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Trump Responds To Latest Debate Invite

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A quick response…

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump rejected Fox News’ invitation for another presidential debate.

The network proposed a debate in Pennsylvania to be held on either Thursday, Oct. 24, or Sunday, Oct. 27. Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would have been the moderators.

Trump called into Fox & Friends last month and was asked about doing a second debate with Harris. The former president seemed uninterested in the idea but said if it were to happen, one of the Fox primetime hosts should moderate.

In a statement posted to Truth Social Trump said he would not debate Harris again:

I WON THE LAST TWO DEBATES, ONE WITH CROOKED JOE, THE OTHER WITH LYIN’ KAMALA. I ACCEPTED THE FOX-NEWS INVITATION TO DEBATE KAMALA ON SEPTEMBER 4TH, BUT SHE TURNED IT DOWN. JD VANCE EASILY WON HIS DEBATE WITH TAMPON TIM WALZ, WHO CALLED HIMSELF A KNUCKLEHEAD! I AM ALSO LEADING IN THE POLLS, WITH THE LEAD GETTING BIGGER BY THE DAY – AND LEADING IN ALL SWING STATES. THE FIRST THING A PRIZEFIGHTER DOES WHEN HE LOSES A FIGHT IS SAY THAT HE “DEMANDS A REMATCH.” IT IS VERY LATE IN THE PROCESS, VOTING HAS ALREADY BEGUN – THERE WILL BE NO REMATCH! BESIDES, KAMALA STATED CLEARLY, YESTERDAY, THAT SHE WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAN JOE BIDEN, SO THERE IS NOTHING TO DEBATE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! DONALD J. TRUMP

The network claimed in a statement addressed to the Trump and Harris campaign that the final debate would be an “opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments” before November. And they referenced a New York Times op-ed which called for Harris to debate on Fox News.

“As made clear in The New York Times on Monday: ‘Harris Should Offer to Debate Trump Again – On Fox’ — this would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing argument,” said Fox News Media president and executive editor Jay Wallace in a statement.

Wallace added, “We’re including proposed criteria and format, which mirror those of the CNN & ABC debates; as well as data on our broad audience reach. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to the opportunity to foster informed political dialogue at this pivotal moment for our nation.”

Fox News Proposes Presidential Debate

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Looking east towards 6th Avenue along north (48th Street) side of Fox News building on a snowy afternoon. [Photo Credit: Jim.henderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons]

Fox News has invited Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to participate in another debate before Americans cast their ballots.

Fox has offered the candidates the opportunity to debate each other in Pennsylvania on two potential dates: Thursday, Oct. 24 or Sunday, Oct. 27. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would moderate the proposed debate.

The network claimed in a statement addressed to the Trump and Harris campaign that the final debate would be an “opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing arguments” before November. And they referenced a New York Times op-ed which called for Harris to debate on Fox News.

“As made clear in The New York Times on Monday: ‘Harris Should Offer to Debate Trump Again – On Fox’ — this would present an opportunity for each candidate to make his or her closing argument,” said Fox News Media president and executive editor Jay Wallace in a statement.

Wallace added, “We’re including proposed criteria and format, which mirror those of the CNN & ABC debates; as well as data on our broad audience reach. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to the opportunity to foster informed political dialogue at this pivotal moment for our nation.”

The rules proposed by Fox states that it will mute a candidate’s microphone when the time belongs to the another candidate. Moreover, Trump and Harris will not be permitted to interact with their campaign staff during commercial breaks

CNN has offered to host another debate on Oct. 23 — with the Harris campaign accepting the offer. 

Melania Trump Admits She’s Concerned Over Husband Safety

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former First Lady Melania Trump admitted she’s worried about her husband former President Trump’s safety in the final weeks leading up to the November election, blaming Democrats for creating a “toxic atmosphere.”

“I think, you know, when they call him, he’s a threat to democracy, let’s ask ourselves who is really a threat to democracy. They are ongoing with lawfare against the former president, as well as, you know, trying to get him off of the voting ballots and trying to silence him,” she said Tuesday on “The Five.” 

“So, yes, of course, I was always afraid [of] what can happen and that they continue with that kind of language [that] is just – it’s a toxic, toxic atmosphere.”

Over the summer, former President Trump faced two assassination attempts on his life. 

The first was in Butler, Pa., in July when would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots that grazed his ear. The second came in September when suspected would-be assassin Ryan Routh was spotted at the 2024 GOP presidential nominee’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., allegedly poking a rifle out of the tree line near where Trump was playing golf.

Melania Trump also opened up about her priorities and goals should she return to the White House next year and vowed to continue her “Be Best” and “Fostering the Future” initiatives for children and women.

She launched the “Fostering the Future” initiative after leaving the White House in 2021, which seeks to secure educational opportunities and scholarships for children in the foster care community, according to a description on her website.

“I have many students now, so I will continue with that, and we need to give back to those children and support them so once they have education, they could have a great job, and after that, they could give back to communities,” Trump told “The Five.”

Former Speaker Skewers Matt Gaetz During Podcast Interview

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The claws came out…

It’s not a secret that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is no fan of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz after helping lead the charge to oust him from the Speaker’s office.

While the Florida Republican who filed a motion to vacate the chair in October 2023, which triggered a vote of the House on whether to remove McCarthy as speaker claims his actions were motivated by McCarthy’s mishandling of the office, the former Speaker discussed his own opinion on the shocking events.

McCarthy claims Gaetz wanted him to end a House Ethics Committee probe examining whether Gaetz had sexual relations with a minor.  In January, the left-leaning publication The Daily Beast reported that Gaetz privately told colleagues he was motivated by the ethics investigation.

Appearing on the PBD Podcast, McCarthy discussed the drama with host Patrick Bet-David.

The ex-speaker pointed to court filings unsealed last week in which witnesses testified that Gaetz was at a drug-fueled party that was attended by a 17-year-old.

“Everything I said has come to fruition,” McCarthy stated. “It’s unfortunate that one person would utilize something to stop what was coming after them and disrupt the entire Congress.”

“How is the relationship now?” Bet-David asked. “Because I know I saw you guys at the RNC where he walked up to you while you’re talking to somebody. ‘You wouldn’t be on the stage, you would be booed’ or something like that. Are you guys better know or–

“No!” McCarthy said. “I don’t hang around with pedophiles, I’m sorry.”

Watch:

The Department of Justice investigated Gaetz, but ultimately declined to prosecute.

Trump Rejects ’60 Minutes’ Interview, Says CBS Owes Him ‘An Apology’

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

Former President Donald Trump will not sit down for an interview with “60 Minutes” next week.

The Republican presidential nominee said that CBS News still owes him an apology over a “60 Minutes” interview in 2020 that Trump says was conducted unfairly.

CBS said on Tuesday that Trump backed out of the interview after initially agreeing to it, but Trump campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung shot back at the network, saying, “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.”

“They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented,” Cheung added.

Trump addressed the “60 Minutes” interview request during a press conference in Milwaukee on Tuesday and said he “would love to do ’60 Minutes,’” but he’s waiting for an apology.

In October 2020, Trump walked out of an interview with Leslie Stahl after Stahl fact-checked Trump numerous times and denied that Joe Biden was in the middle of a scandal stemming from Hunter Biden’s laptop, which contained information about the Biden family’s alleged foreign business dealings.

“Well, right now, they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia.”

“If you remember Lesley Stahl, we got into a little bit of an argument on the camera, talking about that and other things. And you know, they really owed me an apology,” Trump added.