Trump’s paranoid desire for revenge is more dangerous than you can imagine

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

A new book details Donald Trump’s paranoia during his 2024 presidential campaign over a potential assassination threat from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Reports that Iranian operatives had access to surface-to-air missiles led Trump and his advisers to use his staff as a decoy in a plane switcheroo, according to Politico’s Alex Isenstadt.

The threat stemmed from Trump’s first-term decision to assassinate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. The revelations are in Isenstadt’s upcoming book, "Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power." The reporter was given access to the Trump campaign’s inner circle, and Isenstadt reveals that Trump was so afraid that he secretly switched planes to travel to an event—leaving some of his staff feeling like bait.

Trump’s fear was stoked by foiled assassination attempts at a Pennsylvania rally and at his Florida golf course. While neither of the incidents were linked to Iran, Trump’s security detail had him fly on billionaire buddy Steven Witkoff’s plane after the Florida attempt while the rest of his staff took his privately owned plane, dubbed Trump Force One. According to Isenstadt, staffers didn’t find out about the new security arrangement until they were on board Trump Force One.  

Campaign leaders tried to assure Trump aides they weren't being used as bait. But if Iranian operatives had access to surface-to-air missiles, several aides wondered, why were they put on board?

Trump has a history of indifference when it comes to the security of friends and foes alike. He has revoked security details for a host of officials from his first administration who have found their way onto his “enemies list.” This includes people like former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and special envoy Brian Hook—all of whom face the same threat of assassination from Iran for their roles in Soleimani’s assassination.

Trump’s continuing paranoia and vengefulness were apparent as recently as last Tuesday, when he told reporters that Iran “would be obliterated” if he were to be assassinated.

“I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left,” Trump said.

Trump’s threat to destabilize the region even further has been reiterated by his very unqualified Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. During an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Hegseth said invading or attacking countries or regions that are home to “foreign terrorist organizations” is "on the table.”

Trump’s enemies list goes beyond former Cabinet members directly threatened with assassination by foreign adversaries. It also includes former Trump administration officials facing domestic threats due to Trump and the right wing’s increasingly dangerous lies. 

The petty plutocrat has also revoked security details for former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Mark Milley, and former top U.S. health official Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

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Trump ends Secret Service detail for former ally—in another petty move

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Donald Trump has terminated the Secret Service detail assigned to his former national security adviser John Bolton. The move comes at the same time that Trump revoked Bolton and other former national security officials’ security clearances.

“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has made this decision,” Bolton confirmed to CNN. “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President [Joe] Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to once again extend Secret Service protection to me in 2021.” 

In 2022, the Justice Department revealed that Bolton was allegedly the subject of an assassination plot by a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “The Justice Department has the solemn duty to defend our citizens from hostile governments who seek to hurt or kill them,” the DOJ explained in a statement at the time.

At the time, the DOJ said that Bolton and other Trump-era officials became a focus of the IRGC after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. The Biden administration levied sanctions on Iran over the alleged plots to kill Bolton and others in 2023.

Not surprisingly, Bolton was a part of the “enemies list” Trump posted on social media last week. Bolton has publicly criticized Trump, saying his former boss was bewilderingly ignorant about foreign policy, and calling him “unfit to be president” in the runup to the 2024 election.

Bolton is a crummy person who ran into a more powerful crummy person. The concoction that creates a fascist is power, vindictiveness, and pettiness—and it doesn’t hurt to be a little stupid in order to delude yourself. Trump’s got it all.

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13 late-night moments that helped us survive the 2024 sh-tshow

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Whether poking fun at politicians or simply trying to make the best of a bad Donald Trump, the writers and comedians of late-night shows lightened the load for us this year. 

Hosts like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel appealed to our funny bones in the face of a ludicrous Republican Party, whose billionaire clown-king leader makes it a lot harder to be funny four to five days a week.

Here are 13 notable moments from late night, in what may have been the longest year on record.

