Three Years After Withdrawal, Taliban Rules Afghanistan

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Three Years After Withdrawal, Taliban Rules Afghanistan

(Casey Harper, The Center Square) This week will mark the three-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s chaotic and deadly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Biden committed on the campaign trail to withdraw U.S. troops, a move supported by his predecessor Donald Trump, but the process left 13 U.S. service members killed and the country within the hands of the Taliban.

The Taliban also received billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment because it was left behind.

Federal officials have pointed to an effort to render that equipment unusable, but the rapid collapse in the country left little time to actually finish and accomplish that destruction of equipment.

The Taliban held a military parade featuring U.S. military equipment earlier this month.

“What added insult to injury to all of this was the way in which it was conducted, the unnecessary impetus behind it which led to the … collapse” and even “armed our adversaries,” Robert Greenway, a former top intelligence and national security official in the U.S. government for decades who is now at the Heritage Foundation, told The Center Square.

He added that Biden left them “as the best armed terrorist state in the history of the world.”

An eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has long been on the table as a possibility for both parties, but letting the country fall back into the hands of the Taliban was at one time considered unthinkable and eventually became expected by many experts.

“The Taliban never really had entirety of control over Afghanistan,” Greenway said. “This is the closest they’ve been to it.”

But he added that that grip is “tenuous” and “devolving.”

In the July before the withdrawal, Biden said that Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was “not inevitable and that he trusted Afghanistan’s government.

“It’s a – it’s a silly question,” Biden continued, when asked by a reporter if he trusts the Taliban. “Do I trust the Taliban? No. But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- – more competent in terms of conducting war.”

Afghanistan fell into the Taliban’s hands almost immediately, something intelligence and security experts predicted.

Greenway said the Taliban has called on the “faithful” to return to Afghanistan, which increases the threat to the U.S. homeland. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. were planned and launched from Afghanistan.

“Ultimately means a regional threat but more importantly means a threat against the U.S. homeland is on the march and actively coalescing,” Greenway said.

Greenway said Afghanistan’s Taliban takeover affects the Iran, Israel and Hamas conflict “a great deal.”

The loss of presence in Afghanistan has removed a sort of regional forward operating base across the world by which to act quickly in the Middle East, and that loss of deterrence leads to a more volatile region, Greenway said.

He also said the withdrawal sent a message to other powers like Russia, Iran and Ukraine that the U.S. didn’t have the will to act decisively and efficiently militarily, lowering the deterrence threat.

“I feel sorry for the people that are going to have to go back into Afghanistan when an attack happens on the U.S. homeland,” Greenway said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. armed forces are in a recruiting crisis, falling short of target recruitment goals across branches, something Greenway argues escalated after the Afghanistan withdrawal.

“If you don’t have confidence in leadership, in the commander in chief, you don’t have anything,” Greenway said.

Women in particular have suffered since the U.S. left, with the Taliban banning education for women over the sixth grade among other laws that essentially ban women from showing their faces or speaking loudly in public.

“Since 2021, the situation has worsened with the collapse of the economy and restrictions on women’s rights,” Gallup said in a release of a recent survey. “Gallup surveys have found that 96% of Afghan women are suffering under the Taliban, and most do not feel that women in Afghanistan are treated with respect.”

Public Service Campaign Blasts Kamala Harris’ Electric Vehicle Agenda

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Public Service Campaign Blasts Kamala Harris’ Electric Vehicle Agenda

(Kevin Bessler, The Center Square) – It is Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s lofty goal to have one million electric vehicles on Illinois roads in less than six years, and now a public service campaign is critical of his political party’s EV agenda.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) has launched an ad campaign called “Driver’s Seat” that highlights Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for a 100% ban on sales of new gas cars in the U.S. The campaign is part of AFPM’s eight-figure issue campaign to educate Americans and provide consumers with opportunities to communicate their opposition to gas car bans and EV mandates directly with their elected officials and policymakers.

“Americans deserve to know exactly where the vice president stands and whether the Harris administration will correct or double down on policies like the EPA’s regulation which will effectively ban most new gas cars by 2032,” said AFPM CEO Chet Thompson. “In the meantime, Congress must act swiftly to overturn this EPA regulation and protect consumer choice.”

The Illinois Corn Growers Association joined AFPM and a coalition of agricultural and oil industry representatives to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for what they say is its inequitable and costly electrification of America’s vehicle fleet. The lawsuit argues the rule’s astronomical price tag requires congressional authorization.

