And they have caused nothing but trouble for America every since. They are constantly trying to destroy the American way of life. Has the voters in Minnesota and Michigan gone completely crazy? Is there any true American voters left in these two states?
How serious is President Trump about firing back at France over its new tax on U.S. technology? Maybe as much as 100 percent.
During his visit to New York’s Hamptons for a fundraiser
Aug. 9, the president reportedly told attendees he was thinking about
hitting France where it may hurt most – by slapping a 100 percent tariff
on French wine.
The
president’s remarks, which two sources relayed to Bloomberg, were a
follow-up to a Twitter message in late July, in which Trump wrote the
U.S. planned “a substantial reciprocal action” against France for its
digital tax on American tech.
That week, French President Emmanuel Macron approved what was called a digital services tax
-- a 3 percent levy that targets global companies worth at least 750
million euros ($834 million) and 25 million euros in France. It will be
retroactively applied from early 2019 and could generate up to 400
million euros per year for France.
Trump immediately denounced the French plan.
“If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA,” Trump’s tweet said.
This coming Monday the U.S. Trade Representative’s office is
scheduled to hold a public hearing with American tech leaders about the
potential impact of France’s tax, the Bloomberg report said. Depending on their comments, trade boss Robert Lighthizer could recommend that Trump impose tariffs on France in response.
In
his July tweet, Trump concluded with the line, “I’ve always said
American wine is better than French wine” – even though Trump has
claimed over the years that he never drinks alcohol.
“It might be on wine, it might be on something else,” Trump then told reporters about his plan.
Because
France is part of the European Union, it’s unclear how Trump could
specifically target the country without ensnaring the entire bloc.
In a Twitter message Saturday, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw declared Saturday’s protests in Portland, Ore., “a sad showing,” and said the city’s Antifa activists paled in comparison to the demonstrators fighting for democracy in Hong Kong.
“In Hong Kong,” the Republican congressman from Texas wrote, “antifascists wave American flags, demand freedom and actually fight fascists.
“In Portland,” he continued, “ ‘antifascists’ burn American flags, demand violence in the name of socialism.”
Crenshaw,
35, is in his first term in the U.S. House after being elected las
November. The former U.S. Navy SEAL served in Afghanistan and is the
recipient of two Bronze Stars for heroic service and a Purple Heart
after being wounded in combat.
On Saturday, demonstrators from
both left-wing and right-wing groups converged in Portland, Ore., the
scene of numerous violent confrontations in the past.
As of Saturday evening, the city’s mayor was declaring the day’s events “largely peaceful,” with 13 arrests and a small number of minor injuries reported.
Members
of the Proud Boys and other conservative groups have argued that Antifa
protesters have instigated violence at their events, but have often
escaped prosecution because many of their members keep their faces
covered during attacks.
In July, the city’s police chief called for new laws against wearing masks during such protests.
“We cannot allow people to continue to use the guide of free speech to commit a crime,” Chief Danielle Outlaw said.
On Saturday, President Trump threatened to push for Antifa to be declared a terror organization.
As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Crenshaw frequently speaks out on matters of security and terrorism.
In July, Crenshaw accused Democratic U.S. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., of using the U.S.-Mexico border crisis as a stage for criticizing President Trump rather than for proposing solutions to the nation’s immigration problem.
"What
they really want is more commissions … more investigations they can
point to, to call the president evil," Crenshaw said during an
appearance on “Fox & Friends.” "That's what they want."
In June, Crenshaw went after Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters,
accusing her of “literally repeating the lies of the Iranian regime”
after she asserted that President Trump was trying to provoke a conflict
with Iran.
Democratic 2020 presidential frontrunner Joe Biden praised Republicans as “decent people” at a Massachusetts fundraiser Saturday while touting his ability to work across the aisle, according to a report.
“There’s
an awful lot of really good Republicans out there,” the former vice
president told the audience, according to The Hill. “I get in trouble
for saying that with Democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every
time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got
sent up to Capitol Hill to fix it? Me. Because they know I respect the
other team.”
He said congressional Republicans ran because they “care about things,” but are afraid to be at odds with President Trump.
"They're intimidated right now,” he told the audience, The Hill reported.
Biden took heat last fall when The New York Times
published a story that said he “stunned Democrats and elated
Republicans” three weeks before the midterms by lauding Republican House
candidate Fred Upton, R-Mich.
He has also frustrated Democrats in the past by praising former Vice President Dick Cheney and calling Vice President Mike Pence “a decent guy.”
While
Biden -- considered to be the most moderate of the top-ranked
candidates -- is largely running on his ability to work with
Republicans, more liberal candidates like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie
Sanders and Kamala Harris are focused on promoting progressive plans
like Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., suggested Saturday that viewers boycott comedian Bill Maher’s HBO talk show after he devoted a segment of Friday's program to bashing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling it a “bulls--- purity test.”
"Maybe
folks should boycott his show," said Tlaib, who went on to compare
criticism of the BDS movement to the controversy surrounding boycotts of
South Africa's apartheid regime in the 1970s and 1980s.
"I am
tired of folks discrediting a form of speech that is centered on
equality and freedom," the lawmaker continued. "This is exactly how they
tried to discredit & stop the boycott to stand up against the
apartheid in S. Africa. It didn't work then and it won't now."
Maher’s segment came one day after the Israeli government said it would deny entry to Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for their support of the BDS movement following an appeal from President Trump.
Maher opined that Omar’s past comments,
in which she seemed to suggest that “Jews control the world, control
the money,” might have played a part in “why they don’t get a hero’s
welcome.”
