'America's Got Talent' alum loses gig on ZZ Top guitarist's tour after posing in MAGA hat, holding Chick-fil-A

Benton Blount says this photo cost him a gig as the opening act for the solo tour of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. (Facebook)

“America’s Got Talent” alum Benton Blount abruptly lost his opening-act gig on ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons' concert tour after his pro-Trump Facebook post got him temporarily banned from the social media website.
Blount was four shows into the seven-show slot when he learned he was kicked off the tour, South Carolina’s Greenville News reported.
The post showed Blount wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and an “I Voted” sticker on Election Day while holding a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and drink. The photo carried the caption, "Someone reading this just got offended multiple times. My work here is done! #Vote."
“Drove down here (Atlanta) from Greenville, South Carolina to the venue. I get a call from my friend from California who informs me that not only have I been banned from Facebook but as a result from being banned from Facebook I was pulled off of the Billy Gibbons tour, effectively immediately,” Blount said in a Facebook Live video.

Billy Gibbons, right, of ZZ Top. (Charles Gallay / WireImage)

“But suppression of Conservative opinion doesn’t happen and it doesn’t effect (sic) your career!,” he posted.
Blount told the Greenville News on Thursday that he never spoke with Gibbons personally and that he often shares politically charged themes and pokes fun at politics on his podcast page.
Representatives for Gibbons contacted by the State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., did not return requests for comment.
No reason was given for Blount's removal from the tour, only that the post “did not meet community standards,” Blount said.
His Facebook page shows several posts in support of President Trump and Republicans and others bashing Democrats and liberals.
“I thought that it would be OK for me to post that I voted. I thought that it would be OK for me to say who I supported,” Blount said. “I had a MAGA hat on. For that reason, and that reason alone ... my career is on hold for the week.”

“I thought that it would be OK for me to post that I voted. I thought that it would be OK for me to say who I supported. I had a MAGA hat on. For that reason, and that reason alone ... my career is on hold for the week.”
— Benton Blount, “America’s Got Talent” alum 

He vowed that the incident won’t curb him from speaking his mind.
“As cool as this tour is, I’m not going to start not posting a picture of me voting because somebody might realize I voted for somebody they don’t like,” he said on Facebook.
Blount was featured in 2015 as a contestant on “America’s Got Talent,” which was won by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin.
The exposure revived his stalling country music career after his label, Golden Music Nashville, folded in 2010.

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema takes paper-thin lead over Martha McSally in Arizona Senate race

Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema suddenly took a narrow 9,600-vote lead over GOP opponent Martha McSally late Thursday, with some 400,000 votes left to count in a closely-watched race that will determine the size and influence of the Republican Senate majority in January.
The whirlwind reversal in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake was a striking reminder that Election Day, though it concluded on Tuesday, might not be out of surprises. McSally had consistently led Sinema since Election Day, and was ahead by 17,000 votes as of early Thursday.
But Sinema pulled ahead by just 2,000 votes that afternoon, and her lead expanded by approximately another 7,000 votes the next hour.
Sinema now has 932,870 votes statewide, while McSally has 923,260 and Green Party candidate Angela Green currently has 43,838, according to results provided by election officials at 8 p.m. EST.
Some 345,000 votes are yet to be counted in Maricopa County alone, including a bevy of mail-in ballots dropped off at polling places on Election Day. Republicans expect those votes to lean for McSally.
As the tense process proceeded Thursday, McSally, who previously flew close air support combat missions in an A-10 warplane above Iraq and Kuwait, lightened the mood by tweeting a picture of herself at the dentist's office.
"With half a million ballots left to count, we remain confident that as votes continue to come in from counties across the state, Martha McSally will be elected Arizona's next Senator," McSally campaign head Jim Bognet said.
Still, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who easily cruised to reelection on Tuesday, was significantly outperforming McSally in several GOP-leaning areas of Arizona. Some analysts, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said it's very unlikely McSally will reclaim the lead.
Though she has only a little more than 2 percent of the overall vote, Green is playing an outsized role in the proceedings. The Green Party candidate, who dropped out of the race before Election Day and threw her support behind Sinema, is facing accusations of playing a potential "spoiler" role in the contest.
APPROPRIATELY-NAMED GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE ANGELA GREEN DENIES THAT SHE PLAYED SPOILER IN ARIZONA SENATE RACE
“I know the Democrats think all 3rd party voters would’ve chosen them, but I’m sorry to say that’s just not the case. Same goes for the Republicans,” Green wrote on her campaign website. “No 3rd party candidate should have to endure accusations of being 'spoilers' just because the 'winner takes all' two-party system is severely broken. This is a complete travesty. It’s time for change.”
She added:  “I knew I wasn’t going to win, so being a true candidate for the people and not the politics, I felt that if I withdrew and could endorse a candidate closest to the ideas and views of those whom I represent, then at least I can feel as though this withdrawal from the Senate race will not be in vain.”
Arizona GOP officials sent mailers to Democratic voters during the campaign that highlighted Green's liberal views and tied her to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a roundabout bid to convince them to support Green instead of Sinema.

