Matt Gaetz Thinks Margot Robbie Is Really Hot

Skip to main content Manage SubscriptionLogin! subscribe Politics TV Interviews Entertainment Sports Podcasts Opinion UK Mediaite+ Mediaite Manage SubscriptionLogin! subscribe Politics TV Interviews Entertainment Sports Podcasts Opinion UK Mediaite+ Appeals Court Upholds Gag Order on Trump – But Allows Him To Criticize Jack Smith GOP Mega-Donor Slams ‘Disgraceful’ Last Months of Trump’s Presidency While Endorsing Haley on Fox News ‘I Am A Really Bad Person’: Michigan School Shooter Addresses Court Before Sentencing Elon Musk Trying to Get Disney Chief Bob Iger Fired After DealBook Disaster White House Dumps Council on American-Islamic Relations from Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia Materials Matt Gaetz Tries Appealing To Youngsters at TP USA Conference: ‘Margo Robbie Is Not Mid!’ Phillip NietoJul 15th, 2023, 5:51 pm Twitter share button Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tried impressing young conservatives at a Turning Point USA conference on Saturday by referencing an online debate about the attractiveness of actress Margot Robbie. Recently, there has been an online debate about whether or not Robbie is attractive when she is not wearing makeup. The controversy originates from tweets referring to the actress as “mid,” a term used by members of Generation Z to refer to a mildly attractive female. This is her without makeup. Definitely mid. https://t.co/9sHshGY09z pic.twitter.com/Q4yLPC1dIE — Nick (@NicholasVerola) July 12, 2023 She is a hard 7. You used to find a Margot Robbie in every Blockbuster Video in 1995. pic.twitter.com/rGvrUg0F4z — Bizlet (@bizlet7) July 12, 2023 The Republican firebrand decided to reference this controversy during his speech at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, noting that the Barbie actress is a “ten.” “There’s this big online debate raging right now, and I just want to settle as one true north for the nature of truth itself,” said Gaetz. “Margot Robbie is not mid. A ten is a ten even with Common Core math.” The joke appeared to go over well with some of the young audience members as it was meant with claps and jeers in the auditorium. Watch the full clip above. Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com Filed Under: Margot RobbieMatt GaetzTurning PointTwitter Previous PostNext Post Previous PostNext Post Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Tips Have a tip or story idea? Email us. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. Most Popular ‘We Heard Him With Our Own Ears!’ CNN’s Dana Bash Stunned By Trump Rival’s Claim Cops Incited Jan. 6 Rioters ‘I Have No Evidence But—’ NBC’s Chuck Todd Floats Trump Collusion With Debate Attack Dog Ramaswamy ‘I Was Shaking Listening to Him’: Van Jones Says Vivek Ramaswamy’s Debate Remarks ‘One Step Away From Nazi Propaganda’ ‘Pathetic and Disgusting’: McGovern Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene, Says ‘It’s Really Rich to Get a Lecture on Civility’ From Her Hot Mic Catches Megyn Kelly’s Post-Debate Panel Mocking Ron DeSantis’s Expression: ‘Looked Like You Shot His Dog’ You may also like: Kevin McCarthy Hit With Brutal, Since-Removed Community Note On X After Resigning: ‘He Just Quit’ Phillip NietoDec 6th, 2023, 6:37 pm ‘Whoa!’ Gutfeld Draws Stunned Gasps In Studio With Devastating Crack About Fox News Firing Tucker Carlson Caleb HoweDec 2nd, 2023, 2:30 pm Matt Gaetz Urges Against Expelling George Santos – ‘Whoever He Is’ Phillip NietoNov 30th, 2023, 5:18 pm The Appeal of Elon Musk’s ‘Go F*ck Yourself’ Rant Isaac SchorrNov 30th, 2023, 12:47 pm Elon Musk Deletes Falsehood-Ridden Pizzagate Meme After His Own App Calls Him Out Isaac SchorrNov 28th, 2023, 3:37 pm Mayor of Paris Quits ‘Global Sewer’ Twitter/X in Scorching Post: ‘The Weapon of Mass Destruction of Our Democracies’ Jamie FreveleNov 27th, 2023, 3:45 pm © 2023 Mediaite, LLC About Us Advertise Privacy Accessibility User Agreement Ethics & Diversity Policy Contact

Sex trafficker @[100044404090370:2048:Congressman Matt Gaetz] wants to remind you he’s a fucking creep.

