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Pat McCrory Says He Signed the Broadest Anti-LGBT Bill in the Nation to Prevent Government Overreach

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North Carolina’s Governor Explains Why He Just Made a Horrific Bill Law

On Wednesday in a special session North Carolina lawmakers rammed through HB2, a bill that they were granted a mere five minutes to read before beginning debate. A bill that literally made its way through both chambers of the General Assembly, onto the governor’s desk, and signed into law in a mere 12 hours.

Even before the City of Charlotte began debate on a bill to extend nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people, North Carolina’s Governor Pat McCrory issued a strong threat. He told City Council members, “this action of allowing a person with male anatomy, for example, to use a female restroom or locker room will most likely cause immediate State legislative intervention which I would support as governor.”

As soon as the Mayor of Charlotte signed the nondiscrimination ordinance, McCrory and top elected Republican lawmakers sprung into action. They threw the state into chaos, which affected even school aged children. One, a sixth-grader whose best friend is transgender, wrote an op-ed in a local paper urging Gov. McCrory to stop his hypocritical campaign. Wisely, she said, “many people have a similar opinion to McCrory’s, and this opinion is that it puts cisgender people at risk. They say that some people may pretend to be transgender just to ‘stalk’ people in the bathroom.”

“My response is that maybe someone might do this, but he or she will be caught, and some people just need to use the bathroom,” Joanna de Andrade, 11, reminded him.

Joanna de Andrade is far from the only North Carolinean who opposed the bill lawmakers rammed through Wednesday.

“Only 25% of voters in the state think the General Assembly should override Charlotte’s recently passed anti-discrimination ordinance, compared to 51% who think Charlotte should have the right to pass its own laws without interference from on high,” Public Policy Polling reported one day before the governor signed HB2 into law.

So, what is HB2?

UPDATE: North Carolina Gov. McCrory in Hot Seat as Apple, Google, NBA, Many Others Denounce Anti-LGBT Law

The bill is broad. In fact, Mother Jones on Wednesday called it “the Broadest Anti-LGBT Bill in the Country.” Not only does it void LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances throughout the state, it attacks transgender citizens by revoking their right to use public restrooms based on gender identity. It also mandates that only state lawmakers can pass laws regulating employment discrimination, the use of public accommodations, and minimum wages – removing the right of self determination from every town and city across the state.

Why did Gov. McCrory push for and sign the bill into law?

“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory trumpeted in a statement after signing the bill Wednesday night.

Yes, Gov. Pat McCrory signed “the Broadest Anti-LGBT Bill in the Country” to prevent “government overreach.”

Ironic, isn’t it?

Remember, 17 states and over 200 cities nationwide have laws like the one the Charlotte City Council passed, and it’s “never been an issue.”

McCrory called Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance a “radical breach of trust and security under the false argument of equal access,” and claimed that it “not only impacts the citizens of Charlotte but people who come to Charlotte to work, visit or play,” