Tag: POTUS

Taxpayer Funded Minnesota State Arts Board Paid Artist $10,000 to Paint Picture of Trump Groping Lady Justice

Anthony Gockowski

The taxpayer-funded Minnesota State Arts Board shelled out $10,000 to a local artist who used the money to paint a seven-foot-tall picture of President Donald Trump groping Lady Justice. As part of the Minnesota State Arts Board FY 2018 grants program, Shafer artist Jim Denomie created a series “of large paintings in response to Standing Rock and other contemporary events from a Native American perspective.” Minnesota Public Radio recently sat down with Denomie for an interview to discuss his completed series of paintings, which includes a more than seven-foot-tall painting called “Standing Rock 2016.” In that picture, Trump is seen groping a topless Lady Justice while four men in suits stand watching. “I’ve learned over my experience making paintings especially about important events that I receive information from the spirit world,” Denomie told MPR. “It comes to me from somewhere, I don’t know exactly where—but I often come away from these paintings with a better understanding of the story of the events.” His paintings are currently on display at the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, which says of Denomie’s paintings: “With this body of work, Denomie has cast his discriminating eye onto real-world events, specifically the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy and…

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St. Paul, Minnesota’s Black Dog Cafe Regularly Hosts Trump Resistance Groups for Political Events

Anthony Gockowski

St. Paul’s popular Black Dog Cafe regularly hosts resistance groups formed in response to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election for political events. A collection of groups calling themselves “The MNLeg Coalition” meet once a month for a “Third Thursdays” event that provides the “progressive-values loving community” a chance to “come together, socialize, strategize, learn, and recharge to continue the good fight for justice and equality in Minnesota.” The coalition says that it is “made up of political resistance groups that started after the 2016 election.” According to the group’s website, at least four of these gatherings have taken place at Black Dog Cafe, including a February 21 event on “climate policy in Minnesota.” “Climate policy in Minnesota is having a moment—and not a moment too soon. Come hear from a range of experts and activists on the statewide movement to save our climate. Learn more about what’s at stake, what’s next, and what we can do locally to stop the damage being done to our climate,” a mailer for Thursday’s event states. Speakers included activists from the 100 Percent Campaign, a group seeking 100 percent renewable energy in Minnesota, as well as MN350, whose representative spoke on resisting the Enbridge…

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Minnesota Activist Groups Protest Trump’s ‘Fake National Emergency’ Across the State

Anthony Gockowski

Resistance groups across the state organized protests Monday against President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration. The statewide protests were part of a national grassroots effort to oppose the president’s “fake national emergency.” According to USA Today, rallies took place all across the country, many of which were organized in conjunction with MoveOn.org. “We’re mobilizing rapid-response events on President’s Day against Trump’s fake crisis and racist deportation force and to stand with immigrant, Muslim, and black and brown communities to stop Trump’s dangerous and illegal power grab,” MoveOn.org explains. A map of events provided by MoveOn.org shows that at least five protests happened across Minnesota, including ones in the Twin Cities, Mankato, Rochester, Winona, and Alexandria. The Minnesota Sun found that these protests were organized by a somewhat covert protest group called “Indivisible Minnesota,” which consists of affiliate groups like “Indivisible MN-03” and “Indivisible St. Peter and Greater Mankato.” “If progressives are going to stop Trump, we must stand indivisibly opposed to him and the members of Congress who would do his bidding,” a Facebook description of Indivisible Minnesota states. One of Monday’s protests took place outside of Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) Minneapolis office, according to a statement from Indivisible MN-03.…

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Rep. Angie Craig Issues Joint Letter to Trump Admin to Oppose Funding of Christian Foster Agencies

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) recently issued a joint letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in response to his department’s decision to allow a South Carolina foster-care agency to refuse housing children with same-sex couples. In January, Azar granted a waiver to Miracle Hill Ministries, a Christian agency that requires foster parents to be Christian and of the opposite sex. President Donald Trump said during last week’s National Prayer Breakfast that his administration would continue to provide agencies such as Miracle Hill Ministries with federal funding so that they can “help vulnerable children find their forever families while following their deeply held beliefs.” Craig and fellow LGBTQ colleague Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY-18) sent a letter to Azar on February 13 to protest his decision. “We write to you to express strong opposition to a waiver you department granted to South Carolina from nondiscrimination requirements for its state-contracted child welfare agencies,” the letter begins. “This harmful decision allows federally-funded child welfare agencies in South Carolina to discriminate on the basis of religion—an egregious violation of the very principles our nation and our child welfare system were founded upon.” The letter was co-signed by 95 House members, and concludes by…

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Klobuchar Receives Bad Early Poll Numbers After Announcing Candidacy

