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FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A White House official told the Agriculture Department to include left-leaning groups, including the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the League of United Latin American Citizens, among “stakeholders” to help implement President Joe Biden’s executive order aimed at turning out the vote.
At the same time, records obtained by The Daily Signal show that USDA brass had extensive discussions with the Raben Group, a Democrat-aligned lobbying group managed by former officials of the Clinton and Obama administration.
The Raben Group represented the left-wing advocacy group Demos, which has pushed the so-called Green New Deal and labor unions’ policy goals. As The Daily Signal previously reported, Demos worked with the USDA on “best practices” to boost voting.
The United Food and Commercial Workers, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Raben Group were not on a previously reported list of more than four dozen left-leaning organizations that participated in a “listening session” with White House officials on July 12, 2021, under six months after Biden became president.
Two days before that “listening session” via Zoom between White House officials and the left-wing groups, Raben Group associate Dylan Tureff wrote on behalf of Demos to DeWayne Goldman, USDA’s senior adviser for racial equality to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Tureff’s goal: to set up a meeting with Goldman to “discuss how your office can play an essential role in protecting and expanding democracy.”
Biden signed the executive order in March 2021, directing federal agencies to partner with private organizations to increase voter registration and participation in elections.
Since that time, records emerged through Freedom of Information Act requests from multiple agencies showing that the Biden administration’s bureaucracy has enlisted an army of left-leaning nonprofits to mobilize voters.
Critics of Biden’s order have called it “BidenBucks.”
They also say Biden’s Executive Order 14019 weaponized taxpayer-funded agencies to advance his reelection effort—and those of Democrats.
Demos long has been associated with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
“Demos and its organizational partners have identified the below-stated agency systems and programs as areas of great opportunity for the implementation of this vital executive order,” Tureff told USDA’s Goldman in his July 2021 message.
Writing on behalf of Demos, Tureff said get-out-the-vote efforts for Agriculture Department offices could include online portals; “direct interaction programs”; grant programs “for both state and private actors” grants for governments and authorities; and programs focused on tribal services and support.
Goldman wrote to colleagues July 27: “Do we have any activities around this EO [executive order] on Voting Access? I have a meeting request from Demos to engage with USDA, but could use some help understanding the prioritization. Do you have any knowledge of this group?”
In response, Lynn Overmann, USDA senior adviser for data and technology, seemed to raise some concerns in the email thread under the subject line “Demos Meeting Request on Voting Rights EO.”
Overmann wrote to Goldman and others: “Has USDA supported voting rights efforts in the past? Given our footprint in communities, I could imagine offering voter registration information at in-person locations or sharing information broadly across our communications channels, but think there would be privacy/consent issues around sharing data.”
The Biden executive order directed all federal agencies to develop a strategic plan for increasing voting by September 2021.
The Agriculture Department’s first interim response to a records request by The Daily Signal didn’t include the department’s strategic plan, but did include emails discussing what its key priorities likely would be.
Kumar Chandran, acting undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, sent an email to colleagues on May 29, 2021, that said an attached draft strategic plan contained the “top 5 suggestions.”
The email released to The Daily Signal, in which several redactions were made, summarizes the top five recommendations as including voter registration at “Voter Registration & Information at Food and Nutrition Service Program Sites Though WIC and SNAP sites.”
WIC is an Agriculture Department food program for “women, infants and children.” SNAP, better known to Americans as food stamps, is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Critics of Biden’s executive order allege that government agencies could give a false impression to the public that benefits of social programs are tied to voting.
The USDA also listed “Rural Development” as the second of the top five suggestions. Details were redacted.
Third on the list was “voter registration and information through production and conservation,” but again details were missing.
Fourth was ensuring that the Agriculture Department’s 100,000 employees were registered to vote and had leave time to vote.
The fifth and last suggestion for implementing Biden’s order pertained to social media and communication about voter information using Twitter and other such platforms.
An email dated April 7, 2021, from Paul Zeiss with the White House scheduling office sent a list of “stakeholders” on voting issues to Akhil Rakam, then a USDA official.
The mail included the mentions of the United Food and Commercial Workers, or UFCW, and the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC.
UFCW, the sixth-largest labor union in the United States, represents workers in the food production, retail, and chemical industries.
LULAC, an advocate for Hispanic Americans, sued Texas in 2006 over the state’s redistricting, alleging that the new election districts violated the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court upheld the districting plan, but found some districts needed to be revised.
In 2021, the League of United Latin American Citizens served subpoenas on several Republican state legislators in Texas in connection with a lawsuit over the state’s election reforms.
Other “stakeholders” the White House identified for USDA are more directly related to agriculture and not overtly political.
These groups include the Intertribal Agriculture Council, the National Black Farmers Association, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the National Association of Counties, the Rebuild Rural Coalition, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the American Public Human Services Association, and Rural Organizing.
A USDA spokesperson didn’t respond to The Daily Signa’s request for comment on this report.
Demos, the Raben Group, UFCW, and LULAC also didn’t respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Harvesting Voters? These Left-Wing Groups Are Teaming With USDA appeared first on The Daily Signal.
A majority of Americans see former President Donald Trump as a strong leader, while most see President Joe Biden as a weak leader, per a poll.
The post Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Say Donald Trump Is Strong Leader, Joe Biden Is Weak Leader appeared first on Breitbart.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Thursday on his show "Morning Joe" that viewers should change the channel if they were too stupid to realize that the protests on college campuses are hurting President Joe Biden's chances of winning in November.
The post Scarborough: If You Are ‘Too Stupid’ to See Campus Protests Hurting Biden, Change the Channel appeared first on Breitbart.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Monday on "Deadline" that freedom of the press could end if former President Donald Trump wins re-election in November.
The post MSNBC’s Wallace: If Trump Wins in November Freedom of the Press Could End appeared first on Breitbart.
The gag order against former President Donald Trump is the "biggest assault" on the First Amendment in at least 50 years, Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall said.
The post Exclusive — Trump Lawyer Jesse Binnall: Gag Order ‘Biggest Assault on First Amendment’ in at Least 50 Years appeared first on Breitbart.
Haiti’s transitional council named former senate president Edgard Gardy Leblanc Fils as temporary president of the nation on Tuesday and tapped former youth minister Fritz Belizaire as interim prime minister.
The post Haiti Gets Its First President Since 2021 Assassination appeared first on Breitbart.
There are many reasons why legal experts are questioning the legitimacy of the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump. But the major reason is that the main claim in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case—that Trump’s $130,000 settlement payment of a potential claim by Stormy Daniels was a campaign-related expense—is totally bogus.
Here’s a quick tutorial on why Bragg doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on—call it “Federal Campaign Finance Law for Dummies 101”—an apropos title, given what’s going on.
Daniels claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, fully 10 years before the 2016 presidential election, which Trump denies. For the payment, Daniels agreed to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which is a standard provision in many settlement agreements of personal injury cases and other claims.
Bragg contends that Trump falsified business records, a misdemeanor, when this payment was listed as legal expenses instead of a campaign expense.
Supposedly, according to Bragg, that converted the misdemeanors into felonies because Trump was concealing another crime. That other crime, according to prosecutors, is a violation of Section 17-152 of New York law, which makes it a misdemeanor to “promote … the election of any person to public office by unlawful means.”
Besides the fact that it’s very strange to allege that the commission of a misdemeanor for the purpose of covering up the commission of another misdemeanor is enough to allege a felony, the only plausible theory that Bragg is pushing for the alleged “unlawful means” was a violation of federal law by concealing a campaign-related payment.
With me so far?
But Trump was running for president. The raising and spending of money for campaigns for president and Congress is governed by federal law, the Federal Election Campaign Act, not state law. Any wrongdoing related to federal campaign financing falls under the enforcement authority of federal officials, not a local prosecutor like Bragg.
In fact, the Federal Election Commission, on which I served as a commissioner, has civil enforcement authority and the U.S. Department of Justice has criminal enforcement authority over violations of this law.
