Stephen Ross, owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, fired back Wednesday at critics of President Trump, defending his plans to host a fundraiser for Trump on Friday at his Hamptons home on New York’s Long Island.
Trump
himself is expected to attend the event, at which donors can have their
photo taken with the president for $100,000 or attend a private
roundtable discussion with him for $250,000, according to the Washington
Post.
After news of the fundraiser emerged, anti-Trump activists
called for boycotts against Equinox and SoulCycle, two fitness brands in
which Ross, 79, a longtime GOP donor, is an investor. The boycott
efforts received numerous endorsements from celebrities, including
comedian Billy Eichner and model Chrissy Teigen.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross speaks to reporters March 11, 2015 in Davie, Fla. (Getty Images)
In one Twitter message, Eichner – a voice actor in
"The Lion King" movie and a former host of the comedy show “Billy on the
Street” -- suggested Ross was “enabling racism and mass murder” by
supporting Trump.
At least one Dolphins player, receiver Kenny
Stills, has commented publicly against Ross hosting the fundraiser. But
in a statement Wednesday, Ross defended his right to do so.
“I
have always been an active participant in the democratic process,” Ross
said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. “I have known Donald Trump
for 40 years, and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on
many others and I have never been bashful about expressing my
opinions.”
“I have always been an active participant
in the democratic process. I have known Donald Trump for 40 years, and
while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others and I
have never been bashful about expressing my opinions.” — Stephen Ross
Ross
added that he wanted to help support Trump’s reelection campaign
because he likes to “engage directly and support the things I deeply
care about.”
The critics argued that Ross’s decision to back Trump
was in conflict with many of the causes he claims to support, such as
racial equality and LGBTQ rights. They pointed out that the Equinox
brand has advertised itself as being LGBTQ-friendly.
“Hey
@Equinox - what’s your policy for canceling memberships once a member
finds out your owner is enabling racism and mass murder?” Eichner, who
is openly gay, wrote on Twitter.
He added in a separate message: “Never thought I’d have to ask this but … Do Nazis own Crunch?”
Stills
said Ross’s support for Trump was in conflict with the mission of the
Ross Initiative for Sports Equality, the billionaire’s effort to fight
racial discrimination through athletics.
“You can’t have a non profit with this mission statement then open your doors to Trump,” Stills wrote on Twitter.
Stills is a political ally of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick., the Washington Post noted.
Teigen posted a series of messages criticizing Equinox and SoulCycle.
“Everyone
who cancels their equinox and soul cycle memberships, meet me at the
library,” she wrote in one message. “Bring weights.”
In another, she wrote: “Oh and f--- soulcycle but I thought that way before this anyway.”
Even former CBS anchorman Dan Rather commented on the controversy.
"So
Stephen Ross, the owner of SoulCycle, the Miami Dolphins and Equinox
Fitness is hosting a big fundraiser for Trump,” Rather wrote. Many of
his customers aren’t happy. People can’t vote out the president at the
ballot box until next November. Will they vote with their pocketbooks
sooner?"
SoulCycle Chief Executive Melanie Whelan, meanwhile, tried to downplay Ross’s involvement with the company, Bloomberg reported.
“We
believe in diversity, inclusion and equality,” Whelan wrote on Twitter.
“Mr. Ross is a passive investor and is not involved in the management
of SoulCycle.”
When U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro apparently
tried to shame more than 40 prominent San Antonians for donating money
to President Trump, he also seems to have alienated some individuals who
gave to Castro and his twin brother as well. Joaquin Castro, who
has been serving in Congress since 2013, is the brother of Julian
Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and Obama Cabinet member who is
seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. “Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump," Joaquin Castro tweeted Monday,
listing the Twitter handles of several owners of local businesses.
“Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic
immigrants as ‘invaders.’” Now the Washington Free Beacon is reporting an additional Trump donor also contributed to Castro's congressional campaign and The Washington Examiner found a third as well as three others listed in the tweet who made contributions to his brother's mayoral campaign, according to FEC records. Philanthropist and former Valero Energy CEO William Greehey donated at least $10,000 to Joaquin Castro's congressional campaigns between 2011 and 2013, the Free Beacon reported. Businessman Gregory Kowalski, who was also listed, gave $1,421 to Castro's campaign in 2011. "It
is just amazing to me that he would do that. ... Then he's calling me a
racist because I'm supporting Trump. I mean, this is just
ridiculous.” Greehey told the Examiner. “There's
a lot of things you don't like about the president and his tweeting,
but here Castro is doing the same thing with his tweeting.”
