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“Highlights” – OK, Yeah, They’re All LOWlights – From Yesterday’s Trump Rally in Chesapeake With MAGA Glenn Youngkin, Right-Wingnut Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02), Extremist Hung Cao, etc.

By
lowkell
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28

Yesterday, convicted felon, insurrectionist, traitor, corrupt scumbag, rapist, etc. Donald Trump came to Chesapeake, Virginia and held a post-debate rally, attended by none other than our supposedly “moderate”/”normie Republican” Gov. Glenn Youngkin – now gone full MAGA; as well as supposedly “moderate” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02), who’s not in any way/shape/form a “moderate,” obviously; far-right-extremist Hung Cao; etc. See below for a few “highlights” – ok, yeah, they were ALL lowlights – from the fascist…er, Trump rally. And make sure you do everything you can to ensure that Virginia goes strongly for the Democratic ticket this November, and that it NEVER AGAIN elects anyone like Glenn Youngkin or Jen Kiggans.

Disgusting as always by Hung Cao

Literally the LAST thing America needs is being “save[d]” by authoritarian, anti-democracy extremists like Donald Trump and Hung Cao

It seems impossible that a human being can be this ignorant and stupid, but Trump manages to do so. Trump doesn’t understand that there are things called “batteries?” My god…

WTF is this crap? Apparently, Youngkin/Kiggans/Cao/etc. are totally cool with it, though.

State Senator Mamie Locke nails it:

Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) rallies with the felon, insurrectionist, traitor etc Also, reminder that there actually are “journalists” who falsely claimed that Jen Kiggans and Glenn Youngkin were “moderates”

Some of the worst people in Virginia right here – racist George Allen, corrupt “Taliban Bob” McDonnell, extremist Hung Cao, MAGA Glenn Youngkin, slimy Jen Kiggans…

Translation: Youngkin wants to replace American democracy with a dictatorship, implement the insane Project 2025, etc. But wait, you say, WaPo “journalists” told us he was a moderate!!!

Audio: Asked Whether They Are a “Buy,” “Sell” or “Hold” on “Replacing Biden on the Ticket,” Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington) Says “Sell”; Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) and Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News) Say “Hold”

By
lowkell
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15

Interesting exchanges on Pod Virginia yesterday, following the Biden-Trump debate and what was widely viewed as a not-at-all-great performance by President Biden (although, obviously, Trump substantively just lied and lied and lied, said crazy/extreme stuff, etc., and by any other measure than *style* should have lost the debate). Asked whether they were a “Buy,” “Sell” or “Hold” on “replacing Biden on the ticket.”

Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington): “The debate was last night. I am a Sell on replacing the president of the United States who has had an incredible, some would say historic record of achievement post-COVID and…keeping the economy going with regard to everything he’s done in terms of the ARPA and…the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. And I think people should remember that Kerry won one of his debates, Barack Obama’s first
debate was not so great. And I would like to measure a man by the record of achievement that they’ve done while President the United States versus an opponent who, let’s be very clear, was lying every chance he could, sometimes two or three times in response to one question that he wasn’t really answering. And so, to say that from a stylistic perspective one person won and that should carry the day versus a substance perspective is problematic for me. We’ll see what happens over the next several months, but I am a Sell on replacing president of the United States.”

Del. Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax): “So I’m going to say for the record, because I got in trouble last time I took some controversial takes and I got in a little bit of trouble on Twitter – not that much trouble – so sometimes…it’s boring if we all say the exact same things…I’m going to be a little controversial here and…I’ll take the social stigma, but I’m a Hold…I’ve got to be honest with you, what we saw last night was not an
acceptable performance for the president. I don’t know what was going on. I don’t know if he had a cold, if he had the flu, if he wasn’t feeling 100%. And maybe his folks thought it was worse to try and cancel than to try and let him perform. But I mean, the eye test is the eye test; we all saw what we saw and there’s no use pretending that. Now that doesn’t take anything away from his record of accomplishments, but running a presidential campaign is not reading a list of accomplishments. And I think that this is something that Democrats sort of get sucked in this trap – we want to read a list of all the great things that we’ve done. Voters don’t respond to lists, they want to hear a story – and the story right now that is running about that debate is he did not look like someone who was up to the task. And whether that’s true or not, whether that’s a true story or not, that’s the story that’s in people’s minds. And if we can’t get that story out of people’s minds, we need to be open to the possibility – if he doesn’t recover, if he doesn’t get better; I mean, 80-year-old people sometimes get sick and they don’t bounce right back. So I’m I’m going to be a Hold. I love President Biden, love everything he’s accomplished. But he’s got to be able to do better.”

Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News): “Yeah, I don’t care if I get booed, I’m also a Hold…And it’s for very similar reasons [as Del. Marcus Simon]. But I think to be very specific, this answer is not directed at the president necessarily as the campaign. And so the president has a job of running our nation. I was just at the White House and we had a convening of state legislators on the things that we’ve been able to do in order to reduce gun violence across the nation. Amazing things. The man has done more than 40 executive orders, and this is a an issue that is near and dear to my heart. And I do believe that the future of the United States as far as gun violence prevention, civil rights, people being being able to have autonomy over their own bodies, all of that is it stake, so I’m not taking any of that away. But if we as Democrats cannot come together in order to sell that message, sell the truth of what has happened and the vision of what can happen with President Biden in the next term, then we are failing the country. And because there is so much at stake. And you guys know my story – I am youngish, Black, queer, neurodivergent.  I do not know that I sleep more than three hours a night thinking about everything that is at stake. Congressman Scott was just talking about how if we lose this election, we’ve lost the Supreme Court for 20 years. Like this is not a joke. But if the people that we’re asking to vote are basing it off of yesterday’s performance, then we’re in trouble. If we’re able to come back and tell the story of what that man has done, what we as Democrats have done and what we will do, then OK, cool. But it hadn’t even been 24 hours, I’m not sure where we are as a party, as a nation, what the voters are saying just yet. So I’m going to stand on my Hold.”

P.S. For the record, I agree almost completely with that Delegates Simon and Price are saying. In fact, we most *definitely* need to be concerned – VERY concerned – given how much is at stake. We also need to have this conversation, even if it’s a difficult one, because the consequences of getting this wrong would be unimaginably bad. As for Del. Lopez’s comments, I understand where he’s coming from, but…nope, I’m much more with Del. Simon and Del. Price right now on this topic.

Saturday News: SCOTUS “Power Grab Overturns 40-Year Precedent In Huge Win For Corporations”; “CNN Fails the Nation”; NY Times Calls for Biden – But NOT Trump! – to Drop Out; Where Does Debate Disaster Leave Us?; “Trump Gushes About [MAGA Glenn] Youngkin”

By
lowkell
-
23

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, June 29.

Military Veterans Slam Trump Ahead of his Trip to Chesapeake

By
Blue Virginia
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41

From the Biden/Harris campaign:

Military Veterans Slam Trump Ahead of his Trip to Chesapeake

On Friday, ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to the Hampton Roads area, Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker, Chair of the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council and Army veteran Terron Sims II, and chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and Air Force veteran Sean Monteiro called out Trump for his long record of disrespecting Americans in uniform, including referring to those killed in service as “suckers” and “losers” and his work with Republican extremists to cut veterans’ benefits as president, which would have an outsized impact on the Hampton Roads area —  home to nearly 120,000 active duty military members and 220,000 veterans. During last night’s debate, President Biden called out Trump for his attacks on veterans — and Trump lied directly to the American people about the soldiers he disrespected.

As Trump continues to promise to be a dictator if reelected and refused three times to say he would accept the results of the election, the speakers highlighted the threat a second Trump term — with MAGA Republican policies — poses to our democracy and our freedoms that veterans and fallen soldiers have fought for.

“Donald Trump’s record, his rhetoric, and his actions have all proved that he is against everything that our military stands for and works to protect,” said DPVA Chair Susan Swecker. “There is only one man on the ballot in November who has stood up for veterans time and again. That man is Joe Biden, a father who knows what it feels like to have a son fighting for his country, and a president who has delivered the most significant expansion of benefits and services for veterans.”

“President Biden and Democrats are working to protect freedom and defend democracy, and standing up against aggression abroad and hate at home,” said Sean Monteiro, Air Force veteran and chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. “Donald Trump only cares about himself – and, with the backing of his MAGA Republican allies, he’s willing to insult service members and destroy the very ideals of democracy in his own pursuit of personal power, revenge, and retribution. We have to defeat Trump and MAGA Republicans once and for all — so he doesn’t have a chance to do any more damage to our democracy and our values as a country.”

“My deployment in Baghdad was the greatest honor of my life — in large part because it was so important to me to be a part of something greater than myself. Donald Trump will never understand that feeling because all he thinks about is himself. He’s a disgrace to veterans and military families,” said Terron Sims II, Chair of the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council and Army veteran. “Veterans deserve a president who cares about us. That person is Joe Biden and that’s why I’m supporting him and Democrats up and down the ballot in November.”