[https://www.mediaite.com/online/matt-gaetz-tries-appealing-to-youngsters-at-tp-usa-conference-margo-robbie-is-not-mid/]

Trump attorney quits another case, cites ‘irreconcilable differences’ – POLITICO

Skip to Main Content POLITICO Politico Logo Congress Pro E&E News Search Search WASHINGTON & POLITICS Congress White House Elections Legal Magazine Foreign Affairs 2024 ELECTIONS News GOP Candidate Tracker STATE POLITICS & POLICY California Florida New Jersey New York GLOBAL POLITICS & POLICY Brussels Canada United Kingdom POLICY NEWS Agriculture Cannabis Cybersecurity Defense Education Energy & Environment Finance & Tax Health Care Immigration Labor Sustainability Technology Trade Transportation NEWSLETTERS Playbook Playbook PM West Wing Playbook POLITICO Nightly POLITICO Weekend The Recast Huddle All Newsletters COLUMNISTS Alex Burns John Harris Jonathan Martin Michael Schaffer Jack Shafer Rich Lowry SERIES & MORE Breaking News Alerts Podcasts Video The Fifty Women Rule Matt Wuerker Cartoons Cartoon Carousel POLITICO Live Upcoming Events Previous Events Follow us Twitter Instagram Facebook My Account Log In Log Out legal Trump attorney quits another case, cites ‘irreconcilable differences’ The departure of Jim Trusty from a defamation case that Trump filed is the latest shake-up in his legal team. Former President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Jim Trusty (right), withdrew from representing Trump due to “irreconcilable differences.” | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo By Kyle Cheney 06/16/2023 10:47 AM EDT Link Copied Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty, who withdrew from representing Trump in a pair of federal criminal probes last week, pulled out of yet another Trump legal matter Friday, citing “irreconcilable differences” with the former president. In a filing with the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, Trusty indicated his intention to withdraw from Trump’s pending defamation lawsuit against CNN. The longshot lawsuit, which Trump filed last October, accuses the network of maligning him as a “‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.’” “Mr. Trusty’s withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,” Trusty wrote in the filing, which he signed. The move follows Trusty’s decision, along with Trump attorney John Rowley, to resign from Trump’s legal team shortly after he was indicted by a Florida grand jury for stashing military secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The two lawyers issued a joint statement that made no mention of “irreconcilable differences.” “Now that the case has been filed in Miami, this is a logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion,” they wrote last week. “We have no plans to hold media appearances that address our withdrawals or any other confidential communications we’ve had with the President or his legal team.” Trusty did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. A Trump campaign spokesperson said: “The defamation lawsuit against CNN is entering a new phase, as more irrefutable facts are revealed. We thank Mr. Trusty for his work on this case and wish him all the best.” The filing, however, arrives at a sensitive moment in Trump’s legal battles. He’s seeking additional representation to defend him against the 37-count indictment for “willful retention” of national security records at his home, as well as allegedly obstructing efforts by the government to reclaim those records. Trump appeared at his arraignment Tuesday with attorneys Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise, but he’s expected to add an additional firm as the proceedings get underway. Filed under: CNN, Florida, Defamation, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2024, Trump Indictment POLITICO Link Copied About Us Advertising Breaking News Alerts Careers Credit Card Payments Digital Edition FAQ Feedback Headlines Photos POWERJobs Press Print Subscriptions Request A Correction Write For Us RSS Site Map Terms of Service Privacy Policy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information and Opt Out of Targeted Advertising © 2023 POLITICO LLC

@[100044274887410:2048:Donald J. Trump] burns through lawyers like @[100044294416401:2048:Snoop Dogg] burns through blunts. It’s amazing he could still find law firms willing to take him on even with his track record of not paying.

[https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/16/trump-attorney-trusty-resigns-00102408]

Trump tells Fox News he’s going after Social Security and Medicare: ‘We’ll be cutting’

At a town hall meeting on Fox News Thursday, President Donald Trump acknowledged that his administration intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.

“We — when these trade deals kick in, you know this economy is the best economy we’ve ever had. It’s nothing to what it’s going to be when the trade deals kick in,” said Trump.

“But if you don’t cut something in entitlements, you’ll never really deal with that,” said the questioner.

“We’ll be cutting, but we’re also going to have growth like you’ve never had before,” said Trump.