For the nuisance-value settlement payment to Daniels to fit within Bragg’s rickety legal structure, it would have to be a crime under federal law. In other words, it would have to be considered a campaign-related expense that was falsely reported under the Federal Election Campaign Act.
If you want an example of such a violation, just look at the $113,000 civil penalty the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee agreed to pay in 2022. They listed the payments for the opposition research that formed the basis for the infamous Steele dossier, which fabricated the entire Trump-Russia collusion hoax, as legal expenses instead of opposition research.
But opposition research on the opposing candidate is obviously a campaign-related expense under applicable federal law, so the FEC had authority to investigate and enforce the law against this deception.
That’s not the case with the Daniels’ payment. For starters, the incident in question that led to the payment is alleged to have happened 10 years before the 2016 campaign. More importantly, the payment fails the test the FEC applies to determine whether an expense is campaign-related.
Under federal law and corresponding regulations, the FEC applies the “irrespective test” to “differentiate legitimate campaign and officeholder expenses from personal expenses.” As the FEC explains on its website, under the irrespective test, “personal use is any use of funds … to fulfill a commitment, obligation, or expense of any person that would exist, irrespective of the candidates’ campaign.”
In other words, if the expense would exist even if the individual were not a candidate, then it’s personal and not a campaign expense.
The payment to Daniels clearly fails that test. Trump was a celebrity long before he ran for office, and celebrities get these kinds of nuisance claims all the time. In fact, the prosecution’s first witness in the New York case, David Pecker, said he had helped settle similar claims to avoid legal costs and embarrassment by suppressing stories for numerous other celebrities, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods.
The easiest way to understand this test is to take the example of a personal injury claim.
Candidate A has a car accident several years before he runs for Congress that injures another driver. After the campaign has started, the candidate decides to settle the personal injury claim made by the other driver by paying that driver $130,000 in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement.
Settling and paying the claim may help the candidate in his campaign by avoiding personal embarrassment. But that doesn’t make it a campaign expense. It’s a claim that would exist even if the candidate were not running for office and is thus considered a personal expense under federal law.
Daniels’ claim is also a personal claim that existed long before Trump ran for the presidency and, given his celebrity status, would have continued to exist even if he never ran for president.
That’s no doubt why neither the FEC nor the Justice Department ever filed an enforcement action against the Trump campaign or Trump personally over the payment; specifically, because it was not a campaign-related expense.
You know what would have led to enforcement actions? If Trump had actually claimed this was a campaign-related expense and had used campaign funds to make the payment, I have no doubt he would have been prosecuted by the feds for the illegal use of campaign funds to pay a personal expense.
That’s what former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., went to prison for after he pleaded guilty in 2013 to spending $750,000 on personal expenses.
Keep in mind that Bragg’s entire manufactured case of 34 counts of falsifying business records depends entirely on the legitimacy of his contention that the settlement payment should have been listed as a campaign-related expense.
It shouldn’t because it wasn’t.
And all of the other testimony from the prosecution’s witnesses about this payment and other settlement payments that are obviously intended to blacken the character of the former president and prejudice the jury doesn’t change the fact that none of these payments were campaign-related expenses. Period. End of story—or at least it should be.
The post Trump’s NY Prosecution Is a Bogus Case by a Bogus Prosecutor appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Joe Biden’s fascist lawfare assault on former President Trump is backfiring, according to the latest polling.
The post Nolte: NYC Trial Makes 32% More Likely to Vote for Trump, Only 26% Less Likely appeared first on Breitbart.
Joe Biden's aides spliced a 24-second scripted video of the president 8 times, raising concerns about whether he can deliver simple remarks.
The post Biden Team Edits His Scripted Video 8 Times in 24 Seconds appeared first on Breitbart.
Liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore said Monday on CNN's "The Source" that the college protests were a danger to President Joe Biden being re-elected in November.
The post Michael Moore: Biden Is Losing Youth Vote, Likely He Won’t Be Reelected appeared first on Breitbart.
Donald Trump's business records trial will not be heard in Manhattan on Wednesday, freeing him to use the one-day break to greet voters at rallies in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
The post Trial-Free Day Releases Trump for Return to Campaign Trail appeared first on Breitbart.
Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing her "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour in Florida on Wednesday — the same day a six-week abortion restriction is set to take effect in the state.
The post VP Kamala Harris to Give Abortion Speech in Florida as Six-Week Restriction Takes Effect appeared first on Breitbart.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once praised former President Barack Obama as a "good" president, which serves as a reminder for voters ahead of the presidential election.
The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Praised Obama as ‘Good’ President appeared first on Breitbart.
This is what happens when you dare step off Hollywood’s ideological plantation. This is how Hollywood’s neo-McCarthyism works.
The post Nolte: Dwayne Johnson Blasted in Hit Piece Just Weeks After Refusing to Endorse Biden appeared first on Breitbart.
Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Tuesday on ABC's "The View" that former President Donald Trump was incorrect about a "definite anti-white feeling in the country."
The post Whoopi Goldberg to Donald Trump: There Is No Anti-White Feeling in the U.S. appeared first on Breitbart.
Joy Behar told her co-hosts Tuesday on ABC's "The View" that those participating in the anti-Israel college campus protests across the country should be careful because they could help elect former President Donald Trump.
The post Behar to Protesters: ‘Don’t Displace Dissatisfaction with a Dictatorship’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump will be back in a New York City courtroom Tuesday as his business records trial resumes.
The post Donald Trump’s Business Records Trial Resumes in New York appeared first on Breitbart.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Monday on her show "Deadline" that it was not accurate to say everyone in the Republican Party is a conspiracy theorist but "as with racist, all of the conspiracy theorists are Republicans."
The post MSNBC’s Wallace: ‘As with Racists, All the Conspiracy Theorists Are Republicans’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Monday on MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports" that she believed host Katie Tur was an "apologist" for former President Donald Trump.
The post Watch: Pelosi Accuses MSNBC’s Katy Tur of Being ‘an Apologist for Donald Trump’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Monday on MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports" that if the Democrats win majorities in Congress and the White House, they will ditch the filibuster to legalize abortion nationwide.
The post Pelosi: After Election Dems Will Ditch Filibuster to Legalize Abortion Nationally appeared first on Breitbart.
Joe Biden falsely suggested his uncle was eaten by cannibals during World War II and some New Guinea residents are not amused.
The post Nolte: New Guinea Residents Still Outraged over Biden’s ‘Cannibal’ Lie appeared first on Breitbart.
The left-wing Arabella Advisors network has raked in more money than either of the two major political parties and affects almost every element of public policy and elections, argues Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, a Washington-based investigative think tank.
Walter’s new book “Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America” shows that in the 2020 election cycle, Arabella Advisors’ nonprofits took in $2.4 billion. That’s $1 billion more than the combined fundraising of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee.
That amount rose to $3 billion in the 2022 election cycle, Walter says. Moreover, he adds, nothing on the Right comes close to competing.
“Arabella does not discriminate. It is working on arcane regulatory issues … but it also is running Facebook ads, attacking certain congressional candidates and boosting others. It plays in environmental issues. It plays in abortion issues. It plays in election policy,” Walter says on “The Daily Signal Podcast.”
Walter is set to testify Tuesday before the House Natural Resources Committee about what he calls “left-wing dark money [used] to influence environmental policy.”
“Arabella also continues to be very active in the environmental policy area in all sorts of ways,” he adds.
Arabella-backed organizations have been involved in battles over abortion and Supreme Court nominations and advocated that biological males compete in women’s sports.
Walter’s book details how two Arabella-aligned groups, the Center for Secure and Modern Elections and the Institute for Responsive Government, are involved in shaping election policy at the local level.
He notes that an Arabella-sponsored group funded by billionaire financier George Soros helped formulate the Biden administration’s recent change in Title IX policy to make it easier for biological males to compete in girls’ scholastic sports.