###

Paid for by Biden for President

Thoughts on Last Night’s Debate-From-Hell: “you don’t let a proven propagandist on stage without stopping him when he lies”; “Trump did not win the debate, Biden lost it”

By
lowkell
-
24

I didn’t watch all of last night’s debate, because after 20 minutes or so, I could tell how it was going to go (miserably), plus it was just painful and demoralizing to watch. This morning, I’ve read a ton of analysis on it, and yep, it’s exactly what I thought would happen. Anyway, like a lot of people, I’m trying to process what happened and where that leaves us right now. So to that end, here’s a somewhat stream-of-consciousness series of thoughts on what we saw last night, and where we’re at right now.

  • For starters, some of us (raises hand!) have warned for MONTHS that Joe Biden and his team shouldn’t agree to debate Trump unless there was some sort of guarantee of real-time fact checking – because we KNOW with 100% certainty that Trump will spew out a “firehose of lies,” making any “debate” with him a completely absurd exercise, in which one candidate (Joe Biden) is reality/fact-based and operating in good faith, while the other candidate (Donald Trump) doesn’t give the slightest crap about facts or reality – and most certainly is NOT operating in good faith!
  • So why did Team Biden not just agree to this debate, but PUSH for it, as if they’d kick Trump’s ass and turn the election around in their favor? It’s hard to say, but it really, REALLY doesn’t reflect well on the judgment of Biden’s close political advisors, nor does it reflect well on the people “prepping” Biden for this shitshow, nor does it reflect well on Biden himself, because ultimately he’s the boss and the proverbial “buck” stops with him. 
  • Superb points by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Will Stancil here, including that debating is “information warfare for Trump,” and obviously “you don’t let a proven propagandist on stage without stopping him when he lies” – “Instant refutation is key.” And yet, that didn’t happen. At all. Instead, the moderators, who are supposedly journalists, sat there like potted plants, said “Thank you President Trump” (he’s FORMER President Trump, by the way), etc. Which, effectively, let Trump broadcast his lies to tens of millions of Americans, without any serious pushback or even a note on the screen that THIS IS A LIE. That is the complete opposite of what journalism should be, but far from being ashamed, CNN issued a bizarre statement claiming it was “very proud of Jake and Dana.” Totally warped.

  • More from Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a brilliant scholar on “Authoritarians, fascism, propaganda, democracy”:
    • “One day people will wake up to the magnitude of Trump’s achievements as a propagandist. Propaganda requires repetition and Trump has wormed his way into people’s heads by repeating the same lies for years. He’s been so effective that people don’t even call them lies anymore: for the NYT front page, it is ‘bluster.'”
    • “And Team Autocracy says to Trump: keep the flood of lies going! You did great! Hardly anyone in the press is talking about your crimes, they are focused on Biden!”
    • “One bad performance and you’re fired! Who cares if the economy is booming and your opponent wants to wreck democracy.”
    • “If truth matters, Biden won the debate. Trump lied with flair so he ‘won.’ Folks, this is a symptom of a deeply degraded politics. Creeping authoritarianism has hollowed out the old political rituals until they are useless.”
  • On a related note, great point by Sally Kohn:
    • “HERE’S THE PROBLEM: Trump is a decisive communicator but LIES. Biden tells the TRUTH but not as clearly and assertively. It’s misinformation vs. democracy — the entire challenge of our nation in one debate. Ugh.”

Ugh indeed.

  • And as Judd Legum says:
    • “I guess the format of the debate is trump lies and everyone lets him lie and then we go to the next question.”
  • To quote the brilliant climate scientist and University of Pennsylvania Professor Michael Mann:
    • “If we go down as a nation–and we just might–it’s because the corporatized media enabled it through performative neutrality”
  • Not that there will be any consquences for CNN, apparently. As Jesse Lee (“Former Econ Comms for President Biden, Senior Advisor to Speaker Pelosi, Special Assistant to President Obama, VP of Comms for CAP”) puts it:
    • “The amazing thing about the CNN debate is that about a year ago, the whole network almost collapsed after this Trump interview, and they just repeated their mistake times a thousand.”
  • Meanwhile, what Biden was attempting to do – and even if he’d been highly articulate, which obviously he wasn’t at all – was to have a real, serious debate on the issues, the facts, the evidence, reality. So presumably his week of preparation at Camp David included tons of policy-heavy briefing books, practice sessions, etc. The only problem is, none of that really mattered in a spectacle like we witnessed last night. Instead, Biden would have been a LOT better off to have simplified things down to maybe three or four main points, and keep hammering them: 1) Trump is a convicted felon; 2) Trump tried – and continues to try – to destroy our democracy; 3) Trump wants to be a dictator; 4) Trump is a climate science denier, Big Lie promoter, etc. Then just keep hammering those points, plus of course make the case for Biden’s overall superb record as president, while accurately blaming Trump for the problems Biden inherited when he took office in late January 2021 (e.g., supply-chain issues coming out of the COVID disaster, which combined with a super-charged economic recover during 2021 and 2022, resulted in inflation). Instead, it seems like Biden’s head was stuffed with facts, figures (“millions!” “I mean billions!” “or was it trillions?!?” – ugh), which led to Biden sounding incoherent, going into brain lock/brain freeze mode, etc. Such a huge mistake by the people who prepared Biden for this debate, and really, if they can be fired, they all should be…but presumably they won’t be, because incompetence never seems to be punished in the Democratic Party. Sigh…
  • Overall, it’s hard to disagree with anything UVA Professor Larry Sabato says here:

