Home Blog Page 123

Backlash Grows as Well-Known Conservatives Sell Out to Woke Bud Light

4
Mike Mozart, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – Easily bought conservatives. In the aftermath of the brutal fallout from Bud Light’s woke transgender promotion fiasco with man-pretending-to-be-a-woman, ‘transgender influencer’ Dylan Mulvaney, the beer giant tried everything to woo back angry conservatives who have been successfully boycotting it. 

Bud Light sales have crashed, dropping almost over 27% in a few short months.

In a panicked response, parent company Anheuser-Busch brought back the majestic Clydesdale horses, it also highlighted its events for, and donations to, veteran’s groups. It even made a commercial with football star Travis Kelce. 

But nothing. Nada.

Videos and images of empty Bud Light venues went viral, as did shelves filled with untouched Bud Light cases being almost given away free. Bud Light kept crashing and Mexico’s Modelo beer passed it up as top-selling beer in America.

Along the way, Modelo became a sponsor of the UFC.

The only thing the American beer behemoth hasn’t done is apologize for its huge mistake. And Bud Light executives, apparently fearing a minority of leftist woke activists more than they fear losing hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, stubbornly refuse to do that.

Bud Light even co-sponsored an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Arizona over the weekend.

Instead, Anheuser-Busch made a more than $100 million bet (“well into nine figures”), and essentially bought a powerful, Trump-supporting conservative personality to become its shill, and affiliated itself with one of the most conservative and masculine sports entertainment venues in the country.

The big conservative personality is UFC CEO Dana White, the organization is the UFC, promoter of mixed martial arts (MMA) fights. Both are being paid handsomely via a “multi-year marketing partnership” to promote Bud Light as the much-hated beer returns as the official beer of the sports juggernaut. 

As part of Dana White’s new job promoting his sellout, he is doing the rounds of conservative media. As part of that ‘we aren’t woke’ spin tour, he went on the Sean Hannity show to repeatedly claim – unconvincingly to me – that the UFC, Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light “are very aligned when it comes to our core values.”

That is the talking point. You will hear it a lot.

Well, apparently that’s all it took for Hannity to embrace Bud Light’s faux return to the conservative fold. After a little mild, mostly symbolic, pushback, Hannity quickly folded and said he could give the unrepentant woke beer brand ‘one more chance.’

White also went on the The Charlie Kirk Show on October 26 to push back at conservative critics calling him a sellout. He said he admired the beer company’s core values, adding: “It’s this unbelievable, powerful, American-built business…”

When discussing the deal, conservative radio hosts Buck Sexton and Clay Travis (who I generally agree with and like) also sympathized with White and the UFC, meekly saying, ‘that’s a lot of money,’ and they might take it from Bud Light too. 

One of the two also predicted that Bud Light’s huge bet with White and the UFC might pay off, and in a year the transgender boycott will be forgotten, seemingly trying to help make it so.

I hope they are all dead wrong, and their kowtowing to Bud Light just to please Dana White and his powerful organization will be condemned by conservatives. And there is evidence that a backlash against the UFC decision is now growing.

It has ignited a firestorm of criticism on Elon Musk’s social media platform X. Many fans have said they will now be boycotting the UFC and canceling their pay-per-view subscription because of the brand partnership.

As Newsweek reported:

“I’m canceling my subscription and never buying ANY PPV (pay-per-view) fights anymore until this sponsorship is gone. This is the worst business deal UFC has ever made EVER,” one angry fan wrote.

“How about you explain your pathetic Bud Light sponsorship!!?? What you doing rainbow uniforms next?? Canceling my UFC fight pass subscription,” said another.

“I just canceled my ESPN+ subscription. I used to buy every PPV but this is the last straw,” wrote another.

A fourth added: “Canceled my UFC fight pass subscription. Enjoy your Bud Light, hope it was worth it.”

But realize it’s not just Dana White and the UFC that are sellouts, it’s also conservative powerhouse commentators like Sean Hannity, and lesser ones like Buck and Clay who seem to be quickly and meekly surrendering to Bud Light and their new partners, the UFC.

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

Former White House Attorney Predicts Trump Will Face Jail Time Over Gag Order

1
Image via Pixabay

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb believes former President Trump will likely face jail time over the reinstated gag order in the federal election interference case.

On Sunday, Judge Tanya Chutkan reimposed the gag order barring Trump from disparaging court staff or witnesses in the case. Trump was fined over $10,000 in his New York business fraud case earlier this month. (RELATED: Trump Fined In Civil Fraud Trial)

“Well, the New York judge fined him $10,000,” Cobb said in a CNN interview Monday, referring to Trump’s second fine. “That’s in a civil case. That’s not as consequential as Judge Chutkan’s case.” 

