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Kari Lake Launches Official Senate Campaign

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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 conservative firebrand Kari Lake officially launched her highly anticipated campaign for U.S. Senate Tuesday night.

“I am not going to retreat. I’m going to stand on top of this hill with every single one of you. And I know you’re on my side as I formally announce my candidacy for the United States Senate,” Lake told a crowd in Scottsdale, Arizona as they cheered the longtime former television anchor turned MAGA star.

Lake is set to face off against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

In a statement following Lake’s entry into the race, Lamb told Fox News he was the “only one proven conservative winner” running for Senate in Arizona.

“I am a lifelong conservative who has dedicated my life to protecting Arizonans and keeping them safe when Democrat policies make that job almost impossible. I have been in Arizona fighting for the people that call this great state home. I’m not a talker, I’m a doer, and I win elections. That is what separates me from my opponents,” he said.

The winner will likely face Phoenix-area Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is seen as the front-runner for his party’s nomination.

Gallego’s campaign reacted to Lake’s announcement by predicting voters would reject her “again,” referencing her loss to current Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs last year.

“Arizonans — including a significant chunk of Republicans — already rejected Kari Lake once because of her dangerous plans to ban abortion and undermine our democracy. Her extremism should disqualify her from public office — and it will. Again,” Gallego campaign spokesperson Hanna Goss told Fox News Digital.

Shortly after announcing her campaign, former President Trump endorsed the Arizona conservative.

The former president’s video message was played at Lake’s campaign kickoff event on Tuesday night. He said he wished he could be there but is “busy fighting off all the bad people,” presumably an allusion to the fact that he is under criminal indictment in four jurisdictions.

“We’re leading every poll by a lot,” he said. “And when I’m back in the White House, I need strong fighters like Kari in the Senate. She is a fighter. She’s strong. And she’s good. She’s got a great heart, by the way.”

Ex-Porn Star, Now ‘Only Fans’ Performer Celebrates Hamas Terror Attacks 

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ANALYSIS – While most of us don’t care much about what a deranged former porn star turned ‘Only Fans’ webcam model (‘cam girl’) says, it’s a sign of our times that this is news. 

Mia Khalifa is a 30-year-old Lebanese American born in Beirut and raised Catholic. But her previous life choices and current words and actions are far from Christian.

Once PornHub’s highest-ranked adult star, Khalifa left the hard-core porn business to focus on ‘Only Fans.’

Khalifa, who has long called Israel an apartheid state, provoked outrage with her enthusiastic support for Hamas terrorists following their horrific surprise attack on Israel which has taken over 800 Israeli lives, mostly civilians.

Her support for the terrorists was shameless calling them ‘freedom fighters’ — even urging the brutal murderers to “flip their phones and film” their murderous rampage on Israel in the “horizontal.”

When criticized for her horizontal comment, she responded, “I just wanna make sure there’s 4k footage of my people breaking down the walls of the open air prison they’ve been forced out of their homes and into so we have good options for the history books that write about how how they freed themselves from apartheid.”

Fox News reported:

She also reposted a message that said, “Babe wake up Palestine is getting liberated,” and mocked video of Israelis fleeing from attackers. Khalifa reposted anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian messages throughout the multipronged terrorist attack that left hundreds dead. Khalifa celebrated as terrifying videos, which included footage of Hamas kidnapping women and children while groups of young partygoers were tied up and taken into Gaza, shocked most onlookers.

In a separate, apparently now-deleted post on X, Khalifa reportedly called a photo of Hamas terrorists in a pickup truck a “Renaissance painting.”

Her support for Islamists terrorists is ironic considering that the pornographic performer also made headlines for claiming she received ISIS death threats as recently as 2018 over a sex scene she filmed wearing a hijab.

Her current online rantings seem to also be hurting her pocketbook.

Earlier, Khalifa doubled down amidst the backlash: “I’d say supporting Palestine has lost me business opportunities, but I’m more angry at myself for not checking whether or not I was entering into business with Zionists. My bad,” she wrote.

But maybe the online backlash has finally caused her to backtrack, with the disgraced porn actress apparently shifting from being pro-Hamas, to simply being pro-Palestinian.

