On Saturday, Axios reported that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) continues to take a defiant stance as the scandal-plagued congressman begins his "America First" tour with far-right conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

"I'm a marked man in Congress. I'm a canceled man in some corners of the Internet. I might be a wanted man by the deep state. But I am a Florida man, and it is good to be home," said Gaetz at the first of his rallies. "Today, we send a strong message to the weak establishment in both parties: America First isn't going away. We're going on tour."

Gaetz, a prominent member of the congressional pro-Trump wing, is under federal investigation as part of a child trafficking probe, facing allegations that he and indicted former Florida county tax official Joel Greenberg paid a 17-year-old girl to travel over state lines for sex — something Greenberg has implicated Gaetz in in a confession letter while cooperating with authorities. Also part of the investigation is whether Gaetz used drugs or campaign cash to facilitate these transactions. Gaetz has not currently been charged with any federal crime, and denies any wrongdoing.

Despite the support from Greene, the Republican Party has done little to circle the wagons around him, often dodging questions about the matter entirely.

On Saturday, the Atlanta Black Star reported on an incident in Central Park, in which a white woman called 9-1-1 on a pair of Black video bloggers for claiming that a cell phone charger she was holding was not theirs. During the exchange, she openly admitted to being racist.

"The incident unfolded at New York's Central Park when TikToker Alana Lambert and another friend were vlogging their day at the park," reported Atahabih Germain. "In the clip, Lambert could be heard explaining that her portable charger fell from her friend's CitiBike as they were recording. The woman picked it up and refused to return it without the girls proving it belonged to them."

"Lambert and her friend follow the woman in an attempt to retrieve the charger. Lambert's friend asks her: 'Do you have video [of the charger]?' to which she replies, 'I definitely have video with it on, but she's not going to give it back even if I show her,'" said the report. "She then tells the camera: 'This lady just stole my charger and won't give it back.' She added, 'She's saying that I have to prove it's mine, and she's calling the cops on me right now.'" The woman can be heard telling the 9-1-1 dispatchers that the other two are "touching," "threatening," and "beating" her — although none of this occurs on the video and she is conspicuously injury-free.

"The white woman continues to try to get away as she tells the ladies that they are liars and have to prove the charger is theirs," continued the report. "A short while afterward, Lambert asks the woman if she's racist, to which she responds, 'Yes, I am.' She added, 'I pick my race over any race. What's your problem?'"

This incident comes a year after another nationally publicized racial confrontation in Central Park, in which an investment firm employee named Amy Cooper called the police on a Black jogger for asking her to keep her dog on a leash.

Watch below:

On Saturday, the Miami Herald reported that a Miami-Dade sergeant who ranks high in the local police union has been arrested on rape charges.

"Lt. John Jenkins , who last week resigned as as executive vice president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, is charged with two counts of sexual battery, according to Palm Beach Sheriff's jail booking log. An arrest report detailing what happened was not immediately available," reported David Ovalle and Charles Rabin. "Jenkins is also suspended with pay."

Jenkins resigned last week from his PBA position amid an investigation into the incident.

"The rape case stems from an alleged incident that took place two weeks while he was in Palm Beach Gardens for a police union gala," continued the report. "The website for the Palm Beach County PBA shows that the 'Black-tie optional' 13th Annual PBA Officer's Ball was sold out at Trump National Jupiter Golf Club on April 24. Tickets for the event ran from $200 to $10,000, with lieutenants shelling out $2,500 a piece for a four-seat table. The three-day event, which included golf and dinners, took place at two locations. The alleged incident, according to the South Florida PBA, did not take place on the Trump property."

This case comes after recent reporting that another police union in Boston shielded a leader who allegedly sexually assaulted multiple children.

You can watch the WSVN video below:

Miami-Dade Police lieutenant suspended amid PBSO probe youtu.be

On Saturday, Business Insider profiled the ways that former President Donald Trump's banishment from social media has affected the viability of his message on the national stage — and the halfhearted way he is trying to make up for what he has lost.

"Former President Donald Trump's new 'communication platform' launched this week was widely mocked as little more than a 'glorified blog,'" reported Thomas Colson. "The site — revealed on Tuesday — followed Trump's longtime adviser Jason Miller promising that Trump would soon create a social media platform that would 'completely redefine the game' on social media."

"'A challenge for Trump is that the most effective online engagement requires interaction,' Peter Loge, associate professor school of media and public affairs at the George Washington University, told Insider," continued the report. "'Fans want to feel as if they have a relationship with their favorite celebrity. These 'parasocial relationships' are what keep fans coming back and buying more stuff,' he said. 'At this point, Trump is just shouting into the void. He isn't letting anyone shout back.'"

This week, Facebook's independent oversight board, commonly referred to as the social network's "Supreme Court," upheld the former president's ban from the platform following his conspiracy theories that contributed to the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol. However, the board also urged Facebook to create more workable standards for issuing such bans, and revisit the Trump case in six months.

Following Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's misinformation-ridden vaccine comments on the radio, CNN published a lengthy fact-check taking down all of the false claims he made.

"Johnson ... said he was 'sticking up for people who choose not to get vaccinated,'" reported Holmes Lybrand and Tara Subramaniam. "In Thursday's interview with conservative radio host Vicki McKenna, Johnson suggested there have been thousands of deaths connected to Covid-19 vaccinations and that receiving a vaccine could be particularly dangerous for those who had previously been infected."

"To defend his position and call into question the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, Johnson cited numbers from the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which allows anyone to submit a report. Johnson said that according to the system, 'we're over 3000 deaths after within 30 days of taking the vaccine,' suggesting these deaths were tied to Covid-19 vaccines." This has become a common talking point, with Fox News' Tucker Carlson making similar claims. But the CDC has consistently warned not to conflate VAERS reports with actual cases of vaccine injury, as the events submitted to it are not verified.

Last year, Johnson was one of several GOP senators who had to go into quarantine after he tested positive for COVID-19 — and another false claim he made during the interview was that people who have already had the virus, like himself, are at elevated risk of vaccine injury: "I'm talking to doctors who have, since day one, been concerned about vaccinating people who've already had Covid, because you die, not of Covid, you die of the immune system overreaction to Covid. So there's a concern there."

"This is wrong. The vaccines currently being administered in the US are considered safe and recommended even for individuals who were previously infected with Covid-19," noted the report. "Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center, told CNN he was 'not aware of any data to support Senator Johnson's allegation.'"

You can read more here.

On Thursday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson doubled down on baseless fearmongering about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines — and went on to blame President Joe Biden for it.

"More deaths have been connected to the new COVID vaccines over the past 4 months than to all previous vaccines combined," said Carlson. In fact, this isn't true — he is just citing the number of events reported to VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. But VAERS is not actually a database of vaccine injuries; it's only a list of medical events reported as happening after a vaccine was administered, with no verification that the vaccine caused the event or even that the event was real. One doctor even submitted a report to VAERS in 2004 that a flu shot turned him into the Incredible Hulk.

But Carlson didn't stop there. He also acknowledged that not every event in VAERS may be real, but blamed Joe Biden for the database's inaccuracy — even though VAERS has always been set up this way and was never intended to be an accurate list of actual vaccine injuries.

"Why hasn't the Biden administration fixed its reporting system?" demanded Carlson. "You'd think that would be important."

Carlson was fact-checked by Aaron Blake of The Washington Post.

On Thursday, CNN aired a report of Gary Tuchman traveling to Wyoming to speak with voters about Rep. Liz Cheney's falling out with the Republican Party — and found a number of voters who fully bought into former President Donald Trump's "big lie" about the election being stolen, and want Cheney out for standing up to it.

One woman, in particular, enthusiastically embraced Trump's conspiracy theories — even when confronted with the fact that no evidence exists to support it.

"I think she needs to go," said the woman as Tuchman interviewed her from out of her car window. "Just because I don't think she did the right thing for the Republican Party."

"She says that Donald Trump is lying about the election being stolen," said Tuchman.

"I agree," she replied. "I agree that the election was stolen."

"There's no evidence of it," Tuchman reminded her.

"Well, eventually it might come out," she replied stubbornly.

Watch below:

Gary Tuchman confronts Wyoming Trump supporter about Big Lie www.youtube.com

On Thursday, by a vote of 7 to 4, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the conviction of former Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) and ordered a new trial to take place.

The court ruled that a district judge overstepped his boundaries by removing a juror who claimed to have been informed of Brown's innocence by divine intervention.

Brown, who represented the Jacksonville area in Congress, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2017 after being convicted of fraud and tax crimes, including raising $800,000 for a fake charity. Also convicted were her former chief of staff and the manager of the charity.

California Republicans got their wish: barring a freak development, they have the signatures to trigger a recall election against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom this year, setting off an expensive election just a year before he stands for a second term.

The only problem: they have no credible plan to beat a relatively popular Democratic governor in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by two to one in registrations. And according to The Washington Post, some Republicans are now reduced to hoping that Newsom faces a massive wildfire season and bungles it, to drive down his popularity.

'Republican optimism about the recall has focused less on what's happening than on what could, with months left for Newsom to make blunders or look outmatched by the state's fire season," reported Dave Weigel. "But the first week of the recall campaign has been encouraging to Democrats."

The GOP had originally been planning to run on public resentment towards California's rigorous anti-COVID lockdowns. The problem is, these lockdowns have worked — California's COVID cases have fallen sharply — and with the state scheduled to mostly re-open on June 15 if certain conditions are met, the lockdowns could be a distant memory when the recall actually takes place.

According to the report, Republicans have also already blown through most of the $5.45 million they raised for the recall, and they have few credible challengers to Newsom. Among them is John Cox, a failed 2018 candidate who has been campaigning with a 1,000-pound bear, and former Olympian and transgender icon Caitlyn Jenner, whose campaign has been met with widespread derision as she ties her tongue in knots on policy.

Recent polls have suggested Republicans are not winning the votes they need to approve the recall.

On Thursday, The Sacramento Bee reported that the Federal Aviation Administration is set to impose steep fines on four anti-mask passengers who caused a scene on various flights, totaling $67,000 between all of them

"The Federal Aviation Administration under the U.S. Department of Transportation is planning to fine the individuals between $9,000 and $32,750 for incidents that occurred from Dec. 22 to Feb. 7, the agency said in a news release Wednesday. Those passengers, who are not named, will have 30 days to respond after receiving the enforcement letter," reported Hayley Fowler. "'The FAA has proposed fines between $9K and $33K against four passengers for allegedly interfering with and, in two cases, assaulting flight attendants,' the agency said in a tweet. 'We have zero tolerance for unruly or dangerous behavior. Our fines can reach up to $35K.'"

One individual passenger is facing a fine of $32,750. "Officials said the incident occurred Feb. 7 on a JetBlue flight from the Dominican Republic to New York," said the report. "The passenger is accused of not wearing a face mask, throwing an empty bottle of alcohol and food in the air and shouting at crew members. She also 'grabbed a flight attendant's arm, causing her pain" and "struck the arm of another flight attendant twice and scratched his hand,' the agency said. The flight was ultimately diverted back to the Dominican Republic, according to the FAA."

Airlines have referred roughly 1,300 "unruly" passengers to the FAA since February, according to Reuters, many of whom became belligerent because they were ordered to comply with COVID-19 mask mandates. Even some politicians have gotten into trouble on flights; one Alaska state senator was banned from Alaska Airlines after repeatedly refusing to comply with what she deemed "mask tyranny."

On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Brian Kolfage, the partner of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on the infamous "We Build the Wall" fundraiser, has been indicted on a new set of tax charges.

"Kolfage, a disabled Air Force veteran, was indicted in Pensacola, Florida, this week for filing a false tax return and fraud. Federal prosecutors said that Kolfage received hundreds of thousands of dollars from different organizations, including We Build the Wall Inc., which he deposited in his personal bank account," reported David Voreacos. "'We will investigate and prosecute those who falsely misrepresent their income -- whether by traditional evasion or failing to disclose charitable contributions diverted to their personal gain,' Jason Coody, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, said Thursday in a statement."

Kolfage, and Bannon himself, were originally indicted in a federal fraud case surrounding We Build the Wall, which promised to put contributors' money into a private effort to construct a wall on the Mexican border for former President Donald Trump, only for the two of them to allegedly divert hundreds of thousands of dollars for personal use.

One of Trump's last official acts as president was to issue a pardon for Bannon, who is not charged in the new tax case. But Bannon is still facing criminal investigation by the state of New York, over residents there that may have been defrauded in the scheme.

Kolfage denies wrongdoing in the We Build the Wall scheme and has pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday, The New York Times quoted Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the GOP's leading contender to take over as chair of the House Republican Conference, calling former President Donald Trump "the strongest supporter" of the Constitution.

This did not sit well with former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), who took to Twitter to let loose an expletive-laden response.

Walsh, who served one term in Congress as a staunch conservative lawmaker, turned into one of Trump's fiercest critics from the right, supporting the impeachment proceedings and even briefly running against him for the Republican nomination.

Stefanik is being positioned to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) who has been one of the most strident voices in the party seeking to hold Trump accountable for promoting lies and conspiracy theories about the presidential election.

Former President Donald Trump was infamous for his cruelty and hostility to immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from around the world. He slashed refugee admissions to their lowest levels in decades, and justified it with a simple message: "Our country is full."

But according to Vox, a new trove of data from the Census Bureau lays this bare as a lie. Not only is America not "full," its population growth is in catastrophic slowdown — and dependent on immigration to maintain its society and government in its current form.

"Economists broadly agree that population growth fuels economic growth in wealthy countries," wrote Nicole Narea. "But the recently released census figures show the US population grew by just 7.4 percent, or 331.5 million people, between 2010 and 2020 — the lowest rate since the 1930s. Projections suggest that, unless current trends change, those numbers could continue to diminish dramatically over the next two to three decades, with the population growing by just 78 million by 2060."

"Some parts of the US are already beginning to experience some of the downsides of population slowdown or decline: Shrinking tax bases in rural areas have made it harder for government budgets to support essential services, such as infrastructure and public schools," said the report. "As population growth slows, the pressure for cuts will likely grow. Meanwhile, the existing population will continue to age; by 2030, the Census Bureau estimates that one in five US residents will be of retirement age."

According to experts, noted the report, the U.S. will need to drastically increase immigration to change these trends — perhaps by up to a third.

"These kinds of increases in new, legal immigration can be used in tandem with programs to legalize the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in the US," said the report. "Researchers from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that the provisions in Biden's comprehensive immigration reform proposal granting legal status to undocumented immigrants would increase the size of the US population by more than 4 percent by 2050. That's because it would decrease their likelihood of emigrating and increase their birthrates."

All of which is a stark contrast with Trump's insistence that America was already "full."

You can read more here.

On CNN Thursday, former Ted Cruz staffer Amanda Carpenter, a conservative critic of the GOP under former President Donald Trump, clashed with Republican strategist Alice Stewart over the GOP's effort to purge Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from House leadership for her defiance of the former president's election conspiracy theories.

"The conference deserves someone who is going to unite the conference and help them win back the House in 2022," insisted Stewart.

"This is the dumb, stupid, tribalism that got us into this mess," said Carpenter. "The dumb, stupid tribalism where people can say, I will support Donald Trump no matter what because red team, yeah, blue team, bad. I mean, this is why we have to break this up. And Liz Cheney is not going to sacrifice an ounce of her conservative policy beliefs because she knows how to put country first. National security, democracy, our institutions are what unite us as a country, as Americans. Not getting behind a big lie and covering up for an insurrection because we wear a red hat."

"I've said this from election night on. The election was free and fair," said Stewart. "And when Donald Trump lost and Joe Biden won, he is the free and fair winner. I applauded him. I support him. He is our president of the United States. Why more Republicans don't acknowledge that, I don't know. But what is big and dumb and stupid, Amanda, is for republicans to go back and continue to relitigate the past instead of unite ... the midterm elections need to be about policy and not the past."

"I think protecting our institutions is a policy," said Carpenter. "I think when it comes to telling lies where people get into the voting booth, that's a policy. I think when people rant back voting rights based on big lies, that's a policy. And I don't agree with those policies. Maybe you do."

Watch below:

Amanda Carpenter and Alice Stewart square off on the future of the GOP www.youtube.com

On Thursday, CNN analyst John Avlon tore into the GOP for moving to elevate Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in place of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) — which he framed as the ultimate triumph of personality cultism over actual conservative principles.

"The divisions inside the Republican Party used to be about ideology," said Avlon. "That's not what's at work here, because Liz Cheney is far more conservative than Elise Stefanik by every policy measure. Cheney voted with Trump almost 93 percent of the time; Stefanik, around 78. Cheney has a 78 percent rating from the American Conservative Union, while Stefanik is just under 44 percent. And they fired off a tweet saying Stefanik has the fourth worst fiscal conservative record among House Republicans. So this isn't about ideology. It's about a cult of personality in a party consumed by fear, and it can cause opportunistic people to shed their principles like a snake's old skin."

"When it came time to vote to overturn the election after the attack on the Capitol, Stefanik was a willing soldier in the Sedition Caucus," said Avlon. "Another Ivy League populist who attacks democracy and then complains when she's called out. Now she sees an opportunity to ride the big lie to more power. Her re-election slogan might as well be 'liars prosper.'"

He continued: "Liz Cheney has chosen a different path, writing, 'History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and democratic process. I'm committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be.' That's a declaration of conscience for our times. A reminder that our political differences don't matter much compared to whether we defend the truth and democracy itself."

Watch below:

John Avlon on the GOP's coming replacement of Liz Cheney with Elise Stefanik www.youtube.com