Glenn Beck Says Show Removed from Apple Podcast Network
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WATCH: Illegal Immigrants in NYC Protest Trump Victory, Proposed Mass Deportation Plans
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WATCH: Bill Maher Urges Dems to ‘Look in the Mirror’ After Kamala’ Election Loss
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WATCH: Jimmy Kimmel Literally Cries Over Trump Win, Suggests Trump Voters Are Stupid
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WATCH: MSNBC’s Joy Reid Melts Down Live on Air After Trump Wins
Big tech streaming platform Apple removed Blaze Media founder Glenn Beck’s nationally syndicated American culture and politics program from its iTunes platform on Wednesday for an unknown issue.
Beck, who is one of the first conservatives to venture out and create alternative media from the mainstream, announced in a video posted on X that he received an email from the Apple Podcasts Team that “The Glenn Beck Program” had been removed after they had “found an issue with [his show] … which must be resolved before it’s available on Apple Podcasts.”
“I have a feeling these ‘issues’ with @Apple and others will keep happening the more we’re over the target,” Beck wrote on his X account.
The email reportedly directed Beck to follow a link for additional details, but only repeated that Apple Podcasts removed his program.
“Well, we got that one, dummy,” Beck said. “I mean — I cannot imagine what they are — what they’re basing this one on. I mean, have we even had strikes? Nothing, right? This is crazy. Crazy.”
So what’s the “issue” @Apple?! pic.twitter.com/r111EXD8uS
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) August 16, 2023
Beck had been preparing for another episode of his program on Wednesday when his team found out they potentially became another example of big tech companies censoring conservative programs and personalities.
“This is absolutely freedom of speech,” he said. “There’s nothing that we have said that would warrant any removal.”
According to his media company, the podcast host’s next episode is titled “Trump vs. Biden: Which is the Crime Family?” The summary describes Beck’s deep dive reviewing former President Donald Trump’s fourth indictment and the implications it could have on freedom of speech while comparing it to alleged evidence revealed regarding Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden.
“Maybe that’s what it is … maybe they’re just smoked because, you know, I’m pointing out the real crime family tonight,” he said.
Although Apple has not issued a formal response, Beck appeared to give the company the benefit of the doubt by calling it a potential “glitch.”
“But it’s amazing how we have to have a whole bunch of people point out the glitch before the glitch is found, and it’s put back,” he said. “Man, this is — this is huge.”
“I think the closer and closer we get to this election, the more and more glitches are going to happen,” he added.
BlazeTV host Steve Deace wrote on social media, “Oh my. Even if it is a glitch, these ‘glitches’ only seem to go one way.”
“The Glenn Beck Program” podcast remains available on his BlazeTV service, as well as other streaming platforms Spotify, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Six hours after Beck’s show was removed from the platform, the podcast host said Apple restored over 3000 episodes to iTunes but did not provide “clear answers” for the unknown issue.
“I want to thank everyone (on the left, right and everyone in between) who spoke up today,” he wrote. “I wish I had better answers from Apple on what happened, but you gave me hope that the issue of censorship is still bigger than politics.”
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is projected to beat Republican Kari Lake in a consequential race for Arizona Senate, dealing the former local news anchor her second straight electoral loss, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Gallego, who has served in the House for nearly a decade representing a Phoenix-based House seat, will succeed outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
Sinema opted against reelection after changing her political affiliation from Democrat to Independent last year, as Sinema faced steep odds in getting reelected.
Gallego announced his challenge to Sinema even before she made clear she would not be seeking another term, putting Senate Democrats in a temporarily awkward position of possibly having to choose which Democrat they would support.
The Arizona Democrat leaned into his biography as the son of a single mom, with family roots in Mexico and Columbia. He also touted his time in the Marines.
His victory comes as a small but significant relief for Democrats, who had a crushingly disappointing election cycle this year. Though they managed to protect their Senate seats in the battleground states of Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan, in addition to Arizona, they also lost seats in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, and look poised to lose in Pennsylvania as well. They also lost control of the White House, while their prospects for keeping the House look exceedingly dim.
Lake is a former local news anchor who previously ran for Arizona governor in 2022, narrowly losing to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).
Lake also attracted controversy over some of her remarks. She angered some Republicans for making critical statements invoking the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — statements she argued that were made in jest.
She’s previously called abortion the “ultimate sin” and cheered a now-repealed 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions in the state. Lake, this cycle, maintained she would not vote for a federal ban on abortion if elected to the Senate and said abortion restrictions should be left up to the states.
Lake faced a primary challenger in Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, though Lake was widely seen as the GOP favorite.
At the same time, Gallego also faced questions during his Senate run over his record and whether his stance on issues like immigration and the border had changed, as some have pointed to prior comments he made on the issue years ago, including calling Donald Trump’s border wall “stupid” and “dumb.”
Gallego was also a member of the House Progressive Caucus but later let his membership lapse, citing dues as the reason.
Republicans sought to nationalize the race, seeking to tie Gallego to Democrats like Vice President Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in ads.
President-elect Donald Trump announced in a public social media post Saturday that he will not be inviting two members of his former administration back to the White House.
Nikki Haley, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo were both mentioned in the post. The Republicans had been considered two strong candidates for Trump’s new Cabinet.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” the president-elect posted on Truth Social early Saturday evening.
Despite the harsh nature of the announcement, Trump added that he enjoyed working with them.
“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country,” he continued. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Haley, who ran against Trump in the Republican primary earlier this year, has been both publicly supportive and critical of the president-elect in the past. Last week, she wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in support of his presidential campaign.
“I don’t agree with Mr. Trump 100% of the time,” Haley wrote. “But I do agree with him most of the time, and I disagree with Ms. Harris nearly all the time. That makes this an easy call.”
Pompeo, while not one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, has also expressed support for the president-elect in the past. In an open letter with over 400 signatories, including Gold Star families and national security officials, Pompeo endorsed Trump for president.
“From a world at peace under President Trump, we are closer to a third world war than ever before under the Biden-Harris Administration,” the letter, which was written in October, stated. “With multiple escalating wars around the world, an open border that allows terrorists to flood into the American homeland, and malign actors like China operating unabated, U.S. national security has been profoundly damaged by the failed policies of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.”
Control of the House has yet to be determined, as a number of critical races remain too close to call, leaving lawmakers — and voters — waiting to see which party will hold the majority next year.
The sprint to 218 seats, however, is nearing the final stretch, after a handful of additional races were called in the days following election night.
Republicans had secured 216 seats in the lower chamber as of Saturday evening, with Democrats trailing at 209 seats, according to Decision Desk HQ. A total of 10 races have not yet been called: Democrats are leading in two of the contests, while GOP candidates are ahead in the other eight.
Republicans, nonetheless, are wasting no time in claiming victory even as the final tally remains unclear. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said the House is poised to remain in GOP hands, and he has already launched his bid to retain hold of the gavel.
Democrats, meanwhile, are holding out hope that they could eke out a razor-thin majority. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Thursday it “has yet to be decided who will control” the House next year, pointing to ongoing ballot counting in Oregon, Arizona and California.
Several competitive House races have been called in the past couple days, including Rep. David Schweikert’s (R) reelection in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District; Rep. David Valadao’s (R) reelection in California’s 22nd Congressional District; April McClain Delaney’s (D) election in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District; Rep. Andrea Salinas’s (D) reelection in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District; Rep. Julia Brownley’s (D) reelection in California’s 26th Congressional District; and Rep. Linda Sánchez’s (D) reelection in California 38th Congressional District.
Here are the uncalled races to watch in the quest for control of the House.