Seth Meyers tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump, in 90 seconds

One of the more frustrating things about Trump’s electoral success is how transparently deranged and corrupt he is. Meyers synthesized it perfectly back in March, after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley gave up her bid for the Republican nomination.

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Jon Stewart breaks down exactly how Trump is a fraud

In late March, Jon Stewart, back in his old seat at “The Daily Show,” broke down the $364 million civil fraud judgement against Trump. “We all do it. I mean it. On my license, I'm not listed as 5’7, you know, I'm listed as 30,000 square feet.”

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Jimmy Kimmel makes fun of yabba dabba doofus Donald Trump

In April, shortly before Trump’s hush money criminal case kicked off, Kimmel went after Trump and his cowardly Republican supporters, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom Kimmel described as “a little bitch.” 

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Stephen Colbert makes fun of GOP’s disastrous impeachment attempt

In April, the Republican Party was wasting tax-payer money in one of their many impeachment stunts against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Colbert had some fun with the House Republicans’ general crapitude.

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Jimmy Kimmel jabs at Trump and ‘puppy killer’ Kristi Noem

Jimmy Kimmel has fun at Trump’s and RFK Jr.'s expenses before turning his attention to the story that ensured South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem would not be chosen as Trump’s running mate.

"Just to recap for those who were horrified: she shot a puppy and a goat, and she would like you to know she also shoots horses," he said. "She has at least a dozen people working for her, probably more. Not one of those dozen or dozens of people raised a hand, 'Governor, do you think maybe it's not a great idea to share that story about shooting a whole petting zoo at your house?'"

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Jon Stewart debunks the mythology of so-called liberal cancel culture

Stewart went at the right-wing’s slander-apparatus, showing that there is only one “cancel culture” and it lives inside conservatism.

"They're so full of shit that Sean Hannity can say with a square head, 'I'm not the kind of guy who gets outraged,'” Stewart exclaimed. “Sean Hannity! He's basically just a meat-bag support system for a forehead vein."

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Jon Stewart on how justice is the right’s kryptonite

There’s a reason why election deniers don’t want to go to court. “It's not a fraud case in court where I would need evidence. It's only a fraud case out there amongst the sod and the mulch—where I can say whatever I want,” Stewart joked. “The difference between in court and out of court is that in court, someone can say ‘prove it.’”

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Sen. Bernie Sanders stops by to talk with Stephen Colbert

It was July and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came by Colbert’s show to talk about Trump and the policy-free Republican National Convention.

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‘The Daily Show’ tackles Trump’s appearance on stage with Black journalists

It may feel like a million years ago, but remember when Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists and then unleashed a racist rant during a Q&A?

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Seth Meyers gives America 3 hilarious minutes of terrible Trump

Meyers returned on air after a summer hiatus and realized Trump had made all kinds of terrible news worth recapping. But three human weeks is the equivalent of three Trump-news-cycle years, and Meyers took a deep breath and gave it his best shot.

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Jimmy Kimmel loses the Emmy but wins our hearts

After losing an Emmy Award to Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show,” Kimmel channeled all of Trump’s election denialism into a fun opening monologue, filled with faux-grievances.

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Jon Stewart consoles Americans in the face of a second Trump term

Stewart offered up some hope on election night, after it became clear Trump had defeated Vice President Kamala Harris. 

“We have to continue to fight and continue to work, day in and day out, to create the better society for our children, for this world, for this country, that we know is possible,” he said.

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Stephen Colbert takes on Trump’s election win

"Well, fuck! It happened again,” Colbert began his monologue. 

"As we're all about to plunge back into the Trump hole, here's what occurs to me,” Colbert added. “The first time Donald Trump was elected, he started as a joke and ended as a tragedy. This time, he starts as a tragedy. Who knows what he'll end as. A limerick?"

