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Not long ago, Snopes, a left-wing “fact-checking” site, finally admitted that former President Donald Trump had never called the neo-Nazis who marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 “very fine people.”
For years, Democrats, including President Joe Biden, have repeated this false claim. Indeed, Biden, who’s been running for the presidency since 1987, ludicrously told the press in 2019 that the events in Charlottesville, and Trump’s alleged reaction, inspired him to run in 2020.
Well, there’s a new Charlottesville every week in America nowadays. They aren’t led by a few hundred Nazi cosplayers, but thousands of Islamists and leftist fellow travelers whose goals are supported by numerous administration officials, congressmen, and newsrooms.
In the latest Charlottesville, a mob of pro-Hamas goons showed up in front of a synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in Los Angeles. They wore terror apparel, called for violence against Jews, allegedly beat up a Jewish woman, and impeded people from worshipping. Unlike in November, when a 69-year-old Los Angeles Jewish man was killed after a pro-Hamas “protester” threw a megaphone at his head, no one died.
If reports are true, the Los Angeles Police Department ensured that pro-Hamas “protesters” were able to encircle the synagogue and kept Jewish worshippers and counterprotesters out. Only one person was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly possessing a “spiked flag”—as one does at a peaceful protest. I wonder if it was a Hamas flag or a Hezbollah one?
Many in the media again framed the violence as a clash between anti-Israel and pro-Israel protesters—“Protesters clash outside synagogue in L.A.” or “Fights break out during dueling protests in Pico-Robertson,” and so on.
But why do the pro-“Palestine” protesters show up in front of synagogues, Holocaust museums, and the performances of Jewish comedians in the first place? Why do they target Jewish students and Jewish businesses?
Pro-Israel protesters don’t show up in front of mosques. Nor do “peace protesters,” who never seem to object to the string of atrocities happening thousands of miles away in the Islamic world—which, unlike most claims regarding Gaza, aren’t concocted.
But back to Biden. His very presidency supposedly hinges on the events of Charlottesville, and yet outside the occasional perfunctory denunciations—where he usually reminds everyone of “Islamophobia”—he does nothing.
“I condemn the antisemitic protests,” Biden told reporters after anti-Jewish demonstrations at Columbia University a few months ago. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Boy, that sounds like the president is saying there are “very fine people” on both sides. Biden’s odious moral relativism is to compare antisemitic, keffiyeh-wearing terror cheerleaders and those who don’t “understand”—or accept—the rationalization for Hamas’ murder and rape of civilians.
The truth is Biden, who has repeated fake “genocide” casualty numbers to Muslim audiences, is scared to offend the pro-Hamas faction in his party. And it’s not just words. While Biden’s Justice Department is raiding the homes of pro-life protesters who pray in front of abortion mills or trying to throw elderly anti-abortion activists into prison, it does nothing about the systemic, highly funded, violent antisemitic movement that has erupted on campuses.
While Attorney General Merrick Garland likens the actions of parents who are opposed to COVID-19 restrictions and racist curriculums to “domestic terrorism”—there still hasn’t been a single incident to substantiate his action—he doesn’t have the same designation for pro-Hamas rioters who target synagogues and Jewish businesses.
While the Biden administration helps states deal with scary MAGA terrorists who embrace “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism,” it does nothing about the DAs and AGs who let antisemites funded by Qatar do whatever they like.
Last week, the Manhattan district attorney let dozens of rioters (not protesters), who occupied and trashed Hamilton Hall, off without any charges. This week, a Jewish couple was allegedly beaten at a Brooklyn elementary school graduation by an Arabic-speaking family—who taunted them with shouts of “Free Palestine!”, “Gaza is Ours!”, and “Death to Israel!” I’m sure the perpetrators have nothing to worry about in NYC. They are perched high on the Left’s victim class hierarchy.
It would be nice if there was even a fraction of the anger or coverage of these new Charlottesvilles. But most Democrats aren’t offended by all antisemites. If you insult George Soros, sure, you may be condemned in the pages of The New York Times. If a pro-Hamas mob beats down a Jewish woman, we’re lucky if the paper even reports on the incident.