California’s 21st Congressional District
Rep. Jim Costa (D) is fighting for his political life in California’s 21st Congressional District in a race that surprisingly emerged as a nail-biter this cycle.
Costa, a 10-term lawmaker, was leading Republican Michael Maher, a former FBI agent, by 1 percentage point — or 1,303 votes — according to Decision Desk HQ, with 63.8 percent of the vote in.
The race was never expected to be close. The district broke for President Biden by 20.3 percentage points in 2020, and Cook Political Report rated the seat “solid Democrat.” A victory by Maher would flip the district red.
The current margin contrasts with that from 2022, when Maher challenged Costa for the seat and lost by 8.4 percentage points.
California’s 9th Congressional District
Rep. Josh Harder (D) is locked in a tight race against Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln (R) in California’s 9th Congressional District, a contest that is threatening to end the incumbent’s tenure on Capitol Hill.
Harder, who was first elected to the House in 2018, was leading Lincoln by 2.4 percentage points — or 4,024 ballots — with 63.8 percent of the vote reported.
A victory by Lincoln, who has served as mayor of Stockton since 2021, would be a boon for Republicans: Biden won the district by 12.6 percentage points in 2020, making the district reliably blue. Cook Political Report had rated the district “likely Democrat.”
California’s 47th Congressional District
The race to succeed outgoing Rep. Katie Porter (D) in California’s 47th Congressional District is coming down to the wire, with Republican Scott Baugh, a former Assembly member, and Democratic state Sen. Dave Min running neck and neck for the seat.
Baugh, who previously served as the state’s Assembly minority leader and Orange County GOP chair, was leading Min by 0.4 percentage points — or 1,078 votes — as of publication, with 81.7 percent of ballots reported.
A Baugh victory would flip the seat red and mark the first time the district has a GOP representative since 2003. Biden won the district by 11.1 percentage points in 2020; Cook Political Report rated the district “lean Democrat.”
Porter opted against running for reelection to vie for the Golden State’s Senate seat, which opened up after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) died last year. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D) is temporarily filling the seat but elected not to run for a full term. Porter, though, lost to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in the Democratic primary.
Alaska’s at-large Congressional District
Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D) is fighting for political survival in Alaska’s at-large Congressional District, where she is currently trailing Republican entrepreneur Nick Begich in the ranked-choice-voting state.
Begich was leading Peltola 49.6 percent to 45.6 percent with 74 percent of the vote in at the time of publication. Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Howe secured 3.9 percent, and Democrat Eric Hafner pulled in 1 percent.
The lone Alaska district is one of a handful that President-elect Trump won in 2020, making it a key pickup target for Republicans. That year, Trump beat Biden in the state by 10.1 percentage points.
Cook Political Report rated the race a “toss up.”
Arizona’s 6th Congressional District
The race in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District has become as close as it can be.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), a first-term lawmaker, was leading former Democratic state lawmaker Kirsten Engel by 1,795 votes — or 0.5 percentage points — with 83.3 percent of ballots tallied.
The district is as purple as any can get: In 2020, Biden won the area by 0.1 percentage points.
Cook Political Report rated the race a “toss up.” The race is a rematch from last cycle, when Ciscomani narrowly edged out Engel by 1.4 percentage points.
California’s 13th Congressional District
Rep. John Duarte (R) is leading former Democratic state Assembly member Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, but the closely watched race remains uncalled.
With 61.9 percent of the vote in, Duarte — a first-term lawmaker — was ahead of Gray by 2.5 percentage points.
The race has been one of the most closely watched contests this cycle, with Democrats hoping to pick off Duarte in the district after it broke for Biden by 10.9 percentage points in 2020 — a feat the party failed to achieve in 2022. That year, Duarte beat Gray by 0.42 percentage points — just 564 votes.
Cook Political Report rated this year’s race a “toss up.”
California’s 27th Congressional District
Democrat George Whitesides, the former Virgin Galactic CEO who also served as NASA chief of staff during the Obama administration, has taken the lead in his race against incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Garcia (Calif.) — but the numbers are tight.
Whitesides is leading Garcia by 0.8 percentage points — or 2,114 ballots — with 85 percent of votes reported.
A win by Garcia would let out a sigh of relief among Republicans, who were under pressure to defend the seat amid a strong Democratic effort. Democrats consider the district a top pickup opportunity, citing the fact that it broke for Biden by 12.4 percentage points in 2020. A Whitesides victory would be a boon for the party.
Cook Political Report rated the race a “toss up.”
California’s 41st Congressional District
Rep. Ken Calvert (R) is fighting tooth and nail to hold his seat in California’s 41st Congressional District.
Calvert — a 30-plus year veteran of the House who is a cardinal on the Appropriations Committee — was leading Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor, by 2.8 percentage points with 75 percent of the vote in.
The district has emerged as a key battleground. In 2020, it broke for Trump by 1.1 percentage points. Cook Political Report rated this year’s race a “toss up.”
Calvert is currently running ahead by a smaller margin than his victory against Rollins in 2022. That year, he beat the GOP challenger by 4.6 percentage points.
Colorado’s 8th Congressional District
Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D) is slightly trailing Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans in in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, but the race remains close.
With 89.5 percent of the vote in, Evans was ahead of Caraveo by 0.8 percentage points — or 2,529 votes — a razor-thin lead that, if it sustains, would be a GOP flip.
Cook Political Report rated the seat a “toss up.”
California’s 45th Congressional District
Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) has a healthy lead against Democrat Derek Tran, though the race has not yet been called.
With 78.9 percent of the vote in, Steel, a two-term lawmaker, was ahead of Tran, a consumer rights attorney, by 2.9 percentage points, or 7,590 votes.
The district is one of the 17 areas Biden won in 2020 that are currently represented by a Republican, making it a top pickup target for Democrats. Biden won the area, which includes Orange and Los Angeles counties, by 6.1 percentage points in 2020. Cook Political Report rated the seat a “toss up.”
President-elect Donald Trump secured Arizona by a significant margin over Vice President Kamala Harris as he has now completed a sweep of all seven swing states after already securing the election this past Tuesday.
Trump beat Harris with 52.6% of the vote to Harris’s 46.4%. The Associated Press called the presidential race in Arizona at 9:21 p.m. Saturday, with 87% of the vote counted so far.
The win in the state caps a remarkable election for Trump, as he won all seven swing states, which include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona. The win in Arizona also means he flipped a state he lost to then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump won the general election with 312 electoral votes to Harris’s 226.
The FEMA supervisor who ordered relief workers to bypass the homes of Donald Trump’s supporters while administering hurricane aid in Florida has been fired following the Daily Wire report.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell announced Saturday that supervisor Marn’i Washington had been fired after she ordered federal employees under her supervision to“avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, according to messages shared with The Daily Wire by whistleblowers. These instructions were given both verbally and in writing, multiple government employees revealed.
“More than 22,000 FEMA employees every day adhere to FEMA’s core values and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors. Recently, one FEMA employee departed from these values to advise her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump,” Criswell said in a statement. “This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible.”
“I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct,” she added.
Criswell said that the incident had been referred to a special counsel for investigation.
“We take our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters seriously. This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again,” she said.
Federal employees told The Daily Wire that at least 20 homes were skipped from late October to November because of the guidance, which was given verbally and in a group chat. The report prompted state and federal officials to demand an investigation into the incident.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said the Daily Wire’s report was “sickening,” and also that she fears her constituents were targeted.
“My district was one of the most heavily impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and it has been sickening to hear that more than half of my constituents were discriminated against for their political beliefs. Big government bureaucrats despise everyday Americans because they are not politically expedient for them,” Luna told The Daily Wire on Saturday.
