Author: Adrianna Tomasello

DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“On Donald Trump’s 78th birthday, we want to make sure the American people know 78 of Trump and his extreme MAGA allies’ radical right-wing wishes for his second term.”

1. Force American women to live under a wildly unpopular nationwide abortion ban, stripping them of their fundamental freedoms.
2. Terminate the Affordable Care Act, ripping health care coverage away from millions of hardworking Americans and potentially allowing health insurance companies to discriminate against the millions of people with preexisting conditions.
3. Gut critical, hard-earned benefits such as  Social Security and Medicare for America’s seniors. 
4. Give more tax handouts to big corporations and the ultra-wealthy and make working Americans foot the bill.
5. Roll back gun regulations on pistol braces that have been used in mass shootings.
6. Trump’s Project 2025 is plotting to eliminate the Department of Education.
7. Praise Putin for his invasion of Ukraine instead of supporting U.S. allies and defending democracy.
8. Trump and his extreme Project 2025 allies have a plan to ban abortion medication, making it even more difficult for women to access reproductive health care.
9. Allow red states to monitor women’s pregnancies, supporting extremist Republicans in violating Americans’ fundamental right to privacy.
10. Threaten to allow Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to our NATO allies. 
11. Allow states to throw women, doctors, and nurses in jail for attempting to provide or receive life-saving reproductive health care.
12. Appoint more extreme right-wing judges.
13. Trump and his Project 2025 allies have a plan to oust federal officials who would stand in the way of Trump’s conspiracy-backed agenda and replace them with Trump’s MAGA minions.
14. Restrict access to contraception.
15. Trump and his radical Project 2025 allies have a plan to recommit to restructuring eligibility to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), threatening to leave individuals and families without the benefits they need.
16. Threaten Americans’ access to using IVF to grow their families.
17. Allow big corporations to charge bogus junk fees that some of Trump’s allies defend instead of bringing down the costs for working families. 
18. Two-time unions by courting their endorsements but also have an anti-labor record that prioritized billionaires and corporations at the expense of hardworking Americans and their labor rights. 
19. Dismiss efforts to raise the minimum wage to put more money into the pockets of American workers. 
20. Threaten to appoint anti-union officials to the National Labor Relations Board like he did in his first term who will consistently side against the American worker. 
21. Worsen inflation with reckless policies that his policy advisors have plotted to “devalue the US dollar.”
22. Encourage an economic crash for his own political benefit.
23. Impose an across the board 10% tariff on imported goods, adding to the $230 billion that Americans have already paid thanks to his previous trade wars. 
24. Wrongfully take credit for all of President Biden’s hard work to cap insulin prices at $35 a month for seniors after failing to cap insulin costs or hold Big Pharma accountable during his four years in the White House.
25. Undermine Medicare’s ability to negotiate fair drug prices for seniors.
26. Arm classroom teachers with weapons instead of implementing common-sense gun laws that would help keep our children safe in schools.
27. Roll back President Biden’s “zero-tolerance” policy that revokes federal licenses from firearms dealers that have violated gun laws. 
28. Threaten to diminish funding for Pell Grant recipients, affecting over 8 million students every year.
29. Prioritize the National Rifle Association over the American people.
30. Enforce sex discrimination laws on the basis of biological sex, including banning transgender Americans from serving their country in the military, according to Trump’s Project 2025 Playbook.
31. Rip away access to gender-affirming care for minors, preventing people from receiving access to health care they deserve. 
32. Trump’s Project 2025 allies want to defund the Department of Energy, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Loan Programs Office. 
33. Reverse the Biden Administration’s focus on the LGBTQ+ community and equity.
34. Stack his cabinet with extreme-right allies.
35. Destroy the United States’ democracy and freedom and acting as a dictator on “day one.” 
36. Dream of a “unified reich.”
37. Pardon January 6 insurrectionists, letting them off the hook for the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol.
38. Slash civil service protections and seize tighter control over bureaucratic operations.
39. Weaponize the Department of Justice to spearhead his personal revenge tour by prosecuting political opponents.
40. Gut President Biden’s historic climate legislation, putting clean energy subsidies and regulations that incentivize electric vehicles on the chopping block.
41. Withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement again, disregarding international efforts to fight climate change.
42. Dismantle regulations on Big Oil and Gas.  
43. Promise to roll back regulations for Big Oil after asking them to donate $1 billion to his campaign.
44. Unravel Biden’s investments in American EV manufacturing.
45. Trump’s extreme allies want to eliminate the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, threatening its efforts to reduce harm to lower-income and minority communities who are disproportionately affected by pollution.
46. Recommit to his disastrous first term agenda of rolling back environmental regulations and undermining the EPA.
47. Threaten to double down on his first term agenda that put regulations regarding toxic chemicals on the chopping block, despite the fact that they pose serious health threats to the American people.
48. Defund the Federal Transit Administration, hurting millions of Americans who rely on local public transportation every day, according to the plan from Project 2025. 
49. Continue to applaud and cozy up to white supremacists, who he’s called “very fine people” and “my people.”
50. Push for an unconstitutional third term if he retakes power. 
51. Attack diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and work to shift the narrative to “anti-white” racism, upending efforts to counter racism and support minority groups.
52. Trump and his Project 2025 allies have a plan to cut federal K-12 public school universal meal programs, threatening to allow more children to go hungry.
53. Continue to inspire allies to censor and ban books in states.
54. Try to insert his extremism and political interference into public school curriculums. 
55. Funnel money away from public education, plans for which are further outlined in his extreme allies’ Project 2025 playbook. 
56. Threaten to eliminate over 490,000 (approximately 14% nationwide) public school teachers instead of addressing the teacher shortage.
57. Trump Project 2025 allies want to halt all student loan forgiveness initiatives and programs, exacerbating the ongoing student debt crisis.
58.  Rip apart families with his cruel immigration policies. 
59. Enable the mass deportation and detention of undocumented immigrants. 
60. Create detention camps near the Southern border. 
61. Deploy the American military to round up immigrants.
62. Try to terminate DACA (again).
63. Ban entry for people coming from Muslim-majority countries, again. 
64. Abolish birthright citizenship in the United States.
65. Continue to praise foreign dictators including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, despite human rights abuses.
66. Move to withdraw from the World Health Organization and undermine global health operations, again. 
67. Fire career diplomats and replace them with his MAGA cronies.
68. Undermine criminal justice reform efforts, as planned with Trump’s Project 2025 playbook.
69. Expand and increase the use of the death penalty.
70.  Go after television companies that report what he deems “fake news” and jeopardize First Amendment rights.
71. Deploy the military against American civilians. 
72. Mobilize the National Guard to combat crime.
73. Use the Department of Justice to investigate his political enemies.
74. Threaten to disregard Mexico’s sovereignty and send armed forces into Mexico to combat the drug cartels.
75. Bring back large mental institutions instead of actually addressing the mental health crisis.  
76. Force unhoused people off of the street by moving them to tent cities.
77. Potentially gut funding for rural schools by $175 million.
78. Become the first U.S. president to be a convicted felon (oh wait, he already did that).

