Conservative Blogger
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Targeting Trump aides: The politics of rage is out of control
We are being buried under a tsunami of toxicity.
Too many people are justifying bad behavior by decrying the actions of the Trump administration—and many of them would cry foul if the folks on their side received the same mistreatment.
As I learned when I slammed a Virginia restaurant's refusal to serve Sarah Sanders over the weekend, there is an awful lot of anger and even hatred out there, and in an era of social media, it immediately bubbles to the surface. Restraint seems to have melted away since President Trump's policy of family separations at the border, which he has since reversed, came to dominate the news coverage.
Pouring fuel on the fire is Maxine Waters, the left-wing Democratic congresswoman, who essentially called for liberals to go after Trump Cabinet members as they go about their lives. This strikes me as beyond irresponsible, and she didn't even use coded language.
"They're not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they're not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they're not going to be able to shop at a department store," Waters said. "The people are going to turn on them, they're going to protest, they're going to absolutely harass them."
That's right—a member of Congress actually called for administration officials to be harassed. It's not hard to imagine someone getting roughed up, or worse, in the process. How is this not a step toward mob rule?
Yet it's not hard to imagine Waters and her allies spewing outrage if Eric Holder or Valerie Jarrett or David Axelrod had been refused service or personally harassed by Obama-haters.
When the owner of the Red Hen in Lexington, Va. asked Sanders and her friends to leave simply because she works for the White House, CNN contributor Ana Navarro said: "You make choices in life. And there is a cost to being an accomplice to this cruel, deceitful administration."
And MSNBC contributor and Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote that it is "both natural and appropriate for decent human beings to shame and shun the practitioners" of Trump's immigration policy.
Trump jumped into the fray yesterday, tweeting: "The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!"
The president also riled things up on the immigration front, even as the media shift their focus to efforts to reunite more than 2,000 migrant children scattered across the country with their parents.
"We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country," Trump tweeted. "When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came."
In other words, the president is proposing to toss out key due process protections, which would run up against a number of Supreme Court decisions. But I doubt he really believes he can achieve that. Having been on the defensive over family separations, I think he's trying to get liberals to overreact and paint them as soft on illegal immigration for the midterms.
Still, it's one thing to battle over policy, and the reports of children being held in cages has made this perhaps the most emotional battle between Trump and his detractors in the political and media worlds. It's another to employ the Red Hen doctrine and discriminate against officials in their personal lives.
By the way, D.C., Seattle and the Virgin Islands have laws against refusing service to people based on their political affiliation or ideology. And while the Supreme Court this month ruled in favor of a baker who invoked religious beliefs in declining to provide food for a gay wedding, the decision was on the narrow grounds of how a Colorado civil rights panel handled the claim.
The Sanders incident is hardly unique. Shouting protesters gathered at the townhouse of Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, and also forced her to make an early departure from a Mexican restaurant. White House aide Stephen Miller was confronted and called a "fascist" at another restaurant. Local protesters screamed at Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at a movie screening—ironically, a Mr. Rogers documentary—and she had to be escorted out.
It's getting out of control.
Here, in a nutshell, is the debate between right and left.
David Harasanyi in The Federalist:
"You're no budding MLK. No matter what you think of Trump, you're still an insufferable a–h-le. You're a member of a tribalist, blindered mob, imbued with a false sense of certitude that allows you [to] justify incivility. That is to say, you're like a Twitter troll made real."
Josh Marshall, founder of Talking Points Memo, says we may disagree "when it comes to protests, mean words, civil disobedience, boycotts, public shunning." But, he says, "these are entirely legitimate tools of political action, civic action. Many calls for civility are simply calls for unilateral disarmament from those protesting injustices and abuses of power."
There's nothing wrong with gold old-fashioned American protest. But what's happening now is quickly sliding down a slippery slope toward harassment, denial of service and abusive behavior. It's quite revealing that this is exploding during Donald Trump's presidency—when some in the media and politics have justified to themselves that it's fine to use different standards against him.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author "Media Madness: Donald Trump, The Press and the War Over the Truth." Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.
Democrats fear call to shame Trump admin officials will cost votes in midterms: report
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| What a Wicked Witch. |
Some Democrats are reportedly concerned that public appeals to “absolutely harass” Trump administration officials will come back to hurt them in the polls and benefit Republicans.
There have been several recent instances where Trump officials have been publically shamed, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who was asked to leave by an owner of a restaurant in Virginia.
The Washington Post’s editorial board wrote a column titled, “Let the Trump team eat in peace.” The paper identified the heightened state of “passions” in the country, but saw no benefit in protesters interrupting dinners.
Democrats warned that these public encounters could win sympathy for the Trump administration, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Rep. Maxine Waters, in the meantime, is not backing down from her weekend comments calling for people to confront members of the Trump administration at gas stations and anywhere else they're seen in public.
“If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” Waters said Saturday, later telling MSNBC that protesters are “going to absolutely harass them.”
The comments were in response to Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that led to families being separated at the U.S.- Mexico border.
Waters argued her comments have been misconstrued, claiming she wasn’t calling for protesters to actually “harm” Cabinet members.
“Trump is the one who is creating lies,” Waters said during a Monday afternoon news conference. “Trying to have people believe that I talked about harming people. There’s nowhere in my statement, anytime, anyplace that we talked about harm.”
Trump worked to try and make Waters’ a spokewoman for the entire party.
“Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party,” he tweeted on Monday. “She has just called for harm to supporters, of which there are many, of the Make America Great Again movement. Be careful what you wish for Max!”
David Axelrod, the former Obama campaign strategist, urged calm.
“Disgusted with this admin’s policies? Organize, donate, volunteer, VOTE! Rousting Cabinet members from restaurants is an empty and, ultimately, counter-productive gesture that won’t change a thing,” he said in a tweet, according to The Times.
CNN star Jim Acosta shamed at Trump rally as crowd chants, 'Go home, Jim'
Maria Rojas, from West Columbia
berates CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, right, before
President Trump who is in town to support Gov. Henry McMaster speaks to
the crowd at Airport High School Monday, June 25, 2018, in West
Columbia, S.C.
(AP Photo/Richard Shiro)
Supporters of President Trump angrily heckled CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta in South Carolina Monday, shouting at him to "go home" and dubbing him "fake news Jim."
Chants of "Go home, Jim!" broke out among attendees at Trump's rally at Airport High School in West Columbia, where the president stumped for Gov. Henry McMaster in the state's gubernatorial primary.
One rallygoer, identified as Maria Rojas, personally confronted Acosta, telling him he doesn't respect the country.
"I do respect the United States, yes I do," Acosta told the woman in videos posted by an Associated Press reporter. Rojas is seen pointing at Acosta, and swatting her arms in his direction, and shouting to "take him out" of the building.
Acosta is heard saying, "I have every right to be here ma'am."
The reporter later said on CNN that "while we have had some people come up to us and be very nice this evening, I did have an elderly woman come up to me ... and said that we at CNN should get the 'f' out of this auditorium."
"She then turned to the crowd and whipped them up into a frenzy," Acosta said. "We are here to do our jobs and report the news and report on this rally and we're not going anywhere."
After the heated exchange, BuzzFeed News reported Acosta was posing for pictures with rally attendees and signing "MAGA hats and McMaster signs."
Trump calls for live, televised hearing of Strzok, 'other hating frauds' at FBI, DOJ
President Trump blasted FBI agent Peter Strzok on Monday night, arguing that the hearing for the agent known for his anti-Trump text messages should be “shown to the public on live television.”
“The hearing of Peter Strzok and the other hating frauds at the FBI & DOJ should be shown to the public on live television, not a closed door hearing that nobody will see,” the president tweeted. “We should expose these people for what they are - there should be total transparency!”
Trump’s comments came just days before Strzok is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee. Strzok apparently was willing to go before Congress, but the committee issued the order for the June 27 appearance because he wouldn’t confirm a specific date to appear, Fox News has learned.
