MSNBC, CNN Fact-Check RNC; Declined to Do So for DNC

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MSNBC, CNN Fact-Check RNC; Declined to Do So for DNC

(Headline USA) The opening of the Republican National Convention on Monday offered quick proof that how it is covered by the news media will be an ongoing sore spot.

Day One featured a complaint about his coverage by President Donald Trump, some aggressive fact-checking by television reporters and an odd social media backlash against Fox News Channel, the favorite network of most of the president’s fans.

Mostly viewers were repeatedly reminded of who the four-day program, reimagined because of the coronavirus pandemic, was all about. Trump gave an unexpected 54-minute address to delegates during the day, appeared in two segments from the White House in prime time, and his son give one of the featured speeches.

“This really is the Trump convention,” said NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, as if that was a surprise.

MSNBC and CNN, the predictable ratings leaders during last week’s Democratic convention, were again the two commercial networks that showed the most of the party’s program during the evening.

But unlike last week, they interrupted the Republicans for fact-checks and analysis. MSNBC interrupted a speech from a nurse who had praised Trump’s response to COVID-19 for saving lives.

“It’s all propaganda,” said contributor Dr. Vin Gupta. “There’s no truth to it.”

Similarly, the network broke into a speech by the Missouri couple who stood outside of their house with guns when a Black Lives Matter protest march went by, after noting on an onscreen chyron that they had been charged with unlawful use of a weapon.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said, “We do feel a responsibility to make sure that we are not unquestionably presenting things that are false, that are deliberately false and are potentially dangerously false.”

The decision drew the ire of Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham.

“MSNBC is fact-checking the GOP speakers in real time,” Ingraham wrote on Twitter. “Why didn’t they do the same last week for the DNC?”

According to a Breitbart report, CNN’s Chris Cuomo explained that there was a discrepancy in the amount of lying between Democrats and Republicans:

We could fact-check this convention all night. People were saying you didn’t fact-check the Democrats. They are not lying, the way Trump does. Do politicians lie? Of course, both parties engage in it. Yes, I’ll give you the full ‘Guilfoyle.’ But not like Donald Trump. Nobody lies the way this man does, has, and will that I’ve ever seen in politics. So — he’s lying to you.

Fox had its own issues during the first 90 minutes of evening programming, when viewers noticed they could see more of the actual proceedings on CNN and MSNBC.

“The mob, the media, they won’t be showing large parts of the RNC that we’ll be showing,” Sean Hannity said at the opening of his show.

Yet it wasn’t true. Hannity talked over a speech by a Georgia state legislator, a Democrat who supports Trump, while CNN and MSNBC aired it. Fox aired a conversation in which analyst Brit Hume told Tucker Carlson that the convention was trying to feature more women — while at the same time the other two networks were listening to Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel speak.

It led Trump campaign aide Brad Parscale to complain on Twitter: “Can’t believe I have to watch the convention on CNN. Unbelievable.”

Trump appeared in two White House segments, one with essential workers during the coronavirus epidemic telling their stories, and the other with former hostages in foreign countries who had been freed during the Trump administration. All praised the president.

During the day, Trump complained about spotty coverage of the roll call vote that renominated him as the Republican candidate for president. Some networks abandoned the president’s informal acceptance speech in a Charlotte, North Carolina, arena for fact-checking.

Democrats last week turned the traditional roll call vote into a television production, with delegates stationed in their home state or territory to proclaim allegiance to Joe Biden. Republicans had 336 delegates — a fraction of the normal amount — support Trump at the Charlotte Convention Center.

It was a split-screen moment for news networks, which dipped in and out of the roll call as they also covered the testimony of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy before the House Oversight Committee.

Trump said his moment was overshadowed by the “scam” and “boring” hearing into whether the postal service was prepared for voting by mail this fall.

His appearance was covered live on ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News — but only MSNBC and Fox stayed with him to the end.

Listening to the president “underscores the challenge for us in the news business,” said CNN’s John King.

