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Former Trump Ambassador Endorses Ron DeSantis

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Donald Trump is known for his bombastic personality and his no-nonsense approach to politics but while that attracted voters and donors in 2016 it seems to be having the opposite effect now.

Major Republican donors seem to be turned off by Trump’s recent attacks on GOP challengers, especially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Donald Tapia, a prominent businessman from Arizona and Trump’s former ambassador to Jamaica from 2019 to 2021, was a strong financial backer of Trump in 2016 and 2020, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the former president over his two elections.

“The name-calling has turned a lot of people off,” Tapia said to Politico. “Let me tell you, we don’t like that.”

Tapia is now amongst a growing group of Republicans choosing to throw their support behind DeSantis, despite the fact he hasn’t even launched a presidential campaign yet.

Recently, DeSantis has been the target of a number of Trump’s Truth Social tirades, even earning the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

However, despite Trump’s barrage of attacks the Florida governor has opted to play coy, a tactic that seems to be drawing in more and more supporters.

Popular podcast star Joe Rogan recently defended the Sunshine State governor from Trump’s criticsms.

“All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good ‘nickname’ for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential ‘thing’ a shot,” Trump claimed. “They are all 100% wrong; I don’t even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!”

When Rogan’s guest noted that Trump was losing “losing his touch” in coming up with nicknames, Rogan responded that the task would be even harder for Trump to do with the Florida governor.

“Well, there’s not a good one that you can come up with for Ron,” Rogan said. “Because Ron, he’s too good with that base and his success in Florida is pretty unparalleled.”

“I think Ron DeSantis would work as a good president. I think, I mean, what he’s done for Florida has been admirable,” Rogan said last summer. “I feel like what he did for Florida, a lot of people gave him a lot of grief, but ultimately, he was correct. He was correct when it comes to like deaths. He was correct when it comes to protecting our vulnerable populations. He was correct in terms of distribution of monoclonal antibodies, and he was furious when the government tried to pull those, they were trying to pull very effective treatments.”

Earlier this week, DeSantis finally shed some light as to when Americans can expect his decision on a White House run.

During an appearance with “Fox & Friends” DeSantis charted out the next few months saying that he will embark on a tour to promote his new book, “The Courage to be Free,” and work through the Florida legislature’s regular session, which begins in early March.

“We’re going to sell some books, we’re going to spread the message of Florida. And then on March 8, I have our Legislative Session that’s kicking off,” DeSantis said.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he added. “This is going to be the most productive Legislative Session we have had across the board and I think people are going to be really excited … So those are what we’re going to be doing over these next few months as we get beyond that, then we can decide from there.”

Trump Slams Fox News Over DeSantis Coverage

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

As more Republicans seemingly undeterred by Donald Trump‘s presidential pursuit dive into the race the former President seems more combative than ever.

The most recent target of Trump’s ire is Fox News after the network covered an event with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis instead of one of his own.

DeSantis appeared at an event in Staten Island, NY fueling rumors he’s on the brink of announcing a presidential run. However, the governor has yet to officially announce anything and says his final decision will likely come in May. (RELATED: DeSantis Lays Out Timeline for 2024 Decision)

“So interesting to watch FoxNews cover the small and unenthusiastic 139 person crowd in Staten Island for DeSantis, but stay as far away as possible from coverage of the thousands of people, many unable to get in, at the Club 47 event in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump posted on Tuesday on Truth Social.

Trump continued to attack the network over what he views as a growing relationship between DeSantis and Fox News, dubbing the network the “RINO Network” and requesting CNN “go conservative” in the wake of this behavior from Fox.

“I call FoxNews the RINO Network, and their DOWN BIG Ratings accurately reflect the name. If FAKE NEWS CNN was smart, which they’re not, they’d go Conservative & ‘All Trump, All the Time,’ like in 2016, and become a Ratings Juggernaut,” he wrote.

However, despite Trump’s wrath Fox News has actually added viewers in 2022, unlike CNN.

Fox News notched its seventh consecutive year as the top-rated cable news network in 2022, according to The Hill.

Trump took another shot at DeSantis, claiming he doesn’t deserve any credit for things going well in Florida.

“Florida was doing GREAT long before Ron DeSanctus got there. People are fleeing from New York to Florida (and other places) because of high TAXES and out of control CRIME, not because of Governor (thank you President Trump!) DeSanctimonious,” Trump wrote. “Rick Scott did great, and even Charlie Crist had very good numbers. SUNSHINE AND OCEAN, very alluring!!!”

Kimberly Guilfoyle Announces New Show

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former Fox News star Kimberly Guilfoyle is launching a new show on Rumble.

The move comes years after Guilfoyle left her coveted co-hosting gig on “The Five” to join the Trump campaign.

She’s currently engaged to Donald Trump Jr.

As Breitbart reports:

“I am excited to launch ‘The Kimberly Guilfoyle Show’ on Rumble,” Guilfoyle said in the Rumble press release provided exclusively to Breitbart News ahead of its public release. “In a world where most Big Tech and media platforms routinely censor views that challenge establishment orthodoxy, it’s a breath of fresh air to work with a company like Rumble that values free and uncensored speech. You can trust that nothing will be off limits and that I will always speak my mind without fear.”

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski added that this is part of a broader effort by the platform to expand its presence.

“Signing someone with as much talent, knowledge and experience as Kimberly Guilfoyle exclusively to Rumble is a big win,” Pavlovski said. “We are thrilled Kimberly is with us and will grow her already huge audience on Rumble – a platform that the left cannot cancel and big tech cannot censor.”

When the show goes live, it will be available at this link on Rumble’s website.

Attorney Predicts Bret Baier Will Step Away from Fox News Amid Scandal

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Presidential debate photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Is a major shakeup coming to Fox News?

The View co-host Sunny Hostin predicted anchor Bret Baier will likely leave Fox News due to the ongoing Dominion Voting Systems court filing.

Newly released court documents from Dominion Voting Systems‘ ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News show the network’s executives and prime-time lineup privately expressed doubts over former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud after losing reelection. But perhaps the most shocking revelation was that some of them expressed fear that any fact-checkers might alienate their audience. (RELATED: Fox News Trashed Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: Court Documents)

The texts revealed some at the network questioned or flat out did not believe the election fraud conspiracy theories some guests were promoting on the network.

Hostin, who is a lawyer, called the texts “some of the most damning evidence, evidentiary texts I’ve seen in my legal career.”

“Chris Wallace, before he left, said one of the reasons he left was once they started questioning facts, questioning truth. He found that to be unsustainable,” she said. “I think the same thing will happen to Bret Baier because I —”

“Is Bret still there?” Joy Behar asked. Baier is currently at Fox News, but Hostin predicted he would go the way of Wallace.

“I can’t imagine that he’ll stay. I think they’re going to lose him,” she said.

Hostin also predicted the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation suit could end up being successful in court.

“I think it is the strongest defamation case against a media company I’ve ever seen,” she concluded.

Kari Lake Loses Appeal in Gubernatorial Race Challenge

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Kari Lake speaking with supporters at a "Stand for Freedom" rally at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

Arizona Republican Kari Lake’s challenge of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the gubernatorial race has been rejected by an appeals court. 

On Thursday, the Arizona Court of Appeals denied Lake’s request to toss election results in Maricopa County and hold the election again.

According to Fox News, the Republican challenger claimed problems with ballot printers at some polling places on Election Day resulted from intentional misconduct. Still, the court said Lake presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote. 

“Lake’s arguments highlight Election Day difficulties, but her request for relief fails because the evidence presented to the superior court ultimately supports the court’s conclusion that voters were able to cast their ballots, that votes were counted correctly, and that no other basis justifies setting aside the election results,” the court said in its opinion. 

