(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced that he planned to sue non-governmental organizations funded by globalist oligarch George Soros that have tried to restrict the freedom of speech by emphasizing the supposed rise of “hate speech,” the Epoch Timesreported.
Musk made the announcement in a recent tweet, agreeing with investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger that Soros-backed NGOs are intentionally spreading lies in order to create a perceived crisis that can only be “solved” by cracking down on free speech.
Exactly.
X will be filing legal action to stop this. Can’t wait for discovery to start! https://t.co/ROxXEuO8it
According to Shellenberger, “politicians & George Soros-funded NGOs say ‘hate incidents’ are rising, but they’re not,” he noted.
“The data show the opposite: higher-than-ever and rising levels of tolerance of minorities,” he added. “The reason they’re spreading hate misinformation is to justify a draconian crackdown on free speech.”
Musk himself has been the victim of direct attacks on free speech at the hands of the Biden administration.
Shellenberger also cited an article by Irish journalist Ben Scallan, who recently wrote that Soros’s “censorship agenda” in Ireland and Scotland includes the police searching of homes, as well as the seizure of technological devices.
Politicians & George Soros-funded NGOs say "hate incidents" are rising, but they're not. The data show the opposite: higher-than-ever and rising levels of tolerance of minorities. The reason they're spreading hate misinformation is to justify a draconian crackdown on free speech. pic.twitter.com/K1SJFxzaZO
Of course, as Scallan pointed out, an increase in hate crime reports does not mean that there have necessarily been more hate crimes.
Not only has the threshold for what qualifies as a hate crime been radically lowered, but governments across the west are actively encouraging people to report hate crimes more frequently.
Such measures have become more commonplace in America throughout Biden’s tenure.
In 2021, the president signed into law the Hate Crimes Act, meant to put a stop to alleged hate crimes committed against Asians.
At the time, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that she was often a victim of racial hate crimes.
“This violence—it did not come from nowhere, and none of it is new,” she said.
“In my life, my lived experience, I have seen how hate can pervade our communities,” she continued. “I have seen how hate can impede our progress. And I have seen how people uniting against hate can strengthen our country.”
Trump has recently been indicted by Fulton County’s leftist DA, Fani Willis, on the grounds that he and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 election in the state of Georgia.
Bongino argued that Trump should not post bond, and should force Willis to incarcerate him on national TV.
According to Bongino, “Fani Willis wants to be a smartass tyrant, little socialist communist.” In response, Trump in his opinion should not “post the bond.”
“You’re gonna jail him? Let’s elect our first political prisoner. Go ahead. Go to jail. Let the Secret Service shut the entire jail down, and we’ll see how long you’re willing to keep this charade going.”
The talk show host also noted that this sort of thing has happened before, and it can lead to magnified political power.
“Let them put him in jail for a bit — folks, I know it sounds crazy,” he continued. “You may think it’s a crazy idea. I don’t think so. Folks, you’ve seen people around the world take a stand like this.”
Bongino concluded by saying that “the eff around and find out time has long since passed.”
The radio show host is not alone in his anger towards the mainstream media and its political allies, who appear to be working as hard as possible to influence the Republican primaries by undercutting the former president.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said that “I’m pissed” when he heard about the weaponized legal system’s fourth indictment against Trump.
“Our country is over 200 years old. We have never once indicted a former president or a leading candidate for president,” he noted. “And this is Joe Biden and this is the Democrats weaponizing the justice system because they’re afraid of the voters.”
“This is disgraceful, it is wrong, and it is an abuse of power by angry democrats who have decided the rule of law doesn’t matter to them anymore.”
Jordan wrote a letter to Willis on Thursday, informing her of the investigation and demanding a slew of documents from her office.
“The timing of this prosecution reinforces concerns about your motivation,” Jordan told Willis.
“In February 2021 … you directed your office to open an investigation into President Trump … Yet, you did not bring charges until two-and-a-half years later, at a time when the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is in full swing,” Jordan added.
“Moreover, you have requested that the trial in this matter begin on March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday and eight days before the Georgia presidential primary.”
Willis changed her preferred trial date hours after Jordan released his letter, asking a judge to move it up to this October for all defendants—which some commentators said is an even more brazen disregard for justice than the March 2024 date.
