Newt Gingrich claims Biden's 'embrace' of China 'dictatorship' should shock Americans

American voters should closely examine presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his "embrace" of China, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told "The Ingraham Angle" Friday.
"I think there is a huge vulnerability because the Democrats don't want to deal with the reality of China, and they don't want to deal with the reality of Xi Jinping and the dictatorship," Gingrich told host Laura Ingraham. "And I think that will be more obvious as this campaign goes on."
During an interview at the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the former vice president told NPR's Lulu Garcia Navarro he would scrap tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by Trump. "Who said Trump’s idea’s a good one?" Biden asked rhetorically. "Manufacturing has gone into a recession. Agriculture lost billions of dollars that taxpayers had to pay," A Biden aide later attempted to clarify to Forbes that the Democrat would "reevaluate" the tariffs.
Gingrich told Ingraham that Biden is not the only Democrat inclined to take a positive view of China, citing Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein of California
"She said last week that we should all be very proud of how much China has made that it has become a normal country," he said, referring to remarks in which Feinstein said the U.S. considers China "a potential trading partner ... a country that has pulled tens of millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time, and as a country growing into a respectable nation amongst other nations," according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Gingrich added that the Democratic view of China goes hand-in-hand with the party's suspicion of law enforcement and calls for defense cuts.
"They want to live in a world [where] they can pretend there are no predators either at home or abroad," he said. "It is a very dangerous position to be in."

Trump campaign spokeswoman calls Biden 'an empty vessel filled by the radicals' in Democratic Party

The Democrats' presumptive nomination of Joe Biden shows the party has no new ideas and needs "a vessel for the radical social agenda," Trump campaign press communications director Erin Perrine told "Hannity" Friday.
Perrine told host Jason Chaffetz that Biden's delayed choice of a running mate helps prove her point.
"We have seen him delay and delay and delay," she said. "Remember, if they had the [Democratic] convention at the normal time, it would have happened a month ago. Why is it so delayed?"
"Joe Biden has bad choices across the board, between crazy or even crazier when it comes to who he will try to pick," Perrine went on, describing Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., as "Comrade Karen Bass who praises socialist dictators," a reference to Bass' warm words for Cuban despot Fidel Castro.
She added that another presumed contender, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, has an "abysmal record from the Obama/Biden administration."
"It truly doesn't matter who Joe Biden picks because it is a bad choice pool all around for him," Perrine said. "Not only is this who he thinks will be the future of the Democrat Party -- he says he is the transition candidate -- but look who he is talking about. He is floating 'Pretend Governor' [of Georgia] Stacey Abrams or Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Queen of Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do with her tyrannical hold in Michigan."
"It truly doesn't matter, Joe Biden is an empty vessel filled by the radicals."

Trump rips Portland rioters: 'These are really sick, disturbed people'

Somebody knows who this freak is, they need to turn him in.

As yet another night of unrest loomed in Portland, Ore., on Friday, President Trump told reporters the federal government could very easily put a stop to it – if only local leaders would seek help.
“We will go in and stop the problems in Portland in 24 hours,” the president said at a news conference in New Jersey, according to OregonLive.com.
He added: “We’re supposed to be asked.”
In Portland, crowds have turned out nightly for more than two months since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis – purportedly to protest of racial injustice. But Portland’s Black police chief and others have questioned that claim, saying it’s been undermined by rioting, destruction and assaults against law enforcement officers.
At his news conference, President Trump seemed to agree.
“These are really sick, disturbed people,” he said of the rioters, the Washington Times reported.
Trump also praised federal agents who were recently deployed to Portland to protect a federal courthouse, saying they had done a “fantastic job,” but he added those agents would not go beyond guarding the courthouse unless asked by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown or Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, OregonLive.com reported.
As for Wheeler, who also serves as the city’s police commissioner, Trump questioned his credibility.
“Mayor Wheeler has abdicated his duty and surrendered his city to the mob,” Trump said.

“Mayor Wheeler has abdicated his duty and surrendered his city to the mob.”
— President Trump

One night earlier, Wheeler had accused the president of deploying federal agents to city in order to create riot footage that the president could use in campaign ads. He also said that rioters who were confronting federal agents were merely playing into the president’s hands.
“If you don’t want to be a part of that, then don’t show up,” Wheeler said, addressing protesters.
On Wednesday morning, Portland police Chief Chuck Lovell condemned the rioting, claiming it was accomplishing nothing toward the goal of racial justice.
"Portlanders need to send a strong message that enough is enough," Lovell told reporters at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, according to KGW-TV in Portland. "This is not forwarding the goals that are going to lead to better outcomes for people of color. This movement is really powerful, but the violence has taken away from it. ... This is not what Portland is about. This is not what we need in our city."
Addressing reporters in New Jersey, Trump scoffed at the idea that rioters might think their actions were helping them achieve their goals.
“They look at Portland as a thing that they want,” the president said, according to OregonLive.com. “That’s what they want. Why? Who knows, doesn’t matter. It’s a different thinking but it’s a mess.”
Fox News' Edmund DeMarche and Brie Stimson contributed to this story.

Nancy and Chuck Cartoons

Trump bans dealings with Chinese owners of TikTok, WeChat

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered a sweeping but vague ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of social media apps TikTok and WeChat on security grounds, a move China’s government criticized as “political manipulation.”

The twin executive orders issued Thursday — one for each app — add to growing U.S.-Chinese conflict over technology and security. They take effect in 45 days and could bar the popular apps from the Apple and Google app stores, effectively removing them from U.S. distribution.

China’s foreign ministry expressed opposition but gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate.

Earlier, Trump threatened a deadline of Sept. 15 to “close down” TikTok in the United States unless Microsoft Corp. or another company acquires it.

TikTok, owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance Ltd., is popular for its short, catchy videos. The company says it has 100 million users in the United States and hundreds of millions worldwide.

The Trump administration has expressed concern Chinese social media services could provide American users’ personal information to Chinese authorities, though it has given no evidence TikTok did that. 

Instead, officials point to the Communist Party’s ability to compel cooperation from Chinese companies. U.S. regulators cited similar security concerns last year when the Chinese owner of Grindr was ordered to sell the dating app.

In a statement, TikTok expressed shock at the order and complained it violates U.S. law. The company said it doesn’t store American user data in China and never has given it to Beijing or censored content at the government’s request.

TikTok said it spent nearly a year trying to reach a “constructive solution” but the Trump administration “paid no attention to facts” and tried improperly to insert itself into business negotiations. TikTok said it would “pursue all remedies” available to ensure the company and its users are “are treated fairly.”

WeChat’s owner, Tencent, the most valuable Asian technology company, and Microsoft declined to comment.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced an expansion of the U.S. crackdown on Chinese technology to include barring Chinese apps from U.S. app stores, citing alleged security threats and calling out TikTok and WeChat by name.

The Chinese foreign ministry accused Washington of “political manipulation” and said the moves will hurt American companies and consumers.

“The United States is using national security as an excuse, frequently abuses national power and unreasonably suppresses companies of other countries,” said a ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin. “This is an outright hegemonic act. China is firmly opposed to it.”

Wang, who didn’t mention TikTok or any other company by name, called on the Trump administration to “correct its wrongdoing” but gave no indication how Beijing might respond.

Trump’s orders say the Chinese-owned apps “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” They cite the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act and call on the Commerce secretary to define the banned dealings by Sept. 15.

WeChat, known in Chinese as Weixin, is a hugely popular messaging app that links to finance and other services. It has more than 1 billion users. Around the world, many people of Chinese descent use WeChat to stay in touch with friends and family and to conduct business in mainland China.

Within China, WeChat is censored and expected to adhere to content restrictions set by authorities. The Citizen Lab internet watchdog group in Toronto says WeChat monitors files and images shared abroad to aid its censorship in China.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. also owns parts or all of major game companies like Epic Games, publisher of Fortnite, a major video game hit, and Riot Games, which is behind League of Legends.

The Trump administration already was embroiled in a tariff war with Beijing over its technology ambitions. Washington has blocked acquisitions of some U.S. assets by Chinese buyers and has cut off most access to American components and other technology for Huawei Technologies Ltd., a maker of smartphones and network equipment that is China’s first global tech brand.

China-backed hackers have been blamed for breaches of U.S. federal databases and the credit agency Equifax.

In China, the Communist Party limits what foreign tech companies can do and blocks access to the Google search engine, Facebook, Twitter and other social media, along with thousands of websites operated by news organizations and human rights, pro-democracy and other activist groups.

