Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke has announced that he's leaving the 2020 race for president.
The New York Times reported the announcement Friday, writing it like an obituary highlighting his time as a candidate.
O'Rourke also said that he doesn't intend to run for any other election. But, there is still six weeks for O'Rourke to head back to Texas and file to run against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who isn't doing well in the state.
“My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee,” O'Rourke tweeted.
Fundraising for the candidate had slowed since he entered the race and his strong stance and passionate speeches after the El Paso shooting helped revitalize his campaign, but it was apparently not enough to stay in the race. If he doesn't run for another office he could move on as an advocate for gun safety issues.
Let us continue to fearlessly champion the issues and causes that brought us together. Whether it is ending the epi… https://t.co/aMqW8YnV3s— Beto O'Rourke (@Beto O'Rourke)1572643816.0
Thank you for making this campaign possible, and for continuing to believe that we can turn this moment of great pe… https://t.co/bdYBrhGB6x— Beto O'Rourke (@Beto O'Rourke)1572643891.0
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday displayed a graph on his show that seemed to show the number of Americans identifying as Christian had collapsed over the last decade.
However, the actual percentage only showed a modest decline from 77 percent to 65 percent, even though Carlson's graph made the decline appear far steeper than it was, as seen below.
Columbia Journalism School professor Bill Grueskin responded to this by thanking Carlson for giving him yet another bad Fox News graph that he could show his students as an example of what not to do when presenting data.
He then went through a series of terrible Fox News graphs, including one that tried to show the top marginal tax rate exploding under former President Barack Obama, even though the actual increase was from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.
Their bar charts are always awesome 2/ https://t.co/ZTeVM8k4p1— Bill Grueskin (@Bill Grueskin) 1632789428.0
Another highlight included a pie chart whose percentages added up to over 160 percent.
When you get 193% of the pie 4/ https://t.co/XYvzbdcuTE— Bill Grueskin (@Bill Grueskin) 1632790023.0
The most bizarre and macabre graph, however, was a Fox Business graph that showed how the S&P 500 performed the week after a high-profile act of violence against a Black American.
Which violent act vs a Black man will really juice the S&P 500? 5/ https://t.co/4AET94aljW— Bill Grueskin (@Bill Grueskin) 1632790177.0
Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) called out his home-state senator, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), for being supportive of funding projects for the state before he was against them.
Specifically, McConnell is being called out for touting projects and programs back home -- but now that it's time to ensure the funds to pay for it, McConnell isn't just against it, he's actively standing in the way.
"He's kind of the leader in this effort and you know, I watched while he has traveled around the state taking credit for funds that are coming into Kentucky that he voted for that he now doesn't want to pay for," said Yarmuth. "And then he stands up and says the facts are indisputable — I agree with Mitch on that the facts are indisputable, but he's wrong he tries to make this case, this is all about passing the ability to incur future debts. This is all about paying for what we have already credited ourselves to so he's blatantly lying to the American people. Nobody pays a price for lying. Nobody's held accountable."
He noted that when he was a debater in high school that you'd automatically lose if you made up facts. That certainly doesn't happen now.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes explained that McConnell doesn't even have to support the bill, the problem is that he's actively standing in the way of Democrats raising the debt ceiling. He not only doesn't want to pay the bills, he's trying to stop Democrats from paying the bills.
Yarmuth went on to attack Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who "are only concerned about their own brand. They're not thinking about the objective of not just the Democratic Party, but what's a good policy for the country. I have not heard one word yet from either senator about why any of the things that are proposed in the Build Back Better Act are bad for the country. I've not heard one word. Not any of them have said that and they're playing with numbers. The numbers don't matter you know, the question is what does the country need us to do I think this package is something that demonstrably is something that the American people need and is something that's perfectly appropriate for the federal government to try to provide for them."
See the video below:
McConnell not only doesn't want to pay the bills — he's blocking anyone else from paying too! www.youtube.com
On Monday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," former Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe broke down how the plan concocted by far-right lawyer John Eastman on behalf of former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election constituted a "seditious conspiracy."
"I know you call this an attempted coup, not just in the general use of the word that so many have adopted, but in a very specific way. You say Eastman delivered the blueprint," said anchor Erin Burnett. "Tell me why you now feel so confident that that is exactly the word which describes exactly what it was he was trying to do, and that that was Trump's intention."
"Well, there's no doubt from the information we now have about the meeting that Trump was holding with people like Giuliani and Eastman shortly before the insurrection that we all saw on live television, that they were planning, step by step, to twist arms and pressure people, including building a gallows if necessary with Pence's name on it, in order to get the vice president to perform a role that the Constitution doesn't assign the vice president," said Tribe.
Tribe then went on to cite the specific law that he believes Trump and his allies broke with their actions before and during the Capitol riots.
"It was seditious conspiracy," he said. "That's the term that the U.S. Criminal Code uses, 18 U.S. Code section 2384, and then it led to inciting an insurrection. It was all part of a long plan, much more public than most coups that we see."
Tribe went on to detail how the former president might try to replicate his illegitimate attempt to take power in 2024.
"The back-up plan is to get states to disregard the votes of the people even after the suppression of votes and the counting by people who are partisans if it doesn't go their way," he said.
Tribe concluded by warning Americans against complacency, as "we can't just let that go on while we go over the cliff and destroy our democracy."
Watch below:
Laurence Tribe says Trump and his associates attempted a "seditious conspiracy" www.youtube.com
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