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DeSantis Commits to First GOP Presidential Primary Debate

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Florida Governor and presidential contender Ron DeSantis is refusing to stand in the shadow of Donald Trump.

DeSantis plans to participate in the first Republican presidential nomination debate “regardless” of whether former President Donald Trump takes the stage at the August showdown. 

“I’ll be there regardless. I hope everybody who’s eligible comes. I think it’s an important part of the process and I look forward to being able to be on the stage and introducing our candidacy and our vision and our leadership to a wide audience,” DeSantis said Thursday on “Fox News Tonight.”

Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the latest GOP presidential primary polls, has indicated that he may skip the debate. However, Trump campaign officials say the former president has yet to make a final decision on his participation. Trump’s aides have also been looking into options for an alternative event should the former president skip the debate, according to Fox News.

The debate is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will be hosted by Fox News.

The Republican National Committee (RNC), which is organizing all the GOP presidential nominating debates, is requiring a high donor threshold as well as polling thresholds for candidates to make the stage. 

The RNC is also mandating that candidates that meet the thresholds sign a loyalty pledge to back the eventual 2024 GOP nominee, in order to participate in the debate.

The state of Florida is adding a similar loyalty requirement for candidates to be included on the state’s ballot, according to POLITICO.

The new oath, which includes a promise to “endorse” the GOP nominee and requires a candidate to pledge not to run as an independent or third-party candidate, mirrors language adopted by the Republican National Committee for its first debate.

“We were trying to be consistent with what the debate was requiring,” said Evan Power, vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida, who said that campaigns were notified about the changes. “I don’t think this will come as a surprise.”

France’s Riots are Like our BLM Riots – Not Really About the Police

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ANALYSIS – Another summer of rage erupts in Paris, this time sparked by the police shooting several days ago of a 17-year-old Muslim man of North African origin. Many liken the fiery French riots to our own Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots of 2020. 

And in many ways, they are similar.

They both used the police killing of a man of color to justify violence, arson, looting, and spreading chaos. Their initial stated agenda was to highlight police brutality and police racism, then just racism. 

Then a bunch of other stuff.

In the United States, a lot of the BLM rioting was targeted at President Donald Trump. In France, some of the rage is directed at Jews. 

Meanwhile, both violent rampages were quickly co-opted, if not initially instigated, by extremist ideologies and agendas. In the U.S., BLM was run by the far left and often became dominated by issues totally unrelated to the police or even racism. 

In Paris, the riots are as much about a growing unassimilated Arab/North African Muslim minority bringing radical Islam to France, as it is about the police or race.

It’s also about being anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic, and anti-French.

Just as BLM often disparaged all of white America as being racist while targeting cops, many French Muslims see the entire French system as evil.

And part of that ruling system includes French Jews.

The Times of Israel reported that “perpetrators did vandalize a monument for Holocaust victims in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where the 17-year-old, identified in the French media only as Nahel M., was killed. The perpetrators spray-painted the words ‘Police scum’ on the monument.”

Antisemitic chants have also  been heard during the riots, “part of a well-documented sentiment among some Muslims who see Jews as part of an oppressive power structure.”

While Jews haven’t been attacked directly yet, these riots remind many French Jews of 2014, when Muslim rioters singled out Jewish-owned shops in a Paris suburb nicknamed “little Jerusalem” due to its large Jewish population.

That anti-Jewish violence, which also targeted several synagogues, was partly spurred by Muslim anger toward Jews amid the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Today we have Israel engaged in a major military operation in the West Bank against Palestinian terrorists using the Jenin refugee camp as a base for attacks against Israelis. This operation began Monday, and we have yet to see its impact on the riots in France.

If the conflict extends in the West Bank, expect things to heat up more in Paris.

But as The Times of Israel also noted, this violent uprising in Paris is far more widespread than ever before. And might be a turning point for how the French view their suicidally insane immigration policies.

“In 2014, I was afraid as a Jew. This time, I’m afraid as a Frenchman,” said Jonathan C., noting that he does not have a Middle Eastern appearance.