Dave Loos, Illinois Corn Growers’ director of Biofuels and Research, said another requirement that up to 56% of all car sales be electric between 2030 and 2032 is unrealistic.

“That’s very, very concerning to us as producers, but it is also concerning for one, we lose these bushels, two, we lose that demand for ethanol, but three, it really takes away options for the consumers,” said Loos.

Illinois has been offering incentives for EV-related companies to relocate or expand in the state. Electric bus maker Lion Electric in Joliet, which received nearly $50 million in incentives from the state of Illinois, recently laid off hundreds of workers.

According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, there are just over 111,000 EVs registered in Illinois.

‘Mr.’ Fauci Reveals Hospitalization After Testing Positive for Rare Virus

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‘Mr.’ Fauci Reveals Hospitalization After Testing Positive for Rare Virus

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci spent six days hospitalized after contracting the West Nile virus, according to multiple reports on Saturday morning. 

His spokesperson stated that Fauci is currently recovering at home and is expected to make a full recovery. 

After decades as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci served as chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden from January 2021 to December of the same year. 

During the Trump administration, Fauci also led the COVID-19 response, a role that made him a controversial figure, particularly among critics who opposed his draconian and contradictory health mandates. 

The West Nile virus, transmitted by infected mosquitoes, leads to around 1,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. annually, according to CNN, the first outlet to report on Fauci’s hospitalization. Estimates indicate that up to 80% of infections go unreported.  

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus, which typically causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash. Fauci likely contracted the virus from a mosquito bite in his backyard, CBS News reported.

Prominent voices on X were quick to react to Fauci’s West Nile diagnosis, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., leading the charge. 

“Fauci (not Dr) has contracted the West Nile Virus after contracting Covid even though he is vaccinated SIX TIMES!!!” she commented. “It’s time to repeal the FDA approval of Covid vaccines. They do not work and they are not safe. Natural immunity and proven treatment methods work!” 

Dr. Robert Malone, MD, one of the most vocal critics of the COVID-19 vaccine, also questioned whether Fauci’s multiple COVID-19 vaccinations could have contributed to his hospitalization.

“Those who are immunosuppressed are known to have much worse outcomes after contracting the disease,” Malone wrote. “Enquiring minds want to know, how many mRNA boosters has Dr. Fauci had?” 

Fauci’s spokesperson did not provide details on any underlying conditions that may have contributed to his hospitalization.

DOJ Accuses Real-Estate Software Company of Scheme to Help Price-Gouging Landlords

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DOJ Accuses Real-Estate Software Company of Scheme to Help Price-Gouging Landlords

(Headline USA) The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Friday against real estate software company RealPage Inc., accusing it of an illegal scheme that allows landlords to coordinate to hike rental prices.

The lawsuit, filed alongside attorneys general in states including North Carolina and California, alleges the company is violating antitrust laws through its algorithm that landlords use to get recommended rental prices for millions of apartments across the country.

Rents across the U.S. saw a huge spike in 2021 and 2022, and though their growth has since tapered off, they remain stubbornly high for many tenants, thanks in part to a huge lack of housing supply.

Justice Department officials allege that RealPage is another reason for the high rents since the algorithm allows landlords to align their prices and avoid competition that would otherwise keep rents down.

“Americans should not have to pay more in rent simply because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters.

In a statement, RealPage said the Justice Department’s claims were “devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable.”

“We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the DOJ has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years,” the company said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Dom Beveridge, a longtime expert in the revenue management field who is not connected to the lawsuit, gave a detailed, vociferous defense of revenue management software and said prosecutors have fundamentally misunderstood how such products work.

“If it were true that the software enabled price-fixing, I would 100% be on the side of the lawsuits—but it’s simply not what the software does,” said Beveridge, who briefly worked for RealPage when his company’s software was acquired by the firm in 2017.

“These algorithms are only functionally capable of optimizing one property at a time,” he added. “They can’t say, ‘I’m going to take property A, B and C and figure out collectively what they should do together,’ which is the allegation being made.”

He emphasized that property managers are incentivized to maximize revenue, which means keeping occupancy high, rather than constraining supply, as critics have alleged. Rather than being like an Uber “surge price,” revenue management tools help apartment managers align their inventory as if it were a game of Tetris, thereby actually increasing the supply available, Beveridge said.

RealPage came under scrutiny after a 2022 ProPublica investigation into the company’s practice suggested that it could be to blame for some of the rapid increases in rents.