“This is a sad thing to say, but a lot of what you have heard from the president of the United States is wrong, misleading or outright lies,” King said.

He corrected Trump’s statements calling voting by mail into question, as did CBS News’ Major Garrett when that network stopped showing the president. Potential problems outlined by Trump are “highly, highly unlikely” to happen, Garrett said, ignoring mounds of evidence of ignored or rejected ballots in states including New York, New Jersey, and California.

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd lit into Trump and the Republicans.

“We were told this convention would be upbeat, optimistic,” Todd said. “Well, what we have just heard from the president was a grievance-filled informal acceptance speech that was filled with so many made-up problems about mail-in voting that if we were to air just the truthful parts, we probably could only air maybe a sentence.”

Unfortunately no one was present to fact-check Todd.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Rioters Burn Buildings, Attack Police, After Shooting in Kenosha, Wisc.

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Rioters Burn Buildings, Attack Police, After Shooting in Kenosha, Wisc.

(Headline USA) Anger over the shooting of a black man by police spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.

The southeastern Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after cellphone footage of police shooting uncooperative Jacob Blake from behind, as he leaned into his SUV, circulated widely on social media Sunday. The 29-year-old was hospitalized in serious condition.

Online court records indicate Kenosha County prosecutors charged Blake on July 6 with sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct in connection with domestic abuse. An arrest warrant was issued the following day.

It was unclear whether that case had anything to do with the shooting.

The unrest grew after inflammatory comments by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who also called out 125 members of the National Guard on Monday after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear the previous night.

Police first fired tear gas Monday about 30 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect to disperse protesters who chanted, “No justice, no peace” as they confronted a line of officers who wore protective gear and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse entrance. But hundreds of people stuck around, screaming at police and lighting fires, including to a garbage truck near the courthouse.

Tensions had flared anew earlier Monday after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd, which included a photographer from The Associated Press.

Police in the former auto manufacturing center of 100,000 people midway between Milwaukee and Chicago said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute when they encountered Blake on Sunday. They did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire, they released no details on the dispute, and they did not immediately disclose the race of the three officers at the scene.

The man who said he made the cellphone video, 22-year-old Raysean White, said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.

The governor said he has seen no information to suggest Blake had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is still being investigated by the state Justice Department.

The officers were placed on administrative leave, standard practice in a shooting by police. Authorities released no details about the officers and did not immediately respond to requests for their service records.

Evers was quick to condemn the bloodshed, saying that while not all details were known, “what we know for certain is that he is not the first black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said, without having all the facts, that the officers “must be held accountable.”

“This morning, the nation wakes up yet again with grief and outrage that yet another black American is a victim of excessive force,” he said, just over two months before Election Day in a country already roiled by the recent deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. “Those shots pierce the soul of our nation.”

Republicans and the police union accused the politicians of rushing to judgment, reflecting the deep partisan divide in Wisconsin, a key presidential battleground state. Wisconsin GOP members also decried the violent protests, echoing the law-and-order theme that President Donald Trump has been using in his reelection campaign.

“As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident,” Pete Deates, president of the Kenosha police union, said in a statement. He called the governor’s statement “wholly irresponsible.”

The shooting happened around 5 p.m. Sunday and was captured from across the street on the video posted online. Kenosha police do not have body cameras but do have body microphones.

In the footage, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed and shout at him, as he fails to follow their instructions. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned. Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired.

White, who said he made the video, said that before the gunfire, he looked out his window and saw six or seven women shouting at each other on the sidewalk. A few moments later, Blake drove up in his SUV and told his son, who was standing nearby, to get in the vehicle, according to White. White said Blake did not say anything to the women.

White said he left the window for a few minutes, and when he came back, saw three officers wrestling with Blake. One punched Blake in the ribs, and another used a stun gun on him, White said. He said Blake got free and started walking away as officers yelled about a knife.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Blake’s family, said Blake was “simply trying to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident.”

Police did not immediately confirm either man’s account.

Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told NBC’s Milwaukee affiliate, WTMJ-TV, that the couple’s three children were in the back seat of the SUV when police shot him.

“That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him. With the kids in the back screaming. Screaming,” Booker said.

Blake’s grandfather, Jacob Blake Sr., was a prominent minister and civil rights leader in the Chicago area who helped organize a march and spoke in support of a comprehensive housing law in Evanston, Illinois, days after the 1968 slaying of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Rachel Noerdlinger, publicist for the National Action Network, told The Associated Press that the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke Monday to Blake’s father, who called the civil rights leader for his support. Blake’s father will speak at Sharpton’s March on Washington commemoration on Friday, Noerdlinger said.

Karissa Lewis, national field director of Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 150 Black-led organizations that make up the broader Black Lives Matter movement, said the shooting was yet another example of why activists have called for defunding police departments.

“There’s no amount of training or reform that can teach a police officer that it’s wrong to shoot a black man in the back seven times while his children watch,” Lewis said in a statement first shared with the AP.

Crump, who has also represented the Floyd and Taylor families, said Blake’s family has asked that demonstrations in response to his shooting remain peaceful.

“They don’t believe violence to be the solution,” he said.

For more than 100 years, Kenosha was an auto manufacturing center, but it has now largely been transformed into a bedroom community for Milwaukee and Chicago. The city is about 67% white, 11.5% Black and 17.6% Hispanic, according to 2019 Census data. Both the mayor and police chief are white. About 17% of the population lives in poverty.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Black Ga. Democrat Makes Pitch for Trump at RNC

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Black Ga. Democrat Makes Pitch for Trump at RNC

(Headline USA) Democrats used their nominating convention last week to highlight several prominent Republicans who plan to cross party lines and vote for Joe Biden.

On Monday, Republicans offered a counter: Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones.

Jones, a black lawyer from suburban Atlanta, used a high-profile speaking spot on the first night of the Republican National Convention to praise President Donald Trump, saying he had delivered on promises, and to tear into Democrats, saying they had taken advantage of black voters.

“Why is a lifelong Democrat speaking at the Republican National Convention? That’s a fair question. And here’s your answer: The Democratic Party does not want black people to leave the mental plantation they’ve had us on for decades,” Jones said.

Trump has put an emphasis on winning over more support from black voters after getting just 6%, in 2016, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of people who participated in its polls and were confirmed to have voted. Polls show a close race in Georgia, where Democrats lean heavily on support from black voters, adding to the pressure on Trump to peel voters away.

Earlier in the night, former NFL star Herschel Walker said “it hurts my soul” to hear anyone refer to Trump as a racist. Walker starred during his college years at the University of Georgia.

Jones said he is backing Trump because the president has backed initiatives including increased funding for historically black colleges and universities, signed criminal justice reform and created “the most inclusive economy ever.“

The deaths of George Floyd and other black people at the hands of police officers have led to riots in several cities.

Jones accused Democratic lawmakers of turning their backs on police officers and said “our police need more funding, not less,” for such things as use of force and de-escalation training.

Jones said he is part of a growing segment of the black community who are independent thinkers.

Jones previously served as DeKalb County’s CEO and is no stranger to controversy. He weathered allegations of theft as the county’s chief executive and has often clashed with his fellow Democrats on policy issues.

Jones first announced his support for Trump this spring and “all hell broke loose,” he said Monday.

Other Georgia Democrats quickly blasted Jones’s endorsement of Trump.

Nikema Williams, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia and a candidate for the U.S. House, issued a statement calling Jones an “embarrassment” and said he “does not stand for our values.”

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

St. Louis Couple, in RNC Speech, Defend Show of Weapons

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St. Louis Couple, in RNC Speech, Defend Show of Weapons

(Headline USA) A St. Louis couple criminally charged for waving guns during a Black Lives Matter protest outside their home made the case in their opening night speech of the Republican National Convention that they had a “God-given right” to defend themselves and their property.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both lawyers, warned Monday night of unchecked lawlessness and suburban decay if such rights were to be trimmed, and certainly if Democrat Joe Biden were to be elected in November.