And every time there is a new Charlottesville, it not only affirms why Israel needs to exist—or that “anti-Zionism” and antisemitism are now indistinguishable—it tells us that Jews can’t rely on the contemporary Left to be on their side.
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We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
The post There’s a Charlottesville Every Week, and Joe Biden Is Fine With It appeared first on The Daily Signal.
CNN has been paying the market price for its unwavering leftist media bias. Recent reports indicate the cable network is trying to reform itself—to become a more nonpartisan, reliable news organization.
Anyone who’s sane, sober, and informed knows that Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are going to be loaded with tough questions for former President Donald Trump. Based on their past behavior, they are going to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at him.
I say fine—do it, so long as it’s based on demonstrable evidence, and not on surveys or conjecture or rumor. But if Tapper and Bash are sincere about proving CNN is acting without partisan bias, they should also ask some serious questions of President Joe Biden.
Here are three of those questions:
Iran played a material role in helping al-Qaeda to perpetrate the 9/11 attack, and had been providing it with aid and assistance at least 10 years prior to, and 10 years after the attack. Iran’s rulers have openly declared that their highest duty is to wipe America and Israel off the face of the Earth and are building nuclear weapons with which to do just that.
Further, Iran is the paymaster of the Houthis that are attacking U.S. and other nations’ ships, Hezbollah, the world’s largest anti-U.S. and antisemitic terrorist gang, and Hamas, which perpetrated the slaughter of Jews on Oct. 7.
Knowing all this, President Biden, why have you decided to become the No. 1 global financial enabler of the Iranian terrorist regime?
To summarize:
The Biden administration just paid a $16 billion ransom to the Ayatollah.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 16, 2023
They are giving money to a murderous regime that routinely chants “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” pic.twitter.com/RNdxWo3tqB
All told, this amounts to roughly $150 billion in cash that you’ve enabled the world’s most lethal anti-U.S. terrorist regime to acquire, that you must know has gone into global terrorism.
President Biden, how do you justify your actions?
President Biden, on May 19, while speaking to Morehouse College, you said this:
It’s natural to wonder if democracy you hear about actually works for you. What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street? What is democracy if a trail of broken promises still leave black—black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be 10 times better than anyone else to get a fair shot?
You must know that this is completely untrue. You must know, as president, that each year, individuals with black skin arrive (legally) on America’s shores with nothing or all their possessions in shopping bags, and in a few years, own their own homes, have built small businesses, or work in skilled professions, right here in this supposedly racist nation.
They achieved their dreams by working hard, in a focused and resilient manner, and took advantage of the unlimited opportunities that America offers—which is why, of the 196 nations on Earth, America is the No. 1 emigration destination, year after year, decade after decade.
Knowing all this, why would you say such a thing that you know is both untrue and can only serve to help incite hatred of America, our government, our law enforcement officers, and our entire culture?
And speaking of inciting racist hatred against America’s police officers, a follow-up: On Oct. 26, 2019, you gave a speech at Benedict College, in which you were asked: “If I were your daughter, what advice would you give me the next time I am stopped by the police?”
You responded, “If you were my daughter, you’d be a caucasian girl and you wouldn’t be pulled over.”
Again, you know that this is untrue—and can only serve to help incite hatred of and racist violent against our law enforcement officers. Why would you say such a thing—and will you commit here, tonight, to never do that again?
President Biden, since Hamas’ Oct. 7 campaign of murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping against Israeli Jews, you and Secretary of State Antony Blinkin have repeatedly said, in public, some variant of the claim that “Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people.” And it is on this basis that you say once the war is over, you are going to use billions of U.S. tax dollars to create a Palestinian state that will not be ruled by Hamas.
You’ve done this even though every reliable survey of Palestinians, by Palestinian research organizations—both before and after the Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of Jews—shows the Palestinian people overwhelmingly support Hamas and its genocidal terrorism:
Why do you keep repeating the false claim that “Hamas doesn’t represent the Palestinian people,” when you know it is not true—and that any U.S. taxpayer money you give them will be used to enable Hamas to continue its terror campaign against Israeli Jews?
