In response to Donald Trump’s VP contenders desperately trying to clean up Trump’s terrible week, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“From election denialism to new attacks on reproductive freedom, Donald Trump’s VP contenders tripped over themselves to fall in line with Trump’s MAGA extremism and desperately try to spin his disastrous week. These MAGA minions have made clear they will defend anything and everything Trump does, including opening the door to restricting access to birth control, attacking our democracy with more baseless lies, and getting relentlessly booed and mocked for his anti-freedom agenda.”
Tim Scott once again refused to commit to accepting November’s election results, in line with Trump’s own dangerous election denialism.
Dana Bash, CNN: “A lot of Republicans have been refusing to commit to accepting the election results in 2024. You haven’t done so yet. … Will you vote to certify the election, no matter who wins?”
Scott: “Well, certainly we expect a fair and honest election. And as a result of that expectation, we will certify the election and certify President Donald Trump as our 47th president.”
Mediaite: “Tim Scott Yet Again Gives Dodgy Answer When Asked if He’ll Certify the 2024 Election”
“Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who has repeatedly dodged making a commitment to certifying the 2024 election, gave another nebulous answer. … Bash’s interview follows a recent, viral exchange between Scott and Kristen Welker on Meet The Press — in which Scott refused six times to commit to accepting the election results:”
NBC News: “Sen. Tim Scott dodges on whether he would accept 2024 election results”
Washington Post: “Top Republicans, led by Trump, refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results”
Scott also desperately tried to spin Trump getting relentlessly booed and mocked during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention last night.
Daily Beast: “Tim Scott on Trump Getting Booed by Libertarians: He’s So Popular!”
The Guardian: “‘No wannabe dictators!’: Donald Trump booed at Libertarian convention”
Reuters: “Trump booed and heckled by raucous crowd at Libertarian convention”
CNN: “Former President Donald Trump was loudly and consistently booed throughout his speech Saturday at the Libertarian Party’s national convention.”
Byron Donalds lied about Trump’s own words earlier this week opening the door to restricting access to contraception and Plan B.
Donalds: “President Trump doesn’t want to do anything on contraception.”
NBC News: “Trump says he’s ‘looking at’ policies that would restrict birth control access”
Interviewer: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?”
Trump: “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?”
Trump: “You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states. And some states are going to have different policies than others.”
Doug Burgum also parroted Trump’s election denial lies and refused to say if this year’s election results will be contested.
Howard Kurtz, Fox News: “Do you think the 2024 [election] outcome will be contested as well?”
Burgum: *Refuses to answer* “It’s been a stronghold of Democrats to be concerned about election integrity.”
In response to Ric Grenell, a top Trump surrogate and election denier, admitting his lies about the 2020 results were to help Trump overturn the election, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“Even Ric Grenell – an extreme election denier leading the charge on Donald Trump’s anti-democracy conspiracy theories – knew that Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election were nothing more than a brazen attempt to try and overturn the results. Now, after pushing lies and cozying up to dictators, Grenell is openly bragging about his prospects to be a top administration official if Trump gets back into office – once again making it clear that our democracy is on the line in this election.”
Ric Grenell knowingly pushed fraudulent claims and baseless lies to help Donald Trump as he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
New York Times: “Richard Grenell’s quest to be secretary of state in a second Trump administration began late on Election Day in 2020, when the defeated president dispatched loyalists to run shambolic “stop the steal” operations in battleground states.
“President Donald J. Trump tapped Mr. Grenell — his combative former ambassador to Germany, acting national intelligence chief and special envoy to the Balkans — to fly by private plane to Nevada, where Mr. Grenell ensconced himself, his dog Lola, lawyers and a crew of activists in a suite at the Venetian Resort, which served as the group’s war room in Las Vegas. In a days-long spectacle, the Trump team filed a lawsuit and aired false accusations of fraud, including one wrongly implicating hundreds of members of the military.
“It was all a sham. Mr. Grenell told the team in the war room, two G.O.P. operatives recalled, that the Nevada vote was not, in fact, stolen. The operatives, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisalfrom Mr. Grenell, said he told the team that the goal was simply to ‘throw spaghetti at the wall’ — the operatives described Mr. Grenell making a theatrical tossing gesture as he spoke — to distract the media from calling Nevada while the election battle in neighboring Arizona played out.
[…]
“Either way, several people close to the former president say that Mr. Grenell has a good chance of landing a top foreign policy job in a second Trump administration — if not as secretary of state, which requires Senate confirmation, then perhaps as national security adviser, which does not. They note that Mr. Grenell has spent the past three and a half years leveraging his Balkan contacts in business ventures, including with an important partner — Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law — and that he brings a bombastic bravado to American diplomacy held in high regard by the former president.