Since then, RealPage has drawn the ire of lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who in February introduced a bill to bar companies from using algorithms to collude and fix prices.

White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said the White House had no comment on the lawsuit, but added that President Joe Biden’s administration “has made clear that no one should pay higher prices because of corporate lawbreaking and continues to support fair and vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws to prevent illegal collusion.”

RealPage is not the only company that offers an algorithmic tool to help property managers set prices. But the lawsuit says the company is by far the biggest in the industry, controlling 80% of the market.

The use of data to help property managers set their rents isn’t new or, on its face, illegal. But officials argue that RealPage is different.

According to lawsuits filed in the past year by the attorneys general for Arizona and Washington, D.C., RealPage doesn’t just use publicly available data — it uses confidential data that RealPage’s clients have agreed to privately share to help RealPage’s software to determine the highest price.

That amounts to cartel-like illegal price collusion, authorities say. Only this time, instead of cartel members meeting inside a proverbial “smoke-filled room,” the price-fixing is done by AI, they say.

The Justice Department points to RealPage executives’ own words about how their product maximizes prices for landlords. One executive said, “There is greater good in everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another in a way that actually keeps the entire industry down.”

RealPage has noted that landlords are free to reject the price recommendations generated by its software. But the Justice Department alleges that doing so often requires a series of steps, including a conversation with a RealPage pricing adviser who can “stop property managers from acting on emotions.”

Beveridge argued that property managers’ adherence to the RealPage algorithm is not actually very high—about 40-50% of the rents that ultimately get posted fall within 1% of the algorithm’s recommendation, prosecutors said.

“That’s essentially a coin flip,” he said. “You should want people to be accepting about 90% of your recommendations because most price recommendations are really small.”

The case is the latest example of the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust enforcement.

The Justice Department sued Apple in March and in May announced a sweeping lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its owner, Live Nation Entertainment. Antitrust enforcers have also opened investigations into the roles Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI have played in the artificial intelligence boom.

Among those celebrating the lawsuits against Realpage is Lee Hepner, legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, an organization that advocates for government action against business concentration.

“There’s a temptation for courts to turn a blind eye to this harm because algorithms tend to conceal the existence of an agreement between competitors,” Hepner said.

“It’s not as straightforward as an email between competitors agreeing to fix prices,” he added. “I think it is very important that our courts address the use of these software algorithms as if it is any other form of price-fixing.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Update: NASA Agrees to Bring Home Stranded Boeing Astronauts on SpaceX Capsule

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Update: NASA Agrees to Bring Home Stranded Boeing Astronauts on SpaceX Capsule

Update: CNN reports that at a meeting over the weekend, NASA decided to bring home the stranded astronauts on a SpaceX capsule currently docked at the International Space Station rather than require them to wait until February.

(Headline USA) NASA decided Saturday it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.

The seasoned pilots have been stuck at the International Space Station since the beginning of June. A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the new capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the flight back.

After almost three months, the decision finally came down from NASA’s highest ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back in a SpaceX capsule in February. Their empty Starliner capsule will undock in early September and attempt to return on autopilot with a touchdown in the New Mexico desert.

As Starliner’s test pilots, the pair should have overseen this critical last leg of the journey.

“A test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The decision “is a result of a commitment to safety.”

Nelson said lessons learned from NASA’s two space shuttle accidents played a role. This time, he noted, open dialogue was encouraged rather than crushed.

“This has not been an easy decision, but it is absolutely the right one,” added Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator.

It was a blow to Boeing, adding to the safety concerns plaguing the company on its airplane side. Boeing had counted on Starliner’s first crew trip to revive the troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had insisted Starliner was safe based on all the recent thruster tests both in space and on the ground.

Boeing did not participate in Saturday’s news conference by NASA, but released a statement: “Boeing continues to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft.” The company said it is preparing the spacecraft “for a safe and successful return.”

Rand Corp.’s Jan Osburg, a senior engineer who specializes in aerospace and defense, said NASA made the right choice. “But the U.S. is still left with egg on its face due to the Starliner design issues that should have been caught earlier.”

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are both retired Navy captains with previous long-duration spaceflight experience. Before their June 5 launch from Cape Canaveral, Wilmore and Williams said their families bought into the uncertainty and stress of their professional careers decades ago.

During their lone orbital news conference last month, the astronauts said they had trust in the thruster testing being conducted. They had no complaints, they added, and enjoyed pitching in with space station work.

