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‘It’s scary’: Dem candidate speaks out after Trump admin’s ‘surreal’ prosecution of her
Progressive Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh spoke out against President Donald Trump's administration for prosecuting her after she participated in a protest against an immigration raid in her home state of Illinois.
The indictment, which was filed on Oct. 23, accuses Abughazaleh of one count of conspiracy and one count of forcibly impeding an officer. Abughazaleh told NBC News that she plans to self-surrender to authorities next Wednesday and described the incident as "political prosecution."
Abughazaleh joined Jon Lovett, a former Obama administration staffer, on a new episode of the "Pod Save America" podcast on Thursday, and further discussed the prosecution.
"It's scary. It's surreal, and it's also totally expected," she said. "This is what this administration does. They go after people who disagree with them, and this case is an attempt to criminalize protest, to criminalize freedom of speech, and to criminalize freedom of association."
"This is what authoritarians do," she added. "They try to find any excuse to punish their political enemies, to punish populations they deem as enemies. We've seen that a lot in how ICE is functioning."
Abughazaleh noted that the Trump administration has admitted to catching very few criminals during its immigration raids. She suggested that reveals something more sinister about the raids.
"That is one of the best examples to show that this has never been about crime," she said. "This has never even been about immigration. This is about securing and cementing power for the Trump administration."
Ex-GOP spokesperson rails that red states are suffering due to Trump’s cuts
Former Republican Tim Miller, who hosts a podcast for the conservative anti-Trump news outlet The Bulwark, discussed with MSNBC host and former Republican Nicolle Wallace that the GOP is stiffing its own voters with slashes to food stamp benefits.
"I know food stamps is like a 90s era right-wing racist smear, but SNAP, which is sort of the new EBT — this is food assistance. [It] knows no partisan affiliation. If anything, it disproportionately benefits households in Trump voting counties and districts," said Wallace. "And it feeds a whole lot of kids who don't have any responsibility for any of the political decisions that adults make."
Miller noted that the GOP's rhetoric has clearly shifted from the days of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Mitt Romney (R-UT).
"But the policies are harmful to them. And this ... the expiration of SNAP — or the fact that they're not going to continue funding SNAP during this shutdown, beginning this weekend, I think is the most acute example of this, where, you know, if the party had fully switched to being a multiracial, multiethnic, working class party like they pay lip service to, this would be an emergency right now," said Miller.
The situation would involve Republican lawmakers fearful "our own voters are literally going to go hungry beginning this weekend. You know, we need to serve to service them. And meanwhile, Donald Trump's in China or in Korea getting a, you know, Burger King happy meal crown from the head of South Korea. And Congress isn't even in session, right? Like they're not doing anything."
He called it a catastrophe and a tragedy if the problem isn't fixed in the coming days.
"But it's also a very stark demonstration of just how this kind of MAGA populism is a lot of lip service and not a lot of action," Miller continued. "And you're seeing it in real time also in the states where, you know, in Colorado, Jared Polis and some other states, governors, mostly Democratic governors, are working to try to patch this right now. And in some of the red states, it's not going to get patched."
Ex-ally says Trump’s NATO letter sends dangerous “I got your back” signal to Putin
Ex-Trump associate Lev Parnas warned that Donald Trump’s recent NATO letter amounts to a dangerous signal to Vladimir Putin. In a weekend essay, Parnas argued Trump’s demand that NATO impose massive tariffs on China until the Ukraine war ends reads less like foreign policy and more like a real estate shakedown. He claimed Trump is echoing Kremlin talking points by calling it “Biden’s and Zelenskyy’s war” and using inflated casualty numbers. According to Parnas, the letter proves Trump isn’t serious about NATO or democracy, but about leverage—sending Putin the message: “I got your back.”
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Ex-ally says Trump’s NATO letter sends dangerous “I got your back” signal to Putin roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms
‘Couldn’t muster a word!’ MAGA melts down as Charlie Kirk snubbed at the Emmys
MAGA is criticizing the Emmys for snubbing Charlie Kirk, a conservative podcast host and Turning Point USA founder, who was shot and killed last week during a speaking event at a Utah university.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Monday attacked Hollywood and reshared a Hollywood Reporter article, apparently upset over how Kirk was not mentioned during the award show acceptance speeches Sunday night, Politico reports.