[…]
“Still, Mr. Trump talks to Mr. Grenell regularly, and a year and a half ago was heaping praise on his pugilistic loyalty. ‘Ric Grenell: a fighter,’ Mr. Trump said in Arizona in October 2022. ‘We have a great, great man. A great fighter. He’s got a lot of future.’”
Grenell has spent years cozying up to right-wing authoritarian leaders and undermining U.S. foreign policy — just like his former boss Trump.
The Guardian: “Richard Grenell’s shadow foreign policy campaign is unsettling diplomats and threatens to collapse US interests”
“Grenell – who served as a rambunctious ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term – has carved a niche as the articulator-in-chief of a Maga approach to global affairs that appears to echo his political master’s voice.
[…]
“In recent months, he has pitched up in Guatemala, where he tried to stymie US state department pleas for a peaceful transition of power by backing rightwing efforts to block the inauguration of the liberal president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo, on supposed electoral fraud grounds about a poll previously declared “free and fair” by international observers.
[…]
“‘There are many aspects to what Grenell is doing,’ said Joe Cirincione, a veteran Washington foreign policy and arms control specialist. ‘One is grift, looking for business deals, particularly in Serbia, where Trump has longstanding business interests and Trump seems to be helping him pursue this.’
“‘Another is more sinister. It looks as though Grenell is trying to build up a developing authoritarian network of rightwing leaders to form this authoritarian axis that Trump might govern by – ranging from Putin to [Viktor] Orbán [prime minister of Hungary] to Erdoğan.’
[…]
“Grenell’s own pronouncements give proponents of America’s existing alliances little cause for comfort.”
As Trump VP contender Doug Burgum speaks at the North Carolina GOP convention today, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:
“Donald Trump has put Doug Burgum on his VP shortlist because they share the same extreme MAGA agenda of ripping away women’s freedoms and rigging the economy for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of America’s middle class. Burgum’s extreme MAGA record includes signing one of the most cruel abortion bans in the country and saying out loud what the American people already know: Trump is the candidate for special interest billionaire backers. Burgum has touted Trump’s failed MAGAnomics tax scam that gave handouts to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations and supports repealing President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that is lowering costs for working families – North Carolinians won’t buy what Burgum and Trump are selling.”
Doug Burgum signed a near-total abortion ban in North Dakota with no exceptions for rape or incest after six weeks — something he was able to do because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade.
New York Times: “North Dakota became the latest state on Monday to enact a near-total ban on abortion, just one month after the State Supreme Court temporarily blocked a similar ban from taking effect. Under the new law, an abortion in the case of rape or incest would be permissible only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a time when most women have not yet realized they are pregnant.”
Burgum has long been a cheerleader for Trump’s failed MAGAnomics agenda of rigging the economy for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of working families.
Burgum: “Our state has built a strong and growing economy on reducing individual and corporate income tax rates, common-sense regulations and a business-friendly environment, and this federal tax reform legislation – combined with the Trump administration’s tremendous progress in rolling back burdensome regulations – will spread those principles nationwide.”
Burgum: “His policies are all in the right direction. If you’re a billionaire… you should be voting for [Trump].”
CNBC: “Trump VP prospect Doug Burgum and GOP megadonor Harold Hamm are allies in business and politics”
Burgum supports repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation that is helping to lower costs while ensuring that big corporations pay their fair share.
Burgum on whether he would push to repeal the IRA: “Yeah.”
Trump’s MAGAnomics tax scam gifted handouts to the ultra-rich and big corporations while leaving working families behind.
Forbes: “Trump Tax Cuts Helped Billionaires Pay Less Taxes Than The Working Class In 2018”
CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”
The Guardian: “They were billed as a ‘middle-class miracle’ but according to a new book Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”
Washington Post: “One of President Donald Trump’s lesser-known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office.
“The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.”
Politico: “The nation’s fiscal outlook looks ever bleaker, thanks in part to deficit spending during President Donald Trump’s first term, Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected Tuesday.”
Don’t forget: Trump owns the worst jobs record in modern American history.
Fortune: “Trump to leave office with the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover”
Washington Post: “President Trump took office at the crest of the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. He leaves presiding over the worst labor market in modern U.S. history, as an already-sputtering economic recovery has turned negative.”
Bloomberg: “Trump’s Jobs Record Fell Short of Promises Even Before the Virus”
Trump is now rooting for the economy to crash to help his political standing.
Trump: “And when there’s a crash — I hope it’s going to be during this next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover. The one president I just don’t want to be, Herbert Hoover.”
Daily Beast: “Donald Trump admitted Monday that he wants a severe economic downturn to happen during the next year, because it will help his odds of winning the presidential election.”
