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‘The bell of stupidity’: Conservative’s Christmas video lampoons Trump’s latest speech
President Donald Trump was supposed to prioritize the economy at a MAGA rally last week — but instead rambled about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and other familiar foes.
In a Christmas-themed video, The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson (a Never Trump conservative former GOP strategist) and journalist Molly Jong-Fast brutally mocked the speech for failing to get the desired economic message across.
Jong-Fast told Wilson, "Let's talk about how positively b----- the whole thing is. It was meant to be a rally on affordability. Here's what was not discussed: affordability. Here's what was discussed: Marjorie Taylor Greene. He calls her Marjorie Traitor Brown."
Wilson, sounding amused, interjected, "And I'm also intrigued by how she's somehow a leftist."
Jong-Fast told the Never Trumper, "It has really been a week for Trump."
Wilson laid out a variety of ways in which Trump and the MAGA movement are having a bad Christmas, from the Epstein files to the economy.
"There is no unringing this bell of stupidity," Wilson told Jong-Fast. "They have f----- it up. They have made a giant mistake."
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Trump Supreme Court battle could be dismantled by Congress members’ own history
New evidence is emerging that could deal a major blow to President Donald Trump's case for stripping birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants.
The president has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore “the original meaning” of the 14th Amendment, which his lawyers argued in a brief meant that “children of temporary visitors and illegal aliens are not U.S. citizens by birth," but new research raises questions about what lawmakers intended the amendment to do, reported the New York Times.
"One important tool has been overlooked in determining the meaning of this amendment: the actions that were taken — and not taken — to challenge the qualifications of members of Congress, who must be citizens, around the time the amendment was ratified," wrote Times correspondent Adam Liptak.
A new study will be published next month in The Georgetown Law Journal Online examining the backgrounds of the 584 members who served in Congress from 1865 to 1871. That research found more than a dozen of them might not have been citizens under Trump’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, but no one challenged their qualifications.
"That is, said Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia and an author of the study, the constitutional equivalent of the dog that did not bark, which provided a crucial clue in a Sherlock Holmes story," Liptak wrote.
The 14th Amendment states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside," while the Constitution requires members of the House of Representatives to have been citizens for at least seven years, and senators for at least nine.
“If there had been an original understanding that tracked the Trump administration’s executive order,” Frost told Liptak, “at least some of these people would have been challenged.”
Only one of the nine challenges filed against a senator's qualifications in the period around the 14th Amendment's ratification involved the citizenship issue related to Trump's interpretation of birthright citizenship, and that case doesn't support his position.
"Several Democratic senators claimed in 1870 that their new colleague from Mississippi, Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first Black man to serve in Congress, had not been a citizen for the required nine years," Liptak wrote. "They reasoned that the 14th Amendment had overturned Dred Scott, the 1857 Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to the descendants of enslaved African Americans, just two years earlier and that therefore he would not be eligible for another seven."
"That argument failed," the correspondent added. "No one thought to challenge any other members on the ground that they were born to parents who were not citizens and who had not, under the law in place at the time, filed a declaration of intent to be naturalized."
"The consensus on the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause has long been that everyone born in the United States automatically becomes a citizen with exceptions for those not subject to its jurisdiction, like diplomats and enemy troops," Liptak added.
Frost's research found there were many members of Congress around the time of the ratification of the 14th Amendment who wouldn't have met Trump's definition of a citizen, and she said that fact undercuts the president's arguments.
“If the executive order reflected the original public meaning, which is what the originalists say is relevant,” Frost said, “then somebody — a member of Congress, the opposing party, the losing candidate, a member of the public who had just listened to the ratification debates on the 14th Amendment, somebody — would have raised this.”
‘Stood our ground’: Trump reportedly threw tantrum over fact-checking by Black journalists
Donald Trump reportedly refused to go onstage at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention if reporters fact-checked him, but he finally gave in following a lengthy delay.
The former president blamed the delay of more than an hour on audio problems, but NABJ president Ken Lemon told Axios that Trump's team asked organizers if the panel of Black journalists, including ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, and Semafor reporter Kadia Goba, would refrain from correcting his false statements.
"[Trump's team] said, 'Well, can you not fact check? He's not going to take the stage if you fact-check,'" Lemon said.
