Posts

CNN Issues Controversial Presidential Debate Rules

/2 Comments/in , /by

CNN issued several controversial presidential debate rules over the weekend that will govern the encounter between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden on June 27.

The new rules come after Trump said in March he would debate Biden anywhere, anytime, and anyplace, putting pressure on Biden to participate in the event.

The Biden campaign agreed in May to a total of two debates that would be closely regulated. It demanded a ban on audiences and approved CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash as moderators. Tapper is one of Trump’s sharpest critics.

CNN announced additional parameters on Saturday:

Two commercial breaks (Likely to benefit Biden)
Campaign staff will not be able to interact with their candidate during the break
No opening statements, two-minute closing statements
Two-minute answer shot clock, one minute for rebuttals
Mics will be muted “except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak” (Likely to benefit Biden)

(Read more from “CNN Issues Controversial Presidential Debate Rules” HERE)

State Bar Association Issues Warning to Lawyers Who Speak Out Against Trump’s Prosecution

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) issued a warning Friday to public officials who speak out against former President Donald Trump’s prosecution.

During his Manhattan trial, Trump often read aloud remarks against his prosecution made by lawyers and media pundits outside the courtroom in avoidance of violating his gag order. Leadership from the CBA railed against “unsubstantiated and reckless” defenses of Trump by lawyers, saying in the statement that “such statements can promote acts of violence against those serving the public as employees of the judicial branch.”

“Words matter. Reckless words attacking the integrity of our judicial system matter even more,” the statement reads. “In the wake of the recent trial and conviction of former President Donald Trump, public officials have issued statements claiming that the trial was a ‘sham,’ a ‘hoax,’ and ‘rigged’; our justice system is ‘corrupt and rigged’; the judge was ‘corrupt’ and ‘highly unethical’; and, that the jury was ‘partisan’ and ‘precooked.’ Others claimed the trial was ‘America’s first communist show trial’—a reference to historic purges of high-ranking communist officials that were used to eliminate political threats.”

The CBA leadership acknowledged that “free speech includes criticism.” The statement, however, claimed that “headlines’ grabbing, baseless allegations” made by public officials against Trump’s prosecution “have no place in the public discourse.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a repeated critic of Trump’s Manhattan indictment brought by Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, responded to the CBA’s warning Saturday. He called the CBA’s rebuke “chilling” and said Trump’s conviction in New York was “a flagrant example of such weaponization of the legal system and should be denounced by all lawyers.” (Read more from “State Bar Association Issues Warning to Lawyers Who Speak Out Against Trump’s Prosecution” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Black Community Leader Tells Donald Trump Obama, Biden ‘Never Came To The Hood’

/1 Comment/in , /by

A black pastor told presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump Saturday that former President Barack Obama and President Biden “never came to the hood” in Detroit.

Trump held a roundtable discussion with several black community leaders in Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press. Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor of 180 Church, told Trump that Obama and Biden “never came” to the west side neighborhood where Trump attempted to court black voters.

“President Trump, I’m so humbled that you would be here,” Sewell said, “President Obama never came to the hood, so to speak, right? President Joe Biden, he went to the big NAACP dinner, but he never came to the hood. So thank you.”

“Thank you, pastor. Really nice,” Trump said as attendees erupted in applause. “Thank you, my honor.”

(Read more from “Black Community Leader Tells Donald Trump Obama, Biden ‘Never Came To The Hood’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

‘Bunch of BS’: Attendee at Trump’s CEO Meeting Refutes Media Reports

/2 Comments/in , , /by

Former President Donald Trump delivered a “focused” pitch to America’s top CEOs and received a loud ovation at the conclusion of his Business Roundtable remarks Thursday, an attendee at the meeting told The Daily Signal.

That’s a stark contrast to reporting from New York Times columnist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who told “Squawk Box” viewers Friday that Trump was “meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map.” Sorkin was not present at the Business Roundtable meeting.

Hours later, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates amplified Sorkin’s spin on X. CNBC and other liberal media outlets ran with the story, and an MSNBC blogger suggested Trump’s appearance raised “concerns about his cognitive state.” . . .