Monday morning Khalifa posted on X:

Hamas is not Palestine’s army, their actions do not reflect the Palestinian people. Hamas formed in 1987, 20 years AFTER the occupation, as a means of resistance to ethnic cleansing and apartheid. They are an extremist group calling on other extremist groups that also do not represent the masses of people.

While no one should really care what Khalifa says, she can be seen as a bellwether of certain online opinions. And it is important to read them and counter outrageous opinions like hers wherever we find them.

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

Pro-Trump Impeachment Republican Eyes New Public Office

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Former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, the Republican who was ousted last year from her Southwest Washington congressional seat after voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump, plans to reignite her failed political career by running for state commissioner of public lands.

The Seattle Times reports:

Herrera Beutler announced her intentions at a meeting Monday morning with supporters of Future 42, a conservative political group, a meeting participant told The Seattle Times.

“1,000% — she’s in,” the source said.

Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans to cross party lines and vote to impeach Trump for allegedly inciting the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In an address on the House floor, Herrera Beutler called on her colleagues to embrace the moral clarity that comes with accepting the truth.

“I rise today to stand against our enemy. And to clarify, our enemy isn’t the president, or the president-elect. Fear is our enemy. It tells us what we want to hear, it incites anger and violence and fire, but it also haunts us into silence and inaction. What are you afraid of?” she asked.

“My vote to impeach our sitting president is not a fear-based decision. I am not choosing a side, I’m choosing truth. It’s the only way to defeat fear,” Herrera Beutler concluded, to a smattering of applause on the House floor.

Former Baseball Icon Launches Senate Campaign in Deep Blue State

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Former baseball great Steve Garvey is making a run for U.S. Senate- as a Republican.

On Tuesday, the former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman announced his campaign for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat.

“I never played for Democrats or Republicans or independents. I played for all of you,” Garvey said in a video launching his campaign. “Now I’m running for U.S. Senate in California, a state that I believe at one time was the heartbeat of America, and now is just a murmur.”

“It’s time to get off the bench. It’s time to put the uniform on. It’s time to get back in the game,” the video concludes. 

Garvey’s entry as a Republican candidate into the closely-watched Senate race adds to the crowded field of candidates already vying for the seat long held by Democrats. 

California Democrat Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee have all announced bids for the open seat.

“I have a new Republican opponent — Steve Garvey. Before he was a multi-millionaire Republican celebrity, he was a first baseman. Based on his announcement, it sounds like he’s ready to take up the fight for everyone born on third base — thinking they hit a triple. Go figure,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the Democrats running to replace Feinstein in 2024. 

White House Candidate Abruptly Ends Campaign, Endorses Trump Rival

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The pool of Republican presidential candidates is already shrinking…

On Monday, former CIA agent and Texas Rep. Will Hurd announced he is ending his campaign for president and instead opting to support former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for office.

“Our nation deserves a leader who can unite us and navigate the complex challenges we face, particularly when it comes to our national security. I believe Ambassador Nikki Haley is the best person in this race to do that,” Hurd wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, and in an email to supporters.

Hurd emphasized that Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the first two years of the Trump administration, “has shown a willingness to articulate a different vision for the country than Donald Trump and has an unmatched grasp on the complexities of our foreign policy. I wholeheartedly endorse Ambassador Haley and look forward to supporting her for the remainder of this race.”

Responding to Hurd’s endorsement, Haley wrote in a social media posting that “America is at a crossroads and it’s time to come together and make Joe Biden a one-term president. Thank you @WillHurd for your support and confidence. We have a country to save!”

Hurd announced his long-shot bid for the White House in June and automatically took aim at former President Trump.

He emphasized to Fox News that “while I appreciate all the time and energy our supporters have given, it is important to recognize the realities of the political landscape and the need to consolidate our party around one person to defeat both Donald Trump and President Biden. I urge donors, voters, and other candidates to unite around an alternative candidate to Trump.”

RFK Jr. Switches Affiliation to Independent Party

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

On Monday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he is switching from Democrat to Independent in a desperate move to breathe new life into a dying campaign.

“I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate,” Kennedy told a crowd of supporters in Philadelphia.

“I must declare my own independence. Independence from the Democratic Party,” he said to loud cheers. “And from all other political parties.”