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced her presidential campaign Sunday, and her early poll numbers don’t look good. According to Morning Consult, Klobuchar is currently in seventh place among potential Democratic candidates with just three percent of the vote. She ranks behind, in order, Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX-16), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). She leads Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who both have just two percent of the vote. Morning Consult surveys 5,000 registered voters each day, and updates its polling on a weekly basis. Its latest numbers come just three days after Klobuchar announced her candidacy. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Klobuchar announced her run for the presidency at a rally Sunday on the banks of the Mississippi River. “So today, on an island in the middle of the mighty Mississippi, in our nation’s heartland, at a time when we must heal the heart of our democracy and renew our commitment to the common good, I stand before you as a granddaughter of an iron-ore miner, as the daughter of a teacher and a newspaper man, as the first woman…

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Trump Calls on Ilhan Omar to Resign After Anti-Semitic Comments

Anthony Gockowski

President Donald Trump called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) to resign Tuesday during a cabinet meeting after she was once again condemned for making anti-Semitic comments. “One another thing I might want to say is that anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress, and Congresswoman Omar is—terrible what she said. And I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What she said is so deep-seated in her heart that her lame apology—that’s what it was, it was lame, and she didn’t mean a word of it,” Trump said Tuesday. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Omar was widely condemned for using a common anti-Semitic trope by suggesting that Jewish money is influencing bipartisan support of Israel. “The notion that wealthy Jews are controlling the government is a longstanding anti-Semitic trope and one of the pillars of modern anti-Semitism, a retread of ideas spread by bigots from David Duke to Louis Farrakhan,” ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in response. Omar later issued an apology for her comments, but was again rebuked for seemingly doubling-down on her previous claims. “We have to always be willing to step…

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Klobuchar Lays Out Vision for the White House: ‘It’s Time, America’

Anthony Gockowski

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota–Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) officially declared her candidacy for President of the United States Sunday during a snowy rally on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Several of her Minnesotan colleagues spoke before her, including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN). Klobuchar’s Senate counterpart, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), touted Klobuchar’s record of supporting Planned Parenthood, and criticized Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his alleged failure to adequately address Klobuchar’s line of questioning during his confirmation process. Prince, naturally, was invoked several times throughout the event and one of his former collaborators, DJ Dudley D, emceed the occasion. https://twitter.com/AGockowski/status/1094671348801175552 “Hey, if Prince could do that halftime show in all that rain, I can do this in this snow,” Klobuchar joked. Despite the blizzard-like conditions, Klobuchar managed to attract a massive crowd that was estimated at around 9,000 people. She began her address by thanking her “amazing and incredible team and staff for putting this together.” Leading up to her announcement, Buzzfeed News and Huffington Post released separate reports detailing Klobuchar’s abusive behavior toward her staff, which included claims that she “yelled, threw papers, and sometimes even hurled objects.” Klobuchar’s speech “We are gathered…

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Omar, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez Turn on the Waterworks at Press Conference to Defund ICE

Anthony Gockowski

Several new progressive members of the U.S. House made emotional appeals to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a Thursday morning press conference organized by MoveOn. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) spoke at the press conference behind a podium with a banner of: “Defund the deportation force.” “Earlier this week we were here and we were hearing inside that Capitol the State of the Union. The president said something. He said and spoke of the idea that he likes quote-unquote legal immigration. But that is a lie. The president does not like any form of immigration,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Now he is asking for $5 billion to continue to militarize and weaponize a force that has zero accountability, whose director and whose secretary has no idea when she goes in front of a hearing how many children are dying in her own care, under her own watch, and they have the audacity to ask for more money to fund that. I don’t think so,” she continued. She went on to say that ICE “does not deserve a dime” because it “repeatedly and systematically violates human rights.” Rep. @AOC is calling on Congress to cut…

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Trump to Hold First Rally of 2019 in Border City of El Paso

Anthony Gockowski

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign announced Wednesday that it will be holding its first rally of 2019 in El Paso, Texas on February 11. According to the Trump campaign, the rally will mark the president’s first in El Paso and seventh in the state of Texas. “We are please to announced the Make America Great Again rally on Monday, February 11 in El Paso, Texas, featuring President Donald Trump,” said Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. “As the president continues his fight to secure our border, there’s no better place to demonstrate that walls work than in El Paso. President Trump looks forward to visiting with the patriots of Texas who are on the front lines of the struggle against open-border Democrats who allow drugs, crime, and sex trafficking all along our border every day,” Glassner added. During his Tuesday night State of the Union address, Trump pointed to El Paso as shining proof that his border wall would work. “The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime—one of the highest in the country, and was considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with…

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Ilhan Omar’s State of the Union Guest Says Trump Should be ‘Ashamed of Himself’

