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Is Musk Creating an Alternative Right Media Ecosphere?

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ANALYSIS – Most conservatives and even some liberal free speech advocates applauded Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, a Big Tech hotbed of leftist narratives and anti-conservative censorship.

Many leftists, outraged that they could no longer simply cancel opposing conservative views, squealed and threatened to leave Twitter.

Of course, they made their threats on Twitter, then waited on Twitter to see the reactions on Twitter.

However, since his tumultuous takeover, Musk has worried some supporters by apparently quickly engaging in the same capricious censorship he so strongly decried.

Going after critics, including the college kid who tracks his plane using publicly available open-source information.

Most recently Musk put his Twitter CEO-ship on the line by asking Twitter users to vote online about whether he should remain ‘Chief Twit.’

Not surprisingly, considering residual leftism left at Twitter, Musk lost that poll and may soon step down and appoint someone else to run the Twitter show.

Still, despite the turmoil and concerns brought on by Musk’s Twitter takeover, many see this dramatic move as an even more dramatic shift in the media ecosphere.

A momentous move to the right and against the dominant liberal media megaphone.

Axios writes: “Elon Musk and allies are building a new anti-left media ecosystem almost overnight.”

It continues:

Why it matters: It’s as if the New York Times editorial page suddenly flipped to the right.

With the reins in Musk’s hands, the right is gaining power in online spaces the left once dominated, Axios’ Erica Pandey reports.

Axios adds: “Look who’s driving the news on Twitter…”

And notes:

Anti-mainstream-media journalists — like Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi — are driving the narrative, getting the clicks and earning new followers on Musk’s Twitter. They’re thriving in an environment where alternative, anti-left and anti-establishment media has taken center stage.

To the folks at Axios, “Musk’s moves at Twitter are part of a larger — growing — anti-left, alternative media ecosystem.”

To buttress their case, they point to Joe Rogan’s populist podcast, which has a heavily conservative fan base and was the most listened-to show of the second half of 2022, according to Edison Research.

Not to be outdone, Axios notes, Ben Shapiro’s more intellectual conservative podcast is now No. 7 — and rising.

As a conservative, I can only hope this is the beginning of a major shift from the leftist-dominated media landscape to a far more balanced one where conservative points of view are given the respect they deserve.

Let’s see where this all leads as we head into the 2024 election.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

North Dakota AG Sounds Off on Concerns Facing His State

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Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley joins Liberty & Justice to discusses challenges facing his state and the United States of America.

Per Matt Whitaker:

Drew Wrigley is a fourth generation North Dakotan with family roots in Walsh County and Burke County, where Wrigley Brothers Farm still thrives. Wrigley was born in Bismarck and grew up in Fargo. After graduating from Fargo South High School in 1984, Wrigley attended the University of North Dakota, graduating in 1988 with honors in economics and philosophy. He graduated from the American University, Washington College of Law, in 1991, followed by a year-long judicial clerkship in Delaware. Wrigley then worked as an Assistant District Attorney for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, prosecuting every variety of crime in one of our nation’s most violent cities.

Wrigley and his wife Kathleen married in 1998 and moved home to North Dakota. In 2001, Wrigley was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate as North Dakota’s 17th United States Attorney. Wrigley led his office’s successful efforts to combat violent crime, large-scale narcotics trafficking, illegal immigration, financial fraud and ground-breaking investigations focused on Internet crimes against children. Under Wrigley’s leadership, the office’s Civil Division worked diligently to promote and protect legal and contractual interests of the United States, while battling to ensure the protection of civil rights and the promise of landmark legal protections such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even while serving as United States Attorney, Wrigley personally tried several noteworthy cases, including North Dakota’s first federal Internet child-luring case, and the successful death penalty prosecution of Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., who kidnapped, assaulted, and viciously murdered University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin. That was North Dakota’s first and only federal death penalty case, for which Wrigley served as lead trial and appellate counsel. From 2004 to 2009, Wrigley was appointed by three successive Attorney Generals of the United States to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a select group of United States Attorneys tasked with advising the Attorney General of the United States and other Department of Justice leaders.

