Bulgaria centre right leads in snap vote, fails to win majority: Exit polls
GERB party in the lead in parliamentary elections, but falls short of majority needed to end political instability. Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party was in the lead after a parliamentary election on Sunday, an exit poll showed, but has fallen short of a majority that would put an end to the country’s political instability. The Alpha Research poll showed Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) winning 26.4 percent of the votes, while reformist We Continue the Change (PP) was seen coming second with 14.9 percent of the votes. The pro-Russia ultra-nationalist Revival party was set to come third with 12.9 percent of the vote. In the seventh such vote in four years, former conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s GERB party repeated its performance in the previous ballot last June by winning between 25 and 27 percent of the vote on Sunday, according to the polls. Sunday’s election was triggered by the failure of Bulgaria’s political parties to agree on forming a coalition government after an inconclusive election on June 9. The European Union’s poorest member country has been at a standstill since 2020, when massive anti-corruption protests brought down Borisov’s cabinet. But there is a high chance that GERB will yet again struggle to find partners to govern in the country’s extremely fragmented parliament, where seven to nine parties are expected to be represented. GERB would get 74 seats in the 240-seat parliament, while PP would get 42 seats, and Revival 36 seats, according to the Alpha Research poll. “GERB has the responsibility to form a government, let’s see what they propose,” said Nikolai Denkov, former prime minister and member of the PP party. “We are going to wait for the final results.” Bulgaria needs a period of stable, well-functioning government to accelerate the flow of European Union funds into its creaking infrastructure and nudge it towards adoption of the euro. Plans to join the eurozone have already been pushed back twice because of missed inflation targets. Accession is currently slated for January 25, 2025. Compared to the last election, voter turnout appeared to have slightly increased to 35 percent one hour before the polls closed. In June, voter turnout plummeted to just 34 percent – the lowest since the end of communism. According to a recent opinion poll, about 60 percent of Bulgarians surveyed view the political deadlock as “extremely alarming”. Many voters said they feared further uncertainty ahead. “What was expected, happened more or less… I think we are going to have more elections,” said Vassil Vasilev, 60, after hearing about the exit poll. Adblock test (Why?)
Plight of Gaza civilians ‘unbearable’ as Israel kills over 50 in a day
UN chief Antonio Guterres says the levels of death and injury in north Gaza are ‘harrowing’ and calls plight of Palestinians ‘unbearable’. Israeli attacks have killed more than 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in less than a day, most of them in the north of the enclave which has been the scene of renewed Israeli ground offensive for the past three weeks, leading the chief of the United Nations to call the plight of civilians there “unbearable”. At least 11 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded after a school in northern Gaza was hit on Sunday. Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the school is in the middle of the Shati refugee camp, a densely populated camp in northern Gaza. “The Israeli strike killed at least eight Palestinians, including three journalists and an eight-year-old girl called Zayn al-Ghoul, who was waiting in a queue to receive biscuits from the school,” she said, adding that the death toll could climb as the number of injured was high. The Israeli military has said it was looking into the report about the strike on the school. The military added that it had killed more than 40 Hamas fighters in the Jabalia area in the past 24 hours, as well as dismantled infrastructure and located large quantities of military equipment. Hamas has not yet commented on the Jabalia strikes. Israeli military strikes on the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have so far killed about 800 people in the three-week offensive, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he is “shocked by harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in north Gaza. “The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable,” Guterres’s spokesman said. As the death toll from Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza approaches 43,000 since the start of the war on October 7, with the densely populated enclave in ruins, new ceasefire talks have begun in Doha. On Sunday, the directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency travelled to Qatar to meet Qatar’s prime minister to discuss a ceasefire agreement. Egyptian officials are also participating in the talks. Separately, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Israeli captives with some Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, in Lebanon on Sunday, Israeli forces continued their air raids on the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs after warning residents of several neighbourhoods to leave their homes. Israeli forces also targeted southern Lebanon. At least eight people were killed and 25 injured in an Israeli air strike on the coastal city of Sidon in southern Lebanon. Lebanese officials said at least 21 people were in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. In retaliation, Hezbollah has been launching attacks across the border into northern Israel. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in London but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. Washington provides weapons and diplomatic cover to Israel, which has been condemned for violating the rules of war. Adblock test (Why?)