The post Trump’s 78 Radical Right-Wing Wishes for His 78th Birthday appeared first on Democrats.

As Trump VP contender Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Turning Point Action conference in Michigan, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“From peddling dangerous lies about 9/11 to pushing election denialism, Vivek Ramaswamy has solidified himself as a far-right conspiracy theorist who Donald Trump can count on to push his extreme MAGA agenda. Ramaswamy and Trump are in lockstep, supporting cruel abortion bans, railing against affordable health care access, and pushing to rig the economy for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of America’s middle class. If Ramaswamy joins Trump’s ticket, the American people will make sure they have one more thing in common this November: losing to President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

Vivek Ramaswamy is an anti-choice extremist who supports banning abortion before many women know they’re pregnant and wants to rip away reproductive freedoms.

Washington Examiner: “Vivek Ramaswamy came out in favor of an abortion ban ‘around six weeks’ of gestation at the state level.”

Ramaswamy on whether he’s “of the same position” as Ron DeSantis with Florida’s six-week ban: “I think that’s a reasonable bill for him to have signed, absolutely.”

NBC News on Iowa’s six-week abortion ban: “Ramaswamy, who went to the Capitol building to support the session, faced hecklers during an interview. ‘I think it’s an historic occasion,’ Ramaswamy said, adding that it was ‘a celebration of the pro-life position that I share.’”

The Hill: “Ramaswamy: Supreme Court should rule against FDA approval of abortion pill”

Ramaswamy: “It’s my opinion… that the FDA exceeded its statutory authority in using an emergency approval to approve something that doesn’t fit Congress’s criteria for what actually counts as an emergency approval.”

Like Trump, Ramaswamy has railed against affordable health care access.

Ramaswamy: “I think Obamacare has been a disaster.”

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

Ramaswamy wants to take Trump’s MAGAnomics tax giveaways for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations even further — all at the expense of working families.

Ramaswamy on a suggestion to make permanent or expand the Trump tax cuts: “I’d go a little further, Larry, than that, to be honest with you.”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”

Ramaswamy is an out-of-touch extremist who has repeatedly pushed dangerous conspiracy theories.

NBC News: “Vivek Ramaswamy promotes Jan. 6 conspiracy theory by suggesting it was ‘an inside job’”

Vanity Fair: “Ramaswamy, frantically clinging to his undeserved relevance, went into all-out crank mode—confidently theorizing that the January 6 attack was an ‘inside job,’ that climate change is a ‘hoax,’ and that the ‘Great Replacement’ theory is not some racist paranoia, but a ‘basic statement of the Democratic Party platform.’”

NBC News: “Vivek Ramaswamy suggests ‘the truth’ about 9/11 is still unknown”

Fox News: “Vivek Ramaswamy on 9/11: ‘I don’t believe the government has told us the truth’”

Ramaswamy is an extreme climate denier who thinks actions to address climate change are a “hoax.”

Politico: “Vivek Ramaswamy calls climate change agenda a ‘hoax’”

Ramaswamy: “The climate change agenda is a hoax … The reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

Washington Post Fact Checker: “No matter how you slice it, credible research has concluded that thousands of people a year die because of the effects of climate change. We can’t find data that suggests green energy policies actually kill even more people — and Ramaswamy’s campaign did not provide any source for his claim. He earns Four Pinocchios.”

New York Times: “[Ramaswamy] similarly described ‘climatism’ as ‘prioritizing the goal of containing climate change at all costs,’ and suggested that fossil fuel and nuclear-powered advances could be used to adapt to and overcome climate change. (Climate scientists are clear that avoiding the worst effects of climate change requires moving away from fossil fuels.)”

Ramaswamy supported Trump’s efforts to tank the toughest, fairest bipartisan border deal in decades.

Ramaswamy: “We don’t need a new border law.”

Trump: “Please blame it on me.”

Trump: “I think [Republicans] are making a terrible mistake if they vote for the bill.”

New York Times: “Republicans Against Border Enforcement”

Rolling Stone: “Border Patrol Supports ‘Strong’ Immigration Deal. Republicans Don’t Care”

Ramaswamy wants to end birthright citizenship, mass deport entire families, and deport children born in America.

Ramaswamy: “I want to be very clear about this. I think that birthright citizenship does not and should not apply to the kids of parents who entered this country illegally.”

NBC News: “Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says that as president, he would deport American-born children of undocumented immigrants. ‘The family unit will be deported,’ said Ramaswamy when asked by NBC News if the deportations would include American-born children, after a packed town hall here Friday.”

Interviewer: “You said you want to deport the entire family unit of undocumented immigrants.” 

Ramaswamy: “Yes, entire family unit.”

The post Trump’s MAGA Veepstakes: Vivek Ramaswamy Is One of Trump’s Favorite Far-Right Conspiracy Theorists appeared first on Democrats.

After Donald Trump reportedly called Milwaukee “a horrible city,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump and the RNC haven’t even bothered to set up a real campaign operation in Wisconsin – they’d rather stick to telling voters how much they hate the city they chose to hold their convention in. Let’s be clear: Milwaukee is not a horrible city – and Wisconsinites should remember what Donald Trump thinks of them when they vote in November.”

The post DNC Statement on Trump Calling Milwaukee “Horrible” appeared first on Democrats.

DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement as President Biden delivers remarks at the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s Annual Training Conference, Gun Sense University: 

“President Biden and Democrats know that it’s our duty to act to keep our schools and communities safe from the gun violence epidemic, but MAGA Republicans who have the power to make a difference are stonewalling every step of the way – trying to roll back gun safety measures, blocking commonsense gun safety legislation, and blaming the loss of lives on everything but lax gun laws. Meanwhile, President Biden established the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and signed into law the most impactful federal gun safety legislation in decades, investing $13 billion in public safety and mental health programs, strengthening background checks for young buyers, and supporting implementation of red flag laws. The contrast couldn’t be more clear: as Donald Trump tells Americans to ‘get over it’ in the wake of school shootings, there’s only one ticket this November that will fight to keep Americans safe from gun violence, and that’s President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

President Biden and congressional Democrats worked across the aisle to pass the most impactful federal gun violence prevention legislation in decades.

White House Fact Sheet: “Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime

[…]

“In 2022, President Biden accomplished what many had tried for the past 20 years—he succeeded in expanding background checks by signing into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”

Associated Press: “The legislation will toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous…

“Most of its $13 billion cost will help bolster mental health programs and aid schools, which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, and elsewhere in mass shootings.”

Center for American Progress: “The BSCA will save countless lives by putting into place commonsense gun laws that activists have been demanding for years to hold more gun dealers and traffickers accountable and keep guns out of the hands of individuals who are at higher risk of committing violence. The law does so by making it harder for domestic abusers to access guns, establishing enhanced background checks for individuals under age 21, requiring individuals who sell guns commercially for a profit to register as licensed dealers, and making gun trafficking a federal offense.”

White House Fact Sheet: “These reports make clear that BSCA is saving lives. For example, the Department of Justice has denied more than 160 firearms transactions solely because of BSCA’s enhanced background checks for individuals under age 21. In part due to BSCA’s revised definition of when an individual is “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms, DOJ’s prosecutions for unlicensed dealing increased 52% from Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 to FY 2022. The Departments of Health and Human Services and Education, combined, have already delivered more than $1.5 billion to states and communities to make our schools safer, improve access to mental health services, and help young people deal with the trauma and grief resulting from gun violence. With this funding, schools are projected to hire an additional 14,000 mental health professionals over the next five years.”

The Biden administration made historic efforts to combat gun violence by creating the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. 

White House: “The Biden-Harris Administration has announced dozens of executive actions to: keep especially dangerous weapons and repeat shooters off our streets; hold rogue gun dealers and gun traffickers accountable; provide law enforcement with the tools and resources they need to reduce gun violence; and address the root causes of gun violence.” 

White House: “Readout of White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Convenings with 160 Health-Care Executives and Practitioners on the Public Health Crisis of Gun Violence”

The majority of American voters want more gun control.

Forbes: “Nearly 60% of registered voters think it’s at least somewhat important for lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws, a new Morning Consult/Politico poll found after a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York—even before another shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday further ramped up calls for Congress to pass gun control legislation.”

Gallup Polling: “Majority in U.S. Continues to Favor Stricter Gun Laws”

“Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults say gun laws should be stricter, while 31% believe they should be kept as they are now and 12% favor less strict gun laws.”

Pew Research Center: “Americans increasingly say that gun violence is a major problem. Six-in-ten U.S. adults say gun violence is a very big problem in the country today, up 9 percentage points from spring 2022.”

Donald Trump disregarded the gun violence epidemic during his presidency, while millions of Americans suffered from his lack of gun control policy.

Axios: Gun suicides account for most firearm-related deaths in U.S.

Associated Press: “FBI: 2020 homicides up nearly 30%, largest 1-year jump ever”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Council on Criminal Justice, a D.C.-based research group, found that homicides in 21 American cities were up 32% between March and October compared with 2019. And some analysts believe 2020 could record the largest-ever single-year increase in murders in the United States.”

CNN: “Guns are the leading cause of death for US children and teens, since surpassing car accidents in 2020. Firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths (ages 1-18) in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder database. Nearly 3,600 children died in gun-related incidents that year. That’s about five children lost for every 100,000 children in the United States.”

KFF: “Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations.”

Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions: “Around 4.5 million women in the United States have been threatened with a gun, and nearly 1 million women have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner. Over half of all intimate partner homicides are committed with guns.” 

Pew Research Center: “More than half of all suicides in 2021 – 26,328 out of 48,183, or 55% – also involved a gun, the highest percentage since 2001.”

Pew Research Center: “In 2021, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to the CDC.”

Donald Trump has boasted that his administration “did nothing” on gun control legislation and told Americans to “get over” school shootings.