Kennedy has formally rivaled President Biden from within the party since the spring, but he has not made a dent against the White House incumbent. His switch theoretically puts him closer to voters who are unhappy with both political parties, hyper-partisan politics, and want an alternative to the expected Biden-Trump options next November. 

“People suspect that the divisions are deliberately orchestrated,” he said. “They’re fed up with being fooled and they’re ready to take back power.”

Kennedy has been a frequent critic of the Democratic National Committee and has regularly lamented its decision not to hold debates with Biden as the presumptive nominee, throwing around claims that the party is “rigging” things in the president’s favor. 

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel slammed RFK Jr. over his switch.

“Make no mistake – a Democrat in Independent’s clothing is still a Democrat,” McDaniel said in a statement. 

“RFK Jr. cannot hide from his record of endorsing Hillary, supporting the Green New Deal, fighting against the Keystone Pipeline, and praising AOC’s tax hikes – he is your typical elitist liberal and voters won’t be fooled,” McDaniel said.

Centrist Republicans Float Re-electing McCarthy as House Speaker In Wake of Israel Attacks

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The old saying goes “the more things change the more they stay the same…”

Some Republicans are mulling a move to reinstate Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker in the wake of the deadly attacks in Israel.

On Saturday morning, Palestine militant group Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the organization and order retaliatory action.

“Israel attacks have moderates holding out for the one person who can truly unite us: Kevin McCarthy,” a House GOP lawmaker said.

Last week, McCarthy was ousted by the votes of eight Republicans and all House Democrats thanks to a rule change McCarthy agreed to when he was elected speaker.

However, handing McCarthy back the Speaker’s gavel is an uphill battle due to the support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) have already garnered. Last week, former President Donald Trump threw his support behind Jordan for Speaker.

McCarthy, for his part, is “aware and grateful” for the efforts to reinstate him, but he’s not engaging at this point, the House GOP lawmaker said.

However, some Republicans are optimistic that it could be done, given the severity of the attack in Israel. They believe the urgency surrounding the attacks could pressure the eight House Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy to switch their stance. Many Republicans are still upset with those who voted against McCarthy, who is a vocal supporter of Israel, and are “using this moment to show how wrong they were,” per the House GOP lawmaker.

“A short window is all we need in the House to reinstate Kevin McCarthy and change the rule,” Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) said.

House Republicans plan on meeting behind closed doors on Monday to hash out details and differences of opinion. On Tuesday, there will be a candidate forum to hear the pros and cons of each speaker candidate.

The conference plans to hold a secret vote on Wednesday to see who it wants to nominate for speaker on the floor. The nomination will go to whichever candidate secures a majority of the GOP conference. That figure could be as low as 113, including the three nonvoting GOP delegates to the House. If all 435 House members participate, a successful candidate will need 217 votes to become speaker.

Hunter Biden Hired Russian Prostitutes from Overseas ‘Sex Trafficking Ring’

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President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

ANALYSIS – Hunter knew how to party. The problem is a lot of his fun may have been highly illegal. And we aren’t just talking about run of the mill illegal drugs or prostitutes but hiring Russian hookers from an ‘Eastern European Sex Trafficking Ring.’ 

And at times he used tens of thousands of dollars in cash funneled through a China-based company to pay for them.

When ‘Hunter goes wild’ it’s on an epic, global scale. And it appears his dad, Joe Biden knew about it, and at times may have helped pay for it.

Hunter also shamelessly deducted some hooker payments on his taxes, according to IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler, who ran a five-year investigation into Hunter’s alleged tax crimes.

As part of the ongoing banking investigation into Hunter’s financial transactions, which appear to have been monitored by Wells Fargo bank as late as 2019, numerous Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) were generated and sent to the Treasury Department.

While not proof of wrongdoing, SARs are red flags that provoke added scrutiny. 

According to previously reported documents, including SARs, texts and video, Hunter spent a mind-blowing $30,000 on escorts in just five months, many secured via traffickers from overseas, and most transported across state lines in this country.

This would violate the Mann Act’s prohibition on interstate prostitution.

In addition to payments laundered through offshore business accounts, Hunter spent thousands of dollars from his joint personal account he had with his ex-wife Kathleen, who divorced him in 2017.

But the latest SAR being reported flagged even larger amounts potentially spent on illegal drugs and prostitutes. The Daily Mail reported that $1,162,732 was sent to Hunter’s China-based company Owasco from business partner and Biden family friend Rob Walker.