Former Dem Dov Hikind blasts Clinton, Harris for comparing Trump rally to Nazis: ‘So freaking desperate’
Americans Against Antisemitism founder Dov Hikind, a lifelong Democrat turned Republican, criticized Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris for comparing former President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden to a Nazi rally at the famous venue in the 1930s. “My God, what the hell is wrong with these people,” Hikind said in a video posted to X. “This desperation on the part of Hillary Clinton and Harris calling Donald Trump a facist.” “Madison Square Garden. Half the place is going to be Jews there to support Donald Trump,” he added. “They are so freaking desperate and they are ready to destroy America.” Hikind noted that his mother was a holocaust survivor in the Auschwitz concentration camp and that most of her family were killed by the Nazis. TRUMP ADVISER UNPACKS WHY FORMER PRESIDENT IS HOLDING RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE STATE WEEKS FROM ELECTION Clinton has linked the rally at MSG to the infamous Nazi rally that took place in the arena in 1939. The event was organized by the pro-Nazi German American Bund and was attended by thousands in the lead-up to World War II. On Sunday, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, echoed the same comparison. “Donald Trump’s got this big, rally going at Madison Square Garden. There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid-1930s at Madison Square Garden. And don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there,” Walz said. TRUMP TO HOLD RALLY AT NEW YORK’S MADISON SQUARE GARDEN AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY Hikind, a former New York state lawmaker from Brooklyn, said Trump has the support of many Jews. “So much of the Jewish community committed to Israel is supporting Donald Trump,” he said. “To compare him to Nazis, the event at Madison Square Garden. Shame on them. Shame.” Hikind served as a Democrat for decades before joining the Republican Party in 2023. “Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has become so radicalized, so radical, run by the radicals, that people who are moderates or conservative Democrats are not welcomed in the Democratic Party,” Hikind said in a video message announcing his switch. “And I’ve had enough. The Democratic Party turns its back on its friends like Israel, the Biden administration right now in policy after policy. I’m just tired. I’ve had enough,” he added. “It took a long long time but I am delighted to join the Republican Party.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns.
Former Dem House candidate released ad explaining decision to switch to GOP
Louisiana House candidate Elbert Guillory released an advertisement explaining his decision to switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party, arguing it is the GOP that has the history of championing the rights of the Black community. “It was the right decision, not only for me, but for all my brothers and sisters in the Black community,” Guillory said in the ad, explaining his decision. “The Democratic Party has created the illusion that their agenda and their policies are what’s best for Black people. Somehow, it’s been forgotten that the Republican Party was founded in 1842 as an abolitionist movement.” The ad comes just over a week before Guillory faces off with four other candidates in Louisiana’s primary election, with Guillory being the only Republican candidate in the field. TRADITIONALLY DEM LEADERS IN KEY MICHIGAN VOTING BLOC DITCH HARRIS, ENDORSE TRUMP Louisiana uses a majority-vote system, with all candidates, regardless of party, competing in the same election. If a candidate is able to get over 50% of the vote, that candidate wins the election outright. If no candidate is able to achieve the 50% mark, the two top candidates will then compete in a runoff election the following month. Guillory served in the Louisiana House from 2007 to 2009 and the state Senate from 2009 to 2016. He switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican during his time in the state Senate in 2013. In his new ad, Guillory explained the decision as a simple one, arguing that Democrats have done little to actually help the Black community. “The Democrats, on the other hand, were the party of Jim Crow. It was Democrats who defended the rights of slave owners,” Guillory said. “It was the Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who championed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, but it was the Democrats in the Senate who filibustered the bill.” FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: VOTER OUTREACH, BALLOT EFFICIENCY AND A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING Guillory is making the pitch to voters in a district that is now much more competitive for Democrats after the state’s maps were redrawn in 2022, with the Cook Political Report rating the race as “Solid Democratic” as of Oct. 22. Nevertheless, Guillory is standing behind his decision to switch parties. “At the heart of liberalism is the idea that only a great and powerful big government can be the benefactor of social justice for all Americans,” he said in the ad. “But the left is only concerned with one thing, control, and they disguise this control as charity programs such as welfare, food stamps.” “These programs aren’t designed to lift Americans out of poverty,” he continued, “They were always intended as a mechanism for politicians to control the Black community. The idea that Blacks, or anyone for that matter, need the government to get ahead in life is despicable.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Trump supporters converge on Madison Square Garden ahead of highly-anticipated rally: ‘Iconic’