Tlaib's tweet came in response to a post by Intercept
columnist Mehdi Hasan, who criticized “Liberal” Maher for “railing
against BDS, Palestinians and Omar/Tlaib with an all-white panel
featuring no Palestinians, no Arabs, no Muslims, no people of colour.”
On
Friday, the Israeli government said Tlaib could visit her relatives in
the West Bank, including her 99-year-old grandma, on humanitarian
grounds. But then the Interior Ministry released a letter purportedly
signed by Tlaib in which she promised not to advocate boycotts during
her visit. That appears to have lead to her decision to cancel the
visit.
"Visiting
my grandmother under these oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me
would break my grandmother's heart," she said in a statement. "Silencing
me with treatment to make me feel less-than is not what she wants for
me — it would kill a piece of me that always stands up against racism
and injustice." Fox News' Joseph A. Wolfsohn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"Real Time" host Bill Maher doubled down Friday on his desire for the U.S. economy to fall into recession in hopes of blocking a second term for President Trump -- telling his panel of guests any hardship that results would be "very worth" it.
"I've
been saying for about two years that I hope we have a recession and
people get mad at me," said Maher, a multimillionaire who would likely
be well insulated from a financial downturn.
“I’m just saying we
can survive a recession," he continued. "We've had 47 of them. We've had
one every time there's a Republican president! They don’t last
forever, You know what lasts forever? Wiping out species!”
The
HBO star then pointed to a U.N. report warning how many species of
plants and animals are at the risk of extinction and went on to blast
the Trump administration for rolling back regulations from the Nixon-era Endangered Species Act "like any evil villain would do."
"So
yes, a recession would be very worth getting rid of Donald Trump and
these kinds of policies," Maher reiterated. "A recession would
definitely knock him out of office."
Earlier this month, Maher revived his argument in favor of a recession and last week found an ally in NBC News correspondent Richard Engel during a panel discussion.
Gaffe-prone Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden reportedly added another factual blunder to his list Friday.
During a campaign fundraiser in his home state of Delaware,
the former vice president was referencing a speech he had made to a
group of 275 people, in which he accused President Trump of "fueling a
literal carnage” in the country through his rhetoric.
But Biden mistakenly recalled the location of the speech as Burlington, Vt., instead of Burlington, Iowa, according to The Washington Examiner. Whether Biden had Democratic rival Bernie Sanders -- a former mayor of Burlington, Vt. -- on his mind was not immediately known.
The
mistake was the latest in a series of gaffes the 76-year-old Biden has
made that have caused concern among some Democrats that's he's too old
and prompted President Trump to say he isn’t “playing with a full deck.”
Last
week in Iowa, Biden said “poor kids” are just as smart as “white kids,”
and last weekend he mistakenly said he met with survivors of the
February 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting while vice president --
even though he had left office more than a year before the attack.
He has also confused former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for Theresa May twice since May.
Biden’s press secretary told CNN the focus on Biden's blunders is a “press narrative, not a voter narrative."
The candidate himself, however, appears to take his verbal slip-ups in stride.
“I am a gaffe machine, but, my God, what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can’t tell the truth," according to The Washington Post.
Some Biden allies have suggested limiting his appearances due to the mistakes, the Examiner reported.
Patriot Prayer founder and rally organizer Joey Gibson speaks to
his followers at a rally in Portland, Ore., Aug. 4, 2018. (Associated
Press)
Idiot
The leader of a conservative group was arrested Friday in Portland, Ore., one day before planned protests involving supporters of the far-left Antifa movement and supporters of several conservative groups.
Joey Gibson, leader of Portland-based Patriot Prayer, turned himself in to authorities in connection with an arrest warrant for rioting,
stemming from a violent clash in the city on May 1, according to the
Associated Press. He was later released after posting bail, with further
legal action pending.
In a video posted on Facebook, Gibson
accused police of targeting conservative groups for arrests but not
members of Antifa, even though masked Antifa supporters have been seen
on videos engaging in violence during past protests.
Gibson asserted that authorities were trying to intimidate conservatives who planned to protest Saturday.
“They want you to not show up in Portland, they want to put fear in your hearts,” Gibson said.
“They want you to not show up in Portland, they want to put fear in your hearts.” — Joey Gibson, Patriot Prayer
He also asked conservative protesters to refrain from violence Saturday.
"Force them to arrest you for being peaceful," he said.
"Force them to arrest you for being peaceful." — Joey Gibson, Patriot Prayer
Gibson,
35, was not connected to the events planned for Saturday but had
organized Portland rallies that turned violent in 2017 and 2018, the
report said.
Separately, a conservative group called the Oath
Keepers has decided it will not participate Saturday, saying it did not
believe organizers had done enough to discourage white supremacists from
showing up.
Portland authorities have been taking steps intended
to minimize the chances that Saturday’s demonstrations repeat the
violence of past events. Personnel from more than two-dozen law
enforcement agencies – representing local, state and federal government –
are involved in trying to maintain order during the demonstrations, the
AP reported.
“I'm confident that from a law enforcement
perspective, we're going to have all the tools and the resources and
personnel we need,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday on Fox News’ “Outnumbered Overtime.” The mayor, a Democrat, has drawn criticism over the city’s handling of past protests.
In June, conservative writer Andy Ngo was hospitalized after being attacked by Antifa supporters at a Portland demonstration.
On Friday, Ngo told “Fox & Friends” that he feared Saturday’s event “has the potential to be a powder keg.”
Precautions being taken in Portland for Saturday include plans by many downtown businesses to close for the day,
as well as the planned closure of the Hawthorne Bridge, which connects
eastern Portland to the downtown area, across the Willamette River, OregonLive reported. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
