Bernie Sanders acknowledges 'economy is a disaster' in Venezuela, as Omar accuses Trump of coup effort

Vermont Independent and self-described Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders acknowledged on Thursday that the "economy is a disaster" in Venezuela -- but he cautioned against U.S. involvement in that county's affairs and condemned what he called "inappropriate" past interventions.
Meanwhile, far-left Minnesota Democratic freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted Thursday, without evidence, that President Trump has personally engaged in "efforts to install a far right opposition [that] will only incite violence and further destabilize the region" and that "a US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face."
Sanders, a fierce advocate for progressive proposals like Medicare for All and boosting both corporate tax rates and the federal minimum wage, made the comments in a statement and a series of social media posts as Venezuela, a socialist nation, continued its descent Thursday into political and economic turmoil.
OMAR ALLEGES LINDSEY GRAHAM HAS BEEN COMPROMISED, OFFERS NO EVIDENCE
Venezuela's government -- which in recent years has limited citizens' access to foreign currency, implemented substantial subsidies and price controls on food and other items, and fallen victim to sweeping corruption -- effectively collapsed this week. Some analysts have placed the principal blame on the country's socialist policies, while others have pointed to fallen oil prices and mismanagement.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared he was temporarily assuming presidential powers in a bid to unseat Nicolas Maduro, whose powerful loyalists went on the offensive Thursday in support of the embattled leader.
"The Maduro government has waged a violent crackdown on Venezuelan civil society, violated the constitution by dissolving the National Assembly and was re-elected last year in an election many observers said was fraudulent," Sanders wrote. "The economy is a disaster and millions are migrating."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro salutes as he arrives to the Supreme Court for an annual ceremony that marks the start of the judicial year in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Venezuelans are heading into uncharted political waters after the young leader of a newly united opposition claimed Wednesday to hold the presidency and Maduro dug in for a fight with the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Sanders continued, "The United States should support the rule of law, fair elections and self-determination for the Venezuelan people. We must condemn the use of violence against unarmed protesters and the suppression of dissent."
Sanders then seemingly responded to suggestions that the U.S. might military intervene in the county. President Trump reportedly considered a military strike in Venezuela last summer, and top Republicans have refused to rule out an armed response to the current crisis.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said this week that if Maduro harms any U.S. diplomats, the consequences will be "swift and decisive."
As for Sanders, he wrote: "We must learn the lessons of the past and not be in the business of regime change or supporting coups—as we have in Chile, Guatemala, Brazil & the DR. The US has a long history of inappropriately intervening in Latin American nations; we must not go down that road again."
Guaido has disappeared from view since swearing before tens of thousands of cheering supporters to uphold the constitution and rid Venezuela of Maduro's dictatorship, and his whereabouts remained shrouded in mystery on Thursday.
A defiant Maduro, meanwhile, called home all Venezuelan diplomats from the United States and closed its embassy, a day after ordering all U.S. diplomats out of the country by the weekend. Washington has refused to comply, but ordered its non-essential staff to leave the tumultuous country, citing security concerns.
The Trump administration says Maduro's order isn't legal because the U.S. no longer recognizes him as Venezuela's legitimate leader.
Tensions soared between the U.S. and Venezuela after Trump recognized Guaido's leadership. Attention has been on the military, a traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela, as a critical indicator of whether the opposition will succeed in establishing a new government.
WATCH: LINDSEY GRAHAM SAYS OCASIO-CORTEZ 'HELL-BENT' ON MAKING US LIKE VENEZUELA
Venezuela's top military brass pledged unwavering support to Maduro, delivering vows of loyalty earlier Thursday before rows of green-uniformed officers on state television.