GOP Senate candidate Rick Scott files bombshell lawsuits accusing Dem Florida election officials of trying to 'steal the election'

Accusing Democrats of conducting a coordinated effort to "steal" elections in a campaign of possibly "rampant fraud," Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott filed explosive lawsuits late Thursday against the top election officials in two heavily Democratic counties, as they continue to report new votes and three major races in the state appear headed for recounts.
In their lawsuit against Broward County, Scott and the National Republican Senatorial Committeee (NRSC) allege that officials there are hiding critical information about the number of votes cast and counted. And in a parallel suit against Palm Beach County, Scott and the NRSC charge that the election supervisor there illegally used her own judgment to determine voter intent when reviewing damaged or incorrectly filled-out absentee ballots, while refusing to allow impartial witnesses to monitor the process.
"I will not stand idly by while unethical liberals try to steal an election," Scott, who is currently Florida's governor, said at a press conference outside the Governor's Mansion, as he slammed potential "rampant fraud" in the race.
Scott is running against longtime incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. On Thursday, a Nelson spokesperson tersely dismissed Scott's effort: “The goal here is to see that all the votes in Florida are counted and counted accurately. Rick Scott’s action appears to be politically motivated and borne out of desperation.”
The bombshell litigation comes hours after Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, in an extraordinary series of tweets that alleged incompetence if not outright complicity by Florida officials, charged that Democratic lawyers were "descending on" the state in a calculated attempt to "change the results" and "try and steal" several statewide races.
Also late Thursday, President Trump threw another wrench into the evening, announcing on Twitter that "Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach." He did not elaborate, but speaking to Fox News' "Hannity," Scott said he had directed a Florida law enforcement agency to probe the matter.
"Late Tuesday night, our win was projected to be around 57,000 votes," Scott told reporters. "By Wednesday morning, that lead dropped to 38,000. By Wednesday evening, it was around 30,000. This morning, it was around 21,000. Now, it is 15,000."
He continued: "On election night, Broward County said there were 634,000 votes cast. At 1 a.m. today, there were 695,700 ballots cast on election day. At 2:30 p.m. today, the number was up to 707,223 ballots cast on Election Day. And we just learned, that the number has increased to 712,840 ballots cast on Election Day. In Palm Beach County, there are 15,000 new votes found since election night.
"So, it has been over 48 hours since the polls closed and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are still finding and counting ballots – and the Supervisors – Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher – cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist or where these ballots came from, or where they have been," Scott said.
A mandatory recount now appears imminent not only in Scott's race, but also in the agricultural commissioner contest and Florida's high-profile gubernatorial brawl between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis, based on new vote totals -- even though Gillum has already conceded. Florida law requires a machine recount when candidates are within 0.50 percentage points of each other.

"I will not stand idly by while unethical liberals try to steal an election."
— GOP Florida Senate candidate Rick Scott

