Earlier today, we reported that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) were publicly feuding after she voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump.
Now, “The View” cohost Joy Behar is inserting herself into this drama, warning Gaetz to “watch” himself when it comes to fighting with Cheney.
Behar went after not only Gaetz, but also any Republican senator who votes against impeaching Trump over the Capitol riots earlier this month.
“That anybody in the Senate could look at that, could look at the facts, and not say that he’s guilty, I do not really understand what country I’m living in,” Behar said.
“And you know what, these people who are not going to vote for a conviction will be remembered,” she added. “We will remember them. Because if they let him go without any kind of accountability, Trump, this will happen again.”
“It will happen again,” Behar continued. “We’ll remember those names of the senators and the House people who decided not to convict this guy, because the blood is on their hands then.”
Related: Joy Behar Comes Unglued – Says Trump ‘Made It His Business For Four Years To Rape This Country’
Not stopping there, Behar said that House Impeachment Managers had delivered the article to the “scene of the crime” on Monday.
“Those people who were receiving those papers, these people, they were all at risk that day and they know it, even those who are going to vote to acquit this guy,” Behar said. “They know they were at risk.”
That’s when Behar gave Gaetz a warning about messing with Cheney.
“As far as Matt Gaetz and Liz Cheney is concerned, the daughter of Dick Cheney, she’ll eat him for breakfast,” Behar said. “Matt, you better watch yourself.”
Related: Matt Gaetz And Liz Cheney Trade Barbs In Battle For Future Of The Republican Party
“These [senators] who are not going to vote for a conviction will be remembered,” @JoyVBehar says. “If they let [Trump] go without any kind of accountability… this will happen again.”
“We will remember those names of those senators… because the blood is on their hands then.” pic.twitter.com/meiEgvHp8M
— The View (@TheView) January 26, 2021
This came after Gaetz announced plans to travel to Wyoming to try and “inspire” the state to oust her as its representative.
“In the wake of the Biden presidency, the Republican Party establishment is trying to wrangle the conservative movement back under their control,” Gaetz said.
“They want the GOP to look and sound like Liz Cheney,” he added. “I have a competing vision for Republicanism and I intend to showcase it by going after the America Last politicians in both parties.”
This piece was written by James Samson on January 27, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
Katie Couric’s Calls To ‘Deprogram’ Trump Supporters Come Back To Haunt Her As She Prepares To Host ‘Jeopardy’
Democratic Senator Hirono Reveals Real Goal Behind Trump Impeachment Effort
Cindy McCain Breaks Her Silence After She’s Censored By Arizona GOP
The post Joy Behar Warns Gaetz To ‘Watch’ Himself In Feud With Liz Cheney – ‘She’ll Eat Him For Breakfast’ appeared first on The Political Insider.
In August of last year, a rule was made by the Virginia Board of Elections that would have allowed elections officials to count late mail-in ballots that arrived without a postmark up to three days after this past November’s presidential election. A judge reversed this on Monday, ruling that the board’s decision was illegal.
Virginia Circuit Court Judge William Eldridge ruled that with this rule, the board violated state elections law, according to the Daily Caller. He issued an injunction that will stop Virginia from adopting this rule in future elections moving forward.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), a legal group representing Frederick County electoral board member Thomas Reed in his case against the state mail-in ballot law, announced the judge’s decision.
“This is a big win for the Rule of Law,” said PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams. “This consent decree gives Mr. Reed everything he requested – a permanent ban on accepting ballots without postmarks after Election Day and is a loss for the Virginia bureaucrats who said ballots could come in without these protections.”
Related: The Left And Deep State Eager To Turn ‘War On Terror’ Tools On The American People
On August 4 of last year, Virginia Board of Elections revealed the new rule, telling county boards that any ballots “received by the general registrar’s office by noon on the third day after the election … but does not have a postmark, or the postmark is missing or illegible” were not to be rendered invalid. A week later, the board added that these ballots should be counted.
Pilf fired back in October by filing a lawsuit against the board on the behalf of Reed, who claimed that this rule violated state law. The specific Virginia statute that he thinks it violated states, “Any absentee ballot returned to the general registrar after the closing of the polls on election day but before noon on the third day after the election and postmarked on or before the date of the election shall be counted.”
The court agreed with Reed, issuing an order on October 28 preventing the state of Virginia from accepting and counting late absentee ballots that did not have postmarks. This meant that the ballots did not end up being counted in the presidential election, and thanks to the judge’s new ruling, they won’t be in the future either.
This piece was written by James Samson on January 27, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
Katie Couric’s Calls To ‘Deprogram’ Trump Supporters Come Back To Haunt Her As She Prepares To Host ‘Jeopardy’
Democratic Senator Hirono Reveals Real Goal Behind Trump Impeachment Effort
Meghan McCain Blasts Katie Couric For Saying Republicans Need To Be ‘Deprogrammed’ – ‘Go To Hell’
The post Judge Rules Virginia Board Of Elections’ Rule About Late Absentee Mail-In Ballots Was Illegal appeared first on The Political Insider.