"He's calling me a racist because I'm supporting Trump. I mean, this is just ridiculous." — Valero Energy CEO William Greehey, who reportedly donated to both Trump and Joaquin Castro
Edward
Steves, owner of a manufacturing company, said he hosted a fundraiser
at his house for Julián Castro's mayoral bid that raised more than
$300,000. Donald Kuyrkendall, president of a San Antonio-based real
estate company, also contributed to the mayoral campaign. “Were
his intentions to incite people to picket Bill Miller's barbecue or to
come to Don Kuyrkendall’s house, you know, assault my wife, make nasty
comments?” Kuyrkendall asked,
according to the Examiner. “I'm just hopeful that none of this gets
serious and that my grandchildren and children will be not intimidated
by this stuff.”
“I'm just hopeful that none of this gets serious and that my grandchildren and children will be not intimidated by this stuff.” — Donald Kuyrkendall, past donor to Julian Castro
Another
Julián Castro donor, retired real estate CEO Ed Kelley, told the
Examiner he considers the former HUD secretary as a friend, but that his
brother's tweet "did not leave a good taste in my mouth." Previously, Fox News previously reported that Wayne
Harwell, owner of a local real estate development company whose name
appeared on Castro's list, donated money to Castro’s congressional
campaign. But Harwell suggested that after Castro's Twitter message, he
won't be supporting Castro anymore. “I was also on a list of
people that gave to Castro and if he dislikes me enough that he wants to
put my name out there against Trump, I’m not going to give money to
him,” Harwell told Fox News. “Obviously Castro feels pretty strongly against me.” According to Federal Election Commission records, Harwell donated $1,000 to Castro’s campaign in September 2011. “I’m pretty independent, but I support Trump,” Harwell explained. Joaquin Castro has remained defiant amid the widespread backlash
and dismissed the criticism since what he posted was "public"
information. He said Wednesday morning that it wasn't his "intention"
for anyone to be harassed and that he "didn't create the graphic" but
only "shared it." Several GOP lawmakers -- including House
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; House Minority Whip Steve
Scalise, R-La.; and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas -- as well as members of the
press condemned the tweet, calling it "dangerous." President Trump reacted to the controversy Wednesday evening, blasting both Castro brothers on Twitter. "I
don’t know who Joaquin Castro is other than the lesser brother of a
failed presidential candidate (1 percent) who makes a fool of himself
every time he opens his mouth," Trump tweeted. "Joaquin is not the man that his brother is, but his brother, according to most, is not much. Keep fighting Joaquin!" Fox News' Brooke Singman and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
Twitter locked accounts belonging to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign and several prominent conservatives Monday, after they posted videos of left-wing protesters
gathered outside McConnell's Kentucky home -- with one demonstrator
calling for someone to stab McConnell "in the heart" and for McConnell
to break his "raggedy" neck. The episode prompted the McConnell
campaign, known as "Team Mitch," to slam Twitter for political bias,
saying the social media platform had effectively blamed the victim.
Meanwhile, observers noted, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro remains active on Twitter, even after he posted the names of San Antonio residents who donated to Trump. “This
morning, Twitter locked our account for posting the video of
real-world, violent threats made against Mitch McConnell," McConnell
campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement. "This is the problem
with the speech police in America today." Golden continued: "The
Lexington-Herald can attack Mitch with cartoon tombstones of his
opponents. But we can’t mock it. Twitter will allow the words 'Massacre
Mitch' to trend nationally on their platform. But locks our account for
posting actual threats against us. We appealed and Twitter stood by
their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete
the video.” McConnell, 77, has been resting at home since tripping on his patio fracturing his shoulder
on Sunday -- and the Team Mitch account posted images showing him at
his residence. In the wake of this weekend's deadly mass shootings in El
Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the hashtag "Massacre Mitch" trended on
Twitter -- and some activists took their case to McConnell's residence.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., addresses the
audience gathered at the Fancy Farm Picnic in Fancy Farm, Ky., over the
weekend. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
In a livestream video of the protest, Black Lives
Matter Louisville leader Chanelle Helm, standing with other
demonstrators outside McConnell's home, said that he "should have broken
his little raggedy, wrinkled-(expletive) neck" rather than fracturing
his shoulder. "Just stab the m----- f----- in the heart," Helm said, after a fellow demonstrator referenced a McConnell voodoo doll. Helm told the Lousville Courier-Journal in an interview on Wednesday that she had no regrets. "McConnell
doesn’t care about people who actually do break their necks, who need
insulin, who need any type of medication, because they want to stop and
prevent health care for all," Helm said. "And that is something that
every American out here wants. There’s only a few Americans who don’t
want that, and those people are politicians and their cronies." As
of late Wednesday, the Team Mitch had not deleted the offending tweet
containing the video. Twitter's policy for accounts violating its rules
on certain offending content is to require the account owners to delete
offending tweets in order for their access to be restored unless the
conduct is so severe it warrants an indefinite suspension.
