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    Tucker, Elon Real Winners Of First GOP Debate Night

    By
    Victoria Churchill
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    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr
    The true winners of last night’s debate are former prime-time Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk, owner of X – formerly Twitter. If you’ve spent the last 24-48 hours under a rock – here’s what transpired last night. Eight Republican candidates running to be the next President of the United States took the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to talk about their visions for the future of America – and how they are the proper alternatives not only to the babbling buffoon currently in the White House Joe Biden, but also to America’s 45th President Donald Trump – now running for the office for a third time. The Wisconsin event was moderated, albeit poorly, by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Of course, the debate in itself was probably somewhat staged. According to multiple reports, the candidates and their prep camps were given the questions in advance. While the debate was going on in Milwaukee, Tucker Carlson aired an opposing pre-recorded interview with America’s 45th President Donald Trump, who himself is set to be arraigned in a Fulton County, Georgia court on Thursday where he is expected to front up a bail payment of $200,000. (RELATED: Trump Agrees To Release Conditions, Including $200,000 Bond) Tucker Carlson has enacted fully-fledged revenge on his former employer and put millions of dollars in the pockets of a new corporate overlord, Elon Musk. X, formerly Twitter, has been working to position itself as the preeminent alternative to the mainstream media since the Musk buyout earlier this year. By the view numbers still rolling in on the video posted last night, they seem to have succeeded in doing that to a level even Musk himself may have never imagined. As of the writing of this piece, Tucker’s 46-minute long X video has been viewed over 186.4 million times. Mediaite noted the following in a piece published yesterday:
    “The interview, which was taped this week and is dropping to coincide with the debate, is intended as additional salt in the wound for Fox executives wary that a Trump-less event will not bring in the major ratings typically expected from these kinds of nights.”
    Notably, video-sharing platform Rumble which was the the first place to try and pitch itself as the free speech alternative to YouTube partnered with the RNC and probably boosted their own profits last night as well. The Rumble stream of the debate from the GOP’s channel has amassed 1.54 million views. Definitely a respectable number, but making up less than 1% of the views amassed by Carlson on X. For the record the Rumble stream via Roku is how I personally watched the debate, refusing to give my dollars to the Fox News machine. Fox News has yet to officially release numbers on last night’s debate but here are some viewership numbers reported by Mediaite from past presidential debates:
    “In 2015, Fox’s primary debate – with Trump and nine other candidates – drew 24 million viewers, smashing previous records and earning the distinction of being one of the most-watched cable programs ever. Overall, 2016 was a blockbuster year for debate ratings: the 12 Republican primary events averaged 15 million viewers.”
    Even if Fox’s numbers last night were close to their past viewership – which they are not expected to be without Trump – Carlson’s X video dwarfed those numbers as well. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk. This piece is republished with permission from American Liberty News.

    ‘Trump Was 100% Right Not To Debate:’ Don Jr. Slams Fox News’ ‘Un-American’ Decision

    By
    admin
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    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, expressed their clear displeasure with Fox News Wednesday evening.

    In a video clip that’s since gone viral, observers can see the younger Trump at last night’s debate, castigating Fox News for its decision to restrict Trump surrogates trying to access the media spin room.

    Fox justified the decision by stating that since the former president declined to debate, his team was not allowed to enter the spin room. Trump publicly snubbed Fox by appearing on Tucker Carlson’s Twitter/X show instead of attending the debate.

    However, there was confusion about who could go backstage and how Trump allies might be permitted entry.

    The New York Post has more:

    “I’d been told by others that I would be able to go in,” Trump Jr. told reporters after a Fiserv Forum security guard turned him away. “Fox won’t let me into the spin room. They’re telling him, he works for security here, but they’re telling him that I’m not allowed to go in there.”

    “Because the candidates that they’ve been boosting while trying to cut down Trump for the last, what, two years didn’t perform as they had hoped,” he went on. “So they can’t have someone who can maybe be a representative of my father.”

    In political parlance, the “spin room” refers to the area where candidates and their surrogates gather after each debate to talk up their performance to the media while tearing down their rivals.

    …

    Fox News co-hosted the debate with the Republican National Committee, which set donor and polling requirements for the candidates and also asked each to sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee.