A majority of Republicans – including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – voted Wednesday that the impeachment trial of Donald Trump is unconstitutional.
Senator Rand Paul forced a vote on the matter.
In an op-ed written over the weekend, Paul (R-KY) called the impeachment process against the former President a “farce” and said it should be dismissed.
“The Constitution says two things about impeachment — it is a tool to remove the officeholder, and it must be presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court,” he wrote.
Neither of those elements exists in this case, as President Trump is no longer in office and Chief Justice John Roberts has declined to preside over the trial.
Powerful. Can’t wait for the full trial! pic.twitter.com/JgbdcwdejX
— Cerno (@Cernovich) January 26, 2021
RELATED: Poll: Republican Voters Are Siding With Trump Over Mitch McConnell
Paul called for a procedural vote regarding holding a trial, claiming the Senate shouldn’t address the article of impeachment against Trump because he is out of office.
In a speech prior to the vote – a speech that went viral – the Kentucky Republican blasted Democrats as “hyper-partisan” and suggested they “are about to drag our great country into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history.”
The Senate voted 55-45 to end debate on Paul’s point of order, but the point, in reality, was made. Only five Republicans joined the Democrats, well below the 17 that would be needed for a vote of conviction.
“If you voted that it was unconstitutional, how in the world would you ever vote to convict somebody for this?” Paul told reporters. “This vote indicates it’s over. The trial is all over.”
He later tweeted that the impeachment trial was “dead on arrival.”
The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order.
45 Senators agreed that this sham of a “trial” is unconstitutional.
That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process.
This “trial” is dead on arrival in the Senate.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 26, 2021
RELATED: Schumer Promises Quick Impeachment Trial, A Lot Of Witnesses Not Necessary
Of the five Republicans who voted with Democrats, you had your usual suspects. Typical RINOs who often hide their contempt for President Trump in the cloak of the Constitution, but clearly don’t understand its words.
Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Ben Sasse (NE), Pat Toomey (PA), and Mitt Romney (UT) all voted to table Paul’s point of order.
Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution reads in part:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
McConnell, surprisingly, voted against ending the debate.
McConnell has reportedly viewed the Democrats’ effort to impeach the president as a means to “help rid the Republican Party of Trump and his movement.”
RINOs ready to join with Radical Dems to destroy the Republican Party: McConnell furious with president, supports move to initiate impeachment proceedings: sources https://t.co/R3isoLbQ9Q #FoxNews
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) January 13, 2021
A recent poll from Axios-Ipsos shows Republican voters have been siding with President Trump over McConnell on the matter.
A majority have said they do not hold Trump responsible for the Capitol riots, believe he has a right to challenge the election, and still prefer him as their nominee in 2024.
Republicans across the U.S. are siding with President Trump over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — big time — according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll. https://t.co/jqkhRlfE6O pic.twitter.com/CgnV3xLttp
— Axios (@axios) January 14, 2021
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated earlier this week that President Trump’s impeachment trial would be “quick,” adding no decision has been made on the need for witnesses.
Evidence is beginning to point to this unconstitutional impeachment trial as a sham – perhaps even more so than the first one.
The post Dead On Arrival: 45 Republicans – Including McConnell – Vote That Trump’s Impeachment Trial Is Unconstitutional appeared first on The Political Insider.
As the second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump gets underway, House managers will be presenting a case that extends beyond the brief impeachment article to include a number of items that extend beyond the speech Trump delivered on the day of the Capitol invasion. The documents filed along with the impeachment legislation document a number of instances in which Trump paved the way for the insurrection by inflaming crowds over the election and encouraging violence.
But Trump was engaged in multiple other activities that extend beyond those covered in the impeachment documents, but are intimately related to events on Jan. 6. That includes efforts to pressure local officials into illegally altering votes, replacing officials in military and intelligence positions that might have pushed back against violence, and engaging in an effort to throw out the acting attorney general and use the Department of Justice to disrupt the final count of the electoral vote.
Over the weekend, I made a first draft of a timeline showing events leading up to the insurgency on January 6. This version has been updated to include more dates, more events, and many more reasons while Trump should be convicted.
Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results can be broken down into five broad categories:
⚪ Timeline event for purposes of clarification 🔵 Legal challenges on both state and federal level 🟢 Recounts, signature challenges, etc. 🟡 Efforts to suborn perjury from state officials or coerce state legislators 🟠 Reverse coup using government to defy election results 🔴 Overt calls to violence
In this timeline, the legal challenges are given very light treatment. Most of the 62 lawsuits filed by Trump’s legal team—teams, actually—were aimed at overturning the vote in one of six states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The only lawsuit that Trump’s team won out of this whole collection was a ruling on how long voters had to “cure” mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania … which ultimately had no effect on the results in that state. So only a few “highlights” of these challenges are provided in this far-from-complete timeline. In this update, I have included a few events from Trump’s legal team, because they served the same purpose as that Jan. 6 rally—inflaming conspiracy theories, and encouraging Trump supporters to overturn the election through any means.