Anthony Gockowski

Every member of Congress gets one guest ticket for the annual State of the Union address, and it’s often used to score quick political points. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), for instance, invited Linda Clark, an immigrant from Liberia who is at risk of deportation because of President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program. “Clark came to the United States in 2000, after fleeing Civil War in her home country of Liberia,” a press release from Omar’s office explains. “As a result of Trump’s decision, thousands of Liberian Americans could be removed from the U.S. at the end of March if DED is not renewed. Minnesota is home to the largest community of Liberian Americans of any state in the nation.” Omar said that Clark is “exactly the type of Americans success story we should celebrate,” calling her “someone who came to this country seeking a better life, played by the rules, and built a life for herself.” “I am pleased to have her join me at the State of the Union and urge the Trump Administration to renew DED status for Liberian Americans,” Omar said. “The president himself has expressed open hatred towards people fleeing…

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Georgia Gubernatorial Loser Stacey Abrams Will Deliver Democratic SOTU Response

Anthony Gockowski

National Democratic leadership revealed Tuesday that failed Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams will deliver the party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes claimed Tuesday morning that a “reliable source” told him that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called Abrams three weeks ago to request that she deliver the Democratic response. 🚨NEWS🚨 A reliable source tells me that Chuck Schumer called STACEY ABRAMS three weeks ago to ask her to deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union. — Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 29, 2019 National Journal Senate correspondent Zach Cohen later confirmed the news, reporting that Schumer told him he was “very delighted when [Abrams] agreed.” Schumer confirms. “I was very delighted when she agreed.” https://t.co/WLuXgMlHqC — Zach C. Cohen (@Zachary_Cohen) January 29, 2019 “Speaker Pelosi and I are going to issue an official statement shortly. But yes, three weeks ago I called Stacey Abrams and asked her to deliver the response to the State of the Union,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “She is just a great spokesperson, she’s an incredible leader, she has led the charge for voting rights, which is at the root of just about everything…

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Ilhan Omar Lands $250K Book Deal Amid Outcry Over Past Comments

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has landed her first major book deal with Dey Street Books and will receive an initial commission of up to $250,000. The deal was announced on Publishers Marketplace and is said to chronicle Omar’s “journey fleeing war in Somalia as a little girl, becoming a refugee in her early teens, and making her way against unspeakable odds to become the congresswoman-elect from Minnesota as a collection of remarkable firsts.” The book will be titled This Is What America Looks Like, and Omar will work with a collaborator on its production, according to Forbes. Day Street Books Executive Editor Alessandra Bastagli told Forbes that Omar submitted a book proposal last year. “I’ve been following Rep. Omar’s career since 2016 and was thrilled to receive her excellent book proposal on submission last year,” Bastagli said. “Her voice on the page is very much as it is in real life—fresh and positive even when she is tackling serious issues, with real empathy and deep knowledge.” Both Bastagli and Omar’s literary agent Steve Ross hinted that her memoir will touch on the Trump administration and its policies. “Her story counters everything we keep hearing from the current administration and the…

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Minnesota Democrat Urges Colleagues to ‘Give Trump the Money’

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07), who says he’s “the only one left in the middle,” urged Democrats to “give Trump the money” for the border wall during a recent interview. Peterson sat down with Joel Heitkamp Tuesday for his KFGO News & Views program to discuss the ongoing government shutdown and how to get out of it, though Peterson didn’t exactly have an optimistic outlook. “I don’t see how we get out of this either, and they’re not reaching out to us—maybe me. I’m kind of the only one left in the middle. There’s a way out of this, but I mean both sides have taken these ridiculous positions. Our side—we’ve wasted money on things worse than the wall. I’m not against the wall. There’s places where it’s needed. We don’t need a wall coast to coast, but there’s places where a wall makes sense,” Peterson said. The Democrat from rural Minnesota said he’s been “talking to some ranchers down there” who have people “crawling over their fences and there’s no border patrol agents.” “One guy told me he had some people crawl over and he called the border patrol, and he said it’d be five hours before we can get…

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Pelosi Rejects Trump’s Shutdown Offer, Minnesota Democrats Fall in Line

Anthony Gockowski

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) rejected President Donald Trump’s offer Saturday to provide temporary protections for DACA recipients in exchange for border-wall cash, and Minnesota’s congressional delegation promptly followed suit. “Democrats were hopeful that the president was finally willing to re-open government and proceed with a much-needed discussion to protect the border. Unfortunately, initial reports make clear that his proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total do no represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people’s lives,” Pelosi said in a statement, which was released before Trump delivered his remarks. Pelosi called Trump’s proposal a “non-starter,” taking issue with the fact that it didn’t “include the permanent solution for the Dreamers and TPS [Temporary Protected Status] recipients that our country needs and supports.” Minnesota’s DFLers fell in line Saturday afternoon, saying they wouldn’t negotiate on border security until the government reopens. “While I welcome many elements of the president’ proposal, negotiations cannot begin during a shutdown,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) wrote on Twitter. “I believe a bipartisan deal can be reached that satisfies our need for enhanced border security and immigration reform, but government must be reopened for that…