A supporter of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro carries a "Yankee Go Home" sign in Caracas on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A half-dozen generals belonging largely to district commands and with direct control over thousands of troops joined Maduro in accusing the United States of meddling in Venezuela's affairs and said they would uphold the socialist leader's rule.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, a key Maduro ally, later delivered his own proclamation, dismissing efforts to install a "de-facto parallel government" as tantamount to a coup.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump said officials were closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela -- and he took a swipe at a proposal by another high-profile Democratic socialist in the U.S., New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to implement a 70 percent marginal tax rate on the rich.

Anti-government protesters tear off razor wire from a wall surrounding a vacant lot, to make a barricade during clashes against the Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard in Caracas. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

"We’re looking at Venezuela, it’s a very sad situation," Trump told reporters. "That was the richest state in all of that area, that's a big beautiful area, and by far the richest -- and now it's one of the poorest places in the world. That's what socialism gets you, when they want to raise your taxes to 70 percent."
The president's comments mirrored those of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who charged on Thursday that Ocasio-Cortez  "and her new socialist colleagues seem hell-bent on making sure that our last 12 years will be spent as Venezuelan socialists, not Americans" -- a reference to Ocasio-Cortez's claim that the world will end in 12 years due to climate change.
Much of the international community is rallying behind Guaido, with the U.S., Canada and numerous Latin American and European countries announcing that they recognized his claim to the presidency. Trump has promised to use the "full weight" of U.S. economic and diplomatic power to push for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy.
Meanwhile, Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Turkey have voiced their backing for Maduro's government.
China's Foreign Ministry called on the United States to stay out of the crisis, while Russia's deputy foreign minister warned the U.S. against any military intervention in Venezuela.
Russia has been propping up Maduro with arms deliveries and loans. Maduro visited Moscow in December, seeking Russia's political and financial support. Over the last decade, China has given Venezuela $65 billion in loans, cash and investment. Venezuela owes more than $20 billion.

Liberal Media Cartoons

Media use unnamed sources to trash Giuliani over missteps

The knives are out for Rudy Giuliani.
In classic Washington fashion, the press is now using anonymous sources to trash Donald Trump's lawyer, to suggest that the president and top aides are fed up with him, even to intimate that he has a drinking problem.
It's the dark side of D.C., the art of character assassination.
Now it's true that Giuliani's recent performances have been anything but smooth. He keeps stumbling and having to backtrack. And that, to be sure, is fair game for scrutiny and criticism.
But instead, it's being turned into a "Game of Thrones."
I smelled this coming on Tuesday when a single paragraph in a New York Times story indicated that some in the White House were getting fed up with Giuliani.
Things reached fever pitch yesterday, with Politico declaring: "Rudy Giuliani has a growing list of enemies in the White House — which now includes his boss, President Donald Trump."
Now they're enemies?
The potshots against the former New York mayor continued:
"Trump was apoplectic after a pair of weekend media interviews by his personal lawyer, in which Giuliani said that the president had been involved in discussions to build a Trump Tower in Moscow through the end of the 2016 campaign — a statement that enraged Trump because it contradicted his own public position, according to two sources close to the president. Trump spent much of Sunday and Monday fuming to aides and friends about his lawyer's missteps."
So Trump is mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore?
Not according to Maggie Haberman, the New York Times White House correspondent, who said on CNN: "He's generally happy with what Giuliani has done. Giuliani has served as something of an extension of his client's id over the last several months. That might make other people unhappy but not the president."
And here's the killer blind quote in Politico about who is handling Giuliani, from an unnamed White House aide: "Handling Rudy's f---ups takes more than one man."
The AP is in the same camp, saying Giuliani's latest blitz "agitated President Donald Trump and some of his allies, who have raised the possibility that the outspoken presidential lawyer be at least temporarily sidelined from televised interviews.
"Trump was frustrated with Giuliani, according to three White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations."
Trump is said to believe (justifiably) that the Rudy-generated controversies stepped on a positive story for the president, Robert Mueller's partial knockdown of the BuzzFeed piece saying he encouraged Michael Cohen to commit perjury.
Over the weekend, Giuliani told "Meet the Press" and the Times that the president had informed him he discussed the Russian Trump Tower project with Cohen throughout the election, telling the Times the discussions were "going on from the day I announced to the day I won." But afterward, he put out a statement saying he had been speaking hypothetically.
There was another head-slapper in an interview with The New Yorker. Asked how he knew the BuzzFeed story was wrong, Giuliani said, "Because I have been through all the tapes, I have been through all the texts, I have been through all the e-mails ... "
Uh, reporter Isaac Chotiner asked, what tapes?
"I shouldn't have said tapes," Rudy said.
Politico, to its credit, interviewed the onetime prosecutor, who said he has a good grip of the facts, that Trump hasn't complained to him, "and nobody in the White House would complain to me. They just do it behind my back." He blamed the media for the confusion over some of his comments, saying they don't understand the legal technique of arguing in the alternative.
But there was one part of the Politico piece that shouldn't have been published:
"Some of Trump's allies have suggested that Giuliani be barred from evening interviews because of concerns that he was going on TV after drinking, according to three Republicans close to the White House."
Sorry, but you can't accuse the president's lawyer of being sloshed on the air without someone willing to go on the record or some evidence of inebriation.
Giuliani is a veteran pol who knows full well that he's getting scuffed up. He had a pungent response when The New Yorker asked if his current performance would tarnish his legacy:
"I am afraid it will be on my gravestone. 'Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.' Somehow, I don't think that will be it. But, if it is, so what do I care? I'll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter."
Now that's taking the long view.