ALSO READ: We asked 10 Republican senators: ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ Things got weird fast.
Lemon confirmed there had been some audio problems that were "resolved very quickly," but he said Trump's holdout grew so lengthy NABJ leaders were prepared to explain to the audience of nearly 2,000 people that the Republican nominee would not appear, after all.
"I was prepared to go on stage to craft a statement, saying he decided not to go on stage because of fact-checking," Lemon said. "We couldn't compromise on that."
Trump eventually gave in and took the stage as Lemon was drafting a statement, and he said the ex-president's team asked NABJ not to post the fact-checks on social media or allow the moderator to disclose there would be fact checking.
"Our whole team stood our ground," Lemon said.
The New York Times previously reported that Trump's team made a last-minute demand about live fact-checking during the event, which his campaign called "straight up fake news."
Trump immediately struck a hostile tone with the panelists after he eventually took the stage, where he questioned vice president Kamala Harris' racial background and quarreled with the reporters, and his team pulled him from the event after a little more than a half hour of questions.
‘My melanin truly ascended’: Internet shares ‘#WhenITurnedBlack’ stories mocking Trump
People are sharing their stories on social media with the hashtag “WhenITurnedBlack” in response to Donald Trump’s contentious interview at an event for Black journalists Wednesday where he questioned Kamala Harris’ racial identity in an attempt to smear his rival in the race for president.
Trump has caught major backlash after insinuating Harris “made a turn and she became a Black person,” at the National Association for Black Journalists Chicago conference before being pulled from the stage by his own campaign team.
On social media, many mocked Trump by sharing their own stories about when they “turned Black.”
“I turned Black when the Spice Girls came out,” wrote podcaster Akilah Hughes. “Suddenly I *was* Scary Spice in every play date. #WhenITurnedBlack.”
Read also: N-word political committee materializes during Trump interview with Black reporters
“I turned Black when I opened a cookie tin and saw barrettes, rollers, and Bobby pins,” wrote @IamRanaTerrell.
“After many hours of practice. I finally memorized Lisa Left Eye Lopez's entire rap break in the TLC hit "Waterfalls" I could see a tear drop from my parents' eyes. It happened,” wrote @LikeAFineWino.
When I realized that the preacher saying “I’m almost finished, I ain’t gone hold y’all all day” meant we had another two hours to go,” wrote @EagleEye1906.
“I transferred to a predominantly white middle school, and one day my less-educated caucasian compatriots asked me to, "Stop speaking hood," because they didn't know words like "convection" (which were on the workesheet,” wrote @n16thekid. “My melanin truly ascended that day!”‘Sick cockroach’: Internet disgusted by Trump’s remark about slain rally-goer’s wife
Donald Trump’s incendiary remarks that Kamala Harris “made a turn and she became a Black person,” took over social media Wednesday, but another odd comment he made later in the day at a campaign rally also raised eyebrows — and drew criticism.
During his campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump relived the moments a would-be assassin’s bullet just nearly missed him while speaking in Butler earlier this month. Trump held a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed during the rally, but not without adding his flavor of commentary.
“But you know? Corey’s wife said, ‘I’d rather have my husband.’ Isn’t that good? I know a lot of wives that would not say that, sorry.” Trump said, garnering laughs from the audience.
The seemingly off-the-cuff remark didn't sit well with critics on the social media app X.
Read also: ‘Weird!’ Mockery online after Trump declares ‘I’m going to sleep with that chart’
“He is horrible. But you know what? So are all those MAGATS who laugh with him,” wrote @SebrinaAlfonso.
“The dead guy is a prop and now a punchline. Cruel,” responded @TnxRodgers.
“What a sick cockroach,” wrote @Chiffonelle29.
“Trump is indeed a sociopath,” wrote @kat8888.”Imagine saying s--- like this while the deceased man’s family is in mourning. Horrifying.”Watch the clip below or at this link.
Trump ‘will get crazier’ as his lead evaporates — and do anything for attention: Buttigieg
Former President Donald Trump is only going to turn up the insanity the more he perceives he's losing his lead in the election, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on MSNBC Wednesday evening.
This comes after Trump held an explosive question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists, where he caused an uproar by proclaiming that Vice President Kamala Harris only recently decided she was Black.
This, warned Buttigieg, is only the beginning.