The post 3 Questions CNN Hosts Should Ask Biden at Debate appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Commencement season is over, but don’t expect the pro-Palestine movement that overtook universities in recent months to dissipate. Given its larger ambitions and significant financial and political support, this protest movement will continue its disruptions nationwide well into the summer.
Nearly eight months after Hamas attacked Israel, it’s abundantly clear that this movement is anything but pro-Palestine. A recent weekend rally outside the White House featured overt support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and calls to murder Zionists. As they demand a “cease-fire,” these protesters ignore Hamas’ rejection of numerous Israeli offers for just that and they also ignore Hamas’ intentional use of civilians as human shields.
One would think a movement ostensibly about saving Palestinian lives would urge Hamas to release the hostages and surrender, which would immediately end the Israel-Hamas war. Instead, their chants of “We don’t want two states, we want 1948” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” make clear they support the U.S.-designated terrorist organization and its antisemitic objective: to destroy the world’s only Jewish state.
Furthermore, the invocations “by any means necessary” and to “globalize the intifada” are licenses to replicate Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7—the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust—and Yasser Arafat’s second intifada: the three-year terror campaign he launched after rejecting an opportunity to establish a Palestinian state.
Some may dismiss this movement as nothing more than a small, self-evidently noxious cadre of extreme antisemitic students with no constituents outside the university quad. Yet, according to the FBI, antisemitic hate crimes are up threefold, with some of the assaults against Jews most reminiscent of 1930s Germany occurring on university campuses.
And while the average participant may know little about the cause for which he or she protests, demonstrators certainly share their pro-Hamas comrades’ political goals—and the movement’s organizers have the means to pursue them far beyond America’s ivory towers.
But what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. Antisemitism is the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Today’s contagion is a particular strain of anti-Americanism that seeks social and political revolution, “by any means necessary.”
Now, with the school year over, look for this virus to relocate to cities with weak or sympathetic leadership, as we’ve seen in Washington, D.C., and at UCLA.
The real prize this summer is Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention will be held in August. The parallels to the events of the 1968 DNC in Chicago are already apparent, except for one important distinction: Unlike his predecessor Richard Daley, today’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, is more likely to join the protesters than silence them when they chant “Genocide Joe.”
The good news is that Americans are waking up to the threat the pro-Hamas movement and its connections to progressive organizations and malign foreign actors pose to our society.
Antisemitism has destroyed every society it infects. Hopefully we are not too late in diagnosing and destroying it before it destroys us.
Originally distributed by Tribune News Service and published by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The post The Pro-Hamas Threat to America appeared first on The Daily Signal.
What are the mobs in Washington defiling iconic federal statues with impunity and pelting policemen really protesting?
What are the throngs in London brazenly swarming parks and rampaging in the streets really angry about?
Occupations?
They could care less that the Islamist Turkish government still stations 40,000 troops in occupied Cyprus. No one is protesting against the Chinese takeover of a once-independent Tibet or the threatened absorption of an autonomous Taiwan.
Refugees?
None of these mobs are agitating on behalf of the nearly 1 million Jews ethnically cleansed since 1947 from the major capitals of the Middle East. Some 200,000 Cypriots displaced by Turks earn not a murmur. Nor does the ethnic cleansing of 99% of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ancient Armenian population just last year.
Civilian casualties?
The global protestors are not furious over the 1 million Uyghurs brutalized by the Communist Chinese government. Neither are they concerned about the Turkish government’s indiscriminate war against the Kurds or its serial threats to attack Armenians and Greeks.
The new woke jihadist movement is instead focused only on Israel and “Palestine.” It is oblivious to the modern gruesome Muslim-on-Muslim exterminations of Bashar al-Assad and Saddam Hussein, the Black September massacres of Palestinians by Jordanian forces, and the 1982 erasure of thousands in Hama, Syria.
