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Tag: Vance

  • GOP coalescing behind Vance as Trump privately dismisses third-term run

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    WASHINGTON — When Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin this fall, Republican leaders credited the organization he founded for enabling President Trump’s return to power.

    Now that organization is mobilizing behind Vice President JD Vance.

    Uninterested in a competitive Republican primary in 2028, Turning Point USA plans to deploy representatives across Iowa’s 99 counties in the coming months to build the campaign infrastructure it believes could deliver Vance, a Midwesterner from nearby Ohio, a decisive victory, potentially short-circuiting a fractious GOP race, insiders said.

    It is the latest move in a quiet effort by some in Trump’s orbit to clear the field of viable competitors. Earlier this month, Marco Rubio, the secretary of State previously floated by Trump as a possible contender, appeared to take himself out of the running.

    “If Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair.

    After Kirk’s widow, Erika, endorsed Vance on stage at Turning Point USA’s annual conference in Arizona last week, a straw poll of attendees found that 84% would support Vance in the coming primaries. Yet, wider public polling offers a different picture.

    A CNN poll conducted in early December found that Vance held a plurality of Republican support for 2028, at 22%, with all other potential candidates, such as Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, registering in single digits.

    The remaining 64% told pollsters they had “no one specific in mind,” reflecting an open field with plenty of room for other figures to gain ground.

    While a recent Gallup poll found that 91% of Republicans approve of Vance’s job performance as vice president — an encouraging number entering a partisan primary — only 39% of Americans across party lines view him positively in the role, setting Vance up for potential challenges should he win the nomination.

    Potential presidential candidates on both sides of the political aisle are expected to assess their chances over the next year, before primary season officially kicks off, after the midterm elections in November.

    Closing out the Turning Point USA conference, Vance called for party unity amid escalating conflicts among right-wing influencers over the acceptability of racism and antisemitism within Republican politics.

    “President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance said. “Every American is invited. We don’t care if you’re white or Black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between.”

    Charlie Kirk, he added, “trusted all of you to make your own judgment. And we have far more important work to do than canceling each other.”

    Vance’s remarks drew criticism from some on the right for appearing to tolerate bigotry within the party. The vice president himself has been subjected to racist rhetoric, with Nick Fuentes — a far-right podcaster who has praised Adolf Hitler — repeatedly directing attacks at Vance’s wife and children over their Indian ancestry.

    “Let me be clear — anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat s—,” Vance said in an interview last week, referring to President Biden’s former press secretary. “That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States.”

    In the same interview, Vance praised Tucker Carlson, another far-right podcaster who has defended Fuentes on free speech grounds, as a “friend of mine,” noting that he supported Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick in 2024.

    Trump has floated Vance as his potential successor multiple times without ever explicitly endorsing his nomination, calling him “very capable” and the “most likely” choice for the party.

    “He’s the vice president,” Trump said in August. “Certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favored at this point.”

    Several of Trump’s most ardent supporters have pushed the president to seek a third term in 2028, despite a provision of the Constitution, in the 22nd Amendment, barring him from doing so.

    Trump himself has said the Constitution appears clear on the matter. But Steve Bannon, an architect of Trump’s historic 2016 campaign and one of his first White House strategists, continues to advocate a path forward for another run, reportedly disparaging Vance as “not tough enough” to lead the party to victory.

    “He knows he can’t run again,” Susie Wiles, the president’s White House chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in a recent profile of her. “It’s pretty unequivocal.”

    Trump, who will be 82 when he is slated to leave office, has told Wiles he understands a third term isn’t possible “a couple times,” she added.

    Alan Dershowitz, a prominent constitutional law professor and a lawyer to Trump during his Senate impeachment trial, recently presented Trump with a road map to a third term in an Oval Office meeting, which he will publish in a new book slated for release next year.

    Even he came away from their meeting believing Trump would pass on another bid.

    “That is my conclusion based on what he has said in public,” Dershowitz told The Times.

    “He has said in the past,” he added, “that it’s too cute.”

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    Michael Wilner

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  • Commentary: He’s loud. He’s obnoxious. And Kamala Harris can only envy JD Vance

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    JD Vance, it seems, is everywhere.

    Berating Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Eulogizing Charlie Kirk. Babysitting the Middle East peace accord. Profanely defending the aquatic obliteration of (possible) drug smugglers.

    He’s loud, he’s obnoxious and, in a very short time, he’s broken unprecedented ground with his smash-face, turn-it-to-11 approach to the vice presidency. Unlike most White House understudies, who effectively disappear like a protected witness, Vance has become the highest-profile, most pugnacious politician in America who is not named Donald J. Trump.

    It’s quite the contrast with his predecessor.

    Kamala Harris made her own kind of history, as the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to serve as vice president. As such, she entered office bearing great — and vastly unrealistic — expectations about her prominence and the public role she would play in the Biden administration. When Harris acted the way that vice presidents normally do — subservient, self-effacing, careful never to poach the spotlight from the chief executive — it was seen as a failing.

    By the end of her first year in office, “whatever happened to Kamala Harris?” had become a political buzz phrase.

    No one’s asking that about JD Vance.

    Why is that? Because that’s how President Trump wants it.

    “Rule No.1 about the vice presidency is that vice presidents are only as active as their presidents want them to be,” said Jody Baumgartner, an East Carolina University expert on the office. “They themselves are irrelevant.”

    Consider Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who had the presence and pizzazz of day-old mashed potatoes.

    “He was not a very powerful vice president, but that’s because Donald Trump didn’t want him to be,” said Christopher Devine, a University of Dayton professor who’s published four books on the vice presidency. “He wanted him to have very little influence and to be more of a background figure, to kind of reassure quietly the conservatives of the party that Trump was on the right track. With JD Vance, I think he wants him to be a very active, visible figure.”

    In fact, Trump seems to be grooming Vance as a successor in a way that Joe Biden never did with Harris. The 46th president practically had to be bludgeoned into standing aside after the Democratic freakout over his wretched, career-ending debate performance. (Things might be different with Vance if Trump could override the Constitution and fulfill his fantasy of seeking a third term in the White House.)