Wilmore’s wife, Deanna, said she and their daughters, along with family and friends, “were praying for a safe return on whatever spacecraft that may be.” While they are disappointed that he will be away longer, “we know that it’s the Lord’s plan,” she said via text.

Flight operations director Norm Knight said he talked to the astronauts Saturday and they fully support the decision to postpone their return.

There were few options.

The SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents who have been there since March. They will return in late September, their routine six-month stay extended a month by the Starliner dilemma. NASA said it would be unsafe to squeeze two more into the capsule, except in an emergency.

The docked Russian Soyuz capsule is even tighter, capable of flying only three — two of them Russians wrapping up a yearlong stint.

So Wilmore and Williams will wait for SpaceX’s next taxi flight. It’s due to launch in late September with two astronauts instead of the usual four. NASA is yanking two to make room for Wilmore and Williams on the return flight in late February.

NASA said no serious consideration was given to asking SpaceX for a quick stand-alone rescue. Last year, the Russian Space Agency had to rush up a replacement Soyuz capsule for three men whose original craft was damaged by space junk. The switch pushed their six-month mission to just over a year.

Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, applauded the decision via X: “Good to err on the side of caution for astronaut lives.” Long missions are “what astronauts work their entire career for. I’d take it in a heartbeat!”

Starliner’s woes began long before its latest flight.

Bad software fouled the first test flight without a crew in 2019, prompting a do-over in 2022. Then parachute and other issues cropped up, including a helium leak in the capsule’s propellant system that nixed a launch attempt in May. The leak eventually was deemed to be isolated and small enough to pose no concern. But more leaks sprouted following liftoff, and five thrusters also failed.

All but one of those small thrusters restarted in flight. But engineers were perplexed by ground testing that showed a thruster seal swelling and obstructing a propellant line. They theorized the seals in orbit may have expanded and then reverted to their normal size. Officials said the results marked the turning point, as their concerns grew.

With all the uncertainty about how the thrusters might perform, “There was too much risk for the crew,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, told reporters.

These 28 thrusters are vital. Besides needed for space station rendezvous, they keep the capsule pointed in the right direction at flight’s end as bigger engines steer the craft out of orbit. Coming in crooked could result in catastrophe.

With the Columbia disaster still fresh in many minds — the shuttle broke apart during reentry in 2003, killing all seven aboard — NASA made an extra effort to embrace open debate over Starliner’s return capability.

Despite Saturday’s decision, NASA isn’t giving up on Boeing. Nelson said he is “100%” certain that Starliner will fly again.

NASA went into its commercial crew program a decade ago wanting two competing U.S. companies ferrying astronauts in the post-shuttle era. Boeing won the bigger contract: more than $4 billion, compared with SpaceX’s $2.6 billion.

With station supply runs already under its belt, SpaceX aced its first of now nine astronaut flights in 2020, while Boeing got bogged down in design flaws that set the company back more than $1 billion. NASA officials still hold out hope that Starliner’s problems can be corrected in time for another crew flight in another year or so.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Kamala’s Niece Channels DNC Boost into Hamas’s Gaza Fundraiser

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Kamala’s Niece Channels DNC Boost into Hamas’s Gaza Fundraiser

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Vice President Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris has promoted a fundraiser delivering aid to the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, just days after taking the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. 

Meena actively encourages her 711,000 Instagram followers to donate to a $1 million fundraiser for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), which has staff members in the Gaza Strip.

The fundraiser was first reported by the New York Post on Friday and later confirmed by Headline USA on Saturday.

Meena’s Instagram account features a fundraiser banner that links directly to PCRF’s page. The banner only appears on the mobile app version of the social media platform.

At the DNC, Meena spoke alongside Ella Emhoff and Helena Hudlin, Harris’s stepdaughter and goddaughter. Notably, Ella has previously promoted pro-Gaza fundraisers on her Instagram account.

In November 2023, Ella urged her followers to donate to an $8 million fundraiser for Gaza. This was just weeks after Hamas launched an inhumane attack against southern Israel, killing 1,200 people. 

Seemingly unfazed by criticism, Ella used Instagram in March to promote a fundraiser linked to the UNRWA. The group admitted that at least nine employees “may have been involved” in the Oct. 7 attack. This followed their firing of 12 other employees.

Following their DNC speech, Meena posted a photo on Instagram wearing a “Democrats for Palestinian Rights” pin. NBC News reported that the pin was distributed by an uncommitted delegate at the convention. 

Critics have likened Meena to Hunter Biden due to her financial dealings tied to Harris’s political career. Earlier this month, Politico reported that Meena has turned her political proximity into a “budding business empire.” 