“It’s a clear bunch of BS,” according to the attendee. “This is a farce all the way around.”

News outlets mostly stuck to the substance of Trump’s remarks in their initial coverage Thursday: He spoke about cutting corporate taxes from 21% to 20%, after reducing the rate from 35% during his presidency.

(Read more from “‘Bunch of BS’: Attendee at Trump’s CEO Meeting Refutes Media Reports” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Donald Trump on Aliens: Pilots Tell Me They Have Seen the Inexplicable

/1 Comment/in , /by

Former President Donald Trump said he has had pilots — who are not “conspiratorial” or “crazy” — tell him they have seen the inexplicable, making the remark during a Q&A about aliens during an appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast.

“I want to talk to you about aliens. So UFOs, UAPs, the disclosure we’ve seen in Congress recently — it’s confusing and upsetting a lot of Americans because something’s going on. There’s something happening. There are unidentified aerial phenomena in the sky. We don’t know what they are. Do you?” Paul asked Trump, who carefully answered the question.

Trump acknowledged that he has heard stories from people — who are not “conspiratorial” or “crazy” — witnessing unidentified objects moving at speeds much faster than their jets.

“So it’s such a question I do get a lot, and it’s such an interesting question. I’ve met with pilots that look just like you, actually. Okay, they have more of a crew cut. Okay. They look like him and look like you. … But these are perfect people. And they’re not conspiratorial, they’re not crazy, and they tell me stories that they’ve seen things that you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said, describing the pilots as “Tom Cruise, but taller.”

“Handsome, perfect people. ‘Sir, there was something there that was round in form and going like four times faster than my super jet fighter plane.’ And I look at these guys, and they really mean it,” Trump said, adding that he is not a believer in “aliens” per se. (Read more from “Donald Trump on Aliens: Pilots Tell Me They Have Seen the Inexplicable” HERE)

New Face of Election Integrity Lays Out November Game Plan

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Two weeks after Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump quickly moved to stack the Republican National Committee (RNC) with his own leadership.

The former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley took over as co-chairs, while senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita was named chief of staff. But the changes didn’t stop there — election integrity staff were asked to reapply for their positions while the unit got a new leader of its grassroots operation: Christina Bobb.

A former One America News anchor and lawyer for Trump, Bobb was named senior counsel to the RNC’s election integrity team following the takeover by the campaign. With less than five months before the 2024 election, Bobb has gotten right to work to fill in what she described as “gaps” in the previous RNC leadership’s election integrity strategy.

“What the grassroots have been complaining about, and people who were crying out to the Trump campaign were saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to get involved and we’re having a hard time getting involved. What do we need to do?’ So that’s my top priority, making sure people who want to be involved have a way to get involved in what we’re doing, whether it’s directly with the RNC, or more likely with the state parties,” Bobb told the Caller.

Since starting at the RNC, Bobb’s sole focus has been at the grassroots level, while other staffers continue their work on the litigation side. Part of the grassroots push is the party’s “Protect the Vote” initiative, which helps people across the country sign up to be credentialed to help as poll workers, challengers or observers. (Read more from “New Face of Election Integrity Lays Out November Game Plan” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Here’s How Trump’s Meeting With Republicans in Washington Went

/0 Comments/in , /by

Former President Donald Trump’s meeting with GOP leaders in Washington appeared to have gone well after the much-anticipated event rendered attention.

Trump touted the closed-door meeting as a success with GOP firebrands such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), saying that there is “tremendous unity in the Republican Party.”

The former president harshly criticized his political enemies, calling the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) “dirty, no good bastards” and referred to President Joe Biden as a “dope.”

Gaetz described the meeting as “a pep rally” where GOP leaders “warmly welcomed” Trump as they “unified behind his presidency,” according to House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. . .

While the former president blamed Biden for the country’s downfall, such as the presence of Russian warships in Cuba and U.S. military members being denied a pay raise, Trump seemed to thank the Democratic Party for the massive fundraising and popularity boost he received from its political persecution against him. (Read more from “Here’s How Trump’s Meeting With Republicans in Washington Went” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Supreme Court Finds No First Amendment Violation in Denying ‘Trump Too Small’ Trademark

/2 Comments/in , /by

The Supreme Court held Thursday that the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s (USPTO) denial of a trademark for the phrase “Trump too small” did not violate the First Amendment.