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House DFL Tells Trump He’s ‘Threatening the Well-Being of Minnesotans’ in Letter

Anthony Gockowski

Nearly every DFL member of the Minnesota House signed their name to a letter sent to President Donald Trump Thursday urging him to “end this shutdown immediately.” “The ongoing federal government shutdown—now the longest in the history of our nation—is threatening the well-being of Minnesotans, putting our state tax dollars at risk and forcing Minnesotans to deal with declining federal services like the Transportation Security Administration,” the letter begins. Thursday’s letter was signed by 72 DFL state representatives, including House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park), and House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D-Golden Valley). The Minnesota House DFL claimed on Twitter that “in the spirit of bipartisanship” it “invited House Republicans to sign on but none did.” Today, members of the DFL House Majority sent this letter to President Trump respectfully requesting he re-open the government and end the shutdown. In the spirit of bipartisanship, we invited House Republicans to sign on but none did. https://t.co/VHACCmHNIl #mnleg — Minnesota House DFL Majority (@mnhouseDFL) January 17, 2019 “As the president, and leader of our nation, we count on you to set the tone and consider the national interest over any one political goal,” the letter continues. “You can end this shutdown immediately,…

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Michigan’s Tlaib Blames Trump for Death Threats She’s Receiving

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) recently sat down with Mehdi Hasan from The Intercept for his “Deconstructed” podcast where the Michigan representative blamed President Donald Trump for the alleged death threats she’s receiving. “Absolutely, he is the leader of our country. He sets the tone and you, even in rallies and other instances, he’s even said if impeachment continued, we’re going to see violence. We’re going to see—I mean, it’s almost like he’s sent out some sort of signal,” Tlaib responded when asked if she holds “this president’s rhetoric responsible” for the threats. During the show, Tlaib continued to build her case for impeaching Trump by invoking the emoluments clause, claiming Trump is “making decisions not in the best interest of the American people,” but “based on the profit lines.” “The Constitution demands it and I want to reiterate to people to understand that this is beyond collusion with Russia. This is beyond the Mueller investigation. Every single day that he’s president of the United States that has not divested in all of his domestic and foreign corporations, he’s making decisions not in the best interest of the American people,” she said. Tlaib went on to claim that this “causes a…

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Minnesota Democrat Says Most People Calling His Office Support ‘The Wall’

Anthony Gockowski

Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) told Fox News that the overwhelming majority of calls his office is receiving are from constituents who support President Donald Trump’s border wall. “From what I can tell, they’re still hanging with the president. Today, we got 67 calls for building the wall and five against. So, sounds to me like he’s still pretty popular,” Peterson said in an interview last week. This week, @collinpeterson admitted that both President @realDonaldTrump and the wall are popular in Minnesota. #BuildTheWall #mn07 pic.twitter.com/6xS9M7NKKr — Republican Party of Minnesota (@mngop) January 11, 2019 In another interview with Bloomberg, Peterson revealed that he’s not actually opposed to Trump’s wall, and said he believes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “should negotiate.” During Trump’s Tuesday night Oval Office address, he urged every American citizen to “call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades, secure our border.” “This is a choice between right and wrong. Justice and injustice. This is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty to the American citizens we serve,” Trump said. Vice President Mike Pence echoed those sentiments in an interview on The Rush Limbaugh Show, where he too pleaded…

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Klobuchar Gears Up For Another Confirmation Battle As Presidential Rumors Swirl

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) issued a statement Wednesday night after she and her Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee were apparently denied meetings with President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr. Barr is set to testify before the committee this week, but it is already shaping up to be another controversial nomination process. Klobuchar says she has concerns about an unsolicited memo Barr sent to the Justice Department in June 2018 in which he raised doubts about the scope of Robert Mueller’s investigation. “Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the president submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction. Apart from whether Mueller [has] a strong enough factual basis for doing so, Mueller’s obstruction theory is fatally misconceived,” Barr wrote. Klobuchar told Rolling Stone that she has additional concerns with Barr’s alleged failure to submit all of his ethics reports to the Senate Judiciary Committee. When she and her colleagues sought to meet with Barr to discuss these concerns, Klobuchar claims they were brushed off. “I tried (as did Blumenthal) to get meeting w/AG nominee Barr and was told he couldn’t meet until after hearing. The reason given? The shutdown. Yet shutdown didn’t stop him from other…