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump boasted to a gathering of National Rifle Association members Friday in Pennsylvania that his administration ‘did nothing’ about guns.”

“‘During my four years, nothing happened!’ he bellowed. ‘And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield.’”

NBC News: “Trump tells supporters ‘we have to get over it’ after Iowa school shooting”

MAGA Republicans in Congress and around the country are trying to roll back gun safety laws and have blocked the chance to even debate commonsense gun safety legislation.

Associated Press: “Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate” 

The Guardian: “Democrats rush to push gun safety laws after mass shootings as Republicans stall” 

Associated Press: “House Republicans passed a resolution that would repeal a Biden administration rule tightening federal regulations on stabilizing braces for firearms, an accessory that has been used in several mass shootings in the U.S. over the last decade.”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked efforts by Senate Democrats to pass an assault weapons ban and universal background checks legislation after the United States over the weekend broke the record for the most mass shootings in a single year.”

Roll Call: “A Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval introduced Wednesday in the Senate by John Cornyn, R-Texas, could force the chamber to vote on overturning a rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would expand the number of gun sellers who would be required to run background checks.

“Cornyn had negotiated the 2022 gun violence prevention law that the administration relied on for the ATF rule. Now he has 41 Senate Republicans who back his joint resolution to stop that rule.”

Congressional Republicans have blamed everything except loose gun laws for mass shootings. 

NBC News: “Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on Tuesday doubled down on his comments that Congress is ‘not gonna fix’ the problem of school shootings, saying that the country needed a ‘real revival’ rather than gun control legislation…

“‘If you want to legislate evil, it’s just not going to happen,’ Burchett said. ‘We need a real revival in this country. Let’s call on our Christian ministers and our people of faith.’”

Newsweek: “A day after a gunman opened fire on a school with a military-style rifle, Senator Mike Lee suggested that fatherlessness and family breakdown is the root cause of mass shootings and not lax gun control laws.”

Business Insider: “GOP lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene made her anti-gun control stance clear in a tweet following a horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday.

“‘We don’t need more gun control,’ Greene wrote. ‘We need to return to God.’” 

Post and Courier: “During a press conference at the MUSC Children’s Hospital, [Sen. Tim Scott] said new legislation won’t be enough to prevent more violence, such as the recent massacre of children and school employees at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. ‘The short-term fixes will only make us feel better, but won’t make us any safer,’ he said. ‘I’m very hesitant to jump to conclusions just because everyone wants one.’” 

RealClearPolitics: “Mullin blamed ‘Hollywood elites’ and video games for playing a role in the senseless ‘horrific’ tragedy, saying: ‘What we always talk about is gun control, but we don’t talk about what we expose our kids to.’

“‘The number one seller of video games is Call of Duty, for the last nine years in a row,’ he lamented. ‘if you’ve ever watched that, you can see how much violence that exposes them to. You combine that with someone who has a touch of mental illness –or is mentally ill– what do you expect is going to happen?’”

The post President Biden and Democrats Fight for Gun Safety While Trump and MAGA Republicans in Congress Refuse to Address Gun Violence appeared first on Democrats.

MAGA Republicans stooped to new lows this week with their extremism, hypocrisy, chaos, and — as President Biden would call it — malarkey. In case you missed it: Donald Trump doubled down on his threats of political violence, claiming that he has “every right” to imprison and prosecute his political opponents; Byron Donalds suggested Black Americans were better off under Jim Crow; the RNC is preparing for Trump’s Convict Convention; Trump’s VP contenders put loyalty to him above the rule of law; GOP VP contenders voted against protecting access to contraception; House Republicans put veterans’ reproductive health care at risk; Lara Trump and Tom Cotton refused to commit to accepting the 2024 election results; and the RNC went all in to win over voters in Ho Chi Minh City.

Donald Trump doubled down on his threats of political violence and said he has “every right” to go after his political opponents.

Axios: “Trump says he would have ‘every right to go after’ political enemies if elected” 

New York Times: “Trump Defends Vow to Prosecute Rivals, Saying ‘Sometimes Revenge Can Be Justified’”

“Former President Donald J. Trump has in recent days been escalating his suggestions that he could prosecute his political enemies if elected in November.

“Mr. Trump was offered several opportunities by sympathetic interviewers in recent days to clarify or walk back his previous statements. Mr. Trump instead defended his position, saying at points that ‘I don’t want to look naïve’ and that ‘sometimes revenge can be justified.’”

The Hill: “Donald Trump warns of public ‘breaking point’ if he’s jailed” 

Reuters: “Donald Trump said on Sunday he would accept home confinement or jail time after his historic conviction on criminal charges by a New York jury last week but that it would be tough for the public to accept.” […] 

“‘I’m not sure the public would stand for it,’ the former president told Fox News of a potential prison sentence.

“‘I think it’d be tough for the public to take. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.’”

Trump VP contender Byron Donalds suggested that Black Americans were better off under Jim Crow — and then doubled down on his comments again and again and again. 

Philadelphia Inquirer: “‘You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively,’ he said. ‘And then H.E.W., Lyndon Johnson — you go down that road, and now we are where we are,’ he added, referring to the former U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.”

The Hill: “Donalds suggests Black families were stronger during Jim Crow era”

“Marcus W. Robinson, a senior spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, slammed Donalds for his statement. 

“‘This is Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican Party: VP contender Byron Donalds is praising Jim Crow, suggesting that Black families were better off during segregation,’ Robinson said. ‘Let’s be clear: Jim Crow ripped apart Black families, and it’s absurd to suggest it was anything but a horrific stain on our country’s history.’”

Abby Philip, CNN: “A lot of them are offended by the idea that you would repeat ‘Jim Crow’ three times in your comments as if to suggest that that was a good time period because that Black families were, in your words, ‘together’…I mean, it sounds like nostalgia. Do you regret using that timeframe as a reference?”