    There were other circumstances that kept Harris under wraps, particularly in the early part of Biden’s presidency.

    One was the COVID-19 lockdown. “It meant she wasn’t traveling. She wasn’t doing public events,” said Joel K. Goldstein, another author and expert on the vice presidency. “A lot of stuff was being done virtually and so that tended to be constraining.”

    The Democrats’ narrow control of the Senate also required Harris to stick close to Washington so she could cast a number of tie-breaking votes. (Under the Constitution, the vice president provides the deciding vote when the Senate is equally divided. Harris set a record in the third year of her vice presidency for casting the most tie-breakers in history.)

    The personality of their bosses also explains why Harris and Vance approached the vice presidency in different ways.

    Biden had spent nearly half a century in Washington, as a senator and vice president under Barack Obama. He was, foremost, a creature of the legislative process and saw Harris, who’d served nearly two decades in elected office, as a (junior) partner in governing.

    Trump came to politics through celebrity. He is, foremost, a pitchman and promoter. He saw Vance as a way to turn up the volume.

    Ohio’s senator had served barely 18 months in his one and only political position when Trump chose Vance as his running mate. He’d “really made his mark as a media and cultural figure,” Devine noted, with Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” regarded as a kind of Rosetta Stone for the anger and resentment that fueled the MAGA movement.

    Trump “wanted someone who was going to be aggressive in advancing the MAGA narrative,” Devine said, “being very present in media, including in some newer media spaces, on podcasts, social media. Vance was someone who could hammer home Trump’s message every day.”

    The contrast continued once Harris and Vance took office.

    Biden handed his vice president a portfolio of tough and weighty issues, among them addressing the root causes of illegal migration from Central America. (They were “impossible, s— jobs,” in the blunt assessment that Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, offered in her recent campaign memoir.)

    Trump has treated Vance as a sort of heat-seeking rhetorical missile, turning him loose against his critics and acting as though the presidential campaign never ended.

    Vance seems gladly submissive. Harris, who was her own boss for nearly two decades, had a hard time adjusting as Biden’s No. 2.

    “Vance is very effective at playing the role of backup singer who gets to have a solo from time to time,” said Jamal Simmons, who spent a year as Harris’ vice presidential communications chief. “I don’t think Kamala Harris was ever as comfortable in the role as Vance has proven himself to be.”

    Will Vance’s pugilistic approach pay off in 2028? It’s way too soon to say. Turning the conventions of the vice presidency to a shambles, the way Trump did with the presidency, has delighted many in the Republican base. But polls show Vance, like Trump, is deeply unpopular with a great number of voters.

    As for Harris, all she can do is look on from her exile in Brentwood, pondering what might have been.

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    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Commentary: MAGA’s ‘big tent’ is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism

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    South Asians have played a prominent role in President Trump’s universe, especially in his second term.

    Second Lady Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to California to study and never went back. Harmeet Dhillon, born in India and a devout Sikh, is currently his U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. And the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, is (like potential New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,) of Indian descent by way of Uganda.

    Some Republicans have taken pride in this kind of diversity, citing it for the gains Trump made in 2024 with Black and Latino voters.

    But these days, the MAGA big tent seems to be collapsing fast.

    Last week, MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians.

    It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant and increasingly open antisemitism within the MAGAverse, creating a massive rift between traditional conservatives and a younger, rabidly anti-Jewish contingent called groypers whose leader, Nick Fuentes, recently posted that he is “team Hitler.”

    Turns out, when you cultivate a political movement based on hate, at some point the hate is uncontrollable. In fact, that hate needs to be fed to maintain power — even if it means feasting on its own.

    This monster of white-might ugliness is going to dominate policy and politics for the next election, and these now-public fights within the Republican party represent a new dynamic that will either force it to do some sort of soul searching, or purge it of anything but white Christian nationalism. My bet is on the latter. But if conservatives ever truly believed in their inclusive talk, then it’s time for Republicans to stand up and demand the big Trump tent they were hailing just a few months ago.

    Ultra-conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who opposes much of Fuentes’ worldview, summed up this Republican split succinctly.

    Fuentes’ followers “are white supremacists, hate women, Jews, Hindus, many types of Christians, brown people of a wide variety of backgrounds, Blacks, America’s foreign policy and America’s constitution,” Shapiro explained. “They admire Hitler and Stalin and that splinter faction is now being facilitated and normalized within the mainstream Republican Party.”

    MAGA’s anti-Indian sentiment had an explosive moment a few days ago when a South Asian woman asked Vice President JD Vance a series of questions during a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi. The young immigrant wanted to know how Vance could preach for the removal of nearly 18 million immigrants? And how could he claim that the United States was a Christian nation, rather than one that valued pluralism?

    “How can you stop us and tell us we don’t belong here anymore?” the woman asked. “Why do I have to be a Christian?”

    Vance’s answer went viral, in part because he claimed his wife, although from a Hindu family, was “agnostic or atheist,” and that he hoped she would convert to Christianity.

    “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said.

    Vance later tried to do some damage control on social media, calling Usha Vance a “blessing” and promising to continue to “support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”

    But many South Asians felt Vance was dissing his wife’s heritage and attempting to downplay her non-whiteness. They vented on social media, and got a lot of MAGA feelings back.

    “How can you pretend to be a white nativist politician who will ‘bring america back to it’s golden age’ … when your wife is an indian immigrant?” wrote one poster.

    Dhillon received similar feedback recently for urging calm and fairness after a Sikh truck driver allegedly caused a fatal crash.

    “[N]o ma’am, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that sihks and hindus need to get the hell out of my country,” one reply stated. “You and your kind are no longer welcome here. Go the [expletive] home.”

    Patel too, got it, after posting a message on Diwali, a religious holiday that celebrates the victory of light over darkness. He was dubbed a demon worshipper, a favorite anti-Indian trope.

    Perhaps you’re thinking, “Duh, of course MAGA is racist.” But here’s the thing. The military has been scrubbed of many Black officers. The federal workforce, long a bastion for middle-class people of color, has been decimated. Minority cabinet members or top officials are few. Aside from another South Asian, Tulsi Gabbard, there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez‑DeRemer and HUD head Scott Turner.