So woke jihadism is not an ecumenical concern for the oppressed, the occupied, the collateral damage of war, or the fate of refugees. Instead, it is a romanticized and repackaged anti-Western, anti-Israel, and antisemitic jihadism that supports the murder of civilians, mass rape, torture, and hostage-taking.
But what makes it now so insidious is its new tripartite constituency.
First, the old romantic pro-Palestine cause was rebooted in the West by millions of Arab and Muslim immigrants who have flocked to Europe and the U.S. in the last half-century.
Billions of dollars in oil sheikdom “grant” monies swarmed Western universities to found “Middle Eastern Studies” departments. These are not so much centers for historical or linguistic scholarship as political megaphones focused on “Zionism” and “the Jews.”
Moreover, there may be well over a half-million affluent Middle Eastern students in Western universities. Given that they pay full tuition, imbibe ideology from endowed Middle Eastern studies faculty, and are growing in number, they logically feel that they can do anything with impunity on Western streets and campuses.
Second, the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement empowers the new woke jihadis. Claiming to be non-white victims of white Jewish colonialism, they pose as natural kindred victims to Blacks, Latinos, and any Westerner now claiming oppressed status.
Black radicalism, from Al Sharpton to Louis Farrakhan to Black Lives Matter, has had a long, documented history of antisemitism. It is no wonder that its elite eagerly embraced the anti-Israeli Palestine movement as fellow travelers.
The third leg of woke jihadism is mostly affluent white leftist students at Western universities. Sensing that their faculties are anti-Israel, their administrations are anti-Israel (although more covertly), and the most politically active among the student body are anti-Israel, European and American students find authenticity in virtue-signaling their solidarity with Hamas, Hezbollah, and radical Islamists in general.
Given the recent abandonment of standardized tests for admission to universities, the watering-down of curricula, and rampant grade inflation, thousands of students at elite campuses feel that they have successfully redefined their universities to suit their own politics, constituencies and demographics.
Insecure about their preparation for college and mostly ignorant of the politics of the Middle East, usefully idiotic students find resonance by screaming antisemitic chants and wearing keffiyehs.
Nurtured in grade school on the Marxist binary of bad, oppressive whites versus good, oppressed nonwhites, they can cheaply shed their boutique guilt by joining the mobs.
The result is a bizarre new antisemitism and overt support for the gruesome terrorists of Hamas by those who usually preach to the middle class about their own exalted morality.
Still, woke jihadism would never have found resonance had Western leaders—vote-conscious heads of state, timid university presidents, and radicalized big-city mayors and police chiefs—not ignored blatant violations of laws against illegal immigration, vandalism, assault, illegal occupation, and rioting.
Finally, woke jihadism is fueling a radical Western turn to the right, partly due to open borders and the huge influx into the West from non-Western illiberal regimes.
Partly the reaction is due to the ingratitude shown their hosts by indulged Middle-Eastern guest students and green card holders.
Partly, the public is sick of the sense of entitlement shown by pampered, sanctimonious protestors.
And partly the revulsion arises against left-wing governments and universities that will not enforce basic criminal and immigration statutes in fear of offending this strange new blend of wokism and jihadism.
Yet the more violent campuses and streets become, the more clueless the mobs seem about the cascading public antipathy to what they do and what they represent.
Originally published by Tribune Content Agency.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.
The post The West Is Sick of the New Woke Jihadism appeared first on The Daily Signal.
For the past 18 years, Senate Republicans have had one leader: Mitch McConnell took the job in 2006 and has retained it ever since. But with his decision to step down from the post after November’s elections, there are three Republicans vying to replace him.
One of them is Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. He was first elected to the Senate in 2018 and ran against McConnell two years ago.
He’s now competing with Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota to win the support of his Senate Republican colleagues.
The Daily Signal invited all three senators to discuss their plans, and Scott was the first to accept our request. Listen to our interview on “The Daily Signal Podcast” or read a lightly edited transcript below.
Rob Bluey: Senator, why did you decide to enter the race for Republican leader?