The president campaigned on protecting Social Security and Medicare in 2016. However, he has never shown any particular interest in doing so.

[Raw Story]

Media

Trump doubles down on his promise to ‘save’ Social Security a day after suggesting he was open to cuts in the program

President Trump sought to defend his Social Security record in a Thursday afternoon tweet, accusing Democrats of wanting to “destroy” it and pledging he would “save” it — only a day after he suggested he was open to overhauling it alongside Medicare. 

Trump said: “Democrats are going to destroy your Social Security. I have totally left it alone, as promised, and will save it!”

The comments came only a day after he suggested in a CNBC interview that he was open to overhauling both social safety-net programs, saying it was “the easiest of all things” and it would happen at the “right” moment after the election. 

White House spokesperson Judd Deere defended the administration’s record on entitlements in an email to Business Insider on Wednesday, saying, “With no benefit cuts, President Trump is keeping his commitment to the most vulnerable Americans especially those who depend on Medicare and Social Security.”

Deere added: “His budgets have proposed more savings to mandatory programs than any President in history, including lowering drug costs, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and getting people off welfare and back to work.”

Trump faced significant criticism from Democrats after his remarks on the entitlement programs aired on CNBC. Both Social Security and Medicare are highly popular with voters.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a leading presidential candidate, said in a Wednesday tweet that Trump “lied” about his 2016 campaign pledge to guard both programs from cuts.

And Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another frontrunner, also pounced, saying she would “fight” to expand Social Security instead.

[Business Insider]

Trump pulls troops from northern Syria as Turkey readies offensive

The United States began withdrawing American troops from Syria’s border with Turkey early Monday, in the clearest sign yet that the Trump administration was washing its hands of an explosive situation between the Turkish military and U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters.

President Trump, in a series of Twitter messages Monday, suggested that the United States was shouldering too much of the burden — and the cost — of fighting the Islamic State. He rebuked European nations for not repatriating citizens who had joined the extremist group, claiming that the United States was being played for a “sucker.” And he chided his own Kurdish allies, who he said were “paid massive amounts of money and equipment” to fight the militants. 

“It is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home. WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN,” he tweeted.

Trump later added a warning to Turkey. “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),” he tweeted.

“They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families,” Trump continued. “The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT!”

The withdrawal followed a late Sunday statement by the White House that the United States would not intervene in a long-threatened Turkish offensive into northern Syria. The announcement, which signaled an abrupt end to a months-long American effort to broker peace between two important allies, came after a call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Erdogan said in a speech Monday that the withdrawal began soon after their phone call.

A U.S. official confirmed to The Washington Post that American troops left observation posts in the border villages of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn at 6:30 a.m. local time.

In an initial reaction to the pullout, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a strong Trump supporter, indicated on Twitter that he was seeking more information on the president’s decision. But he added, “If press reports are accurate this is a disaster in the making.”

The fast-moving developments threatened a fresh military conflagration in a large swath of northern Syria, stretching from east of the Euphrates River to the border with Iraq. Syrian Kurds had established an autonomous zone in the area during more than eight years of Syria’s civil war.

Ankara, however, has been increasingly unnerved by the Kurdish presence, and by the close ties between U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a militant group that has fought a long insurgency against the Turkish state.

For months, Erdogan has been threatening an imminent invasion, as Trump administration officials attempted to work out an accommodation that would satisfy Turkish demands for border security while providing a measure of protection for the U.S.-allied Syrian-Kurdish force.

But on Sunday, the United States appeared to throw up its hands. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the Turkish leader would “soon be moving forward” with dispatching troops to battle the Kurdish forces, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. Ankara views the group as a terrorist-linked entity, but the SDF has fought closely alongside the U.S. military as a primary partner against the Islamic State. 

“The United States armed forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area,” Grisham said in a statement. ISIS is another name for the Islamic State, the militant group whose rise drew the U.S. military into Syria. 

The SDF, in a statement critical of the United States, said the American troops have begun pulling out.

“The United States forces have not fulfilled their obligations and withdrew their forces from the border area with Turkey,” the statement said. “This Turkish military operation in north and east Syria will have a big negative impact on our war against Daesh and will destroy all stability that was reached in the last few years.” Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

It added that the group reserves the right to defend itself against Turkish aggression.