    South Asians are largely the last visible sign of pluralism in Republican power, an erstwhile proof that the charges of racism from the left are unfair. But now, like Latinos, they are increasingly targets of the base.

    At the same time anti-Indian hate was surfacing last week, a whole load of MAGA antisemitism hit the fan. It started when Tucker Carlson, who in his post-network life has re-created himself as a hugely popular podcaster with more than 16 million followers on X, invited Fuentes on his show.

    In addition to calling for the death of American Jews, Fuentes has also said women want him to rape them and should be burned alive, Black people belong in prison and LGBTQ+ people are an abomination.

    Anyone who is not his kind of Christian “must be absolutely annihilated when we take power,” he said.

    Turns out far-right Charlie Kirk was a bulwark against this straight-up American Nazi. Kirk’s popularity kept Fuentes — who often trolled Kirk — from achieving dominance as the spirit guide of young MAGA. Now, with Kirk slain, nothing appears to be stopping Fuentes from taking up that mantle.

    After the Fuentes interview, sane conservatives (there are some left) were apoplectic that Carlson would support someone who so openly admits to being anti-Israel and seemingly pro-Nazi. They demanded the Heritage Foundation, historical backbone of the conservative movement, creators of Project 2025 and close allies of Tucker, do something. The head of Heritage, Kevin Roberts, offered what many considered a sorry-not-sorry. He condemned Fuentes, saying he was “fomenting Jew hatred, and his incitements are not only immoral and un-Christian, they risk violence.”

    But also counseled that Fuentes shouldn’t be banished from the party.

    “Join us — not to cancel — but to guide, challenge, and strengthen the conversation,” Roberts said.

    Are Nazis really all bad? Discuss!

    The response from ethical conservatives — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — has been that you don’t politely hear Nazis out, and if the Republican Party can’t clearly say that Nazis aren’t welcome, it’s got a problem.

    Yes, the Republican Party has a problem.

    The right rode to power by attacking what it denigrates at “wokeism” on the left. MAGA declared that to confront fascism or racism or misogyny — to tell its purveyors to sit down and shut up — was wrong. That “canceling,” or banishment from common discourse for spewing hate, was somehow an infringement on 1st Amendment rights or even terrorism.

    They screamed loud and clear that speaking out against intolerance was the worst, most unacceptable form of intolerance itself — and would not be tolerated.

    You know who heard them loud and clear? Fuentes. He has checkmated establishment Republicans with their own cowardice and hypocrisy.

    So now his young Christian white supremacists are empowered, and intent on taking over as the leaders of the party. Fuentes is saying what old guard Republicans don’t want to hear, but secretly fear: He already is dangerously close to being the mainstream; just read the comments.

    Roberts, the Heritage president, said it himself: “Diversity will never be our strength. Unity is our strength, and a lack of unity is a sign of weakness.”

    Trying to shut Fuentes up or kick him out will likely anger that vocal and powerful part of the base that enjoys the freedom to be openly hateful, and really wouldn’t mind a male-dominated white Christian autocracy.

    The far right has free-speeched their way into fascism, and Fuentes is loving every minute of it.

    So now this remaining vestige of traditional conservatives — including senators such as Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell — is faced with a painful reckoning. Many mainstream Republicans for years ignored the racism and antisemitism creeping into the party. They can’t anymore. It has grown into a beast ready to consume its maker.

    Will they let this takeover happen, call for conversation over condemnation to the glee of Fuentes and his followers?

    Or will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?

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    Anita Chabria

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  • Commentary: Trump’s AI poop post caps a week of MAGA indifference to Hitler jokes

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    An estimated 7 million Americans turned out Saturday to peacefully protest against the breakdown of our checks-and-balances democracy into a Trump-driven autocracy, rife with grift but light on civil rights.

    Trump’s response? An AI video of himself wearing a crown inside a fighter plane, dumping what appears to be feces on these very protesters. In a later interview, he called participants of the “No Kings” events “whacked out” and “not representative of this country.”

    I’m beginning to fear he’s right. What if the majority of Americans really do believe this sort of behavior by our president, or by anyone really, is acceptable? Even funny? A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that 81% of Republicans approve of the way Trump is handling his job. Seriously, the vast majority of Republicans are just fine with Trump’s policies and behavior.

    According to MAGA, non-MAGA people are just too uptight these days.

    Vice Troll JD Vance has become a relentless force for not just defending the most base and cruel of behaviors, but celebrating them. House Speaker Mike Johnson has made the spineless, limp justification of these behaviors an art form.

    Between the two approaches to groveling to Trump’s ego and mendacity is everything you need to know about the future of the Republican Party. It will stop at nothing to debase and dehumanize any opposition — openly acknowledging that it dreams of burying in excrement even those who peacefully object.

    Not even singer Kenny Loggins is safe. His “Top Gun” hit “Danger Zone” was used in the video. When he objected with a statement of unity, saying, “Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’,” the White House responded with … a dismissive meme, clearly the new norm when responding to critics.

    It may seem obvious, and even old news that this administration lacks accountability. But the use of memes and AI videos as communication, devoid of truth or consequence, adds a new level of danger to the disconnect.

    These non-replies not only remove reality from the equation, but remove the need for an actual response — creating a ruling class that does not feel any obligation to explain or defend its actions to the ruled.

    Politico published a story last week detailing the racist, misogynistic and hate-filled back-and-forth of an official, party-sanctioned “young Republican” group. Since most of our current politicians are part of the gerontocracy, that young is relative — these are adults, in their 20s and 30s — and they are considered the next generation of party leaders, in a party that has already skewed so far right that it defends secret police.

    Here’s a sample.

    Bobby Walker, the former vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, called rape “epic,” according to Politico.

    Another member of the chat called Black Americans “watermelon people.”

    “Great. I love Hitler,” wrote another when told delegates would vote for the most far-right candidate.

