Raw Story

Former President Donald Trump bragged Friday that he never called a group of neo-Nazis "very fine people" — but cited a controversial fact-check that has been partially disclaimed as proof.

Trump published his boast to Truth Social in the form of a quotation which he attributes to a report from the conservative tabloid the New York Post, but actually originates with a Fox News post.

"Left wing fact checker admits Trump never called Charlottesville neo-Nazis ‘very fine people’," Trump wrote, quoting the Fox News headline.

"While Trump did say that there were 'very fine people on both sides,' he also specifically noted that he was not talking about neo-Nazis and white supremacists."

ALSO READ: Republicans weaponizing ignorance is a dangerous game

The fact check in question came from Snopes late last month and almost immediately drew criticism that resulted in an updated editor's note.

The claim Snopes declared false was that "On Aug. 15, 2017, then-President Donald Trump called neo-Nazis and white supremacists who attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, 'very fine people.'"

Snopes acknowledged Trump had said of the rally — which turned violent when neo-Nazis and white supremacists clashed with counter protesters — "there were "very fine people on both sides."

The false ruling was based on Trump's comment to a reporter that neo-Nazis and white nationalists should be "condemned totally."

"You had some very bad people in that group," Trump said. "But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides...I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists."

The New Republic immediately slammed Snopes take, arguing the fact-checking site had failed to recognize Trump's rhetorical doublespeak when he referenced people who had shown up the night before the rally to protest "innocently" and "quietly."

"The 'night before' that Trump was referring to included the infamous tiki torch march, the one with people chanting 'Blood and soil!' and 'You will not replace us!' and 'Jews will not replace us!'" wrote author Parker Molloy. "Those were the people Trump was specifically referring to in his defense of attendees."

ALSO READ: How Donald Trump could run for president — and lead the nation — from prison

Snopes responded to criticism with an editor's note:

"This fact check aimed to confirm what Trump actually said, not whether what he said was true or false," the note reads. "For the record, virtually every source that covered the Unite the Right debacle concluded that it was conceived of, led by and attended by white supremacists, and that therefore Trump's characterization was wrong."

Whom precisely Trump had in mind when he made the comment only Trump can know. But it's worth noting this is not the first report, or brushing off, of such praise.

One House Republican broke out in giggles when a Raw Story reporter asked about Trump's reported praise of Nazi Dictator Adolf Hitler, revealed this year by his former chief of staff John Kelly.

Kelly said the former president praised Hitler for his economic record and claimed he "did some good things."

And former executive vice president of the Trump Organization Barbara Res revealed last month that her former boss thought it was funny to make jokes about the Nazis around Jewish employees.

"Then he looked at a couple of our executives who happen to be Jewish, and he said 'Watch out for this guy, he sort of remembers the ovens,' and then smiled," Res said. "He was making a joke about the Nazi ovens and eating people."

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lobbed an attack at President Joe Biden on Fox News attempting to swipe at his mental condition — but accidentally highlighted a quality about the former president that most would consider endearing.

"In Biden’s Oval Office, there are cookies," said McCarthy. "He offers you cookies every time you’re in there. And he goes and gets them. It is a depressing moment."

McCarthy may have intended to be taking a swipe at the president's submissiveness to guests, or compare him to a grandparent. But that's not how his anecdote came across to many commenters on social media, many of whom were quick to point out that they think offering cookies to people is actually awesome. Some others noted that McCarthy had his own history of trying to suck up to Trump with sweets.

"McCarthy is the best Biden surrogate. 'He goes and gets you cookies.' Trump eats em all," wrote former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

"It's depressing to Kevin McCarthy that the President of the United States is a kind man?" wrote the account @leftcoastbabe. "Tells you all you need to know about today's GOP. (And who the bleep doesn't like cookies.)"

"How sinister does one have to be to think Cookies are depressing?" wrote the account @bdowney2338.

"Latest Biden scandal dropped...this one is a doozy... everything's crumbling now #cookiegate," wrote the account @Takuma1700.

