Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
raised eyebrows during an interview Sunday when she said the
possibility of cutting military or economic aid to Israel is "on the
table" after the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ocasio-Cortez was on Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery”
podcast when she said Netanyahu's election comes during a disturbing
trend of "authoritarianism across the world" and called the leader a
"Trump-like figure."
Netanyahu has pledged to “apply sovereignty”
to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He told Israeli Channel 12 TV
that, “we will go to the next phase to extend Israeli sovereignty."
"I
will impose sovereignty, but I will not distinguish between settlement
blocs and isolated settlements," he continued, The Associated Press
reported. "From my perspective, any point of settlement is Israeli, and
we have responsibility, as the Israeli government. I will not uproot
anyone, and I will not transfer sovereignty to the Palestinians."
The
annexation of large parts of the West Bank could damage hope for an
Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of a Palestinian state on lands
Israel captured in 1967. The New York Times reported that American officials have discouraged any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty in the disputed territory.
Trump
has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital early in his term. The
Palestinians, who seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital,
suspended contact with the U.S. Trump has also recognized Israeli
sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a plateau Israel captured from Syria
in 1967. The move was viewed in Israel as a political gift from Trump
to Netanyahu.
This is not the first time that the freshman representative talked about the tension in the region.
Ocasio-Cortez
in July was forced to explain her comment on PBS’ “Firing Line” when
she referred to the “occupation of Palestine.” Republicans took the
comment to criticize her knowledge on the region. The host of the show,
Margaret Hoover, asked a follow-up question and Ocasio-Cortez admitted,
“I am not the expert on geopolitics on this issue,” but said she
believed in a two-state solution.
Former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci says Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is losing steam in New York while appearing on “Hannity” Monday.
Scaramucci
said New Yorkers are getting tiring of Ocasio-Cortez following her role
in Amazon pulling their headquarters from Queens, and that she will be
challenged during the next election.
“They'll find somebody to
challenge her in that district… somebody more moderate I think will take
her lights out. I don't know, she destroyed herself with this whole
Amazon thing,” Scaramucci said.
Speaking with CBS News' Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" Sunday, Pelosi downplayed Ocasio-Cortez’s role in the Democratic Party.
"You have these wings, AOC and her group on one side," Stahl told Pelosi.
"That's like five people," the speaker responded. AOC, RASHIDA TLAIB LEAP TO DEFENSE OF ILHAN OMAR AFTER HER 'SOME PEOPLE DID SOMETHING' 9/11 REMARKS
Scaramucci said New Yorkers are “tired” of the congresswoman.
“So,
she's colorful she's got some interesting ways to attract attention to
herself but I think I think New York's getting tired of it,” Scaramucci
told host Sean Hannity. Fox News's Nicole Darrah contributed to this report.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld
on Monday formally declared his candidacy for White House, setting him
off on an extreme uphill climb to defeat incumbent President Donald
Trump for the Republican nomination.
“It is time for patriotic men
and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag. It is time
to return to the principles of Lincoln – equality, dignity, and
opportunity for all. There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve
what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight," said
Weld in a statement as he launched his bid to try and topple Trump, who
remains very popular with Republicans.
Weld, a very vocal Trump
critic, also released a three-minute-long video highlighting his
achievements during his two terms as governor of Massachusetts in the
1990s.
The
video also showcased clips of some of Trump’s most controversial
moments, from the infamous “Access Hollywood” video of Trump using lewd
language to boast of his sexual groping and kissing of women without
their consent, to the president’s comments in the wake of the violence
in Charlottesville, Va., where he said “there were very fine people on
both sides” of the clashes between supporters and protesters of the
city’s Confederate monuments.
Weld, who recently returned to the
Republican Party after serving as the 2016 Libertarian Party nominee,
launched a presidential exploratory committee in February.
At
that announcement, as he headlined the “Politics and Eggs” speaking
series in New Hampshire, he called Trump “compulsive” and “irrational”
and argued that “we have a president whose priorities are skewed toward
promoting of himself rather than toward the good of the country.”
He
also lamented the state of the GOP, arguing “the president has captured
the Republican Party in Washington. Sad. But even sadder is that many
Republicans exhibit all the symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying
with their captor.”