“Donald Trump is like untethered to truth. And so he just tells tons of lies and even like a really refined, uh, young rhetorically nimble debater would struggle if they thought that their objective up there was to be like that was a lie that was a lie that was a lie that was a lie and here’s the truth and i only have two minutes to deliver that it’s like an objectively challenging situation um i think that they’re like the uh aesthetic problem Biden is going to have is that this is going to do the inverse for him, what the State of the Union address did in March.
But that was March and now we’re in June and the conventions are coming up. And so there’s going to be Well, this is like he had already lost like the the advantage that the State of the Union address gave him on the age question where it put it to bed for a while and then Republicans started bringing it back and suddenly people were starting to worry about it again. And now like. Those questions are going to dog him more severely than they did before the State of the Union address. And there’s not going to be a clear opportunity for him to prove that they were wrong, right? So that’s really bad.”
  • There’s a lot of talk this morning about possibly making a change at the top of the Democratic ticket. For instance, here’s Paul Krugman, a super-strong Democrat and liberal who has been a staunch defender of President Joe Biden. This morning, Krugman wrote:

    “Joe Biden has done an excellent job as president. In fact, I consider him the best president of my adult life. Based on his policy record, he should be an overwhelming favorite for re-election.

    But he isn’t, and on Thursday night he failed to rise to the occasion when it really mattered…

    Given where we are, I must very reluctantly join the chorus asking Biden to voluntarily step aside, with emphasis on the “voluntary” aspect. Maybe some Biden loyalists will consider this a betrayal, given how much I have supported his policies, but I fear that we need to recognize reality.

    Step aside for whom? Kamala Harris was, by all accounts, an effective district attorney and attorney general, and she has also been quietly effective as vice president, promoting Biden’s policies. Choosing her as his successor would in no sense be settling for less.”

  • And while all this might very well be true, the problems with replacing Biden at this point are multifold. Maybe they can be overcome, but it would be messy – potentially  VERY messy – and also potentially HIGHLY divisive for the Democratic Party, which most likely would have an intense, even brutal fight over who should replace Biden. As Norm Ornstein (who totally called it YEARS ago on the extremist direction of the GOP) explains:

“People think that somehow you could have a clean and easy process and just pick the candidate you think would be the absolute best. Whitmer, Warnock Newsom, Booker. That’s not how it would work if you had a wide open nomination battle that would have to be decided within weeks. It would be very messy. And you are right, to bypass Harris would be a huge problem. So have patience. Wait a few days at least and see what the broader public reaction is. See if Biden can get out there and show that this was just a bad night and not more than that.”

“Why didn’t I agree with @ezraklein when he did his initial “Biden should step aside” take? 1. I thought Ezra was underrating the problems with an open convention and the difficulty of coordination (which as we are seeing is still a huge problem). 2. I thought it was premature, given that Biden hadn’t really *tried* to perform on a public stage in a big way. Note that Ezra wound up backtracking after a strong State of the Union! 3. You can always drop out later, but you can’t un-dropout. Better to preserve optionality. Obviously (3) becomes less true with every passing day, (2) no longer applies, so now you’re stuck with purely (1). And (1) unfortunately is still basically unsolvable.”