"When you look at the state of the race today ... what do you think Trump's going to do next?" asked "Deadline: White House" anchor Nicolle Wallace. "Because he's — when he's desperate, and make no mistake, this, for him, candidacy is about staying out of jail. I mean, he's as desperate to win the presidency as Putin is to have him there, because for him, it's about Ukraine. I mean, what would you sort of warn your party and the pro-democracy coalition to be prepared for from Trump?"
Read also: Watch: Pete Buttigieg destroys J.D. Vance in 2 minutes
Buttigieg had a simple response: "I think precisely because it's going so well for Kamala Harris out of the gate, I expect that Trump and his Republican Party will get crazier ... the more she pulls ahead, the more you're going to see I think Trump revert to the only thing he knows how to do when he wants to get attention, which is get more and more outrageous."
For the last several months, Trump has had a small but clear and durable lead in the national contest, with President Joe Biden mired in disapproval over questions about his fitness to run a campaign and serve another term — concerns which came to a head within his own party after a disastrous debate performance in June.
His exit, however, appears to have reset the race, with recent polling showing a close contest and Harris pulling even or ahead in many key battleground states.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Trump loses gag order appeal in hush money case
Donald Trump has lost his appeal to have the gag order imposed in his hush money case lifted, Reuters reported Thursday.
A New York state appeals court ordered the restrictions stay in place until his sentencing, which is scheduled for September 18.
The former president was convicted in May of business fraud charges involving payments made to cover up a sexual tryst he had with an adult movie star.
He argued that the gag, which restricts him from talking about trial prosecutors, court staffers and their families, is preventing him from effectively campaigning in his run to become president.
Restrictions barring him from targeting witnesses and jurors were lifted after his conviction.
Trump was held in contempt of court and fined $10,000 for violating the order during the trial.
‘Y’all got played’: Joy Reid issues 3 reasons Trump attended NABJ in scathing fact-check
MSNBC's Joy Reid issued a blistering fact-check to Donald Trump following the ex-president's Q&A session with Black journalists in Chicago Wednesday.
During the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention in the Windy City, a hostile Trump claimed he was unaware that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is Black, and spewed baseless claims, such as that Harris is a "border czar."
The MSNBC host began the latest episode of The ReidOut by correcting five of the MAGA hopeful's false statements.
READ MORE: 'Full white-power': Trump lawyer blasted for blatant 'racism' during PA rally
"First off, no, Donald. You are not the best president for Black people since Abraham Lincoln," Reid said. Not even close. For instance, you like to claim that you have the lowest black unemployment numbers when, in fact, that happened under President Biden. Second, Vice President Kamala Harris is Black. She's always identified as Black. Her father — also Black.
Trump questions Kamala Harris' race during appearance at a gathering of Black journalists
She continued, "Third, Vice President Harris was not the border czar. There's no such position in the federal government, Donald. President Biden tasked VP Harris to look at the root causes of undocumented mass migration to the United States and to negotiate compacts in central America to slow the flow of migrants, which she did, including with Guatemala. Not to monitor the border. Fourth, Kamala Harris absolutely passed the bar exam. That is how she became the district attorney of San Francisco, and the attorney general in the state of California. And a successful prosecutor. Donald, that is how she will own you in the next debate if you're not too chicken to show up."
"And finally, while we debunked this one multiple times on this show," Reid emphasized, "we must say, yet again, that, no, Democrats do not support the killing of infants after birth. That is called infanticide. It is very, very illegal. A word you know a lot about, Donald, given your 34 count felony conviction, also illegal, having an elective abortion in the ninth month of a pregnancy. Which — just as an idea — is actually insane.
The ReidOut host then directed her attention to NABJ's leadership.
"I also just want to say one quick thing about this invitation," Reid continued. "To the president and board of NABJ: Y'all got played."
READ MORE: 'Absolute dumpster fire': Trump’s interview with Black journalists shocks Fox News pundit
Reid added, "Donald Trump showed up at the convention for exactly three reasons: One, to try to dispel the notion he's scared to debate a Black woman — a presumption one can draw from his refusal to debating VP Harris, who, again, for those in the back, is a Black and Asian woman. It's also why he lost it like a grumpy senior at the retirement home who didn't get his Jell-O dessert when ABC's Rachel Scott challenged him to answer basic questions. And how likely is it that he would have shown up at all the lady from the network that paid 787 million dollars legal settlement wasn't included on the panel."