National Shrine confirms report that Native American activist allegedly tried to disrupt Mass

Officials at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday confirmed earlier reports that a Native American rights activist led several dozen people in an attempt to enter the shrine during a Saturday evening Mass.
In a statement to Fox News on Wednesday, basilica officials said a Mass was being celebrated at 7 p.m. when Nathan Phillips and his group “attempted to enter the building while chanting and hitting drums.”
“At this time, Mass was being celebrated in the upper church where the individuals attempted to enter,” the statement read. “In respect and reverence for the Mass, the individuals were not permitted to enter the Basilica due to the disruption it would have caused during the solemn Mass. The individuals were asked to leave the property after it was determined they did not intend to share in the celebration of Mass.”
The group assembled across the street from the shrine, the Catholic News Agency reported. Video footage showed one demonstrator telling other protesters that they had been ordered off the property by police, according to CNA.
Phillips, 64, was thrust into the national spotlight over the weekend when video of an encounter with a group of students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky went viral. He was seen singing and playing a drum near the Lincoln Memorial as he stood face-to-face with Covington student Nick Sandmann while other students were standing behind Sandmann.
Other footage revealed the teens were being taunted by a third group nearby, leading to criticism of the media for a so-called rush to judgment.

Laura Ingraham rips Trump’s decision to postpone State of the Union

Laura Ingraham, the host of Fox News’ "The Ingraham Angle," called out President Trump for delaying his State of the Union address until after the partial government shutdown is over.
She called Trump's move a "bad decision" and said that she would give a series of three speeches as an alternative. She said she’d give the first speech in Detroit, the second at the border and a third at Ellis Island.
"Bad decision by @potus," she tweeted. "Go to America and give the nation a #SOTU. Sent the written form to petty Pelosi."
DOUG SCHOEN: PELOSI SHOULDN'T BLOCK TRUMP FROM DELIVERING SPEECH
Trump announced on Twitter late Wednesday that he will deliver a "great" State of the Union address after the partial government shutdown is over, ending a tense day in Washington where Republicans criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for blocking the president from giving the speech.
Pelosi told Trump that the House won’t approve a resolution allowing him to come to Capitol Hill until the government reopens.
Trump said he is not going to look for an alternative venue due to the long tradition of the speech being delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives.
Pelosi responded to Trump's announcement with a tweet of her own. She said she hopes that "the near future" means that he is willing to support the "House-passed package" to end the shutdown that is affecting about 800,000 federal workers.