“That was plotted through a highly secretive group in the Arabella network, funded entirely with Soros money,” Walter said. “Governing for Impact, which they started in 2019, two years before the Biden administration was even sworn in. And they worked with Harvard Law School folks to do very sophisticated legal strategy memos of how to overturn dozens of regulations in the federal government, the most famous being Title IX.”
What’s differentiates Arabella from other major donors on the Left is the level of secrecy, Walter says. The network is more secretive than most nonprofits financed by Soros and his family, he says.
“We have tracked the institutional donors, and we can tell you that for almost all of the Arabella nonprofits, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, which provides donor-advised funds to wealthy people, is the largest,” Walter said. He added, “Other really big donors to the Arabella network have [included Microsoft co-founder] Bill Gates. He is one of the largest, mostly through his foundation. [Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg has given tens of millions, mostly for criminal justice reform—quote unquote—[that results in] letting criminals back on the streets.”
A spokesperson for Arabella Advisors didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment for this report.
Listen to Walter outline Arabella’s reach in a discussion of his book in the podcast below:
The post Arabella Network’s Leftist ‘Dark Money’ Influence Expanding, Author Reveals appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" that the treatment 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton received on the campaign trail as presidential candidate showed a "continuing existence of a double standard for women."
The post Kaine on 2016: Hillary Faced ‘Continuing Existence of a Double Standard for Women’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that after listening to oral arguments, the Supreme Court was close to "election interference" with their consideration of former President Donald Trump's immunity claim.
The post Brazile: Supreme Court Close to Election Interference, ‘Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that former President Donald Trump's criminal charges were "political BS."
The post Graham: Charges Against Trump Are ‘Political BS,’ Most People ‘Have Written This Off’ appeared first on Breitbart.
The unprecedented “lawfare” being waged against former President Donald Trump by the Biden Department of Justice “goes well beyond” the former president and actually targets “anybody” who supports Trump or is conservative. That was the warning from Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, who cautioned against the use of “third-world tactics” that have no place in the U.S., as well as how many on the left would likely “deny the outcome” of a democratically-elected Trump in 2024.
The post Exclusive: Rep. Andy Harris Blasts Biden DOJ’s ‘Third-World’ Lawfare Tactics Against Trump, Warns All Conservatives ‘Targets’ appeared first on Breitbart.
It would send a strong message if former President Donald Trump visits minority communities in New York, showing he is a "man of the people," Lee Zeldin said.
The post Exclusive — Lee Zeldin: Trump Should Hold Madison Square Garden Rally, Visit Black Churches appeared first on Breitbart.
U.S. global influence is declining under President Joe Biden, whose presidency is a continuation of Obama's policies, according to Congressman Keith Self.
The post Exclusive: Rep. Keith Self Warns U.S. Constitutional Republic Can’t Survive ‘Fourth Obama Term’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove said Friday on Fox News Channel's "The Story" that a debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden would be the most significant in decades.
The post Karl Rove: Biden, Trump Debate Would Be ‘Most Important’ Since 1980 appeared first on Breitbart.
Trump immediately asked Biden, 81, to make good on his promise and debate him on live television at the Manhattan courthouse Friday night.
The post Donald Trump Accepts Biden’s Debate Pledge: ‘Courthouse Tonight … I’ll Wait Around’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe said Friday on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that he believes the Supreme Court is following former President Donald Trump's "strategy of delay, delay."
The post Tribe: Shameful Supreme Court ‘Has Gone Along with the Trump Strategy of Delay, Delay Delay’ appeared first on Breitbart.
A majority of the Supreme Court justices appeared to sympathize with Trump's attorneys' arguments that a president does enjoy some level of immunity that continues past the term of office.
The post Justice Samuel Alito Cites ‘Old Saw About Indicting a Ham Sandwich’ in Trump Immunity Case appeared first on Breitbart.
A majority of voters say a conviction in any of former President Donald Trump's various legal cases would have "no effect" on their vote.
The post National Poll: Majority of Likely Voters Say a Trump Conviction Would Have ‘No Effect’ on Their Vote appeared first on Breitbart.
Hollywood elites are planning to throw more money at President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, with a star-studded fundraiser reportedly being planned for mid-June that will feature George Clooney and former President Barack Obama.
The post George Clooney Teaming Up with Obama for Biden Hollywood Fundraiser, Julia Roberts Might Attend appeared first on Breitbart.
Donald Trump stuck to campaign messaging Thursday before walking into his trial, announcing plans to hold rallies in the Bronx and at Madison Square Garden.
The post Donald Trump Plans Historic Rallies in Bronx, Madison Square Garden: ‘Good Chance of Winning’ New York appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump said sarcastically he will remove "lethargic" for the list of insults of former Attorney General Bill Barr, after his "wholehearted endorsement."
The post Trump Says He Will Stop Calling Bill Barr ‘Lethargic’ After His ‘Wholehearted Endorsement’ appeared first on Breitbart.
An Arizona grand jury indicted several important allies of former President Donald Trump for their roles in disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The post Former Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows Indicted for Role in Alternate Electors Case appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday on Fox Business Network's "Kudlow" that Republicans had to win the November elections because Vice President Kamala Harris was in the "batting circle with Joe Biden."
The post Barr: ‘Republicans Have to Win’ Because VP Harris Is in the ‘Batting Circle’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said it was "stupid" of President Joe Biden not to reach out to him since he declared he was not supporting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The post Chris Christie: ‘Pretty Stupid’ that Joe Biden Has Not Reached Out to Me appeared first on Breitbart.
Former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "America Reports" that anti-Israel protests at the Democratic Party’s Chicago convention in the summer are likely.
The post Rove: Anti-Israel Protests Likely at Dem Convention this Summer appeared first on Breitbart.
Rep. Kevin Hern called Wednesday for Republicans to turn their sights on President Joe Biden's renewed push to transfer student loan debt to American taxpayers.
The post Exclusive – Kevin Hern: Republicans Must Fight Biden’s Student Loan Bailout Vote-Buying Scheme appeared first on Breitbart.
Attorney George Conway said Tuesday on CNN's "Out Front" that he was donating $929,600 to President Joe Biden's reelection campaign because former President Donald Trump is a "threat to democracy."
The post George Conway: I’m Donating $929,600 to Biden Because Trump Is a ‘Threat to Democracy’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Floridians "are not buying what Joe Biden is selling," DeSantis told reporters ahead of the president's abortion-focused visits to Tampa.
The post Ron DeSantis on Joe Biden’s Abortion-Focused Visit: ‘Floridians Not Buying What He’s Selling’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Biden, a self-professed Catholic, made the sign of the cross while Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried decried the state's six-week abortion limit.
The post Biden Makes Sign of the Cross During Florida Trip Promoting Abortion appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden took the opportunity during a speech promoting abortion to mock former President Donald Trump for promoting Bibles.
The post Biden Mocks Trump for Promoting Bibles During Pro-Abortion Rant in Florida appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is lighting up President Joe Biden for only accepting an invitation to give the commencement address at Atlanta’s Morehouse College because it’s in the same neighborhood Trump visited when he made an iconic stop at a Chick-fil-A recently.
The post Exclusive: Trump Campaign Rips Biden for Morehouse College Address in Same Atlanta Neighborhood as Chick-Fil-A Visit appeared first on Breitbart.
The only two states that apportion Electoral College votes in presidential races by congressional district are poised to scrap what makes them unique.
In these systems, presidential candidates get one electoral vote for each congressional district they win in the state. Unlike in other states, the Democratic, Republican, and other party candidates could end up splitting a state’s electoral votes among them.
The usually blue Maine and generally red Nebraska each had one battleground congressional district that would sometimes draw presidential candidates.
But the Maine Legislature moved to give its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote—regardless of who carries the state.
Nebraska lawmakers are considering becoming like 48 other states with winner-take-all elections, meaning the candidate who captures the majority of the state’s popular vote takes all of the state’s electoral votes. Nebraska’s change—if adopted—would affect the 2024 presidential election, while the Maine change likely wouldn’t.