All theater. Willis is a political actor–this is not serious, but she is taking her cues from Jack Smith by proposing an unrealistic trial date to make it look like Trump, defendants are intentionally delaying the trial for political reasons. Corrupt (and stupid) to the core. https://t.co/yQfh9Y8FdV
Trial dates aside, Jordan raised particular concerns about Willis using Georgia law to criminalize activity that took place in the White House, as well as to criminalize free speech.
For instance, Count 22 of Willis’s indictment seeks to criminalize internal deliberations within the Justice Department, including a meeting where a former DOJ official requested formal authorization from his superiors to take an official act, Jordan said. And in Count 1, the indictment seeks to criminalize the White House Chief of Staff arranging meetings and phone calls for the President, he said.
The documents sought by the House Judiciary include all communications relating to the Fulton County DA’s receipt and use of federal funds; all documents and communications between the DA’s Office and DOJ; and All communications between the DA’s Office and any federal officials about the investigation into Trump or any of the other eighteen defendants.
Those communications should include correspondences between Willis and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the federal prosecution of Trump in Washington DC and Florida, Jordan clarified.
The House Judiciary also published a press release in conjunction with Jordan’s letter, explaining its reasons for the investigation.
“Willis’s indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding her actions raise serious concerns about whether such actions are politically motivated,” the committee said.
“Given the weighty federal interests at stake, the Committee is conducting oversight of this matter to determine whether any legislative reforms are appropriate or necessary.”
(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A recent report revealed that residents of Lahaina in Maui who managed to escape the wildfires had to dodge road blockades.
A group of people who attempted to flee the oncoming fires ran into a crew of workers, who demanded they turn around or remain in their vehicles, according to a report from InfoWars.
Some managed to make their way around the barricade to safety in a nearby town. One survivor said she and her family would have burned to death if they remained behind the blockade.
“The gridlock would have left us there when the firestorm came,” said Kim Cuevas-Reyes, 38. “I would have had to tell my children to jump into the ocean as well and be boiled alive by the flames or we would have just died from smoke inhalation and roasted in the car.”
Hawaiian Electric workers worked to replace telephone polls along the road to Highway 30, causing massive gridlock and causing several deaths.
“It made no sense what they were doing,” Cole Millington, a resident, said. “They could see the sky was black. They could see the city was on fire. They could see the wind was still whipping everything around. But they were already starting to plant new power poles.”
Several residents abandoned their cars and leapt into the Pacific, causing the traffic to worsen
The wildfires have burned an estimated 2,170 acres in Lahaina. At least 115 died and over 1,100 went missing.
As the fire continued to rage, agents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency kicked back in 5 star resorts in Maui.
The government is disrespecting us once again. FEMA has turned the Hawaii tragedy into a vacation. According to a report and photos obtained by the Daily Mail, FEMA officials booked themselves into 5-star luxury Hawaiian resorts, where they relaxed at cocktail bars, 45 minutes… pic.twitter.com/9qyUv7PIOZ
Several government entities bungled the situation, leading to mass death and destruction. Local Maui County emergency officials initially refused to use emergency sirens before the situation escalated. President Joe Biden also compared the disaster to a small kitchen fire in his personal home.
The FBI compiled list of names of the missing people to be released later this week.
MSNBC alleged journalist and anchor Jose Diaz-Balart scolded viewers it was time to talk about the first GOP primary debate and urged viewers, “There is one word voters should expect to hear” from the candidates and it was “woke.”
Diaz-Balart explained the word “woke” symbolized “many different things to different people” before he asked, “Where does it come from?” as the segment was sent to MSNBC Correspondent Trymaine Lee, Town Hall reported.
Lee then explained that the term “woke” originated in black American inspeak, referring to staying vigilant against potential harm. Lee claimed the term has been co-opted by far-right conservatives and has lost its original meaning, and played a compilation of Republican presidential candidates using the term in public remarks and interviews supporting the argument.
“Woke has become a charged political catch-all phrase often used as a battering ram and a battle cry, and to many, a slur,” Lee defined before another interview expert, said “woke” was “almost another way of saying black, it’s another way of saying the n-word.”
The Mad Libs at MSNBC wasted no time injecting divisiveness and racism into the airwaves, and the latest demonstration of divisiveness was nothing new.