Trump says he will give State of the Union after shutdown is over

President Trump announced on Twitter late Wednesday that he will deliver a "great" State of the Union address after the partial government shutdown is over, ending a tense day in Washington where Republicans criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for blocking the president from giving the speech.
Pelosi told Trump that the House won’t approve a resolution allowing him to come to Capitol Hill until the government reopens.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally, said Pelosi’s action “sets a new low for American politics.” He called Pelosi’s decision “absurd, petty and shameful,” adding: “The judgment of history will not be kind.”
Trump said he is not going to look for an alternative venue due to the long tradition of the speech being delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives.
Pelosi told Trump in a letter Wednesday that the Democratic-controlled House would turn down a measure for him to deliver the speech. Trump slammed Pelosi and called the decision a "great blotch on the country that we all love."
White House officials told Fox News they were preparing for two tracks for next week's speech. The preferred track is an address at the Capitol. The second track is a backup plan for a speech outside of Washington, D.C.
“There is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber,” he tweeted. “I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!”
Pelosi responded to Trump's announcement with a tweet of her own. She said she hopes that "the near future" means that he is willing to support the "House-passed package" to end the shutdown that is affecting about 800,000 federal workers.
"Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences," she wrote.
House Democrats were prepared to possibly give Trump the $5.7 billion he wanted for security measures at the border with one caveat: The funds were not for a wall, The New York Times reported.
This year's State of the Union address had been scheduled for Jan. 29.

Stupid Media Cartoons

Anti-Trump social media mobs value ‘rapidity and extremism’: Victor Davis Hanson

Hoover Institute senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson weighed in on the “electronic lynch mob” that took place targeting the students of Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School after their confrontation with Native American elder Nathan Phillips that went viral last weekend.
In his appearance on Tuesday's "The Ingraham Angle," with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Hanson began by accusing social media giants Facebook and Twitter of being “on the side of the mob,” so that members of the mob don’t see the “downside” in their rhetoric since they won’t be censored or punished.
MEDIA TREATMENT OF COVINGTON STUDENTS 'WAY WORSE' THAN KAVANAUGH COVERAGE, CRITIC SAYS
“When it was released that these were young, innocent kids, they’re not gonna be ready to fight back and they had MAGA hats on and they were white and they were Catholic, that was a turkey shoot for all of these bullies,” Hanson said. “And when you look at the upside, when you combined the electronic mechanism with the hate Trump, the result is two values; rapidity and extremism. So there was a race, like a dog race, almost. Who can get out first and virtue-signal, ‘I was the first one to attack these kids’? And the next incident was, Who can be the most extreme? ‘I said beat them up,’ ‘No, I said shoot them,’ No, I said burn them up.’… It was a race to the bottom.”
He told Laura Ingraham that there was “no downside” for the media to learn anything from the misreporting that took place early on.
“You see what’s happened is when you have Silicon Valley and you have the great fortunes in America -- whether the Bloomberg or Apple or Google -- all of that great money, and foundations and Hollywood and the media and the universities, this story starts out -- It’s a force-multiplying effect and it permeates our entire society,” Hanson continued. “And when you look at the other side, we don’t have those resources. And when Trump, our conservative ranks, are bifurcated, there were people in the Never Trump side that joined in because felt this was the magic key that will unlock my analysis of Trump.”