“I think she’ll come in with a much heavier penalty, and ultimately, I think he’ll spend a night or a weekend in jail,” he said.

Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing the case that alleges the former president conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March.

“As the court has explained, the First Amendment rights of participants in criminal proceedings must yield, when necessary, to the orderly administration of justice — a principle reflected in Supreme Court precedent,” Chutkan wrote in the partial gag order.

Cobb, who worked under the Trump administration, said a brief stint in jail is a likely outcome.

“I think it’ll take that to stop him,” he said.

Trump has vowed to appeal the order, but Chutkan said Sunday that it will still be in effect pending that appeal. (RELATED: Judge Reimposes Gag Order In Federal Election Interference Case)

“This order, according to many legal scholars, is unthinkable! It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls,” he wrote on Truth Social overnight Monday.

“Few can believe this is happening, but I will appeal. How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner?” he added. “It will not stand!”

Trump Calls For Pence’s Endorsement After Abruptly Ending Campaign

2
Mike Pence via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Trump is calling for his former running mate to throw his support behind his latest campaign after announcing the decision to pause his campaign on Saturday.

Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his presidential campaign earlier in the day during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

“People are leaving now and they’re all endorsing me,” Trump said. “I don’t know about Mike Pence. He should endorse me. He should endorse me. You know why? Because I had a great successful presidency and he was the vice president. He should endorse me. I chose him, made him vice president, but people in politics can be very disloyal.”

In his speech, Pence told the crowd it was not his time to lead the country but said he would “never leave the fight for conservative values.” He did not make an endorsement but called on Republicans to stay away from the “siren song of populism.”

“We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” Pence told the crowd. “The only thing that would have been harder than coming up short would have been if we’d never tried at all.”

In Trump’s speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition, he said that “everybody that leaves” the race was endorsing him, referring to conservative talk radio host Larry Elder and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson. Elder endorsed Trump after suspending his presidential campaign just days ago, saying that Trump’s “leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles.” 

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Pence’s polling average was 3.5%, well behind Trump’s average of 59.1%. He was polling in fifth place, behind Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. 

Judge Reimposes Gag Order In Federal Election Interference Case

4
Gage Skidmore Flickr

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has reimposed former President Donald Trump’s suspended gag order in his federal election interference case.

Special Counsel Jack Smith requested the reinstatement of the partial gag order on Trump to protect “certain trial participants from intimidation, harassment, and threats.”

Smith’s request came after Trump fired off a verbal attack on his former Chief Staff Mark Meadows, on Tuesday, after ABC News reported Meadows agreed to testify against Trump in exchange for immunity.

Judge Chutkan initially imposed a “narrow” gag order barring the former president from targeting witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and their families.

During the ruling, Chutkan said Trump’s status as a candidate for president did not give him authority to level a “smear campaign” against those involved in the case, saying that “First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses.”

In the initial gag order, Chutkan declined to grant an order with the breadth requested by the Justice Department, declining to limit any speech attacking her or the District of Columbia, saying the court would use the jury selection process to ensure it does not pick jurors swayed by Trump’s repeated criticisms of the city’s current state.

On Sunday, Trump vowed to appeal the controversial order in a series of posts to his Truth Social account.

“This order, according to many legal scholars, is unthinkable! It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“Few can believe this is happening, but I will appeal. How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner? It will not stand!” he added.

In a separate post late Sunday on Truth Social, the former president questioned the timing of the cases brought against him by the Justice Department, claiming that the decision to file them during the presidential campaign season was to hurt his election bid.

“Why didn’t Crooked Joe Biden tell his Injustice Department to file the lawsuits and Indictments against me 3 years ago, instead of right in the middle of my campaign for President? You’re setting a BAD precedent for yourself, Joe. The same can happen to you,” he wrote.

“These Third World Biden Indictments, which should never have been filed, would have been tried and over with  years ago. My SleazeBag Opponent shouldn’t be able to do this during my campaign, OR BEFORE THE ELECTION!” Trump added.

Longtime Trump Supporter Ditches Ex-President, Endorses GOP Rival

    9
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A longtime Trump supporter is cutting ties with the former President, instead choosing to endorse Nikki Haley to become the Republican nominee.

    Andrew Stein, the son of the late publishing giant Jerry Finkelstein, served as the president of the New York City Council as a Democrat before crossing party lines to support Trump in the past two elections.

    However, in a scathing Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday, Stein made it absolutely clear that he was moving on from Trump and holds serious concerns about the former president’s ability to be reelected.

    Mediaite has more:

    “Mr. Trump’s poll numbers show him with a clear path to the Republican nomination and rising ahead of Joe Biden. Given his mounting legal troubles, however, today’s polling may prove irrelevant. If Mr. Trump is found guilty of some of the charges against him, voters would have to choose between an old felon and an old fool,” Stein wrote in the Journal.

    While making the case that Trump is an electoral liability, Stein also argued that Haley is best positioned to win over independents.

    “Ms. Haley is likely to have a broader appeal than Mr. Trump for independents and suburbanites, especially women,” Stein wrote, adding:

    The Democrats hope he wins the nomination and is convicted of felonies, leading him to lose the presidential election. Republicans need to consolidate around Ms. Haley so they have a credible nominee who can take on any Democrat.

    Judge Rules Ivanka Trump Must Testify In Fraud Trial

    6
    Ivanka Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled Friday that Donald Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka must testify in the ongoing civil fraud trial.

    Ivanka Trump was once a party in the lawsuit, but a New York appeals court in June dismissed her from the case, ruling that the claims against her were barred by the state’s statute of limitations.

    Ivanka Trump’s lawyers in court documents argued that the New York attorney general’s office does not have the jurisdiction to force the former president’s daughter to testify, suggesting the office is attempting to “force her back into this case” despite her dismissal from it.

    The Hill reports:

    “Ms. Trump is not a party in this action. Nor is Ms. Trump a New York resident,” they wrote. “It is black-letter law that, given those two facts, Ms. Trump is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court.”

    Trump’s legal team also claimed in court filings that the attorney general is seeking to “continue to harass and burden President Trump’s daughter long after the First Department mandated she be dismissed from the case.”

    Engoron rebuffed those arguments in court Friday, suggesting that her ties to New York have hardly been severed.

    “Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said Friday, according to the Associated Press.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case accuses Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization, and top executives of falsely inflating the values of Trump’s real estate properties and other assets in order to get tax benefits and better loan terms.

    James seeks around $250 million in damages, and she wants to bar Trump and his co-defendants from running another business in New York.

    GOP Presidential Candidate Drops Out, Makes Key Endorsement

    2
    Larry Elder ,Sgt. Jacob Harrer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Conservative talk show host Larry Elder has suspended his presidential campaign and is throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.

    In a statement Thursday evening, Elder expressed gratitude for his supporters and said he was honored by their enthusiasm and grassroots support. He further explained that after assessing his campaign and the state of the race, he had made the “difficult decision” to suspend his campaign.

    “Throughout my campaign, I have been steadfast in my belief that the biggest issues facing our nation are the crisis of fatherlessness, the dangerous lie that America is systemically racist, the need for an amendment to the constitution to set federal spending to a fixed percentage of the GDP — otherwise government gets bigger whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, and the need to remove the Soros-backed DAs across the country who refuse to enforce the law,” he said in a statement.

    “The breakdown of the family structure and the absence of positive father figures in the lives of many children have far-reaching consequences for our society, including the crime wave we are currently seeing in America today,” he continued. “I hope that my campaign has helped shine a light on these critical issues and sparked important conversations about how we can solve them.”

    In August, Elder made waves after he threatened to sue the Republican National Committee (RNC) for not including him in the first GOP debate. While the RNC determined Elder had failed to meet the required threshold for number of individual donors and polling, he accused them of purposely silencing him.

    “I said from the beginning that it appeared the rules of the game were rigged, little did we know just how rigged it is. For some reason, the establishment leaders at the RNC are afraid of having my voice on the debate stage,” he said in an X post at the time.

    In his Thursday statement, Elder encourages Republicans to support Trump for president.

    “Now that I am exiting the race, I am proud to announce my endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the United States. His leadership has been instrumental in advancing conservative, America-first principles and policies that have benefited our great nation,” Elder said. “We must unite behind Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden and fight back against Biden’s unprecedented election interference and the left’s destruction of America.

    “I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and donors who invested their time, energy, and resources in this campaign. From Iowa to New Hampshire to Nevada and beyond, I am grateful for the opportunity to have met so many incredible Americans who share our values.”

    Report: Fulton County DA has Discussed Plea Deals More Trump Co-defendants

    4
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    New reports indicate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has discussed potential plea deals with at least six other co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case.

    The new reports from CNN show Willis’ office is clearly trying to have as many defendants flip on Trump as possible.