My view is that I was most definitely NOT open previously to talk of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket, but am much more open to it now, after last night’s disastrous debate performance (and yes, I understand that in a sane world, Trump would overwhelmingly be viewed as losing that debate, because every word he said is a lie and/or insane, but…sadly, we don’t live in a sane/well-informed world, plus our political media is totally FUBAR). The reasons I was NOT open previously to talk of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket were several: 1) Biden’s done a great job as president; 2) it looked like Biden had at least a 50/50 shot of beating Trump; 3) replacing Biden wouldn’t necessarily result in a nominee with any better shot of beating Trump; 4) the process of finding a new nominee would be HIGHLY contentious, potentially causing a civil war in the Democratic Party, and harming our chances in November. What changed is that last night’s debate  seriously calls into question points #2 and #3, which is really all that matters at this point –  beating Trump, preserving our democracy, not going fascist, etc. So maybe we COULD find a nominee with a better shot than Biden at defeating Trump?  We’ll see how the polls look in coming days, but if Biden falls significantly behind Trump, it will be almost impossible not to have a serious discussion about pulling the plug, making a change, etc.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that 40, 50, 60 years ago, the stakes would have been high but not existential. Today, though, we really can’t afford to lose the White House even ONCE – ever! – to what’s become an extremist, dangerous, radicalized Republican Party, which has indicated its desire to implement the absolutely horrifying “Project 2025” blueprint (and yes, if you’re not familiar with it, you need to get up to speed on this ASAP – and share it with everyone you know!). Also consider that another term with Trump – or any Republican, really – in the White House will solidify the far right’s control of the Supreme Court, and the courts in general, for potentially decades to come. Which, as this Supreme Court term’s decisions have clearly shown, would mean an almost complete disrespect for precedent, the constitution and the rule of law, plus utter contempt towards the ability of our government to protect us against polluters and other bad actors. In other words, say goodbye to trained experts making decisions on things like how much lead should be in water, and say hello to far-right judges making those decisions. Yeah, shudddderrrr.  So obviously, we had better not let any of that happen…which again, means we need to focus on having a presidential nominee this fall who has the best shot at defeating Trump. Period.  Because really, at this point, nothing else matters.

P.S. As Angry Staffer astutely asks: “How did we have an entire debate without a single question about Project 2025? Project 2025 is the single most dangerous agenda any of us have ever seen for a prospective president, and we just… didn’t talk about it?”

Ahead of Chesapeake Rally, Americans for Contraception Challenges Trump and Youngkin on Contraception Rights

By
lowkell
-
21

Good stuff by Americans for Contraception:

Ahead of Chesapeake Rally, Americans for Contraception Challenges Trump and Youngkin on Contraception Rights
As former President Donald Trump and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin prepare for their rally this afternoon in Chesapeake, Americans for Contraception demands clear answers to the following questions about contraception rights:

1. “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which Mr. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for, has raised concerns about the stability of other established rights, including the right to contraception. In fact, Justice Clarence Thomas has explicitly called for the court to ‘reconsider’ precedent protecting the right to contraception. Do you believe the right to contraception is firmly established under the Constitution? If so, what specific actions would you support to ensure that the Supreme Court cannot overturn this right in the future?”

2. “Mr. Trump, you’ve stated that contraception has ‘a lot to do with the states and some states are going to have different policies than others.’ Would you support a state’s decision to restrict or ban contraception? If not, would you support federal intervention to protect the right to contraception?”

3. “Mr. Trump, your administration policies, like the Title X gag rule and employer sanctions, directly restricted access to contraception for millions of Americans. Governor Youngkin, you vetoed Virginia’s Right to Contraception Act, which would have codified the right to birth control pills, condoms, IUDs, emergency contraception, and more. That legislation you vetoed had the support of eight out of ten voters — including 68% of Republicans. With reproductive rights under threat nationwide, why have you both prioritized ideological agendas over the health care needs and rights of Virginians, especially considering the clear public support for contraception rights?”

4. “Do you agree with the Susan B. Anthony List, which invested $1.4 million in Governor Youngkin’s election, that IUDs and emergency contraception cause abortion, contrary to medical science? With Republican lawmakers and their allies spreading such misinformation about contraception, it’s crucial for voters to understand your position on this issue.”

5. “Project 2025, developed by the Heritage Foundation and former Trump Administration officials, is supported by groups with a history of attacking contraception. The plan even shifts support to natural family planning methods, which are less effective, and calls for the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers cover emergency contraception. Do you agree with these proposals?”

 

All 50 of Trump’s Lies

By
lowkell
-
21

For the record, I said numerous times – as early as April, that if there was going to be a debate, there absolutely needed to be fact checking IN REAL TIME.  Instead, the disgraceful excuse for a “journalist” Jake Tapper – who previously has allowed Glenn Youngkin and other pathological liars he’s interviewed – to spew out a firehose of lies without any, or almost any, pushback. So what happened last night re: Trump should have been 100% expected, and the debate either not agreed to at all – or Biden using a COMPLETELY different strategy than the one he employed last night.  Instead, we had the complete fiasco of last night’s “debate,” or whatever the hell it was, to the country’s great disservice and to the peril of us all.

