Raw Story

Wisconsin Trump supporter Paul Kovacik tried to flee the country and claim asylum in Ireland — only to grow homesick, return to America, and promptly get arrested.

In a legal filing flagged by Politico's Kyle Cheney it was revealed that Kovacik late last year fled to Dublin to claim asylum shortly before he was to begin what was supposed to have been a 90-day prison sentence.

However, it seems that Kovacik couldn't last more than seven months in a foreign country.

"On June 19, 2024, Kovacik decided to voluntarily return to the United States from Ireland," the court filing states. "Kovacik advised that he... had recently decided to voluntarily withdraw his asylum claim and return to the United States because he felt 'homesick.'"

ALSO READ: Harris leads Trump in first poll taken since Biden quit

Kovacik then flew into Minneapolis, where he was "promptly arrested" and taken to Hennepin County Jail before being transferred to a prison in Chicago where he is currently serving his original 90-day prison sentence.

However, even after getting out of jail, he may get additional time, as the court filing states that "there is probable cause to believe that" he broke the law that "makes it a crime to fail to surrender for service of a sentence pursuant to a court order."

A big-time donor for President Joe Biden thinks the Democrats missed a big opportunity by passing the ball to Vice President Kamala Harris without a convention, and he won’t be funding her run.

John Morgan, a Florida attorney and major donor for previous Democratic candidates, shared his views with Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday afternoon on why he’s not giving the Democratic presidential nominee any money.

“Harris brings a lot of great things to the table,” Morgan said. “Is she the best messenger? Is she the best person? Is her way the best way to go forward? And for me, I don’t think so.”

He compared the convention process to a fantasy basketball draft, noting that any smart player’s top draft should be a no-brainer.

“We would pick Lebron James,” Morgan said. “We had that type of opportunity but they seem to be squandering it by taking a lesser pick.”

Read also: ‘I’m out’: Major Biden donor reveals why he’s not backing Kamala Harris

Cavuto pressed Morgan on who he thinks his party’s Lebron James is, and he listed off several party favorites: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer – noting that a vetted combination of star players would be the strongest choice.

But that ship has sailed, Morgan said, adding that whoever she picks as a running mate is irrelevant at this point.

“The deal is done. I don’t think there’s anything more that can be done,” Morgan said. “People vote for president, they don't vote for vice president.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech before an enthusiastic crowd in Milwaukee on Tuesday that earned plaudits from many progressive political observers — as well as relief about the contrast she delivers between herself and both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Harris, who was endorsed by Biden on Sunday after he announced that he would be dropping out of the 2024 race, delivered a fiery address that touched on themes ranging from voting rights to reproductive freedoms to gun safety.

Writing on Twitter, many progressives took immediate note of the jolt of energy she had injected into the campaign.

"Elections are about all kinds of things, but I think a happy person talking about the future fits the moment better than an angry old man yelling about the past," argued Slate columnist Zachary Carter.

Watching Kamala Harris speaking in Wisconsin... By hell she’s impressive," wrote British broadcaster and media personality Carol Vorderman. "And she’s going to win … she’s energizing the young voters and has no fear of the fight."

RELATED: Harris leads Trump in first poll taken since Biden quit

NYU Law professor Chris Sprigman, meanwhile, praised Harris for delivering "a smiling, warm, positive affect, combined with coherent, declarative sentences in plain English."

"The election is going to be hard-fought," he added. "But God what a relief."

"So glad Harris is going with a future-focused message against Trump," commented Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor. "That's been missing to date imo. This is a Janet Jackson election: what have you done for me lately?"

Political reporters who watched the event also took notice of the new energy delivered by Harris.

"Hard to overstate how hyped the crowd is," wrote Politico Playbook's Eugene Daniels. "Very different vibe than usual."

"The contrast between Harris's speech and the speeches we've been hearing Biden give all year was striking," wrote New York Times reporter Peter Baker. "At none of the Biden speeches I've covered lately was the case made against the other side this sharply defined and delivered nor has there been this kind of energy."

Fox News declined to air Vice President Kamala Harris's first presidential campaign speech in its entirety, pulling the plug soon after she attacked Republican nominee Donald Trump.

During an event in Wisconsin, Harris said she would challenge Trump's record "any day of the week."

"So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type," she asserted. "As Attorney General of California, I took on one of our country's largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students."

"As a prosecutor, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse," she pointed out. "Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse."

Harris said that the presidential race was "about two different visions for our nation."

"One where we are focused on the future," she said. "The other focused on the past."

But only minutes after the speech began, Fox News cut back to its anchors in the studio while other networks, including CNN, MSNBC and Newsmax, ran it in its entirety.

"All right, she said she'll put her record up against Donald Trump's record any day," Fox News host Sandra Smith told co-host John Roberts. "Very little mention, John, of her accomplishments while vice president, while in the White House."

