Idiot Democrat Cartoons

Give illegal immigrants a 10-year visa ‘immediately,’ 2020 Dem Hickenlooper says: report

The estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. should be granted 10-year visas “immediately,” a Democrat seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination said Friday.
John Hickenlooper, who served as Colorado’s governor from 2011 until earlier this year, made the comment at the NALEO forum in Miami, during a candidates forum sponsored by the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo.
Other 2020 Democrats participating in the forum were Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Eric Swalwell and Elizabeth Warren
Hickenlooper was asked what message he would have for those living in the U.S. illegally, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“What I would say with the 11 million people that are here now,” Hickenlooper said, “[is] that we should give them a 10-year visa immediately, put them on a pathway to citizenship and make sure that if it takes longer they can have extensions."
During his response, Hickenlooper also referred to a 2014 interview in the Wall Street Journal, for which he received backlash for suggesting that illegal immigrants didn’t regard U.S. citizenship as a priority.
"What I was trying to say at that time,” Hickenlooper explained Friday, according to the Free Beacon, “was the priority should be allow people to come out from the shadows.”
Hickenlooper also proposed free health care for the undocumented.
At the same forum Friday, Hickenlooper also addressed remarks from earlier in the week, in which he criticized the Democratic socialism preached by fellow Democratic candidate Sanders.
Having taken heat over criticizing a fellow Democrat, Hickenlooper instead framed his answer as part of a critique of President Trump.
“President Trump is fueling a national crisis of division in this country that is moving the country backwards,” Hickenlooper said, according to the Hill. “But socialism is not the answer.”
Hickenlooper announced his White House run in March, saying he aimed “to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver.”
Friday’s event in Miami was part of the annual conference of the NALEO Educational Fund, a nonprofit that helps U.S. Latinos participate in the nation’s political process.
The conference for NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) is scheduled to conclude Saturday.

Sean Spicer: Joe Biden a 'flip-flopping gaffe machine' benefitting largely from Obama ties

Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden is reliably gaffe-prone and is leading in the polls chiefly due to his association with former President Barack Obama, according to Sean Spicer.
The former vice president's name identification is another reason he leads a pack of more than 20 candidates -- not because he is running a good campaign, Spicer, a former White House press secretary under President Trump. said Friday on Fox News' "Hannity."
"I think there's a false narrative out there that Joe Biden is some sort of political success," Spicer told guest host Jason Chaffetz. "He's been saying dumb things since he was first elected in the early 1970s. He has run for president twice and epically failed.

"I think there's a false narrative out there that Joe Biden is some sort of political success. He's been saying dumb things since he was first elected in the early 1970s. He has run for president twice and epically failed."
— Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary

"Biden right now benefits from eight years of ... being vice president to, frankly, a popular president from the Democratic Party."
However, Biden's penchant for making public gaffes and the absence of Obama at his side will hurt him when he joins his fellow contenders for next week's primary debates in Miami, Spicer said.
"He is a flip-flopping gaffe machine," Spicer claimed.
"Right now, once the other candidates have an opportunity to go after him on the debate stage coming up ...  and he doesn't have Obama to carry the ticket, he will fail epically as he has twice before."
Most recently, Biden remained defiant after making comments about how he was able to work well with former Sens. Herman Talmadge, D-Ga., and James O. Eastland, D-Miss., despite the fact they were avowed segregationists.
Biden's campaign defended the comments while the candidate himself rebuffed calls for his apology -- and has fired back at his critics.
“Apologize for what?” Biden told reporters Wednesday night when asked about the criticism over his remarks. “Not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career. Period. Period. Period.”
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Bernie Sanders, other Dems take swipes at Trump while courting Latino voters in Miami

Eight Democratic presidential candidates made their pitches in Miami on Friday, courting the state’s more than 2 million Latino voters.
The candidates spoke at the annual conference of NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. The group included Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Julian Castro, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, John Hickenlooper, Pete Buttigieg and Eric Swalwell.
Most took swipes at President Trump and his policies while covering topics that included immigration, climate change and the U.S. economy. Just one day earlier, the president claimed his support among Latinos has "gone way up."
Noticeably absent from the NALEO event was Joe Biden, the former vice president who is the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, according to a recent Fox News Poll.
The forum took place five days ahead of the first Democratic debate, which also will be held in Miami, and came just three days after Trump officially launched his 2020 re-election campaign with a raucous rally in Orlando, Fla., unveiling the slogan, "Keep America Great."