With that, here are two press releases from the Biden campaign, pointing out post-debate (when it’s kinda too late?) that Trump just lied and lied and lied last night.

Trump Lied… and Lied… and Lied

Trump lied. Over and over and over again.

He does not care about anyone or anything, but himself.

The New York Times found Donald Trump lied at least 26 times in tonight’s debate. That’s a lie every three minutes. In other words, Trump lied in every answer.

Donald Trump is a liar. A criminal. And he cannot be our president.

###

Paid for by Biden for President

All 50 of Trump’s Lies

16 More Lies Than Felonies, 48 More Lies than Impeachments

Here it is. Every single lie Donald Trump told on the debate stage.

He lied about the economy. He lied about foreign policy. He lied about his record. He lied about his crimes. He lied about women’s rights. He lied about immigration. He lied about his lies. He lied about our soldiers he disrespected. He lied about law enforcement attacked by his supporters. He lied about who he has had sex with. He lied about his racism. He lied about our country.

That is what the substance of this debate was about: Donald Trump, a liar and a felon vs. Joe Biden, a fighter for our families.

  1. “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We have never done so well, and everybody was amazed by it.”
  2. “The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs, they’re bounced back from the COVID.”
  3. “[10% universal tariff proposal is] not going to drive [prices] higher.”
  4. “[Tariff proposal is] just going to just force [other countries] to pay us a lot of money.”
  5. “I gave you the largest tax cut in history.”
  6. “I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we’re getting out with dignity, with strength, with power.”
  7. “The tax cuts spurred the greatest economy that we’ve ever seen.”
  8. “Now, when we cut the taxes…we took in more revenue with much less tax.”
  9. “We had largely fixed [COVID].”
  10. “Throughout the entire world, we’re no longer respected as a country. They don’t respect our leadership. They don’t respect the United States anymore. We’re like a third world nation.”
  11. “He allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails, and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy our country.”
  12. “He’s destroying Medicare because all of these people are coming in.”
  13. “The Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill.”
  14. “Every legal scholar throughout the world, the most respected, wanted [abortion] brought back to the states.”
  15. “They’re radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth. After birth, if you look at the former governor of Virginia, he was willing to do this. He said, we’ll put the baby aside, I will determine what we do with the baby, meaning will kill the baby.”
  16. “Under Roe v. Wade, you have late term abortion. You can do whatever you want depending on the state. You can do whatever you want.”
  17. “He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists.”
  18. “He didn’t need legislation because I didn’t have legislation. I said close the border.”
  19. “[Migrants are] living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places.”
  20. “He doesn’t care about our veterans. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t like the military at all, and he doesn’t care about our veterans.”
  21. “I had the highest approval rating for veterans taking care of the VA. He has the worst. He’s gotten rid of all the things that I approved.”
  22. “First of all, that was a made-up quote, ‘suckers and losers.’ They made it up.”
  23. “Our veterans and our soldiers can’t stand this guy. They can’t stand him. They think he’s the worst Commander in Chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had.”
  24. “He did nothing to stop [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]. In fact, I think he encouraged Russia from going in.”
  25. “Iran was broke with me. I wouldn’t let anybody do business with them. They ran out of money. They were broke.”
  26. “You had no terror at all during my administration.”
  27. “Nancy Pelosi, if you just watched the news from two days ago, on tape to her daughter, who’s a documentary filmmaker they say, but she’s saying, ‘Oh, no, it’s my responsibility. I was responsible for this’ because I offered them 10,000 soldiers or National Guard. And she turned them down.”
  28. “The unselect committee, which is basically two horrible Republicans that are all gone now, out of office, and Democrats, all Democrats, they destroyed and deleted all the information they found because they found out we were right. We were right. And they deleted and destroyed all of the information.”
  29. “Telling the Ukrainian people that we’re going to want a billion dollars or you change the prosecutor, otherwise you’re not getting a billion dollars. If I ever said that, that’s quid pro quo.”
  30. “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”
  31. “He basically went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me.”
  32. “He made up the Charlottesville story.”
  33. “He caused the inflation and it’s killing Black families and Hispanic families.”
  34. “They can’t buy groceries anymore, they can’t, you look at the cost of food where it’s doubled and tripled and quadrupled. They can’t live, they’re not living anymore.”
  35. “[European countries] don’t want anything that we have.”
  36. “Almost every police group in the nation from every state is supporting Donald J. Trump. Almost every police group.”
  37. “And what he’s done to the black population is horrible, including the fact that for ten years he called them super-predators.”
  38. “And yet during my four years, I had the best environmental numbers ever.”
  39. “The Paris accord was going to cost us $1 trillion and China nothing and Russia, nothing, and India nothing. It was a rip off of the United States and I ended it because I didn’t want to waste that money because they treated us horribly…. Nobody else was paying into it and it was, it was a disaster.”
  40. “I’m the one that got the insulin down for the seniors. I took care of the seniors.”
  41. On migrants: “They’re taking over our schools our hospitals, and they’re going to be taking over our schools or hospitals, and they’re going to be taking over Social Security.”
  42. “But Social Security – he’s destroying it because millions of people are pouring into our country and they are putting them onto Social Security. They’re putting them onto Medicare, Medicaid. They’re putting them in our hospitals.”
  43. “He wants open borders. He wants our country to either be destroyed, or he wants to pick up those people as voters.”
  44. “He wants the Trump tax cuts to expire.”
  45. “He wants to raise your taxes by four times. He wants to raise everybody’s taxes by four times.”
  46. “We now have the largest [trade] deficit in the history of our country under this guy. We have the largest deficit with China.”
  47. “He gets paid by China. He’s a Manchurian candidate. He gets money from China. So I think he’s afraid to deal with them.”
  48. “We had two cases, we paid $6 billion for five people.”
  49. “They talk about a relatively small number of people that went to the Capitol, and in many cases were ushered in by the police.”
  50. “I would have much rather accepted these [election results in 2020], but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous.”

