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Tag: Tulsi Gabbard

  • Gabbard ends task force that aimed to reform intelligence gathering after less than a year

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    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community, including rooting out what she described as the politicization of intelligence gathering, after less than a year since its creation.

    Gabbard established the group in April, when it was also tasked with probing ways to reduce spending on intelligence and whether reports on high-profile topics such as COVID-19 should be declassified.

    In a statement on Wednesday, Gabbard said the task force’s work was always intended to be temporary after she was tapped to oversee coordination of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

    “In less than one year, we’ve brought a historic level of transparency to the intelligence community,” Gabbard said in her statement. “My commitment to transparency, truth, and eliminating politicization and weaponization within the intelligence community remains central to all that we do.”

    TULSI GABBARD DENIES WRONGDOING OVER DELAYED WHISTLE-BLOWER COMPLAINT REFERRAL TO CONGRESS MEMBERS: ‘BASELESS’

    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced she was ending the work of a task force that sought to reform the U.S. intelligence community. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

    The number of officers assigned to the task force, as well as their identities, are classified, according to Gabbard’s office.

    The officers will now return to other intelligence agencies to continue the work the group started, her office added.

    The group sparked criticism against Gabbard after its creation, with Democrats and some intelligence insiders raising questions about whether it would be used to undermine intelligence agencies and bring them under tighter control of President Donald Trump.

    Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last year that the group appeared to be a “pass for a witch hunt” designed to target intelligence officers deemed disloyal to Trump.

    TRUMP CLAIMS DNI TULSI GABBARD WAS AT GEORGIA ELECTION HUB SEARCH BECAUSE AG PAM BONDI WANTED HER THERE

    Tulsi Gabbard speaks

    The task force sought to root out alleged politicization of intelligence gathering. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    “This seems to be just a pass for a witch hunt and that’s going to further undermine our national security,” Warner told Reuters at the time.

    Gabbard has implemented significant changes to the country’s intelligence gathering in the last year, including by using agencies to back up Trump’s claims about alleged interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

    In August, she revealed plans to cut her office’s workforce and slash more than $700 million from its annual budget. She also fired two top intelligence officials in May after concluding that they opposed Trump.

    Since Gabbard took over as director, the federal government has revoked the security clearances of dozens of former and current officials, including high-profile political opponents of the president, which critics have panned as being a punishment for siding against Trump rather than posing security risks.

    President Trump and DNI Tulsi Gabbard

    The officers assigned to the task force will now return to other intelligence agencies. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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    Gabbard’s presence for a recent FBI search of a Georgia election office in connection to the 2020 election has led to criticism from Democrats who argue she is blurring the traditional lines between foreign intelligence collection and domestic law enforcement.

    The CIA has also released additional information about its investigations into the origins of COVID-19, such as an assessment released last year that affirmed the position that it most likely originated in a lab in China.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Republicans reject complaint about Tulsi Gabbard as Democrats question time it took to see it

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    The Republican leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have rejected a top-secret complaint from an anonymous government insider alleging that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard withheld classified information for political reasons.The responses this week from Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Rick Crawford mean the complaint is unlikely to proceed further, though Democratic lawmakers who also have seen the document said they continue to question why it took Gabbard’s office eight months to refer the complaint to Congress as required by law.Gabbard’s office has rejected any allegations of wrongdoing as well as criticism of the timeframe for the referral, saying the complaint included so many classified details that it necessitated an extensive legal and security review. Select lawmakers were able to view the complaint this week.Cotton wrote Thursday on X that he agreed with an earlier inspector general’s conclusion that the complaint did not appear to be credible. He said he believes the complaint was prompted by political opposition to Gabbard and the Trump administration.“To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like,” wrote the Arkansas Republican, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.When asked about the complaint, Cotton’s office referred to his social media post.Crawford, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, also of Arkansas, said he believes the complaint was an attempt to smear Gabbard’s reputation.Democrats are pushing for explanations about why it took Gabbard’s office months to refer the complaint to the required members of Congress. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the law requires such a report to be sent within 21 days.“The law is clear,” Warner said Thursday at the Capitol. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”Warner said he also still has questions about the details of the complaint, noting that it was heavily redacted.The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said in a written statement that he will keep looking into the matter.In a memo sent to lawmakers this week, the intelligence community’s inspector general said the complaint also accused Gabbard’s office of general counsel of failing to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice. The memo, which contains redactions, does not offer further details of either allegation.Last June, then-inspector general Tamara Johnson found that the claim Gabbard distributed classified information along political lines did not appear to be credible, according to the current watchdog, Christopher Fox. Johnson was “unable to assess the apparent credibility” of the accusation about the general counsel’s office, Fox wrote in the memo.Fox said he would have deemed the complaint non-urgent, unlike the previous inspector general, but respected the decision of his predecessor and therefore sent it to lawmakers.Copies of the top-secret complaint were hand-delivered this week to the “Gang of Eight” — a group comprised of the House and Senate leaders from both parties as well as the four top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees.Andrew Bakaj, the attorney for the person who made the complaint, has said that while he cannot discuss the details of the report or the identity of its author, there is no justification for keeping it from Congress since last spring.A former CIA officer and now the chief legal counsel at Whistleblower Aid, Bakaj said he has heard significant redactions were made to the complaint before it was given to members of Congress.“Given the extensive redactions we understand exist, even in the version provided to the Gang of Eight, it seems unlikely anyone could reasonably and in a non-partisan manner reach the conclusions issued by Sen. Cotton,” Bakaj wrote in a statement to The Associated Press.Gabbard coordinates the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. She has recently drawn attention for another matter — appearing on site last week when the FBI served a search warrant on election offices in Georgia that are central to Trump’s disproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

    WASHINGTON —

    The Republican leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have rejected a top-secret complaint from an anonymous government insider alleging that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard withheld classified information for political reasons.

    The responses this week from Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Rick Crawford mean the complaint is unlikely to proceed further, though Democratic lawmakers who also have seen the document said they continue to question why it took Gabbard’s office eight months to refer the complaint to Congress as required by law.

    Gabbard’s office has rejected any allegations of wrongdoing as well as criticism of the timeframe for the referral, saying the complaint included so many classified details that it necessitated an extensive legal and security review. Select lawmakers were able to view the complaint this week.