The court said a witness called by Lake to testify had confirmed that voters whose ballots couldn’t initially be read at polling places could still ultimately have their vote counted.

And while a pollster who testified on behalf of Lake claimed the polling place problems had disenfranchised enough voters to change the outcome in Lake’s favor, the court said his conclusions were baseless.

In response to the ruling, Lake signaled her intent to take the case to the Supreme Court.

“I told you we would take this case all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Buckle up, America!”

Lawyers for Lake focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County, which is home to more than 60% of the state’s voters making it Arizona’s most populous county.

The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. However, the county argued everyone had a chance to vote and all ballots were counted since ballots affected by the printers were taken to more sophisticated counters at the elections department headquarters.

Additionally, Lake’s attorneys argued that the chain of custody for ballots was broken at an off-site facility. The county disputes the claim. 

Fox News Trashed Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: Court Documents

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The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Court documents from Dominion Voting System’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News show the network’s executives and prime-time lineup privately doubted former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud after losing reelection. However, some of them expressed fear that any fact-checkers might alienate their audience.

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In a text message to his producer, Tucker Carlson said that “Sydney Powell is lying.” Behind the scenes, News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch called Rudy Giuliani’s defense of the former president “crazy stuff.”

However, the network is adamant that it never knowingly made false claims.

Months of depositions and evidence were made public Thursday.

As The Hill reports:

Top network hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham in text messages referred to the voter fraud allegations made by Trump and his associates as “insane” while network leadership debated how rebuking those claims on the air might hurt the conservative media giant’s reputation with its viewers, according to the filing.

Correspondence and testimony from top talent and executives at the network were made public as part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting System against Fox News and its parent company, seeking $1.6 Billion in damages, for what the voting software company says was Fox’s broadcasting of information about it that the network’s leaders knew were false.

At one point, Laura Ingraham’s producer messaged network management, saying her “BS” about the election would wind up giving him “a f*cking aneurysm.”

Around the same time, Tucker Carlson wanted Fox News’ prime-time hosts to pressure network execs to fire reporter Jacqui Heinrich for fact-checking Trump.

“Please get her fired,” Carlson messaged Sean Hannity. “Seriously… What the f*ck?”

Page 31 in the legal filing detailed Carlson’s request, which included concerns about FOX Corporation’s declining stock price:

In their group text thread, Carlson pointed Hannity to a tweet by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich. Heinrich was “fact checking” a tweet by Trump that mentioned Dominion and specifically mentioned Hannity’s and Dobbs’ broadcasts that evening discussing Dominion. Heinrich correctly fact-checked the tweet, pointing out that “top election infrastructure officials” said that “‘There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.’”

Carlson told Hannity: “Please get her fired. Seriously… What the fuck? I’m actually shocked. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company The stock price is down. Not a joke.” Tucker added, I just went crazy on Meade over it. Hannity said he had “already sent to Suzanne with a really?” He then added: “I’m 3 strikes. Wallace shit debate[.] Election night a disaster[.] Now this BS? Nope. Not gonna fly. Did I mention Cavuto?”

Representatives for Fox said the messages were cherry-picked out of context, saying the case boils down to freedom of the press and freedom of speech. The network added in a statement that these are “fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”

Report: Georgia Grand Jury Publishes Report

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The special grand jury part of the investigation into whether former President Donald Trump interfered in the 2020 presidential election has published part of its report.

Want to see part of the official report? Look below!

This story is developing. Click refresh for the latest updates,

Trump’s Former Chief of Staff Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Investigation

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Office of Congressman Mark Meadows, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been issued a subpoena in the special counsel’s ongoing investigation into Trump’s alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

Reports indicate special counsel Jack Smith issued the subpoena to Meadows in January. Smith is seeking documents and testimony related to the Jan. 6 riot.

The subpoena of Meadows follows the recent subpoena of former Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence has vowed to fight the subpoena from the DOJ, saying he was prepared to go to the Supreme Court if it was necessary.

