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Republican Senator Calls Trump’s Migration Plan A ‘Huge Mistake’

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) thinks President-elect Donald Trump should reconsider his deportation plan.

On Monday, Trump responded to a Truth Social post by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, who said that Trump is reportedly “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”

“TRUE!!” Trump posted.

Trump made a historic mass deportation campaign a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, and his top officials have repeated that promise since he was elected this month.

In an appearance on Newsmax, on Tuesday, Paul expressed his opposition to such a plan.

Watch:

“I think what I would do if I were in charge of the immigration situation would be to first to go after those who have committed crimes. You know, the big news right before the election was that there were 15,000 people in our country who have committed murder, there are about 13,000 that have committed sex crimes, violent sex crimes. That’s 28,000 people. Why don’t we start with that 28,000?” began Paul. “I’m not in favor of sending the army in uniforms into our cities to collect people. I think it’s a terrible image. And that’s not what we use our military for, we never have. And it’s actually been illegal for over 100 years to bring the army into our cities. Army and our military are trained to shoot the enemy. They’re not trained to get a warrant to do what they’re doing. The police have a difficult job, but the people removing people from our country need to be a police enforcement domestic agency, not the military. So while I’m all for ‘Remain in Mexico,’ I will not support an emergency to put the army into our cities. I think that’s a huge mistake.”

“Do you think that’s what what Trump is intending to do?” asked host Rob Schmitt.

“Well, that’s what he said yesterday or his spokesman said, the stories all said he would declare an emergency to use the military to remove people. I’m not for that. I’m not for really most presidential emergencies because they smack of martial rule. They smack of of no congressional approval. They smack of no checks and balances,” replied the senator. “So, look, I’m supportive of President Trump. I’m supportive of removing people illegally here, particularly people who have committed crimes. But I’m not for the Army marching up and down our streets. I think it’s a terrible image to send the world. It’s a terrible image for us as citizens. And so I hope he will think twice about trying to use an emergency edict to have the army patrolling our country.”

Election Expert Calls On Biden To Immediately Resign

Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Does Joe Biden have any friends left?

Expert election prognosticator and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver called on President Biden to immediately resign and let Vice President Kamala Harris carry out the remainder of his term.

Silver’s argument came in response to a Washington Post article about Biden’s recent trip to Brazil that began like this:

MANAUS, Brazil — President Joe Biden was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, unprotected from mosquitoes, fire ants and loud, squawking macaws. But there was another pest he did manage to avoid: the pack of reporters traveling with him.

For a short speech in front of about two dozen people, the journalists were initially instructed to watch Biden on a flat-screen television placed amid sand and lush trees as the president spoke about 50 feet away, though they were eventually moved closer. As Biden finished his remarks, maracas rattled by a local group prevented him from hearing reporters’ shouted questions about Ukraine.

During a six-day foreign trip to Peru and Brazil that wrapped up Monday, the president rarely spoke in public, answering almost no questions despite repeated efforts to engage him. One television producer took to writing messages on a large pad of paper, holding it up as Biden boarded and departed Air Force One.

The story went on to note that Biden has been conspicuously quiet about the results of the 2024 presidential election, which he “repeatedly called the most important election in history” and  “warned would change the country forever if [Donald] Trump prevailed.”

Silver was unamused by Biden’s performance as described by the Post.

“Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now?” he asked rhetorically on X. “It’s a very difficult job. It’s a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.”

Trump Asks Judge To Dismiss Hush Money Case

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Trump lawyers called for an “immediate dismissal” of New York v. Trump on Wednesday, saying the American people’s choice to elect the former president to a second term “supersedes” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “political motivations.”

In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against the president-elect be tossed. 

“On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’” Blanche wrote. “This case must be immediately dismissed.” 

Blanche said that “immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.” 

Blanche’s pre-motion letter Wednesday was sent in order to request permission to file a motion to dismiss by Dec. 20, 2024 and to request a stay on all deadlines, which Bragg and New York prosecutors have agreed to. 

