in the sand, President Trump should act on their behalf. (For more from the author of “New Mexico Gov. Grisham Is Allowing the Invasion of Her State” please click HERE)

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‘The Theft of America’s Soul’: Phil Robertson Once Believed the Lies Destroying Our Nation. But He Has Good News, America

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If you judged a book by its cover, you might expect Phil Robertson has bad news to share. The Robertson family patriarch, former “Duck Dynasty” star, and BlazeTV host’s latest book, “The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country,” has a title that doesn’t exactly convey hope for our country. How can you have hope for a country that has lost its soul? But friend, as Robertson writes, “Once you appreciate the bad news, you’ll appreciate the good news — and it’s really good.”

The bad news is that America is in cultural crisis. The country is divided along lines of class, race, age, identity, political party affiliation — there is some tribe for everyone to cling to and some excuse to hate everyone in another tribe. Robertson writes about how suicide rates are up. Stories of violent and senseless crime shock and horrify. We are drug-addicted, severely in debt, and murdering our children before they are born. Government leaders sow division and bicker along partisan lines rather than seek what is best for the country. How did we end up here?

Robertson begins his book by recalling a 1966 Time magazine article that asked the question, “Is God Dead?” Secularists, leaders in the culture, those running Hollywood, big business executives, university professors, politicians, and even some theologians of the time said “yes.” And for Robertson, it is this belief in the lie of God’s death, the rejection of His moral laws, the relativity of truth, and the promise of freedom without fear of divine judgement that are the cause of America’s cultural decay. He knows this because he used to believe that lie.

The first chapter of Robertson’s book is a gut-wrenching account of how he tried to live a life believing God was dead. He made himself the master of his own fate. He got high when he wanted to, drank as much as he liked, often too much. A husband and a father, he had sex with whomever he pleased and fought with whomever he pleased.

“For the first time, I was tasting what I thought was freedom — the drugs, the drinking, the sleeping around,” Robertson writes. And that freedom ruined his life. He lost his job, he nearly lost his marriage, and no matter how he tried, he could not escape the guilt and shame of his sins. “Freedom” was misery.

And then came the good news. At the lowest point of Robertson’s debauched life, a preacher shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him. For the first time in his life, he was told there is a God who is surely alive, who created the universe. This God created man for his fellowship, but sin had separated man from God. But loving man, God sent His son, Jesus, his very Word made flesh, into that creation for the redemption of mankind. Jesus healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, provided for the poor. And he was hated, feared, and executed on a cross. But Jesus took with him the sins of all the world on that cross. His death paid the penalty for that sin in place of man, fulfilling God’s justice and atoning for the sins of those who believe and repent. What’s more, three days after Jesus had been placed in a tomb, he rose from the dead. He had conquered death, forgiven our sins, given mankind a way to reunite with God, and promised to return and to give eternal life.

“The Bible showed how God was very much alive, and how he made a way for forgiveness of my sin,” Robertson writes. “He could free me of all my guilt and could solve my ultimate problem — death. The notion of freedom from guilt and death filled me with great peace, a peace of mind I’d never experienced.”

The rest of the book shows how from that point on, Phil Robertson was a changed man. He stopped getting high and drunk. He reunited his family and became faithful to his wife. He became productive, and with God’s blessing, started a successful business that has made him wealthy and turned him into a celebrity. He began to live a better way, became a good husband, father, and neighbor. And his message for America is that there is hope, there is good news, and you too can have your sins forgiven and live a better way.

Each chapter confronts a different lie that Americans believe: There is no devil; truth is relative; sex is for self-gratification; virtue is outdated; unity is not possible. Each chapter uses the truth of God’s word to expose these lies and call on all of us to reject them. There is not one page in this book that does not share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation for lost souls, and the hope of an eternal life filled with love, joy, and peace.

The message is simple:

The Almighty loves you, me, and the rest of America. He loves us so much, he sent Jesus to earth to teach us that perfect truth, to live a sinless life, and to conquer sin and death. What’s more, he clearly communicated the story of Jesus through the Scriptures. From Genesis to Malachi, the Almighty told us to pay attention because Jesus—the Savior of the world—was coming. From Matthew to John, the writers told us to pay attention because Christ had come. In Acts through Revelation, the writers reminded us that Christ was coming again, and when he comes, he’ll honor those who’d honored him, and punish those who fell for the evil one’s lies.

To the extent that Americans reject God’s truth, believe Satan’s lies, and seek the freedom to live our lives according to the wicked desires of all of our hearts, things are going to get worse. A republic of liars, thieves, murderers, and adulterers is no republic at all. You can’t have community when people treat each other badly. It’s God who commands us to love our neighbors. When a country rejects God, when it won’t follow his commands, the people won’t live together well.

