Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the national political correspondent for One America News, Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to comment on the widening field of presidential candidates for the 2024 election.
Read the full storyTag: Ron DeSantis
DeSantis-Aligned Super PAC Taps Another Former Trump Aide
Never Back Down, the political action committee (PAC) that intends on recruiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024, hired a strategic communications director – another former aide to President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.
Matt Wolking, former deputy communications director for the 2020 Trump campaign, will join the super PAC founded by former Trump official Ken Cuccinelli, according to the NYT. Wolking also served as a spokesman for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in his 2021 campaign.
Read the full storyPence Returns to Iowa as He Mulls a Run for the White House and Faces Judge’s Order to Testify About Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Iowa Wednesday for a three-city trip as he moves closer to making an announcement on his presidential run.
Pence is among at least four would-be GOP presidential contenders with plans to hit the Hawkeye State in the next few weeks.
Read the full storyGov. Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation He Calls ‘Largest Expansion of School Choice in History of These United States’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday in Miami that establishes an Education Savings Accounts (ESA) program under which every family in the state can receive up to $8,000 to cover education expenses outside of the public school system.
“The state of Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice,” DeSantis said at a press conference Monday.
Read the full storyMethodology and Motive Questions Surround Poll Showing DeSantis Ahead of Trump in Iowa
Two polls showing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “running more competitively” against former President Donald Trump in first-in-the-nation nominating states Iowa and New Hampshire are missing some key data, raising questions about the validity of the surveys.
The polls, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (POS) from March 21-23, were provided exclusively to Axios.
Read the full storyVivek Ramaswamy, the GOP’s Youngest Presidential Candidate, Showing His Energy on Latest Swing Through Iowa
While Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy may be lagging in the polls, in his first month on the campaign trail no one has outworked the Ohio businessman to connect with voters.
In the words of Geoff Mack and Johnny Cash, Ramaswamy has been everywhere, man — from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina and Maryland. He’s made the media rounds, too, from the smallest small town newspapers to the network talking heads.
Read the full storyTrump Has Double DeSantis’ Support: Poll
Former President Donald Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP primary by a massive two-digit margin, doubling the support of DeSantis’ share, according to a poll released Friday.
Trump tops a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders at 50% – a 26-percentage point lead over the Florida governor – according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. In a head-to-head matchup between the two frontrunners, the former president still wins against DeSantis, but by a slimmer margin of 56% to 44%.
Read the full storyMinnesota Gov. Walz Promotes Sexually Graphic Book at Reading Event
In his latest attempt to raise his national profile, Gov. Tim Walz took shots at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday, saying the Republican’s state is “where freedom goes to die.”
The remarks were made during an event to promote reading month, where Walz unveiled a Little Free Library outside of his office.
Read the full storyCommentary: DeSantis Staff Need Not Apply for the Trump Campaign
As Ron DeSantis emerges as a prospective rival for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump’s campaign has put word out that anyone who works for the Florida governor will be blackballed.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the edict, Justin Caporale, who helps lead the advance team for the former president, has said that anyone who staffed a recent DeSantis book tour will be considered “persona non grata.” A top Trump ally was more comprehensive, telling RealClearPolitics that the prohibition would apply to more than just the junior aides tasked with setting up folding chairs and hanging banners.
Read the full storyGOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Barnstorms Western Iowa as His Political Star Appears to Rise
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is back in the Hawkeye State this weekend for several campaign stops, just as his star appears be rising in the GOP nomination chase.
The Ohio businessman and anti-woke crusader that former President Trump has billed as “young Vivek Ramaswamy” will barnstorm western Iowa in a three-day, three-county tour beginning Friday evening with a town hall in Mills County.
Read the full storyDisney World Florida to Host World’s Largest LGBT+ Conference
Walt Disney World in Florida will host an LGBT+ conference this fall that organizers are calling the world’s largest – as the resort and state GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to spar over sexual-orientation and gender-identity issues.