Former CNN host Soledad O’Brien also purported woke had racial undertones in February. O’Brien blasted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comments about the “Black National Anthem” being played ahead of the Super Bowl.
“So reporters.. for many people “woke” means black people. Or more likely–a racist slur. So maybe do a better job in interviews when people talk about ‘wokeness’ mmkay?” O’Brien tweeted.
In March, Touré Neblett co-hosted the MSNBC show The Cycle and tweeted, “At this point woke is a slur,” creating a social media firestorm among conservatives, the Daily Caller reported.
“The way the right uses it is an undercover way of saying ‘those people,’ or ‘non-white people,'” Neblett wrote. “It’s a polite way of saying the n-word but in this case, the n-word includes blacks, LGBTQ folks, and other marginalized groups.”
(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) California marketing firm Captiv8, best known for the infamous Dylan Mulvaney campaign for Bud Light, fired several employees after many of them took a lavish vacation to the French Riviera.
The now-fired executives flew to the Cannes-Lions festival in June via a private airline called La Compangnie, which boasted a “bespoke plane experience,” according to the New York Post.
After returning from their trip, the 13 employees presented on the relationships they established and luxury amenities they enjoyed. A few days after the presentation, CEO Krishna Subramanian laid them off.
The 13 employees comprised about 5% of the company’s 200 person workforce.
“They said they were investing in the future of the company and building relationships,” a surviving employee said. “Maybe they could have saved jobs instead of blowing all of this money.”
Subramanian told other employees in a follow up Zoom meeting that they planned to “examine budgets” and “evaluate finances.”
“The timing was terrible,” said one fired employee, who did not want to be identified out of fear of losing their severance package. “You wouldn’t expect to be laid off after such an extravagant trip.”
A representative for the company claimed the layoffs happened right after performance reviews.
“We assess the productivity of our employees with regular cadence and these layoffs were part of a continuous strategy that ensures our continued success,” the spokesperson said. “We want to emphasize that these decisions, which were not made lightly, were driven by a strategic assessment of our team with our business priorities in mind, and not by financial challenges.”
Captiv8’s other clients included McDonald’s, Disney, Toyota, Nordstrom and Macy’s.
The firm became popular for pairing big companies with social media influencers to promote products on social media. Mulvaney’s pairing with Bud Light was one such occasion.
After the layoffs the company announced new job postings for several roles.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson made broadcast-media history Wednesday night by amassing tens of millions of views in an hourlong interview that overshadowed the GOP presidential debate, which aired at the same time.
Along with disrupting the media landscape, Carlson asked Trump some out-of-the box questions, and the former president provided thoughtful answers on topics he typically doesn’t discuss publicly—including on millionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed prison suicide, Hillary Clinton’s concession call in 2016, Kamala Harris’s bizarre ramblings and the prospect for another civil war in America.
Here are five key takeaways from the Trump-Carlson interview:
The interview began with Trump explaining why he forewent the GOP debate—he said he’s so far ahead of the other candidates in the polls that it made little sense for him to participate—before Carlson quickly asked Trump whether he thinks Epstein killed himself.
The suspicious circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death are widely documented: Cameras by his cell allegedly malfunctioned the day before he was found dead in his Metropolitan Correctional Center prison cell on August 10, 2019; his cellmate was also inexplicably transferred the day before; guards failed to check on him throughout the night; and an independent examination of his body revealed injuries consistent with him being assaulted.
Despite those and other suspicious circumstances, “I think he probably committed suicide,” Trump told Carlson.
“He had a life with beautiful homes and beautiful everything, and all the sudden he’s incarcerated and not doing very well,” Trump said.
“I would say that he did, but there are a lot of people who think he was killed.”
Carlson, for his part, wasn’t buying Trump’s explanation.
“He was killed,” Carlson said. “Your attorney general [Bill Barr] clearly lied about the Epstein death.”
Hillary Clinton Might Have Been Intoxicated the Night She Conceded the 2016 Election
President Trump reminisces about ending Hillary Clinton's political career:
"She goes crazy everytime she talks. She says 'he's not the president.' Well, I am the president. Hillary Clinton called me at 3:02 in the morning to congratulate me. She sounded very different." pic.twitter.com/8q1IdO0aNo
The interview inevitably touched on Hillary Clinton.