###

Paid for by Biden for President

Friday News: “SCOTUS is going into July, destroying executive agency powers along the way”; “Trump Should Never Have Had This Platform…travesty”; “Biden Needed to Focus the Debate on Trump and Failed”; Trump’s Lies About Abortion – and Ralph Northam – Were “Particularly Appalling”

By
lowkell
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28

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, June 28. And no, obviously that debate shouldn’t have happened (I’ve been saying this for months, so it’s not 20/20 hindsight) without real-time fact checking. Also, seriously, f*** Jake Tapper, CNN, and political “journalism” more broadly. These people are a disgrace to the profession.

DEBATE NIGHT: Biden-Harris 2024 To Air Powerful Ads During Commercial Breaks, Before and After Debate

By
lowkell
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13

From President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign:

DEBATE NIGHT: Biden-Harris 2024 To Air Powerful Ads During Commercial Breaks, Before and After Debate

During commercial breaks, battleground voters will see Trump’s assault on reproductive rights, American democracy, and working families

As Americans tune into tonight’s debate, Team Biden-Harris is launching a battleground paid media blitz to air during debate programming on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NewsNation, and ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX affiliates, including commercial breaks before, during, and after the debate.

The ads will amplify the contrast that voters will see on the debate stage this evening on the issues that will define this election: the right for every woman to make her own health care decisions; fighting for a stronger middle class, not the ultra-wealthy and corporations; and convicted felon Donald Trump’s relentless pursuit of attacking and eroding our democracy.

“Willow’s Box” will air before and during the debate, putting a face to the suffering of women across the country living under Trump abortion bans. The ad features Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died twice after being denied care for a miscarriage under Texas’ abortion ban.

“Stopped,” featuring Michigan Sheriff Chris Swanson, will air during the debate. “Stopped” is a testimonial of an officer who watched in horror as a MAGA mob inspired by Donald Trump violently attacked, and ultimately killed, police officers defending the Capitol on January 6 – all while Trump did nothing to stop the violence.

“Character Matters” will air after the debate, reminding voters exactly who Donald Trump is: a convicted felon 34 times over who was found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud. “Character Matters” draws a sharp and startling contrast with President Biden, who is focused on improving the lives of working families, lowering costs, and taking on corporate greed, forcing big corporations to pay their fair share.

These ads are part of the Biden-Harris campaign’s $50 million paid media blitz for the month of June. They will run on general market television in all key battleground states.

See the ads that millions of battleground voters will watch tonight below:

Willow’s Box

###

Paid for by Biden for President

Video: Ahead of Debate, VA State Senators Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse Call Out Donald Trump, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) and MAGA Republicans for Trying to Take Away Virginians’ Health Care

By
Blue Virginia
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4

From Protect Our Care:

Ahead of Debate, Hashmi and Rouse Call Out Trump, Kiggans and MAGA Republicans for Trying to Take Away Virginians’ Health Care

Leaders and advocates hold Trump and Kiggans accountable before debate and Trump’s June 28 rally in Hampton Roads

*Watch the event here*
Ahead of tonight’s presidential debate, Senate Education and Health Committee Chair Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) and Senator Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach) joined advocates, storytellers, and Protect Our Care Virginia to call out Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, and MAGA Republicans for their escalating attacks on health care.

