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‘Are you part of the problem?’ CNN host blames Republican for violent attacks
In the wake of the shooting death of Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman (D), CNN anchor Sara Sidner pressed Florida Congressman Randy Fine (R) if his own heated rhetoric is part of the problem.
“House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says he will meet with congressional leaders from both parties this week to discuss heightened security for lawmakers after the politically motivated shootings in Minnesota, calling the violence a ' wake-up call,’” Sidner said before introducing Fine Monday.
“You're hearing from other congressional Democrats who are asking for more police protection after that assassination and attempted assassination of lawmakers in Minnesota,” Sidner said before asking Fine, “Would you vote to grant more security for all members of Congress? “
“I don't agree with Hakeem Jeffries on much, Sarah, but on this I do,” Fine said.
“I do want to talk to you about some of the rhetoric,” Sidner said, “because there's a lot of talk about rhetoric and how this gins people up. A few years ago, you were called out for calling a school board member a whore in a text. You've called one of your congressional colleagues a terrorist. Are you part of the problem here?”
“Well, look,” Fine deflected. “I think what people write in private text messages to each other is one thing. If I had said that in a public message, I'd understand. But I do think there are issues.”
Fine then took aim at a recent Instagram post made by former FBI head James Comey that Donald Trump's allies claimed was a call for the president to be killed, saying, ”I mean, that is a call for violence when people are waving signs that say, 86, 47. I think we've heard this discussion about taking down the temperature after President Trump was assassinated twice, and I don't think people are getting the message." He was actually referring to attempted assassinations of Trump.
“Are you not getting the message, too?” Sidner interjected, “Is it fair to say that the way that you speak to your colleagues, what you say about them, and the fiery rhetoric that you also use, is also an issue?”
“It's a fair point,” Fine said, “but I think fiery rhetoric is different than a call for violence, calling evil for what it is, calling danger for what it is, acceptable. It's when you cross that line and you say, and that person should be killed. That's never a line that I've crossed, nor do I think it should be done.”
Fine later said the problem is that “these people are crazy. This guy in Minnesota, he's going to turn out to be crazy, and when crazy people hear these things, these problems, these problems do well up.”
Sidner replied, “That's something that the courts will have to determine. Obviously, in looking at his history, his friends and family certainly do not think that.”
Watch the full interaction below or at this link.
Deeply ignorant MAGA cashed in on lawmaker’s assassination
Just hours after Minnesotans learned that Democratic House leader Melissa Hortman had been assassinated, right-wing influencer Collin Rugg, who has 1.8 million followers on X, posted a “report” that hinted that she’d been killed because of a recent vote on ending undocumented adults’ ability to enroll in MinnesotaCare, a subsidized health insurance for the working poor.
Mike Cernovich, another right-wing influencer who has 1.4 million followers on X, took Rugg’s post and amped it up, but in the “just asking questions” style of many conspiracy theories:
“Did Tim Walz have her executed to send a message?”
They were deeply ignorant about the MinnesotaCare issue.
Walz and Hortman — who was instrumental in passing legislation allowing undocumented people to sign up for MinnesotaCare as speaker of the House in 2023 — negotiated a compromise with Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature to end eligibility for adults, but keep it for children. They did so to win necessary Republican support in the 67-67 House to pass a state budget. Without it, state government would have shut down on July 1.
Both Hortman and Walz signed the compromise agreement in mid-May. This week, Hortman spoke tearfully about how difficult the vote was for her, but she was bound to vote yes on the issue because of the prior agreement.
The “theory” of Hortman’s killing was further undercut by the vote of Democratic Sen. John Hoffman — who was also targeted by the suspect — against rolling back MinnesotaCare for undocumented Minnesotans.
Rugg and Cernovich’s posts were shared widely and just the start of the disinformation.
Once law enforcement sources began revealing a suspect, right-wing influencers ran with an insignificant detail: That Vance Luther Boelter was a “Walz appointee.”