Trump initially referenced Clinton to underscore the hypocrisy of him being prosecuted for contesting the 2020 presidential election. But in doing so, he revealed something previously publicly unknown: that Clinton may have been intoxicated the night she lost the election in 2016.
“Hillary Clinton called me at 3:02 in the morning to congratulate me the night of the election,” Trump said.
“Did her voice crack?” Carslon asked, to which Trump responded: “Her voice was very different.”
The former president then suggested that Clinton may have prematurely imbibed in some celebratory substances—pointing out that she had been partying since the afternoon because she thought her victory was a shoe-in.
“Don’t forget, they were all celebrating at 5 in the afternoon,” he said.
Trump on Kamala Harris’s Public Speaking: ‘It’s Weird’
TRUMP ON VP HARRIS: "She speaks in rhyme. It's weird."
'The bus will go here and then, the bus will go there, because that's what buses do.'
In speaking about his potential opponents in the 2024 race, Trump said he wouldn’t mind running against Joe Biden due to his deteriorating mental condition.
Trump said he wouldn’t be surprised if Biden doesn’t run again. But that doesn’t make Vice President Kamala Harris the next logical choice because she’s almost as discombobulated as her running mate.
“She has some bad moments. Her moments are almost as bad as his, actually … She speaks in rhyme,” Trump said. “It’s weird. She has bad moments.”
An amused Carlson asked Trump what he meant by saying Harris speaks in “rhyme,” and he referenced her bizarre, stream-of-consciousness ramblings.
“Well, the way she talks: ‘The bus will go here, then the bus will go there. Because that’s what busses do. It’s weird. The whole thing is weird. This is not a president of the United States’ future.
Twitter users were quick to find the exact Harris moment Trump was referencing:
Turning back to a more substantial topic, Trump recounted his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2019.
According to Trump, Kim was prepared to go nuclear over his increasingly hostile relationship with the West.
“If Hillary had gotten in, or if the Obama thought process continued, it would have been nuclear war. [Kim] was expecting to go into war, and it would have been a nuclear war,” Trump said.
“We would have 40,000 dead soldiers right now. They would have dropped a nuke right on top of the military base [in South Korea],” he said.
Trump helped thaw the U.S. relationship with North Korea by becoming the first American President to visit the country. After initially blaring unfounded propaganda that Trump would lead the U.S. into nuclear war, the media quickly pivoted at that time to criticizing him for “cozying up with dictators.”
“I got along with him great. And you know, that’s a positive,” Trump said.
“The press said, ‘He said nice thinks about Kim Jong Un.’ I also said horrible things about him at the beginning. Horrible enough that he wanted to talk. And we had unbelievable meetings.”
Civil War 2?
Tucker: "Do you think we're moving towards Civil War?"
Trump: "There's a level of passion I've never seen and there's a level of hatred I've never seen. That's probably a bad combination." pic.twitter.com/LsYm2C7UF2
Carlson’s final question to Trump was whether he thinks the country is headed to another civil war.
Carlson asked the question as Democrats try to jail their most popular political opponent, and major left-leaning outlets such as the New York Times calling to end elections.
“Do you think it’s possible there’s open conflict?” Carlson asked.
“I don’t know. I can say this: There’s a level of passion I’ve never seen, and there’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen,” Trump replied. “And that’s probably a bad combination.”
Trump painted the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest-turned-riot as a microcosm of the country’s political climate.
“There’s tremendous passion, and there’s tremendous love. January 6 was a very interesting day because they don’t report it properly. I believe it’s the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken before,” he said.
“A very small group of people … that day went down there [to storm the Capitol], but people in the crowd said it was the most beautiful day,” he added.
“I have never seen so much passion and love, and I have also never seen simultaneously, and from the same people, such hatred of what they’ve done to our country.”
Unlike voting machines, the music charts don’t lie, and Anthony’s inspiring journey to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 is a testament not only to the silent majority’s ongoing cultural relevance, but its dominance.
Adding to the marvel of the moment was that two other country songs rounded out the top three on the all-genre chart.