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Republicans are totally cool with Trump pardoning Jan. 6 rioters

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Republicans are sucking up to Donald Trump in the best way they know how: by being cowards. 

The convicted felon has promised that when he takes office in January, he will pardon Jan. 6 insurrectionists and called for lawmakers who investigated the attempted coup to be punished. And GOP senators and Congress members, most of whom were hunkered down in the Capitol on that terrible day, are lining up to roll over for him. 

“As we found from Hunter Biden, the president’s pardon authority is pretty extensive. That’s obviously a decision he’ll have to make,” incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune told The Hill about Trump’s promised pardons.

While he plans to let the rioters off scot-free, Trump recently told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker that former Rep. Liz Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 committee should “go to jail.” 

“I don’t have a comment really on those statements,” Thune said.

Thune’s timorous stance on pardoning the rioters was parroted by fellow Republican senators.

“We’ll see what he does. I mean it’s been four or five years [since the attack]. The ones that hurt cops, they’d be in a different category for me, but we’ll leave that up to him,” said South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham.

Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the Jan. 6 committee destroyed evidence that would exonerate him. He has also publicly fantasized about committee co-chair Cheney facing a firing squad, and House Republicans including Second Amendment apologist Tim Burchett of Tennessee seem fine with Trump’s interest in political witch hunts.

“If they broke the law, then they should [be imprisoned],” Burchett told The Bulwark. “Now we know that they’ve manipulated evidence, so—if that’s the case, then absolutely.” 

As always, some Republicans were eager to minimize Trump’s threats.

“It was my understanding that he backed off that statement in a subsequent interview,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins. “So I don’t really think that there’s—since he’s backed off on it, I don’t think there’s really any need for me to comment on it.”

Other GOP leaders cheered Trump’s vendetta on—even if it means targeting their own colleagues.

“With politicians, if you’ve used a congressional committee and you’ve lied and tried to set people up and falsely imprisoned people, then you should be held accountable,” said Rep. James Comer, who is no stranger to using House committees and scant evidence to attack political opponents.

“I haven’t kept up with the January 6th stuff like other people,” Comer told The Bulwark. “I don’t know exactly what Trump was referring to. But I have two years of experience working with one of the January 6th committee members, and I can tell you he’s been nothing but completely dishonest,” Comer said, clearly referring to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin.

Every traitorous revelation from the Jan. 6 committee hearings was terrifying. The nearly 850-page final report by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol illuminating—and damning. 

Most voters oppose Trump’s plan to pardon convicted insurrectionists, but what most voters want has never been the Republican Party’s bag. 

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GOP congressman just won’t quit his war on the Bidens

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer just can’t stop running to Newsmax to demand endless investigations on the Biden family. Just a week ago he was on “Rob Schmitt Tonight” to complain about President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter. On Tuesday he was on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America,” trying to again stir up trouble. 

Comer, whose 15-month investigation failed to reveal a shred of evidence proving President Joe Biden or his family participated in criminal activity, has been running to the less factually curious right-wing outlet to say his piece.

“The ball is now going to be in the Trump justice Cabinet’s court,” Comer told Newsmax. Despite his embarrassing failures, Comer remains insistent on accusing the Biden family of more crimes despite offering no evidence to support his allegations. 

“You can go forward, there's still avenues to hold Hunter Biden accountable,” he continued. “I believe that Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are serious about reforming what we all refer to as the deep state,” Comer added. 

Trump’s choices of deep state fetishist and fan-fiction writer Kash Patel to head the FBI and former corrupt government official-turned-foreign agent Pam Bondi for U.S. attorney general has given Comer a second chance at harassing GOP political opponents.

“I believe that we can use our investigation of Hunter Biden as the blueprint for how to hold these bureaucrats accountable,” Comer said in what may be his plea to the Trump administration to remain head of the Oversight Committee.