Meena founded Phenomenal Media and authored a New York Times bestseller about her aunt Harris and her mother, Maya Harris. The book was published in June 2020, shortly before Joe Biden selected Harris as his running mate.

Headline USA reached out to Meena via email regarding any potential measures she has in place to avoid scrutiny similar to that faced by Biden and his embattled son. She did not respond to requests for comments for this piece, even an hour prior to publication.

RFK Jr.’s Trump Endorsement Triggers Vicious Attacks from Family

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RFK Jr.’s Trump Endorsement Triggers Vicious Attacks from Family

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came under attack on from his family and some friends after he urged his supporters in swing states to vote for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Several members of the Kennedy family took to X on Friday to rebuke RFK Jr.’s historic endorsement of a Republican candidate, a move that is at odds with the family’s long-standing ties to the Democratic Party. 

“Our brother Boddy’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story,” wrote his siblings Kathleen, Courtney, Kerry, Chris and Rory Kennedy.

In the same statement, they reiterated their endorsement of Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who secured the nomination without a single vote from the American public.

Joe Kennedy III, RFK Jr.’s nephew and a former member of Congress, voiced his support for the statement, commenting, “Well said.” 

Similarly, Jack Kennedy Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, expressed his disappointment on X.

“Never been less surprised in my life,” he wrote. “Been saying it for over a year — RFKjr [sic] is for sale, works for Trump. Bedfellows and loving it. Kamala Harris is for the people — the easiest decision of all time just got easier.”

Seemingly unfazed by the attacks, RFK Jr. appeared at a campaign rally with Trump in Arizona, where he enthusiastically declared, “Make America Healthy Again!”

The rebuke from some of the Kennedy family members comes as no surprise, as many had already endorsed the Democratic ticket for president in April 2024, when President Joe Biden was the presumptive nominee.

The attacks also came from RFK Jr.’s friends, with Greg Palast penning a vague and incoherent column claiming he witnessed the former presidential candidate “lose his mind.” 

Palast, who co-authored a book and several articles with RFK Jr., suggested that some of RFK Jr.’s memory lapses and his reference to his late father as “daddy” in the years after his death were somehow signs of this decline.

 

RFK Jr., who was just 14 when his father, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated, has often spoken candidly about his deep admiration for his father and the principles he stood for. 

Abbott Blasts Harris as California Liberal Extremist

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Abbott Blasts Harris as California Liberal Extremist

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blasted Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee saying she is a California liberal and extremist.

Harris was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night.

While attacking her opponent, former President Donald Trump, and Republicans who support him throughout her speech, she said she would unify all Americans if elected president.

“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans,” she said.

In response, Abbott criticized her nomination after battling the Biden-Harris administration for nearly four years on a range of issues from the border to energy policies.

“The Democratic Party just anointed a handpicked California Liberal, ​undermining the will of American voters,” he said of the former U.S. senator and attorney general from California. Abbott has previously criticized Democratic “elites” for choosing Harris to replace President Joe Biden instead of Democratic voters selecting her through the primary process.

“Four years ago, Kamala Harris couldn’t get a single delegate because voters recognized she would be a disaster for our country if she was elected to the White House, and that’s exactly what we’ve experienced for the past four years,” Abbott said.

In July, Biden succumbed to pressure from top elected Democrats and donors and dropped out of the presidential race after a disastrous presidential debate performance in late June. Multiple members of Congress, including from Texas, called on Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, also arguing neither are fit to be president. Other House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against her and filed resolutions condemning her as border czar.

Abbott has also called on Biden to resign, arguing if he isn’t fit to run for reelection, he isn’t fit to remain in office. He’s also called out Harris as border czar for overseeing the worst border crisis in history. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, isn’t much better, he’s argued, describing him as a “border crisis denier.” Only recently did Walz admit Abbott “has a point on the border.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration has unleashed chaos on our border through their dangerous open border policies, resulting in an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis,” Abbott said. “Under Border Czar Harris, over 11 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border into our country, including dangerous criminals, gang members, and even known terrorists. To make matters worse, Harris supports taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants and the complete abolishment of ICE.”

Abbott also identified other “radical policies” that “endanger the lives of all Americans.”

While Texas supports law enforcement, Harris “supports defunding the police, giving convicted criminals the right to vote, and even helped raise money to bail dangerous criminals out of jail and put them back on our streets,” he said.