Former President Donald Trump is set to take the stage at Madison Square Garden in deep blue New York City, in a highly-anticipated rally that supporters are calling “iconic.” “This is going to be an iconic, historic day, and you can see it’s already full. I mean, it’s amazing. These tickets sold out in less than three hours. And it shows the enthusiasm, the momentum, the energy, as we are in this closing chapter of an unbelievable campaign,” New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik told Fox News Digital from inside Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Trump is expected to take the stage after 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, where supporters began gathering on Saturday in anticipation of the event. Trump had teased for months that he would hold a rally at Madison Square Garden and officially announced the event earlier in October. “We just rented Madison Square Garden. We’re going to make a play. We’re going to make a play for New York. Hasn’t been done in a long time. It hasn’t been done in many decades,” Trump said during a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month. New York last voted for a Republican president in 1984 during President Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory, when he only lost the state of Minnesota. TRUMP PREPS FOR MASSIVE CAMPAIGN RALLY SUNDAY AT NEW YORK CITY’S MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Stefanik told Fox Digital that Trump could win the massive state, saying Vice President Kamala Harris is underperforming with voters in New York swing districts. “I do think that President Trump can make history and win New York, and here’s why. If you look at Kamala Harris’s performance, she is underperforming Joe Biden in every single swing district in New York City. She will be the lowest performing Democrat nominee for president since the 1980s. President Trump has historic support among growing demographic groups, African American voters, Hispanic voters, Jewish voters, working class voters. So this is an America First movement that works for all Americans and I think that New York could make history on Election Day.” ELON MUSK, DANA WHITE TO APPEAR AT ‘HISTORIC’ TRUMP MSG RALLY The rally is first-come, first-serve, and sold out within hours of being announced. Madison Square Garden has a capacity of 19,500 people. Fox Digital spoke to attendees gathered outside the arena, who relayed they are “excited” to see Trump at home in New York City and that many New Yorkers are ready to pull the lever for the GOP ticket next week. “Absolutely,” Westchester native Alexa Brink told Fox Digital when asked if other New Yorkers she knows will vote for Trump. “All day long. Let’s go Trump!” She added that she wasn’t sure if Trump can win New York, “but we’ll try!” TRUMP TO HOLD RALLY AT NEW YORK’S MADISON SQUARE GARDEN AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY Another rally-goer named Anas Shuaib said that on Nov. 5 voters will tell Harris: “You’re fired.” “I’m an Arab-American, Muslim-American, and I’m voting for Trump because just like Kamala kicked out that Muslim at the rally, Ahmed Ghanim, we’re going to kick her out of the White House. And when Trump becomes president, there’s going to be peace, there’s going to be prosperity, and America first … no one else first.” TRUMP ADVISER UNPACKS WHY FORMER PRESIDENT IS HOLDING RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE STATE WEEKS FROM ELECTION “I want Kamala to know, you’re fired,” he continued. Stefanik added in her comment to Fox Digital that the rally is a testament to his support nationwide. “President Trump has talked with me about this for the past four years, so I’m so glad that this is happening. This is a real testament to so much support that he has, not only in the state of New York, but across the country.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Harris mocked for unveiling ‘new accent’ at Philadelphia event: ‘Everything about this woman is fake’
Vice President Kamala Harris is back in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, where she spoke before a Philadelphia church congregation and subsequently came under fire from social media commenters for allegedly unveiling a “new accent” during the event. “BREAKING: Kamala Harris unveils a new accent at a black Philadelphia church,” popular conservative X account “End Wokeness” posted Sunday accompanied by video of Harris at the event. Harris traveled to the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia on Sunday morning, where she spoke to the predominantly Black congregants, telling them that in just nine days, voters will “have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come.” “Here in Pennsylvania, right now each of us has an opportunity to make a difference. Because in this moment we do face a real question. What kind of country do we want to live in?” she said. “The great thing about living in a democracy is we the people have the choice to answer that question. So let us answer not just with our words, but with our works.” HARRIS MOCKED ONLINE FOR BREAKING OUT ANOTHER ‘NEW ACCENT’ AT CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS EVENT Harris cited the Book of Psalms in her remarks, including saying: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the mornin’. The path may seem hard, the work may seem heavy, but joy cometh in the mornin’ and church morning is on its way.” Critics on social media pounced on clips of Harris quoting Psalms, saying she debuted a new “pastor” accent, comparing her inflection to Martin Luther King’s tenor. KAMALA HARRIS RALLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY REPEATING SAME SPEECH IN DIFFERENT ACCENTS Harris has previously been accused by critics of unveiling new “accents” while on the campaign trail, including one last month when she spoke before the Congressional Black Caucus, and another “accent” that was compared to “Foghorn Leghorn” during a Labor Day rally in Detroit when she spoke to blue-collar union workers. “Since when does the vice president have what sounds like a Southern accent?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last month following her Detroit speech that was compared to the “Foghorn Leghorn” cartoon character. WHITE HOUSE DISMISSES QUESTIONS ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS’ NEW ‘SOUTHERN ACCENT:’ ‘JUST INSANE’ “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jean-Pierre replied. “Well, she was talking about unions in Detroit using one tone of voice, she used the same line in Pittsburgh, and it sounded like she at least had some kind of Southern drawl,” Doocy pressed. KAMALA HARRIS CALLED OUT FOR ‘STRANGE’ ACCENT: ‘IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE’ “I mean, do you hear the question that you’re – I mean, do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?” Jean-Pierre pushed back. “You know what they care about? They care about the economy, they care about lowering costs, they care about health care. That’s what they want to hear… democracy and freedom… I’m not going to even entertain some question about… it’s just. Hearing it sounds so ridiculous. The question – I’m talking about the question – is just insane.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign regarding the Philadelphia speech and critics who lambasted the VP for unveiling the “new accent,” but did not immediately receive a reply on Sunday afternoon. Pennsylvania is again a key battleground state this election cycle, after Trump won the state in his successful presidential election in 2016, and President Biden claimed the state in 2020. Both Trump and Harris have repeatedly crisscrossed the state in recent months as they work to lock up votes in the state that will likely determine the overall outcome of the election. Harris will hold a campaign rally in Philadelphia later Sunday, while Trump will join a rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden Sunday evening. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Walz education appointee who called for the US government to be ‘overthrown’ under GOP fire: ‘Insurrection’
FIRST ON FOX: Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks is demanding an investigation be opened into a Minnesota professor who was appointed to a working group examining “ethnic studies” within Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota Department of Education, excoriating the professor’s previous comments that the U.S. be “overthrown” because it is “irreversibly racist.” “[Brian Lozenski] has clearly explained, publicly and on video, that he supports the deconstruction and overthrow of the United States because our nation is irredeemably racist and evil. This is a radical and destructive worldview, that, because of Governor Walz’s recent signing of Minnesota’s education law, will be taught to thousands of children across your state,” Banks, who is running for the Senate and secured an endorsement from former President Trump last month, wrote in his letter. The letter was first obtained by Fox News Digital and calls on Jennifer Hoppenstedt, interim inspector general of the Minnesota Department of Education, to investigate Brian Lozenski, associate professor of urban and multicultural education at Macalester College, over comments calling for an “insurrection against