As Trump VP contender Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the North Carolina GOP convention this weekend, DNC spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:
“Vivek Ramaswamy is a far-right conspiracy theorist who is desperately vying to be Donald Trump’s running mate by peddling hateful rhetoric and pushing Trump’s toxic MAGA agenda. When he’s not spreading dangerous lies about 9/11, Ramaswamy is supporting Trump’s cruel abortion bans, calling to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, and pushing Trump’s cruel and inhumane immigration agenda. The North Carolina GOP’s decision to give Ramaswamy a headliner speaking slot at their convention just underlines how far Republicans have fallen under Trump’s MAGA takeover of the party.”
Vivek Ramaswamy is an out-of-touch extremist who has repeatedly entertained dangerous 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Politico: “Ramaswamy: I ‘don’t believe’ the 9/11 Commission report”
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’”
NBC News: “While visiting the Sept. 11. memorial Monday in Lower Manhattan, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he stands by the comments he had made regarding the terrorist attacks in a recent interview. ‘So today’s not the day to talk about the comments I made, which I stand by. But it is important to have a government that tells the truth to its people, that people can trust, and trust its people back,’ he said while attending the Fire Department of New York’s pipe and drum tribute at Station 10.”
Just like Donald Trump, Ramaswamy supports extreme abortion bans across the country and wants to rip away access to medication abortion.
Washington Examiner: “Entrepreneur and author 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.”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide: Report”
Ramaswamy supported Donald Trump’s efforts to tank the toughest, fairest bipartisan border deal in decades.
Navigator Research: “Two in Three Americans Support the Bipartisan Immigration Deal”
Third Way: “Voters like the deal, both as a whole and individual components.”
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.”
On the anniversary of the shooting at Robb Elementary School, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison issued the following statement.
“When you watch your child walk through their school’s front doors, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll come home. School should be a sanctuary for students, yet far too often, the safest place in the world — the classroom — becomes the most dangerous.
“Two years ago, twenty-one innocent souls — including nineteen children — were tragically murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. On this solemn anniversary, our hearts go out to the victims’ families and the survivors who are suffering through something no parent, sibling, or friend should have to go through. The children and educators in Uvalde had so much more to offer the world and so much more life left to live. Enough is enough: We must act now to protect our students and teachers.
“While President Biden has taken action by establishing the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, MAGA Republicans have repeatedly blocked commonsense background checks and an assault weapons ban. They have consistently proven that when the chips are down, they will choose the NRA over the safety of our children and communities every time.
“As we offer thoughts and prayers, we must also offer action. We must speak our words into action and implement gun control policies that save lives. President Biden and Democrats are ready to lead the charge. Every day we do not act is a day that our children’s lives are put in danger. It is well past the time for extreme Republicans to stand up to the gun lobby, stand up to Trump, and put our children first.”
This week, President Biden traveled to New Hampshire to showcase his administration’s historic efforts to strengthen veterans’ economic security and expand health care access through legislative achievements like the PACT Act.
In New Hampshire: Boston Globe: President Biden in N.H. touts expanded VA benefits: ‘We leave no veteran behind’
In New Hampshire: WMUR: Biden visits New Hampshire to mark approval of 1 millionth claim under PACT Act
In New Hampshire: Seacoastonline: Biden in NH: PACT Act is part of ‘obligation’ to veterans
In New Hampshire: WMUR: Veterans at Biden speech in Nashua say they were helped by PACT Act
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Michigan to emphasize how President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to fight to protect our fundamental freedoms and expand economic opportunities for working Americans.
In Michigan: Midland Daily News: Jill Biden, Doug Emhoff stop at Saginaw restaurant Baldwin’s Smokehouse BBQ
In Michigan: WJRT: First Lady pitches the power of women voters at Midland campaign stop
In Michigan: WILX: First Lady, Second Gentleman talk reproductive rights and the economy in day two of Michigan visit
In Michigan: The Detroit News: ‘Michigan, we need you’: First lady Jill Biden tells Detroit crowd women’s rights at stake in election
Meanwhile, this week, MAGA Republicans continued to carry out Donald Trump’s anti-freedom agenda in states across the country, forcing women and their doctors to suffer the consequences.
Across the country: 19th: What happens to clinics after a state bans abortion? They fight to survive.
In Louisiana: Louisiana Illuminator: Louisiana declares abortion drugs ‘dangerous substances’ to add harsher penalties
In Nebraska: Nebraska Examiner: Proposed ‘personhood’ amendment would outlaw almost all abortions in Nebraska
In Texas: The Dallas Morning News: Doctors decry Texas Medical Board for vague guidance on emergency abortions
The Biden-Harris administration has made historic investments in every part of the country, strengthening local infrastructure, tackling pollution, and expanding good-paying jobs in sustainable industries.