Collectively (along with Jason Aldean’s recent hit “Try That in a Small Town”), they each cast light on a different facet of the divide between red-state, working-class values and the virtue-signaling, mass-produced consumerism put forward by smug, out-of-touch Hollywood elites.
Even far-left sites have begun taking note of the industry trend, and their simmering resentment is palpable.
“Despite lyrics that reference QAnon themes and mock people on welfare with what many have read as racist stereotypes, the song is so popular that Anthony now has 18 songs currently ranking in the Apple Music Top 100,” seethed Vox writer Aja Romano.
Ironically, country music sell-out Taylor Swift held Billboard’s fourth spot, just below Morgan Wallen, whom leftists tried to cancel a few years ago following his use of the n-word in a candid video posted online.
But it is the unique dynamics of the top-two songs as cultural touchstones of an especially volatile and precarious moment in American history that bear digging into further.
A STAR IS BORN
For two full weeks, I have struggled with how to cover Oliver Anthony (real name: Christopher Lunsford), the Farmville, Va., resident whose stripped-down folk ballad— reminiscent of Old Crow Medicine Show, yet burning with Woody Guthrie-like populist rage and intensity—struck a nerve in the national Zeitgeist.
The song sprung from the bowels of the Internet at a particularly busy time in the news cycle, with Trump’s indictments and unfolding developments in the Biden bribery scandal generating more daily leads than a mid-size news site could keep up with.
But more than that, nothing about Anthony’s music, at first, seemed especially remarkable to me, having spent a number of years as a music editor in Charlottesville (an hour west of Richmond) and Fredericksburg (an hour north of Richmond, halfway to D.C.).
While I had known a few rich men in those cities, I had also known quite a few starving-artist types, and Anthony’s back-woodsy sound was all too familiar.
His lyrics were poignant, to be sure, but seeing conservatives rally behind a symbolic cause—be it the embrace of the “Lets Go Brandon” mantra, the Bud Light boycott or the box-office success of Sound of Freedom—has become something of a pattern, in and of itself.
Thus, the cultlike popularity of the ditty in certain circles was hardly enough to justify anything more than a passing acknowledgment or a Twitter repost.
However, Anthony’s star continued to rise. Following reports of a massive reception at a show in North Carolina last week, I reached out for an interview, but by then the bandwagon had already left the station.
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
As was acknowledged at the Republican debate Wednesday, Oliver Anthony’s anthem has, indeed, become a cultural phenomenon.
WATCH: The first question of the #GOPDebate is about Oliver Anthony's 'Rich Men North of Richmond'
"Why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now? What do you think it means?" pic.twitter.com/NNjnFAlkZH
I have no better answer than the candidates as to what it is that the 31-year-old Anthony tapped into, specifically, but I can no longer live in denial that the song is here to stay—and the tingle it delivers to one’s spine is very real.
The question, then, is what can we expect of the man behind the movement?
Anthony—who reportedly turned down an $8 million recording contract and continues to perform free shows, according to his Facebook page—seems to believe that the power of his music and message will carry over into his artistry more broadly.
Having listened to a selection of his other songs, which bear a similar style but don’t quite resonate on the same frequency, I’m not convinced that he will have staying power in an industry that is rooting to see him fail, particularly with the pressure he now faces in trying to recapture lightning in a bottle and replicate his successful formula with something new and meaningful.
Nonetheless, with his new song, “Brink of War,” having recently dropped, I welcome the chance to be proven wrong yet again.
Then again, perhaps the true authenticity of Anthony’s message, rather than trying to continue building on his newfound fame, will be to ride the current wave of success as far as it takes him and be content with letting his career-defining hit stand as his first and only contribution to the historical record.
THE UNIVERSAL STRUGGLE
Equally fascinating to me has been the revitalization—and recontextualization—of another one-hit wonder, Tracy Chapman, in Luke Combs’s current No. 2 hit, “Fast Car.”
On one hand, the song does what far too many of Music Row’s offerings these days do, digging through the back catalog of old, forgotten hits to recycle into “safe” chart-toppers in lieu of paying songwriters to create new music that could miss its mark.
But the intriguing quality about Combs’s selection was that Chapman would seem, at first, to be the polar opposite of himself and his audience.