Speaking to "Hannity" Thursday night, Scott said, "We don't know how many votes they're gonna come up with. But it appears they're going to try to come up with as many votes as it takes to win this election. ... We're gonna fight this, and we're gonna win."
Earlier in the evening, he was just as direct: "No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C. will be allowed to steal this election from the voters in the state of Florida," he said outside his residence.
Scott's first emergency complaint accuses Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes of being "unwilling to disclose records revealing how many electors voted, how many ballots have been canvassed, and how many ballots remain to be canvassed," and charges that the uncertainty "raises substantial concerns about the validity of the election process."
GOP VOTERS WIN GERRYMANDERING LAWSUIT AGAINST DEMS, FORCING MARYLAND TO REDRAW MAP BEFORE 2020
The NRSC specifically allege that Snipes is in violation of the Florida Constitution and the Florida Public Records Act. They demand an emergency hearing, as well as a court order requiring Snipes to turn over information about ballots in Broward County.
Scott's complaint against Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher, meanwhile, alleges first that officials there illegally refused to allow Republicans, or any witnesses, to monitor the county's handling of damaged absentee ballots.
"Even more alarmingly," Scott additionally claims, Bucher "failed to allow the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board" to determine, as required by law, which damaged or improperly filled-out absentee ballots were valid and how the voters of those ballots had intended to vote. Instead, Scott and the NRSC argue, Bucher and her staff simply used their own judgment when determining voters' intent.
The suit against Bucher demands an injunction requiring Bucher to make and compare duplicate copies of all damaged absentee ballots in the presence of Scott's representatives, and to allow the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board to determine voters' intent when counting those ballots.
Rubio, in his barrage of broadsides against Snipes earlier in the day, pointed to the "slow drip" of tens of thousands of additional ballots that were reported throughout the day Thursday, most of which were favorable to several Democratic candidates. Rubio said those late disclosures violated Florida election law, which necessitates that mail-in and early voting ballots be counted within 30 minutes of polls closing.
"Bay County was hit by a Cat 4 Hurricane just 4 weeks ago, yet managed to count votes & submit timely results," Rubio wrote. "Yet over 41 hours after polls closed #Broward elections office is still counting votes?"
GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE STACEY ABRAMS REFUSES TO CONCEDE
Rubio and Scott both made it clear they have no confidence in Snipes' integrity.
"A U.S. Senate seat & a statewide cabinet officer are now potentially in the hands of an elections supervisor with a history of incompetence & of blatant violations of state & federal laws," Rubio wrote, linking to a Miami Herald article describing several scandals that have gripped Broward County’s Elections Department.
Earlier this year, a judge found that Snipes had illegally destroyed ballots in a 2016 congressional contest, leading the secretary of state's office to assign election monitors to supervise her.
“I think the problems are blown out of proportion,” Snipes said in October, in an interview with The Miami Herald. “Broward is nitpicked to the bone. Other places have the same problems, different problems. It’s just that they are not spotlighted like we are.”
At his Thursday press conference, Scott outlined some of Snipes' troubled history.
"In 2016, Brenda Snipes’ office posted election results half an hour before polls closed – a violation of election law," Scott said. "That same year, her office was sued for leaving amendments off of ballots. In 2014, Brenda Snipes’ fellow Democrats accused her of individual and systemic breakdowns that made it difficult for voters to cast regular ballots. All Floridians should be concerned about that."
Vote totals in several major races in the state are changing rapidly, on an irregular schedule and sometimes late into the evening. Scott was ahead of Nelson by roughly one-fourth of one percentage point as of Thursday morning, according to The Tampa Bay Times. The paper also said the agriculture commissioner candidates were separated by only 0.06 points. That race flipped in favor of the Democratic candidate on Thursday afternoon.
Broward County reported that significantly more votes were received in the agriculture commissioner contest than the much higher-profile Senate election. An attorney for Nelson's campaign suggested a computer error might explain that anomaly.
In the closely watched gubernatorial race, DeSantis held a narrow 0.52-percentage-point edge over Gillum as of Thursday morning, extremely close to the 0.5 percent threshold needed to trigger a machine recount. Gillum has conceded the race, although his decision is nonbinding.
But by Thursday afternoon, unofficial figures had DeSantis up by just 38,515 votes out of the more than 8 million cast -- a lead of just 0.47 percent, low enough to trigger a mandatory recount, according to The Tallahassee Democrat. No recount has yet been announced by Florida's secretary of state; the first unofficial vote count is expected to be verified Saturday.
"On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count," Gillum's campaign said in a statement Thursday evening. "Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported. Our campaign, along with our attorney Barry Richard, is monitoring the situation closely and is ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount."
Without providing legally sufficient justification, Rubio said, Democrat-controlled Broward and Palm Beach counties on Wednesday afternoon continued to report new ballots, cutting into Scott's already-thin lead and flipping the state's agriculture commissioner race to Democrats.
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told Fox News that Palm Beach is still counting about 2,000 mail-in ballots where voters circled or highlighted (by drawing an arrow pointing at the candidate’s name) their choice, instead of filling in the appropriate bubbles.
Bucher told Fox News that elections department staff is going through each of the 2,000 mail-in ballots, and where voter intent is determined, a worker is filling in a new ballot on behalf of the voter. Where voter intent cannot be determined, the ballot is sent to the canvassing board to undergo review.
Elections officials are also reviewing 1,500 military and overseas ballots which are still being counted. Florida law allows military servicemembers to mail or fax ballots in. A provisional vote report is due in Tallahassee on Saturday by noon.
"#Broward election supervisors ongoing violation of #Florida law requiring timely reporting isn’t just annoying incompetence," Rubio wrote. "It has opened the door for lawyers to come here & try to steal a seat in the U.S. Senate & Florida Cabinet."
Florida law dictates that if the margin in any race hits 0.25 percent or lower, a manual recount of any ballots set aside from the machine recount will be ordered -- reminiscent of the scene in the 2000 presidential election, when the country was gripped by images of poll workers counting votes deciphering hanging chads by hand.
Broward County election officials did not return Fox News' multiple requests for comment.

