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Northam’s career ‘in a death spiral’ after abortion comments, racist photo: Matthew Continetti

Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia has been at the center of multiple firestorms this week that may permanently damage his reputation, Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti argued Friday.
Earlier in the day, a page from Northam’s 1984 yearbook at Eastern Virginal Medical School showed two people -- one in blackface, the other wearing a KKK hood and robe. Northam, a Democrat, issued multiple apologies -- but never specified which costume had him underneath.
The timing couldn't have been worse: Earlier in the week, he faced major backlash when remarks he made in response to a fellow Virginia Democrat's late-term abortion bill had critics accusing him of defending ‘infanticide.’
During Friday's "Special Report" All-Star panel, Continetti -- along with Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall and national security adviser Morgan Ortagus -- weighed in on the fallout Northam faces going forward.
“Well it’s never a good day for a politician when you’re confronted with the yearbook photo and the Washington, D.C., community in your state is trying to figure out whether you’re the one in blackface or the one under the Klan hood," Continetti said. "This is a terrible end of the week for Northam, a week that didn’t start well either with his comments ... Northam seemed to be defending, in that radio interview, post-birth abortion, otherwise known as infanticide. This is a political career in a death spiral.”
While uncertain whether Northam would step down, Marshall called the photo “highly offensive.”
“If we’re going to have a zero-tolerance policy in politics in today of 2019, that has to be zero tolerance whether you’re a governor in Virginia, whether you’re a congressman like Steve King, there has to be a zero tolerance and it can’t just be Republicans asking for him to resign. It has to be Democrats,” Marshall said.
Meanwhile, Ortagus called for Northam to resign, telling the panel that there was “no excuse” for the yearbook photo, stressing that Northam posed for it in the 1980s while he was a young adult in medical school. She also suggested that Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax can “gracefully” replace Northam if he resigns.
That resignation could come soon, as top members of Northam's own party have been calling loudly for his departure. The list includes 2020 presidential candidates, such as Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and various liberal groups like MoveOn.org and Planned Parenthood.
Bailey comment: " He should have kept his liberal comments to himself ! Doesn't he know that liberals will turn on themselves and eat their own :-)

CNN falsely labels Northam as 'Republican' during segment on blackface-KKK yearbook photo flap

CNN labeled embattled Virginia Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam as a Republican in a chyron during a segment about his apology after his 1984 medical school yearbook page that showed him dressed either in blackface or in a KKK robe. (Twitter)

CNN -- the network that promotes the hashtag #FactsFirst -- mislabeled embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as a Republican on Friday during a segment about the Democrat's apology for his racist 1984 medical school yearbook photo.
The photo showed two men holding beers -- one dressed in blackface, the other in a KKK robe -- but Northam never made clear which one was him.
The CNN chyron that mistakenly called Northman a Republican aired Friday during "Anderson Cooper 360," the nightly show hosted by Anderson Cooper. The segment focused on a video in which Northam apologized for the nearly 35-year-old photograph.
“My fellow Virginians, earlier today I released a statement apologizing for behavior in my past that falls far short of the standard you set for me when you elected me to be your governor. I believe you deserve to hear directly from me,” Northam said in a video he posted on Twitter.
“That photo and the racist and offensive attitudes it represents does not reflect that person I am today or the way that I have conducted myself as a soldier, a doctor, and a public servant. I am deeply sorry,” he continued. “I cannot change the decisions I made nor can I undo the harm my behavior caused then and today. But I accept responsibility for my past actions, and I am ready to do the hard work of regaining your trust.”
While the CNN chyron stated Northam’s party affiliation incorrectly, Cooper identified the Virginia governor’s political affiliation accurately prior to the error.
But the error was included without acknowledgement in Cooper's tweet of the segment:
The unearthed photo of Northam, who admitted being one of the men in the picture, sent shockwaves across the country.
Fox News obtained a copy of the 1984 yearbook page from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library. Northam graduated from the school that year. The Virginian-Pilot, the Washington Post and the Richmond Times-Dispatch also reported they independently confirmed the authenticity of the page.
The quote on the page says, “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”

Fox News obtained a copy of 1984 yearbook page from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library in Norfolk.

