On Wednesday night, Biden’s Communications Director Kate Bedingfield was asked by CNN’s Alisyn Camerota if the Biden administration would deny access to news outlets should they decide to “lie” about Biden.
Camerota referred to Biden’s inaugural speech, in which he stated, “Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit.”
Camerota made it clear who she was referring to: “They are right-wing companies, some are more fringe than others, at this point, or more extreme than others.”
RELATED: Katie Couric Asks How We’ll ‘Deprogram People Who Signed Up For The Cult Of Trump?’
In response, Bedingfield said, “Now obviously, if media companies are willfully lying or are not carrying forth straightforward honest information from the president when we make him available, or from administration officials when we make them available, then, of course, that’s something we are going to think about and we’re going to factor in.”
Bedingfield also stated the commitment of her office to, “use all sorts of creative platforms, that we’re going to be able to reach out in all sorts of ways to meet people where they are. We love viewers who watch CNN, but we also love viewers who don’t watch CNN.”
CNN’s Alisyn Camerota Asks Biden Comms Chief if They Will Retaliate Against Networks Like Fox News if They Lie https://t.co/mYy0nqbUIR
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 21, 2021
Bedingfield didn’t elaborate what “factoring in” might mean for an outlet that “lies” about Biden.
CNN wasn’t the only outlet with commentary on the First Amendment.
MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace, a former Communications Director herself in the George W. Bush administration, offered up an idea that to avoid the dangers of “echo chambers.”
Under the Wallace plan, a “Republican must assert the truth before they’re allowed to share any other views.”
Wallace likened “fake news” to counterfeit currency, and added that, “If we can protect against counterfeit dollar bills, we should be able to protect against fake news that we now know has the potential to kill people as it did two weeks ago.”
Wallace referring to the violence that took place at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 as Congress prepared to count electoral votes and officially certify the election.
.@NicolleDWallace calls for the permanent expulsion and punishment for any and all forms of conservative media that run counter to her political views. She says Republicans should be BANNED from speaking unless they first speak "the truth."
So, what camp am I going to, Nicolle? pic.twitter.com/h0cpvxitKd
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 20, 2021
RELATED: CNN Journalist Says Reflecting Pool Looks Like “Extension Of Joe Biden’s Arms Embracing America.”
Also on Wednesday, Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki held her first press conference.
The White House Press Corps proved their commitment for speaking truth to power and holding government officials accountable.,
One reporter asked what ‘measures’ the press ‘took to ensure that the President is safe’ from lingering Trump officials’ germs.
Another tough question was, “Can you just give us some color about what it was like for him going into the Oval Office? He’s been waiting for this for so long. what was his reaction?”
Perhaps the best window into what’s to come came from this hard-hitting question:
“Will Biden keep Donald Trump’s Air Force One color scheme change?”
Psaki was delighted to engage the question.
REPORTER: "Will [Biden] keep Donald Trump's Air Force One color scheme change?
PSAKI: "This is such a good question!" pic.twitter.com/PafHiBtRUs
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 21, 2021
The toughest question went to Fox News’s Peter Doocy who posed the question,”So, President Biden wants a theme of his presidency to be unifying the country, does he think that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should drop a potentially divisive Senate impeachment trial?”
Psaki made sure the American people knew exactly where Joe Biden stood by transparently responding, “His view is the way to bring the country together is to address the problems we’re facing.”
RELATED: ABC Quietly Edits Story That Claims Republican Movement Should Be “Cleansed” Of Trump Supporters
The post CNN Asks Biden Spokeswoman If Admin Will Deny Access To News Outlets That ‘Lie’ About Biden appeared first on The Political Insider.
The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which is the actor’s union, has announced that it has found “probable cause” that Donald Trump has “violated the union’s Constitution.” The former president has been a member of the union for over thirty years.
This matter is set to be heard by the union’s Disciplinary Committee, and if found guilty, Trump will be reprimanded in some way. He could be censured, fined, suspended, or even expelled from the actor’s union, according to Deadline.
The report cites Article XIV of the union’s Constitution, which states that members could be expelled for “engaging in actions antagonistic to the interests or integrity of the union.”
The complaint against Trump is in relation to the Capitol riots earlier this month, claiming that the ex-president supported “a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members.”
Related: Katie Couric Asks How We’ll ‘Deprogram People Who Signed Up For The Cult Of Trump?’
“Donald Trump attacked the values that this union holds most sacred — democracy, truth, respect for our fellow Americans of all races and faiths, and the sanctity of the free press,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. “There’s a straight line from his wanton disregard for the truth to the attacks on journalists perpetrated by his followers.”
The union’s national executive director David White spoke out about this situation as well.
