Professor blames Las Vegas massacre on 'Trumpism,' 'narrative of white victimization'

Drexel University professor George Ciccariello-Maher tweeted that "white people and men" will go on shooting sprees "when they don't get what they want."

Extreme "Trumpism" and "white victimization" motivated the Las Vegas shooter who killed 59 and injured at least 515 others, according to a Drexel University professor.

Associate Professor George Ciccariello-Maher tweeted just hours after the massacre “white people and men” will go on shooting sprees “when they don’t get what they want.”

Stephen Paddock used a perch inside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to rain down fire on a crowd at a country music concert Sunday night.
Drexel University told Fox News the professor’s tweets don’t represent the university’s views.
“The recent social media comments by George Ciccariello-Maher, associate professor of Politics and Global Studies at Drexel University, are his own opinion and do not represent the University’s views,” the university said in a statement. “Drexel is deeply saddened by the tragic shooting in Las Vegas. The thoughts and prayers of the Drexel community are with the families of those affected by this senseless act of violence.”
This professor has a history of controversial tweets. In 2016, he tweeted “all I want for Christmas is white genocide.”
Cicariello-Maher began a Twitter thread Monday morning with a three word message: “A White Man.”
“It’s the white supremacist patriarchy, stupid,” he tweeted.
Cicariello-Maher continued:
"But liberals will drown out all discourse with a deafening chorus screeching 'gun control.' To believe that someone who would shoot down 50 people wouldn't circumvent any gun law you pass is the height of delusion. But liberal escapism means talking about easy questions and proposing easy non-solutions rather than talking about who kills and why.
"White people and men are told that they are entitled to everything. This is what happens when they don't get what they want. The narrative of white victimization has been gradually built over the past 40 years. It is the spinal column of Trumpism, and most extreme form is the white genocide myth. Yesterday was a morbid symptom of what happens when those who believe they deserve to own the world also think it is being stolen from them."
He ended with this tweet several hours later:
“Here's a wild idea: white supremacy in the U.S. is a bipartisan project, & *both* the gun lobby *and* the anti-gun lobby are racist as f---.”

Trump on Puerto Rico's debt: 'We're going to have to wipe that out'

President Trump told Fox News Tuesday that "you can say goodbye" to Puerto Rico's debt as the island struggles to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Maria.

Trump spoke to Fox News' Geraldo Rivera in an interview that aired exclusively on "Hannity" Tuesday evening. The president spend the day touring the damage left by Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century.

"They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street and we're going to have to wipe that out," Trump told Rivera. "You can say goodbye to that."
Puerto Rico was facing a $74 billion public debt load prior to Maria and was struggling to recover from a decade-long recession that has caused hundreds of thousands of residents to leave for the U.S. mainland.
Trump also defended his administration's response to the storm, saying "we may have done our best work here, but it hasn't been appreciated."
"We’ve done a fantastic job," the president told Rivera. "This was a very tough one. You know, I say we got an A+ in Texas [and] we got an A+ in Florida [after Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma]."
But actually, if you see over the last couple of days, now people are really seeing what we’ve done," Trump added. "The runways are open, the ships are pouring in and a lot of things are happening, so it’s great."

‘He was not happy’: Menendez pushed for rule change in doc's dispute, Obama officials testify

Top health officials from the Obama administration testified Tuesday that Sen. Robert Menendez pressured them to change a long-standing Medicare policy in a way that would benefit the Florida ophthalmologist at the center of the New Jersey Democrat’s corruption trial.

Menendez is accused of accepting campaign donations, gifts and vacations from his friend Dr. Salomon Melgen. In return, Menendez allegedly used his Senate powers to lobby on behalf of Melgen’s business interests.

Then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the highest-level Obama official to testify in the case, took the stand Tuesday to describe a meeting she had with Menendez in the office of then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Prosecutors’ previously filed brief said that meeting was held in August 2012 and alleged Menendez “personally pressured” Sebelius to intervene over a Medicare payment policy, though Sebelius balked.
Giving her side of the story, Sebelius testified Tuesday that the “gist” of the conversation involved Menendez’s “unhappiness” over the policy, which he felt was “unclear” and “unfair” to providers. The policy happened to be at the center of a billing dispute involving Melgen.

