‘A bunch of cowards’: Former GOP lawmaker slams party over Jan. 6

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

House Democrats held a hearing on Tuesday to mark five years since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. 

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a conservative Republican who was ousted by his party for demanding that President Donald Trump be held accountable for inciting the violent protest, spoke at the hearing—but not before a brief interruption by a self-proclaimed Jan. 6 defendant, since pardoned by Trump along with more than 1,500 others.

The unidentified man asked, “Why is this committee only closed for Democrats?”

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi had a quick response. 

“I’m glad you asked,” Thompson said. “Because no Republicans participated.” 

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Shortly after, Kinzinger—a decorated Air Force pilot who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan—was asked how he mustered up the courage to break with his party and vote for Trump’s second impeachment.

“What made me do it is just simply my oath,” Kinzinger explained. “What shocks me is that there were more people that didn't. … Nothing that I did was heroic—but I was just surrounded by a bunch of cowards that were too scared to do it.” 

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Kinzinger was one of two Republicans who participated in the bipartisan Jan. 6 committee investigation and, as a result, was labeled a traitor by people like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has since fallen out with Trump and resigned her House seat as of Monday.

Related | GOP hides Jan. 6 memorial as rioters go on crime spree

New year, same crap: Trump spews unhinged gibberish at GOP summit

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

President Donald Trump forced Republicans Tuesday to sit through a daylong policy event at the Kennedy Center, in which he gave a 90-minute rambling of his half-baked greatest campaign hits. 

Whether bragging about how awesome he is at passing dementia tests or attacking transgender children, Trump’s torturous speech seemed driven by his desperate desire for an unlikely GOP win in the midterm elections—hoping it might spare him from facing a third impeachment.

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Trump received a wary response when he asked if anybody minded him going off-script.

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They were right to be cautious, as Trump wandered from subject to subject, frequently starting with what seemed like a real policy before devolving into half-formed versions of familiar rhetoric—like his lazy “transgender for everybody” line.

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Having overseen an increase to millions of Americans’ health care costs—and still unable to present a coherent health care plan—Trump demanded Republicans to “figure it out!”

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Trump also returned to his favorite boast: that he doesn’t have dementia! After bragging that he was “the only one” in the history of the White House to ever take a cognitive test, he claimed that both former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom would not be able to pass the test.

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“How we have to even run against these people,” Trump said, returning to the midterms. “Now I won't say cancel the election—they should cancel the election—because the fake news will say ‘he wants the elections canceled. He's a dictator.’ They always call me a dictator. Nobody's worse than Obama and the people that surrounded Biden.”

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And after 90 minutes of this nonsense, Trump concluded his remarks with, well, whatever this is.

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November cannot get here fast enough.

6 years ago, Trump was impeached—for the first time

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

On Dec. 18, 2019, for what was then the third time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a powerful speech invoking the late Elijah Cummings, a civil rights hero and former congressman.

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Pelosi: As our beloved chairman Elijah Cummings, an oversight committee chair, our North Star, said when announcing his support for this action, “When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny.” He also said, almost prophetically, “When we are dancing with the angels, the question will be what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”

Elijah, as you know, has since passed on. Now he is dancing with the angels, and I know that he and all of us here are very proud of the moral courage of members who want to honor the vision of our founders for a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend it, and the aspirations of our children to live freely within it. Today we are here to defend democracy for the people. May God bless America.

A few weeks later, the Republican-controlled Senate held Trump’s impeachment trial, where then-Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, delivered a similarly emotional message in his closing arguments.

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Schiff: But here, right is supposed to matter. It's what's made us the greatest nation on Earth. No constitution can protect us if right doesn't matter anymore. And you know you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country. You can trust he will do what's right for Donald Trump. He'll do it now. He's done it before. He'll do it for the next several months. He'll do it in the election if he's allowed to. This is why if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters. And the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.

Republican senators—many of whom voted to impeach then-President Bill Clinton—ultimately shirked their constitutional duties and acquitted Trump.

11 times Karoline Leavitt earned her ‘propaganda princess’ nickname

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Since stepping into the role of White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt has revealed herself to be shameless enough to earn the moniker of “propaganda princess.” No matter the Trump administration’s erratic, absurd, and authoritarian moves, Leavitt is there, ready to lie and yell at reporters for daring to seek the truth.