The second reason, Reid submits, is "to steal the attention that Vice President Kamala Harris has hijacked from him, because she's just more interesting, and her support is more joyous and rooted in popular American culture."
Lastly, Reid emphasized that Trump wants "to create clips to play for his very white, very right-wing MAGA fan base of him standing up to the Blacks."
Watch the video at this link.
READ MORE: 'What exactly is a Black job?' Journalist corners Trump at contentious sit-down
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‘The bell of stupidity’: Conservative’s Christmas video lampoons Trump’s latest speech
President Donald Trump was supposed to prioritize the economy at a MAGA rally last week — but instead rambled about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and other familiar foes.
In a Christmas-themed video, The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson (a Never Trump conservative former GOP strategist) and journalist Molly Jong-Fast brutally mocked the speech for failing to get the desired economic message across.
Jong-Fast told Wilson, "Let's talk about how positively b----- the whole thing is. It was meant to be a rally on affordability. Here's what was not discussed: affordability. Here's what was discussed: Marjorie Taylor Greene. He calls her Marjorie Traitor Brown."
Wilson, sounding amused, interjected, "And I'm also intrigued by how she's somehow a leftist."
Jong-Fast told the Never Trumper, "It has really been a week for Trump."
Wilson laid out a variety of ways in which Trump and the MAGA movement are having a bad Christmas, from the Epstein files to the economy.
"There is no unringing this bell of stupidity," Wilson told Jong-Fast. "They have f----- it up. They have made a giant mistake."
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Trump Supreme Court battle could be dismantled by Congress members’ own history
New evidence is emerging that could deal a major blow to President Donald Trump's case for stripping birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants.
The president has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore “the original meaning” of the 14th Amendment, which his lawyers argued in a brief meant that “children of temporary visitors and illegal aliens are not U.S. citizens by birth," but new research raises questions about what lawmakers intended the amendment to do, reported the New York Times.
"One important tool has been overlooked in determining the meaning of this amendment: the actions that were taken — and not taken — to challenge the qualifications of members of Congress, who must be citizens, around the time the amendment was ratified," wrote Times correspondent Adam Liptak.
A new study will be published next month in The Georgetown Law Journal Online examining the backgrounds of the 584 members who served in Congress from 1865 to 1871. That research found more than a dozen of them might not have been citizens under Trump’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, but no one challenged their qualifications.
"That is, said Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia and an author of the study, the constitutional equivalent of the dog that did not bark, which provided a crucial clue in a Sherlock Holmes story," Liptak wrote.
The 14th Amendment states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside," while the Constitution requires members of the House of Representatives to have been citizens for at least seven years, and senators for at least nine.
“If there had been an original understanding that tracked the Trump administration’s executive order,” Frost told Liptak, “at least some of these people would have been challenged.”
Only one of the nine challenges filed against a senator's qualifications in the period around the 14th Amendment's ratification involved the citizenship issue related to Trump's interpretation of birthright citizenship, and that case doesn't support his position.
"Several Democratic senators claimed in 1870 that their new colleague from Mississippi, Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first Black man to serve in Congress, had not been a citizen for the required nine years," Liptak wrote. "They reasoned that the 14th Amendment had overturned Dred Scott, the 1857 Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to the descendants of enslaved African Americans, just two years earlier and that therefore he would not be eligible for another seven."
"That argument failed," the correspondent added. "No one thought to challenge any other members on the ground that they were born to parents who were not citizens and who had not, under the law in place at the time, filed a declaration of intent to be naturalized."
"The consensus on the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause has long been that everyone born in the United States automatically becomes a citizen with exceptions for those not subject to its jurisdiction, like diplomats and enemy troops," Liptak added.
Frost's research found there were many members of Congress around the time of the ratification of the 14th Amendment who wouldn't have met Trump's definition of a citizen, and she said that fact undercuts the president's arguments.
“If the executive order reflected the original public meaning, which is what the originalists say is relevant,” Frost said, “then somebody — a member of Congress, the opposing party, the losing candidate, a member of the public who had just listened to the ratification debates on the 14th Amendment, somebody — would have raised this.”