“Our most important role as a union is the protection of our members,” he said. “The unfortunate truth is, this individual’s words and actions over the past four years have presented actual harm to our broadcast journalist members.”
“The board’s resolution addresses this effort to undermine freedom of the press and reaffirms the principles on which our democratic society rests, and which we must all work to protect and preserve,” White continued.
The union sent a letter to Trump this week to let him know about the charges that have been made against him. A vote of two-thirds of the SAG-AFTRA board is needed to expel Trump.
Given how radically liberal and hateful towards Trump Hollywood has become, it would be no surprise if the union does indeed end up expelling him.
This piece was written by James Samson on January 21, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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The post Trump Gets Bad News As Screen Actors Guild Finds ‘Probable Cause’ To Expel Him appeared first on The Political Insider.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her radically liberal “Squad” were quick to celebrate the inaugurations of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday, undoubtedly hoping that this new administration will help them inflict their radical agenda on our nation.
As per usual, Ocasio-Cortez led the charge among her “Squad” in praising Biden and Harris.
“A historic day,” she tweeted. “Congratulations to our new President @JoeBiden and our new Vice President @KamalaHarris. Now we must begin creating justice, healing our planet, and improving the material conditions for all people. The work is on all of us to organize and build a better future.”
Related: AOC Defies Biden To Say That She Disagrees With His ‘Optimistic’ View Of The GOP
A historic day. Congratulations to our new President @JoeBiden and our new Vice President @KamalaHarris.
Now we must begin creating justice, healing our planet, and improving the material conditions for all people.
The work is on all of us to organize and build a better future.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 20, 2021
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) got in on the action as well, tweeting, “Today, we begin a new chapter in America. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will build back a better world for all Americans. I can’t wait to work with the Biden-Harris administration to implement meaningful change for the people.”
Today, we begin a new chapter in America.
President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will build back a better world for all Americans.
I can’t wait to work with the Biden-Harris administration to implement meaningful change for the people. pic.twitter.com/wInsi1cgPe
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 20, 2021
Omar went on to lay out exactly what she wants to see Biden do as president.
“I’m excited about Biden’s promises to end the Muslim ban, reenter the Paris Climate Agreement, reinstate DACA and increase refugee admissions by over 100,000 in 2021. These executive orders will help undo the damage of the last four years,” she wrote.
“We cannot be too bold in responding to this pandemic. People don’t just need $2K checks, but recurring payments until the end of this pandemic,” Omar added. “We don’t just need a rent moratorium, we need rent cancellation so people aren’t shackled with debt when the moratorium ends.”
Related: Ilhan Omar, Squad Members Call For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers
We cannot be too bold in responding to this pandemic.
People don’t just need $2K checks, but recurring payments until the end of this pandemic.
We don’t just need a rent moratorium, we need rent cancellation so people aren't shackled with debt when the moratorium ends.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 20, 2021
“There is so much the president can do through executive orders that would have a tangible impact on millions of people’s lives—from student debt, to lowering drug prices, to a $15 minimum wage,” Omar concluded.
“We will have the opportunity to carry out the most progressive agenda our country has ever seen,” she said. “This is our chance to create the America I dreamed about as a refugee—a country where anything is possible. We are rooting for you, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris.
We will have the opportunity to carry out the most progressive agenda our country has ever seen.
This is our chance to create the America I dreamed about as a refugee—a country where anything is possible.
We are rooting for you, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 20, 2021
Not wanting to be left out, Rep. Ayanna Pressley tweeted the Psalm 30:5 Bible verse, “Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.”
“After drinking from a firehose of contempt for the American people, we now have leaders committed to compassion & empathy. For that, I am joyful,” she dramatically added. “Congratulations @POTUS & @VP.”
“Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5
After drinking from a firehose of contempt for the American people, we now have leaders committed to compassion & empathy. For that, I am joyful.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 20, 2021
“Today, we will witness President @JoeBiden repeal the #MuslimBan, a racist policy, that left so many families separated & set a tone of hate,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) wrote on her Twitter page.
Today, we will witness President @JoeBiden repeal the #MuslimBan, a racist policy, that left so many families separated & set a tone of hate. https://t.co/qtONM5hGxO
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 20, 2021
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), the newest member of the “Squad,” let her voice be heard as well.
“Congratulations on making history, Madam Vice President @KamalaHarris,” she tweeted. “I’m excited to partner with you and President @JoeBiden to get our communities the help we need.”
Congratulations on making history, Madam Vice President @KamalaHarris. I’m excited to partner with you and President @JoeBiden to get our communities the help we need.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 20, 2021
The “Squad” has been open in the past about wanting to pressure Biden to carry out their radical agenda. It remains to be seen just how successful they will be in this endeavor.