And so much of it has been caught on video.

1. Trump press secretary implodes over basic question about Putin call

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In August, always ready to get rude, Leavitt couldn’t handle a straightforward question about President Donald Trump’s talk with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. 

2. Watch Trump's press secretary casually threaten Social Security

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In February, Leavitt tried to reassure Fox News’ elderly viewers that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency havoc would not harm their Social Security benefits. She failed. 

3. Press secretary spins Trump protests in typically terrible fashion

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In June, Leavitt was forced to clarify Trump’s unhinged threats of “heavy force” against protesters who showed up at his birthday parade.

4. Trump’s propaganda princess spreads unhinged hatred about Americans

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In October, Leavitt dismissed concerns about the working-class appeal of Democrat Zohran Mamdani, who is now the mayor-elect of New York City. How’d she do that? By characterizing Democratic voters as terrorists, of course.

5. Whoops: Trump's propaganda princess just put her foot in her mouth

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In August, as the Trump administration tried to sort out its lies about crime in D.C., Leavitt accidentally let the truth slip out.

6. Watch Karoline Leavitt fail to explain the Epstein ‘hoax’

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In September, Leavitt couldn’t convincingly explain the supposed Democratic "hoax" surrounding the Epstein files.

7. Press secretary goes full mobster over GOP shutdown

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In an October appearance on Fox News, Leavitt used some mob-style extortion tactics as the Trump administration sought to secure Democratic votes to fund the government.

8. Propaganda princess praises Trump's latest lawless pardon

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Also in October, Leavitt barely made an effort to spin the Trump administration’s crypto corruption. 

9. Family of reporter who exposed leak is now in White House's crosshairs

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In March, the Trump administration faced its first major scandal when some of its top officials accidentally leaked war plans to a journalist. But rather than admit those officials made a mistake, Leavitt honed in on the real person at fault: the reporter to whom the officials leaked those war plans. 

10. Press secretary falls on her face defending Trump’s abuse of power

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In September, Leavitt tied herself up into knots as she tried to spin another weekend that Trump spent pushing the nation further into authoritarianism.

11. Trump's propaganda princess announces invasion of Portland

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Speaking of authoritarianism, in October, Leavitt was more than happy to announce that the military was invading Portland, Oregon.

For more video content, check out Daily Kos on YouTube.

Clips of the week: Trump makes a terrible eulogist, diplomat, and doctor

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

President Donald Trump showed up at the United Nations this week and told world leaders that their countries were “going to hell”—and somehow, that was the least asinine thing he said. After briefly signaling support for our NATO allies, he quickly backtracked. Meanwhile, with a government shutdown looming, Trump and the GOP seem to have abandoned even the pretense of negotiation.

And it’s all on video.

'You are envy, you are hatred': Kirk memorial turns into unhinged rally

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President Donald Trump used his time at the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday to further obscure Kirk’s long record of hateful and bigoted views. He was not alone, as the procession of speakers turned what was billed as a solemn service into a fiery political rally.

Angry old man yells at the UN for an hour

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Trump visited the UN this week, delivering a speech that can only be described as embarrassing.

Fox News slobbers over Trump's unhinged UN speech

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Trump’s rambling, lie-filled speech to the United Nations forced Fox News into desperate spin mode, praising the moment as “raw truth” despite the cringe-worthy display.

Press secretary falls on her face defending Trump’s abuse of power

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tied herself up into knots trying to spin the president’s descent into authoritarianism. 

Trump waters down major NATO promise

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Trump met with world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following his torturous speech to the United Nations. In a span of about two-and-a-half minutes, Trump supported NATO’s need to confront Russian military aggression and then backtracked on his support if NATO were to take such an action.

Hakeem Jeffries issues biting warning to businesses bending to Trump

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN and warned companies that cut pay-to-play deals with the Trump administration that the Justice Department won't always be under Trump’s corrupt control.

For more video content, check out Daily Kos on YouTube.

Press secretary falls on her face defending Trump’s abuse of power

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tied herself up into knots yet again, this time in an attempt to spin President Donald Trump’s weekend descent into authoritarianism. 