“I demand answers from FEMA Administrator Criswell and Congress must fully investigate this matter. The days of putting Americans and America last are over.”
In a Friday letter, Luna demanded answers from Criswell on after The Daily Wire report.
Luna asked Criswell to provide answers on what she knew about FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington’s instructions to federal relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” in a group chat used by relief workers.
“It is completely unacceptable that a FEMA official was allowed to exploit Hurricane Milton to further their political beliefs at a time when Americans were struggling due to the damage caused by the storm,” Luna wrote, citing The Daily Wire.
“The opportunity to apply for federal aid through FEMA should never be used to discriminate against an individual.”
I just took swift action for the American people, and I’m demanding answers from @FEMA_Deanne on why Americans were discriminated against by their government based on who they support in an election. The findings are revolting, and we need accountability.
You have until 11/25. pic.twitter.com/Jz2gQVmhpc
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) November 9, 2024
An employee under Washington’s supervision previously filed a complaint about the guidance with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. As of Thursday, government employees told The Daily Wire that Washington had only been reassigned to a different Florida county, but FEMA said as of Friday that she was no longer actively working for the agency.
Luna demanded that Criswell respond by November 25 with information on what actions FEMA had taken and when it first became aware of the guidance. Luna’s letter asks what actions FEMA has taken to ensure that homes that were skipped received the necessary aid, and how guidance from supervisors is approved.
A number of other state and federal lawmakers have demanded investigations into FEMA following The Daily Wire’s report, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who ordered his state’s Division of Emergency Management to investigate the incident.
The Florida official in charge of that agency wrote a letter to the White House on Saturday, obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, ordering the administration to preserve all records for the pending investigation.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered in New York City to oppose President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory and the policies he plans to implement, particularly the deportation of migrants who are illegally in the country.
The demonstration, part of the organized Protect Our Future March, drew a large crowd of people marching through city streets with a banner reading “We Won’t Back Down.” Many participants chanted “Donald Trump has got to go” while wearing blue and yellow and carrying signs proclaiming, “New Yorkers Stand Together.” Crowds were heard labeling Trump as a “fascist,” and some were even seen holding signs that read “socialism beats fascism.”
New York City — Thousands protest the results of the 2024 presidential election: “Donald Trump’s got to go.” pic.twitter.com/Lljm23eb6A
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 9, 2024
Among the marchers were illegal migrants from Ecuador and Peru, who held a sign declaring, “No to the anti-immigrant laws, no to deportations,” video from TPUSA’s Frontlines showed. This comes as Trump has repeatedly said that if elected he would carry out a mass deportation program to remove individuals who are in the US illegally.
New York City — Illegal immigrants march against President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed mass deportation operations
pic.twitter.com/z2I8EvzeFR— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 9, 2024
The protest drew counter-demonstrators in support of Trump, who shouted slogans such as “Mass deportations” at the marchers. Trump supporters, waving American flags, also chanted “USA” as protesters continued to march down the streets. One Hispanic Trump supporter confronted the group of illegal immigrants marching against deportations, telling them that the country needs to “close the border.”
Trump supporters counter protest illegal immigrants marching in New York City, chant, “USA! USA!” pic.twitter.com/0oUawQihWL
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 9, 2024
“Close the border!” A Hispanic NYC Trump supporter confronts the group of illegal immigrants marching against Trump’s proposed mass deportations. pic.twitter.com/SrXlkqi5fW
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 9, 2024
President-elect Trump has stated multiple times on the campaign trail that he would seek to close the border and tighten restrictions on illegal immigration in his second term. He has also pledged to undergo mass deportations of illegal migrants in the country, a policy that a majority of Americans have expressed support for.
Now, as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, Mexican cartels, Chinese chemical companies, money laundering networks across North America, and US-based drug dealers are on notice that the boom times under the Biden-Harris regime’s open southern border policies will soon be coming to an end.
If Trump follows through with his 2023 campaign promise to “wage war” against Mexican drug cartels, then Americans could expect an end to the horrific 100,000 US drug death overdose crisis per year caused by fentanyl and other drugs – much of which starts as precursor chemicals shipped from China, cooked into fentanyl by Mexican cartels, then flooded in the Lower 48.
Here’s Trump’s action plan to destroy the cartels:
– Restore all Trump border policies and fully secure border
– Deploy all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on the cartels, to ensure they cannot use our region’s waters to traffic illicit drugs to the U.S.
– Order the Department of Defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyber warfare, and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations
– Designate the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
– Cut off the cartels’ access to the global financial system
– Get full cooperation of neighboring governments to dismantle the cartels, or else fully expose the bribes and corruption that protect these criminal networks
– Ask Congress to ensure drug smugglers and traffickers can receive the Death Penalty
Trump’s team released this video in December 2023 titled “President Donald J. Trump Declares War on Cartels.”
Donald Trump declares war on Drug Cartels:
“We will show no mercy on the cartels” pic.twitter.com/fddlRUBcoR
— STRAIGHT OUTTA CONTEXT (@StraightOOC) November 9, 2024
Now the question arises: Does the Trump-Vance team still hold these strong cartel-busting views after announcing them nearly a year ago?
Absolutely…
Here’s JD Vance on the campaign trail in late October: “On behalf of every American who has lost a loved one due to this border crisis, we’re going to kick some cartel ass when President Donald J. Trump takes office.”
On behalf of every American who has lost a loved one due to this border crisis, we’re going to kick some cartel ass when President Donald J. Trump takes office. pic.twitter.com/bjo4zNoC0O
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 23, 2024
Not too long ago, Trump announced financial armageddon for Mexican cartels: “I’m announcing that for the first time under my administration, we are seizing the assets of the criminal gangs and drug cartels and we will use those assets to create a compensation fund to provide restitution for the victims of migrant crime.”
Trump just dropped a bombshell – he’s gonna use money seized from gang bangers and cartel bosses, and flip that dirty money into a fund for the real victims, the ones hit by migrant crime. pic.twitter.com/FN4Mad6KOi
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) October 29, 2024
At the Republican National Convention, Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2017 and 2018, told Mexican cartels: “You’re done.”
Trump’s ICE Director,
Tom Homan, tells illegals “You better start packing now… cause you’re going home”This can’t happen fast enough.
Deport every last one them and BUILD THAT WALL. pic.twitter.com/1GIabpUgKm— Kerry Slone(Stilettos&Shotguns) (@thereal_SnS) November 6, 2024
Americans are desperately hoping for closed borders and a resolution to this drug death chaos and illegal alien invasion. Trump’s historic election sweep shows just that. Now get to work, Mr. President.
Former ICE Director Tom Homan is the definition of “no nonsense.” We need more leaders like him.
Let me promise you: He is NOT going to be caught wearing furry masks, or concerning himself with made-up boogeymen like ‘White Rage.’ pic.twitter.com/RKTZMZ5Bmb
— Elevator Charles 🛗 (@coopsimms) November 7, 2024
The state is probing how its agents bungled the hours-long raid on an upstate New York home that led to the tragic death of internet-famous squirrel P’Nut — as The Post identified the lead investigator behind the bushy-whacking.
The Department of Environmental Conservation said it is conducting an “internal investigation” into the much-criticized seizure of P’Nut and Fred the raccoon at Mark Longo’s Pine City home.
Both animals were euthanized — and likely decapitated — as the state claimed it tested them for rabies after P’Nut bit one of the agents on the hand during the raid. An unconvinced Longo said the officers wore heavy protective gloves.
“An internal investigation into the matter is ongoing, and we are reviewing internal policies and procedures to ensure we continue serving this core mission,” a DEC spokesperson told The Post Friday.