    Cotton wrote Thursday on X that he agreed with an earlier inspector general’s conclusion that the complaint did not appear to be credible. He said he believes the complaint was prompted by political opposition to Gabbard and the Trump administration.

    “To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like,” wrote the Arkansas Republican, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.

    When asked about the complaint, Cotton’s office referred to his social media post.

    Crawford, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, also of Arkansas, said he believes the complaint was an attempt to smear Gabbard’s reputation.

    Democrats are pushing for explanations about why it took Gabbard’s office months to refer the complaint to the required members of Congress. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the law requires such a report to be sent within 21 days.

    “The law is clear,” Warner said Thursday at the Capitol. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”

    Warner said he also still has questions about the details of the complaint, noting that it was heavily redacted.

    The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said in a written statement that he will keep looking into the matter.

    In a memo sent to lawmakers this week, the intelligence community’s inspector general said the complaint also accused Gabbard’s office of general counsel of failing to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice. The memo, which contains redactions, does not offer further details of either allegation.

    Last June, then-inspector general Tamara Johnson found that the claim Gabbard distributed classified information along political lines did not appear to be credible, according to the current watchdog, Christopher Fox. Johnson was “unable to assess the apparent credibility” of the accusation about the general counsel’s office, Fox wrote in the memo.

    Fox said he would have deemed the complaint non-urgent, unlike the previous inspector general, but respected the decision of his predecessor and therefore sent it to lawmakers.

    Copies of the top-secret complaint were hand-delivered this week to the “Gang of Eight” — a group comprised of the House and Senate leaders from both parties as well as the four top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

    Andrew Bakaj, the attorney for the person who made the complaint, has said that while he cannot discuss the details of the report or the identity of its author, there is no justification for keeping it from Congress since last spring.

    A former CIA officer and now the chief legal counsel at Whistleblower Aid, Bakaj said he has heard significant redactions were made to the complaint before it was given to members of Congress.

    “Given the extensive redactions we understand exist, even in the version provided to the Gang of Eight, it seems unlikely anyone could reasonably and in a non-partisan manner reach the conclusions issued by Sen. Cotton,” Bakaj wrote in a statement to The Associated Press.

    Gabbard coordinates the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. She has recently drawn attention for another matter — appearing on site last week when the FBI served a search warrant on election offices in Georgia that are central to Trump’s disproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

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  • Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon calls for ICE to

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    Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon calls for ICE to “surround the polls” in November – CBS News









































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    Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has called on President Trump to deploy ICE agents to voting sites during the midterm elections. CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro has more.

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  • Commentary: Tulsi Gabbard is supposed to keep America safe. She’s only looking out for herself

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    Tulsi Gabbard’s political journey has been anything but straightforward.

    As a teenager, she worked for her father, a prominent anti-gay activist, and his political organization, which opposed same-sex marriage. In 2002, she was elected to Hawaii’s House of Representatives, becoming — at age 21 — the youngest person to serve in the Legislature.

    Gabbard was a Democrat and remained so for two decades, as she cycled from the statehouse to Honolulu’s City Council to the U.S. House of Representatives.

    In 2020, she ran for president, renouncing her anti-LGBTQ views and apologizing for her earlier stance. She was a Bernie Sanders acolyte and a fierce critic of Donald Trump and, especially, his foreign policy. She denounced him at one point for “being Saudi Arabia’s bitch.”

    Now, Gabbard is MAGA down to her stocking feet.

    Despite no obvious qualifications — save for her fawning appearances on Fox News — Trump selected her to be the director of national intelligence, the nation’s spymaster-in-chief. Despite no earthly reason, Gabbard was present last week when the FBI conducted a heavy-handed raid at the Fulton County elections office in Georgia, pursuing a harebrained theory the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

    Instead of, say, poring over the latest intelligence gleanings from Ukraine or Gaza, Gabbard stood watch as a team of flak-jacketed agents carted off hundreds of boxes of ballots and other election materials.

    That’ll keep the homeland safe.

    But as bizarre and unaccountable as it was, Gabbard’s presence outside Atlanta did make a certain amount of sense. She’s a longtime dabbler in crackpot conspiracies. And she’ll bend, like a swaying palm, whichever way the prevailing winds blow.

    Some refer to her as the “Manchurian candidate,” said John Hart, a communication professor at Hawaii Pacific University, referring to the malleable cipher in the famous political thriller. In a different world, he suggested, Gabbard might have been Sanders’ running mate.

    “It does take a certain amount of flexibility to think that someone who could have been the Democratic VP is now in Trump’s cabinet,” Hart observed.

    The job of the nation’s director of national intelligence — a position created to address some of the failings that led to the 9/11 attacks — is to act as the president’s top intelligence adviser, synthesizing voluminous amounts of foreign, military and domestic information to help defend the country and protect its interests abroad.

    It has nothing whatsoever to do with re-litigating U.S. elections, or tending to the bruised feelings of an onion-skinned president.

    The job is supposed to be nonpartisan and apolitical, which should go without saying. Except it needs to be said in this time when all roads (and the actions of each cabinet member) lead to Trump, his ego, his whims and his insecurities.

    There were ample signs Gabbard was a spectacularly bad pick for intelligence chief.

    She blamed NATO and the Biden administration for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She claimed the U.S. was funding dangerous biological laboratories in the country — “parroting fake Russian propaganda,” in the words of then-Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.

    She opposed U.S. aid to the rebels fighting Bashar Assad, met with Syria’s then-dictator and defended him against allegations he used chemical weapons against his own people.

    She defended Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, who were indicted for masterminding two of the biggest leaks of intelligence secrets in U.S. history.

    Still, Gabbard was narrowly confirmed by the Senate, 52 to 48. The vote, almost entirely along party lines, was an inauspicious start and nothing since had dispelled lawmakers’ well-placed lack of confidence.

    Trump brushed aside Gabbard’s congressional testimony on Iran’s nuclear capabilities — “I don’t care what she said” — and bombed the country’s nuclear facilities. The putative intelligence chief was apparently irrelevant in the administration’s ouster of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

    Her bizarre presence in Georgia — where Gabbard reportedly arranged for FBI agents to make a post-raid call to the president — looks like nothing more than a way to worm her way back into his good graces.

