Report: Nikki Haley Isolated After Attacking Trump, Not Among GOP 2024 Presidential Hopefuls At CPAC

Posted on by Becky Noble

As conservatives gather for their annual conference known as CPAC, Nikki Haley will not be among the possible 2024 GOP contenders in attendance, with speculation that her rivalry with Donald Trump being a contributing factor.

According to one report, Haley is “isolated” after she attacked President Trump for the January 6 Capitol riot.

This comes in the aftermath last week of the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. asking for a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Her request was turned down.

Haley has a long history of attacking President Trump.

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Haley’s History Of Anti-Trump Comments

Nikki Haley has a history of comments critical of Trump, so it is not surprising that he would have turned down a meeting.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and just prior to Tump’s second impeachment, in an interview Haley said of Republicans that “We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t ever let that happen again.”

In the same interview, she questioned “any political viability” he was going to have going forward. Haley said she did not believe Trump would run in 2024. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.”

Haley’s comments on Donald Trump go back much farther than January of this year.

In 2016, she gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union Address, when she stated, “During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.”

In an interview the next day on NBC’s Today Show, Haley said that she was specifying then front-runner for the Republican nomination Donald Trump, was one of the “angry voices” she was referring to.

Haley invoked the Jun 2015 shooting of nine black parishioners in a Charleston church when she stated that she thinks Trump’s rhetoric is “dangerous.” She went on to say, “I know what that rhetoric can do. I saw it happen.”

She even went on to repeat the lie that Trump had not disavowed the KKK. 

“I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK,” Haley said. “That is not a part of our party, that is not who we want as president. We will allow not allow that in our country.”

Even PolitiFact acknowledges that Trump has disavowed white supremacists for decades.

In February of 2016, then South Carolina Governor Haley sounded every bit like a Never-Trumper.

Speaking to CNN affiliate WIS Television in Columbia, she said that candidate Donald Trump represented “everything a Governor doesn’t want in a president.”

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Haley’s Presidential Aspirations In Jeopardy?

According to a report from The Hill, a GOP source says that while Haley has been trying to position herself for a run for the White House, she is having difficulty in connecting with Trump supporters.

The source went on to say that “Haley has never understood the President and seems to not understand where the base of the Party is.” 

The Hill also quoted Alex Conant, a GOP consultant and former advisor to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in reference to Haley’s comments:

“Trump might run again, so you have to treat him as a potential competitor. But even if he doesn’t, he wants influence over who the party picks, and loyalty is what he values more than anything else. So it’s hard to build your own identity separate from him while maintaining loyalty and his support.”

The fact that she may be seen as a flip-flopper may harm her presidential hopes. A week after the riot, the Charleston CBS affiliate reported that while Haley criticized the President for the riot, she “called for people to ‘give the man a break’.”

She also stated she did not think there was “basis for impeachment.” 

RELATED: Democrat House Set To Pass ‘Equality Act’, Critics Warn It Attacks Women’s Rights And Religious Freedom

CPAC Will Draw Other Possible Presidential Contenders

As usual, this year’s CPAC gathering will draw other potential presidential hopefuls. Some other names that have been mentioned include Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Josh Hawley (R-MO). 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is also scheduled to speak, and has even been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate recently by Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

Most of those mentioned have been strong supporters of Trump, not only of the direction he would take the Republican Party, but his “America First” platform.

Nikki Haley’s comments for and against Donald Trump may separate her from other would-be Republican candidates, and the optics may say that she may prove the sources right, that she is indeed out of touch with the base of the party.

Politco reported that Lee Bright, a former colleague of Haley and an “archconservative in the statehouse” in South Carolina, might have sounded the alarm about Haley.

“Nikki is willing to do whatever she needs to do and be whoever she needs to be,” he said. 

He went on to add more serious accusations, “The fact is, she doesn’t have a core. Adapting to the electorate is what keeps you around in politics, and she’s done it more effectively than anyone I’ve ever seen. She went from being an enemy of the establishment to being the face of the establishment.”

Nikki Haley’s first decision about a White House run should be which part of the Republican Party she supports.

The post Report: Nikki Haley Isolated After Attacking Trump, Not Among GOP 2024 Presidential Hopefuls At CPAC appeared first on The Political Insider.

Mitt Romney Admits: Trump Would Win GOP Nomination If He Runs In 2024

Posted on by Becky Noble

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) says that if Donald Trump decides to run for a second term for president in 2024, it is likely he will get the Republican nomination. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee himself, says that he thinks Trump will continue to play a big role in GOP politics. 

Romney said on Tuesday, “He has by far the largest voice and a big impact in my party. I don’t know if he’s planning to run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he would win the nomination.”

Romney went on to say that if Trump did run in 2024, he would not be voting for him. 

Romney was a leading “Never Trump” figure in the GOP during the 2016 presidential contest, and voted to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial.

Trump is set to deliver a speech at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC.)

It will be his first public appearance since leaving the White House, and many expect that he will lay out his political plans for 2022, and 2024.