The Times added:

Police and firefighters are common targets of violence by rioters whom many believe are acting out of resentment of French society, where the anti-immigration far right is the second-largest political force.

Other incidents are seen by some as reflecting a religious dimension of the riots, which are occurring in heavily Muslim areas.

On Thursday, two unidentified individuals beat up and robbed a priest in Saint-Etienne near Lyon. Disagreements exist on whether the assault, the second attack of a priest in the region in three weeks, was part of the riots.

Hate attacks against Christians are multiplying in France, where in 2021 the interior ministry recorded 1,052 anti-Christian hate crimes, nearly double the assaults on Jews. It meant that Christians were, in absolute numbers at least, the religious group that was most targeted that year.

This worries many in France. They see the huge number of antisemitic and anti-Christian attacks, as well as attacks against police, as part of a resurgence of radical Islam in unassimilated migrant communities.

Even if these riots subside, the bigger danger remains. And that should be a concern for not just Paris, but other major European cities as well.

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

Amanda Head: Ben & Jerry Have Always Been Commies

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Their latest stunt isn’t new to the woke ice cream brand…

On the Fourth of July Ben and Jerry’s ice cream released a statement bashing America’s heritage.

Watch Amanda explain the latest controversy below:

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

Amanda Head: Supreme Court Smacks Down All The Dems’ Favorite Issues!

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

The Supreme Court just dealt a crippling blow to Democrats’ radical agenda for America. It’s about time.

Watch Amanda explain the situation below:

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

Amanda Head: Liberals and Their Lies on the 4th of July!

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Liberals just can’t help themselves…

Watch Amanda explain the controversy below:

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

‘Top Gun’ Blowback – Pentagon Won’t Help Hollywood if They Submit to China

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Austin Green, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ANALYSIS – In an unexpected, but long overdue move, the Pentagon has stated it will no longer work with directors if their movies will be censored by Beijing. This follows directly on the heels of Vietnam banning the movie ‘Barbie’ over its inclusion of a China-friendly map of the South China Sea.

That movie’s producers apparently caved to Chinese pressure and included the map showing China essentially owning the South China Sea, which it does not, despite its claims. And Vietnam wasn’t happy.

But, as I previously wrote, this Chinese censorship problem really exploded with last year’s release of Tom Cruise’s blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.” 

And now the Pentagon, thanks to GOP Senator Ted Cruz, has made it clear it now bans any military assistance to directors who plan to comply (or will likely comply) with censorship demands from the Chinese regime in order to distribute their movie in China.

In trailers for the ‘Maverick’ film shown in 2019, the flags of Taiwan and Japan had been removed from Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s flight jacket worn by Cruise in the 1986 original “Top Gun” movie.

The flags were part of a Far East Cruise patch commemorating the 1963-64 deployment by the USS Galveston off Japan and Taiwan. In the preview clip for the movie in 2019, those two historically accurate flags were replaced by generic nonsensical symbols.

This shameless kowtowing was an apparent attempt to appease Chinese investor Tencent. But after serious blowback in the U.S. — and after Tencent reportedly dropped its investment in the film – the flags were restored in the final version of the film.

In another example, Chinese government censors actually pushed the producers of “Spider-man: No Way Home” to remove the Statue of Liberty, according to Puck. This, likely due to its association with the Tiananmen Square protests.

Thankfully, the studio did not comply, and that movie wasn’t shown in China.

The Defense Department updated its rules for working with movie studios after Cruz (R-Texas) inserted language, known as the SCRIPT Act. into the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill.

Cruz has strongly condemned Beijing’s censorship of Hollywood films.

“What does it say to the world when Maverick is scared of the Chinese communists?” he said at the time.

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The latest Top Gun movie also reportedly showed us a peek at what might be the SR-72 – the super-secret experimental hypersonic spy plane under development by Lockheed Martin. It was called the ‘Darkstar’ in the film.

Providing more context, Politico reported:

According to a new Defense Department document obtained by POLITICO, filmmakers who want the U.S. military to help with their projects must now pledge that they won’t let Beijing alter those films.