🟡 Nov. 04—A mob of Trump supporters gathers outside the Maricopa County Elections Department offices in Phoenix, Arizona, claiming that Republican votes are not being counted because of “SharpieGate.” First “Stop the Steal” group forms on Facebook.
🔵 Nov. 05—Trump initiates a string of lawsuits, including sending Pam Bondi and Corey Lewandowski to Pennsylvania for threatened legal action.
🟡 Nov. 06—Trump campaign seeks volunteers to engage in election fraud in Pennsylvania by submitting late ballots.
🔵 Nov. 06—Trump lawsuit count in Pennsylvania alone reaches 16, as “garbage” suits proliferate in Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia.
🔴 Nov. 06—Armed QAnon fanatics are arrested outside Philadelphia election center as part of Trump-organized “Stop the Steal” rally.
🔴 Nov. 08—Rudy Giuliani leads the press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Claims that thousands of dead people voted in Philadelphia. “Joe Frazier is still voting here—kind of hard, since he died five years ago.” Giuliani also lies about voting machines and election officials while claiming that Trump won the state.
🟠 Nov. 09—Trump replaces Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for failing to support Trump’s efforts to bring active duty military into Washington, D.C., during Black Lives Matter protests.
🟠 Nov. 10—Trump shuffles leadership at Pentagon, bringing loyalists to critical positions.
🟠 Nov. 10—William Barr authorizes U.S. attorneys to pursue false claims of election fraud, triggering resignation of DOJ’s Election Crimes Branch, Richard Pilger.
🟠 Nov. 10—Mike Pompeo declares there will be a ”smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
🟡 Nov. 10—Trump pressures Georgia Senate candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue to support his claims of election fraud in that state, or be cut off from his support in their Senate runoffs.
🔴 Nov. 11—Experts warn that Trump’s lies about the election are sending followers “spiraling” toward violence; white supremacist groups boil in confusion.
🔵 Nov. 12—Trump campaign sues to stop vote count in Georgia counties with the highest numbers of Black voters.
🔵 Nov. 12—Trump lawsuits in Arizona founder, as lawyers withdraw and the Trump team asks a judge to seal the evidence.
🟠 Nov. 12—Trump continues shuffling chairs at Pentagon, moving former Devin Nunes aide Kash Patel into the position of chief of staff, and Michael Flynn protégé Ezra Cohen-Watnick into the role of undersecretary for intelligence.
🔴 Nov. 14—Trump stages “Million MAGA March” in Washington, D.C., including a “Stop the Steal” rally and thousands of white supremacist extremists descend upon the capital city in a preview of the Jan. 6 insurgency. Violence erupts among MAGA marchers, as groups including Proud Boys, American Guard, and Oath Keepers instigate assaults … as Trump sent statements of encouragement.
🟡 Nov. 16—Lindsey Graham calls Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asks him to throw out all absentee ballots.
🔵 Nov. 16—Trump’s legal team is forced to retract a major portion of Pennsylvania lawsuit after being caught in a lie.
🟠 Nov. 17—Trump fires Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency chief Christopher Krebs after Krebs declares that election was “most secure” in the nation’s history and denies there is any evidence of election fraud.
🟢 Nov. 17—Georgia conducts a hand recount of ballots, confirming Biden’s victory there.
🟢 Nov. 18—Trump demands recount of the two most Democratic counties in Wisconsin.
🔴 Nov. 18—Arizona secretary of state releases a statement in response to continued threats of violence.
🟡 Nov. 19—Trump calls members of thee Wayne County, Michigan Board of Canvassers in attempt to prevent certification of votes from Detroit.
🔵 Nov. 19—Sidney Powell calls for votes to be overturned in all states Biden won as Trump “exerts full power of his office” to reverse election.
🔴 Nov. 20—A Michigan militia plot to takeover state capital, execute governor, is revealed. Trump calls for MAGA revolt.
🟡 Nov 20—Trump summons Michigan Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey to the White House in an effort to persuade them to block certification of votes in Wayne County.
🔵 Nov. 25—Trump and Pennsylvania GOP leaders stage a “Gettysburg conference,” as Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis promote list of conspiracy theories to be incorporated into new lawsuit.
🟡 Nov. 30—Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reminds Trump that election fraud is illegal after Trump posts series of tweets attempting to get Kemp to overturn election results.
🟢 Nov. 30—Wisconsin conducts a recount in only the two most heavily Democratic counties (the only counties where Trump would pay for it). Biden picks up 87 votes.
🟡 Nov. 30—Rudy Giuliani appears before the Arizona legislature, urging them to throw out election results and name a slate of Trump electors.
🟠 Dec. 02—Recently pardoned Michael Flynn takes out a full-page ad in The Washington Post calling on Trump to overturn civilian government and institute “limited martial law.”
🟡 Dec 05—Trump calls Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to demand that he hold a second election.
🟠 Dec. 05—Kash Patel blocks Pentagon and intelligence officials from sharing data with Biden’s team.
🟢 Dec. 07—Georgia conducts a machine recount and audit of votes.
🔴 Dec. 07—“Stop the Steal” protests funded by the Trump campaign continue to bring out armed extremists across the nation.
🔵 Dec. 08—The Supreme Court refuses to hear Trump’s Pennsylvania challenge.
🟠 Dec. 08—Republican leaders in Congress cooperate with Trump to block Joe Biden from access to information and funds needed for transition.
🔵 Dec. 09—Michigan Supreme Court rejects a request for a “special master” to take control of ballots and order a third-party recount in Detroit in narrow 4-3 decision.
🟡 Dec. 10—Trump threatens Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr after Carr defends integrity of Raffensperger.
🔵 Dec. 11—The Supreme Court rejects a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, that attempts to overturn the vote in four other states. That lawsuit was supported by other Republican attorneys general, and by 126 Republican members of the House.
🟠 Dec 11—Trump plans to insert Kash Patel as deputy to CIA Director Gina Haspel, and then fire Haspel, making Patel acting director. The plan falls apart when Haspel threatens to resign and reveal everything that’s been going on.
🔴 Dec. 12—Texas Republicans respond to failure of seditious suit with calls for secession.
🟡 Dec. 13—Trump once again claims that he won the election “overwhelmingly,” and says there was “massive fraud.” He claims that Democrats voted two, three, or four times, and declares that he will “never give up.”
🔴 Dec. 13—“Stop the Steal” rallies continue to be accompanied by violence across the country as Trump fanatics swear to never surrender.
🟠 Dec. 13—House Republicans sign onto plan to nullify election if the Electoral College votes for Biden.
⚪ Dec. 14—The Electoral College votes to deliver victory to Joe Biden.
🔴 Dec. 14—Michigan Republicans propose a plan to overturn electoral vote and send their own slate of electors to Congress, even it requires violence.
🔵 Dec. 14—Wisconsin Supreme Court tosses Trump’s lawsuit seeking to have 221,000 voters disenfranchised, in a narrow 4-3 decision.
🟠 Dec. 15—Trump brings new acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to White House, insists he appoint special investigators for election fraud, and announce support of Trump’s lawsuits. Rosen refuses.
🟢 Dec. 17—Michigan conducts a hand recount of votes in Antrim County, in response to Sidney Powell’s “Kraken” lawsuit. Totals change by just a dozen votes.
🔴 Dec. 17—The Proud Boys stage attacks on Black churches in Washington, D.C., in connection with a “Stop the Steal” gathering.
🟠 Dec. 18—Senate Republicans stage a hearing to promote Trump’s claims of election fraud, including disinformation and testimony from witnesses who had already had their claims thrown out of court.
🟠 Dec. 18—Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell meet with Trump and urge him to move forward on Flynn’s plan to institute martial law and force a “do-over” election where Trump sets the rules. Trump considers bypassing DOJ to make Powell special prosecutor in charge of a sweeping elections investigation.
🔴 Dec. 19—“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” tweets Trump. “Be there, will be wild!”
🔴 Dec. 21—Trump supporters storm the Oregon Capitol, force their way past police, and enter the Capitol building.
🟡 Dec. 23—Trump calls Georgia’s lead elections investigator and insists that he “find the fraud” in a lengthy conversation where he complained about other officials. Trump declares that the investigator would be a “national hero” if he overturns Georgia’s vote.
🟡 Dec. 23—Trump calls Raffensperger “an enemy of the people” for refusing to overturn the election.
🟡 Dec. 29—Raffensperger announces that the investigator has found no sign of fraud.
🟠 Dec. 30—Sen. Josh Hawley announces he will join House Republicans in objecting to electoral votes, ensuring that counting ceremony will take hours longer than necessary, and inflaming the importance of Jan. 6.
🟠 Dec. 31—Trump abruptly departs his News Years events at Mar-a-Lago to make an early return to Washington, D.C. Likely related to plans being made with Clark.
🟠 Jan. 01—DOJ officials warn B.J. Pak, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, that Trump is “obsessing” about his office and may take actions to replace him.
🟠 Jan. 02—DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark meets with Trump. The two develop a plan in which Trump will replace acting AG Rosen with Clark, and Clark will then move forward to inform Georgia legislators that the DOJ is investigating serious election fraud in the state; simultaneously, Clark will file suit in effort to prevent Congress from counting electoral votes on Jan 6.
🟡 Jan. 02—Trump calls Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asks him to “find” votes. He also warns that U.S. attorney B.J. Pak is a “never-Trumper” who won’t support him. The recording surfaces the next day, after a member of the secretary of state’s office releases recording due to Trump’s continued complaints about Raffensperger following the call.
🟠 Jan. 03—The recording drops just hours before Rosen and Clark meet with Trump and White House attorney Pat Cipollone. With the tape causing problems, Cippollone convinces Trump not to execute Clark’s plan.