    (Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that a U.S. intelligence official has filed a whistleblower complaint against Gabbard, which is caught up in wrangling over sharing details with Congress.)

    California Sen. Adam Schiff said it’s “patently obvious to everyone Gabbard lacks the capability and credibility” to lead the country’s intelligence community.

    “She has been sidelined by the White House, ignored by the agencies, and has zero credibility with Congress,” the Democrat wrote in an email. She’s responded by parroting Trump’s Big Lie “complete with cosplaying [a] secret agent in Fulton County and violating all norms and rules by connecting the President of the United States with line law enforcement officers executing a warrant. The only contribution that Tulsi Gabbard can make now would be to resign.”

    Back in Hawaii, the former congresswoman has been in bad odor for years.

    “It started with the criticism of President Obama” — a revered Hawaii native — over foreign policy “and a sense in Hawaii that she was more interested in appearing on the national media than working for the state,” said Colin Moore, a University of Hawaii political science professor and another longtime Gabbard watcher.

    “Hawaii politicians have, with a few exceptions, tended to be kind of low-drama dealmakers, not the sort who attract national attention,” Moore said. “The goal is to rise in seniority and bring benefits back to the state. And that was never the model Tulsi followed.”

    In recent years, as she sidled into Trump’s orbit, Hawaiian sightings of Gabbard have been few and far between, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, a statewide nonprofit news organization. Not that she’s been terribly missed in the deeply Democratic state.

    “I’ve heard some less-charitable people say, ‘Don’t let the door hit your [rear end] on the way out,” said Hart.

    But it’s not as though Gabbard’s ascension to director of intelligence was Hawaii’s loss and America’s gain. It’s been America’s loss, too.

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    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 current and former government officials

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    The Trump administration moved Tuesday to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials in the latest act of retribution targeting public servants in the federal government’s intelligence community.Related video from January above: White House press secretary comments on Gen. Milley’s security clearance being pulledA memo posted by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, accuses the targeted officials of having engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance partisan goals, as well as a failure to safeguard classified information and a “failure to adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards.”The action, coming months after an even broader clearance suspension on his first day in office, is part of a broader campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration to scrutinize the judgments of intelligence officials he personally disagrees with. Critics of his approach have said it risks chilling dissenting voices within the government.”These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a statement.Many of the officials who were singled out left the government years ago. Some worked on matters that have long provoked Trump’s ire, including the intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf, or have openly criticized him.Gabbard, in the last month, has declassified a series of years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assessment on Russian election interference.

    WASHINGTON —

    The Trump administration moved Tuesday to revoke the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials in the latest act of retribution targeting public servants in the federal government’s intelligence community.

    Related video from January above: White House press secretary comments on Gen. Milley’s security clearance being pulled

    A memo posted by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, accuses the targeted officials of having engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance partisan goals, as well as a failure to safeguard classified information and a “failure to adhere to professional analytic tradecraft standards.”

    The action, coming months after an even broader clearance suspension on his first day in office, is part of a broader campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration to scrutinize the judgments of intelligence officials he personally disagrees with. Critics of his approach have said it risks chilling dissenting voices within the government.

    “These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer whose own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, said in a statement.

    Many of the officials who were singled out left the government years ago. Some worked on matters that have long provoked Trump’s ire, including the intelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf, or have openly criticized him.

    Gabbard, in the last month, has declassified a series of years-old documents meant to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the assessment on Russian election interference.

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  • Trump’s Big New York Rally Has Been A Racist, Sexist, Freak Show

    Trump’s Big New York Rally Has Been A Racist, Sexist, Freak Show

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    Trump’s vanity Madison Square Garden rally has been a collection of the sort of racist and sexist freak show that is orbiting his presidential campaign.

    First, there was a racist comedian who made racist comments about Puerto Ricans, black people, and Latinos.

    Later came a parade of New York House Republicans all there to proclaim that New York, where Trump got 37% of the vote in 2020 is Trump country.

    Speaker Mike Johnson showed to unconvincingly promise victory:

    Vivek Ramaswamy claimed that woke and believing in climate change makes millennials depressed and suicidal:

    We’ve also had appearances from Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr.

    Tucker Carlson showed up to continue his obsession with young girls:

    JD Vance, the other half of the weirdest ticket in presidential election history, spoke.

    Trump was originally thought to have been speaking about 90 minutes ago, as this event is well into its third hour.

    This was supposed to be Trump’s big event to show how much much New York loves him. Instead it has been an oddball circus that Democrats how extreme and out of step MAGA is the the American mainstream.

    Instead of holding a full day of multiple events as Kamala Harris has done in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump is throwing a party for himself in a state that he has no chance of winning as he doubles down on extremism.

    To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.

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    Jason Easley

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  • I’m With Her: Tulsi Gabbard Makes It Official, Shocks Trump With Announcement She’s Joining Republican Party

    I’m With Her: Tulsi Gabbard Makes It Official, Shocks Trump With Announcement She’s Joining Republican Party

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    Credit: Screenshot via LiveNOW from Fox

    The Republican Party may have lost a morally bankrupt former Representative in Liz Cheney, but they just gained a red-pilled Tulsi Gabbard in exchange. The GOP even tossed in benchwarmer Adam Kinzinger in the exchange.

    And it’s still the most lopsided trade since Herschel Walker went to the Vikings in exchange for 12 players and eventually three Super Bowls for the Dallas Cowboys.

    Gabbard, a one-time Democrat candidate for President and former congresswoman from Hawaii, has been flirting with conservative ideology for some time now. More so, she’s viewed her party as the gender-confused conglomeration of woke Marxists they’ve become.

    Now, she’s crossing over.

    She made the transformation official in an announcement at a rally for former President Donald Trump in North Carolina Tuesday. And the crowd ate it up.

    Tulsi Gabbard Announces She’s Switching To Republican Party

    Trump offered Tulsi Gabbard a few moments to speak at his rally where she wowed the Republican and conservative crowd.

    “To those of you here or those watching at home who are independent-minded people like myself, who love our country and are committed to the Constitution and to freedom, the Democratic Party has no home for people like us,” Gabbard said.

    “But we do have a home in the Republican Party where we are welcomed with open arms by President Trump.”

    That’s when she delivered the shocker.

    “I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party,” Gabbard added.