Sen. Rick Scott: First off, we’ve got to have big change. Let’s think about just the citizens we represent. They’re fed up with a budget that’s not balanced. They’re fed up with an open border. They’re fed up with all this wasteful spending. They’re fed up, basically, with the federal government that’s out of control.
If you want change, you’re going to have to change your way the Senate is run. We need to go back to represent our states. We need to be fighting over issues. The bill shouldn’t be decided by McConnell and [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer. We should go through a committee process. There’s so many things we’ve got to do to get this country back where it needs to go.
We need to have a Republican leader that has a relationship with President [Donald] Trump. He’s going to win. He’s going to have an agenda. We got to do everything we can to help him get his agenda done.
Republican Senators Pledge to Block Democrat Agenda Following Trump Verdict
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) June 1, 2024
Via Rob Bluey:https://t.co/eW5hAc59Ld
Bluey: When you talk about those big changes, in some ways, it seems that you’re suggesting the Senate is broken right now and needs fixing. What are some of the ways that you would go about making sure those reforms are put into place?
Scott: No. 1, I don’t think a leader should have a term of more than six years. No. 2 is the bill shouldn’t be done by McConnell and Schumer. They should be done at the committee level where everybody has the opportunity to have input that are on those committees.
And then after that, we ought to have a robust amendment process on the Senate floor. So, if I would like an amendment that’s going to represent my state better, I ought to be able to do that.
If I can’t talk people into it, that’s my problem. If I don’t even have a chance because the bill never went through a committee or we never had any amendment votes, I have the opportunity to say yes or no. That’s not the way the Senate is supposed to represent work. I’m supposed to be able to represent my state and fight for the issues that are important to my state. That’s not how the Senate works right now.
Bluey: As you’ve observed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s approach to running the Senate, what you see as some of his biggest or most glaring failures?
Scott: He wants to, and he does a lot of this with McConnell, but they want to write the bills. It’s not written out of a committee. It doesn’t come up through a committee.
There’s one or two people who have input and then if they put them on the Senate floor where you just have an up-or-down vote, you don’t even have a chance to improve it. We all have ways we could improve these bills and we don’t even have a shot at trying to improve the bills.
That’s not the way the Senate is supposed to work. I’m supposed to be able to fight like hell for my state. Every senator should have the opportunity to fight for their state, but if you don’t go through a committee, you have no input on the bill, and you don’t have any amendment votes, it’s pretty hard to represent your state.
Bluey: Some of the early chatter in Washington seems to revolve around a leader’s role in raising money for members of his party. I’m curious to know your thoughts on that and perhaps why that shouldn’t be the sole qualification for somebody to get the job as leader?
Scott: Any leader is going to be able to raise money. A lot of the money flows through PACs that the leader might be or is tied to. Anybody is going to be able to raise the money as long as you’re willing to do the job.
As you know, I’m from a big state, so for my governor’s race I had to raise a lot of money and my Senate race. But the real job of the Senate leader is to represent the conference. Our bylaws, Republican bylaws, require us to have a legislative agenda. We haven’t had a legislative agenda since I’ve been up here for five years.
We need to come together as a group and say, “What do we want to get done the next two years?” And then let’s say, “OK, so now this is what we want to get done. How do we get it done? What’s going to be our strategy? What do we have to do to get these things done?”
That’s what we ought to be doing every day. We shouldn’t be sitting there and be reactive to what Chuck Schumer does.
And then, if we can get the majority, which I’m very optimistic, then let’s lead. Let’s focus on how do we secure the border? How do we balance the budget? How do we improve our foreign policy and have a positive agenda to solve the problems that the American public has sent us all to D.C. to do?
Bluey: Conservatives were clamoring for that legislative agenda back in 2022 for the midterm elections. You offered one, Sen. McConnell rejected your idea, instead said he wanted to merely run against President [Joe] Biden. Looking back in retrospect, why was McConnell’s strategy a mistake?
Scott: He has the belief that you shouldn’t stand for anything. You should just talk about how bad the Democrats are. And the Democrats are bad, there’s no question about it.