Donalds: “…I didn’t even insinuate that.” 

[…]

Phillip: “You’re suggesting that because the Black family was together, they were better off than they are now.”

Donalds: “…I never suggested that.”

Donalds: “That was the only point. That stuff that comes up about Jim Crow and twisting my words, saying I was being nostalgic, or saying that Jim Crow was good for Black people, that’s all political spin. It’s a lie. It’s gaslighting, and that’s truly unfortunate.” 

Joy Reid, MSNBC: “So, here’s the challenge. Congressman, you started out talking about your family, talking about your mom, talking about being raised, and you on your own, brought up Jim Crow. In fact, you said Jim Crow three times for emphasis. It wasn’t the media or the Democrats or gaslighters who brought up Jim Crow. It was you. You brought up Jim Crow.” 

Fox News: Donalds: “I’m not going to do an apology tour.”

The RNC is preparing for Trump’s Convict Convention — including the possibility that Trump will address the convention virtually.

Interviewer: “The convention happens next month, and your nominee could be sentenced to actual jail time four days before everything kicks off in Milwaukee. Have you planned for that at the RNC?”

Whatley: “Yeah, we’re working on that right now.”

Interviewer: “Would he make a speech from prison?”

Whatley: “Everything is being considered at this point in time.”

Washington Examiner: “Republican National Committee Co-Chairman Michael Whatley said the RNC is prepared for the possibility Donald Trump may deliver his convention remarks from prison, noting the former president’s June 11 sentencing will come just days before the convention.”

MAGA VP contenders are tripping over themselves to pass Trump’s latest litmus test: undermining the rule of law. 

The Hill: “Trump’s allies and those jockeying for a spot on the ticket have for weeks echoed his criticisms of the case, with several potential vice presidential contenders appearing at the courthouse in support of the former president. Following the verdict Thursday, they unleashed attacks on the judge, the district attorney and the legal system.”

Tim Scott: “A friendly reminder that this trial is… A sham. A spectacle. A stunt.

“A politically motivated circus in an effort to engineer an election and keep Donald J. Trump off the campaign trail.”

Doug Burgum: “This verdict is a travesty of justice.” […]

“This Lawfare should scare every American.”

J.D. Vance: “This decision is a disgrace to the rule of law and our Constitution.”

“In reality, the only thing that Donald Trump is guilty of is being in the courtroom of a political sham trial.”

Byron Donalds: “What happened in NY is disaster verdict by a crooked judge and a crooked prosecution. Donald Trump is innocent. To hell with what the jury said.”

Tom Cotton: “This verdict, like the case itself, is a travesty of justice. The nakedly partisan judge biased the trial at every turn, from allowing an unconstitutional indictment in the first place to excluding key evidence to rigging the jury instructions.”

Marco Rubio: “The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice.” 

Axios: “The rush to defend the former president caters to Trump’s fondness for public displays of loyalty after attendees at the courthouse trial became a veritable who’s who of Trump loyalists.” 

NBC News: “It was a fast and furious — and wholly unsurprising — political coda to a Trump legal case that had also turned into an unofficial audition stage for his potential running mates.”

Trump’s VP contenders in the Senate blocked a bill to protect access to contraception. Then, MAGA minions hit the airwaves to rail against the bill. 

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block bill to protect Americans’ access to contraception”

“The vote on the Right To Contraception Act was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster and move forward in the chambers [as] Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of birth control is already protected under Supreme Court precedent.”

Republicans who voted against include: Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, and Joni Ernst. 

HuffPost: “Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) pointed to Democrats and largely declined to answer when asked why he joined fellow Republicans in blocking a bill that would guarantee access to contraceptives on Wednesday.

“‘Why vote nay and explain how that’s not a bad issue for Republicans?’ Fox News host Bret Baier asked.

“Scott, who is reportedly being considered as former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, argued that people already have access to contraceptives, claimed that ‘will continue,’ and accused Democrats of politicizing the issue.

“Then, he changed the subject to abortion.”

Jake Tapper, CNN:  “If Republicans win the White House and take control of the Senate, which, they have a decent chance of doing, and retain control of the US House, should voters expect contraception to be at risk as the right to abortion is at risk?”

Youngkin: “‘I believe this is very much a publicity vote and not one based on real policy.’”

Alabama Political Reporter: “In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Alabama Senator Katie Britt criticized the Right to Contraception Act currently being championed by Senate and House Democrats. She called the decision to hold a vote on the bill today part of a ‘Summer of Scare Tactics’ and a ‘campaign of fearmongering.’” […]

“While Britt also pointed out that ‘contraception is available in every state across the nation,’ some Republican politicians and appointees have begun suggesting contraception may be a future target for government regulation.”

MAGA Republicans slipped a poison pill into the VA’s must-pass funding bill, once again putting veterans’ reproductive health care at risk.

NBC News: “House Republicans approved a veterans’ funding bill on Wednesday that would limit abortion access for troops and veterans, setting up another partisan clash with Democrats in the Senate and the White House ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government.

“A controversial provision in the spending bill would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from offering abortion counseling and, in some cases, abortion procedures to veterans and their beneficiaries. It overturns a Biden administration rule that allows the VA to provide abortion care when the life or health of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.”

RNC co-chair Lara Trump and Trump VP contender Tom Cotton refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

Peter Alexander, NBC News: “Will you commit to certifying the 2024 election results no matter who wins?”

Cotton: “…I will accept the results of the election and certify them if it’s a fair and a free election.”

Kasie Hunt, CNN: “Will you commit to accepting the election results in 2024?”

