Cohen defends chicken stunt aimed at Barr, says it was planned night before

US Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., ate chicken during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

The Tennessee congressman who dug into a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken last week during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in an effort to take a swipe at Attorney General William Barr, who was absent, responded to critics in an interview Sunday and said the move was simply an attempt at "levity."
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told MSNBC that the chicken bucket was purchased the night before and was cold. He described the meal as not “wonderful.”
Cohen showed up on Capitol Hill with the bucket of fried chicken and a ceramic chicken statue to mock Barr for being “too chicken” after the attorney general did not appear for his scheduled hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Barr was expected to testify on his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.
The joke largely fell flat. Most notably, Jimmy Kimmel mocked the stunt and warned Democrats that using this kind of “sick burns” will cost them the presidential election in 2020.
"Wow, what a sick burn that is," Kimmel sarcastically said to his audience. "Trump's gonna win again with stuff like that, isn't he?"
"Late Night" host Seth Meyers mocked Cohen for his overly obvious message that Barr was a "chicken."
"Dude, if you want KFC, just order KFC. It's fine," Meyers told the Democratic congressman. "You don't need to tie it into the hearing."

California Rep. Eric Swalwell was slammed on Twitter Wednesday for posting about his decision to bypass a coffee shop inside Trump Tower and walk a couple of extra blocks. (Rep. Eric Swalwell / Twitter)

The move wasn’t the first time that a Democrat’s attempt at humor appeared to fall flat. California Rep. Eric Swalwell earlier this year posted a selfie on Twitter announcing that he refused to purchase a cup of coffee inside the Trump Tower in New York.

USS Lincoln strike group deployed to send Iran 'clear and unmistakable' message, Bolton says

The U.S. is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in order "to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime," National Security Adviser John Bolton announced Sunday night.
Bolton said the deployment was in response to "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" on the part of Tehran, but did not elaborate. Such deployments are rarely announced in advance.
"[A]ny attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force," Bolton said. "The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces."

Aircraft parked on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in this 2012 photo. (AP, File)

The strike group, which includes the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and destroyers from Destroyer Squadron 2, departed Naval Station Norfolk on April 1 for what the Navy described as a "regularly scheduled deployment." The strike force is under the command of Rear Adm. John Wade.
The USS John Stennis aircraft carrier strike group was in the Persian Gulf as recently as late March. The Stennis and USS Abraham Lincoln joined forces in the Mediterranean Sea in recent days.
The deployment comes less than a month after the Trump administration designated Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization. In late March, the Air Force pulled its bombers from Qatar, one of the rare times since 2001 no bombers were deployed to the Middle East.
Last month, the Air Force deployed a task force of F-35 stealth fighter jets for the first time to the Middle East.  Last week, some of the advanced jets carried out their first air strikes against ISIS, the Air Force said.
Earlier Sunday, Axios reported that the Trump administration was preparing to announce a new set of sanctions against Iran on Wednesday, one year after the U.S. pulled out from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the White House was considering sanctions targeting petrochemical and consumer goods sales by Iran, but Axios reported Sunday that the sanctions to be announced this week would target a different sector of the rogue nation's economy.
The U.S. Navy says there have been zero cases of “unsafe” interactions between its warships and aircraft and Iranian forces this year as well as last year.
The deployment also comes amid the bloodiest fighting in five years between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Last Friday, two Israeli soldiers were wounded by snipers from the Iran-backed militant group Islamic Jihad. Late Saturday, the Israeli military announced that an airstrike had killed Hamas commander Hamed al-Khoudary, a money changer whom Israel said was a key player in transferring Iranian funds to the militant group.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson, Kelly Phares and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pres. Trump working on a bipartisan infrastructure plan for the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

 

 

President Trump said he’s looking for a bipartisan plan to address infrastructure in the U.S.
In a tweet Saturday, the president said there’s “nothing easy about making an infrastructure plan.”
He added, its especially hard to get the funds when the country is spending trillions of dollars in the Middle East.
Republicans are currently looking for a way to fund the plan, which is expected to cost between $1 and $2 trillion.
Senator Rand Paul has suggested withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and other combat zones to pay for the move.

Sarah Sanders: 'Truly mind-boggling' how people can choose socialism with Trump's economy

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders expressed disbelief on Saturday at the fact that Democrats pushed "socialism" while living under President Trump's growing economy.
"It's truly mind-boggling. I don't know why anyone would vote for a system that they are literally watching crumble before their very eyes," Sanders said while appearing Saturday on "Watters' World."
Her comment was an apparent reference to the developing political crisis and looming regime change in Venezuela, which has met with sky-high inflation, deteriorating humanitarian conditions and a political uprising.
She told host Jesse Watters that favoring socialism was particularly odd given that this nation's capitalist system has worked "so well."
"Under this president, [the] American economy is booming, we're thriving, and we're doing better than we've done in a long time," she added.
She made those remarks just after the administration celebrated a positive jobs report which included 263,000 added jobs and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969.

Trump ‘Collusion Delusion’ merch is flying off the shelves

President Trump’s post-Mueller-report victory lap includes new merchandise such as $30 “Collusion Delusion” T-shirts and “Witch Hunt!” mugs.
Buyers are also snatching up white tees that reproduce Trump’s March 24, 1:42 p.m. tweet following Attorney General William Barr’s announcement of his summary of Mueller’s findings:
“Complete and Total EXONERATION.” The “Witch Hunt!” and “No collusion” taglines also come in decals ($9) and beverage coolers ($8).
The shop.donaldjtrump.com site is authorized by Trump For President Inc. and the Republican National Committee.
Sales surged on April 18, the day the redacted Mueller report was released, said campaign officials.
“Our Mueller-related merchandise has been doing exceptionally well. Our supporters are even more energized,” said First Daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
Campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine said, “President Trump is a branding master and all of the best ideas come from his messaging and tweets.”
The store’s best seller, by far, remains the $25 “Make America Great Again” caps, which are closing in on their 1 millionth sale.

Ticket prices plunge for Bill and Hillary Clinton’s speaking tour

Tickets to the latest stop on Bill and Hillary Clinton’s speaking tour were going for as little as $20 on the secondary market as their 13-city adventure continued to struggle to find an audience.
The best seats in the house at Seattle’s WaMu Theater on Friday could be had for $829, a steep 54% drop from the $1,785 that the former first couple fetched when the tour was announced in early November.
But organizers soon had to slash listed prices and even offer discount ducats through Groupon to boost sales.
The official prices for Friday’s appearance ranged from $66.50 to $519, the Seattle Times reported.
“I really believe that we are in a crisis, a constitutional crisis,” Hillary Clinton opined during the 90-minute performance, presented as an interview of her and her husband by actor Bradley Whitford. “This is a test for our country.”

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