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Ilhan Omar Declares Trump Presidency a ‘National Emergency’ in Twitter Tirade Against the Wall

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) fired off dozens of tweets this week in response to President Donald Trump’s Tuesday address to the nation, nearly outpacing the president himself in tweets about the southern border wall. Before Trump’s Oval Office address even began, Omar was exasperated with the fact that Trump would receive “free airtime for propaganda on the ‘humanitarian and national security crisis’ at the border.” “Two children died in ICE custody last month after 10+ years with no such deaths. There’s blood on your hands,” Omar tweeted Tuesday. Tonight, while #Trump gets free airtime for propaganda on the "humanitarian & national security crisis" at the border, CHILDREN sit in cold cages in inhumane conditions. Two children died in ICE custody last month after 10+ years with no such deaths. There's blood on your hands. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2019 “We are literally watching a manufactured crisis, designed to divert attention from this criminal and dysfunctional administration. Stay woke America, Individual-1 is not one to sleep on,” she later wrote. Notably, Individual 1 was a code-name used by federal prosecutors in the charges brought against Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, and it was later made clear that Trump and…

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Senate DFL Introduces Slate of Identity Politics Bills, Seeks to Loosen Prevention of HIV in Blood Donations

Anthony Gockowski

The Minnesota State Senate plans to introduce 92 new pieces of legislation Monday, several of which are backed by the DFL, and focus on LGBT or race issues. Senate File (SF) 95, for instance, urges President Donald Trump and Congress to direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “revise its current blood or plasma donor deferral policy related to men who have had sex with a man and to women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with another man within the previous 12 months from the most recent contact.” The resolution, co-authored by five DFL senators, argues that the United States is “facing a critical shortage of blood donations,” which could be offset by revising an FDA donor deferral policy that “prohibits approximately 19 million American men and women from donating blood and plasma.” “Advances in HIV donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from blood transmissions to about one in 1.47 million transfusions,” the bill continues, calling for a revised policy “based on individual assessment of the risk posed by the donor.” SF 107, meanwhile, calls for the establishment of a “Council on LGBTQI Minnesotans,” which would consist of “two members…

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150,000 Sign Petition to Impeach Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib

Anthony Gockowski

A Change.org petition calling for the impeachment of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) already has close to 160,000 signatures. “This woman is an anti-Semite, a war mongering hate filled Palestinian who has vowed to try and destroy our constitutional rights, hates America, hates American citizens,” the petition states. “She’s a danger to our sovereignty, a detriment to society, and to this country, and is unfit to serve in any capacity within our government.” The petition also takes issue with Tlaib’s election, claiming that she “lied about living in Detroit” by “using her father’s house address.” Tlaib made headlines earlier this week when she vowed to “impeach the motherf—” during a party in celebration of her being sworn in to Congress. “I stand by impeaching the president of the United States. I ran on that,” she said in an interview discussing her comments. She called her promise to impeach President Donald Trump something she “very much” holds “dearly.” “They love that I’m real, and that I am very much focused on getting the government back up and running, but also making sure we’ve held the president of the United States accountable,” she said. Tlaib later apologized that her comments caused a “distraction,”…

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Scott Walker Will Help Chair Trump’s Reelection Campaign in Wisconsin

Anthony Gockowski

Former Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), who officially left office this week after eight years, announced Wednesday that he plans to help chair President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in Wisconsin. “I’m going to help chair his and Vice President Pence’s campaign here in Wisconsin,” Walker said on Fox and Friends. “I want to be a part of making sure that we keep this president and this administration intact.” Thanks to @foxandfriends for having me on this morning to talk about how we ended our term with a $588 million surplus, our plans for the future and more. https://t.co/ZKimBBHRFy — Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) January 9, 2019 While Walker plans to work in the private sector for a few years, he’s repeatedly expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate in 2022 if Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) decides against seeking reelection, which some believe is likely since Johnson has imposed term limits on himself. “My friend, Ron Johnson, has said that he wouldn’t be running again but I’m going to defer to him. If he wants to run again, I think he’s a good and effective United States Senator. If he didn’t, well I’ll think about it,” Walker said on The Jay Weber…

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Trump Asks Dems ‘How Much More American Blood’ They’re Willing to Shed in Oval Office Address

Anthony Gockowski

In a highly anticipated prime-time event, President Donald Trump delivered his first Oval Office address Tuesday night to discuss the continued battle over funding for his border wall. “This is just common sense. The border wall would very quickly pay for itself. The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year vastly more than the $5.7 billion we have requested from Congress. The wall will also be paid for indirectly by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico,” Trump said. He also pointed out that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has “repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past along with many other Democrats.” “How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job? To those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security I would ask: imagine if it was your child, your husband, or your wife whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken. To every member of Congress: pass a bill that ends this crisis,” Trump said. Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) responded to Trump in their own address Tuesday night. “I appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the American people…