The DOD “will not provide production assistance when there is demonstrable evidence that the production has complied or is likely to comply with a demand from the Government of the People’s Republic of China … to censor the content of the project in a material manner to advance the national interest of the People’s Republic of China,” the document reads.

Hollywood and the Defense Department have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for decades. The Pentagon has allowed filmmakers to shoot their projects on military bases, Navy ships, or other locations, and weighs in on filmmaking processes. The military benefits from positive portrayals of service members, and moviemakers benefit from authentic settings and technical expertise.

But as China’s ruling Communist Party has developed increasingly advanced censorship and surveillance tools, countless American companies — including Hollywood studios — have sought to comply with Beijing’s demands while attempting to dodge stateside pushback.

However, from now on, producers of films greenlighted by the Defense Department must notify the Pentagon “in writing of such a censorship demand, including the terms of such demand, and whether the project has complied or is likely to comply with a demand for such censorship.”

But not just that. DoD will also weigh any “verifiable information” from people not involved in the production who indicate that producers could comply with a censorship demand.

So, hopefully Hollywood will stop caving to China’s blackmail, or risk losing access to their much-loved Pentagon collaboration.

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

Trump Valet Pleads Not Guilty in Mar-A-Lago Case

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Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

On Thursday, former President Donald Trump’s valet Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty in a Miami, FL courtroom over his role in the ongoing Mar-A-Lago classified documents case.

Nauta, a former White House military valet, is facing charges on six counts in the case after he was spotted on security cameras moving boxes in and out of the storage room at Trump’s Florida residence according to The Hill.

Court filings describe Nauta as moving boxes in advance of a visit by former Trump attorney Evan Corcoran, who was set to retrieve documents in order to comply with a subpoena from the Justice Department seeking the return of all records with classified markings.

Nauta is accused of coordinating with Trump to conceal the documents from Corcoran and investigators.  

Nauta appeared in court alongside Trump on June 13, but was not arraigned as he had yet to secure counsel in Florida.

Nauta, who remains a valet to Trump, has been ordered not to discuss the case with the former president except through their attorneys.

This story is breaking. Click refresh to stay updated on the latest news.

DeSantis PAC Spokesman Admits ‘We Are Way Behind’

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Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

The truth is coming out…

A prominent pro-Ron DeSantis official is admitting the truth about the Florida governor’s presidential campaign, which does not sound good.

According to Mediate, Never Back Down PAC spokesman Steve Cortes “got pretty blunt” and was “sounding a decidedly dour note” on DeSantis’ ability to overtake the ex-president in the GOP presidential primary in a Twitter Spaces chat hosted by @CryptoLawyerz, an anonymous right-leaning account who says he is an attorney and formerly worked at the Department of Justice.

“Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” said Cortes. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”

He added that DeSantis’ campaign was the “clear underdog,” and added that in the first four primary states, “which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”

During Sunday’s Twitter Space, Cortes did find some reason for optimism in DeSantis’ primary efforts — but not for DeSantis himself, predicting that the primary battle would make Trump a “better” and more competitive general election candidate.

“If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” said Cortes.

Cortes also offered praise for Trump’s skills on the debate stage, joking that it might help DeSantis if Trump carries through on his threat to boycott the first RNC-hosted debate next month:

“Is Ron the debater that Trump is?” he said. “No, no he isn’t.”

“Absolutely Donald Trump is the maestro of it right, no doubt about it, right. When he gets on the debate stage, you know, and on his feet, in front of a microphone, he debates like Jack Nicklaus played golf, there’s no doubt about it,” Cortes said.

Judge Blocks Biden-Big Tech Censorship Collusion on July 4th

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

ANALYSIS – Let Freedom ring! – In a major victory for free speech in America, and a major vindication for conservatives who have been warning of Democrats using the government to censor them on social media, a federal judge is blocking federal agencies from communicating with Big Tech firms to censor posts.

The Democrats using federal agencies and other official political bodies to coerce or direct social media firms is being called government “censorship ‘by proxy.”