But Gov. Hochul’s office, the DEC, the state Health Department and the Chemung County Health Department continued to refuse to share the results of any testing on the animals or the status of the allegedly wounded official — despite the viral disease being a deadly public health risk.
Rabies test results are usually available within 24 to 72 hours after the animal is euthanized and the sample is received at the lab, according to the CDC. Results for specimens sent to the state DOH’s Wadsworth Center are typically available the workday following their arrival.
The center, which is supposed to publish monthly rabies reports, has not done so since June and refused to answer if it received any specimens from Chemung County in recent weeks.
Hochul promised early in her tenure to make transparency “the hallmark” of her administration.
“You claimed rabies. . . but you haven’t made a public comment on it?” a heart-broken Longo, 34, told The Post of the state’s reticence. “As a taxpayer, is my life and what you caused me not good enough to respond?”
A DEC spokesperson instructed The Post to file a Freedom of Information Law request in response to multiple requests for the rabies test results, which it has done, while a dispatcher directed a reporter to a hotline set up for P’Nut callers to leave messages.
“They’re realizing in hindsight, this got out of hand, they did not handle it well,” state Sen. Dan Stec (R-Warren) said of the state’s response.
“I can’t think of any legitimate or lawful reason to conceal the results of the rabies test. It’s a matter of public health,” he added. “Where is the state secret here? Whose interest are they protecting?”
On Oct. 30, around 10 DEC agents descended on Longo’s 350-acre property, where he runs an animal sanctuary with his wife, in addition to caring for Fred and P’Nut in their home. The couple rescued the squirrel seven years ago after its mother was killed by a car and they kept it as a household pet. Fred was rescued just a few months ago.
DEC Investigator Joshua Crain executed the search warrant after receiving a sign-off from Chemung County Judge Richard W. Rich Jr. the day before, according to court documents.
The warrant noted Crain’s suspicions that the couple was unlawfully housing a gray squirrel and raccoon, but made no mention of rabies or any other imminent dangers.
Crain was named Wildlife Officer of the Year in 2022 by a conservation-based group, with the DEC lauding a work philosophy, ironically, that “promotes education first and enforcement when needed.”
“What happened in my house, if you think that was an educational [action] — I don’t know,” seethed Longo, who plans on suing the DEC.
P’Nut’s death has incensed critics around the country, who point to the raid as a stark example of government overreach and misplaced priorities.
The official Donald Trump campaign TikTok account posted that P’Nut was “needlessly murdered by Democrat bureaucrats in New York.” Longo, who believes P’Nut’s plight may have helped get Trump elected, hopes the president-elect will visit his sanctuary.
Outrage over the squirrel’s death has sparked at least 14 bomb threats to DEC offices across the state, none of which were found to be credible, according to State Police spokesman Beau Duffy.
DEC staff is even ducking from the public, placing tape over the agency’s name inside its Elmira building.
“It’s just precautionary,” one employee said, while also trying to distance his office’s involvement in the ongoing bureaucratic brouhaha.
“I’m not in wildlife,” he said when asked about the animal carcasses’ whereabouts. “These are all environmental programs here.”
The Police Benevolent Association of New York State, the union repping DEC’s law enforcement agents, pleaded for calm on Friday, noting “misinformation” shared online had led to violent threats against the agency’s staff and a judge.
DEC’s investigation into Longo dated back to January, when the agency first received complaints that Longo had been unlawfully housing a squirrel, the union said. Officials issued him a warning, and Longo claimed he had released P’Nut into the wild.
The subsequent raid last week came after the agency received additional complaints, prompting a review of Longo’s social media posts that revealed he had lied and had continued to house P’Nut while also taking in a raccoon, the organization noted.
“We ask that the public keep in mind that [DEC officers] are their friends, family, and neighbors and do not deserve to live in fear for upholding the law,” the union said.
The U.S. has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian militant group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.
The tiny Gulf state Qatar, alongside the U.S. and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire to the year-long war in Gaza. The latest round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the group’s political office, and it told Doha that now was the time.
Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country.
It was unclear if the Qataris provided a specific deadline to the Hamas leaders to leave the country.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been preparing to make a final push to end Israeli assaults in Gaza and Lebanon. Republican Donald Trump’s election this week as the next U.S. president has significantly diminished Biden’s leverage during his last weeks in office.
In previous rounds of ceasefire talks, disagreements over new demands that Israel introduced about future military presence in Gaza obstructed a deal, even after Hamas accepted a version of a ceasefire proposal that Biden unveiled in May.
Hamas at the time viewed Israel as having moved the goal post for a deal “last-minute,” and worried any concessions it made would be met by more demands, a source close to the talks told Reuters in August.
Last November, this negotiation track in Doha led to a seven-day truce in Gaza, permitting the release of dozens of hostages held there in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Humanitarian aid also flowed into the shattered coastal strip but hostilities swiftly resumed and have continued ever since.
“End Hospitality to Hamas”
Qatar, an influential Gulf state designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas’ political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the U.S.
Following last year’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that there could be “no more business as usual” with Hamas.
Qataris told Blinken they were open to reconsidering the presence of Hamas in the country when the time comes.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, reduced the enclave to a wasteland and unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe.
Doha has come under criticism from U.S. lawmakers over its ties with the group.
On Friday, 14 Republican U.S. senators wrote a letter to the Department of State asking Washington to immediately freeze the assets of Hamas officials living in Qatar, extradite several senior Hamas officials living in Qatar and ask Qatar “to end its hospitality to Hamas” senior leadership.”
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said repeatedly over the last year that the Hamas office exists in Doha to allow negotiations with the group and that as long as the channel remained useful Qatar would allow the Hamas office to remain open.
It is unclear how many Hamas officials live in Doha, but they include several leaders touted as possible replacements for leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces killed in Gaza last month.
President Biden and President-elect Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House announced on Saturday.
The meeting will be held at 11 a.m. local time, according to the statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Mr. Biden extended the invitation for the meeting.
Such a meeting is customary between the outgoing president and the incoming president and is meant partly to mark the start of a peaceful transfer of power under America’s democracy.
However, Mr. Trump did not host Mr. Biden for a sit-down after the 2020 election, when Mr. Trump lost his reelection bid.
Mr. Trump, who served as the 45th president of the U.S., will become the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms when he also becomes the nation’s 47th president.
The other was Grover Cleveland, who was both the 22nd and 24th president.
Mr. Trump won the presidential election on Tuesday with at least 301 electoral college votes, surpassing the threshold of 270 over Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a speech Thursday, Mr. Biden said he had assured Mr. Trump “that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve.”
News
DeSantis, House GOP Investigating FEMA After Official Told Relief Workers to Skip Trump Supporters
Lawmakers across the country are calling for investigations after whistleblowers told The Daily Wire they were instructed to skip Trump supporters’ homes when surveying a Florida town in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington directed government employees working in Lake Placid, Florida, to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed the area to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, internal messages reviewed by The Daily Wire reveal. A FEMA spokesman confirmed the incident to The Daily Wire, saying the agency was “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the employee’s actions, and that it has “taken extreme actions to correct this situation.”
In response to the report, federal and state lawmakers called for an investigation into FEMA, promising to find answers about the guidance, which led disaster relief workers to skip at least 20 homes in the Lake Placid community.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the state’s Division of Emergency Management would be investigating the incident.
“The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” DeSantis posted on X.
“At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump,” DeSantis added. “New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”
The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days.
At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal… https://t.co/3uFpE62vxb
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 8, 2024
The House Committee on Homeland Security also promised to find answers.
