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Report: Tom Cotton Removes Name From Cabinet Consideration

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

A surprising move…

As President-elect Donald Trump begins to start forming his administration one high-profile name will be notably absent: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.

Cotton had been widely seen as a front-runner for a top cabinet position in the next Trump administration, but a source close to the senator told Fox News on Thursday that he asked that his name be pulled from consideration

Cotton has two boys under the age of 10 and wants to remain close to them and not upend their lives.  He also feels “confident” about securing the No. 3 position in the new GOP Senate majority, the Republican Conference chair when the election is held next week.

The source said Trump understands Cotton’s decision and knows “he is with him all the way in the Senate.”

It’s unclear who Trump will select to serve in his new administration but some familiar faces are expected to return.

Ben Carson is being weighed to return once again as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Betsy DeVos could return as Secretary of Education. Mike Pompeo too could return as Defense Secretary.

New faces include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who could serve as Secretary of the Interior or Energy Secretary. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is in the running for Secretary of State, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could serve as Secretary of Agriculture or Health and Human Services.

Report: Herschel Walker is Leading Among These Key Voters

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Tech. Sgt. Samuel King Jr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite a series of scandals, Herschel Walker is still a favorite among voters.

A new poll reports that while Latino voters are undecided on their choice for governor, they overwhelmingly support Republican candidate Herschel Walker over incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock.

According to The Washington Examiner:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Georgia News Collaborative poll puts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams at 49% and incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp at 48% among likely Hispanic voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points. Walker’s lead over Warnock is greater, 47% to 41%, with Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver pulling in 11% of the vote.

Georgia shattered early voting records on Monday, with nearly 123,000 in-person voters casting their ballots, according to state election officials.

“This blows away the previous midterm first-day record of approximately 72,000, and we have lots of voting to go today,” Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer at the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, tweeted Monday.

Republicans and Democrats have been making inroads with Hispanic voters over the years.

Elon Musk Makes Bold Move With Pro-Trump Donation

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UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, made a significant political move by donating to a pro-Trump Super PAC, despite previous claims of neutrality.

The unexpected contribution could potentially impact the 2024 race, depending on the extent of Musk’s vast fortune given to former President Donald Trump.

Musk’s Financial Backing: A Game Changer?

On Friday evening, sources informed Bloomberg that Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and the chairman of the social media giant X, made an undisclosed donation to America PAC, an independent political action committee dedicated to supporting Trump’s campaign.

Musk’s decision comes after he previously stated he wouldn’t donate to either major party candidate. However, he did hint at the possibility of a public endorsement in the future. This move indicates a growing alignment with conservative values and a more vocal stance on key issues.

The Hill has the latest:

The billionaire has also been highly critical of Biden on X, including criticizing the president over his allegiance to unions and his immigration polices.

“Why does the radical far left Biden administration welcome violent illegals into America to prey upon your friends & family?” Musk said in a post on X earlier this year. “We are even warned by other countries that it is insane to make America a haven for their convicted criminals!”

America PAC is required to disclose a new list of donors on July 17, per Bloomberg.

The news also comes after Trump outraised Biden significantly in May, thanks in part to a surge following the former president’s conviction in his New York hush money trial. The numbers helped erase the cash advantage Biden had early in the election cycle, though both candidates still have a lot of money at their disposal.

“The woke mind virus has thoroughly penetrated entertainment and is pushing civilization towards suicide,” Musk tweeted in 2022. “There needs to be a counter-narrative.”

READ NEXT: Top Political Handicapper Deals CRUSHING Blow To Sleepy Joe’s Campaign

Trump Names JD Vance, Marco Rubio As Favored Contenders For 2028 Presidential Ticket

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(Miami - Flórida, 09/03/2020) Presidente da República Jair Bolsonaro durante encontro com o Senador Marco Rubio..Foto: Alan Santos/PR

President Donald Trump has made his clearest endorsement yet for a future Republican presidential candidate, declaring that Vice President JD Vance is “most likely” to carry the MAGA torch after his second term ends.

Speaking on Tuesday, Trump described Vance as “probably the favorite” to lead the Republican Party into the next election cycle.