Like many states, but even more so here, Minnesota is home to hundreds of nonpartisan and bipartisan boards and commissions, which are composed of thousands of people who typically win the appointment by simply volunteering. There are 342 open positions on Minnesota boards and commissions. Boelter was appointed to the Workforce Development Council by Walz’s predecessor Gov. Mark Dayton and reappointed by Walz.
It was the equivalent of calling a Sunday school volunteer an “appointee of the bishop.”
No matter, the Murdoch media machine, specifically the New York Post, had their headline: “Former appointee of Tim Walz sought….”
Cernovich had his greasy foil hot dog wrapper and began constructing a hat:
“The Vice President candidate for the Democrat party is directly connected to a domestic terrorist, that is confirmed, the only question is whether Tim Walz himself ordered the political hit against a rival who voted against Walz’s plan to give free healthcare to illegals.”
Walz had no such plan. He had signed an agreement to end eligibility for undocumented adults.
Joey Mannarino, who has more than 600,000 followers on X, was more crass:
“Rumor has it she was preparing to switch parties. The Democrats are VIOLENT SCUM.”
It was a ridiculous “rumor.” One of the last photos of Hortman alive was an image of her at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor’s big annual fundraising event, the Humphrey-Mondale dinner, which took place just hours before her assassination.
No matter, Cernovich wanted his new friends in federal law enforcement to act:
“The FBI must take Tim Walz into custody immediately.”
Finally, fresh off his humiliating defeat at the hands of President Donald Trump, world’s richest man Elon Musk quote-tweeted someone again falsely alleging Hortman was killed by “the left” and added:
“The far left is murderously violent.”
The suspect’s “hit list,” according to an official who has seen the list, comprised Minnesotans who have been outspoken in favor of abortion rights. CNN reported that it also included several abortion clinics, which doesn’t sound like the work of “the left.”
Right-wing influencers marred Hortman’s death and smeared Walz on a pile of lies.
In a different, saner world, they would be humiliated and slink away. But the smart money is that during the next moment of national crisis and mourning, they will again lie for profit.
‘What the hell?’ Morning Joe shames GOP senator over ‘wacko’ social media post
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blasted Sen. Mike Lee's (R-UT) Monday over his response to the shootings of two Democratic state legislators and their spouses.
The Republican senator blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the assassination of former House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and the wounding of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. Vance Boelter, an apparent religious conservative and Donald Trump supporter, has been accused of the attacks.
The "Morning Joe" host was appalled by Lee's social media post.
"One politician, and I will say a man that I've known and in the past have had a good relationship, and, like, seemed like a soft- spoken man, but somebody that posted this weekend, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, obviously facing strong criticism for social media posts about the Minnesota shooting suspect," Scarborough said.
"Yesterday, Lee posted a picture of the suspect at the door of one of the lawmakers with the caption, 'This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way.' It is a pinned tweet at the top of his page, [and] 25 minutes later, the senator posted another picture of the suspected shooter with the caption, 'Nightmare on Walz Street,' mocking, of course, the situation with the name of the Minnesota governor. This post came hours before Lee tweeted a 'Happy Fathers Day' message."
"'What the hell is Mike Lee doing?'" Scarborough added, quoting conservative journalist Brad Polumbo. "'Has he completely lost it?'"
Lee faced widespread condemnation, and Scarborough added his own by stating that he would have thought the senator was above that sort of social media trolling.
"We're used to wackos on the extremes on both sides posting bizarre things on social media," Scarborough said. "What happens when it's mainstreamed by a senator? Again, a guy that I've known and used to try to be a thoughtful, conservative voice for small-government conservatism.
"When he starts posting things like this, and what is the, what's the United States Senate's answer to that? I only ask that because I can tell you back in my day, I guess in the Stone Age it is now, I mean, the senator on either side would have been roundly condemned by members of his or her own party if they had done this."
Watch the video below or at this link.
- YouTube youtu.be
‘I know I’m a woman’: Dem scolds Trump Treasury secretary over his interruptions
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) scolded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for repeatedly interrupting her at a House hearing.
During his Wednesday testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Sanchez instructed Bessent to restrict his answers to yes or no.
"Mr. Secretary, do you still believe that the president's tariffs are going to be a one-time price adjustment for American families?" she asked.