Last week, Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills announced she would let a bill making Maine the 18th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact become law without her signature after it narrowly passed the state Legislature.
Maine Joins National Popular Vote Compact https://t.co/e6tvfYRH6H via @democracynow
— NationalPopularVote (@NatlPopularVote) April 21, 2024
Under the multistate compact, Maine agrees to give its four electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the national popular vote. The states that make up the compact thus far represent a combined 209 electoral votes. Those votes will only activate when the compact reaches the required 270 electoral votes needed to elect a president.
Meanwhile, Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen is considering calling a special session of the state Legislature, which already adjourned on April 18, to adopt a winner-take-all system for the state’s five electoral votes.
Pillen said he would only call a special session “when there is sufficient support in the Legislature to pass it.”
Prominent conservative commentators such as Charlie Kirk and Mark Levin have supported the change in Nebraska.
JUST IN—The Great One, Mark Levin, gets behind turning Nebraska into a winner-take-all electoral college state.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 9, 2024
The coalition is growing. Listen to @marklevinshow break down why this is critical ahead of November? pic.twitter.com/97PbsKAp3P
Maine enacted its rule to divide its electoral votes by congressional district ahead of the 1972 election. It took another 20 years for Nebraska to follow suit, which it did ahead of the 1992 election.
However, split votes have been rare.
The first time Nebraska had a split came when Democrat Barack Obama won the swing Nebraska district in the Omaha area in the 2008 election, the first time since 1964 that a Democrat won an electoral vote in the state.
In 2016, Republican Donald Trump won Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of the state outside of Portland or Augusta, netting one electoral vote from the state. He was the first Republican since 1988 to win a Maine electoral vote.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden captured Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District and its electoral vote.
The post These 2 States Are Poised to Scrap Fractured Electoral College System—in Different Ways appeared first on The Daily Signal.
President Joe Biden faces a much "tougher" path than his opponent to obtain the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidential election, longtime Democrat adviser Doug Sosnik wrote in the New York Times.
The post Democrat Adviser: Two Reasons Biden Faces ‘Tougher’ Electoral College Path to 270 appeared first on Breitbart.
Matthew Colangelo, a former Biden DOJ official, delivered the prosecution's opening statement on Monday in the Trump criminal trial.
The post Trump Trial Day 5: Matthew Colangelo, Ex-Biden Admin Official, Gives Prosecution’s Opening Statement appeared first on Breitbart.
Actor Michael Douglas said Sunday on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS that people say President Joe Biden is as "sharp as a tack" while discussing the president's age.
The post Michael Douglas on Biden’s Mental Acuity: People Say He’s Sharp as a Tack appeared first on Breitbart.
Hollywood star Michael Rapaport has no time for the endless anti-Jewish protesters screaming their messages on campuses across the country. He warned Monday the law of unintended consequences will apply and the hate-filled protests will simply enhance the prospect of a Donald Trump victory come November.
The post Michael Rapaport Says Radical Anti-Jewish Campus Protests Will Help Trump: ‘I Can’t Wait to See’ Your Screaming and Crying When He Wins appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that his Republican colleagues Reps Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Bob Good (R-VA) were "real scumbags."
The post GOP Rep. Gonzales: Some of My Republican Colleagues Are ‘Real Scumbags’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that he was concerned about a presidential debate because former President Donald Trump "lies and lies and lies."
The post Pritzker: Not Sure if Biden Should Debate Trump Who ‘Lies and Lies and Lies’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump made a last minute cancelation to a planned rally in North Carolina on Saturday night citing severe weather - his first major public appearance since the New York hush money trial began.
The post Donald Trump Cancels North Carolina Rally Due to Severe Weather appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton implied that if former President Donald Trump wins the upcoming 2024 presidential election, he would go to violent extremes regarding his opponents and journalists.
The post Hillary Clinton: ‘What Trump Really Wants’ Is to ‘Kill’ and ‘Imprison’ Opposition, ‘Exile’ Journalists appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Minnesota Reform Party Gov. Jesse Ventura said Thursday on CNN's "OutFront" that he could beat bothident Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical match-up.
The post Jesse Ventura: I Could Beat Both Biden and Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
The Republican National Committee (RNC), partnered with the Trump campaign, is launching a massive election integrity program.
The post Trump Campaign and RNC Reveal Massive Election Integrity Program appeared first on Breitbart.
Donald Trump continued to rip Justice Merchan for implementing an "unconstitutional" gag order that prevents him from "telling the truth."
The post Trial Day 4 — Donald Trump Slams Judge’s Gag Order: ‘They Can Say Anything They Want’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump said his political opponents are trying to get him off the campaign trail and suggested it does not seem to be working.
The post Trump: Political Opponents Trying to Get Me Off the Campaign Trail appeared first on Breitbart.
Among this age group, Joe Biden’s job approval rating sits at just 31 percent. Her Vice Fraudulency Kamala Harris has a job approval rating of just 32 percent.
The post Nolte: Donald Trump Enjoys Double Digit Gains with Voters Aged 18-29 appeared first on Breitbart.
Hollywood legend Jon Voight is in no doubt former President Donald Trump must be returned to the White House in 2024 to "overrule the barbaric animals destroying our country."
The post Jon Voight: If Re-Elected, Trump Will ‘Overrule the Barbaric Animals Destroying Our Country’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that former President Donald Trump was "palsy-walsy" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The post Pelosi: Trump Is ‘Palsy-Walsy’ with Putin appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom" that he will support Donald Trump in November.
The post Barr: I’ll Vote for Trump Because Continuing Biden Is ‘National Suicide’ appeared first on Breitbart.
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith blasted liberals for trying to destroy Donald Trump by launching an avalanche of nuisance lawsuits
The post Stephen A. Smith Blasts Liberals for ‘Lawfare’ Against Trump: ‘Scared You Can’t Beat Him’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr. said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Deadline" that if former President Donald Trump wins the November election, it will end "democracy."
The post Eddie Glaude: ‘If Trump Wins, I Think Democracy Is a Wrap’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Historian Jon Meacham said Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he believed former President Donald Trump was a "tyrant who rose among us."
The post ‘Truth and Democracy Are on Trial’: Meacham Calls Trump a Tyrant appeared first on Breitbart.
Donald Trump condemned his criminal trial on Tuesday, citing fresh polling that supports his premise of the political nature of the case.
The post Day 2: Donald Trump Says ‘Trial Is a Disgrace … Just Look at the Polls’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Sen. Tim Scott told Breitbart News the trial Democrats are dragging Donald Trump through is only driving black voters away from Democrats.
The post Exclusive — Tim Scott: ‘Prejudiced’ Trump Trial an ‘Injustice’ Driving Black Voters to GOP, They Want ‘Fair Justice System’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday on NBC's "The Kelly Clarkson Show " that Arizona’s recently reinstated abortion ban is "cruelty."
The post Hillary Clinton: The ‘Cruelty’ of Arizona Abortion Ban Is So Troubling appeared first on Breitbart.
A strong majority of voters believe Joe Biden's America is on the wrong track, as voters look more fondly on Donald Trump's presidency, a poll found.
The post NYT Poll: 64% of Voters Say Biden’s America Is ‘Headed in the Wrong Direction’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley said Monday on Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom" that former President Donald Trump's New York trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to payments to porn star Stormy Daniel is "absurd."
The post Jonathan Turley: Trump’s New York Hush Money Case Is ‘Absurd’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" that women in his state could die from a 123-year-old law that bans nearly all abortions except to save the life of the mother.
The post Mark Kelly: ‘Women Could Die’ from Arizona 1864 Ruling ‘Enabled’ by Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that voters will choose former President Donald Trump even if he is convicted of crimes.
The post Sununu: Trump Convictions Wouldn’t Be Disqualifying, Voters Think Trials Are ‘Reality TV’ appeared first on Breitbart.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on this week's broadcast of "Sunday Morning Futures" that former President Donald Trump was "100%" with him.