Walker was also a former Clinton administration official.

The Hunter payments appear to be part of larger sums paid from a group of 25 individuals linked to the suspected sex trafficking ring. In total this group was responsible for almost $7million in suspicious transactions.

Investigators also noted that some of the checks from Hunter’s business account may have been falsified to hide his payments to hookers.

Hunter reportedly wrote checks disguised as medical services to escorts supplied by Ekaterina Moreva in New York, whose website UberGFE.com offered a ‘girlfriend experience’ with escorts as young as 20.

The Daily Mail reported:

‘This investigation observed that Biden and related business accounts received unknown sources of funds, which funded cash withdrawals, outgoing transfers, and outgoing checks that appeared to be needlessly split into smaller amounts for no clear economic purpose.

‘The overall activity appeared related to prostitution or drugs. The review also found that several customers suspected of participating in a sex trafficking ring associated with Biden continued to have what appeared to be an unusual movement of funds in their accounts.’

The British outlet added that “Wells Fargo investigators traced payments to suspected members of the prostitution ring back to a Hong Kong company.”

The Mail continued:

One suspected member Hunter sent money to was Ekaterina Pitula, the 39-year-old Russian owner of an Irvine, California, retail store Victoria Rossi, the SAR said.

In 2019, Investigators spotted 25 cash deposits by Pitula totaling $18,728 in her personal and business accounts, which were then wired to a Chinese account of a company called HECNY International Ltd, to another woman’s account in Russia, and to a man in Ukraine.

But the bigger issue is that Joe Biden appears to have helped his son pay for some of these potentially trafficked Russian sex workers. Some of Hunter’s hooker payments came just hours after he received thousands of dollars from his dad.

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1672069005723435010

The Washington Examiner showed texts from January 2019 noting that Joe Biden sent Hunter $5,000 just before he got into a dispute with a prostitute he claimed he paid $10,000.

In a letter to the Department of Justice (DoJ) on September 8 from Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, he writes: “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability continues to investigate whether the Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) is upholding the rights of victims who were sexually exploited by Robert Hunter Biden (Hunter Biden).”

Comer added: “These women may be victims under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and may also be afforded mandatory restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act.”

This entire sordid Hunter affair brings to memory former Democrat New York Governor Eliot Spitzer who resigned from office in 2008 after reports were published about his penchant for high priced call girls, some whom he paid to travel across state lines.

But Hunter takes everything to a whole new level.

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

New Plan for Old Biden: Tennis Shoes and Baby Stairs on Air Force One

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – In case you missed it, Joe Biden tripped again recently going down the stairs of Air Force One. And these weren’t the normal tall stairs used by proud Commanders in Chief, that rise all the way to the top of the majestic presidential aircraft, but the very short baby stairs that are used by ‘the help’ that go into the lower bowels of the plane.

That is the new normal for our aging and decrepit occupant of the White House. That and tennis shoes worn with business suits and seeing a physical therapist. All to avoid tripping, slipping, or falling, and not being able to get back up.

This latest slip occurred just hours after Axios reported Biden’s campaign is “working on a critical project for his re-election bid: Make sure he doesn’t trip.”

‘Operation Don’t Let Biden Fall’ would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. But as Axios notes: “Biden’s team is betting that any mockery he receives over using the shorter Air Force One steps and wearing tennis shoes will be worth it to avoid another public stumble.”

Many Democrats worry about Biden having a bad fall like Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, 73 at the time, had in September 1996, when he fell off a stage at a rally weeks before the election.

Democrats already had been knocking Dole about his age compared to the 50-year-old Bill Clinton running for re-election.

Biden has repeatedly stumbled and tripped in public, including, most dramatically on stage at the Air Force’s graduation in June. 

Biden’s physician has diagnosed Biden’s stumbles as likely caused by “a combination of significant spinal arthritis” and “mild post-fracture foot arthritis.” 

Folksy old Biden might just say he is getting long in the tooth.

Biden, the oldest-ever serving U.S. president, turns 81 in less than two months. Three-fourths of Americans see Biden as too old for office, according to an AP-NORC poll last month.

Another poll from the Washington Post and ABC News in late September found that 3 out of 5 Democrats would prefer someone else be the party’s 2024 nominee.