    CNN reports:

    Pro-Trump lawyer Robert Cheeley is among those who have been offered a plea deal in the Georgia case but, according to his lawyer, turned it down.

    “To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on. They made us an offer some time ago and we declined it,” Cheeley’s attorney Richard Rice said.

    Former Coffee County, Georgia, elections supervisor Misty Hampton and former Trump campaign official Mike Roman have also been in contact with the DA’s office about a possible deal, multiple sources said.

    CNN has confirmed that three other defendants have also discussed a potential plea deal with Fulton County prosecutors but agreed not to name them after sources expressed concerns about speaking about the case at this phase.

    So far, four defendants in the case have accepted plea deals.

    Earlier this week, Mark Meadows became the latest co-defendant to agree to testify against Trump in exchange for immunity.

    This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

    This Man Stole Trump’s Tax Returns And Illegally Leaked Them. So Why Is DOJ Letting Him Off Easy?

    8
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A former IRS consultant who stole the tax returns of President Donald Trump and thousands of wealthy individuals, then leaked them to liberal media outlets to campaign for tax hikes, has pleaded guilty to a single count of “unauthorized disclosure of tax return and return information,” despite confessing in court to committing the crime thousands of times.

    The decision to charge Charles Littlejohn with a single minor crime, while seeking decades in prison for Trump and many of his supporters, has many claiming it is yet another example of a politicized Justice Department.

    Littlejohn faces a maximum of five years in prison, but will almost certainly serve far less than that, if any, time.

    Littlejohn used his access to confidential information to steal the tax returns of Trump and wealthy individuals, often saving the electronic files to personal devices like an iPad, then leaking the documents to the New York Times and the liberal activist outlet ProPublica.

    The illegal leaks set off a feeding frenzy in the media, who used the illicit disclosures to attack Trump and falsely campaign for tax hikes.

    The DOJ’s decision to give Littlejohn a sweetheart plea deal, while targeting Trump supporters with harsh charges, has some in Congress calling out what they see as a biased and two-tier justice system.

    “The defendant admitted to making two separate disclosures to two separate news outlets impacting over a thousand taxpayers, and further admitted to impeding or obstructing the investigation — yet the Department of Justice inexplicably only pursued one count of unauthorized disclosure,” the House Committee on Ways and Means Committee fumed in a statement.

    “Ways and Means Committee Republicans have pushed federal investigators for years to get to the bottom of who stole and leaked the taxpayer information of thousands of Americans – including those of former President Donald Trump. Finally, the thief has been identified, charged, and now has pled guilty to this unprecedented crime,” said Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

    “Unfortunately, the Department of Justice elected to charge only one count despite the more than a thousand disclosures he admitted to in open court. To restore trust in the justice system and the IRS – and to deter future thefts – there need to be significant consequences for this type of illegal, politically motivated activity,” Smith added.

    Judge Rules On Trump’s Requests for Immediate Verdict in Fraud Trial

    2
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    On Wednesday, former President Trump’s legal team asked for an immediate and direct verdict in the Trump Organization civil trial following testimony from ex-attorney Michael Cohen. 

    The request came after Cohen admitted during testimony that the former president did not ask him to inflate his finances on a personal financial statement.

    During a second day on the stand, Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer,” was asked directly whether Trump asked him to inflate his finances on personal financial statements.

    “Trump didn’t ask you to inflate the numbers on his personal statement, correct?” Trump attorney Clifford Roberts asked.

    “Correct,” Cohen replied.

    After Cohen’s response, Roberts spoke with the former president and fellow defense attorneys and told Judge Arthur Engoron he had no further questions.

    Roberts then asked for an immediate, direct verdict in the trial in light of Cohen’s testimony.

    Judge Engoron immediately said: “denied.”

    New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case accuses Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization, and top executives of falsely inflating the values of Trump’s real estate properties and other assets in order to get tax benefits and better loan terms.

    James seeks around $250 million in damages, and she wants to bar Trump and his co-defendants from running another business in New York.

    Trump responded to the Judge’s ruling in a series of Truth Social posts Wednesday evening.

    “The New York State Attorney Generals case against me is DEAD, but the Radical Left Judge REFUSES to end it. He just can’t let it go,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, repeating his frequent attack on the judge in the case.

    “Letitia James should focus on Violent Crime, which is out of control. So unfair. I don’t even get a Jury Trial. A blight on the New York State Judicial System,” he continued. “Businesses are watching all over the world, and never coming in, only moving out. The Governor should get involved.”

    He added, “Election Interference by my Political Opponent!”