Sen. Bob Menendez, shown arriving to court in Newark in this April 2, 2015 photo, is battling corruption charges.  (Reuters)

“He felt this was a policy that needed attention and was not fair to health care providers,” Sebelius said Tuesday. “… I basically reiterated what I knew about this practice and what I knew about the policy, which was I thought the policy was clear.”
She added, “To me it was pretty simple,” and noted that she didn’t think it was a “very satisfactory meeting” for Menendez.
Sebelius also said it was “unusual” for Reid to invite her to a meeting involving another member of Congress. It was “actually the only time in five and a half years that this occurred,” she said.
But Sebelius wasn’t the only Obama health official with whom Menendez met. Two months earlier, Menendez met with then-Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Marilyn Tavenner, who also testified Tuesday.
Their meeting apparently ended on a similar note – with the health official pushing back, and Menendez allegedly dissatisfied.

Former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, shown at a Nov. 7, 2012 news conference on Capitol Hill, could be called to testify in the Menendez trial.  (AP)

Tavenner testified Tuesday that she met Menendez in his office in June 2012 to discuss the Medicare payment policy.
“What he was asking me was to take a look at the policy, and the policy went back for a few years,” Tavenner testified. “And he was questioning the clarity of the policy and [asked] if I would take a look.”
She suggested that when Menendez determined Tavenner would not be altering the policy, he seemed to want to take his request up the ranks.
“I think he was not happy. He told me he was disappointed, that he felt there should have been changes,” Tavenner testified. “And that he did not intend to let it stand. He intended to take it to the next steps.”
Tavenner, who worked for CMS for five years, explained that those “next steps” would include bringing the issue to Sebelius.
According to court documents filed in 2016, CMS in 2009 suspected Melgen had overbilled Medicare for $8.9 million from 2007-2008 by “engaging in a prohibited practice known as ‘multi-dosing.’” According to court documents, the Medicare policy required that each patient receiving the drug Lucentis be treated using a separate vial, but Melgen “routinely” used the extra solution from a single vial to treat multiple patients. CMS believed Melgen was paid for more vials of the drug than he actually used.
According to Tavenner, the changes to the Medicare payment policy Menendez allegedly proposed would have benefitted Melgen, though she did not recall Melgen’s name coming up in the June 2012 meeting.
HARRY REID EXPECTED TO BE CALLED TO TESTIFY IN MENENDEZ TRIAL, SOURCE SAYS
Menendez has proclaimed his innocence in the case. When the trial opened last month, his lawyers said the case is not about corruption or bribery but about a long-term friendship.
Reid also is expected to be called to testify in the Menendez trial. The former Senate Democratic leader’s name re-emerged weeks ago in the case, when prosecutors said he was “first enlisted” by Menendez in November 2011 to advocate for Melgen in the ongoing dispute with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS.)
Reid already has met with the Justice Department and the FBI in connection with the investigation, back in 2015.
Court documents claim that Reid reached out to the White House deputy chief of staff in 2011 about Menendez being “upset about how a Florida ophthalmologist was being treated” by CMS. Prosecutors said the White House deputy chief of staff “demurred” as it involved a “dispute between a single doctor and an administrative agency, not a policy matter.”
In June 2012, Melgen also apparently flew Reid on his company’s private plane from Washington to Boston and back, but Menendez was not present, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Reid did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Democrat Gun Control Cartoons

Comedy writer Megan Amram jokes Las Vegas shooter fits typical profile because he is a 'white man'

Comedian Megan Amram responded to a TMZ story that Las Vegas massacre gunman Stephen Paddock doesn’t fit the typical mass shooter profile by tweeting, “White man? Sure does.”

TMZ published an article making a case that Paddock is unique for a mass shooter, as he is older (64), lived in a retirement community and didn’t have a known criminal record. The comedian's tweet to her 759,000 followers resulted in a series of responses mocking white males.

