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‘Thought experiment’: J.D. Vance furiously backpedals away from giving parents more votes
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance worked to do damage control over the weekend after he suggested that parents should be given more votes than single citizens.
During a Sunday interview with ABC News, host Jonathan Karl said he was putting Vance's "childless cat ladies" remark aside to focus on his proposal to give more votes to parents.
"And you said you advocated giving extra votes to people with children," Karl explained.
"Well, John, it's not a policy proposal," Vance said defensively. "It's a thought experiment, right?"
"Some Democrats had said we're going to give children the right to vote," he claimed. "And I said, well, if we're going to give the rights to the children, then we should actually just allow the parents to cast those votes, right?"
"So it's a thought experiment."
Vance admitted, "Sometimes family doesn't work out for people, and that's okay."
"You said, when you go to the polls in this country as a parent, you should have more power," Karl noted. "You should have more of an ability to speak your voice in a democratic republic than the people who don't have kids."
ALSO READ: Why ‘vanilla’ Tim Walz is the ingredient to beat Trump: Dem lawmakers
"I mean, you are directly saying that people with kids should have more of a voice in our democracy," the ABC host added. "Thought experiment or not about how that is done, but that is the principle."
"Again, John, it's a thought experiment," Vance replied, sticking to his talking points.
Watch the video below from ABC or at the link.
‘Do you think he had bone spurs?’ J.D. Vance cornered over Trump ducking military service
After going on an extended rant claiming Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz lied about his military service "for political gain," Donald Trump running mate J.D. Vance was pressed by CNN's Dana Bash to defend Trump ducking out on military service completely.
In the midst of the long interview with the Ohio Republican who claimed Walz's actions were "shameful," the "State of the Union" host began, "One last question, Donald Trump didn't serve in the military. He received a medical draft deferment for bone spurs to avoid serving in the Vietnam war, reportedly as a favor to his father."
"Do you find that shameful too ?" she asked.
ALSO READ: Tim Walz's personal finances are extraordinarily boring — and that may help Harris
"I think that Donald Trump didn't serve in the military but he didn't lie about it, Dana," the Ohio Republican protested. "I've known Donald Trump for a long time..."
"You don't think he— " Bash tried to interject as Vance talked over her and claimed, "Donald Trump didn't lie about serving in the military, he didn't say that he went to Vietnam when he didn't. This is the problem."
"I don't criticize anybody whether they served our country or not," he insisted as he changed the subject. "I think it's honorable to serve, but obviously a lot of people have reasons for not serving. I criticize somebody for embellishing the record for lying, saying I went to war, Dana."
"Don't you think that it's a problem that he [Walz] said I went to war, but he didn't actually? That seems to be a problem to me," Vance continued.
"Well, they've they corrected that, let's move on, " Bash replied.
Watch below or at the link
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‘I don’t even understand that’: J.D. Vance shocks CNN host with ‘weird’ answer
CNN host Dana Bash pressed Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance after he suggested Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz did not have affection for his wife.
During a Sunday CNN interview, Bash noted that GOP nominee Donald Trump and his running mate had successfully been labeled as "weird."
"I just, I want to move on to something that Governor [Tim] Walz has called you and Donald Trump and that is weird," Bash said.
"Well, certainly, they've levied that charge against me more than anybody else," Vance admitted. "So I accept their attacks. But I think that it is a little bit of projection."
"Dana, if you think about, you know, just take a couple of days ago, Tim Walz gives this big speech," he continued. "He's been announced as the VP nominee."
"And I remember when I had just been announced as the VP nominee, I gave my big speech, and I saw my wife, and I gave her a big hug and a kiss because I love my wife, and I think that's what a normal person does."
In comparison, Vance said Walz "gave his wife a nice firm Midwestern handshake and then tried to sort of awkwardly correct for it."
ALSO READ: 21 worthless knick-knacks Donald Trump will give you for your cash
"You're saying Tim Walz doesn't have affection for his wife," Bash said. "I don't even understand that."
"I said that he acted weird, which he did, on a national stage in front of his wife and in front of millions of Americans who presumably were watching at home," Vance insisted.
Watch the video below from CNN or at the link..
MAGA has game plan to halt elections if Harris takes lead: report
When around 14,000 Philadelphians packed Temple University's Liacouras Center for 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' first campaign rally with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice president made a point of describing herself as an "underdog.”
Her use of that word is quite strategic, experts say — for all the campaign's energy, she wants to make sure that her Democratic supporters don't become complacent.
Nonetheless, many of the polls released in early August have found Harris with small single-digit leads over GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Although Trump leads Harris by 2 percent in a CNBC poll released on August 8, Harris is ahead by 4 percent in a Morning Consult poll and 3 percent in polls from NPR/PBS/Marist and Survey USA. A Marquette University poll released on August 7 showed Harris with a 6 percent lead.
READ MORE:'Coming home': Harris-Walz 'transformative' campaign 'ominous for Trump,' experts say
But in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark, journalist A.B. Stoddard warns that if Harris wins in November, an "entire army of Republicans" is "ready to block certification of the election at the local level."
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump battle for Michigan, a ‘tipping-point state’ in the presidential race
"Trump is no longer on track to win the election — which he has been for more than six straight months," Stoddard wrote. "Instead, the momentum, money, voter registration, volunteering, grassroots organizing, polling, and online engagement all favor the Democrats, and it looks now like Trump could easily lose.
“But that won’t happen, because Trump doesn't lose.…. No need to worry about mayhem on January 6, 2025 when Congress meets in joint session; the election deniers plan to stop a result right away if it looks like Harris is winning."
Stoddard continues, "Their goal: Refuse to certify anywhere — even a county that Trump won — and prevent certification in that state, which prevents certification of the presidential election. A Harris victory could become a nightmare."
Stoddard notes that, according to Rolling Stone, "pro-Trump election conspiracists" in key swing states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia are working as "county election officials" and plan to refuse to certify the election results if Harris wins.
READ MORE: 'Coming home': Harris-Walz 'transformative' campaign 'ominous for Trump,' experts say
Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, publisher of Democracy Docket, told Rolling Stone, "I think we are going to see mass refusals to certify the election…. Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared."
Stoddard warns that "there are more than enough such individuals in these key posts to bring us to a constitutional crisis."
"So Trump knows there are millions among us who believe him when he says Democrats can only win if they cheat and who believe dark forces are at work to thwart him again," Stoddard explains. "And Trump needs to be president again. He wants to get his criminal cases thrown out, and to stay out of jail. There is nothing he won't try."
A.B. Stoddard's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.Court rules man called Trump ‘pee tape’ owner can sue Robert Mueller — just not for money
Georgian-American businessman Giorgi Rtskhiladze will be allowed to sue for being mentioned in Robert Mueller's final report over Russian election meddling, court documents show.
Rtskhiladze was named in the report, which he says has hurt his reputation. The U.S. Court of Appeals in the Washington, D.C. Circuit agreed on Friday that he can pursue a case, but he can't claim for damages, reported Politico's Kyle Cheney on X.
The Mueller report talked about the Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the investigation ultimately indicted a number of Americans and over a dozen Russian-affiliated hackers.
Read Also: Inside the 'irregular warfare' campaign Putin is conducting against America
Rtskhiladze claims that a footnote in the report misquotes a text message from former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and falsely calls him Russian.
It “could continue to harm Rtskhiladze,” the Appeals court agreed.
The U.S. Senate filed its own report that corrected those errors in Mueller's report, but the court agreed that it "does not extinguish the harm from an earlier government report."
“Congress neither speaks for DOJ, nor speaks infallibly. Either way, a court could redress the ongoing injury by ordering DOJ to correct the Mueller Report,” Judge Justin Walker wrote in the ruling.
Rtskhiladze alleged that he was defamed and asked for damages using the Privacy Act. However, that act says there must be proof of "intentional or willful" conduct. He was unable to prove that.
Thus, Rtskhiladze “has not even attempted to meet the Privacy Act’s requirements” and instead “cites common-law defamation precedents,” Walker then writes.
Rtskhiladze worked for the Trump organization on a possible Trump project. His text message to Cohen in 2016 said: “Stopped flow of some tapes from Russia.” The Mueller report omits the word "some."
Rtskhiladze's suit claimed not having the word is “significant,” as it “suggests familiarity” with the "tapes." The filing, he said, also says that the footnote excluded additional text messages referring to the "tapes" in which he says he was "not sure of the content."
Cohen maintains that no such tape has been found after many years of searching, and all claims by individuals who stated they had the tape have been debunked.
"I don't believe that either the event took place or that a tape exists," he told Raw Story.
Rtskhiladze's next steps would be a lawsuit in which he could depose Robert Mueller, but the end goal remains unclear since the court ruled he could not be awarded damages.
‘Something is afoot’: Far-right leaders raise suspicions with ‘statements against Trump’
Three powerful far-right pundits recently made statements denigrating former President Donald Trump's campaign, a surprising trend raising questions about the future of his candidacy.
White Supremacist Nick Fuentes, right-winger Joe Rogan — whom the New York Times recently described as hosting "the most popular podcast in the world" — and reactionary pundit Tim Pool all spoke out against the Republican nominee's second reelection campaign, investigative journalist Dave Troy reported on X.
"Something is afoot," Troy wrote, saying they all made "statements against Trump."
"What exactly remains to be seen."
Fuentes, who frequently praises Adolf Hitler, revoked his support for Trump’s campaign on X shortly after 12 a.m. ET on Friday.
"We support Trump, but his campaign has been hijacked by the same consultants, lobbyists, & donors that he defeated in 2016, and they're blowing it," wrote Fuentes. "Without serious changes we are headed for a catastrophic loss."
Rogan Thursday endorsed independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., telling his listeners the conspiracy theorist — who says a worm ate part of his brain and admits he staged a phony bear cub crime scene — was the only one who "makes sense."
ALSO READ: Why ‘vanilla’ Tim Walz is the ingredient to beat Trump: Dem lawmakers
“He’s the only one that doesn’t attack people," Rogan said. "He attacks actions and ideas. He’s much more reasonable and intelligent."
Pool posted on X, "Ok I'm voting for RFK Jr now" but later walked back the comment, telling followers he was just "trolling" and responding to Kennedy's thanks with affirmation that he would vote for Trump.
"There's no real argument against voting Trump," Pool wrote. "But f--- me some of these die hard magas are as destructive as the leftists."
Troy, who is a contributor to the Washington Spectator and featured on PBS News, argued it was too soon to predict how Trump's campaign would respond, but suggested the outbursts themselves were telling.
"While these three are execrable, and *what* they say is of little value, the fact they are saying it in unison is a signal in the realm of information warfare," Troy wrote. "Watch this space."