This injunction is particularly heartening to me, since I was a victim of this censorship when LinkedIn permanently banned my account for ‘multiple violations of their terms of service and user agreement. 

In other words, I wrote about Hunter Biden’s laptop, the likelihood that COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology biolab.

All since proven valid.

I also noted that there are only two sexes, based on science, and refused to use ‘preferred gender pronouns.’

All these topics were effectively banned by the major social media companies, and as has since been proven via Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ expose, and other investigations, much of this banning was done at the behest of the U.S. government, primarily for partisan political or ideological reasons.

In the preliminary injunction, appropriately made on July 4th, the judge, Terry A. Doughty, wrote (pdf) that: 

Opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power. All were suppressed.

He added that government agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are prohibited from taking a range of actions related to communicating or dealing with social media companies.

The judge provided very limited exceptions, allowing government officials to contact social media companies to alert them of criminal activity or clear threats to national security.

He also allowed, reported the Epoch Times: “contacts notifying social media companies about posts intending to mislead voters about voting requirements or procedures as well as communicating with companies about suppressing posts that are not protected free speech.”

The decision comes as a response to Republican state attorneys general (AGs) who sued the Biden administration. According to the judge, the AGs “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey hailed the ruling on Twitter.

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“The Court has granted our motion to BLOCK top officials in the federal government from violating the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.”

“What a way to celebrate Independence Day.”

In an accompanying memorandum Judge Doughty stated that the plaintiffs are “likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition.”

In an earlier ruling in March, according to The Epoch Times, Doughty wrote: “This suit arises out of the alleged coercion by the Biden Administration and various government agencies and officials of social-media companies, urging those companies ‘to censor viewpoints and speakers disfavored by the Left.’” 

He added that the plaintiffs allege that “this censorship was encouraged—perhaps even mandated—by the Biden Administration and several key governmental departments.”

The judge’s current order notes the various nefarious means in which the Biden administration colluded with Big Tech to censor opposing or dissenting views.

These means include, per the injunction, “engaging in any communication of any kind with social-media companies urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” 

The Epoch Times reported:

The agencies are also barred from flagging content on posts on social media platforms and forwarding them to the companies with requests for action such as removing or otherwise suppressing their reach.

Encouraging or otherwise egging on social media companies to change their guidelines for the removal, suppression, or reduction of content that contains protected free speech by the government is also not allowed.

To prevent Team Biden and other Democrats from circumventing the order by outsourcing their dirty deeds, it specifically applies to agents, officers, employees, and contractors. 

While this is just a preliminary injunction, expect more to come in the fight against Democrat censorship.

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

Republican Hopeful Refuses to Sign RNC Pledge to Support 2024 Nominee

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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former Texas Congressman William Hurd is refusing to sign on to the rules laid out by the Republican National Committee (RNC) to support the 2024 presidential nominee, therefore disqualifying him from the 2024 debate stage.

In an appearance on CNN, Hurd, who has positioned himself as a centrist, anti-Trump contender for the Republican nomination, said that he was fine meeting all the other criteria for attending the Republican presidential debates, but would not pledge to support Trump if he is the eventual nominee.

“That’s right,” he answered when asked if it was true that he would not pledge to support the eventual 2024 Republican nominee. “I’m gonna work towards hitting all the requirements, but I can’t lie to get access to a microphone.”

“I’ve taken one oath, and that’s to protect the Constitution,” he continued. “I’m not going to support Donald Trump. I recognize the impact that it has on on on my ability to get access to the debate stage, but I can’t lie. It’ll be easy to say I’ll do it, and then when it comes down, you know, change your mind. But I just can’t, I can’t do that.”

The RNC laid out its requirements for Republican candidates to secure a spot on the debate stage last month. In the RNC rules, candidates must poll at least 1% in three national polls, sign a pledge to support whoever the 2024 nominee ends up being, and reach a minimum of 40,000 unique donors, among other qualifications.

Hurd, one of the most recent entries into the Republican field, fails to register in most recent polls.