The president’s doctor has recommended special exercises for balance, which he called “proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers.”

Unfortunately, Axios noted, no one has ever heard of these “maneuvers.”

“I have never heard the term ‘proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers.’ It is not a clinical term in standard use,” said Professor James Gordon, associate dean and chair of the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California.

Biden’s doctor is just as good as Biden at using made up words or as good as the White House Press secretary is at blowing smoke.

As bad as his obvious physical frailty is, Americans should be just as concerned, or more so, about Biden’s severe mental decline. 

And it must be bad, when even the establishment media has noticed. NBC News reported in July:

Apparent to anyone paying attention is that the Biden they may remember from the Robert Bork Supreme Court confirmation hearings of 1987, or the vice presidential debate with Sarah Palin in 2008, is a different man today. His gait is less steady, his speech not as fluid. He has confused Iraq with Ukraine and Rolling Fork, Mississippi, with “Rolling Stone.” At a conference last year, he looked out at the audience and called for a congresswoman who had recently died in a car crash.

The outlet added that Biden is “relying on “extra-large font on his teleprompter and note cards to remind him of the points he wants to make in meetings.”

I must note that I’ve seen the extra-large font on his teleprompter, and it is embarrassingly HUGE.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported in June that Biden’s “staff schedules most of his public appearances between noon and 4 p.m. and leave him alone on weekends as much as possible.”

But there is only so much you can do to hide the fact that this man should be in a rocking chair with his grandkids, not leading the free world. 

It is doubtful that Team Biden can keep their man from falling during the camapign, it is even more doubtful that – barring keeping him isolated in a soundproof bubble – they can keep him from babbling incoherently.

Either way, we definitely don’t want Biden answering what Hillary Clinton in 2008 called “the 3am phone call” to the White House in a major crisis. And I can see a lot of those calls coming in over the next four years.

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

Will Biden Apologize to Trump Over Suddenly Restarting Border Wall?

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – More than two years after ceasing construction on former President Donald Trump’s border wall, and more than two million illegal immigrants flooding into the United States, Joe Biden is quietly restarting the oft criticized by the left, but critical, border barrier.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) led by the incompetent Alejandro Mayorkas, Team Biden has used executive action to suddenly waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow emergency border wall construction.

The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act were some of the federal laws waived by Biden to allow immediate construction of the border wall using funds appropriated by congress in 2019. 

The waivers, also criticized by left wing activists and environmentalists, avoid time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violation of environmental laws.

The initial construction would be in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing “high illegal entry.” Around 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded this fiscal year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector which contains 21 counties.

“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice, according to Newsmax.

Trump responded to the news on Truth Social:

“So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every environmental law in the book to prove that I was right when I built 560 miles (they incorrectly state 450 in story!) of brand new, beautiful border wall.” 

Biden ceased the border barriers that Trump had earlier begun, on Inauguration day Jan. 20, 2021, stating then that “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott renewed some of those efforts after Biden halted them on day one of his presidency. But the state can only do so much.

Apparently, it took Biden more than two years and massive waves of unvetted, illegal immigrants crowding our major cities, to realize that the border wall is a serious policy solution after all.

Trump added on Truth Social: “As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls! Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving, and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegals immigrants, from places unknown. I will await his apology!” 

I don’t know if 15 million illegals have come in under Biden, but it is a huge number. Border control advocates hope this major reversal will lead to a total overhaul of Biden’s failed border and immigration policies.

As Newsmax reported:

“After years of denying that a border wall and other physical barriers are effective, the DHS announcement represents a sea change in the administration’s thinking: A secure wall is an effective tool for maintaining control of our borders,” Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said in a statement. “Having made that concession, the administration needs to immediately begin construction of wall across the border to prevent the illegal traffic from simply moving to other areas of the border.”

It’s time for the dysfunctional GOP congress to push Biden on this issue. It should be a battle cry for the next House speaker.

Conservative firebrand Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, who has thrown his name into the race for speaker, said his first focus as leader would be border security. 

‘The very first thing I would focus on is that no money can be used to process the release of migrants into this country,’ he told Fox.  That, and accelerating border wall construction should be priorities, followed by reinstalling most , if not all of Trump’s effective border and immigration policies.

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