🔴 Jan. 04—Trump attends a “Stop the Steal” rally in Georgia. “Democrats are trying to steal the White House … They’re not taking this White House. We’re going to fight like hell, I’ll tell you right now.“
⚪ Jan. 04— Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asks House and Senate sergeants at arms for permission to place the D.C. National Guard on alert. His request is denied.
🔴 Jan. 05— Trump tweets that, “Washington is being inundated with people who don’t want to see an election victory stolen by emboldened Radical Left Democrats. Our Country has had enough, they won’t take it anymore!”
🔴 Jan. 05—Lauren Boebert tweets “Remember these next 48 hours. These are some of the most important days in American history.” Multiple lawmakers report seeing Boebert provide tours to a “large group,” which Boebert denies.
🔴 Jan. 05—Multiple groups of Trump supporters post messages on social media endorsing use of force the following day. “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.”
⚪ Jan. 05—Georgia Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win both of the state’s Senate seats in runoff election, giving Democrats control of the Senate.
🟡 Jan. 09— B.J. Pak resigns.
🔴 Jan. 15—MyPillow founder Mike Lindell visits White House with papers urging Trump to carry through with Flynn’s plan for martial law.
⚪ Jan. 20—Joe Biden inaugurated as 46th president of the United States.
The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
● OH-Sen: Several Ohio Republicans publicly expressed interest on Monday in running to succeed GOP Sen. Rob Portman in the hours following his surprise retirement announcement, and a few more are now making noises about getting in. The most prominent among them is the far-right extremist Rep. Jim Jordan, who infamously delivered a speech on the floor of the House just before the Jan. 6 terrorist riot where he repeated Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 presidential race and questioned how "somehow the guy who never left his house wins the election?"
Jordan did not rule out the idea of a Senate bid when asked this week, saying, "We'll see. I'm focused on my work on the Judiciary Committee ... and this crazy impeachment trial." Back in November, Cleveland.com reported that Jordan was considering a primary bid against Gov. Mike DeWine, who infuriated Trump by recognizing Joe Biden's victory. However, at least one consultant was very skeptical Jordan would run to lead the state, and we haven't heard anything new about a potential gubernatorial campaign in the ensuing two months.
Several more of Jordan's current or former House colleagues are also talking about seeking the GOP nod for Senate. Rep. Bill Johnson said, "I am seriously considering this opportunity and over the next few weeks, I will talk to my family, friends and supporters to determine if this is the right time and the right opportunity." Fellow Rep. Brad Wenstrup also said he would talk to people about his future, though he didn't lay out a timeline for when he'd decide
Campaign ActionFormer Rep. Pat Tiberi, for his part, said Monday that "there will be a time and place to discuss his successor, but that day is not today." Tiberi considered running for the state's other Senate seat in 2017 against Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, but he not only passed, he decided later that year to resign from Congress altogether to lead a business group. Tiberi, though, retains a $5 million war chest that he could use on another bid for federal office.
Another Republican who has expressed interest is state Sen. Matt Dolan, who is a co-owner of the Cleveland Indians team and whom Cleveland.com's Andrew Tobias describes as "a more-moderate, business friendly Republican." Tobias also says of the potential electoral effects of Dolan's status as a team owner, “[W]hether or not that's an advantage depends on what the front office is doing, so that's open to debate right now."
Two Republicans, though, have said no to a Senate campaign: Rep. Troy Balderson and Youngstown State President Jim Tressel. Tressel, who is widely known as the championship-winning former head football coach at the Ohio State University, has been mentioned as a potential statewide candidate for years but has never gone for it, and the 68-year-old university head seemed to definitively rule out running for office this week when he said, "Too busy here at YSU to run for the Senate … it is time for the young guys to step up."
On the Democratic side, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley acknowledged to the New York Times that she was considering both a Senate run or a campaign against DeWine for governor. Whaley didn't indicate which office she'd prefer but seemed especially motivated to stop Jordan from representing Ohio in the Senate, saying, "If Jim Jordan decides to run [for Senate], it is highly likely he will win that primary. We recognize that the soul of our state is at stake, and that's a motivation to all of us."
● AZ-Sen: Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich was reportedly likely to run for Arizona's governorship, but with Gov. Doug Ducey's recent announcement that he won't try to challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly next year, Brnovich isn't ruling out that race, either. "I'm too busy watching the Packers game, enjoying a beer and a brat with my wife's family, to think about the Senate or anything else political," said Brnovich, whose high-profile clashes with Ducey have led some Arizona politicos to speculate that the term-limited governor is backing state Treasurer Kimberly Yee as a way to block Brnovich from succeeding him.
But Yee hasn't committed to a gubernatorial bid, and in fact she's now also surfaced as a possible Senate candidate. So has Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson, another would-be Republican contender for governor who promised an announcement last month but didn't follow through. Rep. David Schweikert, however, sounds unlikely. In his first public remarks on a potential promotion, the Republican congressman said he was likely to stay put, explaining, "I'm probably an election cycle away from getting at least a subcommittee in Ways and Means," the powerful House committee he currently sits on.