CNN's Jim Acosta Cartoons

South Carolina voter told to remove 'Trump' shirt in order to vote: report

A man trying to vote in South Carolina was reportedly told to remove his "Trump" shirt before he could cast a ballot in the midterm election Tuesday. (Todd Price via Storyful)

Vote Trump, no service?
A man in South Carolina who was donning a T-shirt that showed his support of President Trump was reportedly told to remove the article of clothing if he wanted to vote in Tuesday's midterm election.
The unidentified man was trying to vote at a polling location in Murrells Inlet when he was asked to remove his shirt, WPDE-TV reported. Photos posted online don't clearly show what graphics are on the shirt.
Voter Todd Price wrote on Facebook that officials "made this poor guy take off this Trump shirt to vote. I thought it was ok as long as the shirt wasn't for someone on the ballot?"
According to Georgetown County's Board of Elections, "campaign materials" are not allowed within 200 feet of a polling precinct or inside of the voting location. "This includes buttons, hats, T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc."
Based on South Carolina election laws, people are specifically not allowed to display "political literature and displays" within 200 feet of a voting precinct.
The county's board of elections did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Gregg Jarrett: Trump did the right thing by telling Jeff Sessions – You’re Fired!

Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who at long last turned in his resignation Wednesday after it was justifiably requested by President Trump – did more damage to the Trump presidency and to the nation than any public official in modern history. He clearly deserved to be fired long ago.
As I wrote in a column last month calling for his firing, Sessions was the personification of misfeasance or nonfeasance. His actions, or lack thereof, were born of incompetence. He rarely exhibited the kind of leadership skills that are demanded of the nation’s leading law enforcement official.
More often than not, Sessions was missing in action. As President Trump quite accurately remarked in a recent interview, “I don’t have an attorney general.” This is the reason Sessions was finally, if belatedly, shown the door. America and the president of the United States both deserve to have a functioning Justice Department and a competent attorney general.
There are many well-documented examples of Sessions’ ineffectiveness and incompetence.
The now-former attorney general ignored pleas from members of Congress to reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation, including the former secretary of state’s destruction of documents under congressional subpoena.
Incredibly, Sessions refused to present compelling evidence of possible criminality by Clinton to a federal grand jury. And he never initiated an investigation into Clinton’s role in paying for Russian information that was then fed to the FBI for the sole purpose of damaging her political opponent, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
When evidence emerged that top officials at the FBI abused their positions of power to launch an investigation of Trump-Russia “collusion” without probable cause or an “articulable factual basis” – as required under FBI guidelines – Sessions failed to take aggressive action against those officials who may well have violated the law with impunity.
Sessions should have ordered that a grand jury examine the conduct of fired FBI Director James Comey – along with the conduct of disgraced FBI and Justice Department officials Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce Ohr and others – to see if their highly questionable actions on the Clinton email scandal and other matters rose to the level of criminal conduct.
When it was learned that officials at the FBI and Justice Department concealed vital information and allegedly deceived judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in order to gain a warrant to wiretap a Trump campaign associate, Sessions did absolutely nothing about it. Instead, he obstructed lawful subpoenas issued by Congress, hiding evidence and covering up suspected wrongdoing.
Sessions’ committed multiple mistakes that led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate baseless and absurd charges that the Trump campaign and Russia worked together to elect Trump.
Sessions mistakes are too numerous to list here, but I have documented them in detail in my best-selling book “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.”
At the outset, the attorney general wrongfully disqualified himself from any involvement in the Mueller probe, citing a federal regulation that had no relevance or application. Recusal pertains to criminal cases – not to counterintelligence probes, which is what the Russia inquiry was when Sessions recused himself. Inexplicably, Sessions misunderstood the regulations.
When he testified before Congress, Sessions admitted he set his recusal in motion on his first day in office. He never advised President Trump of his intentions, betraying the president’s trust and poisoning their relationship from the outset. If not for Sessions’ deceit, it is unlikely that a special counsel would have ever been appointed.