In Arkansas: Arkansas Advocate: Low-income communities priority for Arkansas’ $93.6 million federal solar grant
In California: Los Angeles Daily News: California will get $35 million in federal funding to plug orphaned oil and gas wells
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 opened the door to restricting access to contraception and Plan B, and then Marco Rubio tried to cover for his attacks on reproductive freedoms; MAGA extremists in Louisiana voted to criminalize possession of medication abortion; Trump’s MAGA minions fell in line to tank the bipartisan border deal at his command; Trump admitted he put Michael Whatley in charge of the RNC because he’s an election denier; Trump said he wants an extreme election denier as a running mate and Trump’s MAGA Veepstakes contenders tripped over themselves to push his election denialism; Trump begged for money from Big Oil and Gas CEOs as he promised to roll back environmental regulations; Trump and the RNC brought back ultra-MAGA creep Corey Lewandowski to run the Republican National Convention.
Trump left the door open to restricting access to contraception and Plan B. Then, Marco Rubio tried to cover for Trump and MAGA Republicans’ all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedoms.
Interviewer: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?
Trump: “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?
Trump: “You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states. And some states are going to have different policies than others.”
Rolling Stone: “Trump on Restricting Access to Contraception: ‘We’re Looking at That’”
Washington Post: “‘He’s using the Senate floor to give all his vulnerable Democrats something to vote on,’ Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said. ‘There is no threat to contraception nationally. … It’s all made up stuff.’”
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.”
Rolling Stone: “Inside the MAGA Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban the Abortion Pill”
“The attacks on mifepristone and resurrection of Comstock stand out as particularly harmful proposals, but they are only two of the dozens of ways the Republicans behind Project 2025 envision restricting access to abortion and contraception if they win the White House next year. Elsewhere in the document, there are proposals to eliminate the morning-after pill from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate under the rationale that it is a ‘potential abortifacient.’”
MAGA Republicans in Louisiana voted to restrict access to medication abortion. As a reminder, Trump and his VP contenders want to ban medication abortion across the country.
Associated Press: “Louisiana Legislature approves bill classifying abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances”
Washington Post: “Louisiana would become the first state in the country to include mifepristone and misoprostol in the same category as opioids, depressants and other drugs that can be highly addictive.
“The bill includes the threat of incarceration and fines for an individual possessing the pills without a valid prescription or outside of professional practice.”
Tennessee Lookout: “A total of 145 members of Congress from 36 states, who opposed access to mifepristone remaining as it is today, submitted their own 39-page brief in the case, calling on the Supreme Court to limit access.”
Signers include: Katie Britt, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Elise Stefanik, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Michael Waltz.
Cindy Hyde-Smith: “U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Congressman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) today reintroduced their Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act to strengthen federal controls over the regulation and distribution of chemical abortion drugs.
“The 31 original cosponsors of the Senate measure include: … Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), … Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Mike Lee (R-Utah), … Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) … Tim Scott (R-S.C.) … Michael Waltz (R-Fla.).”
Trump’s MAGA minions — including his VP contenders — once again fell in line to tank the bipartisan border security deal for Trump’s own political gain.
New York Times: “Republicans Against Border Enforcement”
Vox: “Trump made this clear when he reportedly urged Republicans in Congress to turn against the bipartisan Senate border security bill scheduled for a vote Wednesday so that he could keep the issue alive through the presidential election. His supporters have largely fallen in line.”
Annie Karni, New York Times: “Endless loop: Tim Scott says he is opposed to the stand-alone foreign aid bill because ‘we should first secure our southern border.’ He opposed the deal that included efforts to do that, parroting Trump talking points that it didn’t do enough.”
JD Vance: “[The bipartisan border security bill] does nothing to secure the border.”
CNN: “Rubio: Border Patrol union is wrong on immigration deal”
Melanie Zanona, CNN: “Stefanik, a Trump ally & member of the House GOP leadership team, says the Senate’s bipartisan border deal is an ‘absolute non-starter’”
Newsweek: “Fox News Host Confronts [Byron Donalds] on ‘Killing’ Border Deal for Trump”
The Hill: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said her Republican colleagues in the upper chamber who are backing bipartisan immigration and funding legislation that is the subject of ongoing negotiations are ‘willing to be traitors to our country.’”
Mediaite: “Fox News’ Martha MacCallum pushed back when Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) claimed she was against the newly released bipartisan Senate border bill.”
Fox News: “Republicans are adamantly opposed [to the bipartisan border security bill], like Sens. Tom Cotton, Mike Lee… and others.”
WKRN: “Blackburn to vote ‘no’ on bipartisan Senate border bill”
Washington Post: “Though [Katie Britt] helped negotiate a bipartisan border security deal, she ultimately voted against it after Trump signaled to congressional Republicans that no immigration policy should pass during the election year.”
Trump proclaimed himself the “greatest denier in history” and admitted he handpicked Michael Whatley to lead the RNC because of his extreme election-denying record.
Washington Post: “Trump repeated his false claims of the 2020 election being stolen and said that Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley was the most important person in the room because he is ‘going to stop the cheating.’
“‘We call it save the vote, guard the vote, stop the steal,’ he said, referring to what the RNC needed to be doing.