But my experience as a business guy is I was able to attract talent to work with me on my management teams because I had an agenda to get done and they bought into the agenda. If they didn’t like my agenda, they wouldn’t come to work with me. The public wants a plan. The public wants a plan. I had a plan when I ran in 2010 to be governor to turn the economics of our state around, give people a job. When I came to D.C., I had a plan for how to make Washington work for you.
The public is clamoring for a plan. The public is clamoring for somebody that’s going to fight like hell to defeat the policies and the ideology of the radical Left, which we all know is destroying this country. That’s what the public wants. That’s what we all talk about when we run. While we ought to do it when we’re here.
Bluey: You’ve mentioned your role as a successful businessman. You have served as Florida’s governor. You have also worn the hat of being chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In all three of those roles that you’ve had, what is your leadership style? What can people expect from you as somebody who is aspiring for this job?
Scott: First off, I’m very goal-oriented. I want to accomplish something. I became the governor, I built businesses because I wanted to accomplish something. I ran to the Senate because I wanted to accomplish something.
I’ve been very clear with my Senate role, we’ve got to change the way Washington works. It’s not working the American public right now. What they’re going to see is somebody that’s very focused on getting a result. That’s No. 1.
No. 2, if you look at my business career, my government career, this is a team event. You’ve got to bring people together to find a common goal to get anything done. And it’s not going to be just your ideas. You have to have a consensus. And so, you’ve got to figure out what it is and then you have to work and have a strategy to accomplish it.
If you look at any successful business, if you look at successful governors, that’s what they do. They have a plan and they work their plan. They surround themselves with people that believe in what they’re trying to accomplish.
That’s what they’ll see. If I can become the Republican leader, hopefully the majority leader, you’ll have a Republican conference that is very results-oriented and the goals will be very clear.
We will solve the problems that the country believes are the most important problems today. Those are securing the border, making sure that we get inflation under control, balancing the budget, making sure we fix our foreign policies so we don’t have wars going all around the world.
Bluey: On that specific note, what are some steps that you would like to take to empower those individual Republican senators to have a greater role in the legislative process?
Scott: The biggest thing is ask for their opinion, ask for their advice to get them in the middle of everything.
We have very talented Republican senators. And we are to say, “OK, with your background, would you like to be involved in this?” And you get people in the middle of it, of the issues.
And guess what? You bring out new ideas, you bring out new energy, and you get a lot of things done. But the biggest thing is, you get people in the middle of the problem. Republican senators, they want to solve problems, so let them do it, get them in the middle of it.
Bluey: What is your vision for reducing this reliance that it seems that Washington has year after year for omnibus spending bills and emergency supplementals?
Scott: Not having a budget to me is foolish. It’s not fair to the American public. Not having a budget is just basically having spending bills. What that means is we’re going to have more inflation.
That’s wrong. We should do everything we can to help all of our families by getting inflation under control. You cannot do it with a balanced budget, so we now have almost $35 trillion worth the debt. We have interest expense that exceeds our national defense budget. We have a Federal Reserve whose balance sheet is out of control.
What’s going to happen is, in that environment, interest rates can’t come down. That means that if you think you’re going to get a lower interest rate for a house, you’re foolish. Your credit card rate, interest rates are not going to come down. On top of that, we’re not going to see a reduction in gas prices and food prices and these things. So, spending matters.
I’ve always, my business life, I balanced the budget. The governor’s job, we balanced the budget every year. We actually paid off a third of the state debt in my years as governor. We can do this at the federal level.
The way you do it, is you say, this is my anticipated federal revenue, so that’s how much money we’re going to spend. You can do it, but if you just always say to yourself, “I don’t think I can get that done,” that’s going to be reality, you will not get it done.
Bluey: Will there be any backroom deals with a Leader Rick Scott in charge of things?
Scott: No, no. We all are part of this. You need to be transparent, you need to tell everybody what’s happening. If you want people to support what you’re doing, you don’t do it behind closed doors. You do it by talking to people, by getting their information, by getting them involved in what you’re trying to accomplish.