The post Speaker Johnson: ‘President Trump Is 100% with Me’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that American women were "not going to be conned" by former President Donald Trump's states' rights position on abortion.
The post Sen. Tina Smith: ‘American Women Are Not Going to be Conned’ by Trump on Abortion appeared first on Breitbart.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that abortion "is on the ballot in all 50 states' because of a potential national abortion ban.
The post Gov. Whitmer: Abortion ‘Is on the Ballot in All 50 States’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Hollywood star Michael Douglas said playing Benjamin Franklin when the Founding Father was 70 is giving him hope that 81-year-old President Joe Biden isn't too old to serve another term.
The post Michael Douglas Says Playing a 70-Year-Old Benjamin Franklin in a TV Show Gives Him Hope About 81-Year-Old Joe Biden appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States if everyone does their part, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said Saturday.
The post Exclusive — Marsha Blackburn: Trump ‘Will Be the Next President’ If Everyone Does Their Part appeared first on Breitbart.
CNN commentator Adam Kinzinger said Friday on CNN's "The Lead" that former President Donald Trump and Republicans rhetoric could lead to violence.
The post ‘What We Will See Will Be Violence’: CNN’s Kinzinger Says Trump, GOP Is Rhetoric ‘Playing with Fire’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's husband Chasten Buttigieg said Friday on MSNBC "Deadline " that Republicans were telling suicidal LGBTQ people to "pull the trigger."
The post Chasten Buttigieg: Republicans Are Telling Suicidal LGBTQ People to ‘Pull the Trigger’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) appeared together for a joint press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, to promote an election integrity bill.
The post Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson Announce Election Integrity Bill: ‘Common Sense’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Standing next to former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced legislation to require proof of citizenship to vote.
Non-U.S. citizens are already banned from voting in federal elections now. However, the National Voter Registration Act—better known as the Motor Voter Law—doesn’t allow states to check because the federal forms already contain a check box.
Johnson said that polling showed 78% of Americans supported requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. He suggested he would put the bill straight to the full House for a vote, bypassing the committee process.
“When we put this bill on the floor, you’re going to see a recorded vote by Republicans and Democrats. You’ll see that Republicans stand for election integrity,” Johnson said. “We’ll be able to ask this very important question of the Democrats. They are going to have to go on record. Do you believe that Americans and Americans alone should be the ones who vote in American elections? We are about to find out.”
Since Biden took office, more than 7.2 million illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border.
During his opening remarks, Trump addressed both issues.
“We have a border that’s open. We have a lot of problems in our country. We have an election problem and that’s really what we’re here to talk about today,” Trump said. “I would like to demand that our border be closed because we have millions of people coming into our country, millions and millions of people at levels that nobody is reporting, nobody is going to talk about.”
Johnson said the legislation will require states to remove noncitizens from their existing voter rolls, with help by allowing states access to databases from the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
My book “The Myth of Voter Suppression” details how several watchdog groups found voter registration rolls filled with ineligible foreign citizens, dead people, and people who have long moved out of a state despite the National Voter Registration requirement to update voting lists.
Johnson referred to the border crisis resulting from dozens of executive actions from President Joe Biden. He says he constantly gets questions about why it’s happening.
“Why would they do this? It’s chaos. Why the violence?” Johnson said, before answering his own question. “Because they want to turn these people into voters. Right now the administration is encouraging illegals to go to their local welfare office to sign up for benefits. Guess what? When you go to a welfare office, they also ask you if you would like to register to vote. Many people, we think, are going to do that.”
Weeks after coming into office in 2021, Biden signed an executive order directing every federal agency, including social service offices, to boost voter registration.
Earlier this week, the House advanced legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census form and that officials no longer count noncitizens of jurisdictions when drawing up congressional maps.
The post Speaker Johnson to Put Democrats on Record With Vote on Proof of Citizenship to Vote appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Progressives are using legal loopholes and the power of the federal government to maximize Democrat votes in the 2024 election at taxpayers’ expense, RealClearInvestigations has found.
The methods include voter registration and mobilization campaigns by ostensibly nonpartisan charities that target Democrats using demographic data as proxies, and the Biden administration’s unprecedented demand that every federal agency “consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”
A dizzying array of overwhelmingly “democracy-focused” entities with ties to the Democratic Party operating as charities and funded with hundreds of millions of dollars from major liberal “dark money” vehicles are engaged in a sprawling campaign to register the voters, deliver them the ballots, and figuratively and sometimes literally harvest the votes necessary to defeat Donald Trump.
These efforts, now buttressed by the federal government, amplify and extend what Time magazine described as a “well-funded cabal of powerful people ranging across industries and ideologies,” who had worked behind the scenes in 2020 “to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information” to defeat Trump and other Republicans. The “shadow campaigners,” Time declared, “were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.”
Heading into 2024, “there is not a ‘shadow’ campaign,” said Mike Howell, executive director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. “There is an overt assault on President Trump and those who wish to vote for him occurring at every level of government and with the support of all major institutions.” (The Daily Signal is the news organization of The Heritage Foundation.)
By contrast, Republican Party stalwarts lament that no comparable effort exists on their side. The GOP’s turnout and messaging efforts seek to thread a difficult needle by encouraging early and absentee voting and ballot-harvesting—pandemic-era measures that Trump and supporters blame for his 2020 electoral defeat—while the party simultaneously fights the mainly blue-state laws that made the practices possible. The party’s position is further complicated by its standard-bearer’s warnings of a rigged election bigger than in 2020, which some speculate could turn off moderate swing voters.
The IRS permits tax-exempt nonprofit groups to engage in voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives so long as they do not “refer to any candidate or political party” nor conduct their activities “in a biased manner that favors (or opposes) one or more candidates prohibited.”
These entities have become magnets for funds not only from wealthy donors, who can contribute without traditional campaign finance limits—and get a tax break to boot—but also abundantly endowed private foundations that are prohibited from engaging in partisan activities.
In recent years, dozens of progressive-oriented 501(c)(3)s, now pulling in upward of $500 million annually, have engaged in purportedly neutral efforts to impact elections, according to Hayden Ludwig, director of policy research at the election integrity-focused advocacy group Restoration of America.
In practice, critics like Ludwig argue, left-leaning charities flout the law by registering and mobilizing demographics that tend to vote disproportionately Democratic behind a veil of nonpartisan democracy promotion.
During the 2020 election, for example, the Voter Participation Center solicited millions of ballot applications in swing states—many of them prefilled for respondents. This nonprofit, like its peers, is clear that it isn’t targeting just any voters, but what it and progressive activists have dubbed a “New American Majority” of “young people, people of color and unmarried women.”
Tom Lopach, a longtime Democratic Party operative and the center’s president and CEO, told RealClearInvestigations in a statement: “We do the work that state election officials typically do not do—seeking out underrepresented voting-eligible Americans … This is difficult but necessary work that brings democracy to eligible Americans’ doorsteps.”
In 2020, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan showed how supposedly neutral efforts can have a partisan impact when they funneled some $400 million through two progressive–led but purportedly nonpartisan nonprofits into election offices across the country.
That money disproportionately went to jurisdictions that Joe Biden won in the pivotal battleground states that delivered his victory, often flowing to left-leaning nonprofits to whom election offices outsourced the administration of sometimes critical functions.
In April 2022, a primary conduit of these so-called Zuckerbucks, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, announced the launch of a successor to the 2020 effort—the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a five-year $80 million program “to envision, support, and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration.”
“The left has assembled an impressive ‘election-industrial’ complex of nonprofit organizations that is constantly working towards goals like ‘promoting participation’ targeting ‘underrepresented minorities,’” said Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project. Such terms, Snead says, “are code for identifying and mobilizing liberal voters.”
Election experts view such activities as potentially decisive.