Erdogan, who has portrayed a Turkish incursion as necessary to protect his country’s borders, has spoken in recent weeks of resettling millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey in a “safe zone” in northern Syria, a plan that has been criticized by refugee advocates as well as local Syrian Kurds who could be displaced by such a proposal.

On Saturday, Erdogan said the invasion, dubbed Operation Peace Fountain, could begin “as soon as today or maybe tomorrow.”

U.S. officials depicted the impending offensive, and the U.S. troop withdrawal, as a dramatic turn after their prolonged attempt to hammer out an arrangement that would allay the Turks’ concerns about Syrian Kurdish forces close to their border, while also averting a battle they fear will be bloody for Kurdish fighters whom the Pentagon sees as stalwart allies. 

Military officials point out that Kurdish assistance is still required to avoid a return of the Islamic State in Syria and to guard facilities where Islamic State militants and their families are being held. 

A senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an evolving situation, said the U.S. government “has no idea” what the Turkish operation would look like, whether it would be a small, symbolic incursion or a major offensive intended to push as far as 25 miles into Syria. 

 U.S. officials said an operation deep into Syria could further jeopardize the security of prisons holding Islamic State fighters. “There are many potential disastrous outcomes to this,” the official said.

The White House announcement comes only two days after the Pentagon completed its most recent joint patrol with Turkish forces, a central element of the U.S. effort to build trust in northern Syria. But similar patrols and other measures overseen from a joint U.S.-Turkish military hub in southern Turkey have not reduced Ankara’s impatience to establish the buffer zone it has envisioned. 

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper described ongoing U.S.-Turkish cooperation in northern Syria, saying that his Turkish counterpart had agreed in a call last week “that we need to make the security mechanism work.”

In negotiations, the United States had said it would agree to a strip along the border to be cleared of Syrian Kurdish fighters and jointly patrolled by the United States and Turkey on the ground and in the air. That strip is about five miles wide, only about a quarter of what the Turks have demanded.

The joint patrols are taking place in only about a third of the border length, with the idea of gradually expanding them. In addition to not liking U.S. terms for the agreement, Erdogan believes the United States is dragging its feet in implementing it.

“Mr. Trump gave the order; he ordered to pull out. But this came late,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara on Monday. “We cannot accept the threats of terrorist organizations.”

Erdogan’s plan to send up to 3 million Syrian refugees into the 140-mile-long strip also runs counter to what the United States says was part of the agreement they had reached to allow only the 700,000 to 800,000 refugees who originally fled the area to resettle there. Turkey currently hosts more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, but the government has recently begun deporting hundreds back to Syria as public sentiment turns against the migrants.

Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Erdogan, wrote on Twitter that Turkey has no interest in occupying or changing the demographics in northeastern Syria and that the “safe zone” would serve two purposes: secure Turkey’s borders and allow refugees to return home.

After months of warning about the turmoil such a move could create, U.S. officials said they are now watching Turkey’s actions closely to inform their own decisions about how quickly they must move the hundreds of troops expected to be affected. 

“We’re going to get out of the way,” another U.S. official said. 

There are about 1,000 U.S. troops in northeastern Syria. 

The SDF also predicted that Islamic State fighters would break out of prison camps the SDF manages in different areas of Syria.

The potential for greater risk to Islamic State prisons and camps comes after months of unsuccessful efforts by the Trump administration to persuade countries in Europe and elsewhere to repatriate their citizens.

The White House statement said that “Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters” in that area. “The United States will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer,” Grisham said. 

Erdogan said Monday that Turkey has “an approach to this issue” of ISIS, without specifying what it was.

The United Nations is also concerned about the impact that any Turkish operation would have on the protection of civilians in northeastern Syria, Panos Moumtzis, U.N. regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said in a telephone interview.

“We want our message to all governments and actors on the ground to be to make sure that this latest development does not have an impact first of all on a new displacement of people,” he said.

The United Nations already provides services to approximately 700,000 people every month in the northeast. Moumtzis emphasized the importance of freedom of movement of civilians and ensuring the continuation of access to humanitarian groups. He stressed that any movement of Syrians must be done voluntarily and with safety and dignity.

“We have not had any specific instructions on” the safe zone, he said, adding that the United Nations has a contingency plan depending on how wide and deep the safe zone would be.

Turkey’s latest possible incursion comes nearly two years after Ankara launched a military offensive on Afrin, in northern Syria, in an operation that was also criticized as a distraction from the fight against the Islamic State.  

The contested legacy of Turkey’s Afrin offensive has hovered over Erdogan’s latest military plans. Ankara has argued that its past foray into Syria brought stability to parts of the north and provided a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. But over the last year, human rights groups have documented abuses by Turkish-backed militias in Afrin — mistreatment that they say has included kidnappings and arbitrary detentions.

And many of the refugees who returned to Afrin — which has suffered from mysterious militant attacks, including car bombs — ended up fleeing back across the border into Turkey, according to advocates for the refugees.

Kurdish leaders have accused Turkey of trying to settle Arabs in historically Kurdish lands. Arab residents, in turn, have accused the Kurds of carrying out ethnic cleansing in areas they control.

“We thank the Americans for their decision to withdraw from northern Syria, not because we hate the U.S. but because we are fed up with the SDF,” said Abu Musafir, a member of the Manbij Tribal Council, a confederation of Arab tribes in the region.

“We are fed up with the SDF’s racism, detentions, kidnappings and compulsory conscription of underaged boys and girls,” he said. “The situation was bad, and the area was on the verge of imploding.” 

[Washington Post]

Trump administration warns California its tailpipe deal could violate federal law

The Trump administration sent a warning to California officials Friday, stating that a recent agreement the state made with automakers over tailpipe pollution could violate the law.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation offered the warning in a joint letter to the head of the California Air and Resources Board (CARB) that said its “framework” agreement with four car manufacturers could be a problem.

“The purpose of this letter is to put California on notice that this framework agreement appears to be inconsistent with federal law,” the letter from DOT and EPA’s chief counsels wrote.

The administration is arguing that the state lacked authority under the Clean Air Act to set fuel economy standards in conjunction with the car makers.

“Congress has squarely vested the authority to set fuel economy standards for new motor vehicles, and nationwide standards for [greenhouse gas] vehicle emissions, with the federal government, not with California or any other state,” the letter read.

Mary Nichols, the CARB chairwoman, announced in July that the state had reached an agreement with BMW, Ford, Volkswagen and Honda over the emissions standards for future cars. The news came as the Trump administration is working to finalize a national fuel economy standard that is expected to weaken tailpipe emissions standards.

California has long argued that under the Clean Air Act, it has an exemption to set higher emissions standards due to the state’s history of poor air quality. More than a dozen other states have adopted California’s heightened standards.

CARB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom compared the Trump administration’s tactics to those of a bully.

“The Trump Administration has been attempting and failing to bully car companies for months now. We remain undeterred. California stands up to bullies and will keep fighting for stronger clean car protections that protect the health and safety of our children and families,” Newsom said in a statement provided to The Hill.

Trump administration officials argue in the letter that the deal with automakers likely goes beyond the scope of those rights.

“CARB’s actions in furtherance of the framework appear to be unlawful and invalid. We recognize California’s disagreements with the Federal government’s policy proposals in this area, but those policy disagreements cannot justify CARB’s pursuit of a regulatory approach that would violate federal law,” reads the letter.

The administration’s warning comes amidst reports that the White House is considering splitting its forthcoming emissions rule into two parts in order to finalize it more quickly. The first part of the rule would include stripping California of its waiver, according to sources with knowledge of the administration’s plans. Any rule put forward by the administration is likely to be challenged in court by California and environmentalist groups that argue the law forbids agencies from weakening pollution standards.

President Trump has made no secret of his frustration with the Golden State over its negotiations with the four automakers.

“Henry Ford would be very disappointed if he saw his modern-day descendants wanting to build a much more expensive car, that is far less safe and doesn’t work as well, because execs don’t want to fight California regulators. Car companies should know that when this Administration’s alternative is no longer available, California will squeeze them to a point of business ruin. Only reason California is now talking to them is because the Feds are giving a far better alternative, which is much better for consumers!” Trump tweeted late last month.

[The Hill]

Trump attacks actress Debra Messing after she pushed to out his donors

President Donald Trump on Thursday amplified accusations of McCarthyism leveled at actress Debra Messing after the “Will & Grace” star made a public plea for a list of Trump donors in Hollywood and disparaged black Trump voters. 

“Bad ‘actress’ Debra The Mess Messing is in hot water,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets, claiming Messing wants to create a “‘Blacklist’ of Trump supporters, & is being accused of McCarthyism.”