    RELATED: Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Calls Hillary Clinton a ‘Dangerous Person’ Who is Incredibly Jealous of Joe Biden

    How Far She Has Come

    For his part, President Trump indicated that Tulsi Gabbard’s announcement that she is joining the Republican Party came as a surprise.

    “That was really … she’s been independent for a long time,” Trump said. “It’s a great thing, a great honor.”

    The face of the GOP indicated he “didn’t know” Gabbard was going to join his party.

    “That was a surprise,” he said.

    It was just two years ago that Gabbard announced she was leaving the Democrats. On the way out the door, she blasted her colleagues as being controlled by “warmongers” who stoke anti-white racism and are possessed by “cowardly wokeness.”

    Cheney and Kinzinger fit right in. Cheney, the warmonger. Adam, the coward.

    In her announcement, Gabbard accused her former party of demonizing law enforcement while “protect(ing) criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans,” and said Democrats “believe in open borders” and are willing to “weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents.”

    She ain’t wrong.

    Some Republicans will view the move by Tulsi Gabbard with a suspicious eye. To be sure, she still holds some objectionable views on the Second Amendment.

    But her inclusion in the effort to save our country is part of the ‘big tent’ strategy that Democrats so desperately pretend they employ when, in reality, it’s the Republican Party standing there with arms wide open.

    One thing is for certain: we live in interesting times.

    Trump Responds After ‘Punk’ Obama Adviser Claims He Will ‘Try To Steal the Election’

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    Rusty Weiss

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  • Trump visits North Carolina; continues attacks on Kamala Harris, calling her a “Radical Left Lunatic”

    Trump visits North Carolina; continues attacks on Kamala Harris, calling her a “Radical Left Lunatic”

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    “This state was once the beating heart of the nation, but Kamala Harris and the Democrats have sold you out,” Trump said on Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice

    GREENSBORO – It was hard not to notice the difference. When United States Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally at the Greensboro Coliseum on September 12, the 22,000 seat stadium was nearly at capacity. For former United States President Donald Trump’s rally on Tuesday, October 22, both the upper deck and the sides of the arena were curtained off, leaving only one side of the lower bowl – and few dozen chairs on the floor – available for seating. There were about 1,000 supporters relegated to standing room only, for a total of about 7,500 in attendance.

    Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice

    Still, the supporters were as loud and as vocal as ever, clad in MAGA hats and tee-shirts, listening to a familiar playlist of approved tunes prior to the beginning of the program. A video was shown on the big screen monitors with a recorded message from Trump making more than a few controversial statements, but ones still consistent with his message.

    ·      He accused the Democrats of cheating, saying it was the only thing Democrats do well.

    ·      He promised to end early voting.

    ·      He said there will be a return to paper ballots.

    ·      He said that what happened in 2020 must never be allowed to happen again – presumably a reference to his claim that the election was rigged and stolen, and that he was the rightful winner.  

    ·      He continued to take shots at Harris and President Joe Biden, calling him crooked and her the worst Vice President in history.

    Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice

    Taking the stage before Trump were Peter Navarro, an economic advisor in the Trump Administration, Addison McDowell, congressional candidate from the 6th District, Congresswoman Virginia Fox from the 5th District, and US Senator Ted Budd.

    Navarro blamed former President Bill Clinton for signing NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which he said was the beginning of China’s economic power and the decline of America’s. He compared Harris to Clinton and former President Barack Obama, saying she was “Clinton and Obama in a pants suit.”

    He then told the assembled audience that if they yelled loud enough, Trump’s plane would arrive faster. The crowd happily obliged him with a loud ovation. Navarro was the first former White House official ever imprisoned on a Contempt of Congress Charge for his part in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 Election. He served four months in a minimum security prison in Miami.

    McDowell then took the stage and blamed the border crisis on Harris.

    “This election is personal for me,” McDowell said. “I lost my younger brother to a Fentanyl overdose. I say to Kamala Harris ‘Shame on you’.  You have continued to fail us. You have allowed millions of illegal immigrants into our country. It’s time to put America first.”

    Congresswoman Fox said we can make history by electing Trump as president 45 and 47. However, if Trump does win this election, he would not be the first man to serve two non-consecutive terms. That would be Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd and the 24th president.

    Senator Budd also attacked Harris, saying that under leadership, our lives are unsafe and unaffordable.

    “We have lost our security and the American Dream,” Budd said. “She took our country on a reckless spending spree. She has had four years in office, why didn’t she fix the economy?” Budd asked, neglecting to mention that Harris is the Vice President, not the President.

    All of the Trump surrogates advocated for audience members to get out and vote early, and to take 10 people to the polls with them. It was an interesting request considering Trump’s promise that if elected, he would end early voting.

    When Trump finally arrived, he opened with a criticism of the federal response to hurricanes Helene and Milton but promised that residents would still be able to vote. The speech then went into a myriad of different topics with his familiar rambling style. He made fun of Kamala Harris’ name, said Biden likes him better than he likes Harris, said Obama was looking old, and called Tim Walz the stupidest man he’s ever seen. He then called his running mate JV Vance a brilliant man.

    “Kamala Harris is a radical left lunatic,” Trump said. “We are a failing nation. We won twice here in North Carolina. We won twice everywhere to be honest,” he said, still perpetuating the idea that he won the 2020 election. He then took a moment to call out the fake news, encouraging the crowd to turn and look at the press and boo, as he does at nearly all of his rallies.

    “About nine percent of the press are honest people. If we had a press that wrote the truth we would be a lot better as a country,” Trump said.

    In an appeal to North Carolina voters, Trump said it was the fault of the Democrats that manufacturing jobs disappeared under their leadership.

    “This state was once the beating heart of the nation, but Kamala Harris and the Democrats have sold you out,” Trump said.

    He referred to the Green New Deal as a scam, and said he will end it on his first day in office. He called global warming nonsense and warned of impending nuclear war.  

    “We’re close to World War three,” Trump said. “We have very stupid people running things. If I’m elected, that will not happen.” He also said that Putin would never have attacked Ukraine if he were president.

    He vowed to cut energy prices by 50 percent within one year, cut interest rates, gas and grocery prices.

    “Our country is being crippled and destroyed by Kamala Harris,” Trump said.