If ending shutdown truly is Dems' ‘top priority,’ they should take Trump’s offer: Guy Benson

If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and congressional Democrats continue to play hardball during the partial government shutdown -- as President Donald Trump and the GOP continue to propose compromise deals in order to get funding for the border wall -- they themselves may face the consequences, Townhall.com political editor Guy Benson argued Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will be bringing two competing bills for a vote Thursday in hopes at least one of them passes to reopen the government. The GOP-proposed bill would provide $5.7 billion for the wall in exchange for a three-year extended protection for DACA recipients, disaster relief, and a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. (DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is an Obama-era program for helping adults who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children avoid deportation.)
On Wednesday’s All-Star panel on "Special Report," Benson -- along with Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and Washington Post opinion writer Charles Lane -- weighed in on whether a compromise bill could get passed and who would take responsibility if it fails.
Benson began by complimenting McConnell’s ability at “reframing an argument” to the American people.
“The Democrats say over and over again that their priority is reopening the government and getting these federal workers paid. If that were truly their top priority, they would be seriously engaging this proposal from the president, which I think is completely reasonable from the weekend, trying to improve it, making changes to it, negotiating around the clock and they’re doing nothing like that whatsoever,” Benson told the panel. “And at some point, I think the Democrats have to answer for that because they say out of one side of their mouth, ‘We have to get these people paid. It’s an ongoing tragedy for these families,’ and yet they will not negotiate anything, including some of these provisions that the president has made that are concessions like putting major elements in the bill from Sen. Dick Durbin that he introduced in late 2016. So McConnell is trying to make some lemonade out of lemons.”
Lane expressed that “any movement” from the legislative branch on border security would have to come from the Senate because the Dem-controlled House may be at the mercy of the leftwing members who seem to have the “upper hand.”
Meanwhile, Hemingway expressed that McConnell is “taking matters into his own hands,” calling his bill “ridiculously generous” to Democrats, insisting that $5 billion for the wall isn’t a lot of money in exchange for protection for DACA recipients.
“The only reason why it might be a problem for Nancy Pelosi is her own talking point is ‘We want to reopen the government.’ Well, as Guy said, you have to act like you’re serious about that if you really want to do it. If you’re not offering anything, not putting anything on the table, not putting forth any realistic compromise and not accepting any of these generous offers, it hurts your own talking point,” Hemingway told the panel.

Sarah Sanders: White House not listening to Ocasio-Cortez 'on much of anything,' including doomsday prediction

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders derided New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent claim that the world will end in 12 years due to climate change, and suggested the Trump administration has little need for the progressive firebrand's thoughts in general, in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview Tuesday night with Fox News' "Hannity."
Sanders also slammed what she called the "disgraceful" media coverage of the previous week, which included a discredited BuzzFeed News report on the Russia investigation and a social media harassment campaign against pro-Trump Catholic high school students -- based largely on incomplete and selectively edited videos of their encounter with a Native American man and other activists shouting homophobic slurs.
"I don't think we're going to listen to [Ocasio-Cortez] on much of anything -- particularly not on matters we're gonna leave in the hands of a much, much higher authority -- and certainly, not listen to the freshman congresswoman on when the world may end," Sanders said.
Speaking at an event commemorating Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Ocasio-Cortez asserted that climate change constituted "our World War II" and added: “Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is, how are we gonna pay for it?'"

A protestor leads a Native American prayer with a traditional drum outside the Catholic Diocese of Covington Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Covington, Ky. The diocese in Kentucky has apologized after selectively edited videos emerged showing students from Covington Catholic High School seeming to mock Native Americans outside the Lincoln Memorial on Friday after a pro-life rally in Washington. Later, unedited videos showed the students themselves were harassed and approached by other activists. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A United Nations report on climate change warned late last year that the world will face several consequences from climate change – extreme drought, food shortages and deadly flooding – unless there’s an “unprecedented” effort made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Then, in November, the Trump administration released a federal report that found that the impacts of climate change are being felt across the country, and “extreme weather and climate-related events” are going to worsen in the years to come -- with a significant possible impact on the economy by the end of the century.
Some conservative commentators have argued that most proposed solutions would do more harm than good, and also have accused climate activists of crying wolf. In 2006, a NASA scientist and leading global warming researcher declared that the world had only 10 years to avert a climate catastrophe. Meantime, President Trump repeatedly has cast doubt on the risks posed by global warming, despite the report from his administration.
‘‘Large parts of the Country are suffering from tremendous amounts of snow and near record setting cold," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "Amazing how big this system is. Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!’’
In 2012, Trump famously wrote: "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
Now, Sanders said, the attention should be on pressing matters like the ongoing partial federal government shutdown over funding for Trump's proposed border wall.
CRITIC: MEDIA TREATMENT OF COVINGTON CATHOLIC KIDS 'WAY WORSE' THAN KAVANAUGH EPISODE
"We're focused on what's happening in the world right now," Sanders told host Sean Hannity. "We wish that Democrats like herself would engage in that conversation, help us fix some of the current problems we know exist, and work with us to get some things done -- particularly on the border, fixing the national and humanitarian crisis."
Sanders added, in an apparent reference to God: "That's the kind of stuff we're focused on, not things we're gonna leave up to the hands of something and someone much more powerful than any of us."

