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GOP Congressman Urging Republicans To Not Support Gay Candidates

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A Republican U.S. Congressman is reportedly urging his colleagues to not support any gay congressional candidates. Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia, according to Politico, has been working to deny gay candidates access to the multi-million dollar resources of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which invests in Republican congressional candidates. The NRCC is responsible for creating the 2008 wave of new “Young Guns” in Congress.

“Forbes has waged a lengthy crusade to convince his colleagues and the National Republican Congressional Committee brass they shouldn’t back some gay candidates. His efforts on Capitol Hill were described to POLITICO by more than a half-dozen sources with direct knowledge of the talks,” Politico reports.

On Wednesday, Forbes told POLITICO he thinks “GOP leaders can do whatever they want to do,” in terms of giving money to gay candidates.

He said he is more concerned about members being asked to contribute to the campaigns. The NRCC is partially funded by collecting tens of millions of dollars from House Republicans, who pay dues to the organization.

“There would be a different situation if they tried to force other members to give money,” Forbes said.

Asked whether he would have a problem with the NRCC donating money to DeMaio, Forbes said, “That’s a little different situation.”

“I don’t think they’ve done that yet,” Forbes added.

Some of those gay candidates include Massachusetts Republican Richard Tisei and California Republican Carl DeMaio.

Think Progress adds that “Forbes is one of the co-sponsors of the so-called ‘Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,’ which would provide a license to discriminate against same-sex couples for all businesses with a religious affiliation. Unsurprisingly, he has previously refused to implement nondiscrimination protections for gay employees in his own Congressional office. He also supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage throughout the entire country. In 2007, he opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on the House floor, arguing that protecting gay people from being fired for their identities could somehow “destroy the institution of marriage.'”

Rep. Forbers, by the way, is the Founder and Co-Chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

Here’s Congressman Forbes talking with anti-gay preacher Lou Engle and hate group leader Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, at the 2009 FRC Prayercast:

//www.youtube.com/embed/DxVPOO3p7nc

He told Perkins that prayer is “absolutely huge” in the shaping of public policy.

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Image, top, via Rep. Forbes’ Facebook page

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Marco Rubio to State? Ken Paxton to DOJ? Trump Administration Contenders Emerge

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Donald Trump in 2016 reportedly did not want to be president and did not expect to win the White House. He got off to a slow and rocky start forming his administration, including just days after the election was finally called, when he inflicted a “Stalinesque purge” of his transition team, delaying even further his government’s formation.

That is not expected to happen this time.

Trump has Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s extremist blueprint for presidential transition that entirely transforms the executive branch of the federal government into one built on a Christian nationalism foundation. Some Trump loyalists are now—post-Election Day—gleefully declaring it actually is his agenda, after a month of Trump and his campaign’s efforts to distance themselves from its toxicity. (On the left and right Project 2025 has a single-digit approval rating.)

RELATED: Day One: Trump Planning ‘Largest Mass Deportation Operation’

Trump has an abundance of MAGA allies rushing to be picked to serve in the second Trump administration, which will be needed since, as  The New Republic’s Greg Sargent reports, a Trump ally is already “hinting persecution of enemies,” and that the “purging of [government] will begin immediately.”

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who infamously vowed to never run for another office if he lost the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 (which he did, to Trump), only to rescind that promise and win re-election, is reportedly on Trump’s short list for Secretary of State. Rubio, frequently spoke at Trump rallies and wasted no time after the election, in talking about foreign policy, and especially ending Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“Texas is positioned better than any state to help Trump carry out his ambitious anti-immigration agenda, and some of its top politicians are using that to their advantage,” The Texas Tribune reports. “The state is home to an estimated 1.6 million undocumented persons — the second-most in the country after California. It is also led by Republican elected officials who are politically in lock-step with Trump.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a far-right Republican who took office in 2015, and was indicted under state criminal felony charges months later, appears to also have been under federal investigation at least as recently as May. After nearly a decade of delays, Paxton agreed to perform 100 hours of community service to avoid trial on state fraud charges.

Paxton also was central to the Republican attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election that Trump lost.

READ MORE: The List of Who Donald Trump Has ‘Pledged to Punish,’ According to One of His Targets

CBS affiliate KENS5 in Texas reports Thursday that Paxton’s “name has been floated for the U.S. Department of Justice, and if this happens, it could help Paxton in a legal and professional manner. He’s being investigated by the FBI for alleged corruption.”

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller “told reporters that he’s acknowledged the rumor that he may be asked to serve on the National Department of Agriculture under President-elect Trump,” KENS5 also reports.

As NCRM reported, Miller has called for the atomic bombing of “the Muslim world,” compared Syrian refugees to venomous rattlesnakes and threatened violence against people who say “happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

Miller was also under investigation for using taxpayer funds to pay for personal out-of-state trips, including one to obtain a so-called “Jesus shot.”

Other names being floated for Trump’s administration, including at the Cabernet level include his former GOP presidential candidate opponents, Vivek Ramaswamy and Doug Burgum. Also, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, U.S. Senator Mike Lee, and Trump’s architect of child separation, Stephen Miller.

READ MORE: ‘Be the Guardrails of Democracy’: Liz Cheney and Other Never-Trumpers Suggest Path Forward

 

 

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Project 2025 Is the Trump Agenda, Republicans Are Gleefully Declaring

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Donald Trump and his presidential campaign have repeatedly denied any connection to Project 2025, a radical blueprint created by the far-right Heritage Foundation to entirely rebuild the executive branch of the federal government on a Christian nationalist foundation. But now that the election is over and Trump has won the White House, several far-right influencers allege that Project 2025 is Trump’s agenda.

Project 2025 is so toxic its creator, Paul Dans, was eliminated from the project. Public opinion gives Project 2025 a single-digit approval rating, according to NBC News:

“It was the least popular of all the subjects tested in the September NBC News poll — a battery that included socialism, capitalism, both presidential and vice presidential candidates, the Republican and Democratic parties, Taylor Swift and Elon Musk.”

The Project 2025 blueprint, a 900-page “manifesto,” according to The Guardian, “describes an America poisoned by ‘wokeness’ and overtaken by lawlessness and chaos, where conservatives need to seize power immediately – and for as long as possible – to right a sinking ship.”

READ MORE: Day One: Trump Planning ‘Largest Mass Deportation Operation’

Project 2025 would effectively make abortion and contraception extremely difficult to obtain, would make pornography illegal, and elevate Christian nationalism throughout the government. It would eliminate the Dept. of Education. It would create a massive forced deportation program, removing possibly millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. And it would reduce efforts to improve diversity, while restricting and reducing LGBTQ rights and protections.

“Republicans are now comfortable openly admitting that Project 2025 was the plan all along,” Rolling Stone reports after Trump won the election. “Sure enough, less than 24 hours after the election was called for Trump, his allies, advisers, and prominent supporters were celebrating the now-open road to Project 2025’s implementation.”

Mother Jones notes that after Trump won the White House, some of his “favorite fans finally felt comfortable joking about what the next president has long denied: Project 2025 has always been the plan for a second Trump term.”

READ MORE: The List of Who Donald Trump Has ‘Pledged to Punish,’ According to One of His Targets

Matt Walsh, the far-right podcaster with millions of followers on several platforms, wrote: “Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda. Lol.”

The New Republic reports, “Project 2025 has begun. And Donald Trump’s allies are now openly celebrating it.”

“Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was recently released from prison, responded on his live War Room podcast with one word: ‘Fabulous,'” TNR added. “Later during the livestream, Bannon could be seen holding a hard copy of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 ‘Mandate For Leadership’ up to the camera in celebration. On election night, Bannon had vowed to eliminate Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, MSNBC, and the Justice Department in an unhinged rant.”

“Now, you’re going to pay the price,” Bannon said.

READ MORE: ‘Be the Guardrails of Democracy’: Liz Cheney and Other Never-Trumpers Suggest Path Forward

 

 

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Day One: Trump Planning ‘Largest Mass Deportation Operation’

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Donald Trump has called immigrants “animals,” “monsters,” and “murderers,” and said they are “poisoning the blood of our country.” He falsely claimed they are responsible for a “surge in crime,” because “it’s in their genes,” and claimed they’re “eating the pets.”

Trump, now the president-elect, reportedly plans to conduct a massive deportation operation of undocumented immigrants on his first day in office.

“The American people delivered a resounding victory for President Trump, and it gives him a mandate to govern as he campaigned, to deliver on the promises that he made,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, told Fox News Wednesday, Newsweek reports. “Which include, on Day 1, launching the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrants that Kamala Harris has allowed into this country.”

Axios reports Leavitt says that “mass deportation operation” includes “millions of undocumented immigrants.”

READ MORE: The List of Who Donald Trump Has ‘Pledged to Punish,’ According to One of His Targets

Back in September, Trump infamously had attacked President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and immigrants.

“What they have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country,” Trump said. “And look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States. And a lot of towns don’t want to talk — not going to be Aurora or Springfield. A lot of towns don’t want to talk about it because they’re so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”

That same month Trump called for “remigration,” the forceful deportation of immigrants, including those in the U.S. under lawful and unlawful circumstances. He vowed to “end the migrant invasion of America,” and falsely characterized some programs that allow legal entry to the U.S. under law.

READ MORE: ‘Be the Guardrails of Democracy’: Liz Cheney and Other Never-Trumpers Suggest Path Forward

“We will stop all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, terminate the Kamala phone app for smuggling illegals (CBP One App), revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamala’s illegal migrants to their home countries (also known as remigration).”

Remigration, as NCRM reported at the time, is advocated by some in the European far-right, nationalist, and fascist movements.

Marine Le Pen, the French far-right nationalist who promotes anti-immigration and anti-Islam positions, viewed remigration as so extreme she broke with her allies over it. Earlier this year Politico Europe reported Le Pen said “that she was in ‘total disagreement’ with the reported discussions on ‘remigration.’” Those discussions included the forced deportation of some French citizens, who were described as “unassimilated citizens.”

The Washington Post reports Trump “has made 41 distinct promises for his first day in office, including mass deportations and banning transgender women from sports.”

READ MORE: Trump Closes Campaign With Misogynistic Slur, Violent Rhetoric Against Women

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