This piece was written by James Samson on January 21, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
Carlson Insists Troops Being Used for Optics
Liz Cheney Voting To Impeach Trump Backfires On Her As She’s Censured By Wyoming Republicans
Rashida Tlaib Unravels – Says ‘It’s Really Important To Understand Israel Is A Racist State’
The post AOC And Her ‘Squad’ Celebrate Biden And Harris – We Must Begin ‘Healing Our Planet’ appeared first on The Political Insider.
During House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s weekly press briefing on Thursday morning, the California Democrat appeared to stop herself from making a mistake many of us may find ourselves making as we adjust to life in 2021. What is it? The speaker referred to Joe Biden as “vice president” and then updated her language with the now correct identifier: President Biden. As change goes, a pretty fun one to adjust to after four years of the Trump administration.
On a more serious note, however, the speaker stressed a point that will be reassuring to many progressives, Democrats, and, frankly, even some Republicans. In reference to the pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, Pelosi said, “There is no question that there were members in this body who gave aid and comfort to those … with the idea that they were embracing a lie. ... A lie perpetuated by the president."
She went on to state that there will be an after-action review, and, if House lawmakers “did aid and abet, there will be more than just comments from their colleagues here. … There will be prosecution if they aided and abetted an insurrection in which people died.” Pelosi stressed, of course, that it all comes down to evidence, which, in her words, “remains to be seen.”
Let’s check out other highlights of her briefing, as well as clips, below.
Here’s that clip.
A journalist, identified on Twitter as Manu Raju of CNN, asked Pelosi if she was at all concerned that moving forward with an impeachment trial could contradict or undercut efforts to unify the country. In a word, she said, “No.”
Here’s that clip.
“The fact is, the president of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection. I don’t think it’s very unifying to say, Oh, let’s just forget it and move on.” Pelosi stressed it’s their responsibility to protect and defend the integrity and constitution of the United States.
"You don't say to a president, ‘Do whatever you want in the last months of your administration,’ ... 'You're going to get a Get Out of Jail Card free,' because people think we should make nice-nice and forget that people died here on January 6th."
Pelosi stressed she thinks forgetting would, in fact, be harmful to unifying the country. And she’s definitely right, even as some Republicans, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, argue: “What good comes from impeaching a guy in Florida?,” as though Trump has been just “a guy in Florida” for the last four years.
On a heartwarming note, Pelosi talked about the inauguration as a “breath of fresh air” for the nation, and congratulated the three new Democratic senators, as well as celebrating the new majority Democrats hold in the Senate.
Here is that clip.
You can check out a full livestream below, courtesy of YouTube.
Republicans want to move along and forget that whole thing where a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, threatening the lives of lawmakers and killing one police officer and wounding others. Donald Trump isn’t in office anymore, the senators who would have to vote in his impeachment trial say, so there’s nothing to talk about anymore.
We should move on from the 15 police officers hospitalized and more than 100 injured as Trump-supporting domestic terrorists beat them with fire extinguishers and American flags and fists and whatever else was available, shot bear spray at them, massed in the hundreds if not thousands to force their way through doors and beat down windows, and in one case Tasered an officer in the neck until he had a heart attack.
Rep. John Katko, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee and one of the 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment, said after classified briefings on the attack, “I was left with a profound sense that it was much worse than people realized.”
But Senate Republicans are strenuously looking for excuses not to hold Trump accountable. Sen. John Cornyn spent Thursday morning quoting former Trump impeachment lawyer Alan Dershowitz to suggest that holding Trump to account for his significant role in whipping up the mob that attacked the Capitol would be merely “seek[ing] revenge” and would “distract from President Biden’s agenda, and make it hard to heal the country.”
”What good comes from impeaching a guy in Florida?” Sen. Lindsey Graham asked. But he made clear to CNN that his concern was not about “what good” but about what’s good for the Republican Party, saying: “There's no way to be a successful Republican Party without having President Trump working with all of us and all of us working with him. That's just a fact. And I think we got a decent chance of coming back in 2022. But we can't do it without the President.”
Trump told these people to come to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, the day Congress met to count the electoral votes that made Joe Biden the president. “Will be wild,” he tweeted. That day, he told the crowd “we’re going to have to fight much harder,” and, “You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can’t let that happen.” Then, “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” And he told them he would be with them as they marched on the Capitol.
What good would come from impeaching him now that he’s a private citizen in Florida? You put a marker down that inciting violence against Congress specifically as it attempts to carry out the process of democracy is not acceptable. Do Cornyn or Graham treat a dirt-filled wound by slapping a bandage on it and pretending it’s not there? Because that’s a recipe for festering infection, just as refusing to address what happened at the Capitol, and Trump’s role in it, would worsen the already festering infection in U.S. politics.