“If these reports are true, they represent a gross failure to fulfill FEMA’s mission, and more importantly, to care for fellow Americans,” House Homeland Security posted on X. “We will be investigating, and we expect answers.”
Republican Senators James Lankford (OK) and Marsha Blackburn (TN) said Friday evening that their offices had independently confirmed The Daily Wire’s report. Reactions from other congressional Republicans also poured in.
“Whistleblower reveals FEMA officials in Florida were instructed to bypass hurricane-damaged homes that showed support for President Trump!” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said.
“This is unconscionable discrimination, and Congress MUST INVESTIGATE!”
“FEMA discriminated against American’s for their political beliefs. Whoever ordered this better start looking for a job. You are going to be FIRED,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna posted on X.
“This is the bureaucratic state weaponized against Americans citizens,” Rep. Michael Cloud said. “Accountability is coming.”
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) said the report showed that the government had been “weaponized” against “roughly half of all Americans.”
Our own government has been weaponized
Against roughly half of all Americans
It’s not enough just to reform a few things
We need to gut the deep state & start over https://t.co/Y91Hic7diZ
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) November 8, 2024
FEMA told The Daily Wire that it would ensure the homes that were skipped would receive visits from the agency.
“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels,” it told The Daily Wire on Friday afternoon. “Helping people is what we do best and our workforce across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as it takes.”
Other lawmakers also weighed in on the story:
This is a STUNNING abuse of power. In WRITING.
Everyone involved in issuing these instructions should be fired immediately. https://t.co/PWCIT5zSMD
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 9, 2024
Federal employees report that a FEMA official in the Biden-Harris admin told them to ignore conservative hurricane victims.
One said “it felt wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.’”https://t.co/n3teeLJzXt
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) November 8, 2024
When people needed help the most, if career bureaucrats weaponized the federal government against them, that is a fireable offense. They should be blacklisted from ever working in government again.
We need to help EVERYONE regardless of their politics, & we sure as hell expect… https://t.co/zxyObud5Wb
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) November 8, 2024
This is the logical consequence of politicizing a disaster relief agency. Unreal. https://t.co/5rkZ0JOEja
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) November 8, 2024
This is monstrous. https://t.co/761oKyQ2TH
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) November 8, 2024
Denying disaster aid to Americans based on their support of President Donald Trump is as disgusting as it gets for an unelected bureaucrat being paid by American taxpayers.
The House will be investigating this outrageous abuse of power. https://t.co/Cta3PcayNs
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) November 9, 2024
Accountability must come.
This is one of the most egregious things I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/jO7zg493Ur
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) November 8, 2024
🚨FEMA hasn’t fired this person…
But the IRS has been trying to force IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley out for blowing the whistle!
We must hold these unelected bureaucrats accountable. https://t.co/O4mzwsWzbf
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) November 9, 2024
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official who instructed Hurricane Milton relief workers to skip homes with Trump signs has been removed from her role, a FEMA spokesperson tells Fox News, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is investigating the federal agency over the controversy.
The FEMA official, who has not been named by the agency, instructed workers canvassing Lake Placid in Florida to “avoid homes advertising Trump,” as they ascertained what residents could qualify for federal aid, according to internal messages first obtained by the Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire reports that government employees told the outlet that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were bypassed from the end of October and into November due to the “best practices” guidance from the official. The houses were skipped over by the workers, who wrote messages such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” in a government system, per the outlet.
A FEMA spokesperson tells Fox News that it is “deeply disturbed” by the employee’s actions and says it is an “isolated incident.”
“FEMA helps all survivors regardless of their political preference or affiliation,” the spokesperson said via a statement.
“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again.”
It is unclear if the official was fired from the agency altogether.
“The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident,” the spokesperson said, adding that the agency has helped more than 365,000 households impacted by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida and provided nearly $900 million in direct assistance to survivors.”
“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels.
The FEMA agents were ordered not to help houses with Trump signs in Highlands County, a deep-red area located in south central Florida that was hit with tornadoes, torrential rain and flooding when the Category 3 Hurricane slammed into The Sunshine State in October. President-elect Trump won nearly 70% of the vote there on Tuesday.
DeSantis slammed the federal agency Friday after learning about the official’s actions and announced his administration will investigate FEMA over the incident.
“The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” DeSantis wrote on X.
“At my direction, the Division of Emergency Management is launching an investigation into the federal government’s targeted discrimination of Floridians who support Donald Trump. New leadership is on the way to D.C., and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired.”
U.S. House Oversight Committee and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., also took aim at the agency, in particular for not firing the official.
He said it comes despite the IRS trying to force whistleblower Gary Shapley out of that agency. Shapley, an IRS supervisory special agent, brought claims of political influence in the Hunter Biden investigation to Congress, along with Joseph Ziegler, IRS criminal investigator.
“FEMA hasn’t fired this person… But the IRS has been trying to force IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley out for blowing the whistle! We must hold these unelected bureaucrats accountable,” Comer wrote on X.
“FEMA admits this happened but doesn’t say if the bureaucrat responsible has been fired,” the House Oversight Committee wrote on X. “Democrats relentlessly defend the rules that insulate unelected bureaucrats from accountability and make it nearly impossible to fire bad employees. This is why we need President Trump’s reforms to make bureaucrats accountable.”
Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son, also blasted the agency.
“This is outrageous even for the democrats in charge and should be criminal,” Trump Jr wrote on X. “These people should be ousted from FEMA, Government and society! A full investigation is in order!”
President-elect Trump could put more money in Americans’ pockets with a raft of tax code changes, insiders and experts said.
On the campaign trail Trump repeatedly promised to slash taxes on tips and social security benefits, and suggested the total elimination of income taxes with the hope or replacing the revenue with tariffs.
With the signature tax cuts of Trump’s first term set to expire in 2025, and the high likelihood Republicans will have full control of Congress, extending and even expanding tax changes are high on his agenda.
Chief among the wish-list items of an expanded tax cut program would be lowering corporate tax rates.
In 2027, Trump slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% — and now wants to bring it down even more to 15%.
“When you reduce the corporate rate by 2% wages go up 1%, corporations have more money to invest for workers,” Grover Norquist, and activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform, told The Post.
Norquist, a longtime insider in GOP tax circles, said he expected House and Senate leadership would be completely on board with the reduction.
Trump has also promised to walk back a product of his 2017 tax law: the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT.
The cap overwhelmingly targets residents of high-tax blue states where soaring state and local taxes support bloated state bureaucracies, and Trump’s promise to repeal it has the potential to be an early bipartisan win.
“I take President Trump at his word and will hold him accountable for his promise to eliminate the SALT cap. I will work with him and anyone to get things done on behalf of the people,” said Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, an avowed enemy of the cap.
Insiders, however, say the repeal will be a significantly heavier lift.
“The major problem is it pits high tax states against low tax states. Certain states like New York and California and New Jersey have really high and state and local tax rates, and it gives people who live there an advantage in their deductions over people who live in [low-tax] places like Florida or Texas,” said Phil Magness, an economic historian at the Independent Institute.
Far-left progressives may also find themselves loathe to support what amounts to a tax cut for the rich. Socialist Squad Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blasted past efforts to remove the SALT cap as a “gift to billionaires.”
Norquist said he wasn’t so sure Trump could get the cap totally lifted, but that raising the deduction could be a compromise solution.
A Mississippi district attorney backed by Democratic megadonor George Soros and a Mississippi mayor endorsed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have been indicted on federal bribery charges.
The Justice Department alleges that Hinds County district attorney Jody Owens and Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, both Democrats, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from two FBI informants posing as real estate developers seeking projects in downtown Jackson, Miss.