    There was also gas chamber “humor” in there and one straight up, “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” from a woman in the conversation, Anne KayKaty, New York’s Young Republican’s national committee member, according to the Hill.

    Group members engaged in slurs against South Asians, another popular target of the far right these days. There’s an entire vein of racism devoted to the idea that Indians smell bad, in case you were unaware.

    Speaking of a woman mistakenly believed to be South Asian, one group member — Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglass, wrote: “She just didn’t bathe often.”

    While some in the Republican party have denounced, albeit half-heartedly, the comments, others, including Vance, have gone on the attack. Vance, whose wife is Indian, claims everyone is making a big deal out of nothing.

    “But the reality is that kids do stupid things. Especially young boys, they tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that’s what kids do,” Vance said. “And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives.”

    Not to be outdone, Johnson responded to the poop jet video by somehow insinuating there is an elevated meaning to it.

    “The president was using social media to make a point,” Johnson said, calling it “satire.”

    Satire is meant to embarrass and humiliate, to call out through humor the indefensible. I’ll buy the first part of that. Trump meant to embarrass and humiliate. But protesting, of course, is anything but indefensible and the use of feces as a weapon is a way of degrading those “No Kings” participants so that Trump doesn’t have to answer to their anger — no different than degrading Black people and women in that group chat.

    Those 7 million Americans who demonstrated on Saturday simply do not matter to Trump, or to Republicans. Not their healthcare, not their ability to pay the bills, not their worry that a country they love is turning in to one where their leader literally illustrates that he can defecate on them.

    But not everyone can be king.

    While the young Republicans believe they shared in their leader’s immunity, it turns out they don’t. That Vermont state senator? He resigned after the Republican governor put on pressure.

    Maybe 7 million Americans angry at Trump can’t convince him to change his ways, but enough outraged Vermont voters can make change in their corner of the country.

    Which is why the one thing Trump does fear is the midterms, when voters get to shape our own little corners of America — and by extension, whether Trump gets to keep using his throne.

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    Anita Chabria

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  • Fact-check: GOP, Dem government shutdown talking points

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    In 2013, then-businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump shared his vision on Fox News about the role a president should play in a shutdown: “You have to be nice and be angry and be wild and cajole and do all sorts of things, but you have to get a deal.”

    Now as president, Trump has taken a different approach. After failing to reach a bipartisan agreement, he mocked Democrats by posting an expletive-laced video generated by artificial intelligence and set to mariachi music falsely showing U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer saying that “nobody likes Democrats anymore,” so the party is seeking favor with “illegal aliens.”

    Welcome to the 2025 government shutdown. 

    At PolitiFact, we have fact-checked lawmakers’ and pundits’ statements about government shutdowns for more than a decade. When Congress can’t reach a funding agreement, both sides of the political aisle whip up talking points about what a shutdown means for the economy, immigration, worker paychecks, disaster response and services for low-income families. The blame is nearly always placed on the other party.

    PolitiFact is here to help you cut through the spin.

    Sign up for PolitiFact texts

    A reminder: Republicans control the presidency and both chambers of Congress. But passing legislation to extend government funding at current levels would require, under longstanding rules, more than a half dozen Democrats to side with Republicans in order to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance to a vote. This gives Democrats some negotiating leverage, which they are seeking to use in the spending fight.

    It’s Day 1 of the shutdown, and here’s our round-up of fact-checks. Spot a statement about the shutdown you want fact-checked? Email [email protected].

    Social services

    Women, Infant and Children program will “not be funded.”— House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in Sept. 29 remarks to reporters.

    Johnson omits that enrollees will still likely get services, at least initially. But much depends on how long the shutdown lasts.

    The Agriculture Department’s shutdown plan said its Women, Infants and Children program, which provides food to low-income families, shall continue operations “subject to the availability of funding.”  WIC has 6.9 million participants. 

    WIC should be able to continue for at least one week, said Alison Hard, National WIC Association policy director. After that, operations will vary by state, depending on their funds.

    During a shutdown, state WIC programs have options to temporarily fill the funding gap including various USDA sources, state money and requesting early rebate payments from their contracted infant formula manufacturers.

    Past shutdowns

    “Back in 2013, Trump said it was the President’s job to negotiate and avoid a shutdown.” — Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., in a Sept. 29 X post

    That’s an accurate paraphrase of Trump’s remarks. 

    In an Oct. 7, 2013, interview with then-Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, Trump criticized then-President Barack Obama for not being a dealmaker during the shutdown. In full, he said:

    “You have to get everybody in a room. You have to be a leader. The president has to lead. He has to get (the Speaker of the House) and everybody else in a room, and they have to make a deal. You have to be nice and be angry and be wild and cajole and do all sorts of things, but you have to get a deal.”

    Trump made similar remarks in a September 2013 “Fox & Friends” phone interview: “Problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top, and the president’s the leader, and he’s got to get everybody in a room, and he’s got to lead.”

    A tourist photographs a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    Health care

    “Republicans are spiking health insurance premiums by 75% for everyday Americans” if they don’t extend enhanced ACA subsidies. — Rep Katherine Clark, D-Mass., in a Sept. 12 X post.

    Mostly True.

    If the Republican-controlled Congress does not extend Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies before they expire at the end of this year, enrollees will have to pay more.

    A KFF analysis of federal data found that the average increase in out-of-pocket coverage cost for enrollees would be 79%, with state-by-state average increases ranging from 49% to 195%.

    This cost increase would come from a combination of insurance premium increases and the disappearance of subsidies, rather than from “spiking health insurance premiums” alone.

    More than two weeks after Clark’s statement — and after we published the fact check — KFF produced a revised figure for average increases based on new data: 114%.

    “Democrats so-called proposal is a partisan wish list with a $1.5 trillion spending increase tacked onto a four-week funding bill.” — Johnson, in a Sept. 29 press release. 

    The Republican talking point misses context about the Democrats’ proposal.

    The Sept. 17 Democratic proposal latches government funding through Oct. 31, known as a continuing resolution, to some Democratic priorities, including health care assistance and limiting Trump’s ability to claw back funds previously approved by Congress.