Amram’s comment was retweeted over 1,000 times and favorited over 5,000 times in the first three hours after she published the tweet. She followed up her response to TMZ with a pair of jokes related to the massacre in Las Vegas in which Paddock opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and sending more than 500 others to hospitals.
“If only there was a way to have known he was going to use that rifle for assault,” Amram wrote, follow by, “Trump, please ban Americans from traveling to the United States. They are far too dangerous to let in.”
Amram’s Twitter feed is filled with anti-Trump messages, including one --“Today was the day Donald trump finally became president,” -- that she adds on an almost daily basis.
“I agree with republicans because I too want millions of people to die so that I can get revenge on Black President,” she wrote back on Sept. 21.
“There should be a dating app for people who have been fired from trump's administration,” she wrote back on July 31.
Amram was a writer for the 2011 Academy Awards and has worked on popular shows including “Billy on the Street with Billy Eichner,” "Parks and Recreation” and “Silicon Valley," according to IMDB. She is also a contributing writer for The New Yorker and recently wrote a spoof of Jared Kushner’s Harvard admissions essay.
The Boston Globe and Huffington Post have both profiled Amram’s Twitter account in the past, although it remains unverified. Amram is hardly the only person to make polarizing comments on social media on Monday, as a CBS executive said she is “not even sympathetic” to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because “country music fans often are Republican” in a Facebook message.
The New Yorker and Amran did not immediately respond to Fox News’ separate requests for comment.

White House backs bill criminalizing abortions after 20 weeks

President Donald Trump walks from Marine One across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, as he returns from Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A House bill banning abortions after 20 weeks on Monday received the official backing of the Trump administration.

The White House “strongly supports” the Republican efforts to “secure critical pro-life protections” and believes “America’s children deserve the stronger protections” that the bill would provide.

“The bill, if enacted into law, would help to facilitate the culture of life to which our Nation aspires,” the statement said. “Additionally, the bill would promote a science-based approach to unborn life, as recent advancements have revealed that the physical structures necessary to experience pain are developed within 20 weeks of fertilization”
Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks is sponsoring the bill and it is scheduled to come up for a vote on Tuesday in the House.
The bill would criminalize abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, introducing fines and jail sentences - up to five years – for those who perform or attempt an abortion.
The measure would not penalize women seeking abortions after 20 weeks and would allow the procedure in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
Pro-choice groups have come out in staunch opposition to the bill, calling it “cruel” and “unconstitutional.”
"20 week abortion bans are: unpopular, unconstitutional, part of the agenda to ban ALL abortion,” tweeted Planned Parenthood.
The Guttmacher Institute's director of public policy, Heather Boonstra, wrote in an op-ed for The Hill, saying the bill’s claim that unborn children can feel pain after 20 weeks “is not supported by the preponderance of scientific evidence.”
She also slammed the bill’s "particularly callous and cruel rape and incest exceptions" that require women to wait 48 hours and have two doctor visits with two different abortion providers before being allowed an abortion.
A similar bill passed the House back in 2015 but was later blocked by Senate Democrats, The Hill reported.
The new abortion bill is likely to pass the Republican-majority House but it might face opposition in the Senate where the rules require larger majority – meaning Republicans would need to sway at least eight Democrats to pass the bill.

CBS fires vice president who said Vegas victims didn't deserve sympathy because country music fans 'often are Republican'

CBS has parted ways with one of the company’s top lawyers after she said she was “not even sympathetic” to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because “country music fans often are Republican,” when discussing the mass shooting that unfolded in Las Vegas late Sunday night. 

Monday night she issued a statement of apology. 