After stepping down as United States Attorney in 2009, Wrigley served as vice-president of a national Medicare and Medicaid contractor based in Fargo. He subsequently served as North Dakota’s 37th Lieutenant Governor, from December 2010 through December 2016. Wrigley served as the President of the State Senate, chaired the State Investment Board and its oversight of then-$11 billion in pension and other state assets, chaired the state’s International Trade Office Board, chaired the Governor’s Cybersecurity Task Force, and led the economic development efforts and oversight authority for North Dakota’s FAA-sanctioned unmanned flight systems testing facility. In 2016, Wrigley and Governor Jack Dalrymple chose to not seek re-election, and in early 2017 Wrigley once again returned to the private sector, serving in a senior advisory role for a regional healthcare, insurance, research and philanthropy enterprise, Sanford Health. In 2019, Wrigley was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate as North Dakota’s 19th United States Attorney, becoming the first North Dakotan to twice serve as our state’s chief federal law enforcement officer. Wrigley stepped down in February of 2021 and worked as counsel with his family’s industrial/mechanical/commercial contracting firms, Wrigley Mechanical, Inc. and BDT Mechanical LLC, both located in Fargo. Wrigley maintains an ownership interest in both companies.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

CEO’s Vow To Blacklist Harvard Students Who Blamed Israel For Hamas Attack

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PaWikiCom, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – In the immediate wake of one of the most horrifying terror attacks ever filmed, a coalition of 34 leftist Harvard student groups stupidly and offensively circulated a letter that stated that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

This, as stomach-churning images, and reports surfaced hourly of the vile murders and atrocities committed by the Hamas jihadists against over 1,000 Israeli civilians, entire families, children, even babies. 

Not to mention over 25 Americans were killed and scores kidnapped.

Well, this time, things didn’t go as planned for the lefty Ivy League students accustomed to being coddled by woke corporate executives.

The response from Wall Street leaders, and soon other titans of corporate America was swift.

Bill Ackman the billionaire founder and CEO of hedge fund giant Pershing Square Capital Management, wrote on his X social media account on Tuesday: 

I have been asked by a number of CEOs if Harvard would release a list of the members of each of the Harvard organizations that have issued the letter assigning sole responsibility for Hamas’ heinous acts to Israel, so as to insure [sic] that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members.

“If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known.”

Ackman, a Harvard grad worth $3.5 billion, added: “One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts.”

Soon, other CEOs were joining him.

Jonathan Newman, CEO of salad chain Sweetgreen, quickly seconded Ackman in urging that the signatories of the letter be banned from future employment.

“I would like to know so I know never to hire these people,” Newman wrote in response to Ackman’s post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.

“Same,” David Duel, CEO of health care services firm EasyHealth, wrote in response to Newman.

Many other executives posted agreement with Ackman, such as Stephen Ready, CEO of marketing firm Inspired who posted “this is a must” and Michael Broukhim, CEO of FabFitFun, who said to Ackman: “We are in as well.”

Meanwhile, as The New York Post reported, others signaled their approval of his post with a supportive emoji or a gesture of agreement. These included: Hu Montague, founder, and vice president of construction company Diligent; Art Levy, head of strategy at payments platform Brex; and Jake Wurzak, the CEO of hospitality group Dovehill Capital Management.

The Post added that after the online fusillade from so many potential future employers, many of the spineless lefties responsible for the letter quickly ran for the hills.

“The backlash and possible blacklisting has led to a flurry of backpedaling by four of the initial student organizations attached to the inflammatory statement — while board members of other groups have quit in an effort to distance themselves.”

Amnesty International at Harvard, Harvard College Act on a Dream, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, the Harvard Islamic Society, and Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo, are among the groups that have since recanted according to the Harvard Crimson.

In fairness, many organizations didn’t know one of their representatives had signed on the group’s behalf.

To Harvard’s credit, many other student groups and faculty expressed outrage at the letter, and their fellow students and colleagues.