    “When I am inaugurated on January 20, America will be bigger, bolder and stronger. We will begin the four greatest years in history.” In his closing remarks, Trump wondered aloud if Harris was drunk, on drugs, and said she lied like a dog. He also mispronounced Tim Walz’ name several times, accused Harris of flying migrant criminals into the country from prisons and insane asylums, and said she was not mentally or physically able to do the job.

    “If you want to end this disaster, go out and vote,” Trump said. “This (referring to his campaign) is the single greatest movement in the history of the country.”

    To close out the rally, Tulsi Gabbard made an appearance. She called out Harris for being pro-war. Gabbard served in Congress as a Democrat, representing Hawaii’s 2nd District from 2013 to 2021.

    “People like us have a home in the Republican party,” Gabbard said. “I am proud to stand here tonight and announce that I am joining the Republican Party. I am joining the party of people, the party of common sense, and supporting the candidate with the courage to fight for peace.”

    To the surprise of no one, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for Governor who was previously endorsed by Trump, was nowhere to be seen. 

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    Carla Peay

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  • Donald Trump holds town hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin with Tulsi Gabbard as moderator

    Donald Trump holds town hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin with Tulsi Gabbard as moderator

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    LA CROSSE, Wis. — Donald Trump campaigned Thursday in Michigan and Wisconsin as the former president ramps up battleground state travel heading into the traditional Labor Day turn toward the fall election.

    Trump’s intense focus on recapturing states he won in 2016 but lost narrowly in 2020 continues with stops in the middle of Michigan and western Wisconsin.

    Trump visited La Crosse on Thursday evening for a town hall moderated by former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed him in Detroit. It is Trump’s first visit to Wisconsin since the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which ended three days before President Biden dropped out of the race and made way for Vice President Kamala Harris.  

    Trump supporters started lining up in the early morning hours to get into the event. While all available seats were taken, several thousand were in attendance. It’s a smaller venue than Trump usually addresses. Trump likes late, packed rallies, but has admitted his advisors have been pressuring him to stay on message, and they believe the smaller format enhances his ability to do so.

    During one speech on Thursday, Trump said if he wins a second term, he wants to make IVF treatment free for women but did not detail how he would fund his plan or precisely how it would work.

    “I’m announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for — or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for — all costs associated with IVF treatment,” he said at an event in Michigan. “Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.”

    Gabbard opened the town hall by talking about her own IVF journey, giving herself injections in airport bathrooms and the heartbreak of failed embryo transfers. While the treatments ultimately didn’t work for her, she applauded Trump’s proposal.

    “I can’t tell you how life-changing that would be for so many families,” she said.

    Donald Trump Campaigns For President In La Crosse, Wisconsin
    LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 29: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a town hall campaign event with former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) on August 29, 2024 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Trump is campaigning in key battleground states ahead of the November presidential election.

    / Getty Images


    Trump first came out in favor of IVF in February after the Alabama state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, briefly pausing treatment and sparking national backlash.

    Trump has since claimed the Republican party is a “leader” on the issue, even as at least 23 bills aiming to establish fetal personhood have been introduced in 13 states so far this legislative session, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. That kind of legislation, which asserts that life begins at conception, could imperil fertility treatments that involve the storage, transportation and destruction of embryos.

    IVF can costs tens of thousands of dollars for medical appointments, medication and surgery, and is not covered by many health insurance plans.

    Trump has in general been opposed to various kinds of federal mandates, and originally ran against the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — which included popular provisions like protections for people with preexisting health conditions.

    In a statement, Harris’ campaign said Trump shouldn’t be believed.

    “Trump lies as much if not more than he breathes, but voters aren’t stupid,” said Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Sarafina Chitika. “Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country. There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”

    During the town hall, Trump also took aim at Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

    “Minnesota, they picked this guy. He is a weird dude. I’m not weird. He’s weird,” Trump said. “I would love to win Minnesota because these people aren’t digging this guy.”

    Trump’s recent campaign push in battleground states 

    Trump started his day on Thursday with a rally in Potterville, Michigan, near the state capital of Lansing. Trump won Eaton County, where part of Lansing is located, in both 2016 and 2020, but by a smaller margin the second time. It will be his third visit to the state in the past nine days and second this week after a speech to the National Guard Association in Detroit on Monday.

    Trump’s visits come three days after his campaign staffers were accused of pushing a female employee at Arlington National Cemetery.

    He was at the cemetery for a visit with Gold Star families who lost loved ones during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. An Army spokesperson said the incident was “unfortunate,” and added it was “also unfortunate” that the “employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked.”

    Along with Pennsylvania, which Trump will visit on Friday, these three Midwestern states make up a northern industrial bloc Democrats carried for two decades before Trump won them in 2016. Biden recaptured them on his way to the White House in 2020.

    Trump and his vice-presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have blitzed the battleground states in recent weeks, with Vance in both states this week as well.  

    The battleground offensive comes as a reinvigorated Democratic Party rallies around Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

    Harris and Walz are aiming to leverage the surge in enthusiasm among the party’s base since her campaign launch just over a month ago. They hope this excitement — which was on full display at last week’s convention in Chicago — will extend to more moderate areas as they embark on a two-day bus tour in Georgia, including events in the state’s rural southern regions.

    Trump’s events in Michigan and Wisconsin are both in swing congressional districts.

    Potterville is in Michigan’s 7th District, which features a mix of Republican-dominated counties like Clinton and Shiawassee, and Democratic strongholds such as Ingham, home to the state Capitol and Michigan State University. This district is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive this fall following incumbent Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s decision to run for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

    La Crosse, meanwhile, is a hub within Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, where Republican Derrick Van Orden won narrowly in 2022. Democrat Rebecca Cooke won the Aug. 13 primary to face him in November.