Hayley Geftman-Gold, the network's now-former vice president and senior counsel, said, “Earlier today I posted an indefensible post in a Facebook discussion thread concerning the tragic Las Vegas shooting, a statement I sincerely regret. I am deeply sorry for diminishing the significance of every life affected by Stephen Paddock’s terrorism last night and for the pain my words have inflicted on the loved ones of the victims. My shameful comments do not reflect the beliefs of my former employer, colleagues, family, and friends. Nor do they reflect my actual beliefs — this senseless violence warrants the deepest empathy. I understand and accept all consequences that my words have incurred.”
A CBS spokeswoman told Fox News that Geftman-Gold, “who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS. Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families.”
Geftman-Gold took to Facebook after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing at least 59 people and sending more than 510 others to hospitals.
“If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs [sic] will ever do the right thing,” Geftman-Gold wrote in a now-deleted message that was first reported and captured by The Daily Caller.
Geftman-Gold continued: “I’m actually not even sympathetic bc [sic] country music fans often are Republican gun toters [sic].”
Geftman-Gold is presumably referring to Sandy Hook, which occurred in Newtown, Conn. back in 2012. A 20-year-old gunman, Adam Lanza, killed 20 children and six adults during the tragic event that sparked intense political debates regarding gun control.
Her attorney, Carrie A. Goldberg, responded: “In the last few hours my client, her family and friends have been bombarded by online death unimaginable in quantity and detail. We beg people to show love and support to survivors and loved ones — in Las Vegas and their own lives — instead of creating more violence.”
Geftman-Gold did not work directly with the network’s news division. According to her LinkedIn bio, Geftman-Gold worked at CBS since September 2016 and graduated from the prestigious Columbia University law school in 2000.

Las Vegas tragedy: Shock, resignation, a call for unity and instant politicization

I was on Fox Business for half an hour yesterday morning, before and after President Trump spoke about the horrifying massacre in Las Vegas.

This was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, but the aftermath, I told Stuart Varney, felt uncomfortably like the new normal. Our collective shock was mixed with a sense of resignation. The journalists, local officials, the public all know the drill. The only thing that seems to vary is the death toll.

What can really be said, at this point, about stopping the carnage? We can, and have, stepped up our efforts against terrorism. But what about these lone wolf attacks carried out by deranged individuals?
I don’t understand how the shooter got 10 rifles into the Mandalay Bay Resort. Do hotels now need metal detectors? But it’s impossible to protect every public space.
After the president spoke, I said that his remarks were eloquent. He called the shooting an act of pure evil, said the FBI is investigating, but also talked about unity and love and praying for the victims. He didn’t deviate into politics. “And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today-- and always will, forever.”
For a leader who often wanders off message, Trump said what needed to be said—and not more.
I also said that with Hillary Clinton and other Democrats issuing messages about gun control, it was too bad they couldn’t wait one day as the country absorbs the grief of a mass murder in which the death toll wasn’t even final.
This was said out of sadness, but I got savaged online by people who think this is exactly when we should be debating gun control, hours after a brutal massacre.
Sensible gun control, I made clear, is a legitimate issue. All I said was that out of sensitivity toward the mourning families and a stunned country, waiting until the next morning before scoring political points seemed like a decent interval.
I have been consistent over the years in saying both the left and right should not instantaneously politicize these tragedies. Whether it’s Columbine or Virginia Tech or Aurora or Sandy Hook or Tucson or Washington Navy Yard or San Bernardino or Orlando or a Charleston church--or a Virginia baseball field where Steve Scalise nearly died but managed to return to Congress last week--there’s a knee-jerk tendency to blame the actions and rhetoric of the other ideological side.
I said the left shouldn’t be blamed just because the man who wounded Scalise and others hated Republicans. I said Sarah Palin shouldn’t be blamed because of a political map for the gunman who wounded Gabby Giffords and killed six others. Some of these mass killers are just crazy, deranged losers.
If Trump had used his speech to say we should loosen gun laws so more people can protect themselves, he would have been vilified for politicizing the tragedy.
By all means, let’s have the debate. The reality is that a Republican Congress is not going to approve stricter gun-control measures. Barack Obama couldn’t get a bill through even after the horror in Newtown.
In a CNN poll last year after the Orlando nightclub shooting, 92 percent said they favored expanded background checks, 87 percent supported a ban for felons or people with mental health problems, and 85 percent would ban people on federal watch lists from buying guns. But the power of the NRA changes the equation on Capitol Hill.
Asking politicians to briefly hold off before resuming the partisan warfare shouldn’t be controversial. But apparently it is.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m.). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz.