Trump camp rips Harris over unearthed comments on renaming Columbus Day: ‘Stereotypical leftist’
The Trump campaign slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for allegedly wanting to “cancel American traditions,” citing her 2019 comments supporting efforts to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. “Kamala Harris is your stereotypical leftist. Not only does she want to raise taxes and defund the police – she also wants to cancel American traditions like Columbus Day,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt exclusively told Fox News Digital. “President Trump will make sure Christopher Columbus’ great legacy is honored and protect this holiday from radical leftists who want to erase our nation’s history like Kamala Harris.” Leavitt was referring to Harris’ 2019 comments when she spoke to voters in New Hampshire about a month after launching her ultimately failed 2020 bid for the White House. DEFACED COLUMBUS STATUE THAT WAS THROWN INTO A VIRGINIA POND FINDS MORE WELCOMING HOME IN NYC SUBURB “Count me in on support,” Harris told a voter when asked if she supports renaming Columbus Day “Indigenous People’s Day,” footage of the event shows. Harris cited recent legislation she helped author that makes lynching a federal crime as she delivered her response to the New Hampshire voter. “People did not want to deal and accept and most importantly admit that we are the scene of a crime when it comes to what we did with slavery and Jim Crow and institutionalized racism in this country, and we have to be honest about that,” she said, the Washington Times reported in 2019. “If we are not honest, we are not going to deal with the vestiges of all of that harm, and we are not going to correct course, and we are not going to be true to our values and morals.” “Similarly, when it comes to indigenous Americans, the indigenous people, there is a lot of work that we still have to do, and I appreciate and applaud your point and your effort, and count me in on support,” she said, marking her support of renaming the holiday. Columbus Day is a federal holiday that officially celebrates and recognizes Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas in 1492. The holiday will be celebrated on Monday this year. COLUMBUS REMAINS, VERIFIED AFTER 500 YEARS, SHOW HE WAS JEWISH: DOCUMENTARY Activists in recent years have worked to disassociate the day from Columbus, claiming it celebrates colonialism and genocide of indigenous people, in favor of celebrating Native Americans. Activists have also worked to remove Columbus statues from cities, including toppling such statues during the riots of 2020. WILL JULY 4TH, LIKE COLUMBUS DAY, SOON SIMPLY DISAPPEAR? President Biden was the first president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, but states have taken different approaches to how to celebrate the day. In 2021, Harris’ first year as vice president, she said that the U.S. “must not shy away” from its “shameful past” of European explorers ushering “in a wave of devastation for tribal nations.” “Since 1934, every October the United States has recognized the voyage of the European explorers who first landed on the shores of the Americas,” she said. “But that is not the whole story. That has never been the whole story. “Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations – perpetrating violence, stealing land, and spreading disease,” she said. FOX NATION’S ‘UNCANCELLING COLUMBUS’ EXPLORES LEFT’S EFFORT TO WARP CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS’ LEGACY “We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact of the past on native communities today.” A review of Harris’ X account for her vice presidency shows she has exclusively celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day over Columbus Day each year she has been in the office. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on her previous statements and Leavitt’s comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Prepping for the worst: Election workers anticipate threats in US vote
Across the country, in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Tina Barton had her own brush with election-related violence. For more than three decades, Barton, a Republican, served in government, eventually landing the role of city clerk. That office required her to administer elections and maintain voter files, among other duties. But over the years, she had seen tensions rise. There were early signs of discord in the 2000 election between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W Bush, a race decided by a few thousand votes in Florida. Barton also noticed election denialism years later, in 2016. At the time, Green Party candidate Jill Stein pushed for long-shot recounts in three battleground states, including Michigan, after she finished fourth in the presidential race. As that effort fizzled, Stein decried, “We do not have a voting system we can trust.” In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams was also defiant after her 2018 gubernatorial loss to Brian Kemp, accusing Republicans of “rigging” the system in their favour, though she acknowledged they were acting within the laws in place at the time. But those nascent signs of increased scepticism turned into something different following the 2020 vote, Barton said. “Up to that point, the attack had been more on the process and the doubts on the process and how we do elections in our country,” she told Al Jazeera. “We really hadn’t had the attention on us individually.” For Barton, that newfound spotlight on election workers came with threats. After Trump’s defeat in 2020, much of the scrutiny fell on battleground states that Republicans narrowly lost, including Michigan. Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel referred to Barton by name when she falsely claimed that 2,000 votes had been wrongfully diverted to Democrat Joe Biden. In reality, Barton and her team had discovered a clerical error in the vote tally, correcting it to ensure accurate results as part of normal election procedures. But the damage had been done. Hearing Barton’s name falsely associated with election fraud sparked an onslaught of scrutiny and threats. One caller — citing Trump’s false claims about the election — even left death threats on her voicemail just a few days after the race. “I did not expect to go to my office and pick up my own phone, my own voicemail, and have someone call me by name and say: ‘When you least expect it, we will kill you,’” Barton said. Barton lost her race for city clerk that year and has since focused on training other election officials. But she has a message for powerful political figures. “When you’re an individual with a platform and who has followers … you have to take responsibility for the words that you’re saying,” Barton said. Members of the public, she underscored, “may take those words as directives to take action”. Adblock test (Why?)
US deploying THAAD missile defence system, troops to Israel
US says move underscores ‘ironclad commitment’ to Israel’s defence against ‘further missile attacks by Iran’. The United States is sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel, the Pentagon has announced, as President Joe Biden’s administration continues to provide “ironclad” support for one of its top allies amid mounting tensions with Iran. The US Department of Defense said on Sunday that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had authorised the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) “battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel” to help boost the country’s air defences. “The THAAD Battery will augment Israel’s integrated air defense system. This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” the Pentagon said in a statement. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel on October 1 in retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and an Iranian general. Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have vowed to retaliate — spurring fears that the Middle East could be dragged into an all-out regional war. Earlier this month, Biden suggested that Israel should refrain from striking Iran’s nuclear facilities or oilfields, but the Israeli government has repeatedly defied the US president’s public warnings in the past. It is unclear when exactly the US’s THAAD system will be deployed to Israel. An unnamed US official told CBS News that “around 100 troops” will go to the country. Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Washington was “putting [the] lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel”. “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araghchi wrote on social media. While the US has said it favours diplomacy and a de-escalation in the region, critics have noted that Washington offers Israel unwavering military and diplomatic support. The US provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually, and the Biden administration has authorised $14bn in further assistance to its ally since the Israeli military began its war on the Gaza Strip in October of last year. Israel also recently expanded its bombing campaign in Lebanon, after exchanging fire with Lebanese group Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border for months. As tensions continue to mount, the Biden administration has rebuffed calls to suspend weapons transfers to Israel to pressure the country to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. [Al Jazeera] Israel already uses three integrated missile defence systems to intercept incoming rockets and missiles fired towards the country. But the THAAD system that the US will deploy to Israel has a greater range than other systems and marks a “step up”, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reported from Washington, DC, on Sunday. “The important point, too, is that the [THAAD] systems are so complex that it requires a crew of 94 to operate — a trained crew of 94 — and these will be US soldiers,” Hanna said. “This is a system being put in place and it is a significant step up of the US support for Israel as this crisis continues.” Speaking to Al Jazeera, military analyst Elijah Magnier said he believed the THAAD system announcement meant that the expected Israeli attack on Iran is “not imminent”, as the Israelis would want the missile defence system to be in place before any attack, which will likely be followed by another Iranian attack on Israel. The US previously deployed a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 for training and an air defence exercise, the Pentagon said on Sunday. Biden also directed the military to send one to the Middle East “to defend American troops and interests in the region” after last year’s October 7 attacks by Hamas on southern Israel. Adblock test (Why?)