“Hollywood claims they’re all about free speech,” Cruz wrote on social media. “And yet not even ONE of them could muster a word about @charliekirk11 being assassinated because of his speech.”
Cruz turned his attention to Hannah Einbinder, who won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and declared, “F--- ICE and free Palestine!”
The event mainly dodged politics and avoided Kirk's name, Politico reports.
And MAGA wasn't happy.
“The Emmys made ZERO reference to Charlie Kirk who was assassinated... This is the Hollywood left,” a user on X with more than 36,000 followers wrote.
Another conservative voice on X called Hollywood "evil" and "a joke," saying "it ignored a political voice with a major media presence who was gunned down just 5 days earlier."
"Charlie Kirk lost his life debating in the open for all to see and challenge. These clowns get paid millions to tell partisan “jokes” to their partisan audiences while losing money for their employers," a Salem Radio network affiliate posted on X, calling the show "insulting."
Cruz and other MAGA lawmakers have criticized people who have spoken out against Kirk's rhetoric, even calling for the firing of people who spoke out against right-wing extremism.
‘Something dark might be coming’: Senator issues ominous Trump warning after Kirk killing
A Democratic US senator over the weekend issued an ominous warning about Republicans using the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to clamp down on political speech.
In a lengthy social media post on Sunday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) outlined how President Donald Trump and his allies look set to wage a campaign of retribution against political adversaries by framing them as accomplices in Kirk’s murder.
“Pay attention,” he began. “Something dark might be coming. The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.”
Murphy then contrasted the recent statements by Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who accurately stated that political violence is not confined to a single political ideology, with those of Trump and his allies, who have said such violence is only a problem on the left.
Murphy highlighted a statement from Trump ally and informal adviser Laura Loomer, who said that she wanted “Trump to be the ‘dictator’ the left thinks he is” and that she wanted “the right to be as devoted to locking up and silencing our violent political enemies as they pretend we are.”
He then pointed to Trump, saying that progressive billionaire financier George Soros should face racketeering charges even though there is no evidence linking Soros to Kirk’s murder or any other kind of political violence.
“The Trump/Loomer/Miller narrative that Dems are cheering Kirk’s murder or that left groups are fomenting violence is also made up,” he added. “There are always going to be online trolls, but Dem leaders are united (as opposed to Trump who continues to cheer the January 6 violence).”
Murphy claimed that the president and his allies have long been seeking a “pretext to destroy their opposition” and that Kirk’s murder gave them an opening.
“That’s why it was so important for Trump sycophants to take over the DoJ and FBI, so that if a pretext arose, Trump could orchestrate a dizzying campaign to shut down political opposition groups and lock up or harass its leaders,” he said. “This is what could be coming—now.”
Early in his second term, the president fired FBI prosecutors who were involved in an earlier political violence case—the prosecution of people involved in the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 by Trump supporters who aimed to stop the certification of the 2020 election.
A top ethics official and a lawyer who spoke out against the president’s anti-immigration policy are among those who have been fired from the DOJ.
Murphy ended his post with a call for action from supporters.
“I hope I’m wrong. But we need to be prepared if I’m right,” he said. “That means everyone who cares about democracy has to join the fight—right now. Join a mobilization or protest group. Start showing up to actions more. Write a check to a progressive media operation.”
One day after Murphy’s warning, columnist Karen Attiah announced that she had been fired from The Washington Post over social media posts in the wake of Kirk’s death that were critical of his legacy but in no way endorsed or celebrated any form of political violence.
“The Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being ‘unacceptable,’ ‘gross misconduct,’ and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues—charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false,” she explained. “They rushed to fire me without even a conversation. This was not only a hasty overreach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold.”
