Latest

    2024

    Home 2024 Page 21

    Trump Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    While addressing a crowd in his Mar-a-Lago resort former President Donald Trump officially declared his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, America’s comeback starts right now!” Trump said to a cheering crowd.

    “The decline of America is being forced upon us by Biden. This decline is not a choice we must accept,” Trump said.

    Epoch Times editor Ivan Pentchoukov tweeted shortly before Trump’s speech that tonight’s remarks follow a similar time frame to his initial 2016 campaign announcement.

    https://twitter.com/IvanPentchoukov/status/1592666689111408641

    Former President Donald Trump filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday to run for a third consecutive White House bid, ahead of a planned announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.

    The paperwork listed “Donald J. Trump for President 2024.”

    Trump’s main political committee had approximately $70 million in the bank as of mid-October, which could be transferred to a newer super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc.

    Trump teased the announcement on Election Day eve at a rally in Ohio to support U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance.

    “I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.,” Trump said toward the end of a rally near Dayton, Ohio, where he was campaigning for a host of candidates in the state, including Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance.

    “We want nothing to distract from the importance of tomorrow,” Trump said.

    As Great America News Desk previously reported:

    However, while a Republican red tsunami was expected to sweep the midterm elections the results thus far have been disappointing as the GOP has yet to officially win a majority in either chamber. Some conservatives have blamed Trump’s interference as a major factor behind the lackluster results and have expressed hopes he will reconsider his announcement.

    Former House Speaker for the GOP, Newt Gingrich, stated on Wednesday that he believes Trump might be reconsidering his plans for 2024.

    “I mean, just in my own emails today, [with] the number of people who want somebody other than Trump who have decided, literally overnight, that person is going to be DeSantis, he’s going to find it almost impossible to avoid running,” Gingrich told Just the News. “I think Trump’s got to look at the results and be troubled.”

    Trump’s announcement tees up a re-match against Joe Biden, who has said he plans to seek a second term.

    This story is developing. Stay with Great America News Desk for updates.

    DeSantis Responds to Abrupt Trump Attacks

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    13

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is finally responding to the surprise attack from former President Donald Trump last week, calling it “noise.”

    DeSantis was asked by a reporter what he thinks about Trump’s “big announcement” tonight and his thoughts about Trump repeatedly attacking him. (RELATED: Trump Goes Nuclear on Gov. Ron DeSantis, Glenn Youngkin)

    “Well, you know, one of the things I’ve learned in this job is when you’re doing, when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire, that’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said. “I roll out of bed in the morning, I’ve got corporate media outlets that have a spasm, just the fact that I’m getting up in the morning, and it’s constantly attacking, and this is just what’s happened.”

    “I don’t think any governor got attacked more particularly by corporate media than me over my four-year term,” DeSantis continued. “And yet, I think what you learn is all that’s just noise. And really what matters is: Are you leading? Are you getting in front of issues? Are you delivering results for people? And are you standing up for folks? And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters. And that’s what we’ve done.”

    “We focused on results and leadership. And, you know, at the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,” DeSantis continued. “The fact of the matter is, it was the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida.”

    Trump also targeted Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin in a shocking message. Both Republican governors have been floated as potential contenders for the Republican presidential nomination.

    Trump is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign in a Nov. 15th announcement from Mar-a-Lago.

    However, while DeSantis has decided to move past Trump’s comments the former president seems to be doubling down. In a Tuesday afternoon Truth Social message Trump targeted DeSantis again by pointing out a 2018 gubernatorial ad in which the Florida governor praises him.

    In a tongue-in-cheek ad, seemingly no longer available on his YouTube page, DeSantis was shown building a toy wall and reading a book about Trump to his children, brandishing himself as a “pit bull Trump defender.” 

    “Hopefully TODAY will turn out to be one of the most important days in the history of our Country,” Trump teased in another Truth Social post.

    GOP House Conference Chair Endorses Trump Ahead of Official 2024 Announcement

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    7
    Elise Stefanik with Donald Trump via Wikimedia Commons

    While conservatives seem to be abandoning former President Donald Trump ahead of his potential 2024 bid House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is doubling down on the former president.

    In a statement to The New York Times, Rep. Stefanik said that she’s “proud” to endorse the former President despite the fact he hasn’t officially announced his candidacy yet.