CNN's Brian Stelter criticized McConnell for offering prayers after recent mass shootings.
Its most recent tweet, made late Tuesday, Team Mitch
called the threats outside McConnell's home "serious calls to physical
violence" and said law enforcement had been notified. Twitter
declined to provide an on-the-record comment. Because the video included
an explicit call for violence, and took place steps away from
McConnell's residence, it apparently violated Twitter's rules for anyone
to post the video -- including McConnell and his supporters. But
another Twitter user who posted the video, The Daily Wire's Ryan
Saavedra, said Twitter simply does not want the "Left's pure hatred
exposed because it damages the narrative that many at Twitter have." "By
suspending me for telling the truth, Twitter is making it clear that
they seek to control the news media and only allow content on their
platform that does not expose the evil, projection, and hypocrisy of the
political Left," Saavedra wrote. "Do not be surprised if they
permanently ban me." Saavedra added: "By suspending McConnell's
re-election campaign for exposing the violent rhetoric directed at
McConnell, which was allowed to foment on Twitter for days, Twitter is
interfering in the 2020 elections in a manner to help Democrats and hurt
Republicans." Capitol Hill communications director Ben Goldey said that he, too, had been locked out of Twitter. "My
account was temporarily suspended after posting a video of far-left
activists chanting death threats at Senator McConnell," Goldey wrote on
Twitter. "Meanwhile, @Castro4Congress tweet, targeting his own constituents by name and employer is still up and does not violate Twitter’s Rules."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has blamed McConnell for
'Team Mitch' staffers posing with a cardboard cutout of her. (AP
Photo/Susan Walsh)
Former McConnell aide and political commentator Scott Jennings also called the situation inexplicable. "Mitch
McConnell has people on his yard threatening to “stab the
motherf******” in the heart” & @twitter suspends MCCONNELL from its
platform," Jennings wrote on Twitter. "This nation needs to heal &
this platform is actively removing voices from the conversation who can
help find solutions. Absolute garbage." On Tuesday, McConnell's campaign accused New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of
encouraging threats against the senator and "trying to dox some
underage kids" after she blasted a group of McConnell-supporting
boys who took a controversial photo with a cardboard cutout of her
during a recent Kentucky political event. "Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and liberal Twitter personalities are trying
to dox some underage kids for taking a photo with a cutout at the Fancy
Farm political picnic and are cheering on thousands of accounts calling
for Senator McConnell to 'break his neck,’" Team Mitch tweeted. In
a tweet Monday, Ocasio-Cortez did not explicitly call for harassment or
threats but she prompted a wave of negative reactions to the boys when
she suggested that their gestures -- "groping" and "choking" the
cut-out, as she alleged -- represented the "culture" of McConnell's
campaign. After Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, McConnell's campaign
responded by distancing itself from the photo and condemning it,
clarifying that the boys weren't employees of the campaign. “Team
Mitch in no way condones any aggressive, suggestive, or demeaning act
toward life-sized cardboard cutouts of any gender,” campaign spokesman
Kevin Golden said. Golden added: “These young men are not campaign
staff, they’re high schoolers and it’s incredible that the national
media has sought to once again paint a target on their backs rather than
report real, and significant news in our country." McConnell's campaign compared the photo to one that a former aide to President Obama took after his election in 2008.
The photo, posted at the end of 2008, showed Obama speechwriter Jon
Favreau appearing to grope a cardboard cut-out of Hillary Clinton, then
Obama's choice for secretary of state. Some suggested that the
Ocasio-Cortez photo was a riff on the Clinton one. The situation quickly spiraled. The Daily Beast posted a tweet claiming
that McConnel's campaign had "essentially" told Ocasio-Cortez that
"boys will be boys" -- prompting Ocasio-Cortez, and later Newsweek, to falsely imply that McConnell's campaign had, in fact, used that phrase. "How a lie gets laundered," wrote Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy.
The
top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday accused the
panel's Democratic chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, of "harassment" and
unethical conduct, after Nadler moved to seek records from Supreme Court
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush administration. Nadler's request came days after a liberal lion of the high court, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, defended Kavanaugh as a "very decent, very smart individual," and long after progressive activists have largely moved on to other matters. Rep.