While Texas supports the oil and natural gas industry and energy freedom, he said, “like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris is a climate extremist who wants to eliminate fossil fuels, ban fracking, and destroy American energy independence – putting hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women in the energy industry and our national security at risk.”

Abbott, who has endorsed Donald Trump for president, said Harris won’t win in November.

“Four years ago, Americans rejected Kamala Harris and her leftist open border, anti-energy, soft-on-crime agenda, and they will reject her radical policies once again come November,” he said.

Abbott has also identified policies Walz enacted as governor that “endangered the lives of those he was elected to protect.”

In addition to “rubberstamping Harris’ deadly open border policies,” he said, “like Harris, Walz endorsed defunding the police. … Under his watch, vehicle theft, aggravated assault, and … murder rates [went] up in Minnesota. And while Minneapolis was burning as riots overtook the city in 2020, Walz refused to call in the National Guard for three days.

“Walz is also a climate radical who wants to destroy American energy independence and completely eliminate fossil fuels, killing hundreds of thousands of good-paying oil and gas jobs in Texas and across the country,” he said.

Trump Vows to Execute Illegal Alien Sex Traffickers; Victims’ Families Endorse Him

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Trump Vows to Execute Illegal Alien Sex Traffickers; Victims’ Families Endorse Him

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) On Aug. 22. 2024, Donald Trump visited Cochise County, Ariz., to tour the southern border and hold a press conference, during which he vowed to impose the death penalty for illegal aliens convicted of sex trafficking.

“We will impose tough new sentences on illegal alien criminals, including 10-year mandatory minimum sentences for anyone guilty of human smuggling; a guaranteed life sentence for anyone guilty of child trafficking; and a death penalty for anyone guilty of child or woman sex trafficking. We’ll also impose the death penalty on major drug dealers and traffickers,” he said.

Blaze Media reported that Trump also promised to impose the death penalty for those illegals who kill federal or local law enforcement officials.

Joined by law enforcement agents and families of the victims of recent violent crimes committed by illegals, Trump kicked off his speech by criticizing the Democratic Party for forcing Joe Biden out of the race and replacing him with Kamala Harris, who could become a “Marxist president,” if she wins the 2024 election.

Trump also discussed the Biden-Harris administration’s failed border policies and manufactured invasion of illegals through the southern border. During his press conference, Trump pointed to sections of the border wall stacked up and lying on the ground, never installed.

“All of this wall was built at great expense. It just had to be stood up. It’s sad to see it sitting here,” he said.

Trump added that Harris “unleashed a deadly plague of migrant crime” by keeping the border wide open.

“Since comrade Harris took over the border, there has been a 43% nationwide increase in violent crime and a 60% increase in rape,” he said.

Trump also introduced Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was raped and murdered in Maryland by an illegal immigrant, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, who also attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles last year.

Alexis Nungaray, the mother of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by two illegal aliens in Texas, also spoke at the news conference.

“Please… he needs to be in office,” she said.

Pro-Trump Group Launches $500K Ad Campaign Attacking Kamala’s Border Disaster

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Pro-Trump Group Launches $500K Ad Campaign Attacking Kamala’s Border Disaster

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A pro-Trump group launched a $500,000 ad campaign aiming at Kamala Harris’s disastrous handling of the invasion from the southern border right before she was nominated as the Democratic Party’s official 2024 presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024.

Fox News reported that the conservative nonprofit Building America’s Future released a one-minute ad that appeared on digital platforms in critical swing states, such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, before Harris addressed the DNC in Chicago.

“Three years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris was given an important job: control the border crisis. Did she step up to the plate?” the narrator asked rhetorically.

The ad includes an infamous exchange between Harris and a reporter in 2021. When asked when she planned to visit the border, Harris chuckled and said, “Not today.”

After showing headlines about the record number of illegal aliens crossing the southern border, including those who are on the terror watch list, the ad brought up the tragic murders of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley and Joselyn Toaquiza, placing blame on Harris since she was responsible for the border as “border czar.”

“Rather than asking for a promotion, Kamala Harris should start by saying their names,” the narrator said.

The “#SayTheirNames” campaign will also launch mobile billboards and 2D projections at Harris’s campaign events in the swing states of the gravestones of the victims whom illegals have murdered during the Biden-Harris administration.

The Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The invasion of illegals into this country is considered one of Harris’s most significant flaws ahead of the 2024 election. After becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris’s team has attempted to distance her from the “border czar” label that was given to her by the mainstream media and her conservative critics.

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