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Congress Donald Trump Elections

Eric Swalwell Puts ‘Weasel’ Trump On Notice With A Powerful Warning

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is making it clear that if Donald Trump thinks he can run the country without any pushback from Democrats, he’s sadly mistaken.

Swalwell was a guest on MSNBC, and he told host Ana Cabrera that Democrats are willing to work with Trump on some of his proposals, but they certainly don’t see him as trustworthy.

Cabrera asked Swalwell, “Did voters hand Trump and the Republican party a sweeping mandate?”

“Well, I respect the will of the people certainly,” the congressman replied. “I’m not going to respect the will of a weasel in Donald Trump; somebody who doesn’t understand these same voters don’t want government-mandated abortions. They don’t want a sweep-up and round-up of anyone who looks like an immigrant in this country. They don’t want us to walk away from our obligation to defend Ukraine.”

“There’s a lot we can work on together on if he wants to be serious, if he wants to have security at the border and address the workforce crisis,” he added. “With immigration, you’ll find more Democrats than not who want to be there with him.”

Swawell then issued a very clear warning to Trump and his GOP allies.

“If he wants to carry out grievances against his political enemies, he’s looking at the tallest fence in the post right now as to the effort that will fence in any of his corruption or political grievance campaigns.”

Congressional Democrats can serve as a serious check on the incoming Trump administration. They have oversight committees that can look into any questionable actions. And they also have access to all sorts of information they can make public if they suspect illegal activity. They are on the front lines of the resistance, and it’s time they do whatever must be done to expose the horrors Trump has planned for this country.

 

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Donald Trump Elections Joe Biden

What Happened To The Millions Of ‘Missing’ Voters Who Cast A Ballot For Biden In 2020?

Shortly after the 2024 presidential election was called for Donald Trump, posts began circulating on social media wondering how Vice President Kamala Harris could have lost when there had been a record turnout. What happened to the other tens of million votes that had gone to President Joe Biden in 2020 when he faced Trump? Had someone tampered with millions of ballots? For example:

As Ewan Palmer of Newsweek notes, so far Harris has won around 68 million votes, with ballots still being counted in some states. Biden got 81.2 million in 2020. And Trump, it should be noted, has approximately 72.6 million votes, which is about 2 million shy of the 74.2 he received against Biden.

The “record-breaking turnout” in the 2024 election isn’t accurate. Biden-Trump saw 158 million ballots cast. The total for this year’s election will fall below that number.

“With Trump looking set to receive a similar number of votes between the 2024 and 2020 elections, political commentators and experts are wondering why voters who previously backed Democrats rejected Harris this time around. Others have suggested that many people who supported Biden in 2020 later became disillusioned over the country’s high levels of inflation and the cost of living crisis and took their frustrations out on Harris.”

Simply put, it seems that millions of Democrats declined to vote this year. Some may have cast a ballot for Trump or third-party candidates such as Green Party candidate Jill Stein or Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party. Others could have simply refused to vote for either Harris or Trump by leaving the presidential race box on their ballot empty.

For years, Democrats have prided themselves on having a better get-out-the-vote operation than the GOP. While that’s technically true, there’s no way to predict how a person will vote once they fill out their ballot.

 

Categories
Donald Trump Justice Department

Jack Smith Can Still Do Damage To Donald Trump – Here’s How

According to a report from NBC News, the Department of Justice and Special Counsel Jack Smith are seeking a way to “wind down” the two criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, meaning that he will likely face no consequences for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and improper handling of classified documents.

“Now that Trump will become president again, DOJ officials see no room to pursue either criminal case against him — and no point in continuing to litigate them in the weeks before he takes office, the people said.”

However, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance and national security reporter Marcy Wheeler say that doesn’t mean that Smith can’t do serious damage to Trump as he closes out those cases.

Vance explained her thoughts on Substack, writing:

At the conclusion of a special counsel’s investigation, section 600.9(a)(3) of the Special Counsel Regulations requires the Attorney General to provide Congressional leadership with “a description, and explanation of instances (if any)” where the Attorney General overruled an action the special counsel wanted to take. That requirement would be triggered if Smith proposed moving forward despite DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president (there were earlier reports he intended to continue his work through inauguration day), and the Attorney General countermanded him because of existing policy. It’s hard to assess what value a report like that might have, beyond information and evidence Smith’s court filings have already made public. It would at least guarantee there would be a permanent public record that would survive Trump’s certain demand that the Justice Department kill the cases against him.