    “I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024,” Stefanik said. “It is time for Republicans to unite around the most popular Republican in America who has a proven track record of conservative governance.”

    The No. 3 Republican lawmaker’s endorsement comes at a time of uncertainty surrounding Trump as he faces blame for Republicans’ lackluster midterm results. This year’s midterms were expected to be a Republican blow-out but instead, the GOP has experienced a weaker-than-expected performance.

    As of Friday, neither political party has claimed an official majority in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

    In a separate statement to Breitbart News, Rep. Stefanik explained why she made her endorsement so early.

    “Republican voters determine who is the leader of the Republican Party and it’s very clear President Trump is the leader of the Republican party. What the media fails to report is that we just won the midterms and flipped the House,” Stefanik in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News.

    “I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President in 2024. I fully support him running again,” she continued. “Under his presidency, America was strong at home and abroad, our economy was red hot, our border was secure, our neighborhoods were safe, our law enforcement was respected, and our enemies feared us,” Stefanik said. “We cannot afford another four years of Joe Biden’s failed policies that have led to the inflation crisis, border crisis, and crime crisis. It is time for Republicans to unite around the most popular Republican in America, who has a proven track record of conservative governance. Poll after poll shows that President Trump would defeat any Republican challenger by massive margins, and would beat Joe Biden if the election were held today. President Trump has always put America First, and I look forward to supporting him so we can save America.”

    On Election day eve, Trump teased his plans to make a “big announcement” on Nov. 15th with many supporters believing he plans to officially kick off his 2024 presidential campaign.

    Trump confirmed that he will be holding a “special announcement” at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 15 in a press release on Thursday night. 

    However, Republicans’ less-than-stellar midterm outcome has spurred infighting among the party with many prominent Republicans pointing the finger at Trump. Since Tuesday, multiple Republicans have publicly announced they do not intend to support Trump’s next presidential bid and have urged him to reconsider.

    Former House Speaker for the GOP, Newt Gingrich, stated on Wednesday that he believes Trump might be reconsidering his plans for 2024.

    “I mean, just in my own emails today, [with] the number of people who want somebody other than Trump who have decided, literally overnight, that person is going to be DeSantis, he’s going to find it almost impossible to avoid running,” Gingrich told Just the News. “I think Trump’s got to look at the results and be troubled.”

    Retiring Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey also blamed Trump for this year’s midterm results while speaking to CNN.

    “President Trump had to insert himself and that changed the nature of the race and that created just too much of an obstacle,” Toomey said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”  

    “And by the way, it’s not just Pennsylvania. You look all over the country, there’s a very high correlation between MAGA candidates and big losses, or at least dramatically underperforming,” he added, referring to Trump’s slogan: Make America Great Again.  

    Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, who has publicly supported Trump in the past also said that Republicans must move on from Trump after the midterms.

    “A true leader understands when they have become a liability,” Sears said. “A true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage, and the voters have given us that very clear message.” 

    Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who was known to clash with Trump on occasion, said the former president was a “drag” for Republican candidates across the country.

    “I think Trump’s kind of a drag on our ticket. I think Donald Trump gives us problems politically,” he said during an interview in Janesville, Wis., his hometown.  

    “We lost the House, the Senate and the White House in two years when Trump was on the ballot, or in office,” he said. “I think we just have some Trump hangover. I think he’s a drag on our office, on our races.” 

    ABC Military Journalist Disappeared After Being Mysteriously Targeted by FBI

    By
    Paul Crespo
    -
    1
    FBI Headquarters Washington DC [Photo Credit: 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.

    Trump Awards New Hampshire Republican Last-minute Endorsement

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc received a late-night endorsement from former President Donald Trump but not before taking a swipe at him

    “General Don Bolduc has run a great campaign to be the U.S. Senator from the beautiful State of New Hampshire. He was a strong and proud “Election Denier,” a big reason that he won the Nomination, but he then disavowed. He has since come back, at least on busing, but that is only a small part of N.H. Election Fraud. Nevertheless, Don Bolduc has asked for my Endorsement, and he’s got it, Complete & Total. His opponent is a disaster on Crime, the Border, Inflation, & all else. Vote for Don Bolduc!” Trump said.

