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Trump Secures Key Border Patrol Endorsement At Arizona Rally

Former President Donald Trump received a significant endorsement from the Border Patrol union during a campaign rally in Arizona, a crucial swing state. The endorsement could prove pivotal as immigration remains a top concern for voters.

The rally, held on Sunday, was marked by Trump’s promise to increase border security. He announced plans to hire 10,000 additional border agents, provide a 10% pay raise and introduce a $10,000 signing and retention bonus. “They deserve it,” Trump said, highlighting what he described as unfair treatment of agents.

The Washington Times further reports on border security personnel throwing their support behind the only candidate they believe will secure the border:

Paul Perez, president of the union representing 16,000 Border Patrol agents, said the former president has been a true ally.

“America, I have a message for you: If we allow ‘Border Czar’ Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country is going to go to hell,” Mr. Perez said, lamenting that millions of unvetted migrants who have entered the country illegally under the Biden-Harris administration.

“Only one man can fix that. That is Donald J. Trump,” he said.

“He has always stood with the men and women who protect this border, who put their lives on the line for the country,” he said.

Illegal immigration has consistently ranked as a key issue, with a study in June revealing that half of the jobs created under President Biden’s economic policies went to undocumented workers rather than American citizens.

Trump’s endorsement by the Border Patrol union comes as Democrats face increasing pressure over their handling of the border crisis. Matt Corridoni, spokesperson for the Harris campaign, criticized the endorsement, pointing to what he called Trump’s broken promises. “Trump told us Mexico would pay for his failed border wall. That was a lie,” Corridoni stated, adding that Trump killed a bipartisan border bill that could have strengthened border security.

Corridoni also defended Vice President Kamala Harris’s record, stating, “There’s only one candidate focused on tackling issues for the American people, has taken on transnational gangs, and is focused on keeping our communities safe—Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Despite these efforts, Democrats have faced challenges in managing immigration. Harris, in her role as “border czar,” has been criticized for the influx of nearly 10 million undocumented migrants during her tenure. The situation worsened when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed on Oct. 2 that DHS may not have sufficient funds to provide assistance through the end of the hurricane season, after spending $1 billion on immigration-related costs.

As Election Day rapidly approaches, immigration is likely to remain a central issue, with both parties vying for voters concerned about border security.

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Harris Campaign Accused Of Using Hacked Trump Campaign Info

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On Wednesday, the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies disclosed alarming developments regarding Iran’s alleged interference in the 2024 presidential election. The joint statement, released by the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), confirmed that Iranian cyber actors attempted to share stolen information from the Trump campaign with the Biden-Harris campaign.

The report indicated that Iranian hackers sent unsolicited emails containing nonpublic Trump campaign data to individuals connected to the Biden-Harris campaign in late June and early July. While the agencies found no evidence that the recipients responded to the emails, the incident has sparked concerns about foreign interference in the U.S. election.

The Biden-Harris campaign condemned the Iranian cyber activity, emphasizing its cooperation with law enforcement since being informed of the phishing attempts. Campaign spokesperson Morgan Finkelstein stated that the emails targeted the personal accounts of staff members rather than official campaign addresses, adding, “We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in U.S. elections.”

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign accused Iran of trying to help the Harris-Biden ticket and demanded clarity on whether the stolen material had been used. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt questioned, “What did they know, and when did they know it?”

Karoline Leavitt speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore ]

The matter has now drawn attention on Capitol Hill, with House Intelligence Committee members weighing in. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) noted that there was no evidence the Biden campaign responded to the unsolicited emails, while praising Harris and Biden for recognizing that foreign election interference is unacceptable.

Iran, for its part, has denied any involvement. The Iranian Mission to the United Nations issued a statement rejecting the accusations, calling for the U.S. to provide substantiated evidence.

This revelation follows reports last month of internal communications from the Trump campaign being hacked, including emails that were allegedly leaked to Politico. The leaked documents included a 271-page dossier on Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, detailing potential vulnerabilities in his political record.

The developments have intensified concerns regarding foreign influence and interference in the 2024 election, as well as the need for investigations and safeguards to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

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Report: GOP Senators Snub Trump Convention Invite

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Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Some Senate Republicans Are still keeping Donald Trump at arms length.

Four Senate GOP members in that mold — Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Todd Young (Ind.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) — told The Hill they do not plan on traveling to the Republican National Convention in July to celebrate what will be a “coronation” of the ex-president. Five others — Sens. Mike Rounds (S.D.), Susan Collins (Maine), Bill Cassidy (La.), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — indicated they have not decided whether to go at this point.

“Everybody’s got to make their own call about it, but it’s part of our political life,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said. “The conventions have been going on for a long time, and I think the parties are tasked with trying to pull people together and make the decisions that are important to the leadership of our country.

“I understand if there are people for whom it is not a big priority,” Thune added. 

Murkowski and Young both said they both have travel plans that week but did not divulge what they were. Romney was never expected to go, given the mutual disdain between him and Trump, whom he twice voted to convict in impeachment trials. 