    Besides Trump, Fox banned surrogates for candidates who didn’t qualify for the debate.

    GOP Senator Turns on Trump, ‘He Will Lose’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    18
    Bill Cassidy via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Trump didn’t see this one coming…

    Republican Senator Bill Cassidy (La.) predicted former President Donald Trump would lose the 2024 general election against Joe Biden if he’s ultimately the GOP’s presidential nominee.

    Cassidy made the comments during a Sunday appearance on CNN and added that he thinks any other candidate in the Republican primary field is better suited to defeat Biden, a scathing rebuke of the former president he’s often supported.

    “Do you think that Donald Trump should drop out of the race?” host Kasie Hunt asked.

    “I think so. But, obviously, that’s up to him. I mean, you’re just asking me my opinion,” Cassidy responded.

    “But he will lose to Joe Biden, if you look at the current polls. I’m a Republican. I think any Republican on that stage in Milwaukee will do a better job than Joe Biden,” he added. “And so I want one of them to win. If former President Trump ends up getting the nomination, but cannot win a general, that means we will have four more years of policies which have led to very high inflation, to a loss of purchasing power for the average American equivalent to $10,000, and to many other things which I think have been deleterious to our country’s future.”

    However, Sen. Cassidy confirmed that he would vote for Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee.

    Report: Trump to Skip First Debate to Participate in Rival Event with Tucker Carlson

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    7
    Tucker Carlson via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former President Donald Trump has reportedly finalized his plans to skip the first Republican presidential debate and instead participate in an event with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

     The New York Times reported the news noting the former president has spent the last several days soliciting feedback from aides and allies on whether to participate in the debate.

    When The Hill contacted for comment on the reported agreement between Trump and Carlson, an aide for the former president said his campaign “hadn’t confirmed anything on our end” and cautioned against “getting too far ahead” as it relates to the former president’s plans.

    Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, has for weeks signaled a hesitation to participate in the Aug. 23 debate, which is being hosted by the Republican National Committee and will be broadcast on Fox News.

    Georgia Governor To Meet With Senate Leaders Amid 2024 Talks

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Georgia National Guard from United States, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    A prominent Republican governor is preparing to meet with top Senate leaders this week.

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is meeting with two top Republican leaders in the Senate in Washington, D.C. over the next two days, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed to The Hill. 

    Kemp will meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Wednesday. 

    The pair of meetings come after the Peach State governor told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that he is “certainly” not running for president in 2024.

    “In politics, there’s always doors opening and closing. I got a great job right now. I personally feel like having more people in the race does not help us win and beat Joe Biden,” Kemp told Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “So, you know, I’m certainly not running for president. But there’s always doors opening in politics depending on how things play out, and we’ll see what happens.”

    The Georgia Governor reiterated that Trump should stop constantly referencing the 2020 election if he hopes to re-win the state.

    “If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said, later adding, “There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia.”

    DeSantis Reveals A Republican Under Consideration to Become His Running Mate

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    8

    Republican White House contender Ron DeSantis says he is eyeing Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds as his potential pick for vice president.

    DeSantis made the remarks after he touted the popular Iowa governor on Friday at a forum with Tucker Carlson. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson to Host GOP Presidential Forum – Without Trump)

    “Governor, you have spent a lot of time with Governor Reynolds, you defended her after President Trump’s recent statements,” a reporter said to DeSantis at an event on Saturday. “Would you consider her as a potential vice presidential pick in this campaign?”

    “Of course,” DeSantis responded. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America, I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand, and totally unnecessary.”

    “We should be thanking good Republican office holders,” he continued. “You know, we kind of joke about the Iowa-Florida [competition], sometimes they do things before us, sometimes we do. But honestly, I want them to do better than us because it’s healthy. When Republicans are doing well, I like that, I don’t get jealous of that, I want to see them do well.”

    “And so they’ve done a great job and I think she’s been a model public servant and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her I think is way off base on that,” he concluded.

    Activists Seek to Disqualify Trump From 2024 Ballot

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    10
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Two activist groups want to keep former President Donald Trump from the White House by any means necessary.

    The groups say secretaries of state are empowered by the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from running for office because of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. The groups are calling their campaign “Trump is Disqualified,” and are timing it to coincide with the 155th anniversary of the 14th Amendment.