The Communist Party has used the entirely state-controlled press to encourage public anger at Trump’s actions.

“I don’t want to use American products any more,” said Sun Fanyu, an insurance salesperson in Beijing. “I will support domestic substitute products.”

Leading mobile security experts say TikTok is no more intrusive in its harvesting of user data and monitoring of user activity than U.S. apps owned by Facebook and Google.

“The U.S. thinking is that anything that is Chinese is suspect,” said Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. “They’re being targeted not because of what they’ve done, but who they are.”

The order doesn’t seem to ban Americans from using TikTok, which would be nearly impossible to enforce, said Kirsten Martin, a professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame.

“This is a pretty broad and pretty quick expansion of the technology Cold War between the U.S. and China,” said Steven Weber, faculty director for the Berkeley Center for Long Term Cybersecurity.

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AP reporters Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, Calif., Mae Anderson in New York, Frank Bajak in Boston, Joe McDonald in Beijing and Zen Soo in Hong Kong contributed to this article.

Congress urges Postal Service to undo changes slowing mail

Two Stupid People.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties are calling on the U.S. Postal Service to immediately reverse operational changes that are causing delays in deliveries across the country just as big volume increases are expected for mail-in election voting.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that changes imposed by the new Republican postmaster general “threaten the timely delivery of mail — including medicines for seniors, paychecks for workers and absentee ballots for voters — that is essential to millions of Americans.″

In separate letters, two Montana Republicans, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, also urged the Postal Service to reverse the July directive, which eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and mandates that mail be kept until the next day if distribution centers are running late.

And 84 House members — including four Republicans — signed yet another letter blasting the changes and urging an immediate reversal.

“This action, if not rescinded, will negatively impact mail delivery for Montanans and unacceptably increase the risk of late prescriptions, commercial products or bill delivery,″ Daines said Thursday in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

“Delaying mail service is unacceptable,” Gianforte wrote to DeJoy. “Do not continue down this road.”

In their letter, the 84 House members said it is “vital that the Postal Service does not reduce mail delivery hours, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages.″ The letter was led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, who has called DeJoy to testify at a hearing next month.

The flurry of letters came as the top Democrat on a Senate panel that oversees the Postal Service launched an investigation into the operational changes.

The cost-cutting measures, intended to address the Postal Service’s longtime financial problems, were imposed last month after DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser and former supply chain executive, took over the top job in June. DeJoy, 63, of North Carolina, is a major donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. He is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said DeJoy has failed to provide answers about the service delays, despite repeated requests.

Peters is asking the public to provide their stories about delays or other problems with deliveries.

The Senate inquiry comes as lawmakers increasingly focus on the Postal Service, which is reeling from mail delays and financial problems at a time when record numbers of mail ballots are expected in the November presidential election because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump, a vocal critic of the Postal Service, contended Wednesday that “the Post Office doesn’t have enough time” to handle a significant increase in mail-in ballots. “I mean you’re talking about millions of votes. .. It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.″

DeJoy met with Schumer and Pelosi Wednesday in a closed-door session that Schumer called “a heated discussion.″ Democrats told DeJoy that “elections are sacred” and urged him not to impose cutbacks “at a time when all ballots count,″ Schumer said.

“For 245 years, the Postal Service has worked to provide reliable, consistent and on-time delivery that keeps Americans connected no matter where they live — especially in rural areas,” Peters said. “Unfortunately, in recent weeks, I’ve heard firsthand from constituents, postal workers and local officials in Michigan who have encountered problems with the timely and dependable service they count on to conduct business, get prescription medications and critical supplies and even exercise their right to vote.″

Democrats have pushed for $10 billion for the Postal Service in talks with Republicans on a huge COVID-19 response bill. The figure is down from a $25 billion plan in a House-passed coronavirus measure. Key Republicans whose rural constituents are especially reliant on the post office support the idea.

With her state’s vast and difficult terrain, “the Postal Service is a primary source of knowledge, commerce and basic necessities,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. For Alaskans, additional help from Congress “is truly a necessity — not a convenience,″ she said.

David Partenheimer, a spokesperson for the Postal Service, declined to comment on the letter from Democrats. But he said the agency is using all available resources to “match the workload created by the impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.″ The Postal Service has “a liberal leave policy” and is aggressively trying to hire qualified candidates to replace tens of thousands of workers who have gotten sick or opted not to work because of the pandemic, he said.