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During the House Oversight Committee investigation, the Republican lawmaker repeatedly accused Biden of doing things that it was later reported Comer himself had also done. Whether it was using pseudonyms in government correspondence, or paying his own brother under the umbrella of “loans” in land swap deals, the evidence that Comer might be involved in corrupt dealings was far more convincing than anything he dug up on Biden.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s new gig will make your eyes roll

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

All-star conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene has been given her own subcommittee to chair. The representative from Georgia will work under the House Oversight Committee and alongside Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s toothless Department of Government Efficiency—yes, named after the DOGE meme and crypto scheme that Musk is so fond of.

Fox News reports that Greene will chair yet another DOGE—the Delivering on Government Efficiency Committee, which will purportedly “focus on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.”

A longtime Donald Trump loyalist, Greene tried and failed to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year. She subsequently threatened to try it again. The prospect of chairing her own subcommittee seems to have mollified the congresswoman, as reports indicate she is now expected to support Johnson’s upcoming bid to re-up as speaker.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a perfect response to Greene’s new gig. 

“​​This is good, actually,” AOC posted on X. “She barely shows up and doesn’t do the reading. To borrow a phrase I saw elsewhere, it’s like giving someone an unplugged controller.“

“Absolutely dying at those two now getting assigned the ‘privilege’ of ‘working” with MTG,” she continued. “That is actually hilarious. Enjoy, fellas! Very prestigious post you have there.”

Absolutely dying at those two now getting assigned the “privilege” of “working” with MTG. That is actually hilarious. Enjoy, fellas! Very prestigious post you have there 💀

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 22, 2024

Carpetbagger Greene has a rich history of unproductive antics in the House and on committees. Way back in 2021, 11 Republicans voted with Democrats to remove Greene from her committee assignments. At the time, Greene’s history of making threatening statements against fellow lawmakers and spewing antisemitic conspiracy theories was considered a detriment to the American public.

In 2023, after the GOP retook control of the House, Greene got a chance to embarrass America as a committee member again. And since her very first day back, she has spewed hate, disseminated misinformation, and even had to be muzzled by her own party’s committee chair for being such a crap-tabulous person.

She is now tasked with having to actually work with someone. Sure, she will parade in government agency officials and then misinform the public about excessive spending while turning a blind eye to actual waste and the private sector’s gouging of American taxpayers. But will her ego coexist with Musk’s, a guy known to relish in destroying things because he’s in a tyrannical position of power? 

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Forget how corrupt Trump’s first presidency was? Watch this

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

The corruption of Donald Trump’s first administration was so constant that it’s easy to forget every scandal. Thankfully, on Monday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is here to remind us as Trump begins to stock his incoming White House with bigots, sycophants, and even a puppy killer.

"The first Donald Trump presidential term had so many cabinet officials forced out of office in disgrace and referred to the Justice Department to face criminal charges,” Maddow recalled. “It's actually hard to remember them all."

Maddow ran down some of Trump's original Cabinet secretaries:

  • Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke left his position after more than a dozen investigations into dubious dealings and potential ethical violations. (Zinke is now the representative for Montana’s 1st Congressional District.)

  • Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s tenure as the ineffective mouthpiece for Trump’s nonexistent infrastructure bill was filled with reports that she used her position to enrich her family. 

  • Energy Secretary Rick Perry was one of the Trump officials who resigned after Trump’s Ukraine scandal, which led to Trump’s first impeachment.

  • Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned after having given sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal. (Trump then dragged his heels in replacing Acosta.)

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price joined Trump’s administration as an ethically challenged secretary, then left office after multiple federal inquiries into his use of taxpayer money to fund extravagant travel.

  • EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, whose ethical integrity matched that of a wet piece of rice paper, left his position because he couldn’t manage the multiple ethics investigations into his activities.

And these were simply Trump’s first round of picks. One of Trump’s last scandal-laden cabinet members, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, is leading Trump's Defense Department transition team. Wilkie’s time in the first Trump administration was marred by claims he orchestrated a smear campaign against a female veteran who alleged she was sexually assaulted at a V.A. facility.