"You know what’s a real depressing moment, is Kevin McCarthy was elected on the 15th try after four days of unsuccessful House votes…and even more depressing, Kevin McCarthy after just 269day speakership became the shortest in more than 140 years and the third shortest in history," wrote the account @MadeInCanada_eh.

"Remember when he said Biden was a tough negotiator? And then Biden got the best of him to keep the govt open? And then he was thrown out as speaker?? Good times!" wrote the account @DebbiePatrizi.

"The only time getting a cookie depresses me is when it is oatmeal raisin," wrote the account @JaredRyanSears.

"Remind me: Who was the pathetic sycophant that separated Trump’s favorite Starbursts into a special bowl for him?" wrote the account @SarahBCalif.

Watch the video below or click here.

Two dozen Democratic governors met Wednesday and emerged from the meeting unified behind President Joe Biden and his campaign, despite questions over his age and cognitive health following his fumbling debate performance.

Speaking with reporters, Gov. Tim Walz, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, gave a clear message.

"He has had our backs through COVID, through all of the recovery, all that has happened. The governors have his back and we're working together just to make very, very clear on that," he said. "A path to victory in November is the number one priority and that's the number one priority of the president."

Walz called the private meeting with Biden honest and open, and said they provided good feedback.

Gov. Wes Moore echoed Walz's comments and said the conversation felt candid.

"When you love someone, you tell them the truth," he said, noting they were honest with their feedback and concerns they've heard.

The president, Moore said, is "all-in."

"The thing that makes us most optimistic and most hopeful, is not necessarily that we're afraid of an alternative, but also is that we're hopeful for the future," he said.

Read also: Biden denies report he will 'discuss the future of his re-election campaign with family'

The governors united and pledged their support to Biden as they have a common cause — defeating former President Donald Trump.

Reporters then started shouting questions, including: "Do you feel he's fit for office?"

"Yes, he's fit for office," said Walz. The president has 3 1/2 years of delivering for us, going through what we've all been through. None of us are denying Thursday night was a bad performance. It was a bad hit, if you will on that. But it doesn't impact what I believe: he's delivering."

Answering more shouted questions, Moore reiterated the president is the nominee, the party leader, and that he's in the race to win.

The conference comes after some in the Democratic party have openly questioned whether the president ought to remain in the race.

Former President Barack Obama has publicly backed his ex-vice president even after a "bad debate" night, but behind closed doors, Obama has reportedly expressed concerns that Biden may have hurt his chances of winning re-election.

Watch the clip below or at this link right here.

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, the far-right figure at the helm of the "Project 2025" plan to reshape the entire federal government for the benefit of Republicans, was raked over the coals on Wednesday by MSNBC anchor Joy Reid and civil rights professor Sherrilyn Ifill.

"Should Donald Trump be re-elected and elected king, God help us all, he will be surrounded by people like this guy, the head of the Heritage Foundation, the folks behind Project 2025, who said the quiet part real loud and televised." She played a clip of Roberts speaking on the far-right Real America's Voice network.

"We are going to win," he said in the clip. "We're in the process of taking this country back. We're in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

ALSO READ: How The Onion’s founding editor finds humor in the dismal age of Trump

"When I heard that clip of that guy ... essentially issue a violent threat against Americans, I had two thoughts. Thought one, he's not going to do anything violent," said Reid. "He'll be at a country club somewhere golfing, while the real violent people, the other people, the Proud Boys types do the actual dirty work. So that man is a coward, and he likes to talk a lot of crap, but it is still a threat. And I took it as a declaration of war. How did you take it?"

"Well, the gloves are obviously off, and they are no longer afraid to say what their true intentions are," said Ifill. "What it made me was angry in a very particular kind of way. I'm not sure who these people think they are, but the idea of some second American Revolution — they are the Confederacy. They don't get the title of American Revolution, they're the Confederacy bent on destroying this country. If they think that what we have gone through, certainly as Black people in this country, as women, as gay people, as the disabled, as people who are poor trying to find their way up to make their children's lives better than theirs, if they think we are about to throw that all off and knuckle under to the likes of Stephen Miller and this man, and Donald Trump, they have got to be kidding."

"I am also from Queens," added Ifill, referencing Trump's birthplace. "I can tell you, the Donald Trumps of the world, we understood exactly who they were when I was growing up in Queens. No matter how much money he had, he was not fit, not worthy of the love and attention that these people have lavished on him. We will not go back."

Watch the video below or at the link right here.

Joy Reid and Sherrilyn Ifill discuss Project 2025 threats www.youtube.com

Donald Trump ally Michael Flynn shot down social media claims he'd been chosen as the former president's vice presidential running mate Wednesday.

A Federal Election Commission filing was shared on Twitter appearing to show Flynn's name added to a Donald Trump fundraising group — with the title "Vice President" accompanying it.

Flynn fired back almost immediately on his X account calling it fake.

"I just saw 2 unauthorized FEC filings referencing my name. They are fake news! I don't know anything about them, and my office has alerted the FEC," he said.

The post comes after Flynn issued an official statement of endorsement for Trump's 2024 campaign.

READ ALSO: 'Fraud': Trump campaign denies federal filing naming Michael Flynn as VP running mate

Last week, Raw Story's Jordan Green reported that a number of fake committees filed documents that inadvertently make false announcements.

"In late 2022, for example, someone created a federal political committee indicating that former Vice President Mike Pence had formed a 2024 presidential campaign committee," recalled Green. "But the committee was a fraud, and Pence's representatives scrambled to correct the record and debunk several premature media reports that Pence, who ultimately would run for president months later, had entered the race."

When a similar Trump-Flynn filing first popped up in June, the Trump campaign debunked it after Raw Story asked about it.

The committee, “Donald J. Trump and Michael Flynn for President 2024 Inc.,” is bogus, the Trump campaign confirmed to Raw Story.

Last week, Flynn himself responded to Raw Story's reporting by indicating he is not in contention to become Trump's vice presidential running mate.

Faced with mounting calls from within his own party to bow out and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to head up the ticket, President Joe Biden so far doesn't appear to be planning for an exit — and there's an important reason for that, wrote University of Pennsylvania psychologist Adam Grant for The New York Times.

Specifically, he wrote, Biden faces a psychological phenomenon known as "escalation of commitment to a losing course of action," or the idea that one tends to prefer doubling down because "it feels better to be a fighter than a quitter."

"One of the tragedies of the human condition is that we use our big brains not to make rational decisions, but rather to rationalize the decisions we’ve already made," wrote Grant — and this goes beyond politicians simply refusing to give up in the face of dimming odds. "We stick around too long in dead-end jobs. We stay in unhappy marriages even after friends have counseled us to leave. We stand by candidates even after they violate our principles."

ALSO READ: How The Onion’s founding editor finds humor in the dismal age of Trump

Past presidents have stuck to failing policies out of this very fear — including the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, he noted. "It happens in business, too: Blockbuster went bust because instead of buying Netflix, leaders escalated their commitment to renting physical videos. Kodak made the same mistake by doubling down on selling film instead of pivoting to digital cameras."

Escalation of commitment is made stronger, Grant explained, when someone feels emotionally attached to the plan, when the end is drawing near, and when there is still some semblance of a path to victory — all of which is true in Biden's case. Which makes it all the more difficult for him to change course — further compounded by the fear many of his own staffers have to speak their mind.

"What Mr. Biden needs is not a support network but a challenge network — people who have the will to put the country’s interests ahead of his and the skill to coldly assess his chances," Grant concluded. "That’s a task for someone who is not affiliated with the campaign in any way, someone whose judgment has proved to be impeccable and most of all, impartial, and someone who is not worried about the possible cost to their own career."

It may be time, he added, for Biden to recognize that "service is not only about stepping up to lead. It’s also about having the courage to step aside."