According to the campus paper, at least 17 other Harvard groups have joined 500 faculty and staff and 3,000 others in signing a counterstatement attacking the other groups’ letter as “completely wrong and deeply offensive.” 

This was followed by 160 faculty members bashing Harvard’s response to the scandal, writing in their own separate letter that it “can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based only on their nationality.”

Its good to see that some at Harvard still have common sense as well as decency and humanity. Its also good to see corporate America responding in the way it has to these snively terror enabling leftist college students and staff.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Biden’s DHS Misinforms Congress About its Orwellian ‘Disinformation’ Board

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – As Republican senators try to conduct oversight over, and gain insight into, the outrageous, and supposedly now defunct, ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Team Biden is blocking the senators at every step.

The board was dismantled under pressure in August following the recommendation of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. 

However, many are concerned that DHS will continue with its dangerously un-American efforts under a different name.

And now they are clearly afraid of what nefarious collusion with Big Tech the senators might uncover. 

So, as always, covering up is the next step when faced with hard questions and the great disinfectant called sunlight.

In this case, Team Biden is censoring its own documents which may describe its actions ‘prodding’ social media companies to censor conservative Americans under the guise of controlling ‘disinformation.’

Biden’s DHS essentially ‘misinformed’ Congress by totally redacting (censoring) large portions of documents requested by Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Josh Hawley of Missouri back in June.

These documents mostly related to the ‘Truth Board’s’ cozy relationship with social media platforms.

This issue is particularly critical now in light of recent revelations of collusion between the FBI and these same platforms, and the obscene partisan censorship done at Twitter in apparent coordination with the White House, as revealed by Elon Musk.

In a letter sent Thursday to embattled DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Grassley and Hawley said the Department of Homeland Security heavily redacted documents they had requested six months ago.

The letter read: 

Based on our review of this material, it appears that many of the redactions are applied to pre-decisional and deliberative process material. We remind you that the oversight letters we send to the Executive Branch are signed in our capacity as sitting members of Congress, a separate and co-equal branch of government.

Newsmax reported:

Grassley and Hawley then said they would formally renew their requests to the department, as it is still “impossible to know the full extent to which various DHS components and offices are engaged in DHS’s ‘burgeoning’ counter-disinformation efforts.”

“Please provide full and complete responses to all questions contained in our June 7, 2022, letter,” the two wrote, adding that they would also like “a detailed description of DHS’s policy for responding to congressional oversight requests.”

The letter comes months after the White House canned the project due to substantial backlash, officially citing a recommendation from the Homeland Security Advisory Council, according to a press release.

“With the HSAC recommendations as a guide, the Department will continue to address threat streams that undermine the security of our country consistent with the law while upholding the privacy, civil rights and civil liberties of the American people and promoting transparency in our work,” the statement read.

Let’s hope that these senators will soon get the unredacted documents, so we can all learn what was really going on inside Biden’s dark attempt to create its own Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’ 

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Most Americans Think Chris Christie Wrong on Transgender Kids

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Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – One of the most transcendent political issues today is the Left’s war on reality. Specifically, the radical efforts to push a totally made-up, anti-science, transgender ideology on society, and especially our children. 

And most Republicans agree. Actually, most Americans agree.

Being on the wrong side of this issue should automatically disqualify a GOP candidate for president. And former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is wrong on this issue – big time.

During a segment on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Christie argued against state bans on sex change treatments for children, reported Fox News. 

When asked about Republican governors banning life-altering, genital mutilating gender reassignment surgeries and experimental ‘puberty blockers’ drugs and hormones for minors in their states, he replied:

I don’t think that the government should ever be stepping in to the place of the parents in helping to move their children through a process where those children are confused or concerned about their gender.

To be fair, Christie also said: “What I would like to make sure each state does is require that parents are involved in these decisions.” And that is critical. But it isn’t enough.

Sadly, it’s Christie who is confused.

If this was 1980, and a Republican candidate said the government shouldn’t get between parents and their children, I would wholeheartedly agree. 

But in 1980 no one would have imagined a society, medical establishment, public school system and government pushing radical transgenderism on our kids, and their parents.