“‘Nonpartisan’ and ‘charitable’ voter registration and get-out-the-vote groups” are the Democratic Party’s “electioneering super-weapon[s],” said Parker Thayer, an analyst with the conservative-oriented Capital Research Center in Washington, D.C.
Of these, Thayer sees the Everybody Votes Campaign as of paramount importance.
Born of a plan “commissioned by [Hillary] Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, funded by the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, and coordinated with cut-throat Democratic consultants,” Thayer writes in an extensive analysis of the group’s efforts, “the Everybody Votes campaign [has] used the guise of civic-minded charity to selectively register millions of ‘non-white’ swing-state voters in the hopes of getting out the Democratic vote.”
It does so by funding and training over 50 community groups to register voters to close “the voter registration gap in communities of color,” which it attributes to “modern forms of Jim Crow laws,” such as voter ID requirements, the group’s executive director, Nellie Sires, said in a January 2024 interview.
From 2016-2021, the Everybody Votes Campaign, doing business as three entities, collected over $190 million from major Democratic Party donors, unions, and environmental activists. Some of the largest donors include the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund; the New Venture and Hopewell funds, managed by for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors; and the George Soros-funded Foundation to Promote Open Society—all 501(c)(3) public charities or private foundations forbidden from supporting “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias.”
The Everybody Votes Campaign distributed the funds to a slew of left-leaning state-based voter registration organizations largely in eight pivotal states from 2016 to 2019—Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Nevada—and then to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2021.
According to Thayer’s analysis, the Everybody Votes Campaign’s voter registration push “would have provided Democrats more votes than the total margins of victory in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania,” securing Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
One notable backer of the Everybody Votes Campaign is Mind the Gap, a “Moneyball-style” Silicon Valley Democratic super PAC founded by Stanford law professor Barbara Fried, and connected to the political activities of her convicted crypto-fraudster son, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The analytics-focused outfit prepared a confidential strategy memo leaked in advance of the 2020 election, noting that “501(c)(3) voter registration focused on underrepresented groups in the electorate” would be the “single most effective tactic for ensuring Democratic victories”—“4 to 10 times more cost-effective” on after-tax basis at “garnering additional Democratic votes” relative to alternatives like “broadcast media and digital buys.”
Mind the Gap recommended that donors contribute to three organizations: the Voter Participation Center and its sister organization, the Center for Voter Information for mail-based registration efforts, and Everybody Votes for site-based registration efforts.
The largest grant recipient, receiving $24 million during the 2016-2021 period, was State Voices, which describes itself as a “nonpartisan network of 25 state-based coalitions … that collectively partner with over 1,200 organizations” consisting of “advocates, organizers, and activists … work[ing] together to fight for a healthy democracy and political power for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and all people of color (BIPOC).”
Another top recipient, raking in over $10 million, was the Voter Participation Center.
According to the Capital Research Center, the Everybody Votes Campaign would collect and spend over $50 million in connection with the 2022 midterm elections—the most recent period for which financials are available. All told, since its founding in 2015, the campaign says, its network has registered 5.1 million voters, of whom 76% are people of color; 56% are women; and 47% are under the age of 35.
Last November, the news outlet Puck reported on a secret memo circulated by Mind the Gap regarding its plans for 2024. “Our strategy early in the 2024 presidential race will be to massively scale high-performing voter registration and mobilization programs,” the memo read. The PAC again specifically directed donors to the Everybody Votes Campaign, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Lopach, who has worked in Democratic Party politics his entire career, bristled at RealClearInvestigations’ questions regarding critics’ claims of a partisan bent to its work. “The presumptions baked into the questions … emailed to us are inaccurate and reveal the reporter’s own biases,” he responded, while emphasizing the organization’s targeting of “underrepresented voting-eligible Americans.”
Thayer has dubbed Everybody Votes the “largest and most corrupt ‘charitable’ voter registration drive in American history.”
Of such organizations’ claims of nonpartisanship, Howell told RealClearInvestigations: “If they were truly interested in an informed participatory constitutional Republic, they would have an even-handed approach to registering voters.”
“Call me when they show up to a NASCAR race, Daughters of the American Revolution event, or a gun show,” Howell added. “Then we can pretend for a minute that these are beyond just facial efforts to appear somewhat neutral.”
But NASCAR races have not been hubs for GOP-led voter registration efforts either. Restoration of America’s Ludwig estimates that the Right may spend as little as 1% of what the Left spends on voter registration efforts.
A recent memo from the Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC that aims to elect conservatives, noted that in the 2022 election cycle, while $8.9 billion was spent on federal elections, there were zero large independent expenditure organizations on the Right focused on get-out-the-vote efforts or “ballot chasing.”
Republican Party vehicles and conservative outfits like grassroots-oriented Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4), are engaged in such efforts in the 2024 cycle, but the scale and sophistication of their political counterparts’ efforts would appear unrivaled at this point.
Election experts attribute this gap to several factors beyond the GOP’s focus on other tactics to win elections, or ineffectiveness. They note that Democratic voters tend to be more concentrated in urban areas and college campuses, making it easier to run efficient registration drives. As regards early and absentee voting and ballot harvesting, it is not clear if these efforts will substantially grow the pool of Republican voters versus merely enabling the party to “bank” votes earlier.
With respect to the use of 501(c)(3)s to conduct such activities, Ludwig said some conservatives may still be fearful of running afoul of the IRS—through exploiting tax laws to pursue efforts perceived to be partisan effectively on the taxpayers’ dime—in the wake of its targeting of tea party groups for extreme scrutiny during the Obama years.
Since the 2020 election, Democrats have opened a second apparent electioneering front that Republicans could not match even if they wanted to: The rise of so-called Bidenbucks, which uses the “unlimited funding, resources, and reach” of the federal government and agency offices located nationwide to turn out favored voters, according to Stewart Whitson, legal director of the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability.
In March 2021, President Joe Biden introduced Executive Order 14019. The directive on “promoting access to voting” orders every federal agency, more than 600 in all, to register and mobilize voters—particularly “people of color” and others the White House says face “challenges to exercise their fundamental right to vote.” It further directs the agencies to collaborate with ostensibly nonpartisan nonprofits in pursuit of its goals.
As RealClearInvestigations has previously reported, Executive Order 14019 appears to have been designed by left-leaning think tank Demos and implemented in consultation and sometimes coordination with a slew of progressive, labor, and identity-focused groups with the goal of generating up to 3.5 million new or updated voter registrations annually.
The ACLU and Demos have reportedly helped execute the order. RealClearInvestigations additionally found that at least two recipients of grants under the Everybody Votes Campaign, the NAACP and UnidosUS—formerly the National Council of Raza—were also listed on an email as participants in a July 2021 listening session on the executive order convened by the White House and agency officials.
Whitson, whose organization unearthed that email in its fight to expose details about the order, emphasized that “[U]nlike 2020 wherein the shadow campaign was conducted by private citizens seeking to influence government election operations from the outside, the threat we face in 2024 is being launched from within the government itself.”
Facing both congressional scrutiny and litigation, the administration has closely guarded the strategic plans agencies were to develop to carry out the order, how they are implementing them, to what end, and with whom.
Perfunctory press releases, reports from groups supportive of the order, and documents slowly ferreted out via Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation, however, demonstrate that relevant agencies have sought to drive voter registration via public housing authorities, child nutrition programs, and voluntary tax preparation clinics.
In August 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued updated guidance calling for the agency to register voters at naturalization ceremonies.
More recently, the Department of Education did the same, blessing the use of federal work-study funds to pay students for “supporting broad-based get-out-the-vote activities, voter registration,” and other activities. Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, recently told The Epoch Times that the department had previously threatened schools “that you better be registering students or you could lose your federal funds.”