After his announcement, Weld visited the
first-in-the-nation presidential primary state numerous times. He's set
to return Tuesday for a two-day swing in through New Hampshire.
Former
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another vocal Trump critic, has been mulling a
GOP primary challenge against Trump. So has Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan,
who heads to New Hampshire next week to headline “Politics and
Eggs,” which is a must-stop for White House hopefuls.
The
president's re-election campaign adviser and daughter-in-law, Lara
Trump, said the president’s 2020 team hasn’t been worried at all about a
Republican primary challenge.
“I don’t know why someone would be dumb enough to challenge Donald Trump,” she told Fox News recently when asked about Weld.
“I
don’t know why anybody would waste their time and money on the
Republican end trying to challenge the president. We’re not worried
about that at all,” added Trump, who was interviewed before headlining
the New Hampshire GOP’s annual fundraising gala.
Bernie Sanders
took the stage at a fiery Fox News town hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
on Monday, and sparks flew almost immediately, as Sanders defiantly
refused to explain why he would not voluntarily pay the massive new
52-percent "wealth tax" that he advocated imposing on the nation's
richest individuals.
"We'll get through this together," Sanders said at one point, as tensions flared.
Sanders later admitted outright that "you're going to pay more in taxes" if he became president. Just minutes before the town hall began, Sanders released ten years of his tax returns, which he acknowledged showed that he had been "fortunate" even as he pushed for a more progressive tax system.
According
to the returns, Sanders and his wife paid a 26 percent effective tax
rate on $561,293 in income, and made more than $1 million in both 2016
and 2017. Sanders donated only $10,600 to charity in 2016 and $36,300 in
2017, the records showed, followed by nearly $19,000 in 2018.
But
pressed by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as to why he was
holding onto his wealth rather than refusing deductions or writing a
check to the Treasury Department, Sanders began laughing dismissively
and, in an apparent non sequitur, asked why MacCallum didn't donate her
salary. (“I didn’t suggest a wealth tax," MacCallum responded.)
"Pfft, come on. I paid the taxes that I owe," Sanders shot back. "And by the way, why don't you get Donald Trump up here and ask him how much he pays in taxes? President
Trump watches your network a little bit, right? Hey President Trump, my
wife and I just released 10 years. Please do the same."
Asked
whether Sanders' success -- and subsequent decision to hold onto his
cash -- wasn't an implicit endorsement of the capitalist system he has
repeatedly called dysfunctonal, Sanders rejected the notion out of hand.
"When you wrote the book and made the money, isn’t that the definition of capitalism and the American dream?” Baier asked, referring to Sanders' bestselling 2016 memoir "Our Revolution."
"No," Sanders replied flatly, after a pregnant pause.
"What we want is a country in which everyone has an opportunity. ... A
lot of people don't have a college degree. A lot of people are not
United States senators."
Sanders doubled down on his previous defenses of his wealth, which even some progressives have called hypocritical.
"This
year, we had $560,000 in income," Sanders said. "In my and my wife's
case, I wrote a pretty good book. It was a bestseller, sold all over the
world, and we made money. If anyone thinks I should apologize for
writing a bestselling book, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna do it."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addressing a rally in North Charleston, S.C., in March. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
On whether he supported abortions that occur up to the moment of birth, Sanders retorted, "I think that happens very, very rarely,
and I think this is being made into a political issue. At the end of
the day, I think the decision over abortion belongs to a woman and her
physcian, and not the government."
Sanders also said felons, including rapists and murderers, should be able to vote from prison. But he insisted he was not simply courting more potential Democrat voters.
The Tax Day town hall took place as Sanders emerged as the fundraising front-runner among
Democrats, and sought to further distinguish himself from a crowded
field of liberal candidates who have largely embraced his progressive
proposals, from a sweeping 'Medicare for All' overhaul to a higher
minimum wage and free public college education.
"I think Trump is a dangerous president, but if all we do is focus on him, we lose," Sanders said at the town hall.
Separately,
Sanders acknowledged that his proposed Medicare for All health care
overhaul -- which has also been embraced by other 2020 Democrat
hopefuls, including Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren -- would mean
that many Americans would "pay more in taxes."
Some estimates put the total costs for the plan over 10 years at more than $32 trillion, and say it would necessitate historic tax hikes.