Blanche argued that Bragg “appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically-motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course.” Blanche pointed to Bragg’s own election campaign for another term as Manhattan DA. 

Blanche argued that “continuing with this case would be ‘uniquely destabilizing’ and threatens to ‘hamstring the operation of the whole governmental apparatus, both in foreign and domestic affairs.’” 

“The Court must address these new issues and dismiss the case, prior to issuing a decision on the previously filed Presidential immunity motion,” Blanche explained. “Any other action would obviously violate the presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.” 

The letter comes after Bragg on Tuesday sent a letter to Merchan requesting a stay on the case until 2029. Bragg said he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss, but said he would be open to receiving the defense argument. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the years-long investigation related to alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Report: Trump Team Mulling Replacement For Controversial Admin. Nominee

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By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

This Trump nominee could already be on his way out…

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly been drafting a list of alternative nominees for Defense Secretary in case Trump rethinks his choice of, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth.

According to Vanity Fair, which spoke to two unnamed Republican sources “close to Trump,” the president-elect’s transition team has been “quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth,” following news of a 2017 sexual assault allegation.

“It’s becoming a real possibility,” claimed one of the sources. The other source said, “People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.”

Shortly after Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth for secretary of defense this month, the Trump transition team was informed about a 2020 payment Hegseth reportedly made to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a hotel and spa in 2017.

In a statement, Hegseth’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore insisted, “Mr. Hegseth is completely innocent. Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.”

The New York Times reported last week that Trump had “not moved off supporting Mr. Hegseth, despite claims that his team was reassessing the pick, according to several people close to the incoming president.”

Hegseth’s nomination took Senate Republicans by surprise.

Asked for his thoughts on the nomination, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) reportedly remarked, “Really? I’d have to think about it.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reacted, “Wow… I’m just surprised because the names that I’ve heard for Secretary of Defense have not included him,” while Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) asked, “Who?”

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) was more optimistic about the nomination, calling Hegseth “an impressive individual.”

Trump Announces New Education Secretary

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On Tuesday evening, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice to lead the Department of Education.

Read Trump’s full statement below:

It is my great honor to announce that Linda McMahon, former Administrator of the Small Business Administration, will be the United States Secretary of Education.

For the past four years, as the Chair of the Board at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Linda has been a fierce advocate for Parents’ Rights, working hard at both AFPI and America First Works (AFW) to achieve Universal School Choice in 12 States, giving children the opportunity to receive an excellent Education, regardless of zip code or income. As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand “Choice” to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families.

Linda served for two years on the Connecticut Board of Education, where she was one of fifteen members overseeing all Public Education in the State, including its Technical High School system. She also served as a Member of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, for two stints totaling over 16 years. She is now doing an incredible job as Co-Chair of our Trump-Vance Transition Team. Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World. We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.

Trump Nominates Dr. Oz To Key Role

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator.

Read Trump’s full statement:

I am very pleased to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator. America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again. He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades. Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake. 

Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget. Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country. He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.

Dr. Oz graduated from Harvard College, and earned a joint MD and MBA degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School, my powerful alma mater. He rose to become a Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, while receiving numerous patents on his medical inventions, authoring more than 400 original publications, and publishing numerous New York Times Best Selling books.

He won nine Daytime Emmy Awards hosting “The Dr. Oz Show,” where he taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices, and gave a strong voice to the key pillars of the MAHA Movement. Dr. Oz and his wife, Lisa, expanded this effort by founding HealthCorps, a non-profit that has improved the lives of millions of underserved teens Nationwide over the past two decades. 

I have known Dr. Oz for many years, and I am confident he will fight to ensure everyone in America receives the best possible Healthcare, so our Country can be Great and Healthy Again!