Tillis said in a brief interview that while he hasn’t finalized his plans, he is “likely not going to go.” 

“I’m just not a convention-goer, quite honestly. Back in the state, we have races to run. We’ll be represented,” Tillis said of the convention, noting that he cannot be a delegate. “There’s other competing priorities that week that I have to sort out before I make a decision.” 

Collins said that she has not made a decision and needs to go over her schedule. Cassidy told The Hill to ask him closer to the convention and indicated he has not decided either.

Rounds indicated that while he has no plans to attend, he still could be swayed if Trump selects someone he approves of as his running mate. 

“Yeah, it might,” Rounds said when asked if Trump selecting Scott could sway him to show up in Milwaukee. “If we could go and support his candidacy, that would be something I would really take a hard look at. … I haven’t got any hotel rooms yet, but that doesn’t mean I might not in the future.”

House Democrat Becomes The First To Publicly Call On Biden To Withdraw

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President Joe Biden delivers remarks in National Statuary Hall on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, January 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

There’s no going back now…

On Tuesday, Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D) became the first sitting Democrat U.S. Congressman to call on Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest.

“Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said in a statement.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw,” he later said. “President Biden should do the same.”

Doggett, who is 77, praised the president’s legislative achievements in his years in Washington but argued that now is a moment to pass the torch in the Democratic Party.

“While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” Doggett said. “He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,” he continued.

“Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”

On Monday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) seemed to signal support for the idea of Biden stepping away from the race and seemed to promote himself as an alternative candidate. (RELATED: Potential Biden Replacement Pitches Himself After ‘Very Bad’ Debate)

Watch:

ABC Military Journalist Disappeared After Being Mysteriously Targeted by FBI

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I, Aude, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

In a very strange tale, Rolling Stone recently reported that an acclaimed military journalist who has exposed shocking military cover-ups, friendly fire deaths, and foiled terror plots, disappeared after his home was raided by the FBI in April.

The magazine cited “sources familiar with the matter” as saying that the ABC producer James Gordon Meek was found with classified material on his laptop by the team of heavily armed FBI agents who appeared at his high-end, penthouse apartment in Virginia.

But this made no sense to friends and outside observers who noted that anything like that on his computer would be for a story he was likely working on.

Meek’s attorney, Eugene Gorokhov, told Rolling Stone: “Mr. Meek is unaware of what allegations anonymous sources are making about his possession of classified documents.”

Prior to his 13 years at ABC, Meek was a senior investigator for the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

There was a great deal of speculation about what happened to Meek since he resigned from ABC immediately after the raid and declined a prestigious award soon thereafter.

He totally disappeared for the next several months, fueling even more speculation.

Some say his situation is a case of the Biden Justice Department targeting a journalist who had been extremely critical of Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan retreat.

“Independent observers believe the raid is among the first—and quite possibly, the first—to be carried out on a journalist by the Biden administration,” the magazine reported.

But later reports dismissed those concerns.

As the Daily Beast reported:

Inside ABC News, however, staffers were baffled by this framing, since Meek resigned from the network via email on April 27—the same day as the raid—citing “personal reasons” and told friends it was to “save colleagues and the company any embarrassment,” according to two people familiar with the situation.

Although the FBI declined to comment on the probe, the DOJ was more forthcoming, suggesting in a statement to Confider that the raid was not actually about Meek’s reporting work, despite what the Rolling Stone article seemed to indicate. “While the department cannot speak to any specific case or activity, the Department strictly adheres to the Attorney General’s July 2021 memorandum prohibiting the use of compulsory process with regards to members of the news media acting within the scope of newsgathering activities,” wrote Dena Iverson, principal deputy director in the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs.

ABC News sources similarly poured cold water on the idea that Meek was being probed for his journalism: “If the purpose of the FBI’s search is to find classified documents the first call you’d be making would be to ABC’s lawyers because you want the protection of the company,” one such insider told Confider. “We would’ve defended him; ABC’s lawyers would be right there,” another network insider said.

In the aftermath of the FBI raid Meek also suddenly ended his involvement in a book he was co-writing with Lt. Col. Scott Mann, a retired Green Beret, entitled ‘Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan.’

Mann told Rolling Stone: ‘He contacted me in the spring, and was really distraught, and told me that he had some serious personal issues going on and that he needed to withdraw from the project.

Interestingly, Meek, who has not been charged with any crime, has since reportedly deleted photos of firearms and ammunition from his personal Facebook page.

Meanwhile, more recent reports have shown that Meek is now living discreetly with his elderly mother in McLean, Virginia.

The Daily Mail reported: “‘Missing’ ABC producer James Gordon Meek has emerged from hiding – but refuses to discuss the mysterious FBI raid that brought his storied journalism career to an abrupt halt.”

The reasons for the raid and his ‘disappearance’ from journalism remain a mystery.

Iowa Governor Reveals Reasoning Behind Unexpected Endorsement

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Photo via Gage Skidmore

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is explaining why she broke tradition and decided to endorse Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.

The popular Republican governor told NBC News’ Dasha Burns that she broke with Iowa’s tradition of governors remaining neutral through the primaries because the country has “too much at stake.”

“I just felt like I couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer,” she said. “We have too much at stake. I truly believe that he is the right person to get this country back on track.”

NBC News noted that the endorsement was the “biggest endorsement of the primary” season so far and that it was a significant boost for the DeSantis campaign.

When asked why she endorsed DeSantis, who is in second place in the race, she said: “I don’t base my decision on polls. I take a look at who I believe is the right person for the right job. I believe that Ron is the right person for the right job. And I believe he’s going to win.”

Burns later asked about her relationship with former President Donald Trump who has fired off repeated attacks against Reynolds, often accusing her of being disloyal to the former President.

When asked when the last time she spoke to Trump, she said, “Probably the last time he called to ask if I would endorse him, and I said I wasn’t at this point.”

Trump Refuses to Say He will Back the Republican Nominee in 2024

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Donald Trump is not in the business of doubting himself…

The former president who is currently on his third presidential campaign told Hugh Hewitt that he is not committed to backing the 2024 Republican nominee if it’s not him.

According to Mediaite, during an interview with Hugh Hewitt, once again, Trump harped about his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, running for president after pledging she wouldn’t run against Trump. After calling Haley “a very ambitious person,” Trump was asked about how Hewitt spoke to Larry Hogan (R) earlier in the day, who is also openly considering a 2024 run.

The former Maryland governor said he would support whoever the Republican Party nominates in 2024, even though he refused to back Trump in 2020. Thus, Hewitt asked Trump “if you’re not the nominee, will you support whoever the GOP nominee is?”

“It would depend,” Trump answered. “I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016 during the debate…It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”

As Trump said, his answer harkens back to the Fox News debate of 2015 where he refused to pledge his support for whoever won the Republican primary. 

Rumor Mill Swirls Around Youngkin Presidential Bid Once More

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

Over the past few months, we have brought you numerous reports of influential Republicans in the Commonwealth and across the country calling on Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to enter the 2024 Presidential race.

This time, it seems to be much more serious.

Today, an op-ed published in the Washington Post has set the internet rumor mill alight once more.

Matt Gertz of the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America noted that Fox News gave Youngkin unprecedented airtime this afternoon and ran him through the paces on all of the questions they asked the seven Republican Presidential who took the stage at the Reagan Library last night in Simi Valley, California.

From all of the reports we are seeing today, it seems like only a matter of time before he formally announces a run.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk. It first appeared in The Republican Standard.

DeSantis PAC Spokesman Admits ‘We Are Way Behind’

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The truth is coming out…

A prominent pro-Ron DeSantis official is admitting the truth about the Florida governor’s presidential campaign, which does not sound good.

According to Mediate, Never Back Down PAC spokesman Steve Cortes “got pretty blunt” and was “sounding a decidedly dour note” on DeSantis’ ability to overtake the ex-president in the GOP presidential primary in a Twitter Spaces chat hosted by @CryptoLawyerz, an anonymous right-leaning account who says he is an attorney and formerly worked at the Department of Justice.

“Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” said Cortes. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”

He added that DeSantis’ campaign was the “clear underdog,” and added that in the first four primary states, “which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”

During Sunday’s Twitter Space, Cortes did find some reason for optimism in DeSantis’ primary efforts — but not for DeSantis himself, predicting that the primary battle would make Trump a “better” and more competitive general election candidate.

“If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” said Cortes.

Cortes also offered praise for Trump’s skills on the debate stage, joking that it might help DeSantis if Trump carries through on his threat to boycott the first RNC-hosted debate next month:

“Is Ron the debater that Trump is?” he said. “No, no he isn’t.”

“Absolutely Donald Trump is the maestro of it right, no doubt about it, right. When he gets on the debate stage, you know, and on his feet, in front of a microphone, he debates like Jack Nicklaus played golf, there’s no doubt about it,” Cortes said.

Trump Snags Seventh GOP Senate Endorsement

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Donald Trump is collecting endorsements left and right.

Trump, who is on his third White House campaign, received an endorsement from Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) on Thursday, moving the total to seven sitting senators

“Just a few years ago America was strong, but now under Joe Biden, we are a nation in decline,” Budd said to Breitbart. “That’s why I endorse Donald J. Trump for President. Hardworking, everyday families need a return of the America First agenda to restore prosperity and peace.”

Budd’s backing of Trump comes as GOP lawmakers in the Senate have largely stayed out of the Republican primary for president so far. While the likes of Budd and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) have publicly endorsed Trump, many have waited to see how the primary field comes into shape.

 Trump endorsed Sen. Budd in his primary race, giving him a significant boost in a crowded Republican field.

Trump has also picked up the endorsement of 39 House members, according to The Hill’s endorsement tracker.