Out & Equal, an activist group that promotes equality for LGBT+ people in the workplace, is hosting its 2023 Workplace Summit for three days in September, according to the organization’s website. The group says the summit “is the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world, with more than 5,000 attendees every year.”
Read the full storyMastriano Proposes Bill for Pennsylvania School Curriculum Transparency
Pennsylvania state Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) this week announced he is introducing legislation requiring public K-12 schools to post their curricula online.
Should the policy become law, school districts and charter institutions must provide public web access to syllabi for all classes and thorough lists of the textbooks planned for use in those courses as well as commonwealth academic standards for all course offerings. Should a school make any curricular revisions, it would have 30 days to publish them.
Read the full storyRoger Simon: Young Vivek Is Trump Without Any Baggage
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss age and politicians.
Read the full storyClint Brewer: If the GOP Presidential Nomination Was Held Today, Donald Trump Would Win
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed recovering journalist Clint Brewer in studio to review national polling numbers that indicate a win for former President Trump if the GOP presidential nomination were held today.
Read the full storyNeil W. McCabe: DeSantis Recognizes the Trump Dichotomy of Personality and Issues
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed One America News political correspondent Neil W McCabe to the newsmaker line to breakdown the 2024 Republican presidential candidates.
Read the full storyDeSantis Proposes Ban on Central Bank Digital Currency to Prevent ‘Woke Ideology’
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on his Legislature to pass a bill that would prohibit any federally adopted Central Bank Digital Currency from being used in the state.
“A federally controlled Central Bank Digital Currency is the most recent way the Davos elites are attempting to backdoor woke ideology like Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) into the United States financial system, threatening individual privacy and economic freedom,” DeSantis’ office said Monday, taking aim at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in an announcement about the proposal.
Read the full storyTrump Blasts DeSantis, Predicts Ramaswamy Will Overtake Florida Governor in the Polls
Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social Monday to fire another round at GOP rival and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, asserting that fellow GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will overtake “Ron DeSanctimonious” in the polls.
“Ron DeSanctimonious is dropping in the Polls so fast that he soon may be falling behind young Vivek Ramaswamy,” Trump wrote on his social network platform.
Read the full storyPence Tells Iowans U.S. Must Continue to be ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ in Ukraine
Taking a different position than his old boss on a key foreign policy issue, former Vice President Mike Pence told a gathering of Iowans Saturday that the U.S. must continue to help provision Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.
While he repeatedly trumpeted “Trump-Pence” successes, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate definitely differs with potential top presidential race rivals, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, on U.S. involvement in the war-torn European country.
Read the full storyDem-Linked Nonprofit Sues DeSantis Admin for Records on Decision to Reject AP History Class
A left-wing watchdog organization sued Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Thursday for allegedly withholding records relating to the decision to reject the AP African American Studies course.
American Oversight filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education claiming the government agency is allegedly not responding to eight public records requests for the communications between state agencies, DeSantis’ office and outside parties discussing the decision to reject an AP African American Studies course because it lacked “educational value and historical accuracy.” The lawsuit comes after DeSantis rejected the college-level course because it violated state law against the teaching of CRT.
Read the full storyFormer Vice President Mike Pence Joins Maryland Ex-Governor Larry Hogan at Iowa Foreign Policy Event
Former Vice President Mike Pence will be in Des Moines Saturday morning for a foreign policy discussion.
The presumptive GOP presidential candidate will be joined by former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who recently dropped out of the Republican presidential sweepstakes and whose former chief of staff is wanted by the FBI.
Read the full storyFlorida Heartbeat Bill Approved by House Subcommittee and Advances
A Florida House subcommittee approved a bill Thursday that would prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, a move that advances the legislation to the state House Health and Human Services Committee for a hearing.
The House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee voted 13-5 in support of HB7, a measure that would protect most unborn babies from abortion at generally six weeks after a heartbeat is detected.