The world is now officially upside down. And even parents are being pressured to permanently damage their kids. The only chance we have to preserve basic human values is by Republican red states defending them wholeheartedly. 

And when possible, defending them at the federal level.

Former President Donald Trump has been vocal about his stance: “These people are sick, they’re deraigned,” Trump recently said in North Carolina, speaking of those who support men competing in women’s sports. 

The former president also said he would “sign a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states” if elected in 2024.

Unfortunately for Christie, and fortunately for the rest of us, Fox News reports that a strong majority of Americans disagree with him. 

A Washington Post-KFF poll “found that 68% of Americans oppose access to puberty-blocking medication for kids ages 10 to 14 and 58% oppose access to hormonal treatments for kids ages 15 to 17.”

But Christie isn’t just wrong on this extreme issue. He has been wrong on transgender issues for many years.

As Fox News reported:

While serving as governor of New Jersey in 2017, Christie passed laws allowing children to use school bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity rather than sex assigned at birth.

Christie’s signature also removed restrictions on biological men competing in women’s sports, an issue that the WaPo poll found over 60% of Americans think should be banned.

Christie also signed another law that year prohibiting insurance companies from denying services to anyone based on their ‘gender identity.’

In the increasingly crowded field of GOP presidential hopefuls, former President Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former Ambassador Nikki Haley, are all on the right side. They all support restricting children under 18 years of age from receiving gender reassignment (or genital mutilation) procedures.

All three also support banning biological men from competing in women’s sports. And they are all correct.

But, as far as I’m concerned Christie just disqualified himself from being a GOP candidate for president.

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Heartwarming: Commie Biz Owner Forced To Close Cafe

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You can’t help but smile when you see this…

Watch Amanda explain the controversy below:

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Should Trump Bring Back His Winning ’16 Campaign Chief?

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ANALYSIS – Will Kellyanne Conway return to Team Trump? As Kamala Harris, who recently stole the campaign from her boss, Joe Biden, basks in her current sugar high glory, some in the Trump campaign are wondering if his team needs a reboot. 

Or maybe an injection of a 2016 winner.

And who better to revitalize Trump’s campaign, than his winning campaign manager from 2016, Kellyanne Conway.

At least Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, reportedly thinks so.

And a recent post on X showing pics of Conway and Trump together in New Jersey has fueled the speculation that a return to the campaign is in the works.

In 2016 the brash flaxen haired pollster-turned campaign chief swooped in after the campaign’s failing start with its B Team and is rightly credited as helping to get Trump across the finish line to victory against Hillary Clinton.

According to the Daily Beast:

Donald Trump is looking to bring in Kellyanne Conway to shake up his faltering campaign, according to a new report.

The outspoken adviser is seen as a trusted confidante by both the former president and, importantly, by Melania Trump who is “pushing” for Conway to return because she sees her as “a familiar face amid a sea of relative newcomers,” says Tara Palmeri in the online magazine, Puck.

Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and wife of Trump’s son, Ericis also said to be pushing for Conway to be brought on board to reignite campaign stalwarts taken by surprise by Kamala Harris’ fast start after Joe Biden’s sudden departure.

One adviser told Puck that Trump listens to powerful women, more than men. “He listens to Hope Hicks. He listens to Brooke Rollins,” they tell Puck. “Ironically, he likes powerful women. If you’re a sharp woman, he will listen to you. Hope and these people could tell him the hardest shit. He may not have done anything, but at least he listens.”

While she was a key player in Trump’s 2016 win, eight years ago, she could still be the spark that relights the fire of a campaign still unsteady after Harris’ surprising Democrat Party coup and subsequent rise.

Puck notes:

…it may also be fair to question whether his brain trust is living in the past. Chris LaCivita, who famously ran the Swift Boat Veterans campaign against John Kerry, has spearheaded an attack on Walz’s military record, but it’s yet to have the same impact as it did in 2004, when the U.S. had recently invaded Iraq. Other Trump allies are wondering if pollster Tony Fabrizio is likewise frozen in carbonite, as he considers a race-baiting strategy against Harris akin to the Willie Horton ads against Dukakis back in 1988. 