More than 60 wounded in Hezbollah drone attack on Israeli military site
Hezbollah says it launched a ‘swarm of drones’ at an Israeli military camp in Binyamina, northern Israel. At least 67 people have been wounded in a drone attack in northern Israel, according to Israeli emergency services and local media, as the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli military camp with a “swarm” of drones. Israeli Army Radio reported that at least four people were critically wounded in the attack on Sunday in the town of Binyamina, south of Haifa. According to Israel’s Channel 12, no warning sirens were heard before the attack. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the strike. In a statement, the Iran-aligned group said it launched a “swarm of drones” at a Golani Brigade camp. The Golani Brigade is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Israeli army and regarded as an elite unit. Members of Israel’s security forces secure the site of a drone strike near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina [Oren Ziv/AFP] In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it also targeted the Israeli Tsnobar logistics base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with a missile. The Hezbollah drone strike comes on the same day that the United States announced it would send a new air-defence system to Israel to help bolster its protection against missile attacks. At the direction of US President Joe Biden, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “authorised the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1”, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement. Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said that though the Israeli air defence system is very sophisticated and multi-layered, drones are hard to detect. “Usually, the sirens go off when something is heading towards a location so civilians and residents of that area are told to seek shelter. That’s why there have been a very small number of injuries throughout the past year from those attacks,” she said. “But the drones are harder to detect, and because they fly at lower altitudes, they are much more difficult to intercept. Effectively intercepting them would put a lot of people in danger,” Odeh said. Sunday’s attack comes as Israel intensifies its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated a year ago when the Lebanese group began firing rockets at northern Israel the day after Israel launched its assault on Gaza. Israel has sharply escalated the fighting in recent weeks, carrying out air raids across Lebanon and sending ground troops into the south of the country. More than 2,100 people in Lebanon have been killed since last October, the majority in the last few weeks since Israel intensified its attacks, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities. The Hezbollah attack in Binyamina shows that attacking Lebanon carries a heavy price for Israelis too, according to Gideon Levy, Israeli political analyst. “Nothing less was expected. We are at the beginning of the war in Lebanon, not at the end of it. And everyone so enthusiastic about this war should know that it will carry a very heavy price,” he told Al Jazeera. Hezbollah has said it will continue attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their “valiant and honorable resistance”, and in “defence of Lebanon and its people”. Adblock test (Why?)
Cringeworthy pro-Harris ad showcasing male support features professional actors
A new and viral political video featuring men declaring they are “man enough” to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is stacked with Hollywood actors and comedians. A grassroots ad published last week by a former producer for Jimmy Kimmel has racked up millions of views on social media as critics lambaste the video supporting Harris as “the cringiest political ad ever created.” The director behind the video said it was made for a group called Creatives for Harris, adding that even while the video is tongue in cheek, the message of the video “is true.” The video was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee, according to a disclaimer in the 90-second video, but is shot as if it’s an official campaign ad. It features six alleged manly men who claim they are so masculine that they eat “carburetors for breakfast” and aren’t “afraid of bears,” while saying they also don’t fear women and will support Harris for the Oval Office. ‘MAN ENOUGH’ VIDEO SUPPORTING HARRIS MOCKED AS ‘THE CRINGIEST POLITICAL AD EVER CREATED’ The video was slammed by conservatives and other critics on social media, who questioned last week if the video was a parody and claimed Democrats “have no idea how actual men speak.” FOX Business senior correspondent Charles Gasparino, for example, remarked, “It’s so bizarre that those on the political left, who for years proselytized the hoi poi that men can be women and women can be men, that men