Trump plans to hold a rally in Hampton Roads the day after the debate.

“For everyone who’s tuning into the debate tonight, I want you to know the clear differences between Joe Biden and Donald Trump when it comes to health care, and most especially reproductive health care,” said Senator Hashmi. “Donald Trump has appointed justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and he continues to brag about the disastrous health care crisis that he has created across the country. Meanwhile, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been a brick wall for reproductive rights at the federal level, just as I and my fellow Democrats in the General Assembly have been a brick wall here at the state level.”

In addition to bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump has said he is “looking at” restrictions on contraception.

“Check the scoreboard,” said Senator Rouse. “Democrats created the Affordable Care Act, which protected people with pre-existing conditions and let young people stay on their parents’ plans until they are 26. I have a 21-year old and he’s still on my plan. I know you all remember when the hot mic caught Joe Biden telling President Obama this is a BFD. You know what else is a BFD? The Inflation Reduction Act, again – passed by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Democrats in Congress – which is lowering health care premiums, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare, and holding Big Pharma accountable for skyrocketing prescription drugs costs.”

Donald Trump has said that he would “terminate” the Affordable Care Act, which would rip health care away from the 400,000 Virginians who bought coverage on the exchange and take away protections for pre-existing conditions. Both the Republican Study Committee and Project 2025 have called for the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions that are saving Medicare enrollees thousands of dollars on prescription drugs.

“Let’s be clear, Donald Trump is a threat to our freedom and reproductive rights. We are witnessing the chaos and cruelty caused by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the extreme abortion bans he supports and for which Trump proudly takes credit. Because of Trump, one in three women of reproductive age, plus many transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people have lost access to abortion care in their states,” said Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Executive Director Jamie Lockhart.

“When Congresswoman Kiggans and nearly the entire Republican House caucus voted for the Default on America Act, they voted to take Medicaid coverage away from people who do not meet work requirements, putting health coverage at risk for 21 million Americans and over 655,000 people in Virginia. The vote would have been particularly harmful for veterans, as it would have included a 22% cut to the Department of Veterans Affairs. That is a massive cut that would have put the health care of over 100,000 veterans in Virginia at risk,” said Affordable Virginia Campaign Director Emily Yeatts.

“Jen Kiggans has been a politician who has been in lockstep with Donald Trump when it comes to a myriad of legislation and political views that will set back health care benefits for Americans across the country, but in her case, for the citizens of Virginia Second Congressional District, specifically. Our veterans deserve more. They deserve better. They deserve access to care for themselves and their families because they put their lives on the lines to defend our country. And to have politicians like Jen Kiggans and Donald Trump engage in political theater and policies that are draconian and hurtful, is very disappointing,” said Maurice Hawkins, veteran of the United States Air Force and resident of Virginia Beach. “Tonight we need to make sure that we are paying attention to the differences between [Joe Biden] who wants to move America forward and make sure Americans have access to affordable health care and [Donald Trump] who wants to take America backwards and really make people’s lives more difficult.”

“Across Virginia, and I know through the rest of the U.S, there’s thousands of seniors like me benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act. The out-of-pocket prescription costs are now at $3,300 a year, and I know that in 2025 they’re going down to $2,000 a year. That’s a life-changing amount if you’re on Social Security. But we need to understand that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the Democrats made this happen. Every Republican voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and what these prescription costs mean for us,” said Margaret Pierce, a Medicare enrollee and resident of Springfield who was able to retire thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 cap on insulin.

“As we prepare to watch the first presidential debate tonight, and as we anticipate Donald Trump’s visit to Hampton Roads tomorrow, we thought it was important to take a moment to remind folks that the threat to health care is not hypothetical,” said Protect Our Care Virginia State Director Katie Baker. “MAGA Republicans told us they wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and they did. Donald Trump told us he wanted to terminate the Affordable Care Act and put restrictions on contraception. MAGA extremists told us they want to take away the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug savings for seniors. They have left no room for mistake or misunderstanding: Republicans want to take your health care away.”

You can watch the full event here and learn more about Republican attacks on affordable health care here. You can view a side-by-side comparison of the records of President Biden and Donald Trump on health care here.

The debate will take place tonight at 9 p.m. in Atlanta.

###

Protect Our Care is dedicated to making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America. We educate the public, influence policy, support health care champions and hold politicians accountable. We fight to expand access to affordable, high-quality health insurance, lower the cost of health care for individuals and families, and reduce inequities in health care based on gender, income, race, ethnicity, geography, or sexual preference.
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