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Trump Responds to Brittney Griner’s Release

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Former President Donald Trump reacted to news the U.S. has agreed to release Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, commonly known as “the merchant of death.”

In a message published to TRUTh Social, Trump called the prisoner swap terms “unpatriotic,” noting U.S. Marine Paul Whelan still remains wrongfully detained.

“What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our Country, for the man known as “The Merchant of Death,” who is one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the World, and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries. Why wasn’t former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction? He would have been let out for the asking. What a “stupid” and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!!” Trump wrote.

Deep Red State’s Latest Poll Reports Big Trouble for Trump’s 2024 Campaign

By
Madeleine Jackson
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4
Gage Skidmore Flickr

Is Donald Trump starting to feel a twinge of buyer’s remorse for announcing his 2024 campaign so early? The latest results from a poll based in deep-red Utah point to yes.

Trump came in a distant third place in the Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics‘ poll of possible GOP contenders for the 2024 presidential race. However, whats even more shocking than Trump’s No. 3 position is the fact that respondents were warmer toward outgoing Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis decisively led the poll in a hypothetical Republican presidential primary, at 24.2 percent, followed by Cheney with 16.4 percent. Trump came in third place with 14.6 percent, nearly 2 points below Cheney

Trump was more popular than Cheney among self-identified Republicans, earning 21.1 percent to Cheney’s 10 percent, but DeSantis still emerged ahead in that group with 33.1 percent. 

However, more Utah voters said they didn’t know which candidate they’d cast their ballot for (20.7 percent) than backed either Trump or Cheney. 

The survey’s results are the latest sign Trump’s popularity among conservatives is fading. Last month, Trump officially announced his 2024 presidential campaign from his Mar-a-Lago resort but so far has received a tepid response from high-profile Republican lawmakers and donors who backed his previous presidential pursuits.

Trump’s numerous legal hurdles coupled with his bombastic personality have been contributing factors to many Republicans opting to look elsewhere for a candidate to defeat Joe Biden in the next election. In many polls, DeSantis has been seen closing the national gap with the former president but so far he’s remained tight-lipped over any potential campaigns for the White House.

Cheney, a harsh critic of the former President who lost her primary to a pro-Trump challenger, has floated a presidential campaign before. The outgoing Wyoming Congresswoman has told reporters before that she would do anything necessary to keep Trump out of the White House- including running against him.

Biden Trades Russian Arms Dealer for Woke Female Basketball Player – Leaves Male US Marine to Rot

By
Paul Crespo
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10

ANALYSIS – Can’t say this was unexpected. Joe Biden just traded a convicted Russian arms dealer for a guilty woke basketball player, while leaving an innocent former U.S. Marine to rot in Russian jail. 

And to make matters worse, Brittney Griner, who pled guilty to having cannabis vape oil in her luggage, was only in Russian jail for a few months while Paul Whelan, who was set-up and falsely convicted of espionage, has been imprisoned in a Russian labor camp for nearly four years.

Whelan, 52, remains there where he is to continue serving out a 16-year sentence.

Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout had been serving time in a U.S. federal prison since 2011. 

It is clear Biden is playing favorites.

Biden called Griner’s wife earlier this year to assure her of his commitment to securing her release. But no similar call was made to the Whelan family, despite multiple requests from Elizabeth Whelan for a meeting with the president. 

After news reports about the snub emerged, Biden finally called Elizabeth Whelan in early July.  

Of course, from day one, the liberal media has been constantly bombarding us with Griner’s sob story in her Russian jail, keeping her issue front and center for maximum PR leverage, while leaving Whelan on the back burner, if at all.

While we read every minor detail of Griner’s travails, and she was allowed regular access to the outside world, Whelan was held in a cell at the notorious Stalin-era Lefortovo Prison for over a year, where initially he was denied things like toilet paper and soap, and guards threatened, abused and harassed him.

Whelan also wasn’t allowed to make calls to his parents, his mail was censored, and visits from his lawyers and embassy representatives were extremely limited.