The black, lesbian singer–songwriter earned her living busking outside Harvard Square before releasing her 1988 debut, with its hit single. She had a second hit, 1995’s “Give Me One Reason,” before fading into quiet obscurity.
But 35 years later, Combs is connecting Chapman’s experience as a struggling black woman with the more common shared experiences of forgotten, blue-collar country music fans—and, remarkably, nothing seems to have been lost in translation.
Chapman, now 59, seems awed by the newfound success in an unlikely genre. “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there,” she told Billboard as the song continued its chart dominance. “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
The song’s success speaks to the power of great songwriting and to the universality of the struggles it conveyed in its thoughtful lyrics—something that does not fit with the Left’s narrative of systemic racism and white privilege.
Like Chapman’s song, is clear that Oliver Anthony’s is already bridging racial and cultural gaps, as well as generational ones.
For his part, Anthony has been pointedly apolitical, noting that he condemns equally the “rich men” in both parties.
With that in mind, he might not be too keen to testify before the Fulton County jury, since he seeks an audience that transcends political labels.
But even if his success can’t tell us about the 2020 election, it can offer clues as to what lies ahead in 2024 and beyond: a growing wave of populist backlash that could spread just as quickly, forcefully and unexpectedly as “Rich Men North of Richmond” has, for those who aren’t paying close enough attention to see the signals.
(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Early reaction to the first GOP debate Wednesday indicated that Vivek Ramaswamy was the night’s big winner with an aggressive and dominating performances that drew comparisons to the absent former President Donald Trump.
That may have been the objective for the entrepreneur and political neophyte, who was first to shoot up his hand offering praise and support for the former president, and the only candidate to say unequivocally that he would cut spending to Ukraine—an issue where many of the establishment candidates appeared to be out of step with the party’s conservative base.
Although Ramaswamy’s aggressive debate style made him a target of spirited attacks—not only from DNC-backed bully Chris Christie, but even animating the normally milquetoast Mike Pence at times—he remained the focal point of the discussion and was ready to respond, in kind, with equally sharp retorts even while the veteran policymakers derided his inexperience and relative youth.
After Christie attempted a ham-fisted comparison of Ramaswamy to former President Barack Obama, he was quickly reminded that bringing up the leftist leader was something of a political liability for him.
“Give me a hug just like you did to Obama!” Ramaswamy answered, making reference to the 2012 episode following Hurricane Sandy, during which the opportunistic Christie, then governor of New Jersey, embraced the president shortly before his re-election over Republican Mitt Romney.
WOW. Vivek Ramaswamy tells Chris Christie at the GOP debate: "Give me a hug just like you did to Obama!" pic.twitter.com/59BIiwlvm5
But while Ramaswamy has often struck the right chords with his message by channeling Trump, some have raised red flags about his globalist past, including ties to the pharmaceutical industry, and question whether his conservative bona fides are, in fact, authentic.
Christie struck a blow to this effect, suggesting that the candidate had honed his message through artificial intelligence’s machine-based learning.
“I’ve had enough of a guy who stands up here who sounds like ChatGPT,” he said.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis once again put forth a tentative and overly cautious performance that likely did him no favors in protecting his waning position as the first runner-up after Trump, who is expected to turn himself in Thursday in Fulton County to face charges in Democrats’ fourth lawfare attack against him.
But others, like the Washington Times, disagreed, arguing that DeSantis also achieved what he set out to do during the debate by further drawing away from Trump.
“He was direct, confident and got his messages across clearly while fending off attacks and criticizing frontrunner Donald Trump on his handling of the Covid pandemic,” the Times said of DeSantis. “He probably solidified his second-place status and won over some voters.”
A recap of the debate highlights, courtesy of the Center Square, is below:
Border, abortion and school choice: GOP candidates spar in first presidential debate
(Brett Rowland, The Center Square) Eight Republican candidates trailing Trump in the polls vied for second place Wednesday in the first primary debate.
The candidates traded barbs and one-liners in a high-stakes contest at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Each of the candidates touched on some of the nation’s hot-button issues, including crime, abortion and climate change. Interruptions were widespread. Many candidates talked over their peers, at times making it difficult to hear what was said. But the issues at the U.S.-Mexico border brought out some of the strongest rhetoric of the evening.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would authorize U.S. forces to cross the border to go after clandestine fentanyl labs and other criminal activity in Mexico.