    The bill calls for permanently extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were passed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended in 2022. Those are set to expire Dec. 31. The Democratic bill would also reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans enacted in their signature tax and spending legislation.

    The Democrats’ measure would restore funding for public broadcasting that Republicans nixed in July and includes over $320 million for security for lawmakers, the executive branch and the Supreme Court. (Republicans have proposed $88 million in security funding in their resolution bill.)

    The bill also contains mandates for how the Trump administration can spend money and would hinder the White House’s recent attempt to cancel almost $5 billion in foreign aid.

    The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that’s hawkish on the deficit, said in a Sept. 18 press release that Democrats’ proposal in its entirety would add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

    “The (continuing resolution) itself — the part that funds the government — would not add $1.5 trillion to the debt, but the bill that Democrats have proposed includes other provisions that would,” Chris Towner, the group’s policy director, wrote in an email. “The bill repeals the health spending cuts that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would cost about $1.1 trillion over a decade to repeal.” 

    Towner also said the Democrats’ provision to make the enhanced ACA subsidies permanent would cost about $350 billion over a decade.

    People take photos with a sign announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, on the first day of a partial government shutdown, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    If enhanced subsidies are not extended, people with insurance through the Affordable Care Act will see their premiums rise “twice as much in the rural areas.” — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in a Sept. 28 interview on CBS “Face the Nation.” 

    Mostly True. 

    There are at least two ways to interpret Klobuchar’s statement: that she was comparing rural enrollees’ costs with people living elsewhere, or comparing their costs with what they paid before.

    Klobuchar’s office told PolitiFact that the senator was referring to rural enrollees seeing increases that were double what they had paid before, and that interpretation aligns with what Klobuchar has said in other settings.

    An analysis by the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, found that out-of-pocket insurance costs would increase on average in rural counties from $713 to $1,473 — a 107% increase, or slightly more than a doubling.

    Comparing rural enrollees’ cost increases with people elsewhere, amounts to a disproportionately large increase for rural areas, but it’s not twice as much.

    Enrollees in rural counties would see average out-of-pocket losses of $760 from expiring enhanced subsidies, compared with $624 for all counties and $593 for urban counties. That’s 22% more for rural enrollees compared to all others, and 28% more compared with urban enrollees. 

    Government workers

    “If the government shuts down, members of Congress still get paid. The janitors never get paid.” — Daniel Koh on The People’s Cabinet podcast episode Sept. 29. 

    Mostly True.

    Members of the House and Senate continue to get paid during a shutdown. Federal law says that federal employees get back pay, but the law does not extend that to contractors, a group that includes many janitors. Some private employers with federal contracts may find ways to pay their employees, but there is nothing in federal law that requires it.

    The U.S. Capitol dome and a traffic turn signal are seen from Pennsylvania Avenue, Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

    “FEMA won’t be funded” during hurricane season because of the shutdown. — Johnson in Sept. 29 remarks to reporters.

    Johnson was correct that Congress had not agreed on FEMA funding, but a Department of Homeland Security shutdown procedures plan estimates that 84% of FEMA employees will continue working. (DHS oversees FEMA.)

    “Bottom line: hurricanes don’t care about politics. FEMA will still respond. But recovery will stall if Congress can’t do its job,” said Craig Fugate, who led FEMA during President Barack Obama’s administration after leading Florida’s emergency management under then-Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. “This isn’t new — both parties own the blame.”

    The agency’s recovery efforts are most at risk, Fugate said, because they depend on how much money remains in the Disaster Relief Fund. “Those dollars aren’t tied to the shutdown, but they usually run low this time of year. Normally Congress passes a continuing resolution to add money. A shutdown means that doesn’t happen. That slows recovery projects, not the immediate response.”

    The fund had about $2.3 billion at the end of August, which is considered low. 

    RELATED: Trump has defied norms on executive power. What actions could he take amid a government shutdown?

    RELATED: Fact-check: Past government shutdowns cost the U.S. economy billions

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  • Charlie Kirk’s friends praise slain activist’s faith, mark on conservative movement

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    President Donald Trump and prominent members of his “Make America Great Again” movement paid tribute Sunday to Charlie Kirk, praising the slain political conservative activist as a singular force whose work they must now advance.Stream the service in the video player aboveThe memorial service for Kirk, whom Trump credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners, including Vice President JD Vance, other senior administration officials and young conservatives shaped by the 31-year-old firebrand.“For Charlie, we will remember that it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America and defending the truth than it is to die on our knees,” Vance said. “My friends, for Charlie, we must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”Speakers highlighted Kirk’s profound faith and his strong belief that young conservatives need to get married, build families and pass on their values to keep building their movement. They also repeatedly told conservative activists, sometimes in confrontational tones, that the best way to honor Kirk was doubling down on his mission to move American politics further to the right.Kirk’s assassination at a Sept. 10 appearance on a Utah college campus has become a singular moment for the modern-day conservative movement. It also has set off a fierce debate about violence, decency and free speech in an era of deep political division.High security and a full stadiumThose close to Kirk prayed and the floors shook from the bass of Christian rock bands as the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals took on the feel of a megachurch service.“Charlie looked at politics as an on-ramp to Jesus,” said the Rev. Rob McCoy, Kirk’s pastor.People began lining up before dawn to secure a spot inside State Farm Stadium west of Phoenix, where Kirk’s Turning Point organization is based. Security was tight, similar to the Super Bowl or other high-profile event. The speakers delivered their tributes from behind bullet-proof glass.The 63,400-seat stadium quickly filled with people dressed in red, white and blue, as organizers suggested.Kirk’s widow, Erika, in her own address said in the midst of her grief she was finding comfort that her husband left this world without regrets. She also said she forgives the man who is charged with killing him.“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” said Erika Kirk, who is taking over as Turning Point’s leader. She added, “I forgive him.”A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner following the shooting that he “had enough” of Kirk’s hatred.Kirk’s legacy of conservative political influenceTurning Point, the group Kirk founded to mobilize young Christian conservatives, became a multimillion-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach.“Charlie’s having some serious heavenly FOMO right now,” Tyler Bower, Turning Point’s chief operating officer, said, likening the moment to bringing “the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally.”The crowd was a testament to the massive influence he accumulated in conservative America with his ability to mobilize young people.His impact on modern-day conservatism went beyond U.S. shores.Kirk “was very effective because he was convinced of his views and knew how to argue them,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said at a political rally Sunday in Rome.Kirk was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following that turned out to support or argue with him as he traveled the country for the events like the one at Utah Valley University, where he was shot. Kirk grew the organization, in large part, through the force of his personality and debating chops.“He slayed ignorance,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “He cut through lies. He woke people’s minds, inspired people’s hearts and imparted wisdom every day.”Speaker after speaker, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressed their awe at Kirk’s ability to go into what many conservatives saw as the lion’s den to make the conservative case: college campuses.“Why don’t you start somewhere easier,” Rubio joked when he first heard about Kirk years ago. “Like, for example, communist Cuba?”