Politicians on both sides said Northam should step down from his position, including presidential hopefuls Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Julian Castro.
“Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government,” Harris tweeted. “The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together.”
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who launched his 2020 presidential candidacy earlier in the day, said the photo has eroded confidence in Northam's ability to lead the state.
"These images arouse centuries of anger, anguish, and racist violence and they’ve eroded all confidence in Gov. Northam’s ability to lead. We should expect more from our elected officials. He should resign," Booker tweeted.
Northam’s statement didn’t indicate whether he will be resigning amid the controversy.

Trump facing revived chatter of possible GOP primary challenge

Talk of a possible Republican primary challenge to President Trump is kicking up once again, as the president grapples with the fallout from the partial government shutdown and other political turbulence.
Those who might challenge Trump remain, as they ever were, decided underdogs who would have to face off against not only a hard-charging president but the entire Republican Party infrastructure. None would be as well-known as Trump.
But from the party’s ideological center, a handful of Republicans are sending signals that they’re taking a possible primary run seriously.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is headed to New Hampshire in two weeks to headline “Politics and Eggs,” a must-stop for White House hopefuls.
A source close to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan told Fox News that Hogan, “more than others, is really taking it seriously.”
And an email this week by former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s political group reminded supporters that “many have suggested Gov. Kasich should run, and he is keeping all of his options on the table.”
With Trump coming under attack by some high-profile conservatives for ending the 35-day partial federal government shutdown without getting funding for a wall along the Mexican border, the perception in some corners of a weakened president is stoking the flames of a small but emboldened band of Republicans hoping for a viable primary challenge.
“I think the shutdown in general hurt Trump pretty badly,” conservative columnist and notorious never-Trump leader Bill Kristol said. “It makes the uphill climb [of a primary challenge] less steep.”
Pointing to the GOP’s loss of the House in the 2018 midterm elections, the departure of Defense Secretary James Mattis, the fluctuations in the stock market and the government shutdown, Kristol said “it’s a three-month period which has featured all kinds of events that have increased doubts and decreased confidence about a second-term Trump.”
The party, though, remains firmly behind the president. The Republican National Committee kicked off its annual meeting winter last Friday by passing an unprecedented pledge giving the president “undivided support” even before he’s the official 2020 nominee.
"The members just wanted to underscore, underline, highlight that we are here to re-elect President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot," Cassie Smedile, RNC national press secretary, said after the vote.
The RNC didn’t consider a stronger resolution that would have endorsed Trump as the party’s 2020 nominee.
“It was a smart move by the Trump White House to do it and it is true that a very overwhelming majority of the 168 RNC members support President Trump’s re-election,” one GOP source explained, but added “it has no impact realistically on whether someone would challenge the president.”
The RNC’s action doesn’t seem to be stopping potential primary challengers from at least considering it.
Weld, a vocal Trump critic who ran as the Libertarian Party’s 2016 vice presidential nominee, appears to be mulling a potential longshot challenge against the president.
“I’m just not saying anything. If I have anything to say, I’ll say it on the 15th,” Weld told Fox News on Wednesday, referring to the upcoming New Hampshire visit.
The state GOP, though, won’t be rolling out the welcome mat.
“He ran as a Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 2016. As far as we’re concerned he’s a Libertarian and he can’t flip-flop back and forth for political expediency,” newly elected state party Chairman Steve Stepanek told Fox News. “We don’t consider him a Republican. We don’t want him back as a Republican.”
Stepanek, a businessman and former state lawmaker who served a co-chair of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in New Hampshire, explained that “if there is a legitimate national Republican candidate, then under the bylaws I have to remain neutral. I’m not going to be supporting them by any means, I’m just not going to be going against them.”

