Rep. Marsha Blackburn Calls Trump’s Tweets ‘Inappropriate’

Tennessee Star

Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Friday criticized President Trump’s tweets last week making fun of MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. “This week’s inappropriate and pointless tweets from the President are a stark example of just what has gone wrong in our political discourse today,” Blackburn wrote in a column published on her website. “Robust yet civil debate over policy disagreements have taken a back seat to thin-skin and knee-jerk reactions to hyper-partisan comments and, unfortunately, unfounded character attacks.” In one of Trump’s two tweets Thursday about the Morning Joe hosts, the president referred to Scarborough as “Psycho Joe” and Brzezinski as “low I.Q. Crazy Mika.” In another, he claimed Brzezinski “was bleeding badly from a face-lift” when she visited Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, around New Year’s Eve. The talk show hosts have routinely attacked Trump in harsh and demeaning ways, and some Trump supporters were glad to see the president hit back. But others, including Blackburn, thought it was in poor taste. The Republican representative for Tennessee’s 7th congressional district wrote: On the day Rep. Steve Scalise and others were shot, seemingly for nothing other than being Republican, not only were we reminded of the consequences of a collapse in civil discourse, but many,…

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PHOTOS: Governor Christie, Family Soak Up Sun on New Jersey Beach He Closed to Public

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP — People hoping to visit Island Beach State Park this holiday weekend were not allowed in because of the state government shutdown Gov. Chris Christie ordered amid the state budget standoff in Trenton. But there was one family there: Gov. Chris Christie’s. They are using the summer beach house provided by the state for…

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John Kasich, Ohio Republican Governor, Rejects ‘Repeal Then Replace’ Obamacare Strategy

John Kasich

Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Sunday flatly rejected the idea of first repealing Obamacare and then coming up with a replacement strategy later, saying such an approach will harm the people of his state. Mr. Kasich, a Republican and frequent critic of President Trump dating back to their battles in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, repeated…

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Bill Maher Labels Conservative Outlets Donald Trump’s Personal Pravda

The conservative media’s fawning coverage of President Trump has effectively provided his administration with its own propaganda apparatus on par with the Soviet Union’s, late night host Bill Maher suggested during Friday’s broadcast of his weekly HBO program. Mr. Maher was rattling off a list of assets that could potentially help the president’s 2020 reelection campaign…

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Report: French President Believes His Mind ‘Too Complex’ for Journalists

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly will forgo holding the traditional Bastille Day press conference July 14 because his “complex thought process” does not lend itself to answering reporters’ questions. Macron, who became France’s youngest president in history when he defeated National Front party candidate Marine Le Pen during the May 7 election, faced some criticism during…

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White House: ‘We’re Getting Close’ on Health Care; Repeal-Only Vote Gains Momentum

The Trump administration on Sunday declared “we’re getting close” to having the votes needed to pass a health care overhaul bill in the Senate while reiterating that the president is open to a repeal-only measure if Republicans can’t agree on exactly how to replace Obamacare. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Marc Short, White House director of…

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State Senator Bill Ketron Announces Bid for Rutherford County Mayor

Tennessee Star

  State Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) is running Rutherford County Mayor, the Daily News Journal reports. It will be the fourth run for the office since his first bid in the 1990s. Via the DNJ: A Republican from Murfreesboro, Ketron ran for the office (once called county executive) in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He served on the Rutherford County Commission from 1990 to 1998 and has served in the state Senate since 2002. Ketron’s current term ends in November 2018. Ketron’s announcement is another indication the 2018 election could see a massive turnover in the Tennessee General Assembly. “Senator Ketron is just the latest in an increasingly long list of legislators who will be leaving to seek other offices or retiring. I wouldn’t be surprised if 2018 gives us as many as two dozen State House and Senate open seats. 2018 could be one of the most tumultuous years we have seen in Tennessee politics in a long time,” media consultant and political analyst Steve Gill tells The Tennessee Star. Immediately after Ketron’s announcement, “State Representative Dawn White announced that she will be a candidate for the District 13 State Senate seat in the August 2018 Republican Primary,” WGNS reported on Sunday:…

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