Lara Trump: “Of course. If this is a free, fair, and transparent election, absolutely… We can’t repeat an election like we had in 2020 where you had half the country with huge, sweeping questions about what happened that never got answered.”

Hunt: “Well, there was zero evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed the ultimate outcome in 2020.”

Lara Trump: “Absolutely not, most of those lawsuits were swept away on clerical errors… But then people wanted to know, what happened across the country? We never got those answers.” 

The RNC, still struggling to build a campaign operation in Wisconsin, decided to go all in to win over voters in… Ho Chi Minh City?

The Hill: “Dems troll RNC for promoting convention with Ho Chi Minh City photo”

“Democrats took a swipe at the Republican National Convention (RNC) after its website included a background picture of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam rather than Milwaukee, where the party’s convention will be hosted next month.

“The background picture of Ho Chi Minh City went viral on social media Tuesday after a Boston Globe reporter posted a screenshot of what appeared to be the RNC’s “News and Updates” website section. As of Wednesday, the screenshot had more than 598,000 views and 3,700 likes.”

The post MAGA Malarkey: The Extremism You Missed From Republicans This Week appeared first on Democrats.

In response to NBC News reporting that the Vermont Republican Party’s own rules bar them from supporting Donald Trump, DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman issued the following statement:

“Trump’s having a really bad week, and it just got worse. After nominating Donald Trump to be their candidate, despite his extreme and unpopular agenda that would hurt Vermonters, the Vermont Republican Party remembered one crucial clause of their platform: a rule against supporting or promoting a convicted felon for public office. We already knew Donald Trump was a threat to the American people and our democracy, but according to the Vermont GOP’s own rules, Donald Trump isn’t even eligible to receive their support. We look forward to the Vermont Republican Party supporting Joe Biden this November – the only candidate with a path to 270 that has not been convicted of a felony.”

According to the Vermont GOP’s FIRST candidate restriction (found in Rule 16), their state committee is barred from supporting convicted felons, a blow to recently convicted felon Donald Trump.

NBC News: “Vermont GOP rules bar it from promoting any candidate who is a ‘convicted felon’

“The Vermont Republican Party is prohibited from backing a candidate with a felony conviction, according to the party’s publicly posted rules.

“That is now a bit of a problem, since the presumptive Republican presidential nominee  was recently convicted on 34 felony counts.

“‘The state committee will not support or promote any candidate for elective office who … is a convicted felon,’ read the rules, which govern everything from party meetings to how delegates must vote at national conventions.

“The Republican National Committee and Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont 

Republican Party, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vermont GOP: “RULE 16 – CANDIDATE RULE

“1. The state committee will not support or promote any candidate for elective office who:

(a) is a convicted felon;”

The post Vermont Republican Party’s Own Rules Bar Support of Convicted Felon Donald Trump appeared first on Democrats.

Yesterday, the overwhelming majority of MAGA Senate Republicans present blocked Democrats’ Right to Contraception Act, the latest in their ongoing crusade against women’s reproductive care. From Senate Republicans to House Republicans and their leader Donald Trump, voters deserve to know just how far the extreme MAGA GOP will go to rip away access to reproductive health care — even when the majority of Americans disagree with them.

Every Republican who voted to block the Right to Contraception Act owes their constituents answers to these questions: 

1. Do you stand by the state-level attacks on contraception that your vote to block the Right to Contraception Act leaves the door open for?

The Oklahoman: “An Oklahoma bill seeks to place further restrictions on abortion in the state, prompting questions from lawmakers about whether the bill would ban emergency contraceptives, like ‘the morning-after pill’ and IUDs.

“Authored by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, the bill would allow lawsuits for those who help women obtain abortions and would allow the state to identify women who obtain them. It also targets contraceptives that induce an abortion or prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg.”

Associated Press: “Louisiana lawmakers advance bill to reclassify abortion drugs, worrying doctors” 

Associated Press: “Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed bills from the Democratic-controlled Legislature that would have protected the right to contraception.”

Associated Press: “In Wisconsin, Democrats introduced a bill that was intended to protect contraception access last year, but it never got so much as a hearing in either the GOP-controlled state Assembly or state Senate before the two-year session ended in March. Senate Democrats tried to pull the bill from committee in February and force a floor vote, but all the chamber’s 22 Republicans voted against the move.”

2. You’re now on the record voting against protecting access to birth control. What do you have to say to the 80% of voters across party lines who support the right to contraception?

TIME: “So far, congressional Republicans have indeed declined to protect contraception access. Despite polling showing that 80% of Americans say protecting this access is ‘deeply important’ to them, nearly every Republican in the House voted against a 2022 bill to protect it. And 126 House Republicans are cosponsors of the Life Begins at Conception Act, which would imbue a fertilized egg with full “personhood” rights even before implantation, which means before a pregnancy has actually begun. Critics say such a law could outlaw in vitro fertilization – and, if some in the anti-abortion movement succeed in redefining some forms of contraception as abortion, several forms of contraception, too.”

And voters deserve a straight answer to these questions as MAGA Republicans continue to push an extreme and deeply unpopular anti-abortion agenda: 

1. Do you stand by Trump supporting states’ ability to prosecute women for receiving reproductive health care? 

Trump: “There has to be some form of punishment [for women who have an abortion].”

Interviewer: “Are you comfortable if states decide to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned?” 

[…]

Trump: “Again, that’s going to be—I don’t have to be comfortable or uncomfortable. The states are going to make that decision. The states are going to have to be comfortable or uncomfortable, not me.”

[…]

Interviewer: “Prosecuting women for getting abortions after the ban. But are you comfortable with it?” 

Trump: “The states are going to say. It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.” 