can compete in women’s sports because we are all genderless creatures, now think they have credibility to say what a real man is all about. Sorry you blew it years ago.” “Must-see Kamala ad,” Claremont Institute fellow David Reaboi quipped. “Not only do they have no idea how actual men speak, they couldn’t find any convincing male actors.” The original YouTube page for the video details that the men who appear in the unofficial ad are cast members for the video, listing the actors’ names: Winston Carter, Chris Gibson, Lanre Idewu, Tony Ketcham, Mike Leffingwell and Wayland McQueen. Fox News Digital found IMDB pages for the actors, with most appearing in bit roles for Hollywood films or starring in low-budget films or short videos. Winston Carter, the actor who played a heavyset man in a cowboy hat, for example, has performed in a handful of low-budget movies and short videos going back to 2011, according to his IMDB page. Actor Tony Ketcham, who plays the elderly man who is unashamed of his love of “West Side Story” and support of Harris, also has an IMDB page showing credits for bit parts in movies such as “Ghost World,” where he played the role of “alcoholic customer” in the 2001 film, and an episode of the “X-Files” that same year. Lanre Idewu, in the video, plays the gym-going guy who is “man enough to deadlift 500, and then braid the s— out of” his daughter’s hair. He has an extensive IMDB page with credits from a 2006 episode of “Arrested Development” to working as a producer on a Christmas Hallmark movie. Idewu has also posted photos to his social media pages with Democratic elected officials, including President Biden and first lady Jill Biden. GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN KEY COUNTY NEAR BIDEN BIRTHPLACE Two of the actors in the video are members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational comedy group, in Los Angeles. Wayland McQueen played the role of a farming-type man surrounded by bales of hay and is listed as a current member of the comedy brigade, where he’s performed since 2008. Social media users who also investigated the actors in the ad found McQueen has reportedly tweeted about identifying and acknowledging “white privilege.“ Mike Leffingwell, who declares in the unofficial campaign ad while standing next to a horse that he’s “sure as s— not afraid” of women, is another member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, according to the comedy group’s website. His bio on the page reads, in part, Leffingwell “has written cartoons for Dreamworks and Netflix, jokes for the Onion and The Late Late Show, and a series of Shorty Award-winning commercials for Tubi. On TV he has appeared on The Goldbergs, Conan, and commercials for many exciting products.” MAHER SAYS ELECTION ‘NOT LOOKING THAT GREAT’ FOR HARRIS, MOCKS NEED TO HAVE OBAMA ‘SCOLD’ BLACK MEN ON VOTING The sixth man listed as an actor for the video, Chris Gibson, also appears to be an actor, with Fox Digital finding a handful of IMDB pages touting actors with that name, but could not confirm which allegedly belongs to the man in the ad. GROWING NUMBER OF GEN Z MEN SUPPORTING TRUMP REPRESENTS ‘ONGOING CULTURE SHOCK’ IN US POLITICS, VOTER SAYS Some social media users pointed out over the weekend that the video featured actors playing manly men who support Harris, sparking a new round of criticisms online. “The campaign is so fake, they even have to fake the fake enthusiasm. They’re so bad at this. Do they honestly not know that The Google exists? Wow,” one X account posted in response to a thread detailing the actors in the video. “This explains why Progressives don’t know what a real male is,” another posted. “Everything they do is fake,” another said. The ad was created by Jacob Reed, who has worked as director for “Funny or Die” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” He told Fast Company last week that the ad was made for Creatives for Harris, which is a grassroots group of producers, writers and ad executives who support Harris. Reed wrote on Substack that the video is “more sketch comedy than political ad,” before adding that “what these men are saying is true.” “With the rise of role models like Tim Walz and Doug Emhoff on the national stage, I think the left is finally finding its footing on how to talk about masculinity — I think we’re overdue for a redefinition of what it means to be a man in America and I hope this campaign can
Bomb threat letter found on Chennai-bound IndiGo flight, minister, HC judge among 169 passengers
CISF personnel conducted a thorough check of the flight and its passengers before it departed for Chennai around 6 PM. Subsequently, the airline authorities lodged a complaint with Peelamedu airport.
Baba Siddique murder: Another person arrested from Pune, had hired shooters
Baba Siddique, a senior NCP leader from the camp of Ajit Pawar, was gunned down outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra.
President’s rule revoked in Jammu and Kashmir, paves way to form government
President’s rule revoked in Jammu and Kashmir, paves way to form government
Trump slams Biden’s ‘pathetic’ correspondence with Netanyahu, reveals when he last spoke with world leader
Former President Trump ripped President Biden for going weeks without speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as war continues raging in the nation, offering that he last spoke to Netanyahu “two days ago.” “I thought it was odd that today President Biden said that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in seven weeks or something,” “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump in an interview that aired Sunday. “It’s pathetic, it’s pathetic,” Trump responded. “They’ve been at war for over a year. So he hasn’t spoken with him in seven weeks. When was the last time you’ve spoken with Netanyahu?” Bartrimo asked in a follow-up question. IRAN’S NATIONAL AIRLINER ACCUSED OF FLYING WEAPONS TO BEIRUT AIRPORT FOR TERROR PROXY HEZBOLLAH: REPORT “Like two days ago. And he came to my house in Florida – Mar-a-Lago, with his wife, who is lovely. But he came to my Mar-a-Lago,” Trump responded. Biden and Netanyahu held their first call in seven weeks on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported last week. Harris also joined the phone call. War has raged in Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched attacks on the nation. “It was direct, it was productive,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the phone call, the AP reported. PATRICIA HEATON RIPS COLLEGE CAMPUSES FOR ALLOWING ANTISEMITISM, CALLS ON CHRISTIANS TO VISUALLY SUPPORT JEWS Biden’s call with Netanyahu followed Iran launching ballistic missile attacks on Israel, escalating the war. Trump has called on Israel to “hit” Iran’s nuclear facilities to curb the attacks. Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have apparently flared since the war broke out, which was detailed in journalist Bob Woordward’s upcoming book, “War.” “That son of a b—-, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f—ing guy!” Biden reportedly said in spring of this year of Netanyahu, according to the book. Reports also surfaced earlier this year that Biden had privately called Netanyahu an “a–hole” while continuing to pledge support to the nation. Trump joined Bartiromo for the exclusive interview just 22 days before Election Day, and spoke about a swath of issues affecting voters, including the economy, the border crisis, his son Barron Trump’s assistance with the campaign, and the White House’s response to the hurricanes that have devastated towns in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. IRAN’S AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI IN HIDING WITH EXTRA SECURITY FOLLOWING HEZBOLLAH LEADER’S DEATH: REPORT “I could tell you that Bibi has been very strong.… He is not listening to Biden,” Trump continued while speaking about the war in the Middle East. TRUMP BLAMES BIDEN, HARRIS FOR IRAN’S ATTACK ON ISRAEL: ‘VERY CLOSE TO GLOBAL CATASTROPHE’ “Biden is the one that came up with the Afghanistan plan. Take the soldiers out first and leave all that weakness. Leave Bagram behind. Bagram is one of the biggest air bases in the world. We built it for billions and billions of dollars many years ago. It’s one hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons. And he gave it up. He’s a fool. And we can’t have another fool as a president. Biden is smarter than she is. We can’t have this for another four years. We’re not going to have a country left,” Trump continued. Trump has repeatedly said while on the campaign trail that wars in both the Middle East and Ukraine would not have unfolded if he were in office, vowing to end the wars if re-elected.
Unknown drone fleet breached US military base airspace in Virginia for 17 straight days: report
A mysterious fleet of drones entered restricted airspace and swarmed a U.S. military base along the Virginia coast for 17 days late last year, stumping the Pentagon, according to a new report. For several nights last December, U.S. military personnel reported witnessing a fleet of unknown unmanned aircraft breach restricted airspace over a stretch of land at Langley Air Force Base along Virginia’s shore, the Wall Street Journal first reported. The drones would start to arrive about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset each night, one official reportedly told U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, who joined several other officers responsible for the country’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors, on a squadron rooftop. Kelly described the first drone he saw as roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. As many as a dozen or more drones followed, flying across Chesapeake Bay, and then traveling toward Norfolk, Virginia, and through a space overlooking the base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six and Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port, according to the Journal. BUTTIGIEG’S MESSAGE ON RESTRICTING CIVILIAN DRONES NEAR HURRICANE HELENE DAMAGE PROMPTS OUTCRY, CLARIFICATION The report said officials could not determine if hobbyists or adversaries – such as China or Russia – were responsible for the drone fleet. Reports of the matter reached President Biden and resulted in two weeks of meetings at the White House in December 2023, the Journal reported. Those meetings included the Defense Department, the FBI and the Pentagon’s UFO office, as well as outside experts. MILITARY SENDS RESOURCES TO FLORIDA IN WAKE OF HURRICANE MILTON WHILE HELENE RECOVERY EFFORTS CONTINUE Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Department of Defense for comment. The DoD referred Fox News Digital to Langley Air Force Base for more information, but they did not immediately respond to an inquiry. Neither did the White House. Two months before the drone fleet emerged in Virginia, five mysterious drones reportedly breached restricted airspace over a government nuclear weapons experiment site in Nevada. Four of the drones were detected by the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site outside Las Vegas, while the fifth was spotted by employees, according to the Journal. The facility has reportedly since upgraded its detection system, but officials have not determined who was behind the breach.