Attiah only directly referenced Kirk once in her posts and said she had condemned the deadly attack on him “without engaging in excessive, false mourning for a man who routinely attacked Black women as a group, put academics in danger by putting them on watch lists, claimed falsely that Black people were better off in the era of Jim Crow, said that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake, and favorably reviewed a book that called liberals ‘Unhumans.‘”
Trump demands GOP unify against ‘Cryin’ Chuck Schumer’ as shutdown looms
President Donald Trump demanded Republicans support a “clean” government funding extension on Monday afternoon to avert a government shutdown.
In his post to his Truth Social app, Trump said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) were working on a "clean" extension of government funding and demanded Republicans remain united and vote in favor of the continuing resolution to keep the government open.
Trump also painted Democrats as wanting a shutdown and Republicans as wanting the government to stay open.
"Congressional Republicans, including Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson, are working on a short term “CLEAN” extension of Government Funding to stop Cryin’ Chuck Schumer from shutting down the Government," the president wrote.
In times like these, Republicans have to stick TOGETHER to fight back against the Radical Left Democrat demands, and vote 'YES!' on both Votes needed to pass a Clean CR this week out of the House of Representatives."
Trump concluded: "FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION."
A government shutdown is possible if Congress fails to pass a new funding bill or a continuing resolution by midnight on Sept. 30.
The last government shutdown lasted from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019, and was due to fierce disagreements over negotiations for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
White House denies report mocking Stephen Miller over doll rumors as ‘baseless gossip’
Rolling Stone published a scathing report on Stephen Miller that detailed how the Trump aide was widely disliked among his Republican colleagues during the Obama years, to the point that staffers spread rumors mocking him — including claims he liked to play with porcelain dolls. The White House pushed back, calling the allegation “baseless gossip.” The report also revealed Miller’s classmates accused him of dropping friendships over ethnicity, while colleagues branded him an extremist even before his rise under Donald Trump.
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White House denies report mocking Stephen Miller over doll rumors as 'baseless gossip' roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms
‘Whole thing is ridiculous’: Analyst slams ‘pearl clutching’ after Charlie Kirk murder
A liberal analyst slammed the "pearl clutching" she sees in the right-wing media after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered on Wednesday.
Ana Kasparian, co-host of "The Young Turks" podcast, discussed how the right-wing media has responded to Kirk's murder on a new podcast episode on Thursday. She said high-profile media figures on the right seem to be "hyping up a war with the left."
"The pearl clutching from the right is really bothering me, considering the record, the very real existing record, of their calls for violence or their mocking of left-wing figures," Kasparian said. "This whole thing is ridiculous."
Kasparian pointed to examples of conservative politicians downplaying or mocking political violence enacted against Democrats. For instance, she noted that Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) publicly shared disinformation about the attack on Paul Pelosi in 2022.
Higgins has also called for people who "belittle" Kirk to be banned from social media.
Chris Rufo, a prominent conservative writer, posted on X that "the last time the radical Left orchestrated a wave of violence and terror, J. Edgar Hoover shut it all down within a few years."
Kasparian argued that these reactions could
"Rather than taking the temperature down, rather than trying to find a way to ensure that there isn't additional violence, you have a sitting member of Congress talking about the need to permanently censor people on the left for their political speech," she said.
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‘It’s scary’: Dem candidate speaks out after Trump admin’s ‘surreal’ prosecution of her
Progressive Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh spoke out against President Donald Trump's administration for prosecuting her after she participated in a protest against an immigration raid in her home state of Illinois.
The indictment, which was filed on Oct. 23, accuses Abughazaleh of one count of conspiracy and one count of forcibly impeding an officer. Abughazaleh told NBC News that she plans to self-surrender to authorities next Wednesday and described the incident as "political prosecution."
Abughazaleh joined Jon Lovett, a former Obama administration staffer, on a new episode of the "Pod Save America" podcast on Thursday, and further discussed the prosecution.
"It's scary. It's surreal, and it's also totally expected," she said. "This is what this administration does. They go after people who disagree with them, and this case is an attempt to criminalize protest, to criminalize freedom of speech, and to criminalize freedom of association."