Team Harris has raised $310 million in July, and another $36 million in the 24 hours after announcing her stolen Valor radical VP choice, Tim Walz.

So far Team Trump hasn’t been able to land any significant blows on his younger female political opponent.

According to Puck, Trump’s campaign team is split in half over whether she should return in a similar role to the one she had in 2016.

Meanwhile, Conway is smoothing over any ruffled feather with JD Vance after openly suggesting Marco Rubio as Trump’s VP.

As part of her mending relations effort, Conway recently tweeted “Brilliant” to Vance’s stunt when he landed at the same airport as Harris and Walz and challenged her to debate.

One big potential drawback to Team Trump is the fact that Conway recently registered as a $50,000- a month foreign agent for a Ukrainian oligarch.

This is already provoking accusations among her critics that it would be a conflict of interest. However, a campaign manager or advisor is not the same as a member of the administration. So, that issue may not matter much in these final three months of the campaign.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Great America News Desk.

Trump Will Be A Dictator! – Shriek Panicked Democrats

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Gage Skidmore Flickr

ANALYSIS – Welcome to the 2024 version of the liberals’ “Russia collusion” hoax. But now they hysterically claim that Donald Trump will abandon the Constitution, destroy democracy and become a dictator.

You know, just like the last time he was president.

This latest Trump demonization is an effort to scare left-wing voters unenthusiastic about reelecting Joe Biden next year.

Democrats believe that Biden stands a better chance against Trump in 2024 if the campaign is a battle for the future of democracy rather than a referendum on Biden’s record.

And this idiotic fear campaign is now in full gear, The New York Times and The Washington Post recently published articles previewing a future Trump dictatorship. The Atlantic will devote its January/February issue to articles predicting Trump’s harmful impact on civil rights, the Justice Department, immigration and more if elected again.

Sadly, these accusations are potentially more dangerous than the fake Russia collusion claims.

Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, said on social media that Trump opponents “need to take a chill pill.” He added: “All of these articles calling Trump a dictator, are about one thing: legitimizing illegal and violent conduct as we get closer to the election.”

Meanwhile, let’s ignore for a moment that Biden has done far more than any recent president to shred the Constitution, cancel student loan debt without Congress, target opponents with a weaponized federal government, censor dissident speech in collusion with Big Tech, not to mention persecute his chief political rival and ex-president by criminalizing politics with lawfare.

Trump makes that case often on the campaign trail, notes the Washington Times:

“He’s been weaponizing government against his political opponents like a Third World political tyrant,” Mr. Trump said of the president at a campaign event last weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Biden and his radical left allies like to pose as standing up as allies of democracy. Joe Biden is not the defender of American democracy. Joe Biden is the destroyer of American democracy. It’s him and his people. They’re the wreckers of the American dream. The American dream is dead with them in office.”

Well, it’s hard to top all that undemocratic things Biden has done, but if Trump tries, it will be a reaction to the left’s long-standing control over and abuse of the deep state.

And I as I wrote on November 23, ‘Trump’s Much-Needed ‘Radical’ Second Term Agenda’ will be a very welcome corrective to the decades of leftist penetration and subversion of our institutions.

Even then, Trump can only achieve so much.

As The Washington Times reported:

Republican Party strategist John Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy in Washington, said Democrats and media outlets are raising fears of a Trump dictatorship because “they think he is going to win and they are completely panicked.”

“I don’t know how somebody who doesn’t have functional control over the military or the intelligence community could possibly be a dictator,” he said. “[Democrats] don’t have deep faith in our constitutional framework, so they are projecting that lack of faith into Trump. I think it is ridiculous.”

But sometimes Trump, or his associates, don’t help.

Kash Patel, a top deputy in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under Trump, said this week that he and other Trump allies would seek payback against “deep state” actors and media members in a second Trump term.