“So when they are coming across, yes, we are going to use lethal force,” he said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence stood on his record at the southern border. He said he negotiated “Remain in Mexico,” which required some asylum seekers to return to Mexico to await their asylum hearing. Pence said he also negotiated for funding to build a border wall.
“As president of the United States, I will engage Mexico the same and we will partner with the Mexican military and we will hunt down and destroy the cartels that are claiming lives in the United States of America,” Pence said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he’d stop illegal border crossings and make sure those who have crossed illegally aren’t rewarded.
“We have to have law and order in this country,” he said.
Christie said that besides securing the border, the U.S. must go after China for shipping chemicals used to make fentanyl to Mexican cartels.
But the border wasn’t the only issue that riled up the candidates.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy called climate change a “hoax” and called the rest of the candidates on the stage “bought and paid for.” That made him a target. Pence retorted, “Now is not the time for on-the-job training,” while glancing at Ramaswamy.
“We don’t need to bring in a rookie, we don’t need to bring in people without experience,” Pence said.
Christie said Ramaswamy sounded like “ChatGTP.” At one time or another, nearly every candidate piled on Ramaswamy.
Former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley took a stand on abortion that frustrated several candidates. She said getting enough votes for a federal 15-week abortion ban was unrealistic, and the focus should be on banning late-term abortions.
“Can’t we all agree that we should ban late-term abortions? Can’t we all agree that we should encourage adoptions? Can’t we all agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe in abortion shouldn’t have to perform them? Can’t we all agree that contraception should be available? And can’t we all agree that we are not going to put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty if she gets an abortion?”
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said he wouldn’t support a federal ban on abortion.
“I’m a pro-life governor of a very pro-life state, and this issue is, of course, very important,” he said. “But I am on the record, and I stand behind, that we should not have a federal abortion ban. We should not. And the reason why we shouldn’t is very simple: It’s the 10th Amendment in the Constitution.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott faced questions about his spending record.
“There’s no doubt that during the Trump administration, we were dealing with the COVID virus, we spent more money,” he said. “But here’s what happened at the end of our time in the majority, we had low unemployment, record low unemployment, three and a half percent for the majority of the population, a 70-year low for women. African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians had an all-time low, but our inflation was at 2%.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson made a point not to raise his hand when asked if he would support Trump if the former president was convicted on criminal charges and becomes the Republican presidential nominee.
Scott took aim at public school teachers’ unions when asked about education.
“The only way we change education in this nation is to break the backs of the teachers’ unions,” he said. “They are standing in the door house of our kids locking them into failing schools and locking them out of the greatest future they could have.”
Several candidates emphasized school choice as an answer to the nation’s waning student test scores and the need to curb the power of teachers’ unions.
Trump decided not to participate in Wednesday’s debate. He cited his lead in the polls for skipping the debate. Trump’s sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was released Wednesday night at the same time as the debate.
(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) With multiple media outlets reporting that Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash Wednesday, a befuddled President Joe Biden admitted to reporters that he was clueless about the situation, and then strongly implied that Vladimir Putin likely had him assassinated.
When asked for his reaction to the reported plane crash in Russia, Biden initially seemed to reference a comment he made after Prigozhin led a mutiny against Russia’s army leaders.
“I’d be careful what I rode in,” Biden said Wednesday, echoing his remark from July when he said of Prigozhin, “”If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate. I’d be keeping my eye on my menu,” according to Reuters.
When pressed for his assessment of Wednesday’s developments, Biden offered, “I don’t know for a fact what happened but I’m not surprised,” before casually tossing out, “There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin is not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer. I’ve been working out for the last hour and a half.”
While Biden was busy allegedly working out, it was reported that a plane carrying three crew members and seven passengers that was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg went down in flames, according to officials cited by Russia’s state news agency Tass.
An official also claimed to have spoken with Wagner commanders from Prigozhin’s mercenary force, who confirmed that the rebel leader was on board.
While Biden was left clueless about the fiery crash and pointed fingers at Putin, Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec pointed in another direction.
“You know, Hillary believed Prigozhin stole the 2016 election,” he cracked of the Deplorable one. “I bring this up for no reason whatsoever.”