According to prosecutors, Owens solicited $115,000 in bribes from the informants and directed them to pay bribes to Lumumba. The mayor accepted $50,000 in bribes in exchange for “exerting his influence and taking official action relating to the Developers’ proposed project in downtown Jackson,” prosecutors allege.
Owens and Lumumba ascended to their offices with the help of Soros and Sanders, respectively. Owens, who was elected in 2019 on a platform of providing “alternatives to incarceration,” received $500,000 that year from Soros’s Mississippi Justice and Public Safety PAC, according to the Capital Research Center. Owens, a former attorney for the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, was accused during his race for district attorney of sexual harassment. While in office, he has been accused of pulling a gun on a man at the home of his chief of staff.
Sanders endorsed Lumumba, who has called himself a “revolutionary” who aimed to make Jackson “the most radical city on the planet,” in 2021.
“I’m proud to endorse Mayor Chokwe Lumumba for reelection because he is a consistent fighter for the working families of Jackson, Mississippi,” Sanders wrote at the time. “As Mayor, he has been a strong advocate for justice, progress, and equity.”
Owens and Lumumba each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. They pleaded not guilty on Thursday.
“Officials who abuse their positions of authority to enrich themselves undermine public confidence in government. The Justice Department is committed to restoring that confidence by working with its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute public corruption,” said Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division.
According to prosecutors, Owens discussed the bribery scheme in a series of conversations with the undercover FBI agents from October 2023 to May 2024.
According to prosecutors, Owens told informants he would have to launder their bribery payments through a company he owned. He also bragged about his power as district attorney to blackmail Jackson City Council members.
“I don’t give a shit where the money comes from,” he said. “It can come from blood diamonds in Africa, I don’t give a fucking shit. I’m a whole DA. Fuck that shit. My job, as I understand it, with a little paperwork, is to get this deal done, and get it done most effectively.”
The charges against Owens mark another embarrassing turn for a Soros-backed prosecutor. Soros has poured millions of dollars into district attorney races to elect prosecutors running on platforms to reform the criminal justice system, either through initiatives to defund police, eliminate cash bail, or end prosecutions for drug offenses, shoplifting, and other crimes.
Soros funded the campaign of former St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner (D.), who resigned in May 2023 over her handling of a case in which an armed robbery suspect, who had violated his bond dozens of times, paralyzed a teenage girl in a car accident.
Other Soros-backed prosecutors have faced successful recall efforts or been voted out of office amid concerns about soft-on-crime policies. Voters in Alameda County, Calif., which encompasses Oakland, this week recalled District Attorney Pamela Price (D.). Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón (D.) lost in a landslide to former federal prosecutor Nathaniel Hochman (I.).
In 2022, former Tallahassee, Fla., mayor Andrew Gillum (D.), endorsed by Sanders and backed by Soros, was indicted on federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges for allegedly diverting campaign donations to the firm of one of his advisers.
Bill Maher slammed the Democratic party as “losers” and urged them to “look in the mirror” following Kamala Harris’ presidential election loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
Maher, who once predicted that Harris would win the election, revealed that he “did not vote for the winner,” but accepted the election results — unlike his late-night counterparts earlier in the week.
“We had an election,” Maher said during his “Real Time” monologue on HBO Friday night. “I did not vote for the winner, we’ll see what the winners do now. They won, now they have reality they have to deal with. We’ll see what they do.”
Maher switched his aim toward Harris and the Democrats, telling them they must reevaluate their party and platform after their embarrassing loss.
“My message to the losers: losers look in the mirror,” Maher said as the audience sat in stunned silence. “No? Well, maybe you should. Well, that’s my feeling. Losers look in the mirror.”
“For months Democrats have been saying, ‘How is this even close?’ and they’re right, it wasn’t,” Maher said of Trump’s historic election night victory.
Bill Maher: “For months, Democrats have been saying ‘how is this even close?’ They’re right – it wasn’t.”
“My message to the losers: Losers look in the mirror.” pic.twitter.com/kbZlSeb12L
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) November 9, 2024
“They could not conceive of a second Trump term, but they should’ve. When does America ever turn down second?”
The 68-year-old comedian said it was “the facts” that Trump “ran the table” and won all seven swing states – North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, not called yet.
Maher acknowledged Trump’s improvement in every voting demographic, especially in Latinos and Asians along with Black men, which helped add nearly 9 million more votes than what he received in 2016.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the HBO host and avid Harris supporter had made his reservations about the vice president’s chances because support for her among Black males was down.
“This is not a good sign, you know – when you have an African American candidate, you probably shouldn’t be having to shore up your support among black men, but that’s what’s going on,” he said during an October episode.”
Before Trump was declared the winner in Tuesday’s election, Maher confirmed a second presidential term for the Republican wouldn’t affect him as he would continue his show and making jokes.
He doubled down on his post-election plans as he continued to make jokes aimed at both political parties, “We’re gonna keep doing jokes here.”
Maher’s upbeat joking attitude was a stark contrast to the message his late-night peers showcased to their audiences one day after the election.
Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears during the opening of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as the liberal host called the election a “terrible night for everyone.”
“I spent a lot of time over the past 17 hours thinking about what I would say tonight, or even if there is anything to say tonight, and there’s nothing, goodnight everybody,” Kimmel said.
Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert took a different route for their post-election show, with the “SNL” alum sarcastically revealing he voted for Harris while Colbert was more somber and checked in on his fans.
“Hey there, how are you doing?” Colbert asked. “If you watch this show regularly I’m guessing you’re not doing great. Yeah, me neither.”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) announced Friday in a statement that a convicted felon armed with rifle, a suppressor, and body armor was arrested near his Florida home Monday with a manifesto and apparent plans to harm him.
The manifesto allegedly contained “antisemitic rhetoric” as well as a list of targets that included the 43-year-old.
In a statement he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Moskowitz said, “Serving my constituents is a great honor, but it has put my family in danger.”
In a lengthier statement, Moskowitz added:
The day before the election, I was notified by the Margate Police Department, located in my Congressional District, about a potential plot on my life.
The individual in question was arrested not far from my home; he is a former felon who was in possession of a rifle, a suppressor, and body armor. Found with him was a manifesto that, among other things, included antisemitic rhetoric and only my name on the “target” list.
There are many other details that l will not disclose as I do not want to interfere with an ongoing investigation. I want to thank local law enforcement, the US Marshalls, the FBI, the US Capitol Police, and the US Attorney’s office. As someone who was appointed to the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, I understand the failures and importance of fixing the protection of our current and future Commander-In-Chief and Vice President.
At the same time, I am deeply worried about Congressional member security and the significant lack thereof when we are in the district. Regardless of our political affiliations or differences, we all have families we want to keep safe.”
Moskowitz was first elected to represent Florida’s 23rd congressional district in 2022. He won reelection on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Republican challenger Joe Kaufman.
One of the alleged would-be assassins hired by Iran to kill Donald Trump is a self employed pipe fitter from Staten Island and convicted murderer.
Carlisle ‘Pop’ Rivera, 49, was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to murder the president-elect and Iranian activist Masih Alinejad.
Rivera’s wife Margarita Vega did not answer the door at their two-storey home in Staten Island.
Neighbors told DailyMail.com Rivera moved out with his wife and their son three months ago. They were shocked to learn of his alleged involvement.
The father-of-two was allegedly hired by Farjad Shakeri, 51, and roped in his friend Jonathon Loadholt, 36, who was arrested and charged alongside him.
They were promised $100,000 to do surveillance on Alinejad and later kill her, and would have gone after Trump too if the plot wasn’t put on hold.