In other words, the cases might not move forward, but the investigation would still see the light of day, which could be a proverbial albatross around Trump’s neck. And that might weaken him politically as he moves forward with his extreme right-wing agenda. It could also serve as the basis for a new criminal prosecution after Trump leaves office.

National Security reporter Marcy Wheeler also pointed to the report Smith must write and submit to his superiors at the DOJ.

“According to governing regulations, when a Special Counsel finishes his work, he must write a report to the Attorney General.”

She added:

“By telling the press that Smith is already working on shutting down the cases, Smith pre-empts any effort from Trump to offer another solution — and does so before Trump files his response to the immunity brief on November 21.”

“In other words, this may be no more than an effort to get one more bite at the apple, to describe what Smith found, which would be particularly important if there are still undisclosed aspects of the case, as I suggested there might be.”

We’re all familiar with the adage, “He laughs last laughs loudest.” And it appears Jack Smith is on the verge of having one hell of a last laugh right as Trump is raising his hand and taking the oath of office next January.

 

Categories
Donald Trump Editorial Elections

What Do We Tell Our Daughters Now?

I am a proud girl dad, and my daughter, Karina, is the light of my life.

It hasn’t been easy raising a child as a single father, and I still mourn the loss of Karina’s mother in a car accident when my little girl was only 2 years old.

Karina is now 16 and heading to college in less than two years. There, she plans to pursue a degree in veterinary science.

But after Donald Trump’s unexpected win last night in the presidential election, I’m struggling with questions Karina has already begun asking me this morning: What happened? Why didn’t Kamala Harris win? Can women ever hope to achieve the highest office in the United States? Do the majority of Americans consider women to be second-class citizens?

Looking at the returns from last night, including the Senate races in many states, it’s clear that fear and anger are now ascendant in this country. It’s politically beneficial to scapegoat others: People of color, people from other nations who have come to this country to seek a better life for their families, and members of the LGBTQ community.

It’s also clear that the majority of Americans seem to think that if you happen to be female, you can’t be trusted with issues of economics, foreign policy, and national security. For those complex issues, we have to elect a convicted rapist and sexual predator who has openly lusted after his daughter when she was only 13 years old simply because he’s male and good at lying with a straight face.

What the fuck, America?! Do we need to learn the same lesson about the dangers of electing incompetent leaders yet again? The last time we did, it cost us over a million of our fellow citizens while Trump mused about injecting bleach and using light “inside” our bodies to cure a deadly respiratory pandemic.

This is a very dark day in our nation’s history. But it won’t end us. We’re too strong for that. Millions of us have only just begun to resist and prepare for the next election, which is now less than two years away.

Karina and millions of girls just like her can count on one thing if nothing else in these uncertain times: You are more than capable of accomplishing all of your dreams, and one day that will include watching as a woman raises her right hand on Inauguration Day and becomes president of the United States. Tens of millions of girl dads won’t stop fighting until that becomes a reality.

Categories
Donald Trump Elections Trump Supporters

Trump Supporters Threaten ‘10 Times Worse’ Than Jan. 6 If He Loses Again

If indeed Donald Trump becomes a two-time loser when the votes are counted later this evening, this country may not yet be free of his malevolent influence because some of his most devoted supporters are already threatening to stir up trouble.

Mother Jones editor David Corn recently spoke with Trump/MAGA acolytes at a rally the disgraced ex-president held in Reading, Pennsylvania, and many Trumpers said they won’t sit by quietly if their hero goes down in defeat.

“So if he doesn’t win, what do you think the reaction’s going to be?” Corn asked a supporter.

“Civil riot, civil war.”

Corn then asked, “Are you going to be a part of that?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” the supporter replied.

“In what way?” Corn inquired.

“I’m not talking anymore!”

Another Trump devotee revealed that he had done prison time for illegally entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and was eager to do so again.

“Will there be another January 6th?” Corn asked.

“It probably would be worse,” the man answered. “It would probably be ten times worse.”