[…]
“He said he picked Whatley for the job because he did not lose North Carolina ‘in the middle of the night’ like he did some other states, when he alleged more ballots came in to cost him the election. Before his current position, Whatley was chair of North Carolina’s Republican Party.
“‘If you talk about it, you’re a denier,’ he said of his false claims of the 2020 election, according to the notes. ‘I’m the greatest denier in history.’”
Trump also made it clear he wants an election denier to be his running mate. His VP contenders are tripping over themselves to defend his MAGA agenda and refuse to commit to certifying the outcome of the election.
Interviewer: “Do you have any regrets about picking Mike Pence as your vice president? And what will you do differently this time around when you’re vetting your VP?”
Trump: “Mike did a good job until the end when he didn’t have the courage to do what you have to do. … I believe if he did that, because by that time, a lot was learned about the corruption, if he did that, I believe you would have had different election results.”
NBC News: “None of these potential vice presidential picks have committed to accepting the 2024 election results, whether Trump wins or loses.”
Abby Phillip, CNN: “If Donald Trump loses the election in 2024, will you accept the results of that election?”
Donalds: “My answer has been very clear on this.”
Phillip: “It’s a yes or no question.”
Donalds: *refuses to commit to accepting the results*
Phillip: “So your answer is conditional on– based on?”
Donalds: “My answer is always conditional.”
Laura Coates, CNN: “Will you accept the results of the 2024 election regardless of who wins, yes or no?”
Carson: “I will accept the results if it’s done in a fair and transparent way.”
Coates: “Do you have reason to doubt that it would be done in a fair and transparent way?”
Carson: “Well let me put it this way: In the 2020 election, there were a lot of irregularities.”
Axios: “Republicans are increasingly joining former President Trump on hedging or dodging when asked whether they’ll accept the results of the 2024 elections.”
The Independent: “All the Republicans who have signaled they won’t accept 2024 election results”
Trump once again begged to be bought and paid for by Big Oil and Gas special interest backers, promising to roll back environmental regulations if re-elected.
USA Today: “Donald Trump raises money from the oil and gas industry”
Houston Chronicle: “Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear for a luncheon and reception in Houston Wednesday, as part of a fundraising swing through Texas aimed at deep-pocketed oil donors. … The luncheon comes as Trump has ramped up his efforts to woo the oil and gas sector, with the former president reportedly telling executives at a private dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida they should donate $1 billion to his campaign because he would reduce taxes and regulatory oversight over the oil industry.”
New York Times: “The luncheon [is] organized by three oil executives. … The private luncheon to benefit MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, comes about a month after Mr. Trump hosted energy executives over dinner at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Florida. He asked them to donate $1 billion to his campaign so that he could retake the White House and dismantle Mr. Biden’s climate regulations.”
The Guardian: “Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated $1bn – report”
Financial Times: “Donald Trump taps Texas oil tycoons in bid to close cash gap with Joe Biden”
Trump and the RNC brought back ultra-MAGA creep Corey Lewandowski to run the Republican National Convention.
National Review: “Trump Campaign Bringing on Corey Lewandowski for Convention”
Politico: “Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is back”
“In a filing Monday with the Federal Election Commission, the RNC reported paying the money to Lewandowski’s firm on April 24 for ‘management consulting.’
[…]
“No stranger to controversy, Lewandowski was Trump’s first campaign manager in his 2016 presidential bid. He has served in and been forced out of other roles in Trump’s sprawling political operation, including being removed from a top post with a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021.
“Lewandowski at the time was accused by a top Trump donor’s wife, Trashelle Odom, of making unwanted sexual advances towards her while at a Las Vegas charity dinner. He was later charged with a misdemeanor, but entered an agreement with prosecutors to have the charge dismissed in exchange for completing impulse control counseling, community service and paying a fine.”
Politico: “Lewandowski was also charged with battery in 2016 after yanking the arm of a reporter, Michelle Fields, at a Trump campaign event. The charges were later dropped, but Lewandowski, who at the time was serving as Trump’s campaign manager, claimed the incident never happened before video emerged confirming that it did.”
As Donald Trump’s MAGA RNC Leaders Michael Whatley and Lara Trump prepare to speak at the North Carolina GOP convention this weekend, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:
“Donald Trump hand-picked Michael Whatley and Lara Trump to lead the RNC because above all, he knows he can count on them to push lies about the 2020 election and back him up as he refuses to commit to accepting this November’s results. Now, Trump’s deploying Whatley and Lara Trump on an anti-freedom, anti-democracy, conspiracy-theory trip to North Carolina to spread his toxic agenda. Under Whatley and Lara Trump, the RNC will keep doing what they do best: ensure that Trump’s desperate campaign and extreme agenda will deliver them embarrassing losses across the country in November.”