    GLENDALE, Ariz. —

    President Donald Trump and prominent members of his “Make America Great Again” movement paid tribute Sunday to Charlie Kirk, praising the slain political conservative activist as a singular force whose work they must now advance.

    Stream the service in the video player above

    The memorial service for Kirk, whom Trump credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners, including Vice President JD Vance, other senior administration officials and young conservatives shaped by the 31-year-old firebrand.

    “For Charlie, we will remember that it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America and defending the truth than it is to die on our knees,” Vance said. “My friends, for Charlie, we must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”

    Speakers highlighted Kirk’s profound faith and his strong belief that young conservatives need to get married, build families and pass on their values to keep building their movement. They also repeatedly told conservative activists, sometimes in confrontational tones, that the best way to honor Kirk was doubling down on his mission to move American politics further to the right.

    Kirk’s assassination at a Sept. 10 appearance on a Utah college campus has become a singular moment for the modern-day conservative movement. It also has set off a fierce debate about violence, decency and free speech in an era of deep political division.

    High security and a full stadium

    Those close to Kirk prayed and the floors shook from the bass of Christian rock bands as the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals took on the feel of a megachurch service.

    “Charlie looked at politics as an on-ramp to Jesus,” said the Rev. Rob McCoy, Kirk’s pastor.

    People began lining up before dawn to secure a spot inside State Farm Stadium west of Phoenix, where Kirk’s Turning Point organization is based. Security was tight, similar to the Super Bowl or other high-profile event. The speakers delivered their tributes from behind bullet-proof glass.

    The 63,400-seat stadium quickly filled with people dressed in red, white and blue, as organizers suggested.

    Kirk’s widow, Erika, in her own address said in the midst of her grief she was finding comfort that her husband left this world without regrets. She also said she forgives the man who is charged with killing him.

    “My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” said Erika Kirk, who is taking over as Turning Point’s leader. She added, “I forgive him.”

    A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner following the shooting that he “had enough” of Kirk’s hatred.

    Kirk’s legacy of conservative political influence

    Turning Point, the group Kirk founded to mobilize young Christian conservatives, became a multimillion-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach.

    “Charlie’s having some serious heavenly FOMO right now,” Tyler Bower, Turning Point’s chief operating officer, said, likening the moment to bringing “the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally.”

    The crowd was a testament to the massive influence he accumulated in conservative America with his ability to mobilize young people.

    His impact on modern-day conservatism went beyond U.S. shores.

    Kirk “was very effective because he was convinced of his views and knew how to argue them,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said at a political rally Sunday in Rome.

    Kirk was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following that turned out to support or argue with him as he traveled the country for the events like the one at Utah Valley University, where he was shot. Kirk grew the organization, in large part, through the force of his personality and debating chops.

    “He slayed ignorance,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “He cut through lies. He woke people’s minds, inspired people’s hearts and imparted wisdom every day.”

    Speaker after speaker, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expressed their awe at Kirk’s ability to go into what many conservatives saw as the lion’s den to make the conservative case: college campuses.

    “Why don’t you start somewhere easier,” Rubio joked when he first heard about Kirk years ago. “Like, for example, communist Cuba?”

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  • Trump says ‘with a high degree of certainty’ that suspect in Charlie Kirk killing has been caught

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    The suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination has been captured, President Donald Trump said Friday in an announcement representing a significant breakthrough in the investigation into a targeted killing that raised fresh alarms about political violence in the United States.Live video above: Officials address arrest in shooting death of Charlie Kirk“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel. He said a minister also involved with law enforcement turned the suspect in to authorities.“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.The suspect in custody in connection with Kirk’s killing is a 22-year-old from Utah, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment, but a news conference in Utah, where the killing took place on a college campus this week, was planned for later Friday. News of the arrest came hours after the FBI and state officials had pleaded for public help by releasing additional photographs of the suspect, a move that seemed to indicate that law enforcement was uncertain of the person’s whereabouts.Kirk was killed by a single shot in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, based in Arizona.Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene of the shooting and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the nearby woods afterward.Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of Wednesday’s shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.“He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump said Friday. “He was really a good person.”Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at the university in Orem.More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.Grisly video shared onlineThe attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Attendees barricaded themselves in classroomsSome attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

    OREM, Utah —

    The suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination has been captured, President Donald Trump said Friday in an announcement representing a significant breakthrough in the investigation into a targeted killing that raised fresh alarms about political violence in the United States.

    Live video above: Officials address arrest in shooting death of Charlie Kirk

    “With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel. He said a minister also involved with law enforcement turned the suspect in to authorities.

    “Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.

    The suspect in custody in connection with Kirk’s killing is a 22-year-old from Utah, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

    The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment, but a news conference in Utah, where the killing took place on a college campus this week, was planned for later Friday. News of the arrest came hours after the FBI and state officials had pleaded for public help by releasing additional photographs of the suspect, a move that seemed to indicate that law enforcement was uncertain of the person’s whereabouts.

    Kirk was killed by a single shot in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, based in Arizona.

    Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene of the shooting and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the nearby woods afterward.

    Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of Wednesday’s shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.