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Very Interesting Things Are Happening In The Republican Party

A source close to the former president told Axios that the speech is intended to be a “show of force,” and that he will state that “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.” 

Trump’s speech could just be a verification of sorts, of the transformation that is going on in the Republican Party that not all want to talk about or even acknowledge.

Donald Trump not only revealed the depths of the swamp, but that both sides of the aisle occupy it.

He also revealed deep fissures within the Republican Party. Even the most devout of the party cannot deny there is a Mitt Romney-Mitch McConnell-Liz Cheney wing of the party, then there is the Trump wing. 

In an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, Eric Trump stated the very reason for his father’s popularity.

“There’s 75-80 million people who would follow my father to the end of the Earth.” He added that they love Trump because he is not a traditional politician.

“There’s no question he will play a pivotal role in politics for a very long time to come.” Eric explained. “I really do believe he is the modern Republican Party.”

It is the assessments of people like Eric Trump that make the Romney-McConnell-Cheney wing crazy.

But as we move closer not just to 2024, but even to 2022, will they realize that the Trump wing is becoming the much bigger tent?

RELATED: Former Capitol Police Chief Contradicts Pelosi’s Top Investigator, Says Officers Were Not ‘Complicit’ In Riot

Looking At The Numbers

Numbers may tell the story of the future of the Republican Party.

A recent Suffolk University/USAToday poll showed that 46% of those that voted for Trump in 2020 would follow him to a third party if he were to start one. 

And something that should get the attention of the Romney wing of the party is that in a recent Rasmussen poll, 72% of Republican voters want their legislators to be more like Trump and less like establishment Romney, McConnell, Cheney types.

RELATED: House Democrats Want Biden To Relinquish Sole Authority To Launch Nuclear Weapons 

A Bad Ending For The GOP Establishment

A quick look at the numbers above show that things are not looking up for the establishment Republicans.

In addition to Mitt Romney saying he would not vote for Trump, Liz Cheney also said that, “Republicans must acknowledge the damage done by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, and his encouragement of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has begun a new PAC with the aim of “taking back the Republican Party from Trump.”

But like Liz Cheney, Kinzinger was among the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and has already got some pushback in the form of a primary challenger for 2022. 

Trump wing pushback has also come in the form of young guns like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who has had words with Cheney, and even gone to Wyoming to campaign against her.

Gaetz has also called out Kinzinger.

Eric Trump also said of the Biden administration on Fox News Monday morning that “When you see some of these policies that are literally destroying jobs, that are destroying industries, that are causing Texas to freeze, that are cutting off our power to our energy grids and all these other nonsensical policies. Right now, the enthusiasm, it’s better than it’s ever been.” 

He added that, “I think every single day, Biden makes people miss Donald Trump more.”

If you are talking about those in the Republican Party, it depends on who you are talking to. 

The post Mitt Romney Admits: Trump Would Win GOP Nomination If He Runs In 2024 appeared first on The Political Insider.

What’s Actually In the Biden-Democrat $1.9 Trillion ‘COVID Relief’ Bill

Posted on by Becky Noble

As the Biden administration and Democratic Congress release plans for the massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, otherwise known as the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” the Republican Study Committee (RSC) last week warned about some of items in the bill.

Some of the generalities that President Biden has made no secret of wanting in the bill, such as raising the minimum wage and financial aid to illegal immigrants are of course included, but what are some of the other tidbits conservatives are warning about?

Here’s what the RSC is opposing in the bill – the one that was pushed aside so Democrats could pursue a second impeachment of President Donald Trump.

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Highlights In The $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Bill

As previously stated, some of the items in the bill are no surprise. They have been part of a liberal Democrat wish list for quite a while, and have nothing to do with relief for those hardest hit by the pandemic or economic shutdowns.

One of the top items – a new federal mandatory minimum wage – instead has everything to do with essentially paying people to be a new voting bloc.

According to the RSC and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the result could be 1.4 million jobs lost, or even more. Most of those effected would be younger people with less formal education. 

The irony is clearly lost on Democrats for this one. There is an entire section, “TITLE VI COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS” in this 591 page behemoth, that covers such things as modifications to the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program), support for restaurants, and something entitled “direct appropriations.”

Yet the best way to help these struggling businesses is to allow them to first open for business if they haven’t already, and allow them to pay their employees what they can afford to pay and still operate. 

Anyone who knows anything about economics knows that if you cannot afford to pay all of your employees that brand new federal minimum wage, somebody’s got to go. 

Unemployment would come with an extra $400 per week in addition to regular payments. This would last up to a year and a half.

In the words of the RSC, “Under this plan, 53% of Americans would effectively receive a raise for being unemployed.”

And it would not just be Americans who would be paid to sit and watch Netflix all day. If you enter the U.S. illegally, it is payday for you as well, my friend.

The $1,400 stimulus checks that are still being debated would also go to those families in which at least one parent is an illegal immigrant. 