When asked by RealClearInvestigations to respond to Walter’s claim, the Department of Education would not. Over two dozen Pennsylvania state legislators challenged the order via a lawsuit in January. Citing alleged unlawful attempts by several agencies to register Keystone State voters, the lawmakers asserted:
By engaging in a targeted voter registration effort of this magnitude, focused specifically on these agencies and the groups of potential voters they interact with, leveraging the resources and reach of the federal government, this effort appears to be a taxpayer-funded get-out-the-vote effort designed to benefit the current President’s political party.
Echoing this view, Whitson’s Foundation for Government Accountability submitted an amicus brief noting that “all of the federal agencies FGA has identified as taking active steps to carry out EO 14019 have one thing in common: They provide government welfare benefits and other services to groups of voters the vast majority of which have historically voted Democrat.”
The plaintiffs alleged the executive order violated both Pennsylvania law limiting voter registration efforts to non-federal actors and constitutional provisions reserving election laws to the states.
On March 26, a district court dismissed the case, claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing. Whitson told RealClearInvestigations that others would likely lodge similar lawsuits, building on the Pennsylvania legislators’ case in the wake of the dismissal. Days later, The Federalist reported that the plaintiffs intended to appeal their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A White House spokesperson did not reply to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiries regarding the executive order.
Republicans have had more success opposing the use of Zuckerbucks and other private monies used to finance public elections. More than two dozen states would move to ban or restrict such grants in response to the activities observed during the 2020 election.
Most recently, Wisconsin, where some of the most controversial Zuckerbucks-related efforts took place, was added to that list when, on April 2, voters approved a constitutional amendment barring the private funding of elections.
Despite this crackdown and the feds seemingly stepping into the breach, efforts to privately finance election administration persist. The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence bills itself as an initiative to bolster “woefully unsupported” election offices to “revitalize American democracy.”
The organization says it services jurisdictions—11 listed on its website, ranging across states from Arizona to California and Wisconsin—with “training, mentorship, and resources.” Alliance officials did not respond to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiry about whether it would be terminating the relationship with the city of Madison, Wisconsin, in light of the passage of the recent ballot measure that would seem to have barred it. Nor did it respond to RealClearInvestigation’ other inquiries in connection with this article.
Most of these partnerships were initiated with jurisdictions in states that have not banned Zuckerbucks, though it has sought to circumvent such prohibitions in Georgia and Utah. The stated goal of the Alliance for Election Excellence is to support voters via measures like assisting participating centers in “redesigning” forms to make them more intuitive and purchasing infrastructure “to improve election security and accessibility.”
Alliance launch partners include entities such as:
Critics argue this seemingly more modest effort is, in reality, an ambitious Zuckerbucks rebrand.
Snead’s Honest Elections Project published a report in April 2023, based in part on documents received from FOIA requests, indicating “that the Alliance is a reinvention of CTCL’s scheme to use private funding to strongarm election policy nationwide.”
Among other takeaways, it found that:
The report shows that many of the alliance’s launch partners, starting with the Center for Tech and Civic Life and the Center for Civic Design, are funded by major Democrat-tied, so-called dark money groups such as the Democracy Fund and Arabella Advisors’ New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund.
The Democracy Fund is led by Democrat tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar, which has granted some $275 million to like-minded organizations from publications like Mother Jones and ProPublica to the Voter Registration Project since its founding.
The District of Columbia recently closed a criminal investigation into Arabella, whose fund network reportedly spent nearly $1.2 billion in 2020 alone, after probing it over allegations its funds were pursuing political ends in violation of their tax-exempt statuses. The Center for Secure and Modern Elections, the Honest Elections Project says, pushes “left-wing priorities like automatic voter registration” and is run by the New Venture Fund. The Elections Group’s CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Morrell, previously served as a consultant at the Democracy Fund.
The Capital Research Center’s Walter uses a football analogy to explain why he sees these efforts as untoward. He told RealClearInvestigations:
Election offices are the refs in elections; the parties are teams trying to score. You’d be puzzled if you heard Super Bowl refs say they’re trying to boost points scored. You’d be outraged if you learned those refs had received money and training from people who previously worked for one team’s offensive coaching staff. That’s what left-wing political operatives, using left-wing money, are doing, and it’s clearly unfair.
Democrat-aligned groups continue to engage in litigation, like that brought by chief election lawyer Marc Elias, aimed at loosening election laws to their benefit. Snead told RealClearInvestigations, “There are more than 70 active lawsuits right now targeting voter ID laws, anti-ballot harvesting laws, signature verification, drop box regulations, and more.”
After securing victory in a lawsuit requiring signature verification for mail voting in Pennsylvania, the Republican National Committee touted its engagement as well in 81 election integrity cases this cycle. Swing-state Wisconsin is another major battleground for such efforts.
There, Elias’ legal team has challenged witness signature requirements and bans on election clerks filling address information on mail-in ballots. It and others are also working to overturn a state Supreme Court decision finding drop boxes illegal. The Badger State’s now liberal-majority Supreme Court announced in March it would take up the case.
Cutting against these efforts are not only the state’s citizen-approved Zuckerbucks ban, but another Badger-passed April 2 ballot measure amending the state’s constitution to prohibit those other than “an election official designated by law” from carrying out election-related tasks.
Watchdogs like Howell are concerned that left-leaning electioneers and lawfare forces collectively are pursuing an “election ‘dis-integrity’ strategy … to greatly expand the universe of ballots while limiting any ability to ensure that they are fairly cast and counted.”
“It’s a basic recipe for fraud.”
Elias says those seeking to combat such efforts are engaged in “voter suppression and election subversion.”
Democrats also have the federal government working on their side on the litigation front—and in ways extending beyond the veritable lawfare barrage the Biden Justice Department has leveled at Trump.
Speaking in Selma, Alabama, on the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the 1965 police assault on civil rights marchers, Attorney General Merrick Garland declared that “the right to vote is still under attack.”
Garland vowed the Department of Justice was punching back, including “challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.”
The post How Taxpayers Will Heavily Subsidize Democrat Boots on the Ground This Election appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Orlando attorney Dan Newlin raised over $8 million for former President Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign at a fundraiser at his home in Central Florida Wednesday night.
The post Orlando Attorney Dan Newlin Raises $8M for Trump at Fundraiser in Blue Part of Florida appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump is enjoying a double-digit advantage over President Joe Biden in Florida, according to the latest Emerson College survey.
The post Poll: Trump Sees Double-Digit Advantage over Biden in Florida appeared first on Breitbart.
The Trump campaign on Thursday demanded the debate commission to schedule debates early and often, citing the need to preempt early voting.
The post Trump Wants Debates Earlier, More Often to Preempt Early Voting appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Alex Wagner Tonight" that Republicans wanted to eliminate "all reproductive health care for women."
The post Jayapal: GOP Wants to Eliminate ‘All Reproductive Health Care for Women’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Deadline" that former President Donald Trump is a "wannabe dictator" who was undermining democracy.
The post Dem Rep. Goldman: ‘Wannabe Dictator’ Trump Undermining Democracy appeared first on Breitbart.
Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) said Thursday on CNN's "The Lead" that the issue of abortion "could be a bigger problem for Democrats" in the November election.
The post Sununu: Abortion ‘Actually Could Be a Bigger Problem for Democrats’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Biden's campaign launched the ad buy in the wake of the state Supreme Court's decision to uphold an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions.
The post Biden Campaign Launches 7-Figure Ad Buy About Abortion in Arizona appeared first on Breitbart.
Venezuela's socialist regime announced this week the launching of a reality television show called M Factor, where local musicians will compete to have their songs become part of dictator Nicolás Maduro's official soundtrack for the upcoming sham presidential election.
The post ‘The M Factor’: Venezuela Launches Reality Show to Pick Theme Songs for Maduro’s Sham Election appeared first on Breitbart.
Volodymyr Zelensky said he extended an invitatitation to Donald Trump to visit Ukraine to convince him to back more American military aid.
The post Zelensky Says Kyiv Has Invited Donald Trump to Visit Ukraine in Push For More Military Aid appeared first on Breitbart.