Strzok was involved in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation before he was removed following the revelation of several anti-Trump text messages with his bureau colleague and lover, Lisa Page.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz's report on the Clinton email investigation, released earlier this month, said Page texted Strzok in August 2016, prior to then-candidate Donald Trump's election night win, saying "[Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!"
"No. No he won't. We'll stop it," Strzok responded.
Earlier Monday night, Trump also criticized Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner following reports that Warner, while allegedly drinking alcohol at a retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, joked to donors that he might reveal sensitive information known only to him and Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
“If you get me one more glass of wine, I’ll tell you stuff only Bob Mueller and I know. If you think you’ve seen wild stuff so far, buckle up. It’s going to be a wild couple of months,” he reportedly said jokingly.
“Why is Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), perhaps in a near drunken state, claiming he has information that only he and Bob Mueller, the leader of the 13 Angry Democrats on a Witch Hunt, knows,” Trump questioned. “Isn’t this highly illegal. Is it being investigated?”
Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was at a dinner for more than 100 guests as part of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) annual Majority Trust retreat, Politico reported.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Glenn Beck walks out of tense CNN interview before Brian Stelter asks why his company was 'imploding'
Glenn Beck walked out of an interview with CNN's Brian Stelter Sunday morning after he was questioned about the future of his conservative media company, TheBlaze.
In the interview with "Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter, which focused mainly on recent family separations at the border, Beck was asked to respond to a Daily Beast report which said his conservative media company "imploded" after it underwent another round of layoffs.
"Wow, Brian. Thanks a lot. I think that's the most ridiculous question I've ever heard," Beck told Stelter. "I'm sitting here getting ready to talk to you about the detaining of children and parents, and trying to break families apart."
"We want to stop it and you want to play those games? Have a nice day," Beck said, before removing his mic and walking off camera.
BRIAN STELTER SKEWERED AFTER BRAGGING CNN SKIPPED TRUMP RALLY: 'YOU'RE SETTLING FOR LAST PLACE AGAIN?'
After Beck's abrupt departure, the media host asked, "What game did I just play?"
Stelter mentioned the Daily Beast article and claimed Beck had attempted to sell TheBlaze, but "talk about a deal with The Daily Wire" reportedly "fell through."
"Frankly, I thought Glenn deserved a chance to address those reports," Stelter told his viewers. "I hope he'll come back and talk about it."
Earlier in the interview, Beck, a former Fox News host, criticized CNN, claiming it was dividing the nation by making decisions over immigration coverage based on ratings.
Beck suggested that CNN staffers were saying, "It's all about ratings, this is all about ratings." He continued, "This isn't about ratings. This is about saving our country, bringing us together. Stop dividing us."
Stelter responded: "You think I'm dividing the country for ratings by booking you?"
"Stop, Brian, look what you're doing," Beck shot back. "When did this become about you? This is about the media and the administration, that's what you guys make it into."
After his appearance on CNN, Beck took to Twitter to defend himself, writing that that recent news reports criticizing the Trump adminstration could have been written about the Obama administration, as well.
"The media is so blind," Beck tweeted. "I couldn't take anymore of it on #cnn and #ReliableSources."
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this article stated that Glenn Beck walked out of the interview after Brian Stelter asked why Beck's company was "imploding." Stelter said "imploding," referencing another media company's headline, after Beck had already left.
Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah or send her an email at nicole.darrah@foxnews.com.
President Trump Requests Democrat Cooperation on Border Security
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| President Donald Trump arrives at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Saturday, June 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) |
In a tweet today, the president said Democrats need to “fix the laws” and not resist.
He said his administration is doing far better than “Bush or Obama but we need strength and security at the border.”Democrats, fix the laws. Don’t RESIST. We are doing a far better job than Bush and Obama, but we need strength and security at the Border! Cannot accept all of the people trying to break into our Country. Strong Borders, No Crime!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
The president pointed out the United States cannot accept all of the people who are trying to break into the country.
He ended the tweet by saying “strong borders, no crime!”
The remarks comes amid a backlash on the administration’s zero-tolerance policy, on those who cross into the U.S. illegally.
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