RELATED: Dr. Fauci Says ‘Possible’ Americans Might Have To Wear Masks Into 2020

Making Sure Teachers Unions Are Happy

America’s school children are not faring much better than America’s small businesses. Many parents do not feel as though their kids are getting a quality education sitting in front of a computer screen all day. 

But the Biden administration’s priority seems to be not with American kids getting a proper education, but making sure that America’s teachers unions keep donating to the Democrat Party.

Apparently hidden in the section entitled, “PART 1 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION”, is the additional provision of $130 billion, on top of the $110 billion they already receive, even if they remain closed.

If large numbers of American parents whose children are not included in a special classification feel their child’s education is suffering permanent consequences, imagine the feeling if your child is deemed “at risk,” “low income,” or “special needs.”

RELATED: Psaki Refuses To Answer If Biden Still Thinks Gov. Cuomo Is ‘Gold Standard For Leadership’

Covering Other Parts Of The Biden Agenda

The bill would crowd out those who need PPP funding the most and expand the qualifications to large nonprofits, labor unions, country clubs, fraternities and sororities, and publicly-traded internet news organizations. 

In other words, to already wealthy, well-positioned firms. 

With the majority of large donations going to the Democrat Party, is that why Joe Biden and the Democrats want to keep their country club buddies happy?

Social justice is absolutely included in the Democrats’ handouts. There is a $50 million funding provision for EPA “environmental justice grants.”

Has anyone ever figured out just what exactly environmental justice is? 

The RSC report calls this “a thinly-veiled kickback to leftist environmental groups.” Also included, $800 million in foreign food aid. 

Americans are going hungry right now. How about keeping that $800 million for American food aid?

And what Democrat stimulus package would be complete without a little identity politics thrown in? The bill allows for loan forgiveness worth 120% of debt to farmers and ranchers on the basis of race and ethnicity. 

In a report in “Successful Farming”, Georgia Republican Austin Scott said that the debt relief proposal “has no requirement of any proof of discrimination.” He also said that “payments of 120% could easily be challenged as reverse discrimination and unconstitutional.”

As was expected, Joe Biden, his administration, and a Democrat Congress is attempting to pander to every group they think they can turn into permanent Democrat voters by funding their pet causes. 

Too bad the American people are not a pet cause. 

The post What’s Actually In the Biden-Democrat $1.9 Trillion ‘COVID Relief’ Bill appeared first on The Political Insider.

Is Trump Running For President Again? He Declares ‘Tremendous Support’ For 2024 Run

Posted on by Becky Noble

Amid much speculation about his future in politics and more specifically with the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump gave an interview to Newsmax indicating he could run for President again.

During an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly on Wednesday, the 45th President would not commit to a second White House bid, but he did leave listeners with some juicy teasers.

After Kelly asked him if he would run again, Trump said, “Well, we have tremendous support. I won’t say yet, but we have tremendous support.”

“I’m looking at poll numbers that are through the roof. … I’m the only guy that gets impeached and my numbers go up. Figure that one out. … Typically, your numbers would go down. They would go down like a lead balloon.”

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Lots Of Possibilities

Speculation about Trump running for President in 2024 – in the event that he lost the 2020 election – began even before Election Day.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on an appearance on the Brian Kilmeade Show, laid out a sound road to a second bid, “I would encourage him to think about doing it. Create an organization, platforms over the next four years to keep his movement alive.”

While Democrats and the media might be fervently hoping that Donald Trump might just quietly retire to Mar-a-Lago, there is no indication that will happen.

If Trump decides not to run in 2024, other possibilities that have been mentioned are the idea of starting a third party as a challenge to never-Trump establishment Republicans.

Still another prospect for Trump is that he remains very active in the Republican Party. Trump has called out Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) after McConnell blamed him for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Trump has stated on several occasions that he would focus on supporting any primary challengers to never-Trump establishment members in both the House and the Senate.

The numbers seem to bear out Republican voters wanting Trump to play a vital role in the future of the party.

In a Politico/Morning Consult poll, 53% would like to see Trump run again, and a Quinipiac University national poll show that “three out of four Republicans would like to see Trump have a bigger role in the GOP.”

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There Have Been Hints At The Future

As far back as October of last year, there have been hints that Donald Trump would not be done with the presidency, even if he lost in 2020.

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon made what might now appear to be an on-point prediction. 

Bannon told “The Australian” that “2020 won’t be the end of Donald Trump,” and that “If for any reason the election is stolen from, or in some sort of way Joe Biden is declared the winner, Trump will announce he’s going to run for re-election in 2024.” 

At the White House Christmas Party in December, Trump himself teased during a live stream to the Oklahoma Republican Party that “We’re trying to get another four years,” in a reference to election litigation that was ongoing at the time.

Trump then added, “But otherwise I’ll see you in four years.”

RELATED: Biden Suggests Former Military, Police Are Helping To Fuel Growth Of White Supremacy

What Might Stand In Between Trump And 2024?

Recently, in an interview with the Associated Press, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stated that the RNC would remain neutral, and “not actively back” Trump should he decide to run again.

McDaniel said that her preference would to see Trump help the GOP “win back majorities in 2022.”  