Gov. Larry Hogan delivers his annual State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature in Annapolis, Md., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Hogan, who was re-elected last November to a second term as governor of the blue state of Maryland, isn’t ruling out a possible primary challenge either.
“I’m flattered that people are talking about that as a possibility, but it’s not something that I’m focused on,” he said Monday during a political panel moderated by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff.
“Who knows what’s going to happen two years from now. You never know,” he answered when asked about 2020.
He explained that he’s heading soon to Iowa – the state that votes first in the presidential primary and caucus calendar – because he’s a vice chair of the National Governors Association.
“They have a meeting in Iowa,” he said.
Joining Hogan on the panel was Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary.
“This is the second time I’ve seen the New Hampshire governor in two days. That doesn’t mean anything. I’m not sucking up to New Hampshire,” Hogan joked.
But a source close to Hogan said that when it comes to a primary challenge, “I think he thinks it’s the right thing to do. We’ll see if he really does it.”
Kasich, who finished second to Trump in New Hampshire’s 2016 GOP presidential primary, returned to the Granite State right after November’s midterm elections, sparking further speculation about his 2020 intentions.
He told Fox News at the time, “I really don’t know what I’m going to do.”
But he added that when it came to a possible primary challenge, “all the options are on the table.”
Two weeks ago, after finishing his second and final term as Ohio governor, Kasich signed with CNN as a senior political commentator.
Former New Hampshire Attorney General and longtime GOP consultant Tom Rath said the move gives Kasich “a bully pulpit” he could use in advance of any primary challenge.
“It’s a way to remain a part of the discussion, be part of the dialogue and he has a voice he wants to use to try to drive Americans to a better place,” added Rath, a senior adviser on Kasich’s 2016 campaign who remains close with the now-former governor.
Another launching pad for a possible primary challenge could be the Senate. There’s long been speculation that Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska is mulling a 2020 White House run. And don’t rule out newly elected Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah – the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and a vocal Trump critic.
One person who can be ruled out is former Sen. Jeff Flake. The Arizona Republican who’s frequently lambasted the president the past two years announced earlier this week that he would not be launching a 2020 presidential campaign and instead joined CBS News as a contributor.
If there is a credible challenge against Trump, New Hampshire – which allows independents to vote in either the GOP or Democratic contests – could be ground zero.
Rath said “Trump remains the prohibitive favorite up here in New Hampshire.”
But he added that the government shutdown did “open the door” a bit to a challenge.
“There are phone calls being made. There are people being talked to,” he said.

Schumer aide was forced out over 'inappropriate encounters' with staffers

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., saw his communications director depart last year over "inappropriate encounters" with staffers, a Schumer spokesman told Fox News. (Associated Press)

The communications director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was forced out of his role after the November midterm elections over “inappropriate encounters” with staffers, Fox News has learned.
“Upon learning that he had inappropriate encounters within the office and that it was making some staff uncomfortable, he was asked to leave,” a Schumer spokesman told Fox News regarding Matt House, who served as the senator's communications director for nearly six years.
No specific allegations of improper behavior involving House were disclosed.
KAMALA HARRIS AIDE RESIGNS OVER $400G HARASSMENT SETTLEMENT
In a statement to the New York Post, House said: “I absolutely loved my time working in the Senate and it was the honor of my life. I deeply regret the mistakes I made on the number of occasions when I had too much to drink, and I apologize to anyone who was affected by my behavior.”
“I have always respected all of my colleagues and I was horrified to learn that I made anyone feel uncomfortable. In the past three months, I’ve stopped drinking and I’ve committed to making myself a better colleague and person," he continued.
According to his LinkedIn page, House previously served from 2011 to 2012 as Schumer's press secretary. Prior to joining Schumer’s office, House worked for then-Sen. Joe Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign.
In the past, Schumer has been quick to comment when powerful figures have crossed lines with underlings. Along with other Democrats, he pushed for former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to resign following sexual misconduct accusations and a Senate Ethics Committee investigation.
The Schumer aide's departure was another sign of turmoil among the staffs of top Democrats.
In December a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned over inquiries about a $400,000 harassment lawsuit against him while working at the California Department of Justice.
In August, reports surfaced that a longtime driver for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was suspected of spying on behalf of the Chinese.