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Watch DHS secretary masterfully debunk dumb FEMA controversy

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared via satellite for the daily White House press briefing on Thursday. He was there to answer questions regarding the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Mayorkas was asked whether or not he felt FEMA is perpetually "underfunded" as an agency. Mayorkas gave a diplomatic but laser sharp answer directed at the do-nothing Republicans in Congress.

"Let me take a step back and widen the aperture of that question, if I may,” Mayorkas began. “A continuing resolution is not a stable way to fund the federal government.” 

He was clearly referring to Republican dysfunction in Congress which has led to a series of continuing resolutions to keep our government funded.

"The disaster relief fund, and the funding of it, should be completely nonpartisan and apolitical. This is a fund that provides much-needed relief to individuals regardless of party,” Mayorkas went on. “And I have said publicly, many a time since Hurricane Helene first hit in late September, that when our brave individuals—and I say ‘our’ meaning not just federal, but federal, state, and local—reach into flooded waters to save an individual, they are not asking about that individual's party affiliation. They are rescuing a fellow human being, and we need to be funded accordingly.”

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Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has already refused to commit additional disaster-relief funding in the wake of Hurricane Helene, let alone call the House back into session. Meanwhile, GOP luminaries like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is claiming someone controls the weather (she was not clear whether she meant Democrats or “elites,” but it’s certainly not Mother Nature) while voting against basic funding for FEMA, just before Helene hit.

Like many current government officials, Mayorkas has had to spend an inordinate amount of time debunking dangerous misinformation pushed by Donald Trump and other GOP officials concerning FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene and now Milton in Florida. 

Mayorkas has long been a target of GOP ire, and he has accorded himself well by dropping fact-bombs at Republicans’ expense any chance he gets.

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GOP held a hearing to bash Biden. Watch this Democrat turn the tables

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

GOP Rep. James Comer held a House Accountability and Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday titled, “A Legacy of Incompetence: Consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Failures.” The laughably biased display is the latest Republican attempt to bash President Joe Biden, tarnish Vice President Kamala Harris’ record, and bolster Donald Trump's flailing presidential campaign.

Not unlike the committee’s abject failure to find a single shred of evidence to impeach Biden, this new attempt did not go the Republican Party’s way. Instead of creating angry and aggrieved sound bites for MAGA minions to salivate over, the hearing was mostly a boring stream of conservative lies. 

Enter Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who used his time to detail the Biden administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Connolly enlisted Skye Perryman, CEO of public policy organization Democracy Forward and the only witness the Democrats were allowed to call during the hearing, as his willing accomplice in this brief history lesson.

He began by countering the GOP claims that the Biden administration’s environmental regulations preventing energy industries from drilling for oil willy-nilly are “impeding energy production.”

Not only are Trump and Republicans lying about how superior they are when it comes to American energy production, they are lying about the Biden administration’s historic success in reaching new levels of energy independence.

Connolly moved on from there, asking Perryman about the Trump administration’s attempts to pass an infrastructure bill.

Connolly: Did they ever pass an infrastructure bill?

Perryman: They did not.

Connolly: Did President Biden pass an infrastructure bill?

Perryman: He did.

Connolly: Is it also the largest infrastructure bill in American history?

Perryman: The Biden-Harris infrastructure bill is the largest in American history.

Connolly: And pretty comprehensive, covers lots of different kinds of infrastructure. Is that correct?

Perryman: Many infrastructure and lots of investment.

The Biden administration did indeed pass an infrastructure bill with nearly zero support from the Republican Party. 

Connolly then detailed the Trump administration's failures in Afghanistan, including the rushed withdrawal timeline that Republicans now decry and blame on Biden. Trump tried to make his already terrible plan catastrophic by ordering a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan after he lost the election in 2020. Thankfully, senior military staff did not follow through.