There is a visible split amongst the McConnell wing of the party and the Trump wing.

Trump recently attacked McConnell as being “weak,” and called him a “dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack.” Trump and McConnell have exchanged words in the past.

Average Republicans seem to be siding with Donald Trump, and are getting tired of establishment Republicans like Mitch McConnell.

An Axios/Ipsos poll shows large numbers of Republicans who are ready to vote for Trump again in 2024. 

Whatever Donald Trump decides to do in the future, he will have millions of MAGA Republicans behind him. It would be in the best interest of the establishment to pay attention.

The post Is Trump Running For President Again? He Declares ‘Tremendous Support’ For 2024 Run appeared first on The Political Insider.

Rep. Matt Gaetz: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Could Make Presidential Run In 2024

Posted on by Becky Noble

In a weekend interview, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, a major Trump ally, suggested that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis might be a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 should former president Donald Trump decide not to run.

On the Fox News Channel, Gaetz stated that “he was proud of” DeSantis, and went on to say that, “the truth is that the Biden folks know that if Donald Trump is not the candidate in 2024, the leader of our movement will be Ron DeSantis.”

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Tackling COVID-19 In Florida

In recent days, the Biden administration has floated the idea of domestic travel restrictions, possibly targeting Florida, in the wake of a report from the CDC indicating that Florida currently has the highest amount of cases of a U.K. variant of COVID known as B.1.1.7.

DeSantis blasted the Biden White House, saying the idea of travel restrictions was “absurd” and “a political attack on the people of Florida.”

He also called out the Biden administration for suggesting the restrictions, saying it was “ridiculous to impose while relaxing restrictions on the U.S.-Mexico border.” 

While the nation is still feeling the effects of COVID, Ron DeSantis managed a state with minimal lockdowns and an elderly population that was taken care of first.

Because Florida is a state with a large portion of the population over 65, right now, it leads the nation with the highest vaccination rate among senior citizens.

Rep. Gaetz also stated, “people see that in Florida, businesses are opening, unemployment is dropping, home buying is increasing, and that type of prosperity is very attractive to people who are having to endure lockdowns in other parts of America.”  

RELATED: Trump Returns To Public Spotlight, Delivers Blistering Statement On ‘Political Hack’ Mitch McConnell

Is DeSantis A Name To Watch?

Ron DeSantis may become a name to watch simply for the fact that he takes on the media in Trump-like fashion.

Recently, DeSantis was criticized for Super Bowl celebrations that could possibly spread more contagious strains of COVID-19.

DeSantis fired back, “The media is worried about that obviously.” He went on, “You don’t care as much when it’s a peaceful protest, you don’t care as much if you are celebrating a Biden election. You only care about it if it’s people you don’t like.” 

DeSantis has long been a critic of what he says is a bias in the media against conservatives.

He supports a bill in the Florida legislature that would impose penalties on social media companies whose algorithms are perceived to favor one candidate over another.

RELATED: Biden Bans Use Of ‘Illegal Alien’ In Official Communications Involving Illegal Immigrants

Trump Would Be A Supporter 

There is much speculation that Donald Trump will run for a second term as president in 2024. Ron DeSantis is up for re-election for Governor in 2022.

Trump will almost certainly be an avid supporter of DeSantis’ gubernatorial re-election.

There has also been some speculation as to whether Trump may start a third party. On Saturday, seven Republican Senators voted to convict Trump on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

While many of those Senators were just re-elected, one, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is up for re-election in 2022. Trump could very well support a primary challenger should one emerge.

Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump already has a challenger for 2022, who may also enjoy support from Trump and his supporters. 

Trump also lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who recently made the comment that “Trump didn’t get away with anything yet.”

McConnell’s comments came after he voted against convicting Trump in his second impeachment trial.

The former president fired back, calling McConnell, “a dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack.”

If Trump remains popular in Florida – and doesn’t run for President in 2024 – it will definitely be an advantage for Ron DeSantis.

The post Rep. Matt Gaetz: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Could Make Presidential Run In 2024 appeared first on The Political Insider.

Nearly Every Senator Who Voted To Convict Trump Faces Censure Or Has Been Censured

Posted on by Becky Noble

As of today, nearly every Republican Senator who voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment conviction trial has either been censured by their Republican voters or faces censure in the near future.

On Saturday, the U.S. Senate voted to acquit Trump on the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. The 57-43 vote to convict failed to reach the two-thirds majority required in the upper chamber.

Joining all fifty Democrat Senators who voted to convict were seven GOP Senators:

  • Susan Collins of Maine
  • Mitt Romney of Utah
  • Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
  • Richard Burr of North Carolina
  • Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
  • Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and
  • Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

All have either been censured or are facing censure at home by at least one county Republican committee, save for Murkowski, who is up for re-election in 2022, so far.

RELATED: Dem Congressman Files Lawsuit Against Trump For His Alleged Role In Capitol Hill Riot

Republicans Making Their Feelings Known

The seven Senators who voted to convict join several of their colleagues in the House who also are facing not just unhappy voters at home, but in some cases, already have primary challengers in 2022 for their votes to impeach.