the United States.” Macalester College is a private liberal arts school in St. Paul, Minnesota. WALZ STATE EDUCATION APPOINTEE CALLED FOR THE US TO BE ‘OVERTHROWN’ AND ‘DECONSTRUCTED’ “I am calling on you to investigate Mr. Lozenski’s history of advocating for insurrection against the United States, and to investigate whether Mr. Lozenski’s radical, anti-America views influenced the Minnesota’s Ethnic Studies Working Group development of its Ethnic Studies framework,” Banks continued in his letter. TIM WALZ’S SCHOOL LUNCH FIASCO GOT SCAMMED FOR $250 MILLION RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE Lozenski was appointed by Walz’s state Department of Education to help write the framework of ethnic studies standards for the state. The working group’s framework for ethnic studies is set to wrap up on Oct. 31, with Banks’ letter sent to the IG roughly a week before the deadline. Walz taught high school social studies before launching his political career as a U.S. House member representing Minnesota in 2006. Fox News Digital previously reported that a video published on June 19, 2022, by The Solidarity Network, showed Lozenski discussing his critical race theory research, and arguing that the U.S. is “irreversibly racist” and “must be overthrown.” “We don’t use critical race theory in school,” Lozenski said. “The first tenet of critical race theory is that the United States, as constructed, is irreversibly racist. So, if the nation state, as constructed, is irreversibly racist, then it must be done with. It must be overthrown,” he said in the 2022 video. HARRIS NOW MUM ON REPARATIONS SHE SIGNALED SUPPORT FOR IN 2020 WHITE HOUSE RUN “We can be like, ‘Oh no, critical race theory is just about telling our stories and diversity,’” he added. “It’s not about that. It’s about overgrowth. It is insurgent.” The video was removed from YouTube last month as it gained media attention amid Walz’s ongoing campaign for the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket. “You can’t be a critical race theorist and be pro-U.S. OK, it is an anti-state theory that says the United States needs to be deconstructed, period,” he continued in the video. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign, Lozenski, and the Minnesota Department of Education but did not immediately receive replies on Sunday. Banks sent the letter on Friday. KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ, ENDORSED BY TEACHERS UNIONS, RECEIVE FAILING GRADE FROM SCHOOL CHOICE GROUP “Mr. Lozenski is a critical race theory advocate and associate professor of urban and multicultural education at Macalester College. He apparently was selected to sit on the working group following his advocacy for Minnesota House bill 1502, which established the ethnic studies working group, because of his experience teaching ethnic studies in St. Paul Public Schools,” Banks continued in his letter. TIM WALZ APPEARANCE PROMPTS PROTESTS AND SILENT TREATMENT AT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME: ‘GETTING DESPERATE’ “He also founded a group called Education for Liberation Minnesota, which advocates for additional ethnic studies curriculum in Minnesota public schools. Unsurprisingly, a closer look at Mr. Lozenski’s past statements reveals radical political views that should disqualify him from working in public education and certainly from developing a statewide curriculum.” Lozenski’s biography touts that he is the author of a book titled “My Emancipation Don’t Fit Your Equation: Critical Enactments of Black Education in the US,” and sits on the editorial board of a journal called Ethnic Studies Pedagogies. Banks’ letter comes as Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz make their final pitch to voters in the final leg of the election cycle. A national poll published by the Wall Street Journal last week found Trump has a slight edge over Harris, at 47% support to 45%. Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
‘MAGA’ dress designer forced to remove Trump signs from business, residence when ‘Karen’ called the police
A dress designer and shop owner in Occoquan, Virginia, is at a loss following a bizarre encounter with a local woman who called the police on his boutique for demonstrating his First Amendment rights by hanging Trump signs out front. Andre Soriano, an atelier dress designer who is well-known for curating the “Make America Great Again” gown singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore to the 2017 Grammy Awards, received legal notice that he must remove signs in support of former President Trump from his business. “I actually started a flag war here in Occoquan, Virginia,” Soriano told Fox News Digital during a video interview. JOY VILLA WEARS PRO-TRUMP DOWN TO GRAMMYS: ‘IMPEACHED AND RE-ELECTED’ Soriano said though the first few moments of the encounter were pleasant, almost immediately, he was met with irrationality and backlash about the patriotic decor perched at the front of the store. “The reason I put my Trump dress outside is, so I don’t have