Sanders
began by deflecting when asked by Baier whether he was concerned about
the rising national debt, saying it was "ironic" that Republicans
weren't instead attacking the president.
"You're talking to the wrong guy," Sanders said. "We pay for what we're proposing, unlike the President of the United States."
Sanders more substantively discussed a plan to impose a "speculaton tax" on Wall Street.
"I
am concerned about the debt. That's a legitimate concern," Sanders
said. "But we pay for what we are proposing. In terms of Medicare for
All, we are paying for that by eliminating as I said before, deductibles
and premiums. We are going to save the average American family money."
When Baier polled the audience at the town hall -- which was clearly supportive of Sanders throughout -- most indicated they would support Sanders' health care plan, despite currently having private insurance they would lose.
Sanders also warned that climate change poses an existential threat, citing a recent United Nations report claiming
that only 12 years remain to make significant changes in global carbon
emissions to avert a climate catastrophe. The United Nations made the
same prediction in 1989, falsely warning that the world then faced a 10-year deadline that has come and gone.
On
immigration, Sanders said we "don't need to demonize immigrants" and
proposed "building proper facilities right on the border" and enacting
"comprehensive immigration reform." But he said it was "not a real
question" when MacCallum asked about the merits of Trump's proposal to send illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities.
The
77-year-old self-proclaimed 'democratic socialist' — the
longest-serving Independent member of Congress in history — has also
faced criticisms that he mght be too old to serve as president.
At
the town hall, Sanders acknowledged it was a "fair question," but said
to applause there is "too much focus on individuals and not enough focus
on the American people and what their needs are."
Over the weekend, Sanders sparred with progressive activist groups
that pointed out that he has since largely dropped his criticisms of
"millionaires and billionaires," opting instead to single out
"billionaires" only.
Earlier Monday afternoon, Sanders previewed
some of his messaging by asserting that President Trump's "tax policies"
will "raise taxes on millions of people."
In an article entitled "Face it: You (Probably) Got a Tax Cut,"
the New York Times credited liberal messaging with confusing large
swaths of the electorate into thinking that their taxes went up, when in
fact most saw significant tax savings under Trump's 2017 tax law.
DNC Chair Tom Perez in April 2017. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images, File)
The town hall marked the Vermont senator's first
appearance on Fox News Channel since he agreed to be a guest on Baier's
show in December 2018. He also participated in a Fox News Channel town
hall back in 2016 alongside his then-competitor Hillary Clinton.
Sanders ended the town hall by thanking Fox News for providing him the opportunity.
"Not
everybody thought I should come on this show," Sanders said at one
point. "Your network does not have a great deal of respect in my world,
but I thought it was important to be here.
Democratic
National Committee (DNC) chair Tom Perez has excluded Fox News from
hosting a Democrat primary debate. Some congressional Democrats have
called that decision inappropriate and unhelpful, and DNC leadership
later said it had no objection to Sanders appearing at a Fox News town
hall.
Asked whether he felt that the DNC would seek to tip the
scales against Sanders -- as leaked emails showed it did in 2016 --
Sanders was optimistic.
"I think we have come a long way since
then. We speak to the DNC every week," Sanders told Baier and
MacCallum. "And I think the process will be fair."
Since
announcing his presidential bid in February, Sanders has hauled in a
whopping $18.2 million in the first 41 days of his campaign. But,
although Sanders had a fundraising edge over his rivals, Democrats
generally haven't raised as much cash as they'd hoped by this point.
Many donors have been sitting on the sidelines to see how the contest
unfolds, signaling a drawn-out primary battle ahead.
The campaign
among Democrats has come into greater focus as declared White House
hopefuls reported their first-quarter fundraising totals. Early glimpses
provided by nine of the declared candidates showed that Democrats were
raising less money than they had in previous cycles and were coming up
short against the campaign bank account Trump has been building.
Democrats
collectively raised about $68 million since January, according to the
candidates who have already released their fundraising totals. That's
less than the $81 million Democrats raised during the same period in
2007, the last time the party had an open primary, according to data
from the Federal Election Commission. And, it paled in comparison with
the $30 million Trump raised during the first quarter.
"There is
no question that the numbers are not at the level that they were with
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in 2008 by a long shot," said Tom
Nides, a Clinton adviser and longtime fundraiser. "Am I worried? No, I'm
not worried. But I'm a little bit concerned." Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bernie Sanders is getting ready to make his pitch for president in front of a large audience at Fox News' town hall on Monday.