The McCloskey couple reinforced the theme outlined in President Donald Trump’s campaign ads, in which the Republican president contends that a Biden presidency will enable the looting and violence that has taken place in some cities in recent months to continue and even proliferate further.

“They want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family home zoning,” Patricia said, actions she argued “would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods.”

“These are the policies that are coming to a neighborhood near you,” she added. “Your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”

“We have a God-given right to defend ourselves, and the right of self-defense is one of the most basic civil rights, one of the most basic human rights,” Mark McCloskey said.

The McCloskey case drew Trump’s attention, especially after Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner filed felony unlawful use of a weapon charges in July. Trump considered the charges an “egregious abuse of power,” his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said.

Several hundred demonstrators on June 28 marched onto the private street where the McCloskey’s Renaissance palazzo-style mansion sits. The McCloskeys said the protesters knocked down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign. Protest leaders claimed the gate was open and the demonstration was peaceful.

Mark McCloskey came out with a semi-automatic rifle and his wife emerged with a semi-automatic handgun. No shots were fired. Missouri law allows homeowners to use force, even lethal force, to defend their homes.

Gardner said the guns created the risk of bloodshed. A police probable cause statement said protesters feared “being injured due to Patricia McCloskey’s finger being on the trigger, coupled with her excited demeanor.”

The McCloskeys contend the protest was anything but peaceful.

“They broke the gate down,” Patricia McCloskey said on “Fox & Friends.” “They broke it open, then they broke what was left of it down to the ground, an iron fence, and came in and started screaming threats from the beginning. They had weapons, they had fire material.”

Mark McCloskey said on the Fox News program that Democrat-controlled St. Louis “is a very dangerous place,” and the statistics back him up. The city has long had one of the nation’s highest homicide rates, and 2020 is shaping up to be the most violent year in decades.

“This is a prosecutor who has a remarkably low prosecution rate, a remarkably low conviction rate, and I think she’s just trying to make an example out of anybody who’s willing to stand up against the inherent lawlessness and violence in St. Louis,” he said.

Gardner said in a statement that she was disappointed that the case “has been exploited for political purposes, which in turn has opened the floodgates for gleeful racist and misogynistic messages and death threats. The people of St. Louis expect me to pursue equal justice under the law without fear or favor, and that is what I intend to do.”

Gardner, St. Louis’s first black circuit attorney, was elected in 2016 and appears headed to another term. She easily defeated a white former homicide prosecutor in the August Democratic primary and is heavily favored against her Republican opponent in November.

Gardner’s decision to charge the McCloskeys drew an angry response from several Republicans in addition to Trump.

Gov. Mike Parson has said he’ll pardon the couple if they are convicted. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt asked a judge to toss out the charges.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Republicans Hype Biden’s Racism, Make Bold Play for Voters of Color

Ben Sellers
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Republicans Hype Biden’s Racism, Make Bold Play for Voters of Color

Some of President Donald Trump’s most prominent black supporters, such as Blexit founder Candace Owens and rapper Kanye West, did not appear on the lineup for the four-day Republican National Convention.

But those that did wasted no time reaching out to others, like them, who felt alienated by a Democrat Party that has long taken them for granted.

“Black voices are becoming more woke and louder than ever,” said Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jordan, noting that “the Democratic Party has become infected with the pandemic of intolerance, bigotry.”

Jordan, a former Democrat who was assailed by his party members after voicing support for Trump, was not alone in feeling a sense of alienation.

Former NFL great and Heisman winner Herschel Walker recounted his close personal relationship with Trump going back 37 years.

“I take that as a personal insult to people who think I’ve had a 37-year relationship with a racist,” said the Georgia native.

Even the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., noted that there was plenty of room under the big tent.

He and other speakers highlighted some of the specific ways Trump had led outreach efforts to the black community, all while former Vice President Joe Biden insulted black voters and took them for granted.

That included unprecedented support for historically black colleges and universities, criminal-justice reform, the establishment of opportunity zones in low-income, minority neighborhoods and support for school-choice vouchers.

“If Democrats cared for the forgotten men and women of this country, they’d do exactly what President Trump is doing,” Don Jr. said.

“Unlike Joe Biden and the radical left Democrats, our party is open to everyone,” he added.

The evening’s speakers also featured Kim Klacik, a Republican congressional nominee who is attempting to claim the seat in the area surrounding Baltimore, Md., a Democratic stronghold previously held by Rep. Elijah Cummings.

Sen. Tim Scott, who broke racial barriers by becoming the first black senator from South Carolina in more than a century, said Trump had “built the most inclusive economy ever” prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

Scott also spoke of his own inspirational tale of rising up from poverty.

“Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” he said, “and that’s why I believe … supporting the Republican ticket gives you the best chance of making that dream a reality.”

The GOP effort to woo minority voters, once a solid blue coalition, comes as Democrats at their convention courted blue-collar middle American voters whom Trump was able to win in his surprise 2016 routing of Hillary Clinton.

Among the other powerful black voices lined up to speak during the RNC convention are former NFL greats Jack Brewer and Burgess Owens, civil rights activist Clarence Henderson, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

GOP Convention Counter-Punch Dismantles Dems’ Attacks, Showcases Contrasting Visions

Ben Sellers
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GOP Convention Counter-Punch Dismantles Dems’ Attacks, Showcases Contrasting Visions

If teen pop star Billie Eilish sullenly reading cue cards that monotonously denounced systemic racism were bound to become one of the enduring memes from last week’s Democratic National Convention, then the starkly contrasting image of a fiery-eyed Kimberly Guilfoyle espousing American greatness is its ideological foil.

“I speak to you tonight as a mother, a former prosecutor, a Latina and a proud American,” she began during her speech Monday at the Republican National Convention.

“… As a first-generation American, I know how dangerous their socialist agenda is,” she continued, building up to peak crescendo.

“…Like my parents, you can achieve that American dream. You can be that shining example to the world.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, leaders of the American dream,” she said, brimming with enthusiasm while channeling President Donald Trump’s frequent rally closer, “the best is yet to come.”

Predictably, leftist media already were mocking the former Fox News personality for her passionate enthusiasm before the night was finished.

Guilfoyle, currently the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., shared a common bond with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Both are prosecutors who have dated San Francisco mayors.

Guilfoyle was involved with current California Gov. Gavin Newsom during his time overseeing the City by the Bay. Harris benefited from the patronage of former Mayor Willie Brown as she climbed her way up the political ladder (as did Newsom, who spoke at the DNC convention).

But despite those parallel trajectories, it was clear to any watching that Guilfoyle and many of the other RNC speakers were succeeding not only in contrasting the two visions of America, but in projecting a far more optimistic, sincere and accessible alternative to the dark, cynical doom and gloom that Democrats, in their rare moments of genuine candor, espoused.

Gone also were the caustic and non-sequitor mockery of Leftist figures like privileged multimillionaire comedian Julia Louis Dreyfus, as well as the unabashed fundraising pitches that gave the DNC production the unpolished air of a PBS telethon.

If the DNC’s message was all Trump-bashing and fearmongering, then the RNC met the challenge with a clear outline of the president’s policy successes that dismantled the narrative with detailed precision—be it the Paycheck Protection Program that allowed businesses to carry on in the face of unprecedented crisis or the opportunity zones on which the president worked with Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, to help boost minority communities.

Trump’s support for historically black colleges and universities also resurfaced several times during the evening.

While Democrats spent surprising amounts of airtime in their four nights seeking to poach any disaffected ex-Trump voters they could, broadcasting deep-state alumni to address the “existential” crisis that was posed by the president’s swamp-draining, Republicans answered by trying to woo traditionally Democratic voters of their own.