“We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of employees as conditions change on a day-to-day basis,″ he said.

Partenheimer disputed reports that the Postal Service is slowing down election mail or any other mail. “We continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all election mail consistent with our standards,″ he said.

Republican Reps. Peter King of New York, David McKinley of West Virginia, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Daniel Webster of Florida joined the House letter, which was signed by 80 Democrats.

Milwaukee chief demoted over tear-gas use, other concerns

 

FILE - In this March 8, 2018 file photo, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales poses at the Milwaukee Police Administration in Milwaukee. An oversight board is considering firing Morales after he ordered officers to use tear gas to break up protests over George Floyd’s death, the last straw for members upset with how the chief has handled incidents since the arrest of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown in 2018. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An oversight board demoted Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales after questioning how he handled multiple incidents, including ordering officers to fire tear gas and pepper spray at protesters demonstrating over George Floyd’s death.

The city’s Fire and Police Commission unanimously voted Thursday evening to demote Morales to captain after three-and-a-half years on the job.

The chief’s attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, says Morales’ relationship with the commission has been deteriorating since he refused the chairman’s demand to fire an officer involved in the arrest of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown in January 2018. Most recently the commission criticized Morales for authorizing tear gas to disperse protesters. The board has also raised questions over how the department has policed Black communities.

Morales joined the Milwaukee department in 1993 and was appointed chief in February 2018.

“His conduct is unbecoming, filled with ethical lapses and flawed decisions, making it inconsistent with someone who has the privilege of leading the Milwaukee Police Department,” Commissioner Raymond Robakowski said.

The board named Assistant Police Chief Michael J. Brunson Sr. as acting chief.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Thursday night he was angered by the commission’s action and that Morales should have been given a chance to respond to directives the panel had issued.

“The discussion surrounding this decision tonight was completely lacking in transparency. The action taken by the commission tonight was not good government,” Barrett said.

The decision comes as Wisconsin’s largest police department grapples with a surge in gun violence and plans security for a scaled-down Democratic National Convention.

A number of police chiefs across the country have left their jobs as pressure mounts to rethink American policing following Floyd’s death, including Erika Shields in Atlanta, Jami Resch in Portland, Oregon, and William Smith in Richmond, Virginia.

Milwaukee’s mayor had urged the commission to slow down, but Morales’ attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, said the odds appeared to be stacked against the chief.

“I’m unaware of him having any supporters (on the commission),” Gimbel, said. “There seems like a cumulative sense that they want to dump the guy.”

Gimbel declined comment to The Associated Press after the meeting.

Morales is Latino and the majority of the commissioners are Black. His relationship with the board has deteriorated since it named him to the post in February 2018.

Gimbel said problems began when officers arrested Brown for parking illegally in January 2018. Officers swarmed the Bucks guard and used a stun gun on him when he didn’t remove his hands from his pockets. The commission’s chairman, Steven DeVougas, who is Black, told Morales to fire one of the officers involved but Morales refused, the attorney said.

“From there it got stressful,” Gimbel said. “DeVougas viewed him as not being a team player.”

In February, the Milwaukee Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers, filed an ethics complaint against DeVougas alleging he accompanied a real estate developer during an interview with police who suspected the developer of sexual assault. DeVougas practices real estate law for the developer’s business. The police association argued DeVougas’ presence during the interview was a misuse of his position as commission chairman. A city ethics board is investigating.

Fast forward to May and June, when Milwaukee police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters demonstrating over Floyd’s death. Floyd, who was Black, died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly eight minutes.

The decision to use tear gas and pepper spray drew criticism from Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett. The commission in July banned the police department from using tear gas, prompting a number of departments from across the state slated to help with convention security to rescind their support.

The commission on July 20 ordered Morales to produce reams of records related to multiple incidents, including the decision to tear gas and pepper spray protesters, Brown’s arrest and the June arrest of a Black activist on suspicion of burglary. The panel also demanded Morales draft community policing standards, develop a discipline matrix to clarify how officers are disciplined and draft a policy requiring officers to wear face masks during the pandemic.

“We are in the midst of an urgent overdue reckoning on race and policing in this country,” the commission said in a statement Monday. “Only with transparency, accountability and truth will we move on as a society. This discussion may make some uncomfortable, and may bluntly scare others.”