Comedian Michael Ian Black has said he might leave the United States even if former President Trump loses the 2024 election.
The post Comedian Michael Ian Black Might ‘Leave the U.S. Even if Trump Loses’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said Wednesday on CNN's "King Charles" that former President Donald Trump has "created chaos and suffering in our country that is unimaginable" with his Supreme Court picks who overturned Roe v. Wade.
The post Cory Booker: Trump Has Created Unimaginable ‘Chaos and Suffering In Our Country’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Tennessee families are spending $922 per month "just to tread water" in President Joe Biden's economy, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said.
The post Exclusive — Marsha Blackburn: TN Families Spending $922 Per Month ‘Just to Tread Water’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Arizona to promote the killing of the unborn following a historic ruling from the state supreme court upholding an 1864 law that bars nearly all abortions.
The post Kamala Harris to Promote Abortion in Arizona After State Supreme Court Ruling appeared first on Breitbart.
Professor Cornel West, an independent candidate running for president in 2024 announced that he has chosen Dr. Melina Abdullah to be his running mate.
The post Presidential Candidate Cornel West Announces VP Pick appeared first on Breitbart.
Biden is blaming the "extreme agenda" of Republicans for the Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholding a law that limits nearly all abortions.
The post Joe Biden Decries Arizona Supreme Court Ruling Upholding 1864 Law Limiting Nearly All Abortions appeared first on Breitbart.
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Deadline" that former President Donald Trump had “simple-minded ideas about how the world works."
The post Bolton: Trump ‘Has Simple-Minded Ideas About How the World Works’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden by two points in North Carolina, according to a recent poll.
The post Poll: Donald Trump Leading Joe Biden Among North Carolina Voters appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden, 81, made the case on Wednesday for his reelection, arguing he is ready for four more years because "I'm in the 20th century."
The post Joe Biden Makes Case for Reelection: ‘Elect Me. I’m in the 20th Century’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump visited a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta, Georgia, and was greeted by enthusiastic supporters.
The post Black Supporter to Donald Trump at ATL Chick-fil-A Stop: ‘I Don’t Care What the Media Tells You … We Support You’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Wednesday on ABC's "The View" that some Republicans would like to "bring slavery back" during the panel discussion of the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling reinstating an 1864 abortion ban.
The post Whoopi Goldberg: Republicans Want to ‘Bring Slavery Back’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Hollywood star Michael Douglas has offered a less than glowing assessment of the past four years, saying he hopes the November election "turns the page onto a new chapter" for the U.S.
The post ‘Franklin’ Star Michael Douglas Hopes 2024 Election ‘Turns the Page onto a New Chapter’ appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden's former chief of staff Ron Klain complained during a recent event that the president was too focused on taking victory laps on infrastructure projects and not doing enough to address voters' immediate concerns, such as the price of groceries, according to a report.
The post Former Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain Says Biden Taking Victory Lap While Grocery Prices Are Too High appeared first on Breitbart.
Establishment television networks prepared a public letter on Tuesday to pressure President Joe Biden, 81, to debate former President Donald Trump.
The post Establishment TV Networks Pressure Biden, 81, to Debate Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
Governor Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) said Tuesday on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" that she's confident voters will enshrine abortion rights in November.
The post Gov. Hobbs: Arizona Abortion Ban Will ‘Motivate Voters’ to Enshrine Abortion Access appeared first on Breitbart.
Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden by one point among all voters, according to a recent poll.
The post Poll: Donald Trump Takes Single-Digit Lead over Joe Biden appeared first on Breitbart.
CNN contributor David Axelrod said Tuesday on "The Situation Room" that the Arizona Supreme Court upholding a 123-year-old law that bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother was an "earthquake" that could "tip this election."
The post Axelrod: Arizona Abortion Ban Is an ‘Earthquake’ that Could ‘Tip This Election’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Most supporters of President Joe Biden are voting "against" former President Donald Trump rather than "for" the Democrat incumbent.
The post Poll: Most Biden Voters Are Voting ‘Against’ Trump Rather than ‘For’ Biden appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Democrats have to win the election because President Joe Biden has a "beautiful vision for America."
The post Pelosi: Joe Biden Has a ‘Beautiful Vision for America’ appeared first on Breitbart.
A seven-page juror questionnaire was released by the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's upcoming criminal trial in Manhattan.
The post Jury Questionnaire for Trump’s Hush Money Criminal Trial Released by Judge appeared first on Breitbart.
Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said Monday on MSNBC's "Deadline" that former President Donal Trump is a "narcissistic sociopath" who had seduced the base of the Republican Party.
The post Dem Rep. Connolly: Trump Is a ‘Narcissistic Sociopath’ Who Has Seduced the GOP appeared first on Breitbart.
They call themselves the “PBS NewsHour,” but if you watch them routinely, you might call them the “PBS Opposition Research Hour.”
They often sound like a Democrat consulting firm as they analyze former President Donald Trump as a dangerously extreme figure. Then they can turn around and proclaim that President Joe Biden is very bipartisan in negotiating “objectively historical achievements,” as PBS anchor Amna Nawaz claimed at the State of the Union address.
On April 2, PBS aired a segment titled “Analyzing Trump’s use of inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail.” Two days later, it was changed to “Anatomy of a Trump speech.”
They decided to watch all the scary passages in Trump’s recent speeches with Jennifer Mercieca, who reporter Lisa Desjardins blandly described as “an author and Texas A&M professor who specializes in political and Trump rhetoric.”
PBS didn’t note that Mercieca wrote a book in 2020 titled “Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.” (It was shown on screen.) Its dust cover promises to explain “how a bombastic pitchman emerged as America’s authoritarian P.T. Barnum, using nothing more than his weaponized words to transform a polarized and dispirited nation into his own reality TV show.”
Does this expert shopping sound fair and balanced to anyone?
As Trump denounced Biden for a “border bloodbath,” Desjardins explained he’s attacking “anyone who calls it a humanitarian crisis.” Mercieca lamented, “It can’t be neutral. It can’t be a situation at the border. It has to be violent. It has to be an invasion. It has to be a bloodbath.”
Seriously? Last October, their anchor Nawaz wasn’t neutral as she compared separating children from their families at the border under Trump as “one of the darkest chapters in our modern history” that echoed slavery and the internment of Japanese Americans.
Naturally, Desjardins repeated the Democrat spin that “there’s no evidence of a bloodbath for Americans living there” (at the border), and “multiple studies show that migrants are actually less likely to commit crime than others here.”
Trump lamented, “If we don’t win on Nov. 5, I think our country is going to cease to exist. It could be the last election we ever have.” Desjardins explained Mercieca’s thesis: This is “what separates Trump,” it’s not “political razzle-dazzle, but dangerous, hyperbolic fearmongering.”
If that “last election” talk is dangerous, will PBS rewind to Biden’s first campaign speech back on Jan. 5? Biden said of Trump: “He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power … Trump’s assault on democracy isn’t just part of his past. It’s what he’s promising for the future. … We’re living in an era where a determined minority is doing everything in its power to try to destroy our democracy for their own agenda.”
These “public” broadcasters know what Biden has said in his campaign speeches, and they’re fine with it. No one thinks it’s a lie or that it’s dangerous. Mercieca acknowledged, “All presidents run as heroes. It’s not uncommon. Joe Biden is running as a hero right now. He’s running as a hero to save democracy.” But she claimed, “Donald Trump is running as a different kind of hero.”
How so? Desjardins concluded the segment with this about Trump: “When he’s saying the situation is dire, when he’s saying democracy will end if I’m not elected, he is implying to some of his followers, violence may be OK.”
Biden is saying democracy will end if he’s not elected, but PBS can’t imagine his followers would ever believe “violence may be OK.” PBS makes “news” by Democrats, for Democrats. But it’s subsidized involuntarily by tens of millions of allegedly democracy-squashing Republicans.
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The post PBS ‘News’ Hounds OK With Biden’s Inflammatory Rhetoric appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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