The GOP and Trump have also blamed Biden for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. So Connolly walked down memory lane to recall why, unlike Biden, Trump was first impeached in 2019. We all remember how Trump tried to extort Ukraine into interfering in the 2020 election by withholding weapons for the country’s defense.

“Would it be fair to say that that development, that threat and that withholding of weapons, might be construed—if you were Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin—as a sign of weakness on the part of Ukraine and a sign that maybe the United States wasn't going to be there should something bad happen between Russia and Ukraine?” Connolly asked.

“It seems plausible,” Perryman agreed.

Finally, in light of the right wing’s frequent fearmongering over nuclear war and Iran, Connolly gave everyone watching the hearing a quick history lesson.

Connolly: Iran and nuclear weapons: Was there not an agreement that the United States actually led that involved Russia and China, Europe and Iran, to limit nuclear weapon production in Iran?

Perryman: There was a historic agreement.

Connolly: And was it working?

Perryman: Yes.

Connolly: In all respects?

Perryman: I believe so.

Connolly: Inspected by IAEA [the International Atomic Energy Agency] and the Trump administration, and certified by both.

Perryman: Yes.

Connolly: Is that correct? And what happened to that treaty?

Perryman: President Trump pulled out.

Connolly:  And has Iran been less active in producing nuclear weapons, or more?

Perryman: Iran is now a greater threat because of that failure.

Connolly: So much for efficacy. Just thought I'd revisit that revisionist history.

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Comer seems to have found a novel way to waste taxpayer money: using his position as chairman of the Accountability and Oversight Committee to nakedly campaign against the Biden-Harris administration and prop up Trump’s dogged quest to return to the White House.

If Thursday’s display was any indication, this latest effort will be about as effective as Comer’s last set of bogus hearings.

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Infamous Trump campaign stooge returns amid sagging momentum

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

Corey Lewandowski is back in the Donald Trump campaign business again—if he ever really left. Lewandowski was Trump’s first campaign manager from his 2016 run, and it’s unclear what his role will be this time, according to Politico.

CNN reports that current campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles are not believed to be losing their positions despite the past three disastrous weeks for the campaign, which have seen Trump’s steady lead in the polls disappear.

Lewandowski is an all-time villain in Trump World. Let’s dive into a list of his MAGAchievements.

In March 2016, as Trump’s campaign manager, Lewandowski was charged with battery of a female reporter at an event in Jupiter, Florida. After he denied he ever touched the woman, video of the altercation came out and threw a big bucket of reality on how much of a scumbag Lewandowski was.

In December 2016, months after Trump fired him from the campaign, Lewandowski claimed Trump’s win was a victory in the supposed war on Christmas. “It’s okay to say Merry Christmas again,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Yes, really.

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And who could forget in 2018 when Lewandowski mocked on national television the plight of a 10-year-old migrant girl with Down syndrome, who had been separated from her parents due to Trump’s inhumane “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Classy stuff.

You don’t rise in the world of MAGA without disrespecting the laws of our land, and Lewandowski tried to do his part. During the first impeachment inquiry into Trump, he testified that he had no qualms with lying publicly, telling Congress, “I have no obligation to be honest with the media 'cause they're just as dishonest as anybody else.”

Then, in 2021, a GOP donor claimed Lewandowski had sexually harassed her, telling the press, “He repeatedly touched me inappropriately, said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful. I am coming forward because he needs to be held accountable.”

Even for those in Trump’s orbit, the allegations were so bad that Lewandowski was fired from his job as the head of a Trump-affiliated super PAC. He later cut a deal with Las Vegas prosecutors that allowed him to not admit guilt in the incident.

Desperate as he faces Harris, Trump is bringing back Lewandowski (along with many other former aides) even as rumors of an affair with Kristi Noem, the married governor of South Dakota, continue to swirl. I guess it might take some of the attention away from how worthless and weird the GOP’s ticket is.

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