Donald Trump is speaking in Wilmington, North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the same time the Republican Party is dealing with the fallout from online writings of gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson that have all but doomed his election bid in the state.
You can watch the ex-president's speech below via YouTube:
- YouTube www.youtube.com
North Carolina's 16 Electoral College votes could help provide the crucial difference in which party crosses the 270-vote threshold this November. And Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has unveiled a strategy to put the state back in the Democratic column for the first time since 2008.
According to a recent Politico report, the Harris campaign has outlined how to defeat former President Donald Trump by tying him to Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. Though while Robinson has been having to answer for numerous posts he allegedly made on an adult website — including posts pining for a return of chattel slavery and praising Adolf Hitler — the vice president is instead keeping its attacks focused on policy.
" Trump made Mark Robinson, and he will have to answer for him," Harris campaign advisors Scott Falmlen and L.T. McCrimmon wrote in the memo. They added that they have "reams and reams of footage" of Trump embracing Robinson in the event he officially rescinds his endorsement of the gubernatorial hopeful — something he has not yet done.
READ MORE: 'Mein Kampf is a good read': Account linked to Mark Robinson praised Hitler's manifesto
Politico reported that out of all the states Trump won in his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, Harris' campaign has identified the Tar Heel State as a "prime pickup opportunity" given how the ex-president won the state by just over 70,000 total votes four years ago. In that election, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper was elected to a second term, and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham almost defeated incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina).
In the campaign's memo outlining its plans for North Carolina, Harris' team notes that it aims to tie Trump to Robinson by repeatedly mentioning that both men want to ban abortion, repeal the Affordable Care Act and tear down the Department of Education. The memo also noted that the fates of both Trump and Robinson "are tied together" and that they can topple both candidates in one fell swoop with a policy-based plan of attack.
"In the final six weeks of this election, this campaign will continue to highlight Trump and Robinson's mutual support and their shared extreme agenda and rhetoric that is toxic to voters," the memo read. "Trump has done all of our work for us, saying that Robinson is 'one of the hottest politicians in the United States of America' and calling him 'a friend of mine.'"
In order to win over a majority of North Carolinians, the Harris campaign is courting "suburban voters, moderate Republicans and Black voters" particularly "in the Charlotte and Raleigh metro areas."
READ MORE: MAGA gov candidate may drop out ahead of 'damning' story about 'activity on adult websites'
The fact that the Harris campaign isn't acknowledging the explosive news of Robinson's posts on the Nude Africa website is noteworthy, as the revelations of the scandal caused some Republicans in North Carolina to call for him to drop out of the race. Robinson reiterated both on his social media channels and in a recent CNN interviewing that he was staying in, calling the report "tabloid trash."
Robinson — who is the current lieutenant governor of North Carolina — had no political experience prior to his election in 2020, which he won largely due to securing the former president's endorsement. Trump threw his weight behind Robinson's candidacy for the governorship in March, calling him "Martin Luther King on steroids" and "Martin Luther King times two."
In one Nude Africa post, the account believed to be Robinson's lamented that he couldn't join the Ku Klux Klan given that he was Black. He also called the late civil rights leader a "commie b—d," "worse than a maggot" and a "huckster."
Click here to read Politico's report in full.
Donald Trump's decision to launch an advertising campaign for "Official Trump Coins" on his Truth Social account was met with some disagreement by some of his MAGA supporters and a wave of derision from critics on Saturday morning.
With only 45 days before the election, and as he is falling behind in the polls to his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, the former president posted a video on his account with a link directing followers to a website where they will be able to purchase "The ONLY OFFICIAL coin designed by me—and proudly minted here in the U.S.A. The President Donald J. Trump First Edition Silver Medallion will be available starting Wednesday, 9/25/24."
According to one supporter, spending time hawking another Trump-branded product — this one for $100 — is not time well spent.
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
"Can you please not try to sell these shit coins while running for president ? It doesn’t look good for you .. focus on real issues," DeadCat Bounce81 implored the former president.
Junior offered up a Biblical admonition, writing, "Matthew 6:24 NLT
[24] “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money."
TrumpOnly was appreciative of the offer, but complained, "President Trump is a great innovator and businessman. No other presidential candidates ever offered so many great items. I will buy a few coins. However I have a lot of our money tied up in DJT/ Truth Social stock. I need that price to get above $55."
