Raw Story

Former Tea Party congressman turned anti-Trump activist Joe Walsh raised the alarm about Project 2025 on CNN Wednesday morning with anchor Sara Sidner.

Project 2025, a policy blueprint crafted by the ultra-right-wing Heritage Foundation with the help of people who previously served in the Trump administration, calls for the total replacement of the federal civil service with an ideological army that will do the GOP's bidding, along with the enshrinement of Christian nationalism in law and the abolition or defunding of a wide range of federal programs, from Social Security and Medicare to military family benefits to public transportation grants.

Trump has lately sought to distance himself from the proposal, but make no mistake, Walsh warned — it's his plan.

"Joe, do you think that this sort of extreme plan ... called Project 2025, it's actually the true blueprint of what Donald Trump wants to do, and he's just trying to soften it ... for the general election?" asked Sidner.

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"Absolutely," said Walsh. "It's a wishlist, but it's a wishlist coming from Donald Trump and the Republican Party."

The Heritage Foundation, Walsh continued, is getting too much credit for its role in all this.

"This is what the Republican Party voters want. Project 2025 is all about ending our democracy and making the president a king and a dictator. If you read all of it, Sara, it's all about strengthening the president, giving the president control, but complete control, over the Justice Department and the FBI, most every aspect of the executive branch, it is utterly un-American.

"But no, this isn't the Heritage Foundation. This is exactly what Donald Trump has promised that he wants."

"He wants to be a dictator, a strongman, a king," he added. "And this is what Republican base voters have said they want."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

The far-right House Freedom Caucus' troubles might only just be getting started.

The infamous group, known for its firebrand politics, suffered an earthquake this week after Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) was booted from membership, quickly followed by the resignation of Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX). But according to Politico's Olivia Beavers, another member, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), thinks more departures could be coming soon.

"The House Freedom Caucus is facing a watershed moment, as several internal clashes risk ripping the group apart," wrote Beavers, noting that some members expect more resignations in protest of the Davidson removal. Speaking to reporters about the possibility of these resignations, Norman said, “I’m sure we’ll have some. We’ve got a lot of issues to address.”

The House GOP's razor-thin majority, earned after a surprising underperformance from expectations in the 2022 midterms, left the Freedom Caucus with an unusually high amount of power over the Republican caucus, as leadership can only afford to lose a small handful of votes on any party-line issue.

Freedom Caucus members played a key role in ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from power last year, even though a majority of the group's members voted against vacating him. Other drama from the group in recent years included the expulsion of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) over concerns about her being too close to House GOP leadership, with whom members routinely clash.

This week's departures come shortly after the group's chair, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), went down in his primary against a Trump-endorsed candidate who was present at the Jan. 6 attack, contributing even further to the chaos within the group.

The Freedom Caucus' continued power is heavily dependent on Republicans retaining control of the House in this year's election, where Democrats have long been thought to have a good chance at reclaiming the majority but whose fortunes may be tied to President Joe Biden's performance at the top of the ticket.

House Democrats met Tuesday to discuss President Joe Biden's candidacy, but one lawmaker wanted to know why the press has spent a second week on that story instead of looking at recently released Florida court documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

"We hear a lot from our constituents on different issues," Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said at the news conference Tuesday. "But something I've heard that doesn't seem to be being covered are the Epstein files."

He explained that Trump is all over the documents with photos of him as well as rape allegations from children. The details have trended on the social media site X under the tag #TrumpPedoFiles.

Read Also: A neuroscientist explains why Trump’s criminal trials will strengthen his support

"And by the way, he was convicted in a civil court for sexual assault and convicted in a state court for 34 felonies. Donald Trump should drop out of the race," said Lieu.

A jury found Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll and awarded her millions, agreeing that Trump defamed her.

In a surprise move, Circuit Judge Luis Delgado ordered the documents be released last week, shortly before the Fourth of July holiday.

"The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape — all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal," the judge wrote.

Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts Joseph Abruzzo worked for the past three years trying to get the records released to the public, The Washington Post reported.

“The public, and the victims specifically, want to know how he was able to get a slap on the wrist and go on for decades, continuing these heinous acts to hundreds, or more, underage girls or women," he said.

Trump called Epstein many times between 2004 and 2006, the Post cited from the documents.

"Former Miami U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta, who later became Donald Trump’s labor secretary, approved a secret agreement in which Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges rather than face federal prosecution," the report also said.

Acosta, who also served as a clerk for Samuel Alito, was forced out of the Trump administration when the deal he gave Epstein was revealed.

Insider's Jacob Shamsian explained that Trump is the likely individual referred to as "Doe 174." It identified the individual as saying, "I wish her well," when referring to Epstein's girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving 20 years in prison for her involvement.

District Judge Hon. Loretta A. Preska weighed the privacy rights of the 200 Does, deciding that 174 had already been reported widely.

"It's easy to see where Trump fits into them," Insider said. "They are all transcripts of depositions from Ransome, Giuffre, and Epstein's Palm Beach housekeeper Juan Alessi, all of whom were asked about Epstein's relationships with celebrities and other powerful people."

Epstein took his own life while in prison in 2019.

See Leiu in the video below or at the link here.

Congressman shames media for ignoring Trump's name in newly released Epstein docs youtu.be

Donald Trump doubled down on his smear campaign against Fox News Tuesday when he accused it of reporting fake polls — then shared a lot of screenshots of tweets as apparent proof.

Trump took to Truth Social to rage against the conservative cable network, and specifically anchor John Roberts, for reporting polls not to his liking on his campaign against President Joe Biden.

"FoxNews will put up Fake Confidential Democrat Polls that were 'leaked' to them," Trump wrote, "but not Rasmussen or any of the REAL polling groups that have me way ahead. What’s up with FOX? I do better with CNN!!!"

Conservative strategist Jake Timmer noted the polling source Rasmussen can be less than reliable.

"If you're looking to divine usable voter sentiment data, you're better off boiling chicken feet in blood and performing voodoo incantations than relying on a Rasmussen poll," he wrote.

Trump claimed "real" polls showed him defeating Biden in November by a landslide.

"FoxNews will never take great polls, from reputable pollsters, where I’m beating Crooked Joe, the worst President in history, by a lot, but will take FAKE confidential Democrat polls, that they leaked to Fox, and go up big with them," Trump wrote. "John Roberts, a real heavyweight, was the 'anchor.' I’ll be releasing REAL POLLS shortly!"

Trump appears to have been triggered by Fox News reporting a poll that found Vice President Kamala Harris could beat him.

Trump then shared five screenshots of tweets.

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Four come from an account called @IAPolls2022 sharing poll data from the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, D.C. market researcher Cygnal and the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute.

Interestingly, the Economist tweet does not link to the data source but to Polymarket, a crypto-currency based prediction platform were users can bet on world events. The account often links to the gambling site in tweets as well as in its profile. -- Would you double check me on these links? I'm not amazingly familiar with poll twitter and I want to be sure I'm not being an idiot.

The fifth screenshot shows a tweet from @PPollingNumbers, a Twitter account that describes itself as nonpartisan and shares polling data from a variety of reliable sources such as the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University.

It does not have a website Raw Story could find nor does it provide information about who runs the account.

The tweet was posted on July 2 and shows a "leaked" and "internal" report from the progressive nonprofit OpenLabs that found Trump winning by a reported landslide based on numbers polled directly after Biden's disastrous debate.

A report on that leaked poll from the Independent noted "that this is one poll conducted just after the debate and it will take a few weeks to determine how the race shapes up and what the final impact of Biden’s dismal debate will be."

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell pleaded with Donald Trump to put him "in charge" of U.S. elections if the former president is reelected.