When asked by a reporter Monday whether Trump was going back on his inaugural promise to not allow the state to be weaponized to persecute political opponents, Leavitt was blindingly obstinate.

"No. In fact, the president is fulfilling his promise to restore a Department of Justice that demands accountability. And it is not weaponizing the Department of Justice to demand accountability for those who weaponized the Department of Justice,” she said.

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Leavitt continued to engage in what can only be described as “1984”-level doublespeak.

“We are not going to tolerate gaslighting from anyone in the media or from anyone on the other side who is trying to say that it's the president who is weaponizing the DOJ,” she added.

Meanwhile, Trump continues targeting political opponents, like New York Attorney General Letitia James—who successfully proved Trump’s involvement in real estate fraud—and comedians Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel—for nothing more than mocking him.

The Trump administration is covering up very serious allegations of corruption among its own rank and file, including reports that his “border czar” Tom Homan isn’t simply a sadistic racist but also suspected of taking a bribe—an inquiry that was allegedly shut down by Trump.

Leavitt’s demand for “accountability” is just another attempt to distract from the Trump administration’s own weaponization of power.

Top Trump aide: Who really cares about slavery?

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

A senior White House official thinks the Smithsonian museums are way too caught up on that whole slavery thing.

During a Wednesday appearance on Fox News, White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan discussed President Donald Trump’s push to make the renowned museums parrot his racist, revisionist history of the United States. After conceding slavery was “awful,” she quickly pivoted to underplaying it and chastising the museum.

“What I saw when I was going through the museums personally was an overemphasis on slavery. And I think there should be more of an overemphasis on how far we've come since slavery,” Halligan said. “Our country is a country of progress, and it's the greatest country in the world. And we should be able to take our kids, our students, through the Smithsonian and feel proud when we leave. There's a lot of history to our country, both positive and negative. But we need to keep moving forward. We can't just keep focusing on the negative.”

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Halligan's "Don't Worry Be Happy"-style monologue echoes her boss’ insane remarks on social media, criticizing the Smithsonian for being “WOKE” and overly focused on “how bad Slavery was.” In July, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History briefly scrubbed mentions of Trump’s first two impeachments from an exhibit on presidential impeachments and resignations, though it later added them back in a strongly modified form. 

The White House also plans to rewrite history across the Smithsonian ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, which will be celebrated next year.

Similarly, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense has purged Black American military heroes from its websites.

The ongoing white supremacist project to rewrite history and underplay the significance of slavery—which dominated U.S. history and prehistory—is one of the administration’s most ignoble pursuits. It dishonors the hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers who gave their lives fighting for a more perfect democracy.

Democrat tears into GOP over BS Biden probes and campaign lies

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida used his time at Thursday’s House Oversight Committee to slam Republicans for resurrecting their failed impeachment investigation of former President Joe Biden as a distraction from years of unfulfilled promises.

"So I want to do the ‘don't listen to what they say, watch what they do.’” Moskowitz said. “They said they would lower food costs. They said they would take us into the Golden Age. They said they would end the war in Ukraine and Gaza. They said they wouldn't touch Medicaid. They said they would lower interest rates. They said they would lower our debt. They said they would release the Epstein files. … The biggest one, my favorite, they said they would make [the] government more efficient,” he added. "Name one department, one government service—anything that the government does that they made more efficient? Certainly not the Newark airport. Definitely not FEMA."

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Moskowitz’s righteous rebuke came just hours after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing his administration to investigate Biden, using the fallacious conspiracy theory that Biden wasn’t mentally fit during his presidency. Biden himself has noted that Trump’s obsession with him conveniently aligns with the GOP’s deepening divisions over their “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which would throw millions off health insurance and add trillions to the deficit. 

Moskowitz’s skillful breakdown of the GOP’s unkept promises highlights the conservative movement’s ongoing failures. Trump’s ill-conceived tariffs have only driven up costs, the exact opposite of his campaign promises to lower grocery prices. Trump’s need to ingratiate himself with Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin has not only embarrassed the U.S. but also jeopardized its relationship with foreign allies, while failing to end a single conflict.

The Republican-led assault on government agencies has left our aviation safety in chaos with delays caused by understaffing and technical issues. At the same time, it has greatly diminished the federal government’s ability to predict and respond to extreme weather events that affect millions of people.