Bluey: You challenged Mitch McConnell for this job in 2022. What lessons did you learn from that race that you hope to apply this time?
Scott: Unfortunately, in that race, they rushed the vote to the next day, so we didn’t have time to actually go and sit down with everybody.
What I’m hoping to do is sit down with every Republican senator and say, “What do you want to accomplish?” And then my role will be if I can win is to say, “How do I help you accomplish your goals? How do I help you represent your state?”
The Republican leader’s responsibility is to help each senator be successful. A successful senator is somebody that is successfully representing their individual state.
Bluey: Sen. McConnell has served 18 years as leader. You would like to have a six-year term limit for this position. Why is that change important to you?
Scott: I’ve always believed in term limits because, No. 1, nobody consolidates power for a long time that way. No 2 is everybody realizes that you only have six years to get what you want to accomplish, so everybody gets more results-focused.
We have term limits for the governor, we have term limits for our legislature, and what that means is you’re going to get new leadership with new energy every few years, you’re going to have people very focused on what they can get done in their time in leadership or their time in office.
Bluey: Two of your colleagues, Sens. John Thune and John Cornyn, are also in the mix for Republican leader. What distinguishes you from each of them?
Scott: First off, they work hard to represent their state. Probably the difference to what I bring to the table is my business background. I built the largest hospital company; I built a variety of manufacturing companies. I’ve been involved in a variety of businesses. My first business was a donut shop when I was 22 and I got out of the Navy, so my mom could have a job. I had the opportunity to serve in the military. I had the opportunity to be the governor.
Those are the types of things I bring to the table, but the biggest thing is, and I tell people, I’m a turnaround guy. If you think the country’s headed in the right direction and you don’t think there has to be dramatic change, no one should vote for me. I believe the country’s in trouble. I believe there’s so many people in the American public who are struggling. The only way we’re going to make their lives better is if we have dramatic change. And that’s what I bring to the table.
Bluey: Have you seen examples of your entry into the race or even just the chatter about you potentially entering the race before you formally did that has moved either of them in your direction when it comes to some of the reforms that maybe Mitch McConnell has not necessarily endorsed in the past?
Scott: One thing everyone has started talking about is term limits. Most people who are elected don’t really believe in term limits, but the average person believes in it. I know the public believes in it. Now we’re having a real conversation about. Should there be a six-year term?
We have a six-year term for every other leadership position in the Republican Senate. We ought to have one for the leader. There’s no reason it should be different. I think that’s No. 1.
No. 2, we’re starting to have conversation about it. How should we be managed? Because the leader’s role is not to be a dictator. The leader’s role is to be a leader of a group of individuals that get to represent their individual states.
Bluey: I recently had the opportunity to talk to Sen. Roger Marshall about the Republican-wide discussion that took place. It seems that those types of events may occur more frequently in the future, should this play out the way you hope.
Scott: I believe in it. I believe we ought to have real conversations and then have real discussions and let everybody bring their ideas to the table without any negative ramifications.
I don’t get why I was kicked off and [Sen.] Mike Lee was kicked off the Commerce Committee just because I ran against McConnell. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I think I’ve run the biggest company of any person ever in the history of the Senate that’s served. And then Mike and I got kicked off because Mike nominated me to be the Republican leader. That stuff is wrong.
>>> Sen. Roger Marshall Prescribes Solutions for Congress’ Budget Woes
We ought to say, “Hey, Rick, you bring this to the table. Mike, you bring this to the table.” Whoever it is, “This is what you bring to the table. You ought to be really active in those ideas. And let’s fight over who’s got the best idea and then let’s come together with the goal that we get a result.”
I know that we have to secure the border. I know that we have to get inflation under control. These are things that are so simple to me that the public needs and deserves.
Bluey: Those, of course, are big priorities of former President Donald Trump as well. You sound confident that he’s going to be victorious in November. Why are you the one who’s best positioned to not only advance his agenda, but also those critical votes on the nominees he puts forward to serve in his administration.