    Previously, Bolduc aligned himself with Trump’s 2020 election interference claims before backtracking after winning the Republican nomination.

    “The election was not stolen,” Bolduc previously told Fox News. His explanation was that he wanted to “move us forward to 2022 and 2024.” Bolduc’s waffling on the 2020 election is what caused Gov. Chris Sununu to endorse him.

    Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, immediately seized on the news. “Donald Trump said it himself: Don Bolduc is an election denier, and his endorsement is further evidence that if elected, Don Bolduc would work to overturn our elections and continue to promote dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine New Hampshire’s free and fair elections,” she wrote on Twitter.

    So far, Bolduc has yet to publicly address Trump’s endorsement.

    RealClearPolitics has labeled the New Hampshire Senate race a “toss up” but Democrats are projected to hold onto the seat. However, recent polls have shown Bolduc rapidly closing the gap against Hassan, teeing up the possibility Republicans manage to flip the seat.

    Ohio Democrat Candidate Says Biden Should Not Run for President in 2024

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    10
    Joe Biden via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    More and more Democrats are turning their backs on Joe Biden.

    Ohio Democrat Senate candidate Tim Ryan doesn’t want Joe Biden to seek another term in the White House and he’s not afraid to say it. During a debate against Trump-endorsed opponent J.D. Vance, Ryan doubled down on his previous comments that senior leaders in politics need to step aside.

    “I’ve been very clear. I’d like to see a generational change,” Ryan said at a Monday night debate for the Ohio Senate against Republican candidate J.D. Vance.

    “Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, the president, everybody,” the Senate candidate added. “We need a new generation of leadership.”

    Biden has repeatedly affirmed his plans to run for another term as president despite his low approval ratings and more Democrats emerging to oppose the potential run.

    A recent poll from ABC News and the Washington Post indicated that only 35% of Democrat-registered and Democrat-leaning independent respondents want Biden to seek reelection.

    Ryan isn’t the first Democrat to publicly state his aversion to Biden’s political plans. Democrat Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin also said Sunday that Biden should bow out of the 2024 race.

    “I have been very vocal, including with my own leadership in the House, that we need a new generation. We need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party — in the House, the Senate and the White House. I think that the country has been saying that,” Slotkin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

    “The environment politically across the country is poisonous, and people I think want some change,” Ryan said. “It’s important for us, in both parties, these leaders who have been around for a while, I think it’s time for some generational change.”

    Election prognosticators with RealClearPolitics have labeled the Ohio Senate race as a GOP stronghold but the race has been competitive as Rep. Ryan has attempted to portray himself as a moderate Democrat.

    NYT’s Maggie Haberman Reveals Trump’s Next Potential Running Mate

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0

    New York Times reporter and avid Trump critic Maggie Haberman revealed to “The View” panel who former President Trump is considering to be his next running mate and has reportedly narrowed the pool of candidates down to two lawmakers.

    While promoting her upcoming book on the 45th President of the United States, Haberman admitted Trump is laser-focused on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his potential to torpedo Trump’s chances of winning the Party’s nomination with his own presidential campaign.

    Trump is “focused on Ron DeSantis in a way he isn’t on anybody else,” Haberman said, according to Mediaite.

    “There are a couple of people whose names get mentioned,” Haberman answered, “and the one ho gets mentioned the most by people close to him is Tim Scott from South Carolina, the senator. And then Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is possibly the next governor of Arkansas.”

    The mention of Trump’s former White House press secretary drew very audible groaning from Whoopi Goldberg, others at the table, and the audience.

    “I didn’t mean to cause that. I’m sorry,” Haberman said, to which, Goldberg replied “it just came up out of my system.”

    Meta Executive Reveals When Trump Could Return to Social Media

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5

    Could former President Trump finally be coming back to social media? A top company executive says so.

    The president of global affairs at Facebook’s parent company, Meta, Nick Clegg says the former president could be given access to his Facebook account before the next presidential election, according to The Washington Examiner.

    Speaking at a conference on Thursday, Clegg said the company would reconsider allowing Trump on the platform after consulting experts and weighing the risk of real-world harm.

    “When you make a decision that affects the public realm, you need to act with great caution,” Clegg told Semafor, the news publication hosting the event. “You shouldn’t throw your weight about.”