The evening relied heavily on the representation of both African–American supporters, immigrants and first-generation Americans who saw their inspirational and aspirational stories of hope coming under attack by the impending socialist order.

Among the highlights:

  • Sen. Tim Scott, who broke racial barriers by becoming one of the first African Americans to represent his state in Congress since Reconstruction.
  • Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, also (like Scott) a prominent South Carolina politician, showing the conservative stalwart state’s openness to diversity
  • Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones, a former Democrat who was attacked by his party for his Trump support
  • Kim Klacik, a Republican candidate for the Baltimore congressional seat once held by Elijah Cummings
  • Former football star Herschel Walker, who attested to his 37-year friendship with Donald Trump

The night also was filled with stories of survivors and those forgotten by the Left’s vision of America.

Among them:

  • Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., survivor of an attack by a leftist radical mass shooter
  • Andrew Pollack, father of one of the teenage victims of the 2018 Parkland, Fla., massacre
  • Bone cancer survivor Natalie Harp, who warned of the Obama administration’s efforts to encourage her to consider assisted suicide
  • LSU surgeon G.E. Ghali, a coronavirus survivor who praised Trump’s streamlining of experimental treatments such as remdesivir
  • Maximo Alvarez, an immigrant whose family fled the socialist/fascist governments of Franco’s Spain and Castro’s Cuba to settle in what they hoped would be their final destination with nowhere else to go
  • A panel of former hostages who spoke with Trump about their grim prospects prior to his diplomatic negotiations
  • Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two Second Amendment patriots who were nearly prosecuted for defending their home during race riots in St. Louis
  • Capt. Sean Parnell, an Army ranger whose platoon nearly perished in Afghanistan, now challenging a freshman Democratic congressman in one of the recently flipped Pennsylvania districts

The night also featured some of the brightest voices in the GOP establishment, including Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the leader of the Freedom Caucus and ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, who spoke of Trump’s personal concern following the death of his nephew Eli; Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida; Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk; and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

In every case, the genuine love of country, clarity of vision and positive outlook painted a drastically different picture than that cast by their Democrat counterparts.

While several polls indicated that Trump had made gains in the wake of the DNC convention, though, it seemed unlikely that Democrats, from an optics standpoint, would reap the same benefit following the RNC.

Virginia’s Top Health Official Says He Would Make COVID Vaccine Mandatory

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Virginia’s Top Health Official Says He Would Make COVID Vaccine Mandatory

Virginia’s top health official said on Friday that he will make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for everyone in the state once a vaccine becomes available.

“[The coronavirus] is killing people now, we don’t have a treatment for it and if we develop a vaccine that can prevent it from spreading in the community we will save hundreds and hundreds of lives,” Virginia Commissioner of Health Dr. Norman Oliver said on Friday.

Virginia state law gives the Commissioner of Health the authority to mandate immunizations during a public health crisis, according to WRIC-TV. Only those with medical exemptions could refuse the mandate if the state decided to enact one.

Most Virginians would willingly comply, Oliver said, adding that he’s not sure what the punishment would be for those who don’t.

“I think the overwhelming majority of people would, in fact, respond well,” Oliver claimed.

A recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll, how

ever, found that only 42% of Americans want to get vaccinated “if and when a coronavirus vaccine becomes available.”

Many of those concerned with a potential vaccine said they are worried about how quickly the vaccine is being developed. Oliver, however, said he wouldn’t “launch a campaign around mass vaccination with anything that hasn’t proven to be safe.”

Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, whose company secured approval for the mumps vaccine, disagreed and said that efficient and safe vaccinations take years of research and development.

“What worries me the most is that the public is so hungry, is so desperate to go back to normalcy, that they are pushing us to move things faster and faster,” Frazier told Harvard Business School’s Tsedal Neeley. “Ultimately, if you are going to use a vaccine in billions of people, you’d better know what that vaccine does.”

The Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill that would allow residents “who object to such administration on religious grounds” to be granted an exemption from a potential vaccine mandate, but Oliver said he strongly opposes the bill, according to ABC-8 News.

The bill still needs to clear a committee in the House of Delegates before the full chamber can vote on it.

Tennessee Gov. Signs Bill Increasing Criminal Punishment For Violent Protesters

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Tennessee Gov. Signs Bill Increasing Criminal Punishment For Violent Protesters

While Democratic-run cities such as Portland and Chicago continue to be overrun by violent protesters, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill last week increasing criminal punishment for protesters deemed disruptive by law enforcement officials.

During a special session convened by Lee, the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed HB8005 last week, which states that those who illegally camp on state property could face a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison. The punishment before was only a misdemeanor.

The bill also imposes a mandatory minimum 45-day hold if convicted of aggravated rioting; enhances the fine for obstructing emergency vehicles from accessing highways; requires a court to order restitution for damaging state property; and creates a Class C felony offense for aggravated assault against a first responder—which carries a $15,000 fine and mandatory minimum 90-day prison sentence.

State Rep. William Lamberth introduced the bill earlier this month after months of protests in front of the Tennessee state capitol, which resulted in “vandalism and defacement of property, overnight camping on public property in violation of state law, and other risks to public safety,” according to the legislation.

Lee confirmed that this bill was a response to the lawlessness protesters had tried to bring into Tennessee earlier this summer.

“I think what we saw was a courthouse on fire and businesses being broken into and vehicles being damaged,” he said. “We saw lawlessness that needed to be addressed immediately. And that was done so.”

At least one protester involved in the two-month-long demonstration outside the Tennessee capitol has been charged with a felony for vandalizing government property, according to WLPN.

Meanwhile, rioters in Portland continue to destroy the city. A mob set a police precinct on fire last night, and law enforcement charged one rioter with three felonies for violently beating an innocent citizen.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Dems’ Conspiracy Theories Reach New Heights of Absurdity in Postal Service Hearing

Joshua Paladino
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Dems’ Conspiracy Theories Reach New Heights of Absurdity in Postal Service Hearing

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, launched a hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy by charging that he is making “sweeping changes to hobble mail-in voting.”

DeJoy again debunked the newest Trump-USPS collusion hoax at the Monday hearing, in the same fashion that he did at a Senate hearing last Friday, though he said the president’s uncertainty about voting by mail is “not helpful.”

He acquiesced to demands that he halt measures to improve efficiency, reliability, and profitability at the Postal Service until after the election. He admitted that these measures caused a short-term “dip” in on-time deliveries.

“I am not engaged in sabotaging the election,” DeJoy said, as he reaffirmed that the USPS is capable of delivering absentee ballots.

“I did not direct the removal of blue collection boxes or the removal of mail-processing equipment. I did not direct the cutback on hours at any of our post offices. I did not direct the elimination or any cutback in overtime,” he said.

In addition, he said he has authorized overtime and extra mail pickups and deliveries to ensure the timely delivery of election mail.

DeJoy would not agree to bring back decommissioned blue postal boxes or sorting machines, saying that they are not necessary to the efficient and reliable operation of the Postal Service.

During President Barack Obama’s administrations, thousands of blue collection boxes and sorting machines were removed by a Democratic Postmaster General. No one raised a complaint until DeJoy, a Republican, took command of the Postal Service.

Maloney repeated the corporate media’s debunked narrative that President Donald Trump installed DeJoy as Postmaster General, even though Republicans and Democrats on the USPS Board of Governors independently vetted and unanimously approved his nomination.

Ranking member James Comer, R-Kent., said these allegations are part of a “baseless conspiracy theory” against DeJoy and Trump as well as an effort to pass $25 billion worth of USPS pork with “no hearings, no markup,” and “no Republican input.”

USPS administrators oppose the legislation because the agency has $14 billion in cash-on-hand (and $10 billion in emergency credit) and has stated that neither money nor any other obstacle will prevent it from handling the relatively small amount of election mail.