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Elizabeth Warren Looped Video of Line Outside Iowa Rally to Create ‘Overflow’ Impression

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) campaigned in Iowa over the weekend after announcing an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential campaign. Her first stop was in Council Bluffs where she posted a video of an “overflow line” of supporters gathered outside the event. The video, however, was sped up and looped, meaning it begins playing again from the beginning of the line once it reaches the end. “First event in Iowa, first overflow line in Iowa,” Warren tweeted on Friday. First event in Iowa, first overflow line in Iowa! pic.twitter.com/VGLKONVxoJ — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 4, 2019 One twitter user slowed down the video and showed that about 85 people were standing in line for Warren’s event. Here is the video slowed down 1/1024 speed. As you can see there's about 86 people. pic.twitter.com/tbjpaS8NQx — Mike (@Fuctupmind) January 5, 2019 As Battleground State News reported, Warren was asked at one event about her 2018 DNA test that contradicted her claims of Native American heritage. “I’m glad for us to have a chance to talk about it. I am not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe,” she responded. “Tribal citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes…

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Minnesota’s #MeToo Casualties Al Franken and Garrison Keillor Plot Comebacks

Anthony Gockowski

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and iconic Minnesota Public Radio host Garrison Keillor were among the biggest names brought down by the #MeToo Movement, but both are plotting comebacks as the dust begins to settle. Franken, a one-time SNL cast member, is trying his hand at podcasts, and has so far produced three episodes of his yet untitled show. Franken recently sat down with comedian Dana Carvey to discuss the passing of President George H.W. Bush, whom Carvey famously impersonated. His other shows have been with former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt, and author David Frum, who recently published a book titled “Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic.” Franken, who resigned in early 2018 after facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, has also been doing some writing. He published an article on Medium called “He’s Doing the Best He Can” in which he claims that it’s “time for Republicans who knew they put a dangerously unqualified buffoon in the White House to either help contain the damage or get the hell out of the way.” Keillor, meanwhile, has been performing sold-out shows at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club in Fridley, Minnesota, and…

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Elizabeth Warren Admits She’s ‘Not a Person of Color’ at Iowa Campaign Rally

Anthony Gockowski

The 2020 race for the White House began in earnest Friday when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) hosted multiple campaign rallies in Iowa, the first in the nation caucus state. On Saturday morning, Warren continued her campaign across the state, but was asked about her infamous DNA test during a Sioux City stop. “Why did you undergo the DNA testing and give Donald Trump more fodder to be a bully?” one Iowan in attendance asked Warren, who said she was “glad” the question was asked. “I genuinely am, and I’m glad for us to have a chance to talk about it. I am not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship, and I respect that difference,” Warren acknowledged. “I’m just gonna put it all out there.” Senator Elizabeth Warren explains why she took a DNA test to determine her heritage #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/dqQTpRHeXw — Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) January 5, 2019 She explained that while growing up in Oklahoma she heard “the family stories of our ancestry,” and said that her claim to Native American ancestry was used against her when she first ran…

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Ellison Outlines Agenda at Minneapolis Event and Says He’ll Sue Trump if Necessary

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) continued his statewide listening tour Thursday in North Minneapolis where he said his office will sue President Donald Trump if it has to. During the Minneapolis stop, Ellison began to outline his agenda for when he takes over as Minnesota attorney general next week. His agenda, as it stands, will be two-fold: ensuring economic equality and protecting civil liberties as defined by the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Ellison also said he plans to continue hosting listening sessions after he takes office and will adjust his agenda as he sees fit. “One of the things we’re going to do with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is we’re going to listen a lot. This is not just something we’re going to do leading up to the time that I actually get sworn in. We’re going to do it now, and we’re going to keep doing it,” he said, and went on to share how he’s “envisioning the priorities of [his] office.” “First of all, we’re here to do this listening session based on the priories that you’re going to help us set, but I’m telling you the reason I ran and gave up a congressional seat that…

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St. Paul DFL Rep Promises to Fight ‘All Other Isms’ While Calling Trump a ‘Piece of S***’