● GA-Sen, GA-Gov: An aide to Doug Collins confirms the former congressman is considering either a primary challenge against Gov. Brian Kemp, a fellow Republican, or a second bid for the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that former state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Trump-supporting former Democrat who joined the Republican Party this month, could also run for Senate. Jones made a bid for Senate once before when he was still a Democrat, losing the 2008 primary in a runoff to former state Rep. Jim Martin.
● NC-Sen: State Sen. Jeff Jackson announced his entry into the race for North Carolina's open Senate seat on Monday, making him the most prominent Democrat to join the contest to date. Jackson, an attorney and Afghanistan war veteran with the Army Reserve, considered a Senate bid last cycle but declined, claiming Chuck Schumer derided his plan to kick off his campaign with "100 town halls in 100 days." Undeterred, Jackson pledged to visit all 100 North Carolina counties in his launch video "just as soon as it's safe."
Jackson, who is white, will face off against a one-time colleague, former state Sen. Erica Smith, with whom he has some unpleasant history. Smith unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Senate last cycle and subsequently appeared to endorse Jackson's Republican challenger, Sonja Nichols, in September. Smith, who is Black, later claimed she never backed Nichols, but when asked at the time on Facebook whether she'd requested that Nichols stop touting her as an endorser, she declined to answer and retorted, "you cannot see beyond your sexist male privilege."
● NC-Sen, FL-Sen: The New York Times reports that the possibility that Lara Trump could run for Senate in North Carolina is looking "less clear" following the loss of her father-in-law, Donald Trump, in last year's election. The same piece also reports that rumors about a Senate campaign in Florida by Ivanka Trump, whose potential candidacy was based on the most gossamer of whispers, are "unlikely to develop further."
● PA-Sen, PA-Gov: Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has declined to rule out a bid for either Senate or governor next year, saying of his possible interest in running for higher office, "The plan right now is to do my job. Things happen." Recently, a spokesperson did not deny reports that Kenney, a Democrat, was considering both races.
● AR-Gov: To no one's surprise, Donald Trump has endorsed his former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in her newly launched bid for governor of Arkansas. Trump's statement of support reads just like the cookie-cutter endorsements he'd issue from his former Twitter account, only this one came in the form of a press release from his "Save America PAC" and went on for the length of about 1.5 tweets.
Meanwhile, Republican state Sen. Jim Hendren, a nephew of term-limited Gov. Asa Hutchinson, says he'll announce whether he'll enter the GOP primary "in the coming weeks."
● FL-Gov: The South Florida Sun-Sentinel adds one more name to the mix of possible Democratic contenders for governor next year, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. The aside comes amid a longer interview with former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who's talked about running statewide as an independent but now sounds more inclined to seek the governorship rather than launch a bid for Senate.
● MD-Gov: Former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez, who last month declined to rule out a bid for governor, has now confirmed he's considering the race. Perez was recently replaced at the DNC by former South Carolina Senate candidate Jaime Harrison, Joe Biden's pick to run the committee.
● MN-Gov: MyPillow guy Mike Lindell, who was just kicked off Twitter for promoting lunatic election conspiracy theories, is now suggesting that he won't announce a bid for governor until he gets to the bottom of his investigation, telling Axios' Torey Van Oot, "Why would anybody want to run if they had the same machines with the election fraud?" As Van Oot notes, though, this might just be Lindell's way of clearing an escape path if in fact he's not interested in running after all.
Or maybe not! In an NPR interview later the same day that Axios published its report, Lindell tried to claim that (LOL) Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had taken control of his account to post "fake" information, "acting like they were me, putting out a narrative that was completely not me." In other words, Lindell has now found the real killer, thus rehabbing his sullied reputation and once more opening the door to a gubernatorial campaign, right? Right.
● TX-Gov: Former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke said in a recent radio interview that a bid for governor next year is "something I'm gonna think about," though he added, "[W]hether I'm a candidate for governor or I support someone who's a candidate for governor, I want to make sure we have excellence in leadership." Last year, O'Rourke declined to rule out a run when asked.
● VA-Gov: Wealthy investor Pete Snyder announced he would enter the race for governor on the GOP side on Tuesday, joining several other notable candidates who are seeking the Republican nomination this year. The Washington Post also reports that the GOP's convention will take place on May 1, though Republicans still have no idea how they'll host one amid the pandemic.
● CA-22: 2020 Democratic nominee Phil Arballo launched a TV commercial Tuesday to announce a second campaign against Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, who remains one of Donald Trump's most prominent toadies in Congress. Last year, Nunes won a very expensive campaign against Arballo 54-46 as Trump was carrying his Central Valley seat by a slightly smaller 52-46 margin.