Instead, Sessions’ replacement in overseeing the Russia case, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, took it upon himself to appoint Robert Mueller to preside over the probe. This played neatly into the scheme admittedly devised by Comey, who just happened to be Mueller’s close friend and long-time professional ally.
The appointment of Mueller was illegitimate. It should have never happened.
First, there must be a conflict of interest for a special counsel to be appointed. But since Sessions had recused himself from the Russia investigation, no conflict of interest existed.
Second, a suspected crime must be identified in the order appointing a special counsel. Yet, no crime was ever stated. In defiance of the law, the Muller probe turned into an investigation in search of a crime – looking for something – anything – to justify its existence.
The blame for this costly mess that has distracted our entire nation and taken up the time of Trump administration officials from their work on behalf of the American people rests squarely on Sessions’ shoulders.
As I noted in my book, President Trump – or any president, for that matter – deserves an attorney general who is forthright about his intentions, not someone who concealed his plan to step aside from a major investigation that would surely impact the new administration.
Sessions’ deception also deprived him of Trump’s confidence and trust, which are essential to the job of attorney general. This ethical impropriety rendered Sessions unfit to serve.
It was no secret that Sessions would be fired after the midterm elections. President Trump had frequently expressed his impatience, disgust and frustration with his incompetent attorney general.
Yet, like Captain Renault in the classic film “Casablanca,” many in the media feigned shock at the announcement. Immediately, their hysterical overreaction took root.
Some claimed with certainty that this was an effort by Trump to obstruct the Mueller investigation because they contended that newly named Acting Attorney General, Mark G. Whitaker –Sessions’ chief of staff – would supplant Rosenstein in overseeing the probe.
No one bothered to mention that Rosenstein needs to be replaced in that role because of his own disqualifying conflict of interest. He is a key witness in the very case over which he presides, in violation of both federal regulations and the Code of Professional Responsibility.
The outrage among the anti-Trump media was deafening Wednesday when Sessions’ dismissal was announced. They seemed oblivious to the fact that Cabinet changes following an election are not uncommon historically.
When President Richard Nixon was re-elected in 1972, he asked for and received the resignations of all members of his Cabinet, although he ended up retaining quite a few of them.
In 1979, all members of President Jimmy Carter’s White House staff and Cabinet secretaries tendered their resignations as part of a reshaping of the Carter administration before the 1980 presidential election. In all, Carter fired four Cabinet secretaries.
In fact, from 1945 until President Trump was inaugurated, 19 Cabinet secretaries were sacked by presidents.
Of course, it is always newsworthy when the head of a federal department is terminated. But the media’s unhinged reaction on Wednesday that nefarious designs are afoot is yet another example of Trump Derangement Syndrome – the irrational and paranoid reaction to everything President Trump does.
The anti-Trump media’s visceral hatred and abiding contempt directed against the president are so acute that these feelings impair all reasoned judgment. They no longer pretend to be fair, objective or neutral. They assume the worst and often ignore the obvious.
It was obvious that Sessions deserved to be fired long ago. Indeed, in a column I wrote 14 months ago headlined “Sessions should resign, but not before taking action against Clinton, Comey and Rice,” I recounted all of the attorney general’s failures of deed and character. I urged him to resign so as to restore some semblance of integrity to the Department of Justice. Had he left then, the damage he has wrought since would have been minimized.
It will take time and strong leadership for the Justice Department to regain the credibility it has squandered under Sessions’ notorious reign.
President Trump should be commended for taking action to right the ship. Whomever he nominates for the permanent position of attorney general will be challenged to repair the considerable damage Sessions has left in his wake.
Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, would be an excellent choice to replace Sessions. A leading member of the House Judiciary Committee, he is a former U.S. attorney who also served as chief of anti-terrorism and national security for the Eastern District of Texas in the Department of Justice.
Ratcliffe is well acquainted with the suspected corruption at the FBI and Justice Department. He would end the persistent cover-ups and would work assiduously to uphold the rule of law, while holding accountable those who broke it.