“He’s most likely the heir,” Trump said, referring to Vance. “He understands the movement, he understands the people, and he’s doing a phenomenal job as Vice President.”

This is the furthest Trump has gone in positioning a successor to his populist-nationalist agenda, formally known as the Make America Great Again movement.

Rubio: VP Vance Would Be a “Great Nominee”

Trump also praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling him “somebody that maybe would get together with JD in some form,” suggesting Rubio could play a key role in a future Vance-led administration or campaign.

Rubio, for his part, echoed Trump’s praise of Vance during a recent interview with Lara Trump on Fox News.

“I think he’s doing a great job as Vice President. He’s a close friend, and I hope he intends to do it,” Rubio said of Vance.

Although recent polling has shown Rubio with some early support among Republican voters for a potential 2028 run, conventional political wisdom indicates he wouldn’t start publicly signaling interest in running for president until much closer to the election.

“You never know what the future holds,” Rubio said. “But if I’m able to finish this term strong and we accomplish what we’ve set out to do, I’ll be satisfied with that as the apex of my public service career.”

Still, Rubio did not rule out a future run, leaving the door open for a possible challenge or alignment with a Vance ticket.

DeSantis on the Sidelines

Noticeably absent from the conversation was Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as a natural successor to Trump’s political movement. Despite building a national profile and gaining traction in earlier cycles, Trump’s latest comments suggest DeSantis’s national ambitions may be deferred.

DeSantis has not commented on Trump’s endorsement of Vance, and there have been no signs of reconciliation between the two since the heated 2024 GOP primary battle that Trump won decisively.

After Trump tapped Marco Rubio to serve as Secretary of State, many within the GOP expected Florida’s open Senate seat to go to Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a rising star within the Republican Party. However, DeSantis declined to appoint her, widely viewed as a political snub. Months later, President Trump publicly endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds for governor of Florida—despite growing rumors that First Lady Casey DeSantis was quietly laying the groundwork for her own gubernatorial bid.

JD Vance: Rising Star with Trump’s Blessing

Vance, the author of Hillbilly Elegy and a former venture capitalist turned U.S. Senator from Ohio, has quickly risen through the ranks. Since joining Trump’s 2024 ticket, he has been a key spokesperson for the administration, often on issues like immigration enforcement, trade reform, and a restrained foreign policy.

With Trump now openly calling Vance the future of the movement, the groundwork appears to be laid for a smooth transition of MAGA leadership — one that could shape the GOP’s identity for years beyond Trump’s final term.

READ NEXT: Tucker Carlson Predicts JD Vance As GOP 2028 Nominee

Republican Senator Todd Young Declares He Will Not Vote For Trump In November

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) has announced that he will not be voting for former President Donald Trump in the upcoming November election.

“Principled conservatives need to incentivize our party to nominate somebody that principled conservatives can believe in. I’m tired of having my vote taken for granted,” the Indiana Republican announced on Wednesday night. 

The Washington Examiner’s Emily Jacobs reports:

Young split from the former president after he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, though he voted against impeachment. He pledged not to vote for Trump again in 2023 over his conciliatory tone toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and has remained undeterred by the wave of endorsements from his GOP colleagues.

Young said it was fair for people to ask if abstaining from casting a vote in November would “reward one person at the expense of the other,” adding, “My response is, at some point, principled conservatives need to incentivize our party, the Republican Party, to nominate somebody that principled conservatives can actually believe in.”

“Stated differently, I’m tired of having my vote taken for granted,” he explained. “I think a lot of Hoosiers are.”

Young and his colleagues who don’t support Trump have faced increasing questions about their respective plans for November as the former president became their party’s nominee. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence said last week that he could not endorse Trump “in this campaign,” citing his conscience. 

“I won’t be voting for Biden. I also won’t be voting for Trump,” Young told an Indiana reporter, echoing Pence’s announcement to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum. “So, does that mean I leave it blank? Does that mean I identify another conservative who’s almost certain not to be the next president of the United States and write them in? I haven’t decided that, and I think that’s a largely unimportant point. I don’t know who goes in that line, if anyone.” 