"This is what authoritarians do," she added. "They try to find any excuse to punish their political enemies, to punish populations they deem as enemies. We've seen that a lot in how ICE is functioning."
Abughazaleh noted that the Trump administration has admitted to catching very few criminals during its immigration raids. She suggested that reveals something more sinister about the raids.
"That is one of the best examples to show that this has never been about crime," she said. "This has never even been about immigration. This is about securing and cementing power for the Trump administration."
Ex-GOP spokesperson rails that red states are suffering due to Trump’s cuts
Former Republican Tim Miller, who hosts a podcast for the conservative anti-Trump news outlet The Bulwark, discussed with MSNBC host and former Republican Nicolle Wallace that the GOP is stiffing its own voters with slashes to food stamp benefits.
"I know food stamps is like a 90s era right-wing racist smear, but SNAP, which is sort of the new EBT — this is food assistance. [It] knows no partisan affiliation. If anything, it disproportionately benefits households in Trump voting counties and districts," said Wallace. "And it feeds a whole lot of kids who don't have any responsibility for any of the political decisions that adults make."
Miller noted that the GOP's rhetoric has clearly shifted from the days of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Mitt Romney (R-UT).
"But the policies are harmful to them. And this ... the expiration of SNAP — or the fact that they're not going to continue funding SNAP during this shutdown, beginning this weekend, I think is the most acute example of this, where, you know, if the party had fully switched to being a multiracial, multiethnic, working class party like they pay lip service to, this would be an emergency right now," said Miller.
The situation would involve Republican lawmakers fearful "our own voters are literally going to go hungry beginning this weekend. You know, we need to serve to service them. And meanwhile, Donald Trump's in China or in Korea getting a, you know, Burger King happy meal crown from the head of South Korea. And Congress isn't even in session, right? Like they're not doing anything."
He called it a catastrophe and a tragedy if the problem isn't fixed in the coming days.
"But it's also a very stark demonstration of just how this kind of MAGA populism is a lot of lip service and not a lot of action," Miller continued. "And you're seeing it in real time also in the states where, you know, in Colorado, Jared Polis and some other states, governors, mostly Democratic governors, are working to try to patch this right now. And in some of the red states, it's not going to get patched."
ICE sent into frenzy to return longtime Trump golf employee mistakenly deported to Mexico
A longtime former employee at one of President Donald Trump's golf clubs was mistakenly deported to Mexico, The New York Times reported — sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement into a mad scramble to correct the error and bring him home.
"Alejandro Juarez stepped off a plane in Texas and stood on a bridge over the Rio Grande, staring at the same border that he had crossed illegally from Mexico 22 years earlier," reported Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Hamed Aleaziz. "As U.S. immigration officials unshackled restraints bound to his arms and legs, Mr. Juarez, 39, pleaded with them. He told them he was never given a chance to contest his deportation in front of an immigration judge after being detained in New York City five days before."
As it turned out, the Department of Homeland Security had mistakenly put him on a deportation flight instead of sending him to a detention facility in Arizona ahead of his immigration hearing, to which he was entitled.
"Their actions probably violated federal immigration laws, which entitle most immigrants facing deportation to a hearing before a judge — a hearing Mr. Juarez never had," said the report. "ICE officials raced to decipher his whereabouts, exchanging bewildered emails and contacting detention facilities to pinpoint his location, according to internal ICE documents obtained by The New York Times. It is unclear how many other immigrants like Mr. Juarez have been erroneously removed, in part because ICE has not in the past tracked such cases."
Juarez "had worked for more than a decade at a Trump Organization golf club in New York," noted the report, and suddenly found himself expelled from the United States.
Similar administrative mistakes have happened on other occasions, most notably with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from his family in Maryland to the infamous CECOT megaprison in his home country, despite a court order prohibiting his removal there. After months of denying they had jurisdiction to repatriate him, the Trump administration finally did so, but then immediately hit him with flimsy gang charges, and started shopping around for any other country that would accept him, including several in Africa.