Left-Wing Antifa

A self-described left-wing Antifa group posted videos of a mob outside the Washington, D.C., home of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Wednesday evening, chanting, “Tucker Carlson, we will fight. We know where you sleep at night.”
The now-deleted video was posted on social media by Smash Racism, D.C. The same group made headlines in September after activists confronted Sen.Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife inside a restaurant during Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
The group posted on Facebook that Carlson spreads "fear into our homes," and said it wanted to even the score.
"Each night you remind us that we are not safe. Tonight, we remind you that you are not safe either," the group posted. They also chanted, "Racist s---bag, leave town."
The post was later removed.
Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," was not home at the time. He said his wife, Susie, was home alone and heard the commotion from the kitchen. She called the police and locked herself into a pantry, he said. His brother -- who lives close by -- arrived about the same time as law enforcement.
The host said activists rang his doorbell, broke his oak door and one protester was apparently caught on security video mentioning a pipe bomb.
D.C. police did not immediately respond to a Fox News email early Thursday.
Carlson said he was at the Fox News office in Washington working on his opening monologue when neighbors texted him about the commotion outside his home. His wife of 22 years did not contact him because she didn’t want to distract him before he went on air, he said.
The group eventually scattered. It was unclear if there were any arrests. Carlson said the group posted online the home addresses of his brother and his former college roommate, Neil Patel, who co-founded the Daily Caller with Carlson.
Carlson said he is used to being confronted in public and has no interest in playing the role of victim, but he said his wife and his four children should not have to be exposed to the aggression while at home.
“Here’s the problem, I have four children,” he said by phone. “I never thought twice about leaving them home alone, but this is the reaction because this group doesn’t like my TV show.”
Twitter reportedly removed a photo of Carlson’s home address that was posted by the group. Smash Racism DC's account was suspended early Thursday.
Brit Hume, a Fox News commentator, took to Twitter to denounce the protest as “revolting, and frightening.”

CNN's Jim Acosta has press pass suspended by White House, Sarah Sanders announces

About time that piece of trash (Jim Acosta) was put in his place!

CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass to access the White House was suspended "until further notice" Wednesday, hours after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with President Trump.
"I've just been denied entrance to the WH," Acosta tweeted Wednesday night. "Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit."
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Acosta's tweet in a statement, claiming the suspension of his press credentials stemmed from his "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern." She called the behavior "absolutely unacceptable."
CNN'S JIM ACOSTA STRUGGLES WITH WHITE HOUSE AIDE TO KEEP MICROPHONE DURING TESTY TRUMP EXCHANGE
The CNN reporter, during a news conference at the White House earlier Wednesday, got into a heated debate with Trump after he asked the president about the migrant caravan. Trump told Acosta to let him do his job.
“Honestly, I think you should let me run the country and you run CNN,” the president said.
The reporter tried to ask him another question before a female White House aide walked over to him.
Trump then told him, “That’s enough!”
Acosta continued to try to talk as the intern was seen trying to take the microphone from his hand. She grabbed the microphone but Acosta wouldn't give it up and there was brief contact between the two.
Sanders in a statement — which Acosta later labeled "a lie" — said that "President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration."
"Contrary to CNN’s assertions, there is no greater demonstration of the President’s support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not being supportive of a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters over the course of an hour and a half — including several from the reporter in question," Sanders said.
"The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it is an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this Administration," she added.
CNN said Wednesday night that Acosta's suspension "was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today's press conference" and claimed Sanders "lied" in her explanation of what unraveled.
"She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened," CNN said. "This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support."
The White House Correspondents' Association in a statement called the move "unacceptable," and urged the White House to "immediately reverse this weak and misguided action."
Trump and Acosta often clash at press conferences. On Wednesday, the president called the reporter "a rude, terrible person" who "shouldn't be working for CNN."
TRUMP SLAMS CNN'S ACOSTA FOR PRESS CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE: 'YOU ARE A RUDE, TERRIBLE PERSON'
"I tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them," Trump told Acosta. “The way you treat Sarah Huckabee [Sanders] is horrible. And the way you treat other people is horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way."
CNN fired back on Twitter, calling Trump's attacks on the media "un-American," and fellow White House reporters backed Acosta.
The White House intern who attempted to take the microphone from Acosta eventually handed it off to Peter Alexander, of NBC News. He called Acosta a "diligent reporter who busts his butt" — to which Trump shot back: "Well, I'm not a big fan of yours either, to be honest."
Other journalists, however, reacted differently, including Fox News' Chris Wallace, who called Acosta's behavior "shameful."
Acosta posted a video to Twitter after his "hard pass" was suspended, showing a Secret Service agent removing his media credentials to access the White House grounds from a lanyard.
The agent appears to have some trouble removing it.
"It's been here for a while, huh?" the agent asks.
"Well yeah I've been working at the White House for five years, covering two administrations, so yeah, it's been in that thing for a while," Acosta says.