His brother Obed Rivera, also a felon jailed in 2002 for drug manufacture and distribution, living in South Carolina hung up when DailyMail.com called about his brother on Friday.
Shakeri, a Afghani who came to the US as a child before he was deported in 2008, was hired by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to orchestrate the hit on Alinejad for $1.5 million, and two Jewish businessmen living in the US.
Then in September he was told to focus on assassinating Trump instead, but by then had flipped to the FBI and sold out Rivera on Thursday.
Rivera was convicted of second-degree murder in 1994 and met Shakeri when they were both at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, New York, in 2005 to 2007.
Shakeri told the FBI he met a senior member of the Revolutionary Guard through his work in Tehran in the ‘oil and fuel businesses.’
The man was referred to by others around him as Majid Soleimani, but Shakeri said he has no way of knowing whether the man is connected to late Iranian military officer Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated under Trump’s watch in 2020.
When Majid learned that Shakeri used to live in New York, he offered him a large sum of money to investigate – and ultimately kill – Iranian-American activist and journalist Masih Alinejad.
According to the criminal complaint seen by DailyMail.com, Rivera was waiting on a $100,000 payment from the IRGC to carry out the assassination.
But Shakeri said by mid-late September, this IRGC official had told him to ‘put aside his other efforts on behalf of the IRGC and focus on surveilling, and ultimately assassinating, Donald Trump.
Shakeri told him would cost a ‘huge’ amount of money to pull it off, but was told ‘we have already spent a lot of money… so the money’s not an issue’.
The FBI believed this to mean Iran already spent money trying to kill Trump, so what was a little more if it got the job done.
He was given a seven-day deadline from October 7 to devise a thorough plan to carry out the assassination attempt.
He was told if he could not come up with a plan in this timeframe, the attempt would be put on the back burner until after the election, because officials in Iran assumed Trump would lose the election and then have less protection.
Shakeri finally admitted on October 28 he had people in NYC helping with the jobs, but refused to identify them.
He appeared to be brokering a deal to cooperate in exchange for the release of an unnamed person.
‘If these people gimme a green light… I’m gonna come pretty close so you guys can be convinced that [Individual-I] needs to get released,’ he said.
FBI agents confronted Shakeri on Thursday, accusing him of lying to them, and he finally gave up Rivera, and though he said there was a second person, he did not name them.
Rivera and Loadholt allegedly became involved in February when Shakeri paid them $1,000 to surveil Alinejad at a speaking engagement at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, on February 15.
Communications between the pair allegedly showed them discussing when they would be paid for the job.
The event was canceled at the last minute when the FBI warned Alinejad not to go, though it was unclear how they knew about a threat.
Shakeri’s next alleged job for them was to to keep watch on Alinejad at her home in Brooklyn in March, for which they were paid about $2,600 each.
Text messages allegedly showed Rivera and Loadholt coordinating their surveillance with plans to meet and where they were going.
The pair allegedly complained to Shakeri that Alinejad was hard to pin down and that assassinating her was not going to be an easy task.
‘This bitch is hard to catch, bro. And because she hard to catch, there ain’t gonna be no simple pull up, unless there the luck of the draw. Unless there’s the luck of the draw,’ Rivera allegedly said in a voice note.
Shakeri advised them that their target spent most of the time in a study on the third floor and a recording studio on the second floor.
‘You just gotta have patience and don’t, kicking, kick in the door is not an option because that’ s a fail, that’s a fail maneuver,’ he warned in a voice note reply.
‘You gotta wait and have patience to catch her either going in the house or coming out, or following her out somewhere and taking care of it. Don’t think about going in. In is a suicide move.’
Rivera allegedly complained in response: ‘We was here at night time, like 5.30 this morning, there was no f**kin’ lights on…. I already know kickin’ in doors only gonna to bring more attention. We already know that, that part.
‘That neighborhood is too quiet for that type of shit. Unless she’s on the first floor, and you kick that s**t in and then, then, you know, and let’s assume you kick it in on the first try.’
Rivera appeared to get increasingly frustrated with the assignment and how much the expenses were adding up.
‘What I’m sayin’ to you in a nutshell, bro. Is in order for this to get done? And I don’t give a fuck who is… You say, ‘f**k you, n***a, I want somebody else.’
‘Ok, your secret safe with me ’cause I ain’t no snitch n**a, and I sure ain’t no bitch n***a. So I can handle that, right.
‘By the same token, you not gonna find too many motherf**kers who willing to take the job with receiving next to nothin’ to start the job off with.
‘You sent me thirty-one fifty, right? That pays for some tools and fuels, right? Tools and fuels that’s being, the slammer, mostly, the slammer.
‘Um, toll bridge fee, going back and forth. Putting gas in the car. Rentin’ the car. Look, the car ain’t mine bromie, that s**t is bein’ rented. It’s funded by the thirty-one fifty.
‘S**t ain’ t, know what I mean, n***as ain’t just lettin’ you hold their car to do a drive by for nothin’, know what I mean, so.
‘But homie, how long you think that’s gonna last? How long can you expect two workin’ niggas, or one workin’ n***a, really me, but my man too, he a workin’ n***a too.
‘He not like, he’s gonna sit out here all night, all day, rain, cold, sleet, on a promise. Let’s be for real, we out here on a promise, from a n***a I know.’
Rivera appeared to make a veiled threat, pointing out it was good for both Loadholt and Shakeri that they knew as little about each other as possible, and that they were only connected through him.
The FBI alleged he used this to ask for more cash to finish the operation, as he had already bought weapons for the hit, paid for travel costs, and rented the car to kill the target in a drive-by shooting.
He allegedly claimed Loadholt only went along with the plan because he vouched for Shakeri, and would have refused if anyone else asked him.
The pair allegedly negotiated a $100,000 fee to ‘finish the job’ during April, and Shakeri had the cash laundered, with a delay that irked Rivera.
‘Finish the work, and pick up,’ Shakeri instructed his lackey, to which Rivera allegedly answered, ‘N**a I wish it was that easy but I ain’t no quitter’.
Shakeri later told them to ‘take care of it already’.
‘I wish you can take care of it already. I have everything covered. By the way send me a bill and don’t spend it, n***a,’ he wrote on July 16.
Loadholt and Rivera in texts to each other allegedly complained about the delay in receiving the $100,000 payment.
‘I’m so frustrated son I’m like ready to jump out the window,’ Loadholt wrote in one messages.
Their fortunes began to unravel when Shakeri had voluntary interviews with the FBI on the phone from Iran on September 30, October 8, October 17, October 28, and November 7.
The House Judiciary Committee is concerned that special counsel Jack Smith and prosecutors involved in the investigations of now President-elect Donald Trump will “purge” records to skirt oversight and is demanding they produce to Congress all documents related to the probes before the end of the month, Fox News Digital has reported.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., penned a letter to Smith on Friday, obtained by Fox News Digital.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing its oversight of the Department of Justice and the Office of Special Counsel. According to recent public reports, prosecutors in your office have been ‘gaming out legal options’ in the event that President Donald Trump won the election,” they wrote.
“With President Trump’s decisive victory this week, we are concerned that the Office of Special Counsel may attempt to purge relevant records, communications, and documents responsive to our numerous requests for information.”
Jordan and Loudermilk warned that the Office of Special Counsel “is not immune from transparency or above accountability for its actions.”
“We reiterate our requests, which are itemized in the attached appendix and incorporated herein, and ask that you produce the entirety of the requested material as soon as possible but no later than November 22, 2024,” they wrote.
