Monthly Archives: July 2019

4chan Trolls Rig Drudge Poll For Marianne Williamson, Right Wing Sites Report That “The Public Has Spoken”

Media Matters reports: Users of the far-right message board 4chan organized to rig a Drudge Report online poll following the July 30 Democratic presidential debate. Multiple right-wing outlets touted the results. 4chan users similarly rigged previous post-debate Drudge polls. After the first night of the CNN debate, users on 4chan’s “/pol/” message board shared the poll and urged others to …

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DC’s National Cathedral Condemns Trump’s Racism As His “Clarion Call To Action” For White Supremacists

Slate reports: Religious leaders at the Washington National Cathedral issued a rare public statement Tuesday in response to President Donald Trump’s divisive, racist taunts and rhetoric, calling on Americans to hold him—and all their leaders—more accountable for their words. “Make no mistake about it, words matter. And, Mr. Trump’s words are dangerous,” the statement reads. “As faith leaders who serve …

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Gun Shop Billboard Targets Progressive Democrats

The Asheville Citizen Times reports: Along U.S. 64 in Murphy, a billboard advertising a gun store mocks “the 4 Horsemen” — freshmen U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhad Oman, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. The “Cherokee Guns” tag at the bottom (it’s a mile ahead on the right) almost seems like an afterthought. The Citizen Times spoke to a man who …

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Kris “Voter Fraud” Kobach Issues 2020 Senate Ad, Says It Was “Propaganda” To Label Him A White Nationalist

The Hill reports: Kansas GOP Senate candidate Kris Kobach blamed his gubernatorial loss last year on “propaganda” and is vowing to take a new approach to his Senate bid. “I’d failed to anticipate just how powerful the propaganda would be,” the former Kansas secretary of State said in a five-minute video released by his campaign. “When someone is called a …

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Trump’s “Socialists” Attack Ad Blankets CNN [VIDEO]

Fortune reports: Donald Trump won’t be on stage for the two nights of the Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, but he’s not missing the opportunity to take shots at the candidates. The president’s re-election campaign is airing a 30-second attack ad that opens with 10 Democrats, including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, raising their hands when asked if …

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Police: White Supremacist Gilroy Shooter Acted Alone

The San Jose Mercury News reports: The man who fired his assault rifle into a crowd at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday likely “pre-planned” the attack that killed three and wounded 12, authorities said, a theory backed by the seizure of body armor and other tactical gear from his Nevada home. Federal and local law enforcement also now believe …

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Fifth House Republican Won’t Seek Reelection In 2020

Politico reports: Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas will not seek reelection in 2020, according to multiple GOP sources, becoming the fifth Republican to announce their retirement over the past two weeks. Conaway, a veteran lawmaker who represents a ruby red district, has a news conference scheduled for Wednesday in Midland, but did not specify a topic. Republican sources, however, are …

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Actor Mario Lopez Faces Backlash For Trans Comments

Newsweek reports: Mario Lopez is being criticized for claiming it’s “dangerous” for parents to support children who identify as transgender. The 45-year-old television personality made his comments in June during an appearance on The Candace Owens Show, a video series on the PragerU YouTube channel, but they sparked blowback on social media this week. Owens compared a child expressing a …

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Marianne Williams Wins New Fans With Debate Zingers

Mediaite reports: While 2020 presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson was widely considered a non-serious candidate going into the DNC’s second round of debates on Tuesday, the self-help author quickly set herself apart from the rest of the Democrats on stage and received huge applause lines for her commentary on issues ranging from “dark psychic forces,” to slavery reparations. After these viral …

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Mayor Pete To Republicans: At The End Of Your Career, You Will Be Judged On Putting Trump Over America

“If you are watching at home and you are a Republican member of Congress, consider the fact that when the sun sets on your career, and they are writing your story, of all the good and bad things you did in your life, the thing you will be remembered for is whether in this moment with this president you found …

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Debate: Bernie And Warren Tag Team The Moderates

The New York Times reports: The leading liberals in the Democratic presidential primary, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, strenuously fought back on Tuesday against accusations of making fanciful promises and imperiling the party’s prospects against President Trump, as a group of moderate underdogs sought to slow their momentum in the second round of debates. On an evening that could …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

New today from our pal Matt Baume: In the last Culture Cruise video, I talked about how the show All in the Family introduced Beverly LaSalle, presenting a female impersonator as being worthy of love and respect at a time when TV tended to depict queer people as mere punch lines. But Beverly was also one of the first queer …

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LIVE VIDEO: CNN’s Democratic Debate Night One

CNN reports: CNN’s two-night presidential debates starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET in Detroit, Michigan. Our live coverage here begins at 7 p.m. ET. The CNN debate brings the Democratic candidates to the battleground state of Michigan, which Trump won in 2016. The lineups for each night were announced July 18 on air during a live, random draw for transparency …

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Newly-Released Audio Tape Reveals Nixon And Reagan Complaining About “Monkeys From African Countries”

The Atlantic reports: The day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States. “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said. “Yeah,” …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Republican Operative Hit With New Felony Charges In 2018 US House Election Fraud Case

The Charlotte Observer reports: A Republican political operative who worked for one-time congressional candidate Mark Harris in Bladen County faces felony charges in connection with the 2018 general election, an indictment revealed Tuesday by the Wake County district attorney shows. Leslie McCrae Dowless was charged with two counts of felony obstruction of justice, perjury, solicitation to commit perjury, conspiracy to …

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Liz Cheney Rages Over Protections For Grizzly Bears

The Hill reports: House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) blasted a U.S. District Court ruling that restored Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears, arguing the decision was based on “excessive litigation by radical environmentalists” instead of data. The Wyoming Republican said she’ll work to remove the protections for the species, adding the bears’ population numbers have made a …

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Trump Promotes Nutbag #QAnon Cultists On Twitter

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Tuesday promoted two Twitter accounts that have shown support for the online conspiracy theory known as QAnon, amplifying the fringe accounts to his millions of followers. The president tagged one user in a tweet about election security and retweeted another blaming Democrats for voter fraud. “We should immediately pass Voter ID @Voteridplease to …

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Text Messages Reveal Trump Aide Gave United Arab Emirates Advance Draft of 2016 Trump Energy Speech

Reuters reports: When candidate Donald Trump prepared to give a major energy speech during the 2016 campaign, one of his closest advisers provided a pre-speech review to senior United Arab Emirates officials, an unorthodox move that caught the attention of federal investigators, according to emails and text messages uncovered by a House Oversight Committee investigation. “The Trump Administration has virtually …

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Trump Insider Pushed Proposal To Evade Restrictions On Selling Nuclear Power Technology To Saudi Arabia

ABC News reports: A longtime Trump insider has been pushing a proposal to build dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia while seeking to avoid restrictions on the transfer of U.S. nuclear technology and has at times stood to profit from the effort, according to an investigative report by the House Oversight Committee. The 50-page report, which relied on …

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Chuck Schumer Dodges On Supporting Impeachment

Politico reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday dodged questions on whether he would support the House beginning a formal inquiry to impeach President Donald Trump. “I believe that … Speaker Pelosi is handling this appropriately,” Schumer told reporters. Schumer’s deference to Pelosi comes after Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, said over the …

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