A man places a sign showing support for the students of Covington Catholic Catholic High School in front of the Catholic Diocese of Covington in Covington, Ky., Tuesday, Jan 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

The president himself seemingly has little patience for Ocasio-Cortez. Asked last week outside the White House for his response to Ocasio-Cortez's claim that there is "no question" he's a racist, Trump responded simply: "Who cares?"
Separately, Sanders said it was "a sad day in America" when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., preemptively rejected Trump's compromise proposal to end the partial federal shutdown. The White House offered various immigration-related concessions to Democrats in exchange for border wall funding.
"Republicans have been in lock-step with the president, because we actually believe in getting something done," Sanders said. "[Democrats] are not looking to solve problems, but they're simply looking to kick the can down the road."
KENTUCKY HIGH SCHOOL CLOSED AFTER DEATH THREATS DIRECTED AT STUDENTS IN VIRAL VIDEO 
Sanders added, "The president is a leader, and Nancy Pelosi is nothing more than an obstructionist."
The White House press secretary said Pelosi's security concerns about the upcoming planned Jan. 29 State of the Union address were unfounded, and that the White House was "moving forward" with plans for the address in Congress.
"I don't know if there would be a place that all of those members would attend, but the president's focus is on speaking to the American people."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on Tuesday that he would have no objections to Trump delivering a State of the Union address in the House of Representatives, despite Pelosi's repeated threats that the traditional speech be delayed.
"Sure," Hoyer, D-Md., responded, when asked if he'd be open to Trump speaking in person in the House for the State of the Union. Asked if Pelosi would agree, he added, "I don't know what the discussions have been."
"What happened for BuzzFeed is a great lesson for the news media. Quit trying to be first, and start trying to be right."
Sanders concluded by bashing BuzzFeed News, which authored a bombshell report alleging Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress -- a report that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team dismissed as inaccurate. Sanders, like Donald Trump Jr. on Monday, said the episode was similar to the media coverage of a Catholic high school pro-life trip to Washington over the weekend.

A police car sits at the entrance to Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Ky., Saturday, Jan 19, 2019. The school has been besieged by threats of violence and was closed for safety reasons on Tuesday, after viral videos misrepresented the actions of its students at a pro-life march.  (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

The Covington High School students stood near the Lincoln Memorial as activists identified as Black Hebrew Israelites shouted homophobic slurs at them, and a Native American man approached them banging a drum. Initial videos of the episode suggested that the students were harassing the man.
Many liberal and conservative commentators criticized the students -- and, in some cases, called for them to be personally harassed and their school closed -- based on initial, incomplete videos, only to walk back their comments after a fuller video showed that the students themselves had been harassed, and that the students did not appear to approach the Native American man or the activists at any point.
"I've never seen so many people so happy to destroy a kid's life," Sanders said, referring to the social media response to the episode -- which included multiple death threats and verbal intimidation directed at the students.
Covington High School Principal Robert Rowe announced Tuesday that the school was closed for the day due to safety concerns.