Critics of the former president also flooded his account, accusing him of grifting off his fans, with Susan KT accusing, "You definitely didn’t write this Donald. It’s not your mashed up incoherent usual. But I’m still not falling for the grift!! A former president grifting from Americans in this way is shameful. Or maybe I still believe in dignity from former leaders. Former leaders offering their wisdom and experience learned from the many important situations faced. You have none of those qualities so you hawk junk!!"
"Translating Trump - Step right up, listen to my carnival barker speech. Give me your hard earned money for this useless coin that cannot pay for your groceries or gas. I am a grifter of the likes that no one has seen," ForDemocracy added.
"Grifter's gonna grift. This is not a serious candidate for the most important job on the planet. It's just another con by the world's biggest con-artist. How are people still fooled by this act?" Resistance is Patriotic asked.
Mary Jane predicted, "They're as worthless as you are."
Despite deleting any pictures they may have taken with embattled North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, Republican lawmakers are doing as little as they can to disavow their Republican Party colleague who has described himself as a "Black Nazi."
That is the opinion of former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele who claimed that Robinson embodies everything Donald Trump's MAGA followers find appealing.
From his perch as a host of MSNBC's "The Weekend," Steele noted the flood of allegations that have all but assured the North Carolina Republican will lose on election day and claimed Republicans should rid themselves of him — but won't.
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
Speaking with his co-host Alicia Menendez, Steele explained that the Democratic Party had no problem asking President Joe Biden to step aside which led to the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris and a subsequent massive shift in the polls, but Republicans are refusing to force out Robinson despite comments he made on a adult website that were so shocking that the press won't even describe some of them.
"The Republicans are quietly having conversations, whispering, 'Could you please tell him, could you pull your endorsement?'" Steele claimed. "That tells you all you need to know. The fact that you are saying all of this quietly says you are not serious, you don't really care, you are just going to go on the record to say, we are telling him not to do it."
"Well put your name on a piece of paper so that we can read your words telling Mark Robinson to step out of the race, or at this point, Donald Trump, to withdraw his endorsement," he suggested before adding, "They won't, because they are hook line and sinker all in on what Mark Robinson represents as today's MAGA Republican party."
Watch below or at the link.
- YouTube youtu.be
Donald Trump's third presidential campaign, once lauded as a well-oiled machine under the leadership of top advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, is falling apart with 45 days left before voters go to the polls.
According to a report from the Washington Post's Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Marianne LeVine, the Trump train wheels are coming off as Vice President Kamala Harris surges in the polls and "the most disciplined campaign" Trump has even been a part of has spiraled into infighting and finger-pointing at the worst possible time.
As the report notes, recent forays into immigrant bashing led by the former president and his running mate J.D. Vance have driven what was a well-orchestrated pitch to voters into a ditch and the two nominees won't back down to the dismay of some of their advisers.
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
"Just 45 days left until the election, the past three weeks reveal that whatever control and self-restraint that helped launch Trump’s third presidential campaign has largely disappeared in the crucial final stretch," The Post is reporting before adding that an insider complained a great deal of the dischord falls on the nominee himself, telling the Post. It’s not even ‘Let Trump be Trump.' It’s ‘Let Trump be unsupervised at all times.’ They just feel like, ‘We can’t control him, so let’s hope he wins anyways.’”
Adding to that was the hiring of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski who, it now appears, has already worn out his welcome with the former president.
With the Post reporting, "Trump has also begun to privately criticize Lewandowski, downplaying his role on the campaign and their relationship, three people familiar with his comments said," the report adds, "Privately, Wiles has told allies that it has been difficult to see the close-knit, disciplined operation that she helped build face such tumult and infighting in the final months — and that the past few weeks have been among her least favorite since joining the operation in 2021."
"Campaign advisers also have been battling for weeks over sending out mailings to voters, according to multiple advisers. Trump is skeptical of the strategy entirely and would prefer to spend the money on television ads, the people said, while there have been disagreements over how much to spend on mail and what the messaging should be," the report notes before adding, "Allies have grown concerned that Trump and the Republicans are being outspent in almost every state — some by large margins — and that Democrats are far outraising Republicans."
You can read more here.
On the 2024 campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has made more than 200 promises about what he'll do on day one of a second term — famously promising to act as a "dictator" immediately upon taking the oath of office. And some experts are cautioning that many of those promises fly in the face of the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes.
The Washington Post reported that, by its count, Trump has made 82 education-related Day One promises, 74 related to immigration, 41 ties to energy policy, 25 about transgender issues and 33 other promises. Some of those are about his signature border wall proposal and vows to eliminate the teaching of racial and LGBTQ+ curriculum in schools. But others, according to experts, disregard longstanding federal law.
"A lot but not all of what Trump says he wants to do on day one is going to be illegal or impractical," Georgetown University constitutional law professor Steve Vladeck told the Post. "But even the illegal stuff might go into effect for some time, and he might actually succeed in pushing the law in his direction."
READ MORE: 'On day one': Trump vows to end protections for LGBTQ students
Among the more controversial day one immigration-related promises Trump has made is his call to abolish birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment. While that would typically require a new constitutional amendment, the Post reported Trump could feasibly issue an executive order affecting how states issue birth certificates.
“There are a bunch of ways you could try it,” Omar Jadwat, who is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrant Rights Project, told the Post. “but it’s impossible to imagine any court allowing something so blatantly unconstitutional to happen.”
The former president would also run afoul of federal law if he tried to enact his education agenda via executive order. He has, on numerous occasions, vowed to cut funding for public schools that teach students about issues pertaining to race, gender and sexual orientation. But the Post reported that this would intrude on Congress' role, which has discretion over the federal budget.
Karoline Leavitt, who is a spokesperson for Trump's 2024 campaign, maintained that the ex-president's day one plans are consistent with what he did in his first term in the White House and that they are the natural progression of his agenda.
READ MORE: 'Depressed and unhappy': Trump posts late-night, all-caps rant directed at women
"[Trump] delivered on his first term promises to build the wall, rebuild the economy, and make America respected again on the world stage — and he will deliver on his promises in a second term as well," Leavitt said.
Some of the ex-president's other campaign promises are relate to undoing executive orders President Joe Biden signed. On the campaign trail, he has referenced electric vehicle "mandates," which are actually just fuel emission standards and incentives to promote additional manufacturing of electric vehicles.
Vladeck said reversing executive orders is entirely within a president's purview. He noted that this is considered "low-hanging fruit" for a new administration, and "the easiest thing a president can do on his first day."
First-time former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was battered by the MSNBC "The Weekend" panel early Saturday morning over comments he made in Ohio attempting to excuse the racist attacks made by Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance that have upended the lives of the citizens of Springfield, Ohio.
Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, spoke with a small group of supporters in the state this week where he tried to clean up the mess made by the former president and his 2024 running mate who are falsely accusing Haitian immigrants of stealing pets and eating them.
In a clip shown as part of the segment, Ramaswamy can he heard telling the small numbers of supporters, "You take 20,000 people who are unprepared to integrate into a committee, dump them into a city of 50,000, you are going to get a reactionary response. Then you demonize the people who have a reactionary response who say, 'You are blaming me!' they're going to have ill will in this case toward the Haitian community."
ALSO READ: Inside Trump's new front in the Haitian hysteria push: Charleroi
"It is literally fueling a new wave of anti-Black racism in the country that otherwise would not exist if it weren't for those woke anti-racism policies in the first place, " he added.
That, in turn led Princeton professor Eddie Glaude to gasp off-camera, "Oh my god!"
"The Weekend " co-host Michael Steele took it from there, turning to the camera and stating, "Before you give a response, I just have to say, 'Vivek, you're full of crap.' Look at what the Haitian community did when they arrived in Springfield."
Glaude added, "I was trying to edit myself in so many ways. A part of it is this: Vivek just traded on a whole range of tropes and bad history."
"If you look at the debates around immigration in the 1920s, running up to 1924 Johnson Immigration Act, some of the same things were said about immigrant; they are not prepared to integrate into the society," he continued. "Well we know that happened in Springfield; you had an influx of folks, they did not have in place the infrastructure around schools and hospitals as they were inviting the labor into the community to revitalize it. But instead, you blame them and then you other them and justify the deep-seated prejudice against the folks."