Despite Steve Bannon's imprisonment, Lindell appeared on the War Room podcast on Tuesday with guest host Jack Posobiec.

Lindell was scheduled to speak at a Trump rally later in the day, the guest host noted.

"We all know that President Trump is announcing his vice president very soon here," Posobiec pointed out. "Mike Lindell, can you confirm, have you been asked by President Trump to be his running mate on the ticket for 2024?"

"No, I haven't," Lindell replied. "I have not been asked, you guys."

"And I will tell you this," he added, "if he asks me to do anything, I'm hoping it's when we get this, when he gets in, that he puts me in charge of our elections and where we can get our election platforms completely fixed."

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Lindell argued that his so-called Election Crime Bureau should be rolled into the Department of Homeland Security.

"And so that's what I hope that he would do, would have a place for me there, because, in the last three years, I've lived and breathed it," he insisted. "I know what we need to have secure elections, and I really think I could do a great job of getting this country to a great place."

Last month, Lindell said God had given him a plan to "deputize" Trump voters in an effort to prevent election fraud.

Watch the video below from Real America's Voice.

A Republican Senator was subjected to ridicule and scorn at the hands of his own constituents after he declared Monday night that he was advocating openly for "christian nationalism."

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) made this claim at a gala hosted by the public affairs institute National Conservatism Conference in Washington D.C.

"Some will say I'm calling America a Christian nation, and so I am," Hawley told attendees "Some will say I'm advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do."

Christian nationalism has been dubbed the "single biggest threat" to religious freedom in the U.S. with its condemnation of the LGBTQ community and links to neo-Nazis.

Hawley's remark caught the eye of his Missouri constituents who shared his statement on a state Reddit group Tuesday morning with the question "What do you call Josh Hawley?

Reddit users were quick to flood the feed with accusations of political hypocrisy with self-serving rather than Christian values, with more than 400 responses in about three hours.

"I met him at an industry event right after he was elected the first time," wrote user AnxiousLeisureSuitAnxiousLeisureSuit. "He told us he believed in our cause and would fight to support us, then voted against our bill just a few weeks later. Also I shook his hand and it felt like a cold, raw chicken breast."

"The man says whatever people in front of him want to hear and then does the opposite when voting in the Senate," replied This- Dragonfruit-810. "I’m genuinely shocked more people aren’t outraged at the BS he’s pulled."

Insults hurled at the Republican lawmaker included "Christofascist traitor," "Virginian con artist," and "sycophantic fascist coward."

"Christian Nationalist is Nazi terminology," added user SlothfulKoala. "So I’ll go with Nazi."

Another redditer identified themself as a conservative to condemn the melding of religion and government.

"I am conservative, but I also understand that one of the main principles that the US was founded on is the freedom of religion," they wrote. "In fact, forcing religious beliefs onto people is what the people on the Mayflower were escaping when they came here."

ALSO READ: Attention Lincoln and Reagan: GOP senators scramble history with Trump greatness claim

This is not the first time Hawley outraged constituents. In 2020, news broke that the Republican lawmaker was registered to vote at his sister's Missouri address while in ownership of a $1.3 million house in northern Virginia where may have resided full time.

Nor were his fellow Missourians the lone group to raise an uproar over his Christian nationalism remarks.

New Republic writer Hafiz Rashid called his comment "terrifying."

Yale Review editor James Surowiecki said on X he found Hawley's remark "Historically inaccurate and ethically repulsive."

"Hawley claiming that rationalist deists like Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were 'Christian nationalists' is an embarrassing attempt to rewrite American history to suit his revanchist, ideological zealotry," he added.

"Hawley should read Washington's letter to the Jewish community of Newport, which says that religious freedom in the US is not a matter of Christians indulging non-Christians, but rather an assertion that the only thing required to be an American is that people be 'good citizens.'"

Hawley is up for reelection in November and faces a strong challenge from Democrat Lucas Kunce, a Marine veteran.