'Trump is a demagogue'

In his speech, Sanders -- a U.S. senator from Vermont -- called out what he referred to as the president's “racism” and “xenophobia” and promised that if elected he would “undo the fear and the damage" Trump has caused." He labeled Trump a “demagogue” who is picking on the immigrant community in order to divide the nation.
"Let us not forget that this administration is ripping children from the arms of their mothers," Sanders said. "Some of those children have died."
Sanders referred to Trump as a "demagogue."
"What we have got to do is to understand that Trump is a demagogue and he does what demagogues always do," Sanders said, according to the Hill, "and what that is, is to pick on a minority -- and today that minority is the immigrant community."
O'Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, Texas, announced that he would reunite every child separated at the border and end the detention of migrant children through an executive order.
"We will no longer put children in cages!” he told the audience.
Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census was a key issue at the event.
“It is racist in its design,” O’Rourke said. “It's intended to suppress the vote of Latinos, people of color, those whose country of national origin was some other place, who came here to contribute to our babies. Let's make sure they can by counting every single one of them.”

'That is our country'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said she would wait to weigh in on the Census issue until after the Supreme Court decides the case. She focused much of her speech on the economy but also promised to help "Dreamers" -- those benefitting from DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), an Obama-era program for assisting adults who came to the U.S. illegally as children.

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a forum on Friday, June 21, 2019, in Miami. (Associated Press)

Julian Castro, a Texan who served in the Obama administration as secretary of housing and urban development, said if elected he would decriminalize illegal border crossings, expand DACA through executive order and protect Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status.
“That is our country. That is America,” Castro said about his Mexican grandmother who came to the U.S. as a 7-year-old orphan.
Castro added: "Right before [President Trump] leaves [the White House] ... I'm going to tell him, 'Adios!'"

"Right before [President Trump] leaves [the White House] ...  I'm going to tell him, 'Adios!' "
— Julian Castro

Pete Buttigieg warned about Trump becoming a distraction as Democrats try to pitch their ideas to voters.
"The more we talk about this president, the less we talk about the people," he said.

"The more we talk about this president, the less we talk about the people."
— Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg, who had been off the campaign trail to deal with an officer-involved shooting in South Bend, Ind., where he is mayor, spoke about the importance of giving Puerto Rico the right to vote.
“The embarrassingly poor response to [Hurricane Michael, which struck the island last October] would not have happened if Puerto Rico were afforded electoral votes,” he said.
He added that America “must welcome the decision of the people of Puerto Rico” if they choose statehood.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

President Trump to nominate Army's Mark Esper as permanent defense secretary

President Trump plans to nominate Army Secretary Mark Esper as the nation's next defense secretary, the White House announced Friday evening.
Esper is set to start as acting defense secretary Monday following the departure Friday of current acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, the Washington Post reported.
The transition at the Pentagon comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, following Iran's downing of a U.S. drone over international waters and the country's suspected involvement on attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this month.

Secretary of the Army Mark Esper speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 2, 2019. (Associated Press)

President Trump had announced Tuesday that Shanahan was withdrawing from consideration for a permanent appointment to lead the Pentagon because of family matters. In that same message, the president revealed that Esper was his choice to succeed Shanahan.
"I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!," the president wrote.
Esper has been secretary of the Army since November 2017. He served in the Gulf War, worked on Capitol Hill and has been a lobbyist for Raytheon, a defense contractor. His Washington experience far outweighs that of Shanahan, who was a Boeing executive.
After Esper was nominated to lead the Army in 2017, the former infantry officer was confirmed by the Senate in an 89-6 vote, the Hill reported.
There has been no permanent secretary of defense since James Mattis resigned last December. Under the Vacancies Reform Act, which says department secretary positions can have an acting head for only 210 days, Trump must nominate a defense secretary by July 30, the Washington Post reported.
If nominated, Esper will have to step down from his acting secretary role while the Senate considers his nomination.