Donald Trump elevated notorious election deniers Lara Trump and Michael Whatley to lead the RNC as part of his MAGA takeover.
New York Times: “Mr. Trump likes Mr. Whatley for one overwhelming reason, according to people who have discussed him with the former president: He is ‘a stop the steal guy,’ as one of the people described him. He endorses Mr. Trump’s false claims about mass voter fraud … Mr. Whatley has baselessly claimed that election security efforts from Republicans in North Carolina stopped Democrats from cheating.”
CNN: “People seeking employment at RNC asked whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen”
New York Times: “Trump’s Man at the R.N.C. Will Face Pressure to Satisfy His Election Lies”
New York Magazine: “Trump Taps Election Deniers Lara Trump, Michael Whatley to Lead RNC”
Associated Press: “In pushing Michael Whatley as the next leader of the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump zeroed in on the North Carolina GOP chairman’s dedication to ‘election integrity,’ baselessly suggesting he would ensure the 2024 race ‘can’t be stolen.”
Michael Whatley has consistently pushed the Big Lie, and Trump has made clear he’s counting on Whatley to push election denialism and conspiracies heading into this year’s election.
Washington Post: “Trump repeated his false claims of the 2020 election being stolen and said that Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley was the most important person in the room because he is ‘going to stop the cheating.’
“‘We call it save the vote, guard the vote, stop the steal,’ he said, referring to what the RNC needed to be doing. The RNC has launched a program called ‘Bank Your Vote’ to bring in early votes.”
“Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, shared false claims that Republican observers were prevented from accessing polling locations and repeatedly said Democratic cities in swing states were engaged in ‘massive fraud.’”
“His elevation to RNC chair could give Trump a loyalist more willing to devote resources to pursue future voter fraud claims in court should they arise.”
“‘Regardless of how these lawsuits come out around the country with the presidential race we do know that there was massive fraud that took place,’ Whatley said in one late November 2020 interview on local North Carolina radio. ‘We know that it took place in places like Milwaukee and Detroit and Philadelphia.’”
Raleigh News & Observer: “Whatley has frequently repeated Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.”
Vice: “North Carolina Republican chair Michael Whatley falsely claimed in February that ‘we certainly saw evidence of voting irregularities, of election counting irregularities in a number of places around the country,’ and invented the claim that the reason Trump won North Carolina was his state party’s vigilance against Democrats’ attempts to cheat.”
Lara Trump is a self-described “ultra-MAGA” extremist who continues to push baseless lies about the 2020 election.
Allan Smith, NBC News: “Lara Trump, embracing ‘ultra-MAGA’ label, says it’s ‘nothing to be ashamed of’”
CNN: “RNC under Lara Trump spreads ‘massive fraud’ claims about 2020 election”
Media Matters: “On her podcast, RNC co-chair Lara Trump says she doesn’t believe 81 million people voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election”
Lara Trump: “Because here’s the goal, folks. I don’t ever – and I know you don’t either – want to repeat 2020 and the atrocities of that election ever again.”
Lara Trump at the CA GOP Convention: “The bulk of the staff you will see in our building is focused solely on election integrity. Because let’s be honest, we can never repeat 2020 ever again. We’re never going to do that.”
Lara Trump ahead of January 6: “We want to make sure that if there is a contested vote, anybody who doesn’t want to certify the votes for Joe Biden, that they get their chance to debate that.”
In response to Byron Donalds and Ben Carson refusing to commit to accepting this November’s election results, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“After hearing Donald Trump wants an extreme, election-denying vice president, Byron Donalds and Ben Carson jumped at the opportunity, taking to the airwaves and refusing to commit to accepting this November’s results while parroting lies about the 2020 election. Donalds and Carson are shamelessly putting Trump over our democracy, and the list of MAGA minions willing to do the same keeps getting longer. The American people know the stakes of this November’s election, and are ready to once again reject Trump and whichever MAGA Republican he chooses to run on anti-democracy extremism with him.”
NEW: Byron Donalds and Ben Carson BOTH refused to commit to accepting this November’s election results last night.
Abby Phillip, CNN: “If Donald Trump loses the election in 2024, will you accept the results of that election?”
Donalds: “My answer has been very clear on this.”
Phillip: “It’s a yes or no question.”
Donalds: *refuses to commit to accepting the results*
Phillip: “So your answer is conditional on– based on?”
Donalds: “My answer is always conditional.”
Laura Coates, CNN: “Will you accept the results of the 2024 election regardless of who wins, yes or no?”
Carson: “I will accept the results if it’s done in a fair and transparent way.”
Coates: “Do you have reason to doubt that it would be done in a fair and transparent way?”
Carson: “Well let me put it this way: In the 2020 election, there were a lot of irregularities.”
Donalds voted against certifying the 2020 election that Trump lost by over 7 million votes and continues to push baseless election-denying conspiracy theories.