According to FiveThirtyEight, as of January 2021, Young supported the Trump administration’s legislative position 82.2% of the time.

This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. Republished with permission.

Elon Musk To Join Trump Rally At Attempted Assassination Site

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Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Space X CEO Elon Musk is planning to attend Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania this weekend – the same site where the former President narrowly survived an attempt on his life earlier this year.

“I will be there to support,” Musk wrote in a post late Thursday on social platform X, which he acquired in 2022. 

Trump’s campaign announced last week that he would return to Butler, Pa., just months after his ear was grazed with a bullet during a campaign event in July. The gunman and one attendee were killed, and two others were injured during the incident.

“President Trump’s return to Butler will stand as a tribute to the American spirit. In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word,” the campaign said in a release that framed Trump’s survival as “what the world has recognized as an act of divine providence.” 

Musk, who has increasingly waded into discussions on politics, endorsed Trump in July following the shooting. The tech entrepreneur helped launch a pro-Trump Super PAC, America PAC, that has carried out some of the GOP’s get-out-the-vote efforts in the critical swing states. 

The shooting in Pennsylvania was just one of two assassination threats the former president has faced this election cycle.

Last month, a suspect was arrested after Secret Service agents witnessed a man pushing a rifle through the perimeter of Trump’s Florida golf course. The man, identified was Ryan Wesley Routh, was later arrested and charged with federal gun crimes.

Newsmax Host Delivers Blunt Assessment To Former VP Contender

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South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is in hot water over her recent book and it could cause a major dent in her career.

Noem’s new memoir No Going Back has sparked several controversies over its content, including an anecdote about Noem killing her 14-month-old dog and a story about the governor meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un which the Republican has yet to corroborate.

Interrogating Noem over the book on Newsmax’s Wake Up America, Rob Finnerty assessed that Donald Trump likely won’t invite the Republican to be his running mate due to the recent scandal.

Finnerty then said, “Governor, if you asked me a month ago who’s at the top of the list to run with Donald Trump, I would have said your name. If you asked me that same question this morning, I don’t even think you’re on the list.”

The host went on to say that the content within Noem’s book, specifically her allegedly fabricated meeting with Kim Jong-un, is likely what spoiled her chances of becoming Trump’s running mate.

“I should not have put that anecdote in the book,” conceded Noem, to which Finnerty shot back, “But an anecdote indicates that it happened, right?”

“I’m not going to talk about my conversations with world leaders,” Noem bluntly declared – a statement she has made repeatedly when pressed about the alleged meeting with Kim Jong-un.

Finnerty snapped, “Governor, I’m not asking you about the details of this alleged meeting. I’m asking if the meeting actually happened. I don’t think it did and I think if it did, you’d be able to confirm for me that, ‘Yes, it did, and here’s when it happened.’ It happened, say, at such and such a date or a month or you don’t have to be specific.”

After Noem refused yet again to say whether the alleged meeting actually took place, Finnerty continued, “Again, I think at one point you were at the top of that list, but you’re going to get questions a lot more difficult than that.”

Despite endorsing Noem’s book, Trump allegedly told several people he was “disgusted” by the governor’s anecdote about killing her 14-month-old dog Cricket in a gravel pit.

According to unnamed sources, Trump was baffled by Noem’s confession that she shot her dog after it proved “less than worthless” as a hunting dog and questioned, “Why would she do that?” and “What is wrong with her?”

CNN Commentator Suggests He’ll Run for Senate if Trump Tells Him To

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CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings signaled that he would run for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) seat in 2026 if President Donald Trump tells him to.

During an interview with Jennings on the Real America’s Voice show Bolling!, host Eric Bolling asked, “A lot of people are floating your name to take over, to jump into Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat next year in ’26. You thinking about it?”

“Yeah, I haven’t made any announcements about that,” replied Jennings, who worked as a special assistant for former President George W. Bush. “There’s three people in the race, I know them all, like them all, have been in and out of their lives in varying degrees over the years. I’ve supported them all in various endeavors, so I’m confident the seat will remain Republican.”