Doug Collins, R-Ga., said in a statement that Nadler's request is so
"far outside the scope of judicial ethics, it’s harassment." "Senate
Democrats spent months launching false accusations in an attempt to
smear Justice Kavanaugh’s reputation and block his confirmation to the
U.S. Supreme Court, and now House Democrats want to follow suit with yet
another fishing expedition to tarnish his good name," Collins said.
In this July 10, 2018, photo, protesters hold signs supporting
Planned Parenthood in Seattle and against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination
to the Supreme Court.
Nadler, along with Hank Johnson, D-Ga., wrote to the National Archives to seek "certain presidential records related to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s service in the White House from 2001 to 2006." They
cited the Presidential Records Act, which allows congressional
committees to obtain “contain information that is needed for the conduct
of [their] business and that is not otherwise available," subject to
executive privilege and other limitations. Tens
of thousands of documents relating to Kavanaugh's time in the White
House Counsel's Office were withheld during his confirmation process,
the lawmakers said, after they were processed by a private attorney for
potential privilege issues. "As a result of this process, the
Senate Judiciary Committee received only a small fraction of Justice
Kavanaugh’s White House record before voting on his nomination," Nadler
wrote. Nevertheless, some of Kavanuagh's writings in the Bush
administration did play a central role during his confirmation process.
In a dramatic exchange during the hearings, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.,
now a presidential candidate, implied that Kavanaugh had been open to
racial profiling tactics, citing an email exchange between Kavanaugh and
a colleague in the Bush White House. Booker did not provide
Kavanaugh a copy of the emails to review, and claimed Republicans had
tried to hide them. However, Senate Republicans said the documents had
been publicly released earlier in the day, even as Booker suggested he could be expelled from the Senate for releasing them. The emails released later
on during the hearings showed Kavanaugh advocating for race-neutral
security screening policies at airports after 9/11, but said that during
an "interim" period before such policies could be implemented,
administration lawyers would need to "grapple" with the possibility of
factoring in race during screenings in the interest of national
security. In his letter, Nadler sought the new documents on a
"rolling basis," and specifically asked for any "emails sent to or
received by Justice Kavanaugh, including emails on which he was a carbon
copy or blind carbon copy recipient, during the period in which Justice
Kavanaugh served as staff secretary, including any documents attached
to such emails." Additionally, the Democrat requested "the textual
records contained in Justice Kavanaugh’s office files from the period
during which he served as staff secretary." Any successful effort
to remove Kavanaugh from the bench would require a two-thirds vote of
both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Several 2020
Democratic presidential contenders -- including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala
Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Pete Buttigieg -- have said they would
be open to legislation that would expand the size of the Supreme Court,
to effectively dilute the importance of conservative justices' votes.
The size of federal appeals courts, including the Supreme Court, is set
by Congress. "When
are we going to move on from the smear campaigns, and begin working on
real, bipartisan solutions to improve the lives of the Americans we were
elected to represent?” Collins asked.
Queens district attorney candidate Tiffany Cabán conceded defeat Tuesday night — six weeks after the Democratic primary election that pitted her against the establishment-backed Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “We terrified the Democratic establishment,” Cabán told her supporters at a party in Astoria. “We
showed [that] you can run on a boldly decarceral platform,” she added
referring to her criminal justice reforms. “You don’t have to play by
the old rules.”
In this June 26 file photo, Democratic primary candidate for
Queens district attorney Tiffany Cabán responds to questions during an
interview in the Queens borough of New York. Cabán told supporters
Tuesday, Aug. 6 that she is calling it quits in her race for Queens
district attorney that gained national attention.
In a back-and-forth race that saw both
candidates declare victory, the insurgent lawyer fought to the very end
challenging dozens of invalidated affidavit ballots in court that she
said were improperly excluded. But after several attempts to claw
back — including at a judicial hearing earlier Tuesday — she bowed out
after it became clear she’d be unable to erase the 60-vote gap
separating her and Katz. “There’s still so, so much work to be done here in Queens — and you better believe I’m going to keep fighting,” Cabán said. The
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-backed candidate shocked the city on June
25 when she appeared to beat Katz, a veteran Queens politician, by
1,100 votes on primary night. But the tables flipped when the Board of
Elections tallied the absentee ballots and many of the provisionally
cast ballots, giving Katz the lead. Last
Monday, the Board of Elections declared Katz the victor. The certified
results showed Katz winning 34,920 votes, a razor-thin edge over Cabán’s
34,860. Katz now becomes the heavy favorite to win the job in the
November general election in the increasingly left-leaning borough.