Recall that Griner, who is a black lesbian, also refused to stand for the national anthem.

To the left she checks all the super woke boxes.

Meanwhile, Biden blamed Russia for his failure to include Whelan in the trade.

“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said Thursday morning. “This was not a choice about which American to bring home. … Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. … We will never give up.”

Well, that’s patently false. 

It doesn’t matter what the Russians say or want. It’s Biden’s job to make things happen. It should have been both released for Bout, or no deal. 

Especially when one who is young and healthy, and had been arrested for drugs, had only been in jail for a few months, and the other one who was falsely accused, is over 50 and been in a labor camp for 4 years.

However, being gracious, and perhaps in a bid to not alienate Biden, Whelan’s twin brother David Whelan, said Thursday:

I am so glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home. As the family member of a Russian hostage, I can literally only imagine the joy she will have, being reunited with her loved ones, and in time for the holidays. There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed and for them to go home. The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen.

But as the Detroit Free Press reports, this wasn’t the message the Whelan’s were sending a few months ago when the U.S. negotiated the release of Trevor Reed, another American wrongfully detained in Russia, in exchange for Russian drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko. 

At the time, Whelan’s brother David asked: “Is President (Joe) Biden’s failure to bring Paul home an admission that some cases are too hard to solve? Is the administration’s piecemeal approach picking low-hanging fruit? And how does a family know that their loved one’s case is too difficult, a hostage too far out of reach?”

That last message is the more correct one. Biden clearly favored Griner to please his leftist base, while abandoning Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, to rot in A Russian jail. GAND

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

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Blames Senate Loss on Trump

By
Madeleine Jackson
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13
Tech. Sgt. Samuel King Jr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Following the disappointing results in Georgia’s Senate runoff election, the state’s Lieutenant Governor is voicing what he thinks happened.

Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s No. 2 Republican official, told CBS that Herschel Walker “will go down in history as probably one of the worst candidates in our party’s history” and said Republicans should unequivocally blame Donald Trump for the GOP’s disappointing midterm results.

“The only way to explain this is candidate quality,” Duncan added, alluding to Walker’s numerous controversies, including, but not limited to, claims he paid and pressured two women to have abortions despite running on a strict no-abortion platform and lied about his education, ties to law enforcement, and family.

Duncan said Warnock’s victory in a once-red state should serve as a wake-up call for Republicans and force the GOP to face some hard truths about the former president and his pull among the electorate.

“If we don’t take our medicine here, it’s our fault. … Every Republican in this country ought to hold Donald Trump accountable for this,” he said.

Walker’s defeat hands Democrats an outright majority in the upper chamber of Congress, 51-49.

Mark Levin Goes Nuclear Over Andy Biggs Speakership Challenge

By
Madeleine Jackson
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8
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Conservative radio host Mark Levin didn’t hold anything back when he hosted Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs on his show this week.

Shortly after Rep. Biggs announced in an op-ed his plan to challenge House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for the Speakership in January Levin accused him of being a fraud.

“A phony, a fake, and a fraud, in my humble opinion!” Levin said of Biggs.

The conservative pundit didn’t shy away from insulting the House Freedom Caucus chair while introducing him to the audience.

“He appears on cable from time to time with that goofball look. He’s barely able to complete sentences,” Levin said.

Levin noted that while he considers himself a “strong critic” of McCarthy, slammed Biggs as a minor lawmaker attempting to “create drama” to win himself attention. 

“I don’t know if McCarthy will turn out to be the greatest Speaker in American history or the worst Speaker in history. That can dealt with after the fact, but right now Biggs is deceiving his constituents, deceiving the American people that he has some plan to go forward,” Levin continued.

“We’re losing our country. It’s unraveling, and Andy Biggs is not the answer and he doesn’t have any answers. He’s a moron. He’s an imbecile,” he said.

Levin later topped all his Biggs insults by throwing out the whopper: “He’s a bleeding hemorrhoid on the body politic!”