Republicans like Cornyn and Graham, though, don’t care about what’s good for the nation. They care about what’s good for the Republican Party.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing to give former President Donald Trump two weeks to prepare his legal case for his impeachment trial, arguing that the Senate cannot "short-circuit the due process" that Trump deserves.
McConnell told Republican senators that he would propose to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that the former president have until early-February to prepare his case, according to three people briefed on a conference call Thursday. The trial would start in mid-February under the timeline, though Schumer has not yet accepted the deal.
“Senate Republicans are strongly united behind the principle that the institution of the Senate, the office of the presidency, and former President Trump himself all deserve a full and fair process that respects his rights and the serious factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake," McConnell said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Notably, delaying the trial would allow more of Biden's Cabinet to be confirmed in the ensuing period. But it could also reduce the GOP support for convicting the president, given that the assault on the Capitol that spurred the impeachment effort would be more than a month in the past.
“We received Leader McConnell’s proposal that only deals with pre-trial motions late this afternoon. We will review it and discuss it with him,” said a spokesperson for Schumer.
The discussion of a two-week delay comes as congressional leaders attempt to work out details of Trump’s second impeachment trial, including the former president’s defense against the House’s charges that he incited the deadly insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has so far refused to say when she plans to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate, a move that would require the upper chamber to almost immediately begin its trial. McConnell and Schumer are negotiating trial timing as part of a larger discussion about the Senate's organizing resolution in a 50-50 chamber as well as confirmation of Cabinet nominees.
If the two leaders can negotiate a deal and get buy-in from their caucuses, they can pick when the trial begins and shape the contours of it. Otherwise, the trial would start the next day the Senate is in session after Pelosi sends the article.
"He has a right to defend himself," Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told reporters on Thursday. "I don't think this is something that we should rush."
CBS first reported McConnell's effort to push the trial into February.
Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she would “soon” take steps that would formally launch Trump’s second impeachment trial. That could happen as soon as Friday, more than a week after a bipartisan House voted to convict Trump, according to lawmakers and aides.
But that could now change. Several Democrats said part of Pelosi’s calculation is waiting for Schumer and McConnell to reach a power sharing agreement for the 50-50 Senate. Pelosi acknowledged as such on Thursday, telling reporters the Senate was ready but there are “other questions about how a trial will proceed.”
“I’m not going to be telling you when it was going,” she added, declining to offer further specifics.
The House voted to impeach Trump on Jan. 13, with one week left in his term as every Democrat and nearly a dozen Republicans warned he posed a clear and present danger to the country.
But Pelosi has so far held off transmitting the article to the Senate, a process that involves the House’s impeachment managers hand-delivering the paperwork across the Capitol dome. It’s a similar move to Pelosi’s handling of Trump’s first impeachment in December 2019, when Democrats waited weeks over Congress’s winter recess to transmit the articles as they sought to carefully choreograph the start of the Senate’s trial.
This time, the process is more complicated as the start of a Senate impeachment trial would come as Trump is out of office and a newly inaugurated President Joe Biden attempts to lock in his Cabinet amid multiple national crises.
The Senate is moving quickly to approve key national security posts this week, but a trial — which would require senators to sit in the chamber six days a week for its duration — would almost certainly slow the process for at least some of Biden’s nominees if it began immediately.
Further complicating things, Schumer and McConnell have yet to reach an agreement for governing the Senate, which several Democrats said will have considerable influence over when Pelosi sends the article and the trial starts. The biggest obstacle to reaching a deal is McConnell’s demand that Schumer preserve the legislative filibuster, which Democrats have rebuffed.
Unlike in 2019, however, when almost all Republicans were in favor of acquitting Trump, his fate in the Senate remains uncertain. It is unlikely that 17 Republicans would vote to convict their former president, but key GOP senators, including McConnell, say they remain undecided and the GOP conference’s calculation could change quickly.
Some Republicans have questioned the constitutionality of holding an impeachment trial now that Trump is no longer in office. Some have also complained that the Democrats’ move to impeach Trump — regardless of his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that left five people dead — would undercut Biden’s calls for national unity at his inauguration ceremony on Wednesday.
But Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she is “not worried” about that argument.
“The president of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection,” Pelosi said. “I don't think it's very unifying to say, oh, let's just forget it and move on. That's not how you unify.”
“Just because he’s now gone — thank God — you don’t say to a president, ‘Do whatever you want in the last months of your administration. You’re going to get a get-out-of-jail card free’ because people think you should make nice, nice, and forget that people died here on Jan. 6.”