2. Are you, like Trump, supportive of letting states monitor pregnant women to make sure they don’t get abortions? 

HuffPost: “Trump Is Fine With States Monitoring Pregnant Women So They Don’t Get Abortions”

“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said states with abortion bans should be free to monitor pregnant women to make sure they don’t terminate their pregnancies, suggesting that would be in line with his newfound position of leaving abortion rights up to the states.”

3. Would you continue to rip away access to safe and effective forms of medication abortion (which also help with miscarriage management, as well as stopping hemorrhaging, inducing labor, and even treating stomach ulcers)? 

The 19th News: “Republican-led states are trying to crack down on abortion medication”

4. Are you okay with women having to be airlifted to nearby states to receive reproductive health care?

NBC News: “Since Jan. 5, when the Supreme Court lifted an injunction that had shielded doctors providing emergency care, six pregnant patients at St. Luke’s have had to be airlifted out of Idaho, according to Dr. Jim Souza, the chief physician executive for St. Luke’s. Last year, the system saw only one such transfer, he said.”

The post After Coming for Contraception, How Much Further Will GOP Anti-Abortion Extremists Go?  appeared first on Democrats.

Ahead of Donald Trump’s Turning Point town hall today, DNC spokesperson Cameron Niven released the following statement:

“After canceling not one, not two, but three trips to the state, Trump is finally making his way to Arizona, but instead of meeting with working families, he’s choosing to spend time with the most extreme Arizonians he knows: the Arizona GOP and Turning Point. When they’re not backstabbing, physically fighting with one another, and hemorrhaging cash, Arizona Republicans are following Trump’s lead in ripping away women’s reproductive freedom. Trump is choosing to kick off Pride Month with the same right-wing organization that employed staffers charged with assault for harassing a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Arizona last year, which is horrifying but unsurprising given the hateful agenda and violent rhetoric of the organization that Trump closely aligns himself with. This is the company that convicted felon Trump keeps as he wages his campaign of revenge and retribution. This November, Arizona voters will reject the extreme agenda of Trump and his MAGA minions and will once again unite behind President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as they fight to protect their rights and deliver for Arizona families.”

Two Turning Point USA staffers harassed and then assaulted a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Arizona last year.  

AZ Family: “Charges filed against two ‘Turning Point USA’ members accused of harassing ASU professor”

The Guardian: “Two Turning Point USA members admit to assaulting queer professor”

Arizona Republic: “Turning Point affiliates admit to harassing queer ASU professor, must complete diversion program”

KPNX: “Two employees of the right-wing organization Turning Point USA admitted their guilt in a planned confrontation last October with a queer instructor on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus, according to court documents obtained Monday by 12News.”

Arizona Republic: “‘You can’t run,’ one of the Turning Point USA affiliates told Boyles in the video.

Wolfe said one of the people eventually shoved Boyles to the pavement, injuring him, and then fled.”

The Arizona Republican Party is in shambles – reeling from infighting, corruption, and an empty war chest that forced the selling of the party’s recently purchased headquarters during a pivotal election year. 

KOLD: “Ex-Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward is now facing assault charges, according to authorities.”

New Republic: “Jeff DeWit, chair of the state’s Republican Party, accused Lake of blackmailing him, after she released a recording of a private phone conversation between the two, in which he can be heard attempting to bribe the Senate candidate. Lake also allegedly threatened DeWit with a ‘more damaging’ recording if he refused to step down.”

Arizona Capitol Times: “DeWit’s resignation follows a leaked audio recording where he offered Lake employment or a ‘number’ to step out of politics.” 

AZ Mirror: “In particular, there were mounting concerns about the party’s sagging finances, which were so bad that some had begun openly wondering if he was steering the AZGOP into bankruptcy.”

AZ Mirror: “Things were so bad in August that the party had just $14,000 in the bank account, far less than it needed to cover its bills.”

Axios: “The AZGOP is selling the headquarters it bought 9 months ago”

“After just nine months, the Arizona Republican Party’s new headquarters is about to become its old headquarters.”

Trump and MAGA Republicans own Arizona’s multiple extreme abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest. 

Axios: “GOP suffers desert meltdown on abortion”

“A day after former President Trump thought he’d tamped down the GOP’s exposure on abortion, it popped back up in the key 2024 battleground of Arizona.

“Why it matters: Trump ushered in the end of Roe vs. Wade and its national protection of abortion rights, and now his party is suffering a massive voter backlash.”

19th: “An ‘insane roller coaster’: In Arizona, abortion is legal one day and outlawed the next”

“‘This has been the most insane roller coaster ride I have ever been on,’  said Dr. Jill Gibson, the medical director at Planned Parenthood Arizona. ‘We feel like we’re constantly having whiplash.’

“The uncertainty of the legal back-and-forth has destabilized abortion provision in Arizona — making it harder for clinics to retain staff, forcing patients to leave the state for care, and rendering it near impossible for people to know if they are legally allowed to get an abortion in the state.”

ABC News: “Arizona patients, doctors describe chaos, confusion over 1864 abortion ban”

The post Trump (Finally) Visits His Arizona MAGA Minions  appeared first on Democrats.

In response to new reporting from TheGrio examining how RFK Jr. falsely accused two men of color of murder, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison released a video statement reminding RFK Jr. that he can’t run from his racist past. 

TheGrio’s reporting dives into RFK Jr. using racial stereotypes to falsely accuse two innocent men of color of murdering a white woman in order to exonerate his white cousin who had been convicted of the crime. While promoting his baseless theory on a book and media tour, RFK Jr. continuously spread these racist stereotypes and prejudices. Not only did he profit and gain media notoriety from the lie, he devastated these men’s lives – just like Donald Trump and the “Central Park Five.” 

Watch DNC Chair Jaime Harrison’s full response here. You can read the full transcript below. 