None of the commissioners, including DeVougas, returned messages Thursday.

The commission gave Morales a week to respond to some of the requests and threatened to discipline or fire him if he didn’t comply. Gimbel has said those expectations are ridiculous; he noted the commission gave Morales’ predecessor, Ed Flynn, 50 days to respond to a similar request for information on the department’s pursuit policy.

The police department Wednesday blasted the orders as vague, invalid and possibly illegal. The department noted the orders weren’t approved during an open meeting and the requests seek information from still-open criminal and internal investigations.

The orders also could violate a 2018 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union over stop-and-frisk policies because the department would have to release confidential information it has been sharing with a consultant group monitoring compliance with the settlement, the department said.

“The (orders) attempt to paint a picture that MPD has been non-compliant or outright insubordinate with the FPC,” the department said in a statement. “The manner in which business is being conducted at the FPC causes alarm.”

Barrett, the mayor, dove into the fray on Wednesday, sending a letter to the commission calling for an “orderly review” of the orders and the commission to remove DeVougas as chairman since he’s under investigation.

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Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter: https://twitter.com/trichmond1

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jami Resch’s first name.

Portland mayor condemns rioters for 'attempting to commit murder'

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Thursday evening condemned the actions of rioters who attempted to set fire to a police precinct and blocked the exits while officers were inside.
“When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building that is occupied by people who you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder," Wheeler said in a news conference with Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell.
"Don’t think for a moment that you are if you are participating in this activity, you are not being a prop for the reelection campaign of Donald Trump — because you absolutely are," he said. "You are creating the B-roll film that will be used in ads nationally to help Donald Trump during this campaign. If you don’t want to be part of that, then don’t show up.”
A riot was declared Wednesday evening when agitators descended upon the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct building, spray-painted over security cameras, broke a glass door with a 2x4, lit a fire using an accelerant and threw fireworks and other objects at officers, according to FOX 12 in Portland.
Police said that a truck also attempted to run over officers.
The front doors of the precinct were barricaded before the fire was started with more than 20 officers and civilian employees inside, police said, according to FOX 12.
Officers used tear gas to disperse the rioters and at least eight people were arrested. A federal court order bars police from using tear gas unless a riot is declared.
“I believe that city staff could have died last night,” Wheeler said. “I cannot and I will not tolerate that. This is not peaceful protests. This is not advocacy to advance reforms.”
Rioters also vandalized and broke into Portland’s Police Association Tuesday night.
Wheeler also urged peaceful protesters to avoid gatherings that could turn destructive or violent, according to Oregon Live.
“If you are a nonviolent demonstrator and you don’t want to be part of intentional violence, please stay away from these areas,” Wheeler said. “Our community must say that this violence is not Portland, that these actions do not reflect our values and these crimes are distracting from reform, not advancing.”
The clashes between thousands of protesters and federal agents sent by the Trump administration to guard the federal courthouse stopped after an agreement between Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that called for the agents to begin drawing down their presence in Portland’s downtown on July 30.
Then some instigators moved on to other police buildings across the city to cause problems.
Wednesday night’s violence in a residential neighborhood on the east side of the city began after a group of about 100 people gathered in a nearby park for a rally advertised on social media by the group Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front with the slogan “No cops. No prisons. Total abolition." The group then marched to the precinct.
At the same time, a larger peaceful group of Black Lives Matter protesters gathered downtown to give speeches. No police presence was necessary, Portland Police Bureau Capt. Tony Passadore said.
“Hurting people and trying to trap people in a building and burn them up, it’s just completely awful,” Portland Fire & Rescue Lt. Damon Simmons reiterated in the news conference, according to FOX 12.
Wheeler said the city anticipates “additional planned attacks on public buildings” in the coming days and said he was giving the police leeway to do what they needed to do to counter those plans as long as it can be done without threatening peaceful protesters.
On Wednesday, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said rioters aren’t forwarding the cause of racial injustice protesters. "Portlanders need to send a strong message that enough is enough," he said. “This movement is really powerful, but the violence has taken away from it.”
Wheeler was met with jeers from protesters two weeks ago when he joined them for a dialogue.
Portland has faced nearly 70 nights of anti-police protests since the police custody death of George Floyd.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.