One of the most high profile House members to face backlash which includes a primary challenger is Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY). Cheney was also called out by fellow Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) , who went to Wyoming to support constituents who want to replace her in Congress.

In the House, in addition to Cheney, South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice was also censured at home.

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has not only taken heat at home from constituents for his vote to impeach, but several members of his own family have called him an ’embarrassment.’

RELATED: Donald Trump Surprises Supporters By Showing Up At Presidents’ Day Rally In Palm Beach

Pro-Impeachment Senators All Facing Backlash

According to a report from Vox, the Republican Parties of Louisiana and North Carolina wasted no time in blasting Bill Cassidy and Richard Burr, respectively. 

“The Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana has unanimously voted to censure Senator Bill Cassidy for his vote cast earlier today to convict former President Donald J. Trump on the impeachment charge.”

The feeling in North Carolina was essentially the same. In a statement issued by NCGOP Chair Michael Whatley, he stated that Burr’s vote was “shocking and disappointing.”

“North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing.” 

Burr and Senator Pat Toomey have already announced that neither would be seeking re-election, which perhaps might have given both the feeling of having a bit of wiggle room when it came to pleasing or displeasing constituents.

Washington County Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Dave Ball stated of Toomey that “As far as we’re concerned, his political career is over in this state, even if he were to try to run again. His legacy is tarnished beyond repair.”

Sasse was censured by his fellow Nebraska Republicans for what they cited as “dismissing the legitimate concerns of Nebraska’s Secretary of State, and a huge majority of Republican voters regarding allegations of fraud in November’s presidential election.”

In response, Sasse released a rather condescending video to Nebraska Republicans explaining to them what was “conservative” and what was not.

In Maine, censure resolutions are being considered.

In Utah, Republican voters are circulating a petition online calling to censure Mitt Romney, though that state GOP has defended ‘diversity of thought.’

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Will Voters Hold Them Accountable At The Ballot?

There are several things that might make Senators taking heat for their conviction vote interesting.

Of these seven, only Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is up for re-election. Burr and Toomey are retiring, and Romney is in the middle of his first term.

The rest were all just re-elected. 

Another interesting factor is  two Senators who have not been censured by their own voters – the two Republicans who challenged the electoral college votes.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) were blamed by Democrat Senators for the riot and there were calls by many for both to resign or be expelled. 

And in what might the most intriguing aspect of the “Gang of 7,” is that in the wake of Burr’s retirement announcement, there will be a vacancy in one of North Carolina’s Senate seats.

Former Representative Mark Walker has thrown his hat into the ring for 2022, but another name is floating around, that of Lara Trump.

The North Carolina native and wife of Eric Trump recently got a huge boost from Lindsey Graham, who described her as the “biggest winner of the impeachment trial.”

As Americans get more and more tired of sending people to Washington who do not reflect their wishes, the Gang of 7 and those like them may just be the last of a dying breed. 

The post Nearly Every Senator Who Voted To Convict Trump Faces Censure Or Has Been Censured appeared first on The Political Insider.

Impeachment 2.0 – What Does It Really Mean For America And Our Future?

Posted on by Becky Noble

On Tuesday of last week, the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump began in the Senate. We have heard tearful harrowing tales of marauding bands of Trump supporters “hunting down” Congress members and Senators.

We have seen video footage of rioters scaling the walls of the Capitol building.

It is becoming clear that the Democrats, and some Republicans, many of whom, because of their impeachment-related voting records, already have primary challengers for 2022, not only want to blame Donald Trump for the Capitol Hill riot, but prevent him from ever running for office again.

But this time, something is different. It almost seems as if they want to blame anyone who might have an iota of support for Trump

That means you, America. 

RELATED: Joe Biden Wants To Make America Energy Dependent Again

Language Meant To Inflame

As usual, the Constitution is getting in the way of the Democrat agenda. The process of impeachment was never meant to be used as a club to disable politicians we don’t like.

During the first full day of impeachment hearings, House Managers played video and audio recordings of the events of January 6.

But instead of putting context to audio and visual aids, they used phrases like this, from House Prosecutor Stacey Plaskett, Democrat Delegate representing the U. S. Virgin Islands: “They did it because Donald Trump sent them on a mission.” 

Another from Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX): “On Jan. 6, Donald Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.”   

And just in case inflammatory rhetoric wasn’t enough, Democrats are now being accused of selective editing of the video of Trump telling supporters to protest at the Capitol “peacefully and patriotically.”

Trump defense lawyers claim the video has been manipulated. 

Sources say that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has told fellow Senators that their vote on whether or not to convict Trump would be “a matter of conscience,” and that Senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict Trump. 

RELATED: WH Deputy Press Secretary TJ Duclo Suspended For Reportedly Threatening, Demeaning Female Reporter

How have We Gotten Here?

Anyone can go online and google, “Trump impeachment,” and find out what what the mainstream media is saying, what the talking heads, both liberal and conservative are saying, and you can even find a schedule of events, which must come in handy when planning a watch party.