to encounter [this],” Soriano said. Audra Johnson, a political activist and friend of Soriano, recorded the run in and posted it to social media after he texted her for help with the scene. “I have a video of her hiding in a bush,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know what she was doing.” JOY VILLA TURNS HEADS WITH PRO-LIFE OUTFIT AT THE GRAMMYS The duo said the woman was hysterically crying in the street and that she did call the police. A lone officer removed the woman from the store’s entrance and Johnson said she was taken to a local restaurant to “calm her down”. “As an American citizen, as a First Amendment in our great nation, you can express yourself by putting your signs in your home and expressing who you are as an individual, whether it’s religion, whether it’s politics or anything that you feel, without harming anyone,” Soriano said. “That’s just the freedom of artistic expression and being free in America, and nowadays, you can’t even express that.” Soriano and Johnson live in the residences above the store. After being cited by the city to remove the Trump-supporting signs from the business, they suspended them from their homes, despite having been hung for years prior to the incident. SINGER JOY VILLA MAKES A POLITICAL FASHION STATEMENT AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD However, they were cited a second time to remove some, but not all, the signs. “We’re just trying our hardest to not get fines we can’t pay,” Johnson said. “We follow rules,” Soriano said. “We don’t disrespect anyone.” The business owner is appalled by the ordinance as he believes America is the “land of the free, not the land of what people think.” “I’m an American designer,” Soriano said. “I am free to express and create whatever I want.” Soriano, originally from the Philippines, said his mother immigrated the family to America when he was a teenager to live the American Dream. JOY VILLA: WHY I CHOOSE LIFE OVER ABORTION – THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY THAT BEGAN FOR ME AT 20 “I love America,” Soriano said. The fashion designer said he was once employed by stars, including Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love, but was blacklisted when he designed the infamous “MAGA” dress from 2017. “That’s when our lives changed,” he said. “We had death threats.” “There are a lot of celebrities in Hollywood that are very divisive, and they didn’t really like President Trump,” Soriano said. The creative director added that he lost his friends, clients and potential business opportunities in California. Johnson was also blacklisted as a stage and film actress when she was photographed marching at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a sign that read “Trump is your president.” “We’re in an industry where we can’t just say what we want or how we feel,” Johnson said. “We don’t fit the mold.”
Trump endorses California’s Rep. Michelle Steel: ‘Tremendous Champion’
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Rep. Michelle Steel on Saturday, calling the Republican incumbent in California’s 45th Congressional District one of the nation’s “strongest Congresswomen.” “Michelle Steel has my Complete and Total Endorsement – SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” he declared in a post on Truth Social. “An America First Patriot whose family bravely fled Communism, Michelle brings that same fighting spirit to Congress, and will never back down against the Communists, Marxists, and Socialists on the Radical Left,” Trump said. HOUSE GOP ROLLING OUT BILL TO BLOCK CHINA FROM ACCESSING US PORTS Steel, an immigrant to the U.S., was born in South Korea, but raised in Japan, her congressional website notes. “After fleeing North Korea during the Korean War, her parents met and built a life in South Korea before moving to Japan,” the site states. The Republican figure has served in the House of Representatives since 2021. She had previously served as chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. CALIFORNIA REP IN HEAVILY ASIAN-AMERICAN DISTRICT FIGHTS AGAINST CHINESE COMMUNIST INFLUENCE IN EDUCATION “Michelle is working hard to Restore the American Dream, Grow our Economy, Secure our Border, Support our Great Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. During my Administration, Michelle worked with us to achieve the lowest ever unemployment for Vietnamese Americans, and ALL Americans,” Trump said in his endorsement post. He called her a “Tremendous Champion” for those in her district, but decried her Democratic opponent, Derek Tran. CALIFORNIA CANDIDATES TRADE BLOWS IN KEY DISTRICT, AS REPUBLICAN SLAMS DEM OVER ‘METOO’ COURT CONTROVERSY CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Michelle is one of the strongest Congresswomen in the Country, whereas her WEAK opponent, Derek Tran, is a Radical Left Puppet of Communist China, who will put our Country, and Safety, LAST. Michelle, on the other hand, will ALWAYS put California, and America, FIRST,” the 2024 GOP presidential nominee declared.
JD Vance says Trump clashed with former officials for refusing to engage in ‘ridiculous war’
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio argued that his running mate, former President Trump, has clashed with former Pentagon officials for refusing to enter “ridiculous wars,” arguing that this was the reason why former officials like ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly have spoken out against him. In a sit-down interview that aired on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Vance sparred with host Jake Tapper over recent allegations brought by Kelly, who said Trump is the “definition of a fascist.” Vance charged that Kelly and other critics like former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney disagree with Trump on policy and are “conservative in the sense that they want America to get involved in a ton of ridiculous military conflicts – they wanted America to police the world, and Donald Trump wasn’t.” Tapper pushed back on this, noting that Kelly’s son died in the war in Afghanistan. Vance, a Marine veteran, defended his position, saying, “I know John Kelly’s worldview,” and stating that while he honors Kelly’s son and his family’s sacrifice, “that doesn’t mean he wasn’t wrong about policy.” TRUMP APPEARED ON JOE ROGAN’S PODCAST FOR NEARLY THREE HOURS: HERE ARE THE TOP MOMENTS “Donald Trump wouldn’t listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflicts,” Vance said. “A lot of former members of the Pentagon bureaucracy, a lot of neoconservatives, they have a fundamental difference with Donald Trump on the question of peace and war.” “I believe Donald Trump is the candidate of peace. I think the record supports that. The reason these guys go after him so vociferously, I don’t think it’s about his personality, Jake,” Vance said. “I think that it’s about they don’t like that Donald Trump said no when a lot of them want to start a ridiculous war.” Tapper challenged Vance on what he was basing this assertion on. Vance said that it was “based on people that I’ve talked to in the Trump administration.” Tapper also cited other former Trump administration officials, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Defense secretaries James Mattis and Mark Esper, and former White House national security adviser John Bolton, who criticized their ex-boss. “You know one reason why Kamala Harris doesn’t have as many people criticizing her?” Vance said. “Because she doesn’t fire people who fail. That’s why we haven’t had a real audit of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal is because Kamala Harris protects failures in government. Donald Trump fires them, and I’d much rather have a president who fires people who screw up.” TRUMP BLASTS HARRIS AT MICHIGAN RALLY FOR ‘PARTYING’ WHILE A ‘WAR’ IS ‘GOING ON’: ‘NOBODY’S IN CHARGE’ Vance lambasted Tapper for not asking about the cost of groceries, housing and other issues impacting Americans’ livelihoods. “They didn’t think he was unfit for office until they had a falling out with him because he fired them, and we’re not talking about the public policy,” Vance added. “Can we talk about how Americans can’t afford groceries? Can we talk about how Americans can’t afford the cost of housing? Can we talk about the fact that a lot of people out there in Erie, Pennsylvania, they’re the ones that suffer and die when people like Mark Esper and Mark Milley don’t obey the commander in chief’s orders?” Vance charged that Tapper would “much rather talk about what Donald Trump allegedly said than what he did in office.” He said his running mate “wants to use American troops sparingly, he wants peace through strength” and denied that Trump ever said he would use the U.S. military against the American people. In regards to Trump’s “enemy from within” comments, Vance said Tapper was conflating Trump’s stance on “far-left lunatics” and people who would riot in the wake of an election or who burned down American cities in the summer of 2020, adding that federal law enforcement should respond in those cases. Vance also appeared on CBS and NBC Sunday shows. On foreign policy, Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump would stay in NATO, but other countries should pay their share, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “clearly an adversary” but the United States needs to be “smart about diplomacy too,” especially to end the war in Ukraine. “Of course we’re going to honor our NATO commitment, but I think it’s important, Kristen, to recognize that NATO is not just a welfare client, it should be a real alliance,” Vance told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “Donald Trump wants NATO to be strong. He wants us to remain in NATO. But he also wants NATO countries to actually carry their share of the defense burden.”