Last week, Messing stoked controversy when she reposted a news article about an upcoming Trump fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif., asking for a list of attendees. Her “Will & Grace” co-star Eric McCormack echoed the call, saying he wanted to be aware of who he no longer wants to work with. 

Amid backlash from both sides of the aisle who argued that the pair were unfairly targeting private individuals and promoting intolerance of different political views, Messing defended her plea earlier this week. 

Noting that political donations are public, she denied ever calling for a blacklist of Trump donors in Hollywood but argued that “I as a consumer want to know where MY Money is going when I pay for entertainment” and that Trump voters similarly are free to choose not to watch her show. 

Trump also seized on a separate tweet from Messing that sparked a firestorm this week, one in which she applauded a sign in front of an Alabama church suggesting black voters who supported the president had mental illnesses. Messing on Wednesday apologized, tweeting that she regrets “recklessly” sharing the sign.

Her apology came as #RacistDebraMessing trended on Twitter. “The use of the term ‘mentally ill’ was wrong & hurtful,” she wrote of the church sign, though she doubled down on her criticism of incendiary rhetoric from Trump and his supporters. Trump on Thursday slammed the “terrible things she said about blacks and mental illness.”

The president also complained Wednesday that there was a double standard at play, invoking actress Roseanne Barr, a vocal supporter of the president who was fired from her eponymous sitcom reboot last year for making racist comments about a former Obama aide.

“If Roseanne Barr said what she did, even being on a much higher rated show, she would have been thrown off television,” Trump contended, noting Barr’s firing and asking whether “Fake News NBC allow a McCarthy style Racist to continue?”

[Politico]

Reality

Donald Trump promised his supporters greater transparency, but when actresses Debra Messing suggested releasing the names of his donors at a private Beverly Hills fundraiser filled with the same elites he claims to be against, he attacked Messing.

Trump admin asks Supreme Court not to extend sex discrimination ban to sexual orientation

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court not to extend a sex discrimination ban to include sexual orientation, arguing that the language for the law was not intended for that purpose. 

The Justice Department argues that the language in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents employment discrimination “because of sex,” does not apply to sexual orientation, in an amicus brief filed Friday. 

The Justice Department says the term “sex” is not otherwise defined in the law, arguing that it therefore means the “ordinary meaning of ‘sex’” which is refers to a person being “biologically male or female.”

“It does not include sexual orientation,” the department said in the brief. “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, standing alone, does not satisfy that standard.”

The filing relates to the cases of Gerald Bostock, a man who claims he was fired by Clayton County, Ga., for being gay, and Donald Zarda, who claims he was fired as a skydiving instructor at Altitude Express, for being gay. 

Bostock’s case was dismissed by lower courts. 

Trump administration breaks campaign promise, purges 200,000 VA healthcare applications

“The current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs is absolutely unacceptable,” presidential candidate Donald Trump said when speaking at a rally on Oct. 31, 2015, in front of the retired battleship USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va.

“Over 300,000 — and this is hard to believe, and it’s actually much more than that now — over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care,” said Trump.

Trump’s strong condemnation of the Obama administration’s handling of the backlog of hundreds of thousands of veteran benefits claims made him the overwhelming choice for many veteran voters in 2016.

But after two years in the White House, the Trump administration has decided to execute a plan to purge 200,000 applications for VA healthcare caused by known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment process and enrollment system — problems that had already been documented by the Office of the Inspector General in 2015 and 2017.

In purging this massive backlog of applications, the VA is declaring the applications to be incomplete due to errors by the applicants, despite the OIG findings and in violation of the promise Trump made to fix the system. This purge has the dual effect of letting the VA avoid the work of processing the applications and absolving the agency of any responsibility for veterans’ delayed access to health and disability benefits.

Under the supervision of Dr. Richard Stone, the executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, VHA managers last November instructed the agency’s IT staff members to purge over 200,000 pending healthcare applications.

Such a profound decision to deny veterans benefits should have to come from someone higher up — the president or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs — not from a career bureaucrat who has not been elected or confirmed by the Senate.

This purge flies in the face of previous guidance provided by lawmakers. On March 3, 2017, Senate and House Veterans Affairs committee members sent a joint letter to the VA, instructing the agency to delay its plans to purge these records. The committees wanted the VA to send new letters to veterans, informing them of their application status and potential equitable relief or financial reimbursement for service-connected health expenses caused by enrollment system errors, as prescribed by law.