Fox
News' Bret Baier, of "Special Report," and Martha MacCallum, of "The
Story," will co-anchor the hour-long event. It will be the Vermont
senator's first appearance on Fox News Channel since he agreed to be a
guest on Baier's show in December 2018. He also participated in Fox News
Channel's Democratic town hall back in 2016 alongside his
then-competitor Hillary Clinton.
Sanders, who raised $18 million in the first six weeks of his campaign,
is considered a front-runner among a crowded field of 2020 presidential
hopefuls. Before the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist takes the
stage, here's a look at everything you need to know.
When and where is the Fox News town hall?
The Sanders town hall will take place on Monday, April 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
How can I watch it?
You can watch the town hall on the Fox New Channel. The event will also be available via live stream — just log into your TV provider to watch the event in real-time on foxnews.com or the Fox News app.
"The Story with Martha MacCallum" will air on Fox News immediately following the event at 7:30 p.m. ET.
What will Sanders focus on during the town hall?
The
77-year-old — the longest-serving Independent member of Congress ever —
is expected to focus on the economy and his plans for U.S. job growth.
"It’s time for an economy that works for all of us, not just the rich," Sanders has repeatedly said in the past. HOW DID BERNIE SANDERS MAKE HIS MONEY? A LOOK AT HIS WEALTH AND ASSETS
In December 2018, Sanders outlined four ways
to "revitalize" the U.S. economy: increasing the minimum wage to $15 by
2024, universal health care, tuition-free colleges and the creation of
"millions of jobs" in sustainable energy.(No More Farting Cows)
"Our campaign is about creating a government and economy that work for the many, not just the few," tweeted Sanders
in February. "We should not have grotesque levels of wealth inequality
in which three billionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of the
country."
Always someone else's Fault, nothing to do with her big mouth.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Sunday night she's received an influx of death threats since President Trump tweeted a video that combined comments from the congresswoman — which critics said were dismissive of the Sept. 11 attacks — with footage from Ground Zero.
"I
have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life—many directly
referencing or replying to the President's video," Omar tweeted
in a statement. "I thank the Capitol Police, the FBI, the House
Sergeant at Arms, and the Speaker of the House for their attention to
these threats."
In her statement, Omar continued: "Violent crimes
and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists
are on the ride in this country and around the world. We can no longer
ignore that they are being encouraged by the occupant of the highest
office in the land."
The president tweeted
the video out last Friday. It included a snippet from a recent speech
Omar gave to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). She had
said, in her defense of the organization, that CAIR was founded after
Sept. 11, 2001 "because they recognized that some people did something
and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties."
CAIR had been formed in 1994.
The video also included news
footage of the hijacked planes hitting the Twin Towers in Lower
Manhattan. The video concluded with: "September 11, 2001 — we remember."
"Counties
that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent increase when cities
host Trump rallies," Omar said, apparently citing Washington Post research.
Omar
said "this is particularly concerning" because Trump is scheduled to
visit Minnesota on Monday. The White House said the president will take
part in a roundtable discussion on tax reform and the economy.
"Violent
rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society,
much less from our country's Commander in Chief," the freshman
congresswoman also said. "We are all Americans. This is endangering
lives. It has to stop."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the video, and on Sunday announced that to ensure Omar's safety,
she had spoken with congressional authorities after Trump’s tweet "to
ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to
safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff."
"They
will continue to monitor and address the threats she faces," the speaker
said. She called on Trump to take down the video and discourage such
behavior.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders vowed that the
president would "continue to call out" Omar, whom Sanders charged
unabashedly "continues to make anti-Semitic comments over and over
again."
"Certainly
the president is wishing no ill will and certainly not violence towards
anyone, but the president is absolutely and should be calling out the
congresswoman for her not only one time but history of anti-Semitic
comments," Sanders said.
"The bigger question is, why aren’t
Democrats doing the same thing? It’s absolutely abhorrent the comments
that she continues to make and has made and they look the other way." Fox News' David Aaro, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addressing a rally in North Charleston, S.C., in March. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
DNC Chair Tom Perez in April 2017. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images, File)