Exclusive: Harris? Newsom? Whitmer? GOP delegates dish on who they want Trump to face

"Yeah, critics would say if she was to base a speech on her accomplishments in the White House, it would be a very short speech," Roberts opined. "But now we know at least what her major line of attack is going to be."

"So she's going to, it's going to be the prosecutor versus the convicted felon thing," he added, rolling his eyes.

Watch the video below from Fox News.

Black pundits and columnists are already predicting the racism that will surface from some of the top media outlets in the country as they try to cover a candidate of color in the presidential race.

Writing for "The Nation," legal expert Elie Mystal shredded the New York Times for a report they titled: "Some Black Voters Say They Wonder if a Black Woman Can Win."

Mystal was furious as the Times "used other Black people to make their point."

Read Also: The prosecutor vs. the felon

He explained that as a Black voter, he wonders about many things.

"I wonder if aliens exist; I wonder if God is an a--hole; I wonder how many abortions Donald Trump has paid for," Mystal wrote Tuesday. "But the Times wouldn’t run a story that stated 'Some Black Voters Say They Wonder How Many Active Ku Klux Klan Members Attended the Republican National Convention.'"

He thinks that more Black voters likely wonder about the latter than about whether Harris could win in November.

One Black woman from Atlanta, interviewed by the Times, said, "America is just not ready for a woman president, especially not a Black woman president."

Keli Goff at The Daily Beast is another writer parroting that language, he said. Her sentiment is akin to, “I’d vote for a Black woman, but not that Black woman.”

Mystal wrote that Goff simply stating what the U.S. has told Black people for generations, especially Black women. That message: "America hates you."

"We see the disdain this country holds for people of color whenever we turn on the news. We feel the antipathy this country holds for women every time we go to work, or read an opinion from the Supreme Court," Mystal wrote.

"Harris has been subjected to the worst press coverage of any vice president in my lifetime, and she’s about to be subjected to the worst coverage of any presidential candidate in American history… save perhaps Hillary Clinton."

He called it nothing more than "white male supremacy," which not only dictates the leadership, but works to hold others down by telling them that they feel don't deserve power.

"I can already see David Brooks and Bret Stephens clacking away on their keyboards, doing everything in their power to call Harris unqualified, unintelligent, and undeserving of the office she seeks," Mystal wrote.

The Washington Post editorial board has already taken a different path by encouraging Harris not to hold back out of prudence.

He warned it will get "ugly," but said he won't be deterred by "programming that’s designed to make me think a woman of color can’t win."

While "they are not ready for her, but she is ready to beat them," Mystal closed.

Read the full column here.

Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be vice president Sunday evening, calling a ticket combining Vice President Kamala Harris and the Michigan governor “the winning hand” for Democrats after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign Sunday afternoon.

“The heroic, selfless decision by Joe Biden has given us the chance to nominate two leaders who will wipe the smirk off Donald Trump’s face and allow us to come roaring back,” de Blasio said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The best way to beat Trump? Team up @VP Kamala Harris and @GovWhitmer!
The heroic, selfless decision by @JoeBiden has given us the chance to nominate two leaders who will wipe the smirk off Donald Trump’s face and allow us to come roaring back. A Harris-Whitmer ticket is the…
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) July 22, 2024

De Blasio ran for president during the 2020 cycle and participated in the presidential debates held in Detroit in 2019.

Biden endorsed Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president shortly after ending his own campaign, and Harris has started the process of taking over his existing campaign apparatus.

Several Michigan officials quickly endorsed Harris on Sunday, including U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) and Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.), U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids), Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), Dan Kildee (D-Flint), Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), Attorney General Dana Nessel and former governors Jim Blanchard and Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm also serves as Biden’s energy secretary. Another member of Biden’s cabinet, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who lives in Traverse City, also quickly endorsed Harris.

Buttigieg is among the names who have been floated as a potential replacement for Biden or running mate for Harris, along with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who also endorsed Harris on Sunday, and Whitmer.

Whitmer did not endorse anyone Sunday but said that her “job in this election will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump, a convicted felon whose agenda of raising families’ costs, banning abortion nationwide and abusing the power of the White House to settle his own scores is completely wrong for Michigan.”

Other officials being floated as potential running mates for Harris include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.

We need a Harris-Whitmer ticket now!
Think of the excitement and energy that would bring! @KamalaHarris and @GovWhitmer: That’s a team we can win with. https://t.co/Pz2Kc7CqzV
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) July 22, 2024

While some have indicated they believe Harris may select a male running mate to “balance” the ticket, de Blasio urged delegates to “think of the excitement and energy” a Harris-Whitmer ticket would bring.

“We need a Harris-Whitmer ticket now!” de Blasio said.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.