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Tony Perkins, Wielding Increasing Influence Over GOP, Roadblocks Moderation Toward Marriage

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One of the stories Republicans and Tea Party activists have obsessed over recently has been the showdown out west at the Bundy Ranch. In case you somehow missed the brouhaha, long story short: a cattle rancher has refused to pay for his use of federal lands for two decades, and the federal government sent armed agents in to collect 20 years worth of overdue fees.

It didn’t end well, for the feds, so conservatives are claiming victory over “tyranny.” The tyranny of having to pay your rent. So much for Republicans not being the party of takers.

Out of this two-week long narrative rose one GOP/Tea Party hero. Nevada Republican Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore went on MSNBC to support the Bundy family and the hundreds of armed “patriots” who stood up to the “tyranny” of the feds. She slammed Chris Hayes. She rudely, angrily, and nastily defended the Bundy takeover of federal lands. Pure right wing Tea Party extremism.

Except here is the twist.

Michelle Fiore proudly supports same-sex marriage.

The GOP’s stranglehold against same-sex marriage is waning. Recent polls show that six out of ten Republicans 18-29 support same-sex marriage, along with 43 percent of Republicans aged 30-49, and at least 55+ percent of the nation.

But don’t tell that to Tony Perkins.

Perkins is looking to become a U.S. Congressman or Senator and he’s increasingly rubbing shoulders with GOP leaders, including his home state governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, to make that goal a reality.

Perkins and his predecessor, Gary Bauer, both shoulders-deep in Republican theocratic Christian evangelical politics, are fighting back, hard.

In response to the Nevada GOP removing opposition to same-sex marriage from its party platform last week, and in advance of similar actions likely underway elsewhere, Perkins and Bauer are “releasing a poll of base voters taken last month that found in favor of defining marriage ‘only’ as between a man and a woman,” Politico reports:

The survey showed 82 percent agreeing with a statement that marriage should be between “one man and one woman.” It also found 75 percent disagreed that “politicians should support the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples.”

Bauer, the president of American Values, faulted a “misinformation campaign waged by media elites” and insisted that “public policy-makers are doing a great disservice to themselves and future generations by continuing to misread the convictions of the American people … this survey should remind political and cultural leaders that this debate is far from over. If anything, it is taking on a new sense of urgency for millions of men and women of faith.”

Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, added that the “vast majority of the GOP base continues to believe that marriage is a non-negotiable plank of the national platform and want to see their elected officials uphold natural marriage as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage and promote in law.”

Of course, the poll is via a right-wing partisan pollster.

What once was a winning strategy lead by the religious right is quickly becoming a death knell.

Image of Tony Perkins via Family Research Council on Facebook

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News

Mystery Grand Jury Witness in Trump Hush Money Probe Is Former ‘Enquirer’ Publisher and Trump Ally

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March 27, 2023

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Avid followers of the Manhattan District Attorney’s moves noted the grand jury had been called into service for Monday, and soon news leaked that yet another witness would be testifying in the probe into Donald Trump’s alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Monday afternoon, NBC News’ Garrett Haake reported live on MSNBC that the mystery witness was David Pecker, the former tabloid publisher of the “National Enquirer,” who reportedly had been looking for stories in 2016 to protect Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Haake notes Monday was Pecker’s second appearance before the grand jury in the hush money case.

The New York Times also reported David Pecker as the grand jury witness, calling Pecker “a key player in the hush-money matter. He and the tabloid’s top editor helped broker the deal between the porn star, Stormy Daniels, and Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s fixer at the time.”

READ MORE: ‘Our Children Deserve Better’: First Lady Jill Biden Speaks Out After Six Die in Nashville School Mass Shooting

“While the focus of Mr. Pecker’s testimony is unclear, he could provide valuable information for prosecutors. A longtime ally of Mr. Trump, he agreed to keep an eye out for potentially damaging stories about Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign,” The Times reports. “For a brief time in October 2016, Ms. Daniels appeared to have just that kind of story. Her agent and lawyer discussed the possibility of selling exclusive rights to her story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump to The National Enquirer, which would then promise to never publish it, a practice known as ‘catch and kill.'”

Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman weighed in, noting, “nothing about that decision [to have Pecker testify] suggests any change of heart on Bragg’s part to indict Trump.”

Former Dept. of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman, an NYU professor of law, notes that Pecker’s “testimony can show the [hush money] scheme was designed to affect outcome of election.”

“He reportedly communicated directly with Trump on payment,” Goodman adds.

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News

‘Our Children Deserve Better’: First Lady Jill Biden Speaks Out After Six Die in Nashville School Mass Shooting

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2 hours ago

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March 27, 2023

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First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, speaking Monday afternoon at a National League of Cities conference, told attendees, “Our children deserve better,” as she broke the news of the Nashville school mass shooting at Covenant Presbyterian School where three children and three adults were shot dead.

“You know,” Dr. Biden, herself an educator and clearly pained by the news, began her remarks by saying, “I hate to say what I’m gonna say next because you know you’re so enthusiastic and with so much energy and hope and I feel it.”

“But while you’ve been in this room, I don’t know whether you’ve been on your phones but we just learned about another shooting in Tennessee, a school shooting and I am truly without words and our children deserve better, and we stand – all of us – we stand with Nashville in prayer.”

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The First Lady, a former public high school English teacher and currently a professor of English at a community college, was speaking at the organization’s Congressional City Conference.

Watch Dr. Biden below or at this link.

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BREAKING NEWS

Death Toll Rises to Six as Three Children and Three Adults Declared Dead In Covenant School Mass Shooting (Streaming Video)

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3 hours ago

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March 27, 2023

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Six people have now died after a shooter shot and killed three young children and three adults at The Covenant Presbyterian School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. Police say the shooter was a 28-year old woman who had two assault rifles and a handgun.

WSMV announced the rise in deaths on-air, noting that the shooter is also dead. A police spokesperson later increased the announced death toll from five to six. Including the shooter the death toll is seven.

Live streaming video via CBS News below.

This article has been updated with additional video.

1:56 PM ET: Updated to change age of shooter based on new reporting from WSMV.

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