    The Meta executive emphasized that the truthfulness of Trump’s claims would not be the driving factor in determining whether to allow Trump back on the platform.

    “If we think there is content on our platform which will lead to real-world harm — physical harm — then we feel we have a clear responsibility to act against it,” Clegg emphasized.

    Facebook and other major social media companies made shockwaves in 2021 by banning the U.S. president from the platforms following the Jan. 6th Capitol raid. Most platforms alleged Trump’s rhetoric on the platforms incited the riot. At the time of the ban, Trump was among the top 10 individuals in the world with the highest following.

    However, even if Trump is given his old account back there is no guarantee the former president will even darken Facebook’s door. Since being kicked off major media platforms the former president has started his own TRUTH Social platform.

    In a May SEC filing, Trump’s tech company, Trump Media and Technology Group, said that the former president would favor Truth Social over other social media platforms if he is allowed back on them.

    Trump Says Legal Battles Will Not Deter 2024

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

    Despite Trump facing a heap of legal battles, the former president says nothing will cause him to waver from his 2024 plans.

    During an appearance with radio host Hugh Hewitt, the 45th president remarked that despite the ongoing legal woes he doesn’t expect an indictment, according to The Washington Examiner.

    “I can’t imagine being indicted. I’ve done nothing wrong. Look, if you look, you know it better than anybody,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Everything was declassified.”

    Hewitt noted “a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if they want to” before repeating Trump’s remark that even if he were to be indicted it wouldn’t make him change his mind in regard to 2024.

    Criminal charges do not necessarily preclude running for the presidency, however, Trump predicted the country would likely react negatively to an indictment.

    “If a thing like that happened, I would have no prohibition against running,” Trump added. “It would not. But I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.”

    “I think they’d have big problems, big problems. I just don’t think they’d stand for it. They will not, they will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes,” the former president replied. “I don’t think the people of this country would stand for it, especially since they know, especially since they know I’m totally innocent.”

    Trump has insisted the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago during the FBI’s infamous raid last month were declassified but some legal experts have cast doubt on Trump’s claim.

    Trump has repeatedly hinted at launching a third presidential campaign and says now the last remaining detail is exactly when he will make the announcement.

    Conservative Pundit Ann Coulter Declares ‘Trump is Done’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    24
    Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

    Is the Republican Party officially moving on from Donald Trump? According to conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

    In Coulter’s latest podcast of Unsafe aptly titled “Trump’s Done” she dives into the signs Republicans are moving away from the former president and how his influence in slowly but surely dwindling.

    Throughout the podcast Coulter notes how Trump’s star has begun to fade, comparing the phenomenon to Sarah Palin who saw her rockstar status revoked following John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.

    Coulter also noted Trump’s once-infamous rallies dwindling turnouts as further evidence he’s losing power within the GOP.

    According to Mediaite:

    “They’re like Deadheads,” Coulter said of those still running to MAGA rallies. “They’re following him from place to place. He sings the same songs.”

    Loyalty among Trump “fanatics,” she added, is not “indicative of a movement sweeping the nation.” Coulter mentioned a pair of Stone emails she received from the Trump team. The first was an email “slamming” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), considered by many to be Trump’s biggest 2024 competition, should both men run for the Republican Party nomination. A second email, Coulter said, was Stone “backpedaling” on his criticism of DeSantis after he heard complaints from conservatives supportive of the governor.

    Trump being “done” could be the message some politicians have been waiting to hear before wading into the 2024 presidential campaign arena. While the former President has made a habit of hinting at his potential presidential campaign some conservatives have held their breath in regard to their own political aspirations.

    “Republicans, it’s not the party of Trump. It’s safe to come back, and it’s safe for Republicans to stand up and run without Donald Trump,” she said.

    Former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley previously said she would not launch a presidential campaign if Trump also were to run, and she’s likely not the only Republican sharing that mindset.

    However, Coulter was careful to note that moving away from Trump isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Party and predicted the GOP could still sweep the midterms.

    “People are angry. Republicans are really angry. We are on a smooth glide path to really, really good midterm elections, and the only thing that can blow it is what probably will blow it: the Republican Party,” she said.

    1...202122Page 21 of 22
    © Great America News Desk 2022