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota State Rep.-elect Jay Xiong (D-St. Paul) hasn’t been sworn into office yet, but he’s already vowing to oppose the nation’s “vile president” and stand against “bigotry and racism, sexism and all other isms.” On Friday, Xiong released a statement discussing the actions of President Donald Trump as well as the 2020 census, which could cause significant changes to Minnesota’s congressional districting. Xiong pledged to support any Minnesota House bills that condemn “racist, sexist and hateful presidential executive orders,” such as H.R. 1—a resolution introduced by now Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) condemning Trump’s travel ban. “We stand united against a single idea that we all must fight til the end: hate. It is the vile bigotry and racism, sexism and all other isms that spew from the horrid mouth of an unqualified and unfit president,” Xiong said Friday. He claimed he will do his part at the Minnesota Capitol to oppose “hateful presidential executive orders which have one clear intention: to keep black and brown people out of the process, the polls, and the political and physical body politic of this country, which was founded on immigration.” https://twitter.com/RepJayXiong/status/1081159724710719488 In a subsequent tweet, Xiong mocked Republicans as “snowflakes” after they criticized…

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GatewayPundit’s Jim Hoft Teams Up with Missouri’s St. Louis Tea Party to Announce a Rally for Trump’s Border Wall

Anthony Gockowski

The St. Louis Tea Party is organizing a rally for Saturday in support of President Donald Trump as he continues to fight for the border wall. According to a press release, the rally was organized by the St. Louis Tea Party and the Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft. “Our president needs our support. Our president needs to know we stand with him,” Hoft said in a statement, encouraging St. Louis residents to attend the Saturday rally in Clayton, Missouri. “Let’s show our support for President Trump as he holds the line, and demand funding for the wall,” the St. Louis Tea Party said on Facebook. The news comes amid a contentious government shutdown over funding for Trump’s border wall, which now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are unwilling to budge on after multiple conversations with the president. On Thursday, Trump made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room (his first) and was accompanied by members of ICE and Border Patrol. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the White House press corps that if they “interview Border Patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work.” “Anywhere that you…

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White House Aide Blasts Reporter After He Said Trump Was Not Working During Shutdown

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by Henry Rodgers   White House aide Hogan Gidley called out a reporter for saying President Donald Trump was not working Monday amid the ninth day of the government shutdown, demanding he “correct the record.” Gidley, Trump’s deputy press secretary, was responding to Playboy’s White House reporter Brian Karem, who tweeted out a photo of the West Wing, saying since there was no Marine present at the doorway, the president was not in the Oval Office. Gidley said he looked into the Oval Office right after seeing the tweet, and saw Trump sitting behind the Resolute Desk working, and said Karem did not even call the press team to ask if he was working before sending out the tweet. I just looked into the Oval Office myself, and @POTUS was in fact sitting behind the Resolute Desk working. So, now I’m just waiting for you and the rest of your ilk to either stop jumping to false conclusions, correct the record, or, here’s a thought, call the press team to ask. https://t.co/uzIp0i7Dwo — Hogan Gidley 45 Archived (@hogangidley45) December 31, 2018 This all comes as President Donald Trump has said he will not budge on the $5 billion requested for a border wall,…

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Ellison Names Outspoken Anti-Trump Immigration Lawyer As Second in Command

Anthony Gockowski

Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) announced Friday that he has named John Keller to serve as his chief deputy attorney general. Keller currently oversees the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a vehemently anti-Trump non-profit that provides legal services to illegal aliens and refugees. According to a press release from Ellison’s transition team, Keller began working at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) in 1998 as a staff attorney, and has served as its executive director since 2005. “In that time, he has transformed ILCM from a small, regional legal-services organization with five staff to Minnesota’s leading provider of free, high-quality, and comprehensive legal, policy, and education services with five offices statewide, 32 employees—a majority of whom are from immigrant, refugee, or mixed-family backgrounds—more than 350 trained pro bono attorneys, and a statewide and national reputation,” the press release explains. Keller and the ILCM have become outspoken critics of the Trump administration and its immigration polices, and have repeatedly taken actions to thwart Trump’s agenda in Minnesota. Last December, for instance, Keller helped secure $250,000 in taxpayer funds from Hennepin County to launch a legal defense fund for county residents facing deportation. The fund was criticized by Republican gubernatorial candidate…

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Successful North Carolina Businessman Pioneers New Way Forward in Education

Anthony Gockowski

Bob Luddy had already experienced massive success as a businessman and entrepreneur before launching Thales Academy, one of North Carolina’s most innovative private schools. In 1976, Luddy founded CaptiveAire Systems, now the leading manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation systems in the U.S. with annual sales of more than $300 million. Why, after such success, get involved in education? “Primarily because in my life I had a reasonably good education and I realized how much it contributed to my life, and to the American way,” Luddy told Battleground State News in a recent interview. “And also within our family, my parents certainly stressed the importance of education throughout our lifetime. So in making observations after being in business for many years, I felt like too many students are deprived of the opportunity to reach their fruition in life by having a good, sound education.” And that is exactly what Luddy’s Thales Academy (Thales), now in its eleventh year and named for the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, does: educate each student to his maximum potential. Luddy launched Thales in 2007 using a “temporary facility in the back of” his corporate office, the school’s website explains, and had just 30 students. Now,…