Jordan and Loudermilk are demanding Smith turn over information about the use of FBI personnel on his team — a request first made in June 2023 — and whether any of those FBI employees “previously worked on any other matters concerning President Trump.”
They also renewed their request from August 2023, demanding records relating to Smith and prosecutor Jay Bratt visiting the White House or Executive Office of the President; a request from September 2023 for records related to lawyer Stanley Woodward—who represented Trump aide Walt Nauta; a request from December 2023 for communications between Attorney General Merrick Garland and the special counsel’s team; and more.
The Justice Department is looking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Trump as he prepares to be sworn in for a second term in the White House — a decision that upholds a long-standing policy that prevents Justice Department attorneys from prosecuting a sitting president.
DOJ officials have cited a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel filed in 2000, which upholds a Watergate-era argument that asserts it is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine for the Justice Department to investigate a sitting president.
It further notes that such proceedings would “unduly interfere in a direct or formal sense with the conduct of the Presidency.”
“In light of the effect that an indictment would have on the operations of the executive branch, ‘an impeachment proceeding is the only appropriate way to deal with a President while in office,’” the memo said in conclusion.
Smith was leading an investigation into the alleged retention of classified records. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from that probe.
The case was eventually tossed completely by a federal judge in Florida, who ruled that Smith was improperly and unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
Smith also took over an investigation into alleged 2020 election interference. Trump also pleaded not guilty, but his attorneys took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court to argue on the basis of presidential immunity.
The high court ruled that Trump was immune from prosecution for official presidential acts, forcing Smith to file a new indictment.
Trump pleaded not guilty to those new charges as well. Trump attorneys are now seeking to have the election interference charges dropped in Washington, D.C., similarly alleging that Smith was appointed unlawfully.
An alleged serial trespasser who’s attempted to sneak into Mar-a-Lago multiple times was busted again at President-elect Donald Trump’s Florida compound Thursday.
Zijie Li, 39, was nabbed on Thursday on charges of trespass after warning after trying to reach the Palm Beach estate in a rideshare, NBC Miami reported.
His bond was set at $100,000 on Friday.
Li, of El Monte, has tried to break through security at Mar-a-Lago multiple times because he wanted to speak with Trump, according to authorities.
Li was first given a trespass warning on July 19 for trying to sneak into Mar-a-Lago, per NBC.
He returned to Palm Beach four other times – even driving up to a checkpoint – but did not attempt to enter, the outlet said, citing the arrest report.
Li put paperwork about Trump on cars around the area on July 30. He was arrested again for trespassing at Mar-a-Lago the following day.
Li, who is originally from China, allegedly told Secret Service that he had information that China was linked to the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
A few months later, on Oct. 30, Li was put under Florida’s Baker Act – which allows for involuntary mental health treatment – when he tried to access Mar-a-Lago again with help from a resident.
He was released on bond, with the condition of being 500 feet away from Trump and Mar-a-Lago.
Li allegedly disobeyed that order when he attempted to reach the property in a rideshare on Thursday.
After two public attempts on his life and ahead of his return to the White House, Trump beefed up security at Mar-a-Lago with a Secret Service robot dog, photos showed on Friday.
The robotic canine was seen strolling on the grass among the palm trees outside the residence – with a large warning on the side cautioning “DO NOT PET.”
A federal disaster relief official ordered workers to bypass the homes of Donald Trump’s supporters as they surveyed damage caused by Hurricane Milton in Florida, according to internal correspondence obtained by The Daily Wire and confirmed by multiple federal employees.
A FEMA supervisor told workers in a message to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, internal messages viewed by The Daily Wire reveal. The supervisor, Marn’i Washington, relayed this message both verbally and in a group chat used by the relief team, multiple government employees told The Daily Wire.
The government employees told The Daily Wire that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were skipped from the end of October and into November due to the guidance, meaning they were not given the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance. Images shared with The Daily Wire show that houses were skipped over by the workers, who wrote in the government system messages such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership.”
It is unclear whether the same guidance was issued elsewhere in the country. The employees were part of a Department of Homeland Security surge capacity force team, meaning they volunteered from other DHS agencies to help an understaffed FEMA as it dealt with a second major hurricane in a span of just a few weeks.
“I know they’re short-staffed, I thought we could go help and make a difference,” one of the employees said. “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.”
The employee said it felt wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.”
“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee said. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”
The guidance came as the Biden administration was criticized over its sluggish response to Hurricane Helene in rural areas across the country. In Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for example, locals told The Daily Wire it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to show up. The town is located in Carter County, which voted 81% for Trump on Tuesday.
The FEMA agents ordered not to help houses with Trump signs were operating in Highlands County, a deep-red area located in south central Florida that backed Trump by 70% on Tuesday. It was hit with tornadoes, torrential wind and rain, and flooding when Milton hit in October.
In the chat, Washington said that it would be “best practice” to “avoid homes advertising Trump,” according to photos of the messages viewed by The Daily Wire. No explanation was given for this guidance, which included other recommendations like telling the workers to “practice de-escalation and preventative measures,” and to “avoid high salt diets and coffee.”
Photos from the system used by federal relief workers to track what homes they visit showed that relief workers followed Washington’s guidance. Several addresses were marked “not able to access property” with listed explanations such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” “Per leadership no stop Trump flag,” “Trump sign,” and “Trump sign, no contact per leadership.”
“If they had damage or lost power for over thirty-six hours, it was my duty to inform them of benefits to which they are entitled through FEMA,” one team member wrote in a complaint filed to DHS about the guidance.
Washington is the Disaster Survivor Assistance crew leader for Highland County, a leadership chart reviewed by The Daily Wire shows. She did not respond to multiple phone calls or an email seeking comment on the guidance.
Chad Hershey, Washington’s FEMA supervisor, told The Daily Wire that the agency is looking into the situation.
“We are aware of it and we are taking proper action in this situation currently,” Hershey said.
Pressed to confirm the messages, Hershey said: “We are aware of it and we are taking action at this moment regarding the situation that you’re talking about.”
Hershey added that FEMA would be providing a fuller statement though none was yet provided by press time. He said that officials in Washington, D.C., would be reaching out to The Daily Wire.
After publication of this story, a FEMA spokesperson told The Daily Wire it was “deeply disturbed” and “horrified” by the employee’s actions, and that it has “taken extreme actions to correct this situation.”
“While we believe this is an isolated incident, we have taken measures to remove the employee from their role and are investigating the matter to prevent this from happening ever again,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident.”
“This is a matter that we take extremely seriously and we are doing everything we can to make sure all survivors receive support from FEMA. To date, we have helped over 365,000 households impacted by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the state of Florida and have provided over $898 million in direct assistance to survivors.”
“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels. Helping people is what we do best and our workforce across the agency will continue to serve survivors for as long as it takes.”
The guidance was first issued by Washington verbally on October 22, and again in the group chat on October 27, according to one of the federal employees. The Trump-related instructions were deleted from the chat a few days later, photos of the chat reviewed by The Daily Wire show.
By October 30, Washington had started walking back the instructions about skipping Trump supporters’ homes, one of the federal employees told The Daily Wire. The relief workers said Washington denied that homes were being skipped after a meeting with other FEMA administrators.
The employees say that Washington has not been punished for the guidance, but has been shifted to another county in Florida.
The whistleblower complaint says that the Trump guidance further undermines trust in FEMA and its response to the hurricanes.
“This behavior raises significant concerns of discrimination against United States citizens because of their political views,” a copy of the complaint obtained by The Daily Wire said. “These actions not only undermine the integrity of our agency and create a hostile work environment for those who may hold differing political beliefs but they also threaten the very democracy of our country.”
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