    “He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump said Friday. “He was really a good person.”

    Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at the university in Orem.

    More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.

    Grisly video shared online

    The attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.

    The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

    The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.

    “I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.

    Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.

    “So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

    Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.

    Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

    Kirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.

    One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.

    The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”

    The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”

    Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

    Attendees barricaded themselves in classrooms

    Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.

    On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.

    Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.

    “With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.

    Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

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  • Trump says ‘with a high degree of certainty’ that suspect in Charlie Kirk killing has been caught

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    President Donald Trump said Friday that the suspect in the Charlie Kirk killing has been captured.“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning.Trump said a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned in the suspect to authorities.“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.Kirk was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of Trump.Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.Grisly video shared onlineThe attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Attendees barricaded themselves in classroomsSome attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

    President Donald Trump said Friday that the suspect in the Charlie Kirk killing has been captured.

    “With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning.

    Trump said a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned in the suspect to authorities.

    “Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.

    Kirk was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of Trump.

    Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.

    Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.

    Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.

    More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.

    Grisly video shared online

    The attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.

    The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

    The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.

    “I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.

    Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.

    “So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

    Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.

    Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

    Kirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.

    One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.

    The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”

    The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”

    Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

    Attendees barricaded themselves in classrooms

    Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.

    On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.

    Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.

    “With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.

    Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

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  • Harris and Trump campaigns appeal to right-leaning, religious voters

    Harris and Trump campaigns appeal to right-leaning, religious voters

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    Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are intensifying their efforts in battleground states with just two weeks left until Election Day.Former President Donald Trump will campaign for a second straight day in North Carolina after making his pitch to Christian voters a day prior. He postponed a speech at a gun rights conference in Georgia and scheduled a last-minute rally in the Tar Heel state Tuesday as some polling suggests Harris is gaining support there.In a rally before faith leaders in the battleground state, Trump touched on culture war issues, including transgender and parental rights.”Christians will not be safe with Kamala Harris as president,” Trump warned. “Your religious liberty will be gone. Your free speech will be gone, your Second Amendment will be gone, and parental rights will be gone forever.”Earlier, Trump surveyed storm damage and repeated false claims about FEMA misusing taxpayer money.”They spent a lot of money on having illegal people come into our country,” Trump said.Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris made her pitch to Trump-hesitant voters in three “Blue wall” states Monday.In separate events in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she campaigned alongside a familiar but unlikely ally, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, (R) Wyoming. Both aimed their messages at Trump-wary voters in counties that could decide the election.”We might not agree on every issue but she is somebody you can trust,” Cheney said. “You can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anybody. There will be millions of Republicans who do that on November 5th.”While Harris will not hold public events, she will sit for an interview that will air Tuesday night on NBC Nightly News.In her place, former President Barack Obama and running mate Tim Walz will host a rally in Wisconsin where in-person, early voting kicks off.Republicans are also holding events to encourage early voting in favor of Trump. His campaign is pushing for all forms of voting, including by mail and in-person, to maximize votes. Trump lost Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in the 2020 election.

    WASHINGTON —

    Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are intensifying their efforts in battleground states with just two weeks left until Election Day.

    Former President Donald Trump will campaign for a second straight day in North Carolina after making his pitch to Christian voters a day prior. He postponed a speech at a gun rights conference in Georgia and scheduled a last-minute rally in the Tar Heel state Tuesday as some polling suggests Harris is gaining support there.

    In a rally before faith leaders in the battleground state, Trump touched on culture war issues, including transgender and parental rights.

    “Christians will not be safe with Kamala Harris as president,” Trump warned. “Your religious liberty will be gone. Your free speech will be gone, your Second Amendment will be gone, and parental rights will be gone forever.”

    Earlier, Trump surveyed storm damage and repeated false claims about FEMA misusing taxpayer money.

    “They spent a lot of money on having illegal people come into our country,” Trump said.

    Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris made her pitch to Trump-hesitant voters in three “Blue wall” states Monday.

    In separate events in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, she campaigned alongside a familiar but unlikely ally, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, (R) Wyoming. Both aimed their messages at Trump-wary voters in counties that could decide the election.

    “We might not agree on every issue but she is somebody you can trust,” Cheney said. “You can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anybody. There will be millions of Republicans who do that on November 5th.”

    While Harris will not hold public events, she will sit for an interview that will air Tuesday night on NBC Nightly News.

    In her place, former President Barack Obama and running mate Tim Walz will host a rally in Wisconsin where in-person, early voting kicks off.

    Republicans are also holding events to encourage early voting in favor of Trump. His campaign is pushing for all forms of voting, including by mail and in-person, to maximize votes. Trump lost Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in the 2020 election.

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  • Instant Reactions to the Tim Walz–JD Vance Debate With Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin. Plus: Gabriel Sherman on Writing ‘The Apprentice.’

    Instant Reactions to the Tim Walz–JD Vance Debate With Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin. Plus: Gabriel Sherman on Writing ‘The Apprentice.’

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    Hello, media consumers! In a special bonus edition of The Press Box, Bryan has two guests. First, he speaks with Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin for instant reactions to the Tim Walz–JD Vance vice presidential debate. They discuss the following:

    • The biggest surprise of the debate (1:22)
    • Who looked more confident, Tim Walz or JD Vance (9:35)
    • The January 6 exchange (16:40)
    • Whether or not this will be the last debate (26:04)

    Then he speaks with screenwriter Gabriel Sherman about writing The Apprentice, a story about Donald Trump (30:44). He discusses the following about the film:

    • How he went about writing the story (31:10)
    • Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn (32:36)
    • How Cohn’s rules of winning influenced Trump (37:04)
    • Deciding on Sebastian Stan to play Trump (47:02)

    Hosts: Bryan Curtis
    Guests: Benjy Sarlin and Gabriel Sherman
    Producer: Brian H. Waters

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts

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    Bryan Curtis

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  • Tim Walz: ‘I Have Killed, And I Will Kill Again’

    Tim Walz: ‘I Have Killed, And I Will Kill Again’

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    NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Refuting accusations of stolen valor by claiming his hands were permanently stained with the blood of his enemies, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz told reporters Monday that he had killed before and would kill again. “To those who have attempted to discredit my military record, let me just say that I have, on numerous occasions, ended a man’s life, and I will do it again,” said the Minnesota governor, who explained that while his killings might not have taken place on the battlefield, they were great in number and included both foreign and domestic targets. “I’d like to ask Sen. Vance—have you watched the last glint of life leave a frightened man’s eyes as you tightened your grip around his soft neck? Because I have. And I won’t stop.” Walz went on to state that a person didn’t have to go to war to snuff out a life, a lesson his opponents would soon learn very slowly and very painfully.