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  • Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for 2020 Democratic nomination, endorses Donald Trump

    Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for 2020 Democratic nomination, endorses Donald Trump

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    Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the party she sought to represent four years ago and linking herself to the GOP nominee’s critiques of Vice President Kamala Harris and the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal.Appearing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a National Guard veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, said that the GOP nominee “understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears for every single one of our lives.”The pair appeared at the National Guard Association of the United States on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, when the former president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members – Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort.” She condemned the Democratic White House for the U.S. now “facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”Gabbard has long signaled some level of support for Trump, even while she sat in the U.S. House as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the only lawmaker to vote “present” when the House of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.Gabbard’s endorsement of the rival nominee to her former party represents a polar swing from her position as a Democrat representing Hawaii in the U.S. House, although Gabbard was known during her four terms for taking positions at odds with her own party’s establishment. She was an early and vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary run, which made her popular with progressives.Not seeking reelection in 2020, Gabbard ran for president herself instead, saying U.S. wars in the Middle East destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives, and that Democrats and Republicans shared the blame. She tore into Harris’ record during a primary debate and ultimately outlasted her in that race, which President Joe Biden ultimately won.Gabbard endorsed Biden but became an independent two years later, saying the Democratic Party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. In the years since she has campaigned for several high-profile Republicans, become a contributor to Fox News and started a podcast.Another former Democratic presidential contender also just recently endorsed Trump. Last week, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who last year ran as a Democrat challenging President Joe Biden for the nomination – suspended his campaign and said he was backing Trump in the general election.

    Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, furthering her shift away from the party she sought to represent four years ago and linking herself to the GOP nominee’s critiques of Vice President Kamala Harris and the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal.

    Appearing Monday with Trump in Detroit, Gabbard, a National Guard veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, said that the GOP nominee “understands the grave responsibility that a president and commander in chief bears for every single one of our lives.”

    The pair appeared at the National Guard Association of the United States on the third anniversary of the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 100 Afghans. Gabbard accompanied Trump earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, when the former president laid wreaths in honor of three of the slain service members – Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.

    On Monday, Gabbard praised Trump for “having the courage to meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike in the pursuit of peace, seeing war as a last resort.” She condemned the Democratic White House for the U.S. now “facing multiple wars on multiple fronts in regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before.”

    Gabbard has long signaled some level of support for Trump, even while she sat in the U.S. House as a Democrat. In 2019, she was the only lawmaker to vote “present” when the House of Representatives impeached Trump for his dealings with Ukraine.

    Gabbard’s endorsement of the rival nominee to her former party represents a polar swing from her position as a Democrat representing Hawaii in the U.S. House, although Gabbard was known during her four terms for taking positions at odds with her own party’s establishment. She was an early and vocal supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential primary run, which made her popular with progressives.

    Not seeking reelection in 2020, Gabbard ran for president herself instead, saying U.S. wars in the Middle East destabilized the region, made the U.S. less safe and cost thousands of American lives, and that Democrats and Republicans shared the blame. She tore into Harris’ record during a primary debate and ultimately outlasted her in that race, which President Joe Biden ultimately won.

    Gabbard endorsed Biden but became an independent two years later, saying the Democratic Party was dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke” ideologues. In the years since she has campaigned for several high-profile Republicans, become a contributor to Fox News and started a podcast.

    Another former Democratic presidential contender also just recently endorsed Trump. Last week, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – who last year ran as a Democrat challenging President Joe Biden for the nomination – suspended his campaign and said he was backing Trump in the general election.

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  • Tulsi Gabbard Fast Facts | CNN Politics

    Tulsi Gabbard Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of former US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who represented Hawaii’s 2nd District and was a 2020 presidential candidate.

    Birth date: April 12, 1981

    Birth place: Leloaloa, American Samoa

    Birth name: Tulsi Gabbard

    Father: Mike Gabbard, Hawaii state senator

    Mother: Carol (Porter) Gabbard, former Hawaii Board of Education member

    Marriages: Abraham Williams (2015-present); Eduardo Tamayo (2002-2006, divorced)

    Education: Hawaii Pacific University, B.S.B.A., 2009

    Military service: Hawaii Army National Guard, 2003-2020, Major; US Army Reserve, 2020-present, Lieutenant Colonel

    Religion: Hinduism

    As a teenager, co-founded Healthy Hawai’i Coalition, an environmental non-profit.

    She is the first American Samoan congresswoman and first practicing Hindu member of the US Congress.

    She is an avid surfer.

    2002 – At age 21, is elected to the Hawaii State House to represent West Oahu, making her the youngest woman ever elected to the state legislature.

    2003 – Enlists in the Hawaii Army National Guard. She completes her basic training between legislative sessions.

    2004-2005 – Gabbard’s unit is activated, and she voluntarily deploys, serving with a field medical unit in Iraq.

    2006-2009 – Legislative aide to Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.

    2007 – Graduates from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy. This makes Gabbard the first woman in the Academy’s 50-year history to earn the title of the distinguished honor graduate.

    2008-2009 – Gabbard deploys to Kuwait, training counterterrorism units.

    November 2, 2010 – Is elected to the Honolulu City Council.

    2011 – Founds the film production company, Kanu Productions.

    November 6, 2012 – Defeats David “Kawika” Crowley in the 2nd Congressional District of Hawaii for the US House of Representatives.

    January 22, 2013 – Elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

    August 28, 2013 – Aniruddha Sherbow is apprehended in Tijuana, Mexico, after making threats against Gabbard that the FBI and US Capitol Police “deemed credible.” Sherbow is later sentenced to 33 months in prison.

    October 12, 2015 – On CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Gabbard says she was disinvited from a Democratic presidential debate after voicing a call for more of them.

    October 12, 2015 – Is promoted by the Hawaii Army National Guard from captain to major at a ceremony in Hawaii.

    November 20, 2015 – Calls for the United States to let Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remain in power.

    February 28, 2016 – On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Gabbard announces her decision to step down as DNC vice chair to endorse Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid.

    November 21, 2016 – Meets with President-elect Donald Trump. “President-elect Trump asked me to meet with him about our current policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other foreign policy challenges we face,” Gabbard says in a statement.

    January 25, 2017 – Gabbard tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that she met with Assad during an unannounced, four-day trip to Syria. “When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt that it’s important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we can achieve peace,” Gabbard says.

    January 31, 2017 – Facing criticism, Gabbard issues a statement saying that she will personally pay for her trip to Syria.

    April 7, 2017 – Gabbard claims she’s “skeptical” that Assad’s regime was behind a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens in Syria though the President, secretary of state and Pentagon officials found that Assad’s regime was responsible for the attack.

    November 21, 2018 – Gabbard refers to Trump as “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” in a tweet after he issues a statement backing Saudi Arabia in the wake of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

    January 11, 2019 – Gabbard tells CNN’s Van Jones she will run for president in 2020, during an interview slated to air on January 12. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I’m concerned about and that I want to help solve,” she says.