“I’m going to fight the Biden DOJ’s subpoena for me to appear before the grand jury because I believe it’s unconstitutional, and it’s unprecedented,” Pence told reporters after an event in Iowa on Wednesday.

As Great America News Desk previously reported:

PENCE ALLIES SAY HE IS COVERED BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION THAT PROTECTS CONGRESSIONAL OFFICIALS FROM LEGAL PROCEEDINGS RELATED TO THEIR WORK — LANGUAGE KNOWN AS THE “SPEECH OR DEBATE” CLAUSE. THE CLAUSE, PENCE ALLIES SAY, LEGALLY BINDS FEDERAL PROSECUTORS FROM COMPELLING PENCE TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE CENTRAL COMPONENTS OF SMITH’S INVESTIGATION. IF PENCE TESTIFIES, THEY SAY, IT COULD JEOPARDIZE THE SEPARATION OF POWERS THAT THE CONSTITUTION SEEKS TO SAFEGUARD.

“HE THINKS THAT THE ‘SPEECH OR DEBATE’ CLAUSE IS A CORE PROTECTION FOR ARTICLE I, FOR THE LEGISLATURE,” SAID ONE OF THE TWO PEOPLE FAMILIAR WITH PENCE’S THINKING, WHO SPOKE ON CONDITION OF ANONYMITY TO DISCUSS HIS LEGAL STRATEGY. “HE FEELS IT REALLY GOES TO THE HEART OF SOME SEPARATION OF POWERS ISSUES. HE FEELS DUTY-BOUND TO MAINTAIN THAT PROTECTION, EVEN IF IT MEANS LITIGATING IT.”

This story is developing. Click refresh for the latest updates.

Team Biden Pressures Trump’s Attorney to Testify Before Grand Jury

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

President Joe Biden’s Justice Department is doing anything it can to take Donald Trump down.

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The DOJ is now attempting to compel Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, to testify before a grand jury in the case involving the possible mishandling of classified documents, seeking to pierce attorney-client privilege by contending he may have aided in a crime.

According to reports from The Hill, Justice Department prosecutors sought approval from a judge in a sealed filing to invoke the crime-fraud exception.

The rare move to push for such cooperation from an attorney can only be ignited when legal advice was given in furtherance of a crime, a key issue for prosecutors as they investigate an obstruction of justice charge in connection with their search of Mar-a-Lago.

Corcoran appeared before a grand jury last month, and it’s not clear what matters the Justice Department wishes to speak to him about where he may have asserted he was unable to do so due to attorney-client privilege.

The matter is set to be decided by Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for D.C., who has largely sided with the Justice Department on matters of privilege in the Mar-a-Lago case.

Trump Republican Switching Parties Amid Primary Challenge

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A New Jersey state senator and Trump Republican announced his plans to leave the GOP and register as a Democrat after party leaders questioned his fitness for office.

Samuel Thompson, 87, announced Monday that he will seek re-election as a Democrat.

“The betrayal by so many of my friends — that was too much for me,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I am not leaving my party. My party leadership has left me.”

“It is my life. It gives me something to do every day when I wake up to get there and help people. The alternative is sit at home and just wait to die? I have to be active,” he said according to the Inquirer. “I think I’m doing a public service.”

Thompson decided to leave the GOP after state party leaders opted to support another candidate, citing concerns over Thompson’s age.

Middlesex County Republican Chairman Rob Bengivenga said that although he considered Thompson a friend and mentor and wanted him to be part of the party’s future, leaders decided to support another candidate for state Senate.

“I was hoping the Senator would embrace it and work together as a mentor and advisor for the years to come,” he said in an emailed statement to the Inquirer.

Thompson’s departure would expand the Democrats’ edge in the state Senate from 24 to 25 seats in the 40-member chamber.

Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy welcomed Thompson’s decision to join the party, calling him a “tireless public servant,” the outlet stated.