The Washington Times noted:

“The one thing we learned in the Trump administration, the first go-round, is we’ve got to put in [government] all American patriots, top to bottom,” Mr. Patel told podcast host Steve Bannon. “And we’ve got them for law enforcement. We got them for intel collection, we got them for offensive operations. We got them for DOD, CIA, everywhere. We will follow the facts and the law and go to courts of law and correct these justices and lawyers who have been prosecuting these cases based on politics. … We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media.

“Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. This is why they hate us. This is why we’re tyrannical. This is why we’re dictators.”

However, when asked during a televised town hall whether he plans to become a dictator, Trump laughed.

“No, no, no – other than Day One,” he said. “We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.”

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Investigate the ‘Other Insurrection’ – BLM’s 2020 ‘Battle for Lafayette Park’ and White House

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A protester holds up a Black Lives Matter sign outside the Hennepin County Government Center.

ANALYSIS – The incessant drumbeat of the left’s campaign to keep the Capitol Riot in the news every day for nearly two years had some of its intended effects. 

It probably helped persuade some voters not to pull the lever for those ‘dangerous’ MAGA Republicans during the midterm elections.

It also may dissuade others not to vote for Trump or the GOP in 2024.

And some of that concern may be justified.

But the GOP and the right also failed miserably by not forcefully pushing the truth about the ‘other insurrection’ – the one against Trump and the White House by violent leftists under the BLM flag in May/June 2020.

I was a risk advisor to foreign TV news crews during both violent riots. 

I also strongly condemned both, writing of the Capitol rioters at the time: “…many were goons and criminals, and yes, ‘terrorists.’ No better than Antifa or BLM, or the #NotMyPresident rioters who disrupted Trump’s Inaugural four years ago.”

I added of the violent Capitol rioters: “Whoever they were, they should be seen and treated as criminals. Arrested and prosecuted.”

This sentiment didn’t apply to the hundreds who simply entered the Capitol non-violently, but that’s another issue altogether.

Unfortunately, the left, colluding with the establishment media and Democrats in Congress and the White House, only ‘remembers’ one riot and erased that other one from history.

If they mention the violent BLM riot at the White House at all, they focus on Trump’s Bible photo op the next morning at St John’s Episcopal Church, the site across from the White House of an attempted arson the night before.

They also forget how they aggressively attacked any attempt by Trump, and federal and local authorities, to bring order to the violence.

I even had a Canadian TV news reporter claim to me months after the protests at the White House that they were totally peaceful. 

She said this nonsense despite the fact that the violence was reported, albeit briefly.

And I had to forcibly intervene to protect one of her colleagues, a cameraman who was savagely beaten by two ‘BLM’ assailants without justification, while the crew was simply changing batteries and reorganizing away from the main battle lines.

The cameraman fortunately was wearing a helmet at my suggestion, and ‘only’ suffered a mild concussion.

I personally witnessed hundreds of rioters almost break through the thin improvised line of U.S. Park Police and Uniformed Secret Service in the park, while DC Metropolitan Police, for political reasons, assembled on the sidelines.

As a security expert, I was concerned that there weren’t enough police to stop the large violent mob from crashing the fence at the White House; a concern apparently shared by the Secret Service who at one point that night rushed Trump to the protected underground bunker.

A claim Trump sadly denied.

I also witnessed everything described by CNN below, and more.

 As CNN reported at the time on May 31, 2020:

More than 60 US Secret Service Uniformed Division officers and special agents were injured starting Friday night through Sunday morning near the White House as protests rocked Washington, DC, following the death of George Floyd last week, according to a statement from the Secret Service.

The officers and agents were injured when protesters threw “projectiles such as bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks and other items,” according to the statement. “Personnel were also directly physically assaulted as they were kicked, punched and exposed to bodily fluids.”

CNN teams were on hand for much of the protests and witnessed protesters throwing objects at officers and pulling temporary fencing away from them. 

Eleven Secret Service employees were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A secret service officer suffered a head injury after being assaulted by BLM & far-left rioters trying to storm the White House. Dozens of other Secret Service agents were injured as well.