Watch below or at the link
- YouTube youtu.be
The ad was released this week by the National Republican Congressional Committee on behalf of former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, who is trying to win back the seat for the GOP.
Texas Congressional District 34 stretches from Brownsville to Kingsville along the state’s southeastern coast. It is one of the few competitive races in the state and a top priority for both major political parties to win.
The ad features Brownsville business owner Ruben Guerrero ridiculing Gonzalez, a McAllen Democrat, for pushing “sex changes for kids” over caring about the economy. The ad is part of an $800,000 ad reservation in the South Texas market to be broadcast in both English and Spanish. Guerrero’s voice was also featured in a radio ad by the NRCC.
Gonzalez, a moderate Democrat, has denied supporting tax-funded gender transition surgeries for minors.
Guerrero posted memes on Instagram calling 9/11 “the biggest inside job in history … until COVID,” ridiculing former First Lady Michelle Obama as secretly a man, and mocking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch, which he wears after losing his right eye serving in Afghanistan.
Crenshaw is a Houston Republican. His office declined to comment.
Flores’ campaign, which was not involved in the creation of the ad, distanced her from Guerrero’s social media. Flores follows Guerrero’s Instagram.
“These posts are clearly not reflective of Mayra's views,” the Flores campaign said in a statement. “That said, it’s a great ad with an important message about Vicente Gonzalez’s extreme record of supporting taxpayer funded sex change surgeries for children.”
Guerrero is not the first conspiracy theorist to be featured in a congressional ad this year. A Republican running in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, another top target for Republicans this year, has also been criticized for spotlighting a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
To be sure, Guerrero’s social media influence is small. He has about 1,700 followers on Instagram. When contacted by The Texas Tribune, Guerrero stood by his social media posts.
“I'm a conspiracy theorist that's almost batting .400,” he said in a telephone interview before insisting guidance given during the COVID-19 pandemic was wrong.
When asked about the meme mocking Crenshaw’s eye patch, Guerrero said he couldn’t recall his reasoning behind posting the meme, but said that Republicans “are not all equal,” suggesting that Crenshaw is a Republican in name only.
“I post a lot, as you can tell,” he said.
Guerrero posted the meme in January of last year — around the same time Crenshaw angered many right-wing Republicans for criticizing far-right U.S. House Republicans who did not support Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker.
Political campaigns often recruit everyday voters to offer testimonials in ads that get blasted to thousands of viewers. Subjects of testimonials are generally vetted to ensure their backstories are accurate.
Mass media ads have diminishing impact on changing opinions, said Daron Shaw, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin who previously worked on the 2000 George W. Bush campaign. Additionally, the background of a person giving a testimonial likely won’t make much of a difference in the efficacy of an ad.
“There’s a question about the overall effect of this sort of advertising on voters' preferences, and that’s mixed at best,” Shaw said. “The country is so polarized politically and so siloed that the number of voters who are up for grabs in a given election major party competitions, very, very slender.”
The Harlingen media market includes over 400,000 households with TVs. The lower Rio Grande Valley has a population of over 1 million on the U.S. side of the border.
Gonzalez criticized the attacks as misrepresenting his stances.
“Not only was their ad full of lies, but their actor is a 9/11 conspiracist who insulted my colleague Dan Crenshaw, a decorated Navy Seal veteran — it’s amateur hour over there,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
LGBTQ+ rights groups have also criticized the Republican strategy tying Democrats to youth gender transition surgery as fear-mongering. Gender transition surgery is exceedingly rare, with most care for trans youth consisting of changing pronouns, adopting new names and hormone blockers to delay puberty. The Texas Legislature banned hormone blockers for minors last session.
Still, Republicans have leaned into the attacks. The NRCC said it was the top polling issue to convert voters from Gonzalez to Flores, performing better than issues related to the border or the economy.
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/20/south-texas-ad-election-2024-conspiracy-theorist/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Less than thirty minutes after he launched a wide-ranging tirade aimed at HBO's Bill Maher, MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, columnist Bret Stephens and the New York Times, Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account announcing yet another offer to his fans that will put money in his pocket.
The former president's Saturday morning kicked off with the embattled former president snarling at Maher and complaining, that he's "having a hard time coping with TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. He is a befuddled mess, sloppy and tired, and every conversation, with B and C list guests, seems to start with, or revert back to, ME! "
After a brief off-ramp to write, "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump then posted his video and announced the latest in his long line of cash grabs that have run the gamut from bibles to shoes to trading cards and now silver commemorative coins "designed" by him that will sell for $100.
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
Accompanying the video, he wrote, "Good morning everyone—I have something incredible to share today, as we are introducing the launch of our Official Trump Coins! The ONLY OFFICIAL coin designed by me—and proudly minted here in the U.S.A. The President Donald J. Trump First Edition Silver Medallion will be available starting Wednesday, 9/25/24, EXCLUSIVELY at realtrumpcoins.com/."
You can see the video below via X:
Early Saturday morning, Donald Trump went on a wild scattershot rant that began with him attacking HBO "Real Time" host Bill Maher and then spread to MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and columnist Bret Stephens.
Hours after the three appeared on Real Time late Friday night, the former president took to his Truth Social platform to lash out at them before complaining they were talking about him.
"The ratings challenged Bill Maher, on his increasingly boring show on HBO, is really having a hard time coping with TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. He is a befuddled mess, sloppy and tired, and every conversation, with B and C list guests, seems to start with, or revert back to, ME! This week he had 'dumb as a rock' bimbo Stephanie Ruhle, from MSDNC, on the show, along with a Trump hating loser, Bret Stephens, who seemed totally confused and unsure of himself, very much like Maher himself," he wrote.
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
He then went off in a different direction, writing, "Steven’s (sic) should find himself another line of work because I am driving the FAILING New York Times absolutely crazy, and it is very hard, perhaps impossible, for a writer to write well of me without suffering the wrath of the degenerate editors who, with a push from the top, have gone insane."
"They apologized to their readers in 2016 for their complete and total MISS, and they’ll do it again in November. The FAILING New York Times is a badly run “newspaper” that has totally lost its way. Put it to sleep!" he added.
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma historian being sued for defamation by a Pennsylvania state lawmaker is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that the legislator is trying to curtail free speech rights.
James Gregory Jr., a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oklahoma, is being sued by Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, (R-Franklin), for defamation after Gregory criticized Mastriano’s academic research and raised concerns about its integrity.
Mastriano sued Gregory and nearly two dozen other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in May, but the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Thursday. The organization, which advocates for free speech and free thought rights, is representing Gregory.
“The First Amendment means all Americans have the right to criticize public officials, no matter how angry that criticism makes them,” said Greg Greubel, FIRE senior attorney, in a statement. “Politicians should be concerned about legislating for the people, not suing critics when their feelings get hurt.”
The lawsuit alleges that Mastriano is “the victim of a multi-year racketeering and antitrust enterprise” that seeks to steal, use and “debunk his work” that is worth at least $10 million in “tourism-related events, validated museum artifacts, book, media, television and movie deals.”
Mastriano is a decorated military veteran and a well-respected academic, who has published three books, two multinational studies and over 30 articles on “historic, military or strategic matters,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Mastriano alleges a conspiracy to try to “steal” his Ph.D. in U.S. military history, his book sales, lucrative speaking engagements and other professional opportunities.
The lawsuit alleges that Gregory began to attempt to debunk Mastriano’s archeological research in 2019 and claimed the work was a “fraud.” The complaint prompted an investigation into Mastriano. Gregory, meanwhile, released his own book entitled “Unraveling The Myth of Sgt. York: The Other Sixteen.”
Mastriano and his Tulsa-based attorney did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
According to Gregory’s motion to dismiss, Gregory first read Mastriano’s published work on World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York while he was an undergraduate student at OU.
Gregory reported over 200 concerns of academic fraud and inaccuracies to the University of New Brunswick in Canada, where Mastriano earned his Ph.D., in 2022, according to the lawsuit. Gregory said he had no knowledge of Mastriano’s political ambitions at the time and was simply doing his duty as a historian “to seek out the truth and correct the record.”
The motion to dismiss the case against Gregory argues that criticizing the work of a fellow historian is not defamation or racketeering and that the First Amendment and Oklahoma law are meant to protect Gregory’s right to question a public official’s scholarship.
“Historians arrive at the truth by debating ideas, inviting skepticism, and challenging assumptions and sources,” Gregory said in a statement. “By trying to silence that debate, Mastriano is literally on the wrong side of history — and history will prevail.”
In a statement, FIRE said Mastriano’s lawsuit is “intended to chill speech by forcing the speaker to defend themself against costly and time-consuming litigation.”
The group argues that the defamation claim should be dismissed in part because of Oklahoma’s Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or anti-SLAPP, law and because public debate among historians is not a violation of antitrust law.
FIRE said the Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act, passed in 2014 allows quick dismissals of lawsuits targeting free speech and holds the plaintiff responsible for paying the defendant’s legal fees.
“James’ plight is a perfect example of why robust anti-SLAPP protections are vital to expressive freedom,” Greubel said in a statement. “Otherwise, the First Amendment is nothing more than a luxury for those who can afford to fight off an expensive lawsuit.”
Gregory is also the director of the William A. Brookshire Military Museum at Louisiana State University and an adjunct at that university, FIRE said.
Mastriano went on to run for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. He was not elected. In his lawsuit he alleges that Gregory’s criticisms of his scholarship led to Pennsylvanians deciding not to vote for him.
FIRE’s motion to dismiss argues Mastriano’s lawsuit should be thrown out as he failed to act within the one year statute of limitations, which would have expired in April, as required by Oklahoma law for defamation claims, among other rebuttals of the lawsuit.
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend" early Saturday, former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen couldn't control his glee talking about the declining value of Trump Media & Technology Group stock at the same time when the stock market is booming.
With co-host Alicia Menendez calling the former president an "economic genius" with tongue in cheek, Cohen took the jibe and ran with it, telling the panel, "And yet, we have all turned around and seen the number of bankruptcies, we have seen the number of failed business ventures."
"During the greatest boom in the U.S. economy, his own stock, the Trump Media that has that untrue social [Truth Social] platform, is down like 68, 70 percent from its high," he pointed out with a smirk. "Everything else is sort of rising up with your 401(k), but not if you are an investor in the Trump Media stock..
ALSO READ: The simple yet powerful way Tim Walz just exposed Donald Trump
"And yet, yet, we've got to ask Princeton [professor Eddie Glaude] what his position is," he added. "I don't have an answer as to how he is managed to fool so many people day in and day out — that was a part of my job."
Watch below or at the link.
- YouTube youtu.be
Conservatives hoping prosecutors will throw the book at the man who was allegedly planning to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida last week may end up being disappointed with the prosecution proceedings, in large part because of the conservative pro-gun Supreme Court.
According to a report from Politico, Ryan Routh has been charged with a violation of a federal ban on people with prior felony convictions owning firearms but there are those on pro-Second Amendment side who believe that ban doesn't pass constitutional muster.
As Politico's Samantha Latson wrote, "The issue has sown confusion in lower courts, and legal experts say it may soon need to be resolved by the Supreme Court."
ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain
According to UCLA law professor Adam Winkler, "This kind of split among the federal courts is one of the biggest predictors of whether the Supreme Court will step into a controversy."
As the report notes, since the conservative Supreme Court made its pro-gun ruling in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case, prosecutors are still feeling their way through a changed weapon law landscape left open by the court.
According to the Politico report, "Routh’s felony record includes a 2002 North Carolina conviction for possessing a 'weapon of mass destruction' after he was found with a fully automatic machine gun. He was also convicted in 2010 in North Carolina of possessing stolen goods, authorities say. Those previous convictions mean that Routh is covered by the federal felon-in-possession ban, which carries a 15-year maximum prison sentence. But in recent years, courts have tussled over the continued validity of the ban."
As Andrew Willinger, the executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, explained, "If you look back at the founding era, the 1800s, you’re not going to find laws from that time that prohibited felons from possessing firearms. This is a relatively recent innovation when we talk about the specific law, the specific strategy of saying that anybody convicted of a serious offense of a certain type is prohibited from having guns for life.”a
The report adds, "No federal appeals court has fully struck down the felon-in-possession ban or declared that it cannot be applied to people with prior violent felony convictions. But the conflict in the lower courts over its valid scope — and how to apply the Bruen test — suggests that it’s 'only a matter of time' before the Supreme Court steps in to clarify the issue, according to Winkler."
You can read more here.
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