T-shirt maker Steve Elster brought the lawsuit to challenge the USPTO’s denial of trademark protections for the phrase under the Lanham Act, a law that restricts the registration of trademarks that include the name of a “living individual.” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the court’s opinion that the “names clause” of the law “does not facially discriminate against any viewpoint” and has “deep roots” in historical tradition.

“No matter the message a registrant wants to convey, the names clause prohibits marks that use another person’s name without consent,” Thomas wrote.

The phrase is a nod to Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s crude joke about Trump’s “small hands” during a 2016 presidential debate, which Elster explained in court documents he adopted to express “that some features of President Trump and his policies are diminutive.”

“The Lanham Act’s names clause has deep roots in our legal tradition,” Thomas continued. “Our courts have long recognized that trademarks containing names may be restricted. And, these name restrictions served established principles. This history and tradition is sufficient to conclude that the names clause—a content-based, but viewpoint-neutral, trademark restriction—is compatible with the First Amendment.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Finds No First Amendment Violation in Denying ‘Trump Too Small’ Trademark” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Trump Makes Stunning Inroads With Young Voters, Not Seen in 24 Years

/1 Comment/in , /by

Former President Donald Trump could win the young vote in 2024, polling trends show, upending the nearly 30 year reign of Democrat hegemony among the demographic.

A Republican presidential candidate has not won the young vote since 1988, the year a federal smoking ban was introduced during domestic airline flights of two hours or less and the James Bond film License to Kill began shooting, Michael Jackson led a rock concert in West Berlin, and the space shuttle Discovery took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Trump is within two points of Biden among young voters between the ages 18-29, a recent New York Times/Siena Poll found. The vote has not been that close since George W. Bush defeated global warming activist Al Gore in 2000.

Another poll, conducted by Quinnipiac, found Trump leading with registered voters between 18-34 by one point. In 2016, two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won that demographic by 19 percentage points. President Joe Biden won the demographic in 2020 by 24 percentage points, according to CNN exit polling.

Trump’s inroads with young voters appear to turn on a couple of factors:

1. Biden’s economy crushed young voters with high housing costs and overall price spikes by about 20 percent — just as they graduated college, intended to buy their first home, or wanted to start a family.

(Read more from “Trump Makes Stunning Inroads With Young Voters, Not Seen in 24 Years” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

FBI Interrogates Co-Workers About Whistleblower’s Views On COVID Vax, Trump, And Second Amendment

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The FBI Security Division questioned employees about a fellow agent’s views on COVID vaccines, Donald Trump, and a Second Amendment rally, according to whistleblower disclosures made to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General on Saturday. This revelation raises more concerns that the FBI’s leadership has become hopelessly politicized and seeks to purge itself of agents with certain disfavored views.

Late Monday, The Federalist obtained a copy of the June 8, 2024, letter sent by Empower Oversight on behalf of its client, an unnamed whistleblower and now-retired FBI agent, to Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Enclosed with the letter were three separate interview forms used by the FBI Security Division in questioning co-workers about the whistleblower.

The preprinted document opened by stating that the Clearance Investigations Unit was conducting an administrative investigation regarding allegations that the agent had engaged in conduct that called into question his ability to maintain a top-secret security clearance. The introductory comments then informed the FBI employees that they had a duty to reply to the questions and that failure to reply fully could result in their own security clearances being revoked.

A series of questions followed, with co-workers quizzed on whether the agent under investigation had: “Vocalize[d] support for President Trump?” “Vocalized objection to COVID-19 vaccination?” “Vocalized intent to attend 1/6/2021?” The FBI Security Division also required co-workers to state whether they were aware the target of the investigation had attended the Richmond Lobby Day event, which is an annual Second Amendment rally in Virginia.

The Empower Oversight letter stressed the impropriety of these questions by quoting the Supreme Court’s pronouncement: “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” (Read more from “FBI Interrogates Co-Workers About Whistleblower’s Views On COVID Vax, Trump, And Second Amendment” HERE)