Currently, VA is skirting this provision of the law by blaming veteran applicants for the agency’s own mistakes processing health and disability claims. As a result, to win benefits wrongfully denied due to VA’s administrative errors, veterans are forced to go to court and pay legal fees out of whatever benefits they ultimately win.

The Trump administration’s decision opens the door to the agency purging any future backlog of veteran claims for benefits by falsely declaring the applications incomplete due to veteran error.

This is the second time the VA has been caught using its IT department to adjudicate benefits for veterans. In January 2017, the IT department auto-enrolled over 70,000 Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans whose applications had erroneously been held up until they could meet a “means test” — that is, prove their income level. This mass-approval of applications was done in preparation for then-Under Secretary David Shulkin’s confirmation hearing.

They did this without bothering to fix the systemic error that required proof of income from combat veterans, who aren’t required to provide it. As a result, there are still more than 20,000 Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans being denied healthcare benefits due to an erroneous means-test requirement.

Moreover, the means test error in the enrollment system not only affects veteran access to healthcare benefits, but it also causes billing errors for thousands of veterans each year.

The Veterans Health Administration’s Member Services office, which manages the enrollment system, had to reexamine over 6,000 veteran income verification cases, because veterans were overbilled for medical copays ranging from $200 to $3,000. About 1,000 veterans are believed to receive fraudulent bills from the VA every month due to this known system error.

Despite being aware of these systemic issues for years, VA has not initiated an outreach campaign to educate the veteran community about what to do if their application is in a pending status or if they get a fraudulent bill due to missing means-test information.

Instead, the agency has chosen a policy of sending a single notification letter for pending applications, despite knowing that 25% of the letters mailed to veterans are returned or placed on hold due to bad address information in the enrollment system.

Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans routinely have incorrect address information in the enrollment system because they do not have permanent non-military addresses at the time of enrollment during the demobilization process.

The VA could resolve this problem through its data-sharing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration, to get current addresses for veterans in the pending backlog. But unfortunately for veterans, it is the VA’s practice to use information from the IRS and SSA only for the purposes of billing and verifying veterans’ dates of death.

All of these issues could be easily fixed. This is why President Trump’s reversal on this issue is so disappointing to the veteran community. Many veterans are asking why the enrollment system was not included in the President’s VA information technology modernization plan.

As a result, 200,000 applications have been purged, violating Trump’s promise. Currently, over 300,000 additional veteran healthcare applications remain in a pending status and will most likely be purged in the near future.

In the absence of executive leadership from the White House, veterans will continue to be denied access to their healthcare benefits at a rate of nearly 5,000 new pending healthcare applications per month.

[Washington Examiner]

Trump vetoes Yemen War Powers Resolution, his 2nd veto since taking office

President Donald Trump issued the second veto of his presidency Tuesday, stopping a congressional resolution that would have sought to end US involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.”

This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Trump wrote to the Senate Thursday.Trump added that the resolution is “unnecessary” in part because there are no United States military personnel in Yemen “commanding, participating in, or accompanying military forces of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in hostilities in or affecting Yemen.” Trump was expected to issue the veto as the resolution was seen as a rebuke of Trump’s Middle East policies.

Supporters of the War Powers Resolution argued the US shouldn’t be involved in the war without explicit permission from Congress. Opponents argued the US does not have “boots on the ground” and is offering noncombat technical assistance to Saudi Arabia, an ally.

Several supporters made clear their votes were also aimed at expressing their frustrations with Trump’s continued support for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been implicated in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The bill passed the House 247-175. Sixteen Republicans voted yes with Democrats and one voted present. In the Senate the vote was 54 to 46, with seven Republicans voting with Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not responded to questions on whether she intends to seek a vote to override the President’s veto.

In a statement Tuesday night, Pelosi called on Trump to “put peace before politics.”

“The conflict in Yemen is a horrific humanitarian crisis that challenges the conscience of the entire world. Yet the President has cynically chosen to contravene a bipartisan, bicameral vote of the Congress and perpetuate America’s shameful involvement in this heartbreaking crisis,” Pelosi said.

“This conflict must end, now. The House of Representatives calls on the President to put peace before politics, and work with us to advance an enduring solution to end this crisis and save lives.”

The only other veto Trump has issued was his veto of a resolution of disapproval for his emergency declaration to build barriers along the US border with Mexico. Trump vetoed that resolution last month.

[CNN]

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