You know when to break out the chips and beer!

What you cannot find is the answer to the most important question: what does this mean, and how dangerous is it for America?

Americans have always argued and debated. It is in our collective DNA.

But ask anyone from any walk of life in America, “when did we become so divided?”

No one seems to have a good answer. 

There have always been political parties with different ideas about how to do things, but only recently did a member of one party accuse another of attempted murder.

Political parties always been wary of each others’ candidates, but only recently did we accuse them of being evil, not just because we disagreed with them, but because they merely exist.

Even in our darkest times, Americans have come together. But will that even be possible?

Democrats insist that Trump supporters, and that encompasses at least 74 million people who at the very least, cast a vote for Donald Trump must somehow be erased from modern politics.

RELATED: Schiff Claims GOP Is A Trump Cult-Says They Have No Ideology Or Principles

How Are We Harming America?

In his inauguration speech, President Joe Biden spoke of unity, and even as recently as Friday, talked about treating people with respect. It remains to be seen if Americans will respect each other.

But is this impeachment of a president who left office three weeks ago, and is at least of dubious constitutional provenance, disrespecting America? Is it harming America?

The Constitution is a tough document. It has been tugged on in every way imaginable in the last 245 years. It will likely survive, but we have taken its instruction and twisted it into something it was never intended for. 

The way in which impeachment has been used may well be used as a weapon on existing parties or any future parties to come.

Granted, the Founding Fathers did not specify what “high crimes and misdemeanors” were. We were left to figure that out on our own. Maybe they were too optimistic about the intelligence of future Americans.

But if the impeachment process is misused, a precedent is set that is hard to come back from. They impeach ours, we impeach theirs, and America is caught in a dangerous game of tug-o-war.

The post Impeachment 2.0 – What Does It Really Mean For America And Our Future? appeared first on The Political Insider.

GOP Rep. Calls For Cuomo To Be Prosecuted For Withholding Alleged COVID Nursing Home Deaths

Posted on by Becky Noble

Rep. Elise Stephanik (R-NY), along with other Republicans have called for the prosecution of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as anyone on his staff who may have been involved in knowingly withholding coronavirus death tolls in nursing homes. 

This comes after a report came out in which an aide of Cuomo’s admitted that they had done just that.

Full Story: Andrew Cuomo Aide: To Avoid Federal Investigation, New York Hid COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

Stephanik tweeted out a statement that said, “Governor Cuomo, the secretary to the Governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately-both by the Attorney General of New York state, and the U.S. Department of Justice.”

“This bombshell admission of a cover-up and the remarks by the secretary to the Governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power,” she added.

A Stunning Admission

The horrific admission came from Cuomo’s Secretary Melissa DeRosa while on a video conference call with New York state Democrat leaders. In a report from the New York Post, DeRosa claimed that the Cuomo administration had rejected a request from the New York State Senate back in August for a complete tally of COVID deaths. 

DeRosa went on to say that former President Trump had turned the New York state numbers “into a giant political football.” During the meeting, DeRosa said of Trump that, “He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes.

“He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer,” and that “Trump directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us. And basically we froze.”

RELATED: James Clyburn Issues Brutal Warning To Trump-‘This Is Just The Beginning’

Multiple Calls For Investigation/Prosecution

In addition to Congresswoman Stephanik’s call for investigation and possible prosecution of Cuomo, other state and national Republican office holders have come out in support of holding Cuomo and his staff to account for possible obstruction of an investigation.

New York State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt demanded a “top to bottom investigation.

Chairman of the New York State Republican Committee Nick Langworthy called for the impeachment of Cuomo, and state Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay called for subpoenas and subsequent hearings.

Even some Democrats were outraged enough to speak out. Democrat Assembly Woman Yuh-Line Niou called the Cuomo administration’s actions “criminal.”

RELATED: Dave Ramsey Says If Stimulus Check ‘Changes Your Life…You Were Screwed Already’

The Numbers And Those Effected

Bill Hammond, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at the Empire Center, sent out a tweet in September 2020 that stated that the CDC “unfortunately made it optional for nursing homes to report COVID deaths in March, April, and early May of 2020. this was when NY’s pandemic was at it’s worst.” 

He went on to say that “some homes did the right thing, and often gave numbers strikingly higher than reported by NYS DOH.”  In September on the Empire Center website, he said that:

“The result is that a major public health disaster affecting New York’s nursing home residents is not being accurately documented by either of the agencies responsible for protecting them-because state officials are refusing to share the true numbers, and federal officials haven’t yet asked for them.” 

One of the most outspoken critics of the Cuomo administration’s COVID nursing home policies is Fox News Channel Meteorologist Janice Dean, who lost both of her in-laws to Governor Cuomo’s nursing homes. 

On Thursday, Dean said that,”I would like to thank whoever that Democratic lawmaker that was the leak yesterday that gave us that information because i believe all of them should go to jail.”

“We need to see these people on the stand, with a jury, with us, the people that lost our loved ones, in the audience to see them tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” she added.

“Justice needs to be served,” Dean continued. “We don’t have our loved ones here today, but by God, I am here to be a voice for all of them.”

 

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Nikki Haley Turns On Trump – ‘We Need To Acknowledge He Let Us Down’

Posted on by Becky Noble

In an interview on Friday, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley came out of the box criticizing former President Donald Trump.

Her forceful comments, come in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, and also as Trump’s defense attorneys prepare to present their case in Trump’s second impeachment trial.

“We need to acknowledge he let us down,” she told Politico. “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t ever let that happen again.”

Haley, who is also the former governor of South Carolina, expressed anger over the harsh treatment she felt that former Vice President Mike Pence received at the hands of Trump.

“When I tell you I’m angry about it that’s an understatement,” she said. “I’m so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him. Like, I’m disgusted by it.”

RELATED: Twitter Puts A Permanent Ban On James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas 

 GOP Swamp Dwellers Uniting

There are many who speculate that Nikki Haley is a strong contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. However, she is also one of many so-called “establishment” Republicans who once backed Donald Trump, but are now are turning against him.

There have been many other high-profile Republicans who have come out and harshly criticized Trump for Capitol riot and have gone on to distance themselves from him.

But in doing that, are they distancing themselves from 75 million people who cast their vote for Trump just a few short months ago by essentially telling those people they were wrong to support him?

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) cozied up to Trump when he was talked about as a possible Secretary of State. Then Trump chose someone else, and Romney has criticized him at every turn since. 

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), on a recent appearance on Fox News Sunday, when speaking of Trump stated that, “that is a person who does not have a role as the leader of our party going forward.” 

RELATED: Andrew Cuomo Aide: To Avoid Federal Investigation, New York Hid COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

Will There Be A “New” Republican Party In 2024?

Nikki Haley may have presidential aspirations, but will the GOP be a different party in four years?

In her Politico interview,  she said, “I know how much people love Donald Trump. I know. I feel it. Whether it’s an RNC room, or social media or talking to donors, I can tell you that the love they have for him is still very strong. That’s not just going to fall by the wayside.”

However, she also said, “Nor do I think the Republican Party is going to go back to the way it was before Donald Trump. I don’t think it should.” 

But does she really think that? Does the establishment think they can override the will of 75 million Trump supporters and take the party back to the way it was pre-Trump? Many would argue that those 75 million people really want to do is purge the Republican party of squishy RINO’s and swamp creatures. 

Haley states that, “what we need to do is take the good that he built, leave the bad that he did, and get back to a place where we can be a good, valuable, effective party. But at the same time, it’s bigger than the party.”

RELATED: MSNBC’s Joy Reid Says Cruz And Hawley’s Families Should Be ‘Ashamed’ Of Them

Nikki Haley Before The Riot And Nikki Haley After The Riot

Nikki Haley’s establishment status as a squishy Republican who sides one way then another is not something she will be able to hide from American voters. In a report from Axios, prior to January 6, Haley stated that she genuinely believed that Trump believed he was wronged. 

She defended his refusal not to concede to Joe Biden, but said that she felt that his lawyers did him a “disservice by not telling him the truth of his loss.”

She equated Trump’s feeling of false election claims to being colorblind.

“That would be like you saying that the grass is blue and you genuinely believing it,” she explained. “Is it irresponsible that you’re colorblind and you truly believe that?”

Haley added that there was nothing anyone could do to make Trump believe that he legitimately lost the election.

After January 6, her positions seem to have changed. She says that we should have not followed him down the path we did, and she spoke of Trump’s treatment of Mike Pence, saying that the former president has lost “any political viability he was going to have.”

Haley also said she did not think Trump will run again. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.” This might be news to Haley and other RINO’s, but that is not certain.  

Politico reporter Tim Alberta stated, “I’ve also spoken with nearly 70 people who know her: friends, associates, donors, staffers, former colleagues. From those conversations, two things are clear. First, Nikki Haley is going to run for president in 2024. Second, she doesn’t know which Nikki Haley will be on the ballot.”

If Nikki Haley doesn’t know who is on the ballot, then voters don’t know who is on the ballot.

 

 

In the end, it’s clear that Haley is just the latest in a line of RINOS that think they have a chance of running for anything if they now distance themselves from Trump. She may soon find out how wrong she is about this. 

The post Nikki Haley Turns On Trump – ‘We Need To Acknowledge He Let Us Down’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Journalist: Covering Trump Was ‘Our Omaha Beach,’ Compares Experience To D-Day

Posted on by Becky Noble

In a new piece in The Atlantic, author and national correspondent for Yahoo! News Alexander Nazaryan compared the thrill of covering the Trump administration to the thrill “storming Omaha Beach must have been for a 20-year old fresh from the plains of Kansas.” 

In the piece, titled, “I Was an Enemy of the People,” Nazaryan recounts how he misses the action of covering Trump. 

He accuses of Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany of lying “relentlessly for months on end.”

Ominously, he reminds readers that frequently had to figure out whether or not Trump was on the verge of starting a “nuclear war.” 

Overall, the intrepid journalists of America, in their brave coverage of Trump, were “merely going where he led. This was our Omaha Beach.”

The liberal media, in its Trump-era way of portraying itself as the victim, has taken that self-proclaimed victimhood to a new level.

RELATED: ‘Never-Trump’ Republicans Looking To Form Their Own Party

Trump Is History Repeating Itself

So covering Trump was a thrill.

Take a look at Nazaryan’s full accounting of his feelings on covering Trump:

Covering the administration was thrilling for many journalists, in the way that I imagine storming Omaha Beach must have been for a 20-year-old fresh from the plains of Kansas. He hadn’t signed up for battle, but there he was, liberating France. France, by the way, is where Trump called American soldiers who’d fallen in combat “suckers” and “losers.” When this magazine first reported those comments, Trump’s supporters denounced the Atlantic story as preposterous and offensive, even as outlet after outlet confirmed the reporting. They failed to realize that the preposterous and the offensive were the twin beacons of the Trump presidency.

Who is this story about? Trump, or the media?

I wonder how many Millennial journalists have asked their older colleagues about how “thrilling” it was for them to cover Ronald Reagan. People of an age remember how Reagan was treated by the media. 

The media’s relationship with Republicans is nothing new – and might go as far back as 1968 when a book entitled, “News Twisters” by Edith Ephron, talked about liberal media bias.

The media would have you believe that this Trump-era was all a first for them, and that is why they all have some sort of weird post-Trump PTSD going on.

Oh no, the media has dated outside its group before, there have been other Republican presidents. They were merely the warm-up act for what would be done to Donald Trump.

Every Republican in recent memory, Bush 41, Bush 43, even presidential candidates, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and especially Sarah Palin, all dealt with media bias.

The difference was, the media wasn’t usually playing an active role. Look at some of the commentary from Democrats about these past figures:

In 2012, then Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden told a crowd that consisted of a large number of African-Americans that the Republican ticket led by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would, “put you all back in chains.” 

In 2008, the late Congressman John Lewis accused Republican presidential candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin of “playing with fire.” He went on to say that,”Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.”

Billionaire Democrat contributor George Soros said of George W. Bush that, “(he displays the) supremacist ideology of Nazi Germany.”

Actor and Activist Harry Belafonte also called Bush a racist, and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond once said that, “The Republican party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side.”

The things that Democrats once said of Republicans, are now things the allegedly objective media now say of Trump.

That is a fundamental difference between how past presidents were covered, and how Trump was covered, in my view.

To even insinuate that covering politics is in any way comparable to storming the beach at Normandy tells you how comfortable the media had become in their role as Trump’s adversary.

Indeed, Nazaryan says, “Without quite meaning to, Trump reminded journalists that their relationship to power should be adversarial.”

They needed to be reminded? After eight years of kid gloves with “no scandals” Obama?

The media set its sights on Donald Trump from the time he hit the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015, and then promptly moved on to those that worked for him, specifically former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. 

As a Journalism student, this writer is learning all the mechanics like the “inverted pyramid” process, but I am also learning about sources, checking and rechecking those sources, not making up “facts” of the story, or not making oneself the story.

I am learning that truth and integrity still matter. 

The problem is, I’m not seeing that out of those who are already in the profession.

RELATED: Hillary Clinton Claims Trump Could Be Acquitted Because His ‘Co-Conspirators’ Are On The Jury  

RELATED: ABC News Correspondent Terry Moran Claims Trump Is A ‘Fuhrer’ To Republicans

Everything That Is Wrong With The Media

Message to the media: the problem is, there is simply not enough room here to tell you all the ways your hubris and arrogance is on full display and is doing none of you any favors.

Can we all agree as adults that no one in American history is comparable to the Nazis, for God’s sake?

Can we at least pretend the talking points don’t go out first thing in the morning?

The media says that, “by far the most difficult challenge was reporting that Trump had gotten something right.” Can they point out for us uneducated boobs in flyover country when exactly that was?

How much coverage was given to all the peace deals made in the Middle East? 

Will Biden get any harsh scrutiny? Any scrutiny? Or will the media spend the next four years asking what his favorite flavor of milkshake is?

MSNBC’S Kasie Hunt gushed about how, “I’m just struck by the reality that we’ll now have a president who, as a rule, doesn’t lie, even when it might be easier.”

That kind of gives up the game, doesn’t it?

Alas, Mr. Nazaryan is absolutely right about one thing: journalists’ relationship to power should be adversarial.

But that only goes one way for the media. 

From my perspective, the reason for all this is clear.

Trump finally fought back.

They hate Donald Trump because he exposed the fact that the media lies on a consistent basis, and has decided that they are the arbiters of what the American people can and cannot know. 

Having the audacity to fight back is, in the final analysis, the ultimate crime.

The post Journalist: Covering Trump Was ‘Our Omaha Beach,’ Compares Experience To D-Day appeared first on The Political Insider.