Axios: “Byron Donalds wouldn’t commit to certifying election results as Trump’s VP”
“Donalds also did not clarify if he would have certified the 2020 election results.”
UPI: “Rep. Byron Donalds voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona and Pennsylvania.”
Interviewer: “Do you believe the false claims by former President Trump that the 2020 election was rigged?
Donalds: “I think what happened is that in several key counties and key states, election law was not followed. That’s clear. It’s crystal clear.”
Interviewer: “Do you see [Trump’s] rhetoric as at least connected to the events that happened on January 6, even if you don’t see them affecting trust in the democratic system overall?”
Donalds: “No, I don’t.”
Carson has endorsed Trump’s baseless falsehoods about the 2020 election and refused to say if he would have certified the results.
Carson: “Well, there was plenty of fraud. There’s no question about that. And I think everybody acknowledges that it was fraud. Well, we have people that say, ‘Yes, there was fraud, but it wasn’t enough fraud.’ You’ll notice that the courts really haven’t looked at the evidence that exists. It’s almost as if they’re afraid to look at the evidence that exists.”
People: “Ben Carson… demurred when asked whether he would have done what Pence did in a recent Fox News interview. ‘Well, first off, people should know that Mike Pence spent a lot of time laboring over that decision,’ Carson responded. ‘I talked to him the night before and he was really torn over what was the appropriate thing to do.’ Carson continued: ‘I think it would have been appropriate, perhaps, to look at all of the alternative theories seriously because there was significant controversy about what had happened in the election.’… Asked again if he believed what Pence did was ‘right or not,’ Carson said, ‘I think the right thing would have been to try to focus on having a process that is legitimate.’”
Trump has made clear he wants an extreme election denier as a running mate, and his VP contenders are quickly falling in line, parroting his baseless lies about the 2020 election and refusing to commit to accepting this November’s election results.
Interviewer: “Do you have any regrets about picking Mike Pence as your vice president? And what will you do differently this time around when you’re vetting your VP?”
Trump: “Mike did a good job until the end when he didn’t have the courage to do what you have to do. … if he did that, I believe you would have had different election results.”
NBC News: “None of these potential vice presidential picks have committed to accepting the 2024 election results, whether Trump wins or loses.”
Washington Post: “Top Republicans, led by Trump, refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results”
“The question has become something of a litmus test, particularly among the long list of possible running mates for Trump. …The GOP’s desire to appease Trump’s fixation on 2020 now appears to loom over his search for a running mate.”
New York Times: “Will You Accept the Election Results? Republicans Dodge the Question.”
“Less than six months out from the presidential contest, leading Republicans, including several of Donald J. Trump’s potential running mates, have refused to commit to accepting the results of the election, signaling that the party may again challenge the outcome if its candidate loses.”
MSNBC: “Potential GOP running mates hedge on accepting election results”
“Trump, obviously, is refusing to commit to honoring the election results — the same posture he adopted four years ago — but so are those hoping to be his running mate.”
Axios: “Republicans are increasingly joining former President Trump on hedging or dodging when asked whether they’ll accept the results of the 2024 elections.”
New York Magazine: “Is 2024 Election Denialism a Trump VP Litmus Test?”
Axios: “Trump and his allies will want a VP pick that is more willing to comply with the former president’s wishes, which former Vice President Pence rejected by certifying the 2020 results.”
CNN: “As Trump continues to focus on his false claims over election integrity, many of his potential deputies expressed their own concerns.”
Trump is refusing to commit to accepting the results of this November’s election as he doubles down on his dangerous election denialism.
NBC News: “Trump again won’t commit to accepting the presidential election results”
CNN: “Former President Donald Trump refused to unconditionally accept the results of the upcoming 2024 presidential election. … It’s the latest comment by Trump in which he has sought to undermine confidence in the American electoral system in the event he loses in November.”
Washington Post: “Top Republicans, led by former president Donald Trump, are refusing to commit to accept November’s election results with six months until voters head to the polls, raising concerns that the country could see a repeat of the violent aftermath of Trump’s loss four years ago. … Trump also has suggested he may not accept the results of the next election.”
Politico: “Donald Trump suggested he may not accept the results of the 2024 election in the key swing state of Wisconsin in an interview with the state’s largest newspaper, where he also falsely claimed he won the state in 2020.”
Associated Press: “[Trump] is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat.”
NBC News: “Re-litigating the 2020 election, repeating false claims it was stolen and casting aspersions on the security of mail voting remain major fixtures for [Trump] on the stump. … He regularly refers to the 2020 election as ‘rigged’ on his social media channels.”
Associated Press: “Trump, running for the White House for the third time, has signaled that the 2020 election will remain an integral part of his 2024 presidential bid.”