    The Hill has more:

    Starting Sunday, Mi Familia Vota and Free Speech for People will stage a week of rallies and banner drops outside the offices of the secretaries of state of California, Oregon, Colorado and Georgia.

    The groups also penned a letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar last month, calling on him to block Trump under what’s known as the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause.

    “We’re really focusing on Nevada and California and [Oregon, Colorado and Georgia] to make sure that they are taking a stand by disqualifying Trump in those spaces, which is something that the secretary of state can do,” said Héctor Sánchez, executive director of Mi Familia Vota.

    “Trump is responsible for the January 6th insurrection, plain and simple,” said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, campaign director for Free Speech For People. 

    “Failing to hold him responsible not only violates the Constitution, but it also sets a dangerous precedent for permitting violent attacks on our democracy. That’s not a risk we can afford to take.”

    Secretaries of state are charged with certifying eligibility of candidates and counting the votes in their state. Though Trump has been indicted twice and is under investigation in other cases, the groups say those are not disqualifying facts under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

    DeSantis Commits to First GOP Presidential Primary Debate

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1

    Florida Governor and presidential contender Ron DeSantis is refusing to stand in the shadow of Donald Trump.

    DeSantis plans to participate in the first Republican presidential nomination debate “regardless” of whether former President Donald Trump takes the stage at the August showdown. 

    “I’ll be there regardless. I hope everybody who’s eligible comes. I think it’s an important part of the process and I look forward to being able to be on the stage and introducing our candidacy and our vision and our leadership to a wide audience,” DeSantis said Thursday on “Fox News Tonight.”

    Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the latest GOP presidential primary polls, has indicated that he may skip the debate. However, Trump campaign officials say the former president has yet to make a final decision on his participation. Trump’s aides have also been looking into options for an alternative event should the former president skip the debate, according to Fox News.

    The debate is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will be hosted by Fox News.

    The Republican National Committee (RNC), which is organizing all the GOP presidential nominating debates, is requiring a high donor threshold as well as polling thresholds for candidates to make the stage. 

    The RNC is also mandating that candidates that meet the thresholds sign a loyalty pledge to back the eventual 2024 GOP nominee, in order to participate in the debate.

    The state of Florida is adding a similar loyalty requirement for candidates to be included on the state’s ballot, according to POLITICO.

    The new oath, which includes a promise to “endorse” the GOP nominee and requires a candidate to pledge not to run as an independent or third-party candidate, mirrors language adopted by the Republican National Committee for its first debate.

    “We were trying to be consistent with what the debate was requiring,” said Evan Power, vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida, who said that campaigns were notified about the changes. “I don’t think this will come as a surprise.”

    DeSantis PAC Spokesman Admits ‘We Are Way Behind’

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    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.

    Republican Hopeful Refuses to Sign RNC Pledge to Support 2024 Nominee

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former Texas Congressman William Hurd is refusing to sign on to the rules laid out by the Republican National Committee (RNC) to support the 2024 presidential nominee, therefore disqualifying him from the 2024 debate stage.

    In an appearance on CNN, Hurd, who has positioned himself as a centrist, anti-Trump contender for the Republican nomination, said that he was fine meeting all the other criteria for attending the Republican presidential debates, but would not pledge to support Trump if he is the eventual nominee.

    “That’s right,” he answered when asked if it was true that he would not pledge to support the eventual 2024 Republican nominee. “I’m gonna work towards hitting all the requirements, but I can’t lie to get access to a microphone.”

    “I’ve taken one oath, and that’s to protect the Constitution,” he continued. “I’m not going to support Donald Trump. I recognize the impact that it has on on on my ability to get access to the debate stage, but I can’t lie. It’ll be easy to say I’ll do it, and then when it comes down, you know, change your mind. But I just can’t, I can’t do that.”

    The RNC laid out its requirements for Republican candidates to secure a spot on the debate stage last month. In the RNC rules, candidates must poll at least 1% in three national polls, sign a pledge to support whoever the 2024 nominee ends up being, and reach a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, among other qualifications.

    Hurd, one of the most recent entries into the Republican field, fails to register in most recent polls. 

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