This district, which is located near Fresno and Tulare, has long been reliably red turf, and any Democrat would have a very tough time unseating even a Republican as odious as Nunes. Arballo, though, told the Sacramento Bee that, while he didn't expect the state's independent redistricting commission to "dramatically change" the district lines, "we think they might be improved upon in terms of competitiveness." No one knows what the new map will look like, however, and Arballo acknowledged that he was starting his campaign now "to make sure we have the resources to roll out when the time comes."
Other Democrats might be interested in running if Nunes does become more vulnerable, but one familiar name has said no. 2018 nominee Andrew Janz, who lost to Nunes 53-47 and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Fresno last year, told the paper that he was endorsing Arballo again.
● NM-01: Democratic state Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero has filed paperwork with the FEC for a possible bid in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, though she doesn't appear to have said anything publicly about her interest yet. Leaders from both parties will pick their nominees in the likely special election to succeed Rep. Deb Haaland, whom Joe Biden has nominated to serve as his secretary of the interior.
● OH-16, OH-13: Former Republican state Rep. Christina Hagan, who'd come up as a possible primary challenger to pro-impeachment Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, now says she'll wait until the redistricting process concludes before deciding whether she'll run. Depending on how the new map turns out, it also sounds like she might consider a rematch with Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who held her off 52-45 last fall in the 13th District.
● SC-07: Republican state Rep. William Bailey says he's formed an exploratory committee to weigh a possible primary challenge to Rep. Tom Rice, one of 10 Republicans who recently voted to impeach Donald Trump. Bailey did not offer a specific deadline for when he might make a decision. Meanwhile, another possible GOP candidate, Horry County Schools Board chair Ken Richardson, says he'll wait until his school system is "through the pandemic" before making up his mind.
● Cincinnati, OH Mayor: Former Mayor Mark Mallory announced Tuesday that he would not run to regain his old post this year. Unnamed sources also tell the Cincinnati Business Courier that another Democrat, former state party chair David Pepper, also will sit the race out.
● Pres-by-CD: Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide goes to Tennessee, which once again was one of Donald Trump's strongest states. You can find our detailed calculations here, a large-size map of the results here, and our permanent, bookmarkable link for all 435 districts here.
Trump carried the Volunteer State last year 61-38, which wasn't much different from his 61-35 performance in 2016, and as before, he won seven of the state's nine congressional districts. Trump scored at least 64% of the vote in each of these seats, all of which have been in Republican hands since the 2010 GOP wave. Biden, meanwhile, won both Democratic-held districts, carrying Rep. Jim Cooper's Nashville-area 5th District 60-37 and Rep. Steve Cohen's Memphis-based 9th District 79-20.
Interestingly, the GOP-controlled seat that gave Trump his smallest margin was the one that hasn't elected a Democrat since 1852, before the Republican Party was even founded, though it was still far from close: Rep. Tim Burchett's 2nd District around Knoxville supported Trump 64-34, which was just a tick down from his 65-30 performance against Hillary Clinton.
At the heart of the 2nd District is Knox County, which has in fact been represented by a member of the nativist Know Nothing Party more recently than a Democrat, with William Henry Sneed taking it during President Franklin Pierce's 1854 midterm. Sneed was replaced two years later by fellow Know Nothing Horace Maynard, who, like many anti-secession politicians in the years before and during the Civil War, identified with a number of different political labels.
Sneed's East Tennessee base remained loyal to the Union during the conflict, though he temporarily left Congress in 1863 when he was appointed state attorney general by military governor Andrew Johnson. Sneed returned in 1866 when Tennessee was readmitted to the Union after Johnson was elevated to the presidency following Abraham Lincoln's assassination, this time as a full-fledged member of the Republican Party.
After the federal government abandoned Reconstruction, however, Republicans throughout the South quickly found themselves with little influence. Knox County, though, remained a durable exception: The GOP continued to represent the area in Congress during the entire era of Democratic dominance known as the "Solid South," and it remained in power as the rest of Tennessee and neighboring states began their broader migration toward the Republican Party in the wake of Richard Nixon's "Southern strategy."
Democrats hung on in Tennessee longer than in other corners of the South, but those days are long gone. Republicans gained control of redistricting in 2010 for the first time since Reconstruction, and they'll once again decide the new congressional map.
An impasse ends in the Senate as Democrats win a filibuster battle.
But as in past fights over the filibuster, the outcome is likely to be only a temporary solution. As they press forward on Mr. Biden’s agenda, Democrats will come under mounting pressure from activists to jettison the rule, which effectively requires 60 votes to advance any measure, should Republicans use it regularly to stall or stop the administration’s priorities.
Merrick Garland could not be reached for comment.
Asawin Suebsaeng/Daily Beast:
Trump Fumes in His First Weekend Out of Office as Fauci Clowns on Him
In recent days, former President Donald Trump has watched from afar as one of his most popular rivals for public attention has been unleashed by the Biden administration to, in part, disparage Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the ex-president hasn’t even been able to tweet about it.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, once a prominent figure on Trump’s coronavirus task force who’s now a top COVID-19 adviser to President Joe Biden, began his multi-day blitz to different news outlets that included openly expressing his relief that the old crew was gone and that he could now serve in the Biden administration.