In response to anti-abortion extremists in Louisiana voting to criminalize possession of medication abortion, DNC Deputy National Press Secretary Nina Raneses released the following statement:
“Anti-abortion extremists in Louisiana are moving to criminalize the possession of medication abortion, a safe and effective part of women’s reproductive health care, and we know who is responsible: Donald Trump. Trump brags about ‘killing’ Roe v. Wade, and in the aftermath, MAGA Republicans have introduced legislation across the country to rip away women’s access to essential care — threatening their health and safety, and in some cases, even their lives. Trump wants the credit for this dystopian nightmare — so we’ll give it to him. He and his MAGA allies aren’t stopping with banning abortion; they’re coming for medication abortion and contraception, and treating women who seek care like criminals and creating registries to track their medical histories. Louisiana is just the staging ground for Trump’s war against our freedom — MAGA extremists will keep tearing away at our rights across the country. There’s only one ticket fighting for every woman in America to have access to the reproductive health care they deserve, and that’s President Biden and Vice President Harris. The fate of reproductive freedom is on the ballot this November, and the American people will once again reject Trump and MAGA extremists’ anti-freedom agenda.”
Here’s a look at how S.B. 276 rips away Lousianans’ freedoms:
This legislation criminalizes possession of two medications used for miscarriages, to induce labor, and for various other medical purposes to protect women’s health.
This legislation will also allow the state to create a registry of every patient who is prescribed one of these medications.
S.B. 276 could make it harder for patients to receive the care they need and put women in danger.
ICYMI: Anti-abortion extremists are moving to criminalize possession of mifepristone and misoprostol, safe and effective medication abortion.
Breaking news: Louisiana Republicans just sent a bill to the governor’s desk that classifies abortion pills as “dangerous controlled substances,” made possible by Trump ending Roe v. Wade. The Republican governor is expected to sign it into law.
Washington Post: “Louisiana would become the first state in the country to include mifepristone and misoprostol in the same category as opioids, depressants and other drugs that can be highly addictive.
“The bill includes the threat of incarceration and fines for an individual possessing the pills without a valid prescription or outside of professional practice.”
Trump has never stopped bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade.
Trump: “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it. … Nobody else was going to get that done but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”
Trump: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone … Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing. Thank you President TRUMP!!!”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Claims Credit for All Abortion Bans”
Business Insider: “Trump boasts he’s ‘proud’ about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue that has become ballot-box poison for Republicans”
Rolling Stone: “Trump Says He’s ‘Proud’ to Have ‘Terminated’ Abortion Rights”
Trump campaign radio ad: “And Trump nominated conservative judges, leading to Roe v. Wade being overturned.”
FWIW: “This week, we found more evidence that the Trump campaign has no interest in ‘moderating’ on the issue of abortion. On Monday, his team began running new Facebook video ads targeting voters in Iowa, referring to Trump as ‘THE MOST Pro-Life President in history.’”
Trump: “I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do. I put on three Supreme Court justices. Very few people have had that privilege or honor.”
Trump: “Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing, being stuck in Roe v. Wade, to negotiate with. … And look, everybody that was president wanted to get rid and tried to get rid of Roe v. Wade … For fifty years, this has been going on. I was able to do it, and I was very honored to do it.”
Meanwhile, President Biden and Vice President Harris are defending reproductive freedom at every turn.
ABC News: “The Biden administration announced new steps Monday to expand access to contraception, abortion medication and emergency abortion care at hospitals on what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.”
NBC News: “Biden administration announces new abortion initiatives on Roe anniversary”
Washington Post: “Biden administration moves to shield patients’ abortion records from GOP threats”
Trump and anti-abortion extremists won’t stop with banning abortion — they are coming for every aspect of women’s reproductive health care.
Rolling Stone: “Inside the MAGA Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban the Abortion Pill”
“The attacks on mifepristone and resurrection of Comstock stand out as particularly harmful proposals, but they are only two of the dozens of ways the Republicans behind Project 2025 envision restricting access to abortion and contraception if they win the White House next year. Elsewhere in the document, there are proposals to eliminate the morning-after pill from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate under the rationale that it is a ‘potential abortifacient.’”
Interviewer: “Do you support any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception?
Trump: “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?
Trump: You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states. And some states are going to have different policies than others.
While Republicans plot to restrict access to contraception and reproductive care, Democrats are spearheading efforts to restore and protect reproductive rights nationwide.
New York Times: “Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, plans next month to fast-track a Senate vote on a bill to protect access to contraception nationwide, the start of an election-year push to highlight Republicans’ record of opposing reproductive rights that voters view as at risk of being stripped away.”
The 19th: “Democrats in Congress run full-court press on reproductive rights ahead of Dobbs anniversary”
NBC: “State Democrats are leading on abortion policy. D.C. Democrats don’t want to get left behind.”
ABC News: “The Senate filibuster is a hurdle to any national abortion bill. Democrats are campaigning on it”