Blowback against the New York Times over a headline about President Trump's response to recent mass shootings is a frightening precedent, according to Mollie Hemingway. The
fact several media and political figures were able to convince the
paper to change its headline after the first edition exposes the
collective outrage as a "mob," Hemingway claimed Tuesday on "Special Report." "Clearly,
the first headline was more factual and less opinion-y than the second
headline -- which was not a very well constructed headline," the
Federalist senior editor said. A headline about Trump’s remarks on
the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton drew condemnation
online -- including from some Democratic presidential candidates --
and was subsequently changed late Monday. The newspaper summarized
Trump’s comments, in which he denounced hate and white supremacy, with
the headline “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism” on the front page of its first edition. In response, several Democrats blasted the newspaper. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,
called the headline a: "reminder of how white supremacy is aided by --
and often relies upon -- the cowardice of mainstream institutions." Democratic presidential hopeful former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, called it, "unbelievable," and fellow contender Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., demanded the Times "do better." "Lives literally depend on you doing better. Please do," the former Newark, N.J. mayor tweeted. The paper's home-state Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is also running for the 2020 Democratic nomination, claimed the headline was inaccurate: "that's not what happened." On "Special Report," Hemingway appeared to disagree. "You
hear a lot of people asserting things about Donald Trump without
actually showing their work or showing evidence in support of it," she
said. "The
New York Times was bullied and pressured by an online mob -- consisting
of a lot of journalists -- to take that factual headline and change it
to something else to fit a narrative that has been promoted by a lot of
people. "It can be kind of scary to watch media companies or
corporations like the New York Times fall prey to these kinds of online
mobs." After the backlash, the Manhattan-based paper changed the top story's headline to, "Assailing hate but not guns." Fox News' Gerren Keith Gaynor contributed to this report.
President Trump issued a fiery tweet late Tuesday for 2020 presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke ahead of his visit to the Democrat's hometown of El Paso, Texas, following last weekend's shooting that left 22 dead. Over the past several days, O'Rourke has slammed the president, who he has placed blame
for the massacre. The former congressman declared that Trump is a
"racist" and compared his language to Nazi Germany's Third Reich. He
also compared Trump's North Carolina rally-- where the "send her back"
chant took place-- to "Nuremberg." "That is a leader reveling in the hatred and the racism of the people that he purports to serve and to lead," O'Rourke said Monday. Trump responded to O'Rourke and claimed the candidate is using a "phony name" in an attempt to appeal to voters. "Beto
(phony name to indicate Hispanic heritage) O’Rourke, who is embarrassed
by my last visit to the Great State of Texas, where I trounced him, and
is now even more embarrassed by polling at 1 percent in the Democrat
Primary, should respect the victims & law enforcement - & be
quiet!" Trump wrote in a late-night tweet. O'Rourke responded to Trump's tweet and double-downed on his claim that Trump is responsible. "22
people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your
racism," he tweeted. "El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I." The
president referred to the rally he held in El Paso back in February
amid the national debate about the migration crisis and had previously
boasted his crowd size in comparison to O'Rourke, who held a competing
rally on the same night. O'Rourke responded to Trump's attack. "22
people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your
racism. El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I," O'Rourke told the
president.
A top Chinese military official on Tuesday said Beijing
would “not stand idly by” if the U.S. goes forward with deploying
intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region, raising new
fears an arms race.
Last weekend, Mark Esper, the U.S. defense
secretary, said that he “would like to” place these missiles in Asia,
while in Sydney. Australia's defense minister has said that country will
not be a base for the missiles.
It was not clear when these missiles would be put into place, but one senior official from the U.S. told Reuters that it would be years away.
Esper
made the comments after the U.S. withdrew from an arms control treaty
with Russia from the Cold War-era. A senior U.S. official said Russia
was in “material breach of the treaty” and made no effort to “come back
into compliance.” The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty was
signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Moscow accused the U.S. of breaching the treaty and asked for evidence that it was in violation.
Fu
Cong, the chief arms control official in China, also Tuesday warned
neighboring countries not to allow the U.S. to deploy such weapons on
their territory.
Fu said China had no intention of entering a
trilateral arms control deal with the U S. and Russia but would remain
engaged in disarmament discussions.
The Pentagon has reportedly taken notice of the importance of its missile arsenal.
Defense One reported
that the Pentagon is increasing its “stealthy long-range cruise
missile” stockpile. Lockheed Martin is reportedly building an entirely
new facility in Alabama to accommodate the demand for the Joint
Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, which were used in Syria and fired from
a B-1 bomber. The Associated Press contributed to this report
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross speaks to reporters March 11, 2015 in Davie, Fla. (Getty Images)