    R. Kelly Petitions Supreme Court To Watch Him Pee

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  • BREAKING NEWS: New anti-Trump billboard to make debut near Trump Atlanta rally on Saturday

    BREAKING NEWS: New anti-Trump billboard to make debut near Trump Atlanta rally on Saturday

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    The DNC is launching a new mobile billboard highlighting Trump’s long, dangerous history of racism and disrespect toward the Black community. Screenshot courtesy of the DNC

    The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching a new mobile billboard highlighting Republic Presidential nominee and former United States President Donald J. Trump’s history of racism and disrespect toward the Black community. According to sources, the mobile billboard will circle the rally site, the Georgia State University Convocation Center in the city’s Summerhill section, welcoming Trump and his vice presidential nominee Vance to Atlanta with Trump’s own hostile words. 

    In a statement, DNC Senior Spokesperson Marcus W. Robinson said Trump demonstrated that he doesn’t care about Black Voters. Earlier this week, Trump made an in-person appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago and sparked controversy for how he conducted himself and treated the moderators.

    “At the NABJ this week, Donald Trump once again demonstrated a truth that Black voters across the nation have known for years – he doesn’t care about the wellbeing of our communities or truly listening to the issues that matter most to us,” Robinson wrote in the statement.

    The ad is one minute and six seconds in length and includes various clips of Trump racist quotes and soundbites.


    Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Donnell began his career covering sports and news in Atlanta nearly two decades ago. Since then he has written for Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Southern Cross…
    More by Donnell Suggs

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • J.D. Vance Vows To Fight For Forgotten Communities In Silicon Valley

    J.D. Vance Vows To Fight For Forgotten Communities In Silicon Valley

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    SAN FRANCISCO—Pledging to never leave behind the many millionaires and billionaires from the region who helped shape him into the person he is now, vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance vowed in a speech Tuesday that he would always fight for the forgotten communities in Silicon Valley. “Many of the Democratic elite are happy leaving behind this little tucked-away corner of America, but I will always remember what this place did for me—hell, half of you have probably donated to my campaign,” said Vance, looking at the faces of the tech entrepreneurs in the rally’s front row before tearing up as he described how venture capitalist Peter Thiel scraped together spare change to make a $15 million contribution to his 2022 Senate bid. “Many of you dropped out of college to invest in a unicorn startup. Some of you don’t have jobs because you retired at the age of 35. And if you are struggling to cobble together a pitch in an incubator somewhere, they still call you tech bros behind your back. Basically, this country doesn’t care about you. But I do. Know this, Silicon Valley—I will fight for you tirelessly from day one.” Vance added that despite this, he still felt those in Silicon Valley had no one but themselves to blame for the microdosing epidemic ravaging their community.

    Facebook Announces Human Trafficking Now Allowed On Marketplace

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  • J.D. Vance Named Trump VP Candidate

    J.D. Vance Named Trump VP Candidate

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    Donald Trump selected Ohio senator and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance to be his 2024 vice presidential running mate, choosing a 39-year-old loyalist with celebrity status among conservatives. What do you think?

    “It’s nice to finally be able to put a name to the scapegoat.”

    Lauren Fierro, Promotional Wholesaler

    “I’m always rooting for a fellow sycophant.”

    Andy Gamboa, Unemployed

    “Now the swing state of Ohio is secure.”

    Brian McDonald, Notary

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  • George Stephanopoulos Shuts Down Interview With Sen. J.D. Vance

    George Stephanopoulos Shuts Down Interview With Sen. J.D. Vance

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    Sen. J.D. Vance’s interview on ABC’s

    Sen. J.D. Vance’s interview on ABC’s “This Week” gets cut short after he made a comment implying he believes Trump can defy the Supreme Court.

    During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) Sunday, George Stephanopoulos abruptly ended the interview after Vance implied that Donald Trump can defy Supreme Court rulings.

    “The Constitution says that the Supreme Court can make rulings, but if the Supreme Court ― and look, I hope that they would not do this ― but if the Supreme Court said that the president of the United States can’t fire a general, that would be an illegitimate ruling and the president has to have Article 2 prerogative under the Constitution to actually run the military as he sees fit,” Vance said.

    Vance’s comment was made after Stephanopoulos asked Vance about his comments on a 2021 podcast, where Vance said that if Trump is reelected in 2024, he would advise Trump to “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people,” according to ABC News, and then when the courts tried to stop Trump, he should “stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say, ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.’”

    Stephanopoulos pressed Vance regarding his comments to “fire every civil servant,” which Vance denied, instead claiming he just said “the mid-level bureaucrats.”

    Vance said there was a “major problem” with administrators and bureaucrats “who don’t respond to the elected branches.”

    Stephanopoulos then asked Vance if it was OK for the president to defy the Supreme Court, to which Vance responded that if the Supreme Court said the president couldn’t fire a general, then it would be an “illegitimate ruling.”

    After Vance was finished with his answer, Stephanopoulos said, “You’ve made it very clear: You believe the president can defy the Supreme Court.”

    Stephanopoulos thanked Vance for his time, while Vance could be heard saying, “No, no, George.” Stephanopoulos then cut to another segment and Vance’s audio went mute.

    Vance and Stephanopoulos spoke about an array of things, including whether Vance would have certified the results of the 2020 election if he was vice president; former President Donald Trump’s sexual assault case, which he was found liable; and why Vance changed his stance on Trump since 2016, when he said Trump was not fit for office.

    Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Related…

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