    January 17, 2019 – Gabbard issues an apology for her past comments and actions against the LGBTQ community following CNN reporting that she supported her father’s anti-gay organization, The Alliance for Traditional Marriage. Gabbard had previously apologized in 2012 while running for Congress.

    January 20, 2019 – Gabbard says that she does not regret meeting with Assad in 2017, adding that American leaders must meet with foreign leaders “if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country.”

    February 2, 2019 – Gabbard officially launches her 2020 presidential campaign at an event in Hawaii.

    October 17, 2019 – In a podcast interview, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton suggests that the Russians are “grooming” a current Democratic presidential candidate to run as a third-party and champion their interests. The comment appears to be directed at Gabbard, who has previously been accused of being boosted by Russia. In her response, Gabbard calls Clinton “the queen of warmongers,” and concludes, “It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.”

    October 24, 2019 – Gabbard releases a campaign video announcing that she won’t run for reelection to Congress in 2020.

    December 18, 2019 – Votes “present” on both articles of impeachment against Trump.

    January 22, 2020 – Gabbard files a defamation lawsuit against Clinton, alleging the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee “lied” about Gabbard’s ties to Russia. She drops the defamation lawsuit in May.

    March 19, 2020 – Ends her 2020 presidential campaign and endorses former Vice President Joe Biden.

    October 11, 2022 – Gabbard announces that she is leaving the Democratic Party. She does not indicate which party she will be affiliated with moving forward but calls on “independent-minded Democrats” to join her in leaving.

    January 9, 2024 – Social media platform X announces a content partnership with Gabbard.

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  • Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard writing book on leaving Democrats

    Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard writing book on leaving Democrats

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii who clashed often with her party and eventually left it, has a memoir coming out Oct. 10.

    Gabbard’s memoir, currently untitled, is the first of a two-book deal with Regnery Publishing, the longtime conservative publisher. Regnery is calling the book the “full story of her electrifying break” with the Democrats. Gabbard served in the House of Representatives from 2013-2021, and over time would become a prominent critic of party leadership, including on its support for Ukraine against the Russians. Gabbard once called Hillary Clinton the “embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.” She endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ run against Clinton for the 2016 presidential party nomination and briefly ran herself for the 2020 election before dropping out and backing the eventual winner, Joe Biden.

    In recent years, she was a frequent guest on the Fox network and is now a paid contributor. Last October, she left the Democrats, saying they were dominated by an “elitist cabal of warmongers” and “woke Democratic Party ideologues,” and supported numerous Republican candidates in the fall’s elections.

    “This book will share my experiences at the highest level of Democratic politics, and why I can no longer call myself a Democrat,” Gabbard, 41, said in a statement Monday. “Today’s Democratic Party is unrecognizable from the party I joined 20 years ago.”

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  • Joe Rogan Claims School Has Litter Box For Girl Identifying As Cat

    Joe Rogan Claims School Has Litter Box For Girl Identifying As Cat

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    Did this litter-aly happen? On the October 11 episode of his Joe Rogan Experience Spotify podcast, Rogan claimed that a school “had to install a litter box in the girls room because there is a girl who’s a furry, who identifies as an animal.” He went on to assert that “her mother badgered the school until they agreed to put a litter box in one of the stalls.” And in case you were wondering what one might do in a litter box, Rogan got quite litter-all by adding, “So this girl goes into the litter room or to the girl’s room and urinates or whatever — I don’t know if she poops in it, that’s pretty gross.” Later on, Rogan dumped even more on this, saying, “Use a [expletive] bathroom. It’s sanitary. It’s much better. Like, you want your house to smell like human pee?” Yeah, if this were indeed happening, then you’d think the local health department might have an issue with such arrangements. If this were happening, that is.

    So how did Rogan find out about all of this and what evidence did he provide to support this story? Well, apparently, according to Rogan, “My friend, his wife is a schoolteacher, and she works at” the said school. But Rogan did not give the actual names of the people involved or the name of the school or the location of the school. In fact, he didn’t give too many more details beyond what you can see in the video accompanying the following tweet:

    So essentially all Rogan left you with was this happened at my-friend’s-wife’s-school. Hmm, does that sound a little like the my-cousin’s-friend’s-balls-got-swollen-after-he-got-the-Covid-19-vaccine claim that Nicki Minaj had made about a year ago, which I covered for Forbes back in September 2021? It ended up being practically impossible to verify that ballsy claim since Minaj never really specified the name of the person who owned the testicles or made that person or his testicles available for interviews. Similarly, you’ve got to take Rogan’s story with a litter box full of salt until he provides more specifics that can allow everyone to actually double-check what he had said.

    During the episode, Rogan’s guest, Tulsi Gabbard, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021, listened to Rogan’s catty story without really questioning any of the assertions. In fact, later in the episode, Gabbard said, “There are no boundaries anymore” to which Rogan responded with, “Right. The teachers in the school and the school itself should have said no to the parent.”

    Speaking of no boundaries, these days there seems to be no boundaries as to what personalities and politicians can claim on podcasts, radio, TV, social media, and other platforms without providing hard evidence versus hardly no evidence. Rogan hasn’t been the only person to make such litter box claims. Looks like a number of politicians have been littering the airwaves with such furry-ious assertions. In fact, Tyler Kingkade, an investigative reporter for NBC News, put together “a thread of the 20 politicians who’ve falsely claimed this year that schools are accommodating who kids identify as cats, putting little boxes on campus for them [sic],” in his words:

    That thread included statements from U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), as you can see above, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), as you can see below:

    Litter boxes in schools bathrooms and hallways could be health code violations. But again, where is the evidence that such accommodations are being made in schools. And where is the evidence that there is a “growing crisis” in schools of people identifying as cats using a litter box in a hallway, as a Tennessee state lawmaker claimed in the video accompanying Kingkade’s tweet below:

    There is certainly no shortages of crises in the U.S. right now, ranging from the Covid-19 pandemic to the obesity epidemic to mass shootings to pollution and climate change. With all that, this is what legislators are spending their taxpayer-supported time talking about right now? And, once again, where exactly is the evidence supporting such cat-astrophic claims?