"If prices go up, they will be one time," Bessent stated.
"Okay, well, unfortunately, you appear to be talking out of both sides of your mouth because you yourself have admitted, after conversations with Walmart, that some tariff costs are going to get passed on to consumers. And in fact, we've already seen that prices are rising on many everyday goods," Sanchez remarked.
"No, Congresswoman, today we had a point one increase..." Bessent interrupted.
"The time is mine," Sanchez fired back. "The time is mine. Please don't interrupt me. I will ask you questions and I will grant you an opportunity to answer them."
"But please don't interrupt me during my time," she continued. "Okay, I know I'm a woman, but please try to limit yourself to answering my questions."
Sanchez then responded to others in the room who were groaning at her complaints.
"No, I'm sorry, but we get talked over all the time, and I don't want that to happen at this hearing," she insisted.
"I would remind members, the gentlelady is recognized," Chairman Adam Smith (R-NE) pointed out.
"Thank you," Sanchez said. "The time is mine. Clothing is going up 20%. Shoe prices in canned goods like chicken noodle soup and canned fruit and microwave meals have gone up 15%. Toys are getting more expensive. Walmart just raised the prices of dinosaur action figures."
"On average, Trump's tariffs are estimated to cost households $3,000 more for the same goods than they would have last year," she added.
"That's incorrect," Bessent interrupted again.
"The best estimates are that consumers will pay $3,000 more for the same goods," Sanchez said. "And that estimate is from what they did last year."
‘Rewriting history’: Experts say Trump order for national parks is ‘frightening’
A leaked memo shows a Donald Trump appointee has instructed the National Parks Service (NPS) to invite visitors to report anything they believe portrays American history or geography in a negative light.
NPR obtained the June 9 memo sent National Park Service comptroller Jessica Bowron instructing regional directors to post signage to encourage public feedback through QR codes or other methods to report any material or display that "inappropriately disparages Americans past or living and instead focuses on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people, as ordered by the president.
"The instructions come in response to President Trump's March 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History' executive order and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's follow-up order last month requesting its implementation," NPR reported. "Trump's original order included a clause ordering Burgum to remove content from sites."
Bowron's memo sets a mid-July deadline to ensure all public-facing images, descriptions and other materials that might be disparaging.
"An example image of a sign leaked to NPR for Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Missouri, the site of the second major battle of the Civil War, ahead of its potential installation, asks visitors to identify 'any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features,'" NPR reported.
The directive applies to other Department of the Interior bureaus, as well, including Land Management, Indian Affairs and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
"This order reaffirms the NPS mission by emphasizing the importance of accuracy in how we tell stories of American history," NPS spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said in a statement. "Our visitors come to national parks to celebrate the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of America's landscapes and extraordinary multicultural heritage. This allows them to personally connect with these special places, free of any partisan ideology."
But experts are alarmed by the order and its chilling effect on historical accuracy.But others have voiced concern about these developments.
"It's pretty dangerous when you start rewriting history," said Theresa Pierno, CEO and president of the independent National Parks Conservation Association. " It's so important that we learn from our history. To think that that could be erased or changed because visitors might prefer that story not be told — or not be told accurately — is frightening."
‘Which side do you want to win?’ Hegseth dodges Mitch McConnell on Ukraine war
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about his views on Russia's war in Ukraine.
"Number one, who's the aggressor and who's the victim in the conflict?" McConnell asked Hegseth during a Wednesday Senate subcommittee hearing.
"Russia's the aggressor," Hegseth said.
"Which side do you want to win?" McConnell pressed.
"As we've said time and time again, this president is committed to peace in that conflict," Hegseth dodged. "Ultimately, peace serves our national interests, and we think the interest of both parties, even if that outcome will not be preferable to many in this room and many in our country."
"Which side is President Xi pulling for?" McConnell wondered.
"There's no doubt that China would prefer that Vladimir Putin have a good outcome," Hegseth admitted.
"One thing I'm sure we agree on is we don't want a headline at the end of this conflict that says Russia wins and America loses," McConnell stated.