Scott: I knew President Trump before either of us ran for office. I’ve known him for a long time. I believe in what he’s trying to accomplish. He’s in the same position I am, that we have to have a dramatic change. We can’t nibble at the edges. There has to be a significant change in how our federal government is run. The public realizes that, that’s why he’s going to win.
What he’s going to need is a partner in the Senate who wants that to happen and help to make sure that’s exactly what happens in the Senate, not just in the White House.
Bluey: And finally, what kind of reaction have you received either from your constituents in Florida or some of your colleagues in the Republican conference since making the announcement?
Scott: I’ve had a lot of positive feedback. No. 1, my colleagues that want to sit down and talk about where we go, so that’s a positive. No. 2, in the state of Florida, people are excited that there’s a possibility of a Republican leader and hopefully the majority of their leaders are coming from our state.
The post Battle for Senate GOP Leader: Rick Scott Aims to Shake Up Status Quo appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Democrats might control the Senate, but they’ll have a hard time getting things done if 10 of their Republican counterparts have anything to say about it.
Following a New York jury’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump—and President Joe Biden’s subsequent cheerleading of the decision—10 Republican senators vowed to oppose Democrats’ legislative priorities and nominations.
“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart,” the Republican senators said in a statement released Friday.
It currently has 10 signatories:
Notably missing from the list is Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose milquetoast response Thursday—about four hours after the jury’s decision—drew scorn from conservatives.
These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) May 31, 2024
The statement signed by the 10 Republicans outlines three areas where they plan to stymie Democrats:
Democrats currently control 48 seats with three independent senators who caucus with them. Their narrow majority gives Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., little room to navigate, particularly on matters requiring a 60-vote threshold.
Now, with 10 Republican senators promising to make things even more difficult for Schumer, Democrats face the prospect of a Senate stuck in a stalemate.
Lee spearheaded the effort and wants to recruit more senators to the cause.
I hope to have every Republican senator sign this.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 31, 2024
This is a call for Senate Republican Conference unity.
Now is a time for choosing.
Will we let the Republic fall or are we going to do something about it? https://t.co/QcYQwsYv4E
“We are no longer cooperating with any Democrat legislative priorities or nominations, and we invite all concerned Senators to join our stand,” Lee wrote on X.
Scott, who is running to for GOP leader in the next Congress, endorsed the effort Friday.
“Our country is in real trouble,” Scott said. “Republicans must stand together and end this madness.”
PRIMETIME EXCLUSIVE: @SenRickScott is vowing legislative retaliation against the Democrats who supported Trump’s prosecution. pic.twitter.com/s95CJXmE8u
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) June 1, 2024
Marshall put the blame on Biden’s “partisan hack judges,” accusing them of weaponizing the judicial system against the president’s political opponent.
The jury found Trump guilty Thursday on all 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide “hush money” payments in 2016 to former pornographic movie actress Stormy Daniels.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Trump called the trial a disgrace and said, “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt.” He continued: “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people.”
His sentencing hearing will take place July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention convenes in Milwaukee.
Business as usual is no longer an option—Biden and his leftist regime have, by their actions, decreed it’s no longer “politics as usual.”
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) May 31, 2024
They’re trying to steal the election—which is why they are already weaponizing the full power of the federal government against President… https://t.co/9Vi62Esreg
“The White House’s weaponization of our government to target President Trump for political gain represents the pinnacle of two tiers of justice,” Blackburn wrote on X. “We cannot allow this grave injustice to prevail in the United States of America.
Tuberville, who last year delayed the promotions of military officers over a dispute with the Biden administration, signaled he was once again willing to engage in a similar tactic.
Just one of those military officers remains in limbo today: Air Force Col. Ben Jonsson, whose controversial statements endorsing critical race theory in 2020 prompted an outcry. Schmitt is blocking his promotion to brigadier general.
“Democrats have destroyed the integrity of our justice system, and made a mockery of the Constitution—all in the name of maintaining political power,” Schmitt wrote on X. “My colleagues and I aren’t going to go along with the status quo. Enough is enough.”
The post How Republicans Plan to Stymie Democrats After Controversial Trump Verdict appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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