    If you really think that schools are providing litter boxes and allowing kids to take dumps in them in an unsanitary manner, why not contact public health officials? Have them investigate and collect real evidence on what is really occurring. It should be too difficult to investigate. An investigator can ask, “Is that a litter box?” And then if so, “what is it doing in the hallway?” Let science lead the way on what to do. And if you truly believe that all of this has become a “crisis,” maybe commission a study on it. That way you can get enough data to determine whether any real legislative action is necessary and maybe even get it into the scientific litter-ature.

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    Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor

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  • Tulsi Gabbard, who has held several offices and ran for president as a Democrat, said she is leaving the party

    Tulsi Gabbard, who has held several offices and ran for president as a Democrat, said she is leaving the party

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    Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii and 2020 presidential candidate, said she is no longer a member of the Democratic Party.

    In a video statement posted to Twitter, Gabbard explained her decision to leave, despite holding several offices as a Democrat since 2002, including vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016. 

    She said the party is “now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers” and said it is driven by “wokeness,” the term often used to describe political correctness.

    In her video, she accused the party of dividing Americans, among other things. “I believe in a government that is of, by, and for the people,” she said. “Unfortunately, today’s Democratic Party does not.”

    Gabbard said she believes the party “stands for a government of, by, and for the powerful elite,” and said she “can no longer stomach the direction that so-called woke Democratic Party ideologues are taking our country, I invite you to join me.”

    In a longer version of the video posted on YouTube, Gabbard said when she first declared herself a Democrat, she was inspired by those who stood up against the Vietnam War, people who fought for plantation workers in Hawaii and leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. However, she is now a critic of President Biden and the party. 

    The video was posted as the first episode on the “Tulsi Gabbard Show” YouTube page, which will also be a podcast by the same name, hosted by Gabbard. 

    Gabbard rose through the ranks as a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, a member of the Honolulu city council and then a Democratic member of U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first Hindu elected to Congress.

    In 2019, she announced her 2020 presidential campaign. She went up against nine other Democrats who dropped out during the primaries and was the second to last to drop out, just before Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont. Biden, the 10th candidate, remained as the party’s nominee and was later elected president. 

    Because she is a National Guard veteran, who did two tours in the Middle East, she took a two-week absence from her campaign to report for active duty with the Hawaiian Army National Guard in Indonesia.

    During the 2016 presidential election, she campaigned for candidate Bernie Sanders, but she has been tough on both Democrats and Republicans in the past.

    After Trump was elected, she met with the then-president-elect to discuss her opposition to creating a no-fly zone over Syria, saying it would “lead to more death and suffering.” She admitted the meeting was unusual but said partisanship will never “undermine our national security when the lives of countless people lay in the balance.”

    In 2018, Gabbard changed her tune, writing in a tweet that Trump is “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” for announcing the U.S. will stand with Saudi Arabia, regardless of any intelligence community assessment on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

    In 2019, she accused then-Sen. Kamala Harris, who was also running for president, of staging a “political ploy” to smear former Vice President Joe Biden’s reputation and his record on civil rights. She said on CBS News’ “Red & Blue” that Harris had been “leveling this accusation that Joe Biden is a racist — when he’s clearly not — as a way to try to smear him.” She also tweeted a similar sentiment. Harris never accused Biden of racial animus, and specifically said “I do not believe you are a racist” before confronting him on stage at the debate.

    In 2020 she sued Hillary Clinton, alleging in the lawsuit that Clinton lied about Gabbard when she made derogatory comments in October 2019 in an effort to hurt Gabbard’s bid for the White House. She eventually dropped the lawsuit.

    During her presidential campaign, she tried to appeal to independents and Trump voters with a populist, anti-war message, but struggled to gain support from mainstream Democrats during the primaries. “[S]he’s pulling from Trump voters. It could make it even tougher for Trump to win, particularly in states like Michigan and New Hampshire,” Steve Bannon told CBS News in January 2020.

    She did not seek reelection in Congress during her presidential run and left the chamber in 2021. She did, however, stay politically active and spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual conference attended by Republican voters and politicians. 

    Caitlin O’Kane


    caitlin-okane.jpg

    Caitlin O’Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.

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  • Tulsi Gabbard, who sought 2020 Democratic nomination, says she’s leaving party | CNN Politics

    Tulsi Gabbard, who sought 2020 Democratic nomination, says she’s leaving party | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Former congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced on Tuesday that she is leaving the Democratic Party.

    For Gabbard, the announcement is the culmination of years in which she has been increasingly at odds with the Democratic Party and its policies.

    “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party. It’s now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoking anti-white racism, who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution,” Gabbard said in a video posted to social media. The announcement was made on the first episode of her new podcast, “The Tulsi Gabbard Show.”

    Gabbard, who made history by becoming the first American Samoan and practicing Hindu in Congress following her election in 2012, also criticized what she said were Democrats’ “open border” policies and anti-police rhetoric.

    The former congresswoman, who represented Hawaii’s 2nd district, has long been a unique and occasionally controversial voice in the Democratic Party.

    As one of the Democratic presidential contenders in the crowded 2020 field, she touted herself as an Iraq War veteran and staked out a distinctly anti-interventionist foreign policy. On the campaign trail, she blamed US intervention in Latin America for creating instability that triggered the surge in migration across the southern US border and was a co-sponsor of several bills aimed at keeping migrant families together at the border.

    And when Gabbard was running for president, Hillary Clinton suggested in an interview that she was being groomed to run as a third-party candidate and was a favorite of the Russians. Clinton suggested that the person she was talking about was a “Russian asset,” while not naming the Hawaii Democrat.

    Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit over the matter that she subsequently dropped in May 2020.

    Gabbard endorsed Joe Biden after suspending her presidential campaign in 2020, but she has since been a vocal critic of the President and regularly appears on Fox News.

    “President Biden campaigned on a message of unity, healing the partisan divide bringing the country together. He just gave a big speech saying supporters of President (Donald) Trump are the most extremist group in our country and a threat to our democracy. That’s half the country,” she said in her announcement video on Tuesday.

    Gabbard also faced criticisms earlier this year from local Democrats who voted to condemn her “for participating in an event that raised funds that will harm Democrats across the country” after she spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

    The former congresswoman did not indicate which party she would be affiliated with moving forward but called on “independent-minded Democrats” to join her in leaving the Democratic Party.

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