This was also a violent riot, or call it an insurrection, but in this case against President Trump, the Executive Branch, and the politically sacred space of the ‘People’s House.’ 

Perhaps with GOP control of the House, we can see a real congressional investigation of this ‘other insurrection.’

Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

Time Magazine Denies Nazi-Era Echo In Trump Cover Image

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Photographer’s nod to controversial 1963 portrait fuels speculation.

WASHINGTON — Time magazine is facing backlash over its latest cover photo of President Donald Trump, after online critics and media outlets pointed out a visual similarity to a portrait the magazine used 60 years ago featuring convicted Nazi industrialist Alfried Krupp.

The image, shot by photographer Stephen Voss, shows Trump looming over the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, dramatically lit from below. According to a report by The Daily Beast, the composition bears a striking resemblance to a 1963 photo of Krupp taken by the Jewish photographer Arnold Newman — a photograph widely studied for its chilling and deliberate framing of a man convicted of facilitating some of history’s most heinous crimes.

The Historical Background

Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach inherited control of the Krupp industrial empire from his father, Gustav Krupp, who had supported Adolf Hitler and helped finance the Nazis’ rise to power. Under Alfried’s leadership during World War II, Krupp factories supplied the Third Reich with armaments and heavy machinery vital to its war efforts, including tanks, submarines, and artillery.

National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

After Germany’s defeat, Krupp was tried by the U.S. Military Tribunal in the Nuremberg Krupp Trial (officially The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al.), which took place from 1947 to 1948.

He was convicted primarily for:

  • Exploitation of Forced Labor: Krupp industries used 100,000 slave laborers and prisoners of war under brutal conditions. Many of these laborers were taken from occupied countries and concentration camps, forced to work long hours in unsafe factories.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-138-1083-20 / Kessler, Rudolf / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons
  • Plundering Occupied Territories: Krupp was found guilty of seizing industrial plants and raw materials from conquered nations to boost Nazi Germany’s armament production.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-2005-1017-521 / Gehrmann, Friedrich / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons
  • Participation in Crimes Against Humanity: The tribunal held that Krupp’s active role in maintaining and expanding his war production empire made him complicit in Nazi crimes.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1985-100-33 / Unknown authorUnknown author / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE , via Wikimedia Commons

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and had his property confiscated.

Newman’s portrait of Krupp is iconic in photographic circles. In the image, Krupp is seated at a desk under harsh lighting, his posture and setting portraying him as both powerful and ominous, reminiscent of a devil or a fiendish creature. Critics argue that Time’s Trump cover bears such a resemblance to Newman’s portrait that it cannot be a coincidence.

Photographer Reacts on Social Media

Voss, the photographer behind the Trump image, has not publicly commented on the comparison. However, he reportedly “liked” social media posts highlighting the resemblance — a move many interpret as a subtle acknowledgment of influence.

A spokesperson for Time magazine rejected the claims outright, telling The Daily Beast that “any suggestion of an intentional reference is completely untrue.”

Why This Matters

The controversy cuts across political and cultural lines:

  • Visual symbolism: Referencing imagery linked to Nazi figures — even inadvertently — risks crossing ethical and historical boundaries.
  • Editorial credibility: Time, known for its iconic covers, faces questions about whether such visual choices are neutral, intentional, or ideologically driven.
  • Trump’s image control: As a media-savvy political figure, Trump is acutely aware of how visuals shape perception. Whether intentional or not, the cover’s tone could affect public interpretation.

What’s Still Unknown

  • Was the similarity intentional? No direct evidence confirms that Voss or Time deliberately modeled the image after Newman’s Krupp portrait.
  • Does intent matter? Critics argue that even unintentional parallels can carry meaning, especially given the historical weight of the reference.
  • Will this have a lasting impact? It’s unclear, though likely, that the controversy will become another political flashpoint in media criticism.

A Larger Media Question

This episode adds fuel to a long-running debate over how the media portrays political leaders — especially those it opposes editorially. It also highlights the power images have in shaping public perception.

In an era when symbolism is parsed as carefully as language, even a magazine cover can carry profound consequences.