HARRISON: Did you know that Donald Trump took out a full-page ad falsely accusing five Black & Latino men of a crime that they didn’t commit and that they should get the death penalty?

Well, Donald Trump is not the only person running for president who has falsely accused young men of color of a crime.

In a 2016 book, RFK Jr. accused two innocent men — one of them Black, one of them mixed race — of committing a murder when they were teenagers.

But let’s back up.

 In 1975, a 15-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Greenwich, Connecticut. 

The case went cold for decades, but in 2002, Michael Skakel, RFK Jr.’s cousin, was put on trial, and convicted of the murder.

But RFK Jr. couldn’t accept the verdict — just like how he can’t accept science, historical facts, and established truths.

He instead tried to pin this murder on  an innocent black man and an innocent man of mixed race, accusing them of a murder they didn’t commit and making claims that had already been dismissed by a court – all while levying racist stereotypes.

Y’all, he described these men as …

VIDEO OF RFK JR.: “Two men, or two kids, kind of gangsters.”

HARRISON: He said because they’re …

VIDEO OF RFK JR.: “They are 6’3”, 6’4”, respectively, 250 pounds, and very strong.”

HARRISON: He even said …

VIDEO OF RFK JR.: “They were going to go caveman on a girl in Greenwich.”

HARRISON: The racism here couldn’t be more bleak.

And with a book deal and a TV deal, RFK Jr. also profited off these false and racist claims.

But folks, that’s RFK Jr. — conspiracy theories are the foundation of his campaign, because they’re the foundation of who he is. 

A man who will do and say anything — including deploying some of the most vile, racist stereotypes against innocent, young men — if it means fueling his deranged, delusional lies.

Bottom line is this:

Someone like this should not be elected to office in this country. At any level. Especially the presidency.

Folks, we have to make sure that this man does not get elected to the White House. 

BACKGROUND: As RFK Jr. attempts to lean on his family’s history of strong civil rights leadership and pitch himself as the continuation of that legacy, he is finding it hard to hide from his past. Reporting today from TheGrio examines how RFK Jr. falsely accused two innocent men – one of them Black, and one of them mixed race– of murdering a white woman to exonerate his white cousin who was convicted of the crime. Just like Donald Trump and the Central Park Five, RFK Jr. tried to ruin these men’s lives. In the process, RFK Jr. raked in money from book and TV deals while peddling racist stereotypes.  

The post DNC Chair Jaime Harrison to RFK Jr.: “Someone Who Spreads Racist, Deranged, Delusional Lies Should Not Be President” appeared first on Democrats.

In response to Donald Trump’s VP contenders voting against a bill to protect access to contraception, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“Today’s vote is another terrifying reminder that the MAGA Republicans vying to be Donald Trump’s running mate are all on board with his extreme anti-choice agenda to rip away women’s reproductive freedoms. Just weeks after Trump left the door open to restricting access to contraception, his VP contenders in the Senate voted to block legislation to protect this basic right for millions of Americans across the country. Our fundamental freedoms are on the line in this election, and whoever joins Trump on his ultra-MAGA ticket will put them at risk.”

NEW: The majority of Senate Republicans present voted against protecting access to contraception, including many of Trump’s MAGA VP contenders.

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block bill to protect Americans’ access to contraception”

“The vote on the Right To Contraception Act was 51-39, falling short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster and move forward in the chambers [as] Republicans said the bill is unnecessary as the use of birth control is already protected under Supreme Court precedent.”

Republicans who voted against include: Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, and Joni Ernst.

Trump’s VP contenders have previously opposed legislation to protect access to contraception, railed against access to birth control and Plan B, and backed legislation that could jeopardize access to forms of contraceptives. 

Right to Contraception Act: “This bill sets out statutory protections for an individual’s right to access and a health care provider’s right to provide contraception and related information.”

Republicans who voted against in the 117th Congress include: Elise Stefanik, Byron Donalds, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Michael Waltz, and Lee Zeldin 

Life At Conception Act: Republicans who have cosponsored include: Tim Scott, Bill Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn, Wesley Hunt, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Michael Waltz 

Mother Jones: “Marco Rubio’s Plan Could Cut Off Birth Control Coverage for Millions”

“A new bill introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a rising conservative star and leading contender for the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 2012, could cut off birth control coverage for millions of women who receive it through their health plans.”

CBS News: “Earlier this year, Rubio co-sponsored the Blunt Amendment, a measure that would allow any employer to stop providing insurance coverage for items such as birth control if the employer finds those items morally objectionable.”

Sarah Huckabee-Sanders: “[Donald Trump] believes that the freedom to practice one’s faith is a fundamental right in this country, and I think all of us do. And that’s all that [Trump’s ACA rule allowing more limits to contraception coverage] was about.”

WWNY: “Stefanik votes against bill guaranteeing right to contraceptives”

Associated Press: “Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed bills from the Democratic-controlled Legislature that would have protected the right to contraception…”

NBC News: “In March, Blackburn sparked speculation about where she stands on birth control when she took issue with the 1965 Supreme Court ruling known as Griswold vs. Connecticut, which legalized access to contraception.”

Vox: “Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went so far as to proclaim that Plan B emergency contraception ‘kills a baby in the womb once a woman is already pregnant.’”

Reminder: Trump recently left the door open to restricting access to contraceptives like Plan B. 

Interviewer: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?

Trump: “Well we’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting.”

Interviewer: “That suggests that you may want to support some restrictions? Like the morning after pill or something?

Trump: “We are also– You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states. And some states are going to have different policies than others.”

The post 🚨 NEW: Donald Trump’s VP Contenders Voted AGAINST Protecting Access to Contraception appeared first on Democrats.