Read the full storyVice President Kamala Harris to Visit Iowa for Roundtable Discussion on Abortion Rights
Vice President Kamala Harris, who hasn’t been to Iowa in years, is heading back to the Hawkeye State this Thursday for a roundtable discussion on abortion rights, according to the White House.
Harris will be in Des Moines to talk about “extreme” measures to limit abortion across the country in the wake of last June’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, according to multiple media outlets.
Read the full storyCommentary: DeSantis Charms GOP by Condemning ‘Leaks’ and ‘Palace Intrigue’
On its face, there wasn’t anything unusual about the email that landed last week in the press office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Background interview request from the Washington Post,” read the subject line that summarized the industry-standard process whereby information is shared with reporters under pre-negotiated terms, usually anonymity. When sanctioned by a politician or their team, it is called “going on background” to shape and broaden a story with additional facts and contexts but without direct attribution. When not sanctioned, well, then that is just called leaking.
Read the full storyTrump, Mastriano Well Ahead of Respective Potential Rivals in Pennsylvania
In the first public poll on Pennsylvania’s 2024 Republican Senate primary, State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) has an 18-point lead against Dave McCormick.
The same survey shows former President Donald Trump besting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by the same margin in the state’s GOP presidential contest. While only Trump has officially declared his candidacy, a robust movement for a DeSantis bid has long been afoot while both Mastriano and McCormick have strongly suggested they are considering a Senate run.
Read the full storyFormer President Donald Trump Stumps in Iowa, Vows to Evict Biden from the White House and ‘Prevent World War III’
Former President Donald Trump was back in Iowa Monday night and he was loaded for bear, taking aim at woke liberals, the mainstream media, the Deep State, “Paul Ryan RINOs” and the current unpopular top resident of the White House.
And Trump, arguably the leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, made the crowd packing Davenport’s 2,400-seat Adler Theatre some big promises. Chief among them: He’ll always have Iowa’s back and he’ll “stop World War III.”
Read the full story‘Corporate Bailouts Must End’: 2024 GOP Candidates Weigh In On Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has sparked comments from 2024 GOP candidates and hopefuls about why the bank failed and what the government should do in its wake.
Declared candidates, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump, as well as contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have spoken out about what might have led to SVB’s collapse and against government bailouts. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of SVB after its Friday shut down when their stock plummeted following mass withdrawals.
Read the full storyRon DeSantis Suggests Privately He’s Decided to Run for President: Report
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has privately disclosed his intentions to run for president in 2024, two sources close to the governor told The Washington Post.
DeSantis’ private comments suggest that he is no longer in the deciding phase, and is likely to make an announcement once Florida’s legislative session concludes in May, according to The Post. The Thursday launch of Never Back Down, a political action committee designed to boost DeSantis as the GOP nominee, serves as another indicator of a possible campaign, as it intends to “carry him to the White House.”
Read the full storyFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis Wows Iowans at Packed ‘Book Tour’ Event
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may still be mulling over a run for president, but the Republican looked and sounded every bit a contender for the GOP presidential nomination Friday evening in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
DeSantis joined fellow Republican, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. at a packed, standing-room only stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, ostensibly to promote his new book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.
Read the full storyGOP Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Floats a Social Security Reform Trial Balloon in Iowa
In her latest swing through Iowa, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at the nation’s financially troubled safety nets for seniors, telling Council Bluff Republicans it’s time to change the retirement age and check Social Security and Medicare benefits for wealthier Americans.
If the former South Carolina governor was sending out a trial balloon to see how reform ideas would fly in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, it seems said balloon may have hit the third rail.
Read the full storyDonald Trump Tops National Primary Polls, But DeSantis Leads in Key States
While former President Donald Trump continues to lead national polls for the 2024 GOP primaries, state polling is more of a determining factor, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is topping several important states.
In states with the most recent primary polling, DeSantis leads in five– Alabama, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. There are several other states in which he leads, but with several caveats.