The barbs didn’t end after the radio program though, the two conservatives clashed in a Twitter spat too, with both competing to see who could brand the other a bigger a “fraud.”

What do you think of Biggs’ latest challenge? Tell us in the comments below!

Amanda Head: Last Poll Results Before GA Senate Run-Off Election!

By
Amanda Head
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0

Today is the final day to cast your ballot for Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in the Peach State’s runoff election. Make sure to head to the polls to cast your vote!

Watch Amanda break down the latest Georgia runoff poll results below:

Arizona Republican Reveals New Plan to Become House Speaker

By
Madeleine Jackson
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8
Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) announced on Tuesday that he plans to challenge Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for the Speakership on the House floor in January.

“We cannot let this all too rare opportunity to effectuate structural change pass us by because it is uncomfortable to challenge the Republican candidate who is a creature of the establishment status quo, or because the challenge is accompanied by some minimal risk,” Biggs wrote in an op-ed for The Daily Caller. 

The Arizona Congressman previously mounted a challenge to McCarthy last month but Biggs was defeated by a margin of 188 to 31.

This story is breaking. Stay with Great America News Desk for the latest updates.

‘Anti-Communist’ GOP Ex-Congressman David Rivera Arrested for Aiding Venezuela’s Socialist Regime

By
Paul Crespo
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0

ANALYSIS – No surprise to me. I ran against this disgrace in 2010 in the GOP primary. I highlighted his obscene corruption, but much of the GOP establishment backed him to the hilt.

In the ‘you can’t make this up’ category, the discredited GOP ex-congressman David Rivera has been arrested by federal officials for conspiring to lobby on behalf of America’s Latin American nemesis, socialist Venezuela.

This, despite being the GOP’s South Florida poster boy for ‘anti-communism,’ an image he assiduously cultivated for years to curry favor with the Miami conservative base and deflect from his myriad failings.

When I ran against Rivera in the South Florida 2010 GOP congressional primary as a Tea Party outsider, my motto was ‘the Marine vs. the Machine’ due to Rivera’s lifelong ties to the GOP establishment.

During that race, Rivera, a termed-out state representative, got a massive number of Republican congressional leaders to back him, even though I was beating the drum about his corruption and lack of integrity.

Rivera won that primary, in part because a politically unknown woman, and possibly Democrat-linked spoiler, named Marili Cancio jumped into the race and siphoned off about 12% of the GOP voters I would have gotten.

Rivera then went on to win the congressional seat.

However, his corruption finally caught up with him and he lost his reelection to an equally distasteful Democrat – Joe Garcia.

That was the first time the GOP had lost that seat in 30 years, and Rivera became radioactive to most in the GOP afterward.

Thankfully, Democrat Joe only lasted one term himself.

But back to Rivera’s arrest.

CNBC reports that Rivera:

A former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government was arrested Monday on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.

Scandals have marred Rivera since he represented parts of the Miami metro area in Congress a decade ago.

The eight-count indictment against Rivera and lobbyist Esther Nuhfer chronicles the nefarious duo’s alleged dealings with Venezuela to help revive its state-run oil company.

The investigation stretches back to the start of the Trump administration when Rivera reportedly arranged meetings with an unnamed senator and a congressman as part of a conspiracy to ease tensions between the United States and South America’s socialist holdout. The unsavory politician ultimately hoped to lift sanctions on a regime universally reviled in South Florida.

Rivera began his efforts after signing a $50 million contract. Per Bloomberg, the indictment lays out the reputed method by which he unlawfully enriched himself:

The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Delcy Rodriguez, directed executives at CITGO, a Texas-based unit of PDVSA, to draw up a consulting contract with Rivera’s company, according to the indictment.

The contract was between Interamerican and PDV USA, which prosecutors allege was used by CITGO to facilitate “special projects” ordered by executives of the state-owned parent company.

Additional charges against Rivera and Nuhfer include conspiracy to commit offense against the US, conspiracy to commit money laundering and engaging in transactions in criminally deprived property. Nuhfer couldn’t immediately be located for comment.