“They read the bill and realized that it ties their hands and will make it harder and more expensive to deliver the mail,” Comer said. “At least this legislation is consistent with the Obama-Biden years at the Postal Service: more delays; more financial losses.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said the Republican-led Postal Service Board of Governors requested the additional funding.

He, and many other Democrats throughout the hearing, accused DeJoy of making changes that have caused “delivery delays” and damaged the Postal Service’s “credibility.”

“Congratulations, Mr. DeJoy,” Connolly said. “An esteemed institution that now is in doubt in the American public’s mind.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., likewise said DeJoy is “deliberately dismantling this once-proud institution.”

DeJoy said all of the changes he has made at the Postal Service are part of an effort to run trucks “on time.”

In response to Rep. Virginia Foxx’s, R-N.C, question about the “consistent use of unplanned overtime,” he said it costs “substantial amounts of money” and leads to “delays in mail” and “inequilibrium in our production processes across the whole network.”

Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., said DeJoy’s appearance at the House hearing has nothing to do with the Postal Service and everything to do with his private support for the president, which has made him a “target.”

“Today, Mr. DeJoy will be viciously attacked with pre-packaged questions and false accusations, one member even suggesting impeachment. That’s original,” Walker said. “How sad is it when the cancel culture has reached the halls of Congress?”

To prove Walker’s point, Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., who threatened to arrest DeJoy last week, attacked him for his role in Trump’s 2016 election as a fundraiser.

“Did you pay back several of your top executives for contributing to Trump’s campaign by bonusing or rewarding them?” Cooper asked.

“That’s an outrageous claim, sir, and I resent it,” DeJoy said. “The answer is no.”

“During the Trump campaign I wasn’t even working at my company anymore,” he added. “I resent the assertion, sir, what are you accusing me of?”

“Am I the only one in this room that understands that we have a $10 billion per year loss?” DeJoy asked.

At Cooper’s request, he said he would provide his communications with officials who work for the Trump administration.

“Is your backup plan to be pardoned like Roger Stone?” Cooper asked, to audible moans from those present.

“I have no comment on that,” DeJoy said, laughing. “It’s not worth the comment.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pointed out that elections results have been delayed across the country, in the Iowa Democratic caucuses as well as New York and New Jersey’s primary elections, before DeJoy’s tenure.

Jeff Flake Leads Other RINOs to Formally Endorse Joe Biden

Contributing Author
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Jeff Flake Leads Other RINOs to Formally Endorse Joe Biden

NeverTrump former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent critic of President Donald Trump’s, formally endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden this week along with several other former Republican lawmakers.

The Biden campaign announced the endorsement on Monday as part of its effort to win over potential GOP supporters this November, holding it up as proof that Biden can bridge the gap of “partisanship.”

“These former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden,” a Biden campaign official told Fox News in a statement. “These former Members of Congress are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship.”

Flake said in a statement that because Trump’s “behavior” has not changed, Republicans must choose someone who will do better.

“Some of my conservative friends will say, ‘Yes, we don’t like his behavior but he governs as a conservative.’ Here, today, I will say to my fellow conservatives … indifference to the truth or to the careful stewardship of the institutions of American liberty is not conservative,” Flake said during a live stream on Monday. “Governing by tweet is not conservative, it’s not even governing.”

Other former GOP lawmakers on the “Republicans for Biden” endorsement list include former Sens. John Warner, R-Va. and Gordon Humphrey, R-N.H., and Reps. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., Steve Bartlett, R-Texas, Tom Coleman, R-Mo., Bob Inglis, R-S.C., Chris Shays, R-Conn., Alan Steelman, R-Texas, and Jim Walsh, R-N.Y.

Flake said last year that he would not support Trump, but suggested that he wouldn’t support Biden either.

Now, however, he argued voting third party is not enough.

“Given what we have experienced over the past four years, it’s not enough just to register our disapproval of the president. We need to elect someone else in his place,” Flake said on Monday.

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