Read the full storyFlorida Lawmakers to Tackle School Choice Expansion in New Session
Florida’s Legislature will be serving up a smorgasbord of issues during the upcoming 60-day regular session that begins on Tuesday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said many times that Florida is the place where “woke goes to die” and passage of laws to stop it tops the agenda for the Republican supermajority in 2023.
Read the full storyFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis Coming to the Caucus State Next Week
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the presumed heavy hitters in the GOP’s presidential nomination chase, will be in Iowa next week.
And we’ve now learned where former President Donald Trump will be for his promised Iowa campaign stop later this month.
Read the full storyNew Polls Show Trump Widening Lead over DeSantis with GOP Voters
Former President Donald Trump is gaining support from Republican voters and widening his lead over potential 2024 candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, according to four new polls.
Trump received 55% of the hypothetical 2024 GOP primary vote, more than twice that of DeSantis, who received 25%, according to an Emerson College poll released Tuesday. A poll from Emerson last month showed that Trump led DeSantis 55%-29%.
Read the full storyTrump Is Heading Back to Iowa on a Mid-March Campaign Stop
Former President Donald Trump is coming to Iowa.
The leading Republican candidate for president will make a campaign stop in the first-in-the-nation caucus state mid-month, sources say. Exactly when and where remains unsettled.
Read the full storyNeil W. McCabe: It Sure Looks Like Tennessee Governor Bill Lee Wants to Create the Wokeist National Guard in the Country
Wednesday morning host Leahy welcomed top gov tracker Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to discuss Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee creating a woke National Guard and Ron DeSantis’s legislative agenda and presidential aspirations.
Read the full storyNew Poll Finds Nearly 70 Percent of Arizona GOP Voters Prefer Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis as 2024 Presidential Candidates
A new poll from OH Predictive Insights (OHPI) focusing on the potential Republican candidates for Arizona’s 2024 primary election found that voters favor former President Donald Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by a wide margin as their choice for president.
Read the full storyHospital Costs for Foreign Nationals Illegally in Florida Total $340 Million in Fiscal ’21
Taxpayers spent nearly $340 million for foreign nationals illegally in the U.S. who were admitted to Florida hospitals during fiscal 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office says. This is after taxpayers spent $312 million on illegal foreign nationals admitted to Florida hospitals in fiscal 2020.
According to the findings, donations from charities were used to help pay for illegal foreign nationals’ hospital bills.
Read the full storyFlorida Seeks to Replace SAT with CLT, Following Classical Education Trend
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with the College Board is calling attention to alternatives in standardized testing methods, including the Classical Learning Test (CLT).
DeSantis began pushing back against the College Board, which administers the SAT entrance exam and Advanced Placement (AP) curricula, in January when his administration rejected the trial-run of the AP African American Studies course in the state of Florida.
Read the full storyFlorida’s DeSantis Announces New Initiative to Combat Illegal Immigration
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday an extensive legislative plan to address the border crisis.
His proposal comes as record numbers of foreign nationals have illegally entered through the southern border and made their way to Florida or are continuing to be apprehended by state and federal law enforcement officers as they attempt to enter Florida illegally by sea.
Read the full storySimon and Leahy: The Race for the 2024 GOP Presidential Nomination Is Now Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Dark Horse Vivek, and the Munchkins
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Right Cannot Afford to Abandon Public Education
In his latest offensive to rid Florida’s educational system of revolutionary Marxism, Governor Ron DeSantis announced what amounts to a new direction for one of the most liberal educational institutions in the state: the New College of Florida. DeSantis appointed a slew of new trustees to the college, including the anti-Marxist journalist Christopher Rufo, Claremont Review of Books Editor and political scientist Charles R. Kesler, and Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale College. The president of the New College, Patricia Okker, appeared before the board and said that she could not cooperate with the board or with DeSantis’ plan for the institution, and she was promptly terminated.