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Minnesota Lawmakers Respond Feverishly to Border Wall Shutdown

Anthony Gockowski

It was a wild week in Washington, which gave Minnesota’s politicians ample opportunity to attack President Donald Trump. In a Friday appearance on The Dan Obeidallah Show, Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said Trump’s border wall “is deeply rooted in xenophobia.” “If Trump shuts down the government: 420,000 Americans will be forced to work without pay over the holidays. 380,000 will be furloughed. 30 million small businesses will lose access to loans,” she later wrote on Twitter. “All of this, over a wall that Americans don’t want. A wast of billions of dollars.” If Trump shuts down the government: 420,000 Americans will be forced to work without pay over the holidays. 380,000 will be furloughed. 30 million small businesses will lose access to loans. All of this, over a wall that Americans don’t want. A waste of billions of dollars. — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 21, 2018 “Hey GOP, your incompetency is mind numbing, three shutdowns in one year. For the sake of the American people, get it together or get out of the way,” Omar wrote on Saturday. Hey @GOP, your incompetency is mind numbing, three #shutdowns in one year. For the sake of the American people, get it together…

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Former Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Uses Christmas to Attack Trump

Anthony Gockowski

Failed Minneapolis mayoral candidate Tom Hoch is back in the news for calling President Donald Trump a “traitor” in a Christmas-lights display adorning his ritzy Lake of the Isles home. “Trump is a traitor” spelled out in Christmas lights now radiates from the top of Hoch’s home, which apparently backs up to Minneapolis’ Lake of the Isles, according to The Star Tribune. “I think it’s hard to come to any other conclusion about someone who is willing to turn against this country for his own enrichment,” Hoch explained. “I don’t view this as a big judgment call; this is a true statement.” His holiday message is likely viewed by hundreds of passersby everyday who visit Lake of the Isles for a walk or bike ride, or pass through the downtown Minneapolis destination on their way to work. But Hoch claims that the response has been only positive, and said he’s even been asked to keep the display up year round. “I was walking my dog and some guy pulled over and said, ‘Bravo, Bravo!’” Hoch told The Star Tribune. “A lot of people have stopped. I’ve been quite surprised.” Fr. James Bretzke, Hoch’s cousin and a Catholic priest, celebrated the…

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Outgoing MN Rep. Jason Lewis’ Juvenile Justice Reform Bill Signed Into Law

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Jason Lewis’ (R-MN-02) Juvenile Justice Reform Act (JJRA) was signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump as part of Congress’ sweeping criminal justice reform measures. According to Lewis, the JJRA hadn’t been “reauthorized or modernized since 2002.” Lewis’ reforms respond to the need for alternatives to detaining juveniles for “so-called ‘status crimes’ like skipping school.” The bill, H.R. 6964, offers a “plan to provide alternatives to detention for status offenders, survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, and others.” The bill also seeks to “reduce the number of children housed in secure detention and corrections facilities who are awaiting placement in residential treatment programs.” His bill will also modernize the juvenile-justice system by promoting “evidence-based and trauma-informed programs and practices,” and emphasizing “community-based services to respond to the needs of at-risk youth.” The bill further eliminates the use of restraints on juveniles who are known to be pregnant, and prohibits detaining juveniles who are awaiting trial with adult inmates. “Some of the most rewarding experiences I had in Congress were working with colleagues from all over the country and from varying political backgrounds on criminal justice reform,” Lewis said in a press release. “Today, my Juvenile Justice Reform Act was…

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MyPillow’s Mike Lindell Helping Fund Conservative Movies in Hollywood

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota businessman and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is trying his hand at Hollywood after investing $1 million in a new movie that offers a critical look at Planned Parenthood. The movie, titled Unplanned, had to be filmed in secret due to the sensitive nature of its subject, The Hollywood Reporter reveals, but that hasn’t stopped Lindell from speaking about his role in the film. “I don’t get into things for the money; I get into them if the message is right,” Lindell told The Hollywood Reporter, which notes that Lindell previously backed a Christian movie called Church People. Lindell’s investment in Unplanned amounts to one-sixth of the film’s whole production budget, and was made by the creators of such films as God’s Not Dead and I Can Only Imagine, which both grossed more than $60 million at the box office. The film is based on a book of the same title, and tells the true story of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director and spokesperson who went on to become one of the nation’s most outspoken critics of abortion. “I’m pro-life and I’m happy to do it,” said Lindell, who makes a cameo in the movie set to…

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