As for the promises of releasing billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s case files? It turned out to be just a publicity stunt. In fact, as of the writing of this story, former co-president Elon Musk has thoughts about the Epstein case files and Trump’s lack of transparency on the matter.

Republicans’ hope to use their committee as a distraction from their party’s catastrophic failures to govern has been dashed, as Democratic lawmakers make it clear that they will no longer play their games.

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This House Republican just can’t quit investigating Joe Biden

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

The GOP’s obsession with former President Joe Biden shows no signs of letting up. After Rep. James Comer’s 15-month impeachment investigation during Biden’s presidency failed spectacularly, the chair of the House Oversight Committee has now latched on to a conspiracy theory pushed by fellow Biden stalker Donald Trump back in March.

“Some of these bureaucrats, these unnamed bureaucrats in the White House were using the autopen to sign Joe Biden's name on very important things like pardons and like executive orders,” Comer babbled to Fox News on Thursday.

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Comer’s evidence includes “whistleblowers in the administration” and Jake Tapper’s new book, which claims the now-82-year-old Biden was significantly impaired during his final months in office.

“It raises a lot of questions as to, what was the decision process and who was forging,” Comer said. “Because if Joe Biden wasn't authorizing, someone was forging his name on some very important documents.” 

The foundation of this latest “investigation” is the same conspiracy theory Trump himself promoted when he claimed Biden was incapacitated while president because he used an autopen—a device presidents have used for decades to sign documents remotely. Less than 24 hours after pushing this theory, Trump himself admitted to using an autopen while in office. 

This is just the latest example of Trump and the GOP’s unending beef with Biden. Following the former president’s announcement of his Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis, House Republicans launched an investigation into the former president’s health while in office in a further attempt to beat that dead horse.

Republican lawmakers’ fixation on all things Joe mirrors their cult leader’s preoccupation with the man he lost to in 2020. Just last month, Trump even used the passing of former President Jimmy Carter as an opportunity to insult Biden.

Comer’s repeated failures to prove the existence of a shadowy Biden family crime syndicate only highlighted how the Kentucky congressman did the exact things he accused Biden of doing. Even after Biden dropped out of the race and Trump won the presidential election in November, Comer kept pushing his evidence-free investigation, telling Newsmax he wanted to continue it.

When it comes to being the target of a petty vendetta, it seems Biden’s greatest mistake was being the last president since Barack Obama to win more than 50% of the popular vote.

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Watch Sen. Chuck Grassley host the town hall from hell

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa faced angry constituents during a rare GOP-led town hall on Tuesday. 

Confronted by demands for Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be returned to the United States after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador, Grassley parroted President Donald Trump’s indefensible position. 

“The president of that country is not subject to our Supreme Court,” Grassley told the Fort Madison crowd, eliciting jeers and groans from the audience.

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“We would like to know what you, as the people of the Congress, who are supposed to rein in this dictator, what are you going to do about these people who have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a foreign country with no due process? Why won't you do your jobs, Senator?” one attendee asked.

Grassley, whose deflections were repeatedly shut down by the angry crowd, found himself on the receiving end of a civics lesson—and a sharp reminder of his oath of office. 

”You took an oath—‘I do solemnly swear or affirm’—do you remember that, sir?” one attendee asked. He then proceeded to recite the entire oath of office Grassley took as a senator.

“Sir, will you act upon your oath?” he asked.

Grassley continued to act powerless, pointing to the fact that the “only tool” for Congress to discipline the president is impeachment.

“And you missed that opportunity in his first administration. You had two opportunities for that. That was probably one of the only reasons we're having this situation now,” the attendee responded.

Grassley tried to earn some praise from the raucous crowd, boasting about the Trade Review Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill that he co-sponsored with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington. The bill would require congressional approval before Trump’s tariffs could take effect. 

And always true to form, Grassley then tried to take the heat off of himself, calling out “mistakes that Democratic Congress has made in 1963.”

Yes, 1963.

“I’m so sick of that,” one audience member responded.

Grassley is now an outlier in his own party. While Democrats are out in the field engaging with constituents, virtually all Republicans continue to hide from voters. 

If the GOP is hoping that voters’ outrage will blow over, they are sorely mistaken—they are only getting angrier.

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