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

NFL Responds To Recent Trend Of Trump-Inspired Celebrations

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    By U.S. Army photo by Capt. Edward Benedictus - This image was released by the United States Army with the ID 231112-A-OF320-1730 (next).This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing.العربية ∙ বাংলা ∙ Deutsch ∙ Deutsch (Sie-Form) ∙ English ∙ español ∙ euskara ∙ فارسی ∙ français ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Plattdüütsch ∙ Nederlands ∙ polski ∙ پښتو ∙ português ∙ русский ∙ slovenščina ∙ svenska ∙ Türkçe ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/−, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154218485

    It’s the Trump effect…

    The NFL confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday it had “no issue” with players doing celebratory dances emulating President-elect Trump after touchdowns and sacks.

    Front Office Sports first reported the league had no problem with the grooves.

    San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa appeared to have started the trend of outwardly supporting the president-elect. He flashed a “Make America Great Again” cap after a postgame interview before the election, which led to a fine. He then did the Trump dance after sacking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.

    Brock Bowers, Calvin Ridley, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Za’Darius Smith and Malcolm Rodriguez were all seen doing it. Bowers explained why he did the move after the game.

    “I’ve seen everyone do it,” Bowers said, per USA Today. “I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC, so I saw it and thought it was cool.”

    Bowers’ media session was curiously shut down after he gave his answer, according to the paper. It led to speculation about whether the dance would be prohibited. 

    NFL legend Brett Favre appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle” and said he didn’t think the league would crack down on it, citing other famous celebrations like the “Icky Suffle.”

    He also explained why he thought players were doing the move.

    “I think people have had enough,” he explained. “They’re coming out of the woodwork right and left. And when I woke up (after) Election Day and saw the landslide victory, it really put, I think, everyone’s perspective of this country right into the forefront. We were in desperate need of President Trump to take back over and get this country back to where it needs to be. We were definitely going in the wrong direction.

    “I think our youth – and I say youth, NFL players, college players, high school players – see it. When I was 22, 25, 30 years old, I never thought about politics. It was never an issue. There was never a focus on politics like it was this year. I think people just saw it for what it was – that we were in desperate need of help and that help was President Trump.”

    Manhattan District Attorney Opposes Push To Dismiss Trump Conviction

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

    Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday said they will oppose President-elect Trump’s demand to dismiss his criminal hush money.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) in the new letter said he won’t resist adjourning Trump’s sentencing next week so the judge can receive further briefing on the issue. 

    “No current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune,” Bragg wrote.  

    “Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed ‘in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system,’” he said. 

    Bragg signed the filing himself – a departure from the office’s typical practice. 

    Trump’s team celebrated the development.

    “This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide. The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson and incoming White House communications director, said in a statement. 

    Judge Juan Merchan, who oversees the case, must decide whether to push back the Nov. 26 sentencing, toss Trump’s conviction altogether or move forward despite his election victory.   

    Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an alleged affair, which he denies, ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 

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

    Trump To Nominate New Commerce Secretary

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    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce his nomination for Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick.

    Lutnick is the chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and is also currently serving as co-chair of the Trump transition. He has notably publicly embraced Trump’s tariff plans, which will be a major part of the job leading Commerce.

    The CEO was considered a front-runner to serve as Trump’s Treasury secretary along with Scott Bessent, who served as economic adviser on the Trump campaign.

    Trump just released a statement:

    I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce. He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

    In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.

    Lutnick beat out Linda McMahon for the role leading Commerce who was considered a front runner and previously led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.

    McMahon is also a co-chair of his transition effort.

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

    Report: Trump Hush Money Sentencing Adjourned

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    It’s always been political…

    On Tuesday, as President-elect Donald Trump was set to be sentenced in his hush-money conviction New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan adjourned the highly-anticipated Nov. 26 meeting.

    No explanation was given by the Court.

    Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts for business fraud in connection with hiding hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

    Trump’s attorney Emil Bove argued last week that the case should be stayed or dismissed to “avoid unconstitutional impediments” to Trump’s ability to act as president.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case has also maintained that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to back Trump’s claims of broad presidential immunity should not apply to this case. Presidential immunity is meant to shield a president from being prosecuted for carrying out his roles as president. The charges against Trump stem from acts undertaken while he was first campaigning for president in 2016 and continuing into his first term.

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