He continued, “I do think politics is a team sport, and I think Trump’s the head coach. And eventually he’s gonna weigh in on this, and my political advice would be to anybody, you know, if he calls a play, we’re gonna have to run it. I wouldn’t want to run against the president in Kentucky. So, I don’t really have any announcement about it at the moment.”

After Bolling pressed, “If Trump taps you, you’re gonna run?” Jennings said cryptically, “I pay very close attention to everything the president says.”

McConnell, who has held his Senate seat since 1985, announced in February he would not seek re-election in 2026 amid growing concerns over his health.

Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and businessman Nate Morris have all declared their candidacy in the race.

Former Georgia Republican Lawmaker Officially Ditches GOP For Dems

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A Republican lawmaker is jumping ship…

Geoff Duncan, who previously served as Georgia’s Lt. Governor, revealed he has officially registered as a Democrat.

Duncan, who served as lieutenant governor as a Republican from 2019 until 2023, wrote in an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that his path to becoming a Democrat began before President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his loss to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, which Duncan criticized at the time.

“My journey to becoming a Democrat started well before Donald Trump tried to steal the 2020 election in Georgia,” Duncan wrote in the newspaper.

“There’s no date on a calendar or line in the sand that points to the exact moment in time my political heart changed, but it has,” he continued. “My decision was centered around my daily struggle to love my neighbor, as a Republican.”

Duncan pointed to several policy issues that played a part in his decision to change parties, criticizing Republicans for their handling of issues such as health care, Medicaid, gun safety, immigration and how to help poor people.

The former Republican said GOP lawmakers have argued for decades that the solution to not having health insurance is to have a job, but noted that most uninsured people in the Peach State live in working households yet do not have insurance because of affordability or eligibility. 

“So, the reality is they have a job, just the wrong job,” Duncan wrote. “One that doesn’t offer health insurance or generate enough spare money each month to afford their own health insurance plan.”

Duncan’s party switch comes after the Georgia Republican Party expelled him from the party earlier this year over alleged disloyalty. The party’s resolution cited his endorsement of Biden in the 2024 presidential election and, once he dropped out, his endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as alleged efforts to undermine and sabotage some Republican candidates, including current Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and failed 2022 Senate candidate Herschel Walker. 

The former Republican also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August in support of Harris.

Supreme Court Responds To Michael Cohen Appeal

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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court will not get involved.

On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to revive Michael Cohen’s lawsuit seeking damages for retaliation during his prison sentence.

Cohen’s lawsuit comes after the former Trump “fixer” began serving his sentence for federal election finance crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to health reasons that would be exacerbated by the virus, Cohen’s prison term was furloughed, and he was temporarily sent to home confinement. 

Officials later ordered him back to prison after he raised issue with a release condition asking him to waive his ability to criticize then-President Trump

A federal judge ruled to release Cohen again and said the former president’s ex-fixer suffered unconstitutional retaliation for wanting to critique Trump on social media and in a book. However, the judge later dismissed Cohen’s claim for damages over the incident. 

The Hill reports:

“As it stands, this case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can lock away critics of the executive without consequence,” Cohen wrote in his request for the justices to hear his case.  

Trump attorney Alina Habba said in the former president’s brief to the court that Cohen’s complaint is “entirely devoid of merit.” She also added a question over whether Cohen’s claim is barred by presidential immunity, which the justices declined to weigh. 

Cohen testified as a star witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against his former boss, which ended in a conviction in May, and took the stand in an earlier civil fraud trial against Trump and his business.  

In a previous interview with The Hill, Cohen said his appeal to the justices was about deterrence. His experience, he said, was “merely a practice run” for the sweeping retribution Trump has vowed in a potential second term. 

“Donald has opened up a Pandora’s box for future Trump 2.0s acting in the same autocratic manner,” Cohen said. “This writ of certiorari will be part of the process that would prevent any other U.S. citizen ever from being imprisoned because they refused to waive their First Amendment right or because they express criticism.”  

The type of relief Cohen sought against Trump, various officials involved and the federal government itself for violating his constitutional rights is known as a Bivens claim. Over the past 44 years, the Supreme Court has turned away a dozen such lawsuits – making the ex-fixer’s request an uphill fight. 

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