Read the full storyThink Tank Issues New Recommendations to Cut and Modernize Wisconsin Government
The Delafield-based Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) on Tuesday issued a report listing ways the free-market research group believes Wisconsin’s state government can become leaner and more responsive.
Titled “Reimagining Wisconsin Government for the 21st Century,” the document is the product of a year and half of research. It proposes the kind of decentralization that Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has suggested for the federal government by moving some of the public workforce out of Washington, D.C. so it can more closely work with local communities.
Read the full storyTrump and DeSantis to Fundraise Back-To-Back in Palm Beach This Week
Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are both set to appear at fundraising events in Palm Beach, Florida, this week for their respective campaigns as the race for the GOP primaries intensifies.
MAGA Inc., a political action committee campaigning for a second Trump administration, is hosting an event at Mar-a-Lago, and DeSantis is gathering a group of conservative donors and leaders for a retreat just eight minutes from Trump’s estate the next day, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Legislator Proposes Ending Compulsion for Diversity Courses at State-Funded Universities
Pennsylvania state Representative Stephenie Scialabba (R-Cranberry Township) this week proposed legislation banning compulsory diversity courses at state-funded universities.
The Bulter County-based lawmaker mentioned in a memorandum describing her emerging bill that she was impelled to draft it after learning that undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh are required to “complete one course that is designated as a Diversity course.”
Read the full storyNeil W. McCabe: A Lot of 2024 Presidential Candidates Show Up in Florida to Collect Checks
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed top gov tracker and One America News National Political Correspondent, Neil W. McCabe live from Florida to comment on DeSantis’s agenda, new Trump-given nickname, and Nikki Haley’s 2024 bid for president.
Read the full storyFlorida’s DeSantis Unveils $2 Billion Tax Relief Plan
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants $2 billion in tax relief to lower the burden of inflation on state residents.
The second-term Republican held a news conference in Ocala Wednesday to discuss his tax relief plan.
Read the full storyDeSantis Administration Further Investigates AP African American Studies Revision After College Board Reveals CRT Authors ‘Going to Be Freely Available to Students and Teachers’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration has requested the College Board release all of its materials regarding its revised Advanced Placement African American Studies (APAAS) curriculum following an NPR interview in which the College Board president touted radical leftist material would still be very much available to high school students taking the course.
With Florida’s Stop WOKE Act banning the promotion of the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in grades K-12, the DeSantis administration rejected the initial APAAS course because it included writings such as those by radical Marxist and former Communist Party member Angela Davis, and others associated with portions of the course called the “Movement for Black Lives,” and “Black Queer Studies.”
Read the full storyWisconsin Representatives Introduce Victims’ Rights Measure
Two state legislators from Wisconsin are urging colleagues to back their bill to strengthen crime victims’ rights to restitution in their state.
The bill authored by State Representatives Shae Sortwell (R-Gibson) and Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) would halt the restoration of felons’ voting rights until after the perpetrators pay all fines, court fees, and victim restitution. In the Badger State, a convict loses his or her right to vote until he or she serves all prison time and completes any parole or probation that a court imposes. But that person may again vote before meeting his or her legal monetary obligations.
Read the full storyFlorida Bill to Set Up Unauthorized Alien Transport Program Passes First Hurdle
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal to transport foreign nationals out of Florida to sanctuary cities passed a key hurdle in the state Senate on Tuesday.
The Florida Senate Committee on Fiscal Policy approved Senate Bill 6-B by a 14-6 margin that will authorize the state to procure contractors to transport foreign nationals around the United States through a specialized program.
Read the full storyCommentary: DeSantis, Inc. Underestimates Donald Trump
The 2024 Republican presidential primary has hardly begun, but a consensus has already formed in conservative media that Donald Trump is toxic and unelectable. This narrative, commonplace but seldom challenged, is being pushed aggressively by pundits who are obviously partial to Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Many of these personalities insist that Trump has an obligation to step aside, and they pretend that Trump is attacking DeSantis unprovoked, despite the governor’s obvious intentions to run.
Read the full story