Some will hate this message, as indeed Jesus himself was hated. Robertson is already being mocked for saying nothing more than God is offering “eternal heal care,” a salvation from death that no government program can provide. Robertson is aware of his critics.

I suppose some who are under the delusions of the evil one will read this book, challenge my love for them, and maybe even accuse me of hate speech for calling out their sin. I suspect they’ll call me a crazy old graybeard for preaching the truth in these pages the only way I know how. They can say whatever they like, because the truth is, I’ve given my life to this message and I only know one way to preach it—with great zeal.

Well, are the mockers and the scoffers any better off than he is?

Phil Robertson is not judging America. As he testifies in this book, he is every bit a sinner as the rest of us. But he found freedom from that sin, and he’s telling America we can have that freedom too, if we want it. And if the country hears this good news, if we embrace God’s truth, America might regain her soul. And we might all live well together. (For more from the author of “‘The Theft of America’s Soul’: Phil Robertson Once Believed the Lies Destroying Our Nation. But He Has Good News, America” please click HERE)

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‘MAGA’ Teen’s Attorney Announces He’s Coming for Nathan Phillips

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One of the attorneys representing Nicholas Sandmann said that a defamation lawsuit is forthcoming against Nathan Phillips, the activist who falsely claimed that a group of “MAGA” hat-wearing teenagers from Covington Catholic High School threatened him last month in Washington, DC. . .

Wood, whom former CBS host Dan Rather once nicknamed “attorney for the damned,” was recently hired to represent the publicly-maligned 16-year-old student. He told Life Site to expect “the first round of civil lawsuits in the next two weeks.”

Wood was asked by Life Site about the status of an inquiry commissioned by the Covington Diocese into whether Sandmann and his classmates had in any way tried to harm or scare either Phillips or a fringe group of Black Hebrew Israelite protestors in the aftermath of the March for Life on Jan. 18. Wood responded that he and his team are “confident that any objective review of the evidence will conclude that Nick did nothing wrong.”

“Nick remained calm and well-mannered despite being confronted by an activist beating a drum within inches of his face while chanting loudly,” he said. “Nick did not utter one word except to quietly urge a classmate to refrain from making any comments that might aggravate the situation created by Phillips and the Black Hebrew Israelites.” (Read more from “‘MAGA’ Teen’s Attorney Announces He’s Coming for Nathan Phillips” HERE)

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Surprise! Trump Triggered Liberals With This Remark About Elizabeth Warren

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By Townhall. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Saturday officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to comment on the latest Democratic challenger to enter the race.

Clearly, Trump’s tweet was meant to be read with sarcasm. Warren is the one who got herself in this mess. . .

Of course, liberals were triggered by what Trump said. Apparently referencing the Trail of Tears (because, you know, Warren is likely to be crying on the campaign trail) is suddenly racist, insensitive and down right disgusting.

(Read more from “Surprise! Trump Triggered Liberals With This Remark About Elizabeth Warren” HERE)

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EXAMPLE: Liberal Press Totally Freaks Out About Donald Trump, Jr.’s Follow-up Tweet

From Newsweek:

Donald Trump Jr. followed his father’s foosteps and used disparaging references to Native Americans in order to insult Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent 2020 presidential campaign announcement.

The president’s 41-year-old namesake took to Twitter and Instagram to tout his dad’s latest “Pocahontas” comment directed toward Warren’s past claim to minimal Native American heritage. The elder Trump was already being denounced by Native American groups last month for mocking Warren with Wounded Knee and Little Big Horn comments they said “descecrated” the memory of their ancestors. But Trump Jr. doubled down on the culturally insensitive negavitity by lauding a Twitter joke about “genocide” and calling it “SAVAGE!!!”

The term is frequently used in online banter to indicate a particularly nasty comment, but historically was used by white Americans and European settlers to refer to Native Americans.

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Trump needles new presidential candidate Warren on Native American claims

By Fox 5 News. President Trump wasted little time Saturday before needling newly declared presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren over her controversial efforts to align herself with Native Americans.

Warren, Democratic Massachusetts senator, officially announced her candidacy on Saturday in Lawrence. Touting a progressive agenda, she didn’t refer to recent controversies over her longstanding claims about having a Native American heritage.

No matter. Within hours, Trump made it clear he was happy to reference the issue himself, even if she wouldn’t. He did so on Twitter, where he made light of Warren and threw down a campaign gauntlet. (Read more from “Trump needles new presidential candidate Warren on Native American claims” HERE)

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