At one point, note prosecutors, Rivera received a $5 million payment from PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-run oil company and personal piggy bank for its corrupt socialist leaders, in an account at Gazprom Bank in Russia.

Thankfully Rivera’s illegal pro-Venezuela outreach effort ultimately failed, as Trump in 2019 recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and imposed stiff oil sanctions on the OPEC nation in a bid to unseat Maduro.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Rivera bailed out of jail Monday afternoon after making an initial appearance in Atlanta federal court.

Even more concerning, though, the Associated Press’ initial report detailed how Rivera attempted to arrange a meeting between a prominent female Trump campaign adviser-turned-White House “counselor” and a pro-Maduro businessman on his jet in Miami on June 27, 2017.

Kellyanne Conaway was in Miami that day to headline a Republican Party fundraiser. At the time, she served the Trump White House as the Senior Counselor to the President.

This wouldn’t surprise me either, as Conway was very close to Rivera, and may have been behind efforts to keep me from entering the Trump administration during his term, at the behest of Rivera.

Trump’s hiring of Conway, who I admired and knew casually from years in conservative circles, was one of the reasons I believed Trump could win and helped convince me to back him.

Sadly, it seems Conway’s ties to slimy Rivera may have slimed her too.

All this should remind us all to be very careful when blindly backing politicians, no matter who they are. 

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

Former National Security Adviser Mulling Trump 2024 Challenge

By
Madeleine Jackson
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4
The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Could Donald Trump be facing a primary challenge from one of his former employees?

Former National Security adviser John Bolton signaled to NBC he’s seriously considering mounting his own bid for the White House after Trump’s weekend comments signaling he supports “terminating” the U.S. Constitution.

If no other potential Republican candidates make “Shermanesque statements” in response to what Trump said, Bolton declared, “I’m going to seriously consider getting in.”

“I think to be a presidential candidate you can’t just say, ‘I support the Constitution.’ You have to say, ‘I would oppose people who would undercut it,’” Bolton said in his interview with NBC.

Bolton served in roles in the Reagan administration and as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. He later worked as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019.

Following Bolton’s departure, he and Trump have exchanged several tense exchanges. According to The Daily Wire, in 2020 Bolton told reporters he would not vote for Trump, claiming Trump was not fit for office, and stated he would “figure out a conservative Republican to write in.”

Former Trump Campaign Legal Adviser Announces Bid for RNC Chair

By
Madeleine Jackson
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5

On Monday night, Harmeet Dhillon officially announced her plan to challenge Ronna McDaniel to lead the Republican National Committee. (RNC)

Dhillon, who previously worked as a legal adviser to Trump’s campaign in 2020, made the announcement during an evening appearance with Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“Republicans are tired of losing and I think that that we really need to radically reshape our leadership in order to win,” Dhillon told Carlson. “We can’t keep running elections like we did in the 90’s and the 2000s and we really have to modernize to compete with the Democrats dollar for dollar in the ways they fundraise, the way they deliver their ballots to the ballot boxes.”

She also added the need to revamp messaging to be “fresh and positive and not just reactive to news cycles and what the Democrats are doing.”

Dhillon is already an RNC committee member.

McDaniel has served as RNC chairwoman since 2017, however, Republicans’ recent failures in the midterm elections have triggered a cascade of infighting within the party.

Dhillon is entering into a growing field of challengers seeking to outs McDaniel. Outgoing New York Congressman Lee Zeldin has strongly hinted at pursuing the role. Pro-Trump businessman, Mike Lindell is also challenging McDaniel for the position.

On Monday, Lindell said that if elected as RNC chairman he would not collect a paycheck, instead, he would choose to reinvest the funds into the organization.

“I would not take a paycheck from the RNC, I’d put all the money back into it. If I’m running it, the money that goes to it will actually go to doing good,” Lindell said. “I believe I can run the RNC and fix their problems, and it’s not going to take years and years.”

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