Idiot Democrats In Power Cartoons

Trump, House Democrats already sparring over investigations

The media have been laser-focused on President Trump's battles with Senate Republicans and his intelligence agency chiefs because when it comes to politics, there's nothing they love more than civil war.
But the greater threat to the president comes from the other party.
When Democrats won the House, there was plenty of prognostication about how they were going to use their newfound power to investigate the hell out of the administration. That faded for a while because by the time Nancy Pelosi got the gavel, the government was shut down.
But now that Washington is open for business — for the time being — the investigative machinery is starting to clank.
Congress, of course, has an obligation to oversee what the executive branch is doing. But there's a pretty clear line between that mission and burying the White House in a blizzard of subpoenas, hearings and demands for information.
DEMS WON'T STRIKE 'SO HELP YOU GOD' FROM HOUSE COMMITTEE OATH AFTER OUTCRY
The right is poised to accuse Pelosi's party of doing just that. It's the mirror image of the left accusing the GOP of obsessively investigating Benghazi, Fast and Furious and other problems in the Obama administration.
As someone who's covered dozens of such hearings, I can attest that oversight, with some exceptions, tends to be far more aggressive when the other party holds the White House.
The fencing has already begun, with The Washington Post reporting that "several Cabinet secretaries have already declined to testify before committees on contentious topics such as the impact of the shutdown and the administration's abandoned policy of separating migrant families."
Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, for instance, blew off a committee request to testify about border security. The panel's chairman, Bennie Thompson, sent her a blistering letter and told the paper, "If she says she's not coming, we'll subpoena her to the committee. We need to hear from her." Nielsen offered alternative dates — during a week when Congress is out on recess.
Treasury chief Steve Mnuchin and HHS Secretary Alex Azar also ducked House invitations, offering to send other officials instead.
FEDERAL WORKERS LINKED TO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DESERVE SAME PAY RAISE AS OTHERS, HOUSE DEMS AGREE, REJECTING GOP PROPOSAL
Here's the most interesting thing in the piece: Trump has told Pelosi, according to sources, that "if House Democrats begin investigating his administration, he will not negotiate with her on other issues."
At the same time, the Post says, Trump told the House speaker in a phone call that she is "great" and "terrific" and promised to work on infrastructure and prescription drug pricing. No wonder her nickname is just "Nancy."
Some clashes are inevitable in divided government. I covered fights between the Reagan administration and a Democratic House that escalated to contempt-of-Congress charges, though in the end they were settled.
But given the anti-Trump zeal among the Democrats, many of whose voters are ready to support impeachment, it's understandable why the president is girding for battle.
House investigations can be a powerful tool for a party that, until January, controlled nothing in Washington. But there's a danger for the Democrats if they're seen as resorting to harassment and intimidation.

Rep. Ilhan Omar targets Israel again, compares Jewish state to US South during segregation

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, tweeted another comment about Israel on Thursday night, after previously landing in hot water for posts that critics have called anti-Semitic.
This time, the freshman lawmaker agreed with a liberal activist, who wrote online that current-day Israel is much like the U.S. South was during segregation.
The latest episode began Thursday night after the liberal activist, Max Berger, blasted the American Jewish Committee for its criticism of Omar, the Somali-born congresswoman, who recently said that she “chuckles” whenever people describe Israel as a democracy.
MINNESOTA'S REP. ILHAN OMAR GETS $250G BOOK DEAL AMID UPROAR OVER HER COMMENTS
“The American Jewish establishment claims Israel is a democracy for all its citizens. But the nation state law classifies 1.6 million Palestinian Israelis as second class. And 4.7 million people live under Israeli military occupation or control without political or human rights,” Berger claimed.
Later in the thread, Berger agreed with Omar that Israel is “not a real democracy.” He also compared Israel to the segregated South.
“Israel is like the south before 1963: millions of people under Israeli control are denied the right to vote, speak freely or assemble because of their ethnicity. It's a democracy for Jews only. That's not a real democracy,” Berger tweeted.
REP. ILHAN OMAR FACING NEW SCRUTINY OVER PAST EFFORT TO WIN LENIENCY FOR 9 MEN ACCUSED OF TRYING TO JOIN ISIS
Omar endorsed the tweet, sharing his anti-Israel rhetoric to her more than 471,000 followers.
“Many of them truly know this, but don’t want to accept it. In the same way many Americans knew separate yet equal was immoral but remained silent until brave few were silent no more,” Omar wrote.
REP. ILHAN OMAR DELETES TWEET ATTACKING COVINGTON STUDENTS, AFTER BACKLASH
“They can attack, spin my words and vilify me, but they will not succeed in silencing me,” she added.
Shortly after being sworn in to Congress, the Minnesota Democrat was on the defensive for her tweet claiming Israel had “hypnotized the world.”
Earlier this month, several Republicans condemned a decision by Democratic leaders to appoint Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, charging that she has a history of making overtly anti-Semitic comments.
The strong GOP criticism came as Omar separately fielded wide-ranging criticism for posting on Twitter that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was "compromised" -- and then, in a head-turning interview on CNN, admitting she had no evidence for the assertion other than that Graham sometimes supported President Trump. Omar has since rejected suggestions that her comments were intended as a homophobic dog whistle.