Drew Altman/Kaiser Family Foundation at Axios:
The U.S. needs to ramp up vaccinations to reach herd immunity
The U.S. would need to significantly ramp up coronavirus vaccinations if we’re going to reach herd immunity any time soon.
Why it matters: At minimum, herd immunity requires vaccinating 70% of the population. And reaching that benchmark is especially difficult — because children aren’t eligible for the vaccines yet, the U.S. would need to inoculate the vast majority of adults.
By the numbers: The U.S. would need to administer 2.4 million doses per day in order to vaccinate 70% of the population by July 4.
- To get there by Labor Day would require 1.9 million doses per day.
- To reach herd immunity by Jan. 1, 2022, we’d need 1.2 million doses per day.
Where it stands: The Centers for Disease Control reported 1.6 million vaccinations last Friday, and yesterday the Biden administration upped its goal — it's now aiming for 1.5 million shots per day, instead of 1 million.
Liz Szabo/CNN:
Anti-vaccine activists peddle theories that Covid-19 shots are deadly, undermining vaccination
Anti-vaccine groups have falsely claimed for decades that childhood vaccines cause autism, weaving fantastic conspiracy theories involving government, Big Business and the media.
Now, the same groups are blaming patients' coincidental medical problems on covid shots, even when it's clear that age or underlying health conditions are to blame, Hotez said. "They will sensationalize anything that happens after someone gets a vaccine and attribute it to the vaccine," [Dr Peter] Hotez said.
Kevin Robillard/HuffPost:
The Game-Changing Biden Order You Haven’t Heard About
A directive about the regulatory process could lead to progressive movement on climate change, public health and worker safety.Tucked into all of those high-profile moves, though, was a memo with a title seemingly designed to be ignored: “Modernizing Regulatory Review.” Sent to the press at 9:43 p.m. on Wednesday in the middle of the Tom Hanks-led inaugural celebration, the White House was not expecting the dry document to drive headlines or set American hearts aflutter.
But the memo could unleash a wave of stronger regulations to reduce income inequality, fight climate change and protect public health. Among left-leaning experts on regulation, it’s a signal that Biden could break with 40 years of conservative policy.
“I realize what I’m about to say to you sounds absurd,” James Goodwin, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform, told HuffPost. “It has the potential to be the most significant action Biden took on day one.”
If Biden wants unity, he should switch off with Trump as president every other year.
Jonathan Bernstein/Bloomberg:
Ignore Republican Arguments Against a Trial of Trump
Claiming that the Constitution bars impeachment convictions of ex-presidents is an easy way to dodge what’s really at stake.
Republicans are converging on an appeal to process, claiming that a post-presidential impeachment is improper. I suppose that’s better than actively supporting Trump’s attempts to undermine U.S. democracy by promoting his baseless stolen-election fantasy and provoking the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, but they’re not fooling anyone. At least I hope not. I hate to pick on Missouri Senator Josh Hawley when he’s already getting well-deserved grief elsewhere, but c’mon. Really? Hawley: “I think that this impeachment effort is, I mean, I think it's blatantly unconstitutional. It's a really, really, really dangerous precedent.”
What could that possibly mean? Dangerous? …
By what standard is it so dangerous to bar from further office a defeated one-term president who has created a legitimate case for impeachment, one so serious that Congress wants to move ahead despite the obstacles and disincentives and is somehow able to muster at least 67 votes in the Senate? Suppose it is a mistake in that situation to prevent the electorate from changing their minds and electing this unpopular, disgraced president to a second term after all. Is it really a significant danger only avoided by closing the impeachment window as soon as the next president takes office? Or is it, more realistically, a circumstance so unusual that it’s unlikely to happen again, and wouldn’t matter a whole lot if it did?
My fascism problem and yours
After weeks (years, really) of debate on the subject I realized I’d never really committed to writing my argument about why I think it’s appropriate to talk about fascism in regards to Trump and Trumpism. I do not think it’s so straightforward that Trump or the preponderance of his followers are self-conscious fascists. I think critics of the fascism position have correctly pointed out that the number of hardcore, self-avowed fascists in the United States is quite small and not organized into a formidable force, but nevertheless I would say that Trump represents an incipient or inchoate fascism, as others have argued, and moreover that Trumpism has a fascist structure.
What do I mean by this? Trump’s politics contains an inspired, charismatic leader (“I alone can fix it”) on a mission to restore a diseased national body (“Make America Great Again,” Crippled America, etc.), standing in the way of this are corrupt elites and various unclean ethnic minorities, the use of street and paramilitary violence is part of the solution to this corruption, removing obstacles to the leader’s will. Further, no possible abrogation of the providential leader’s power can be legitimate: it is always ipso facto fraudulent, part of the web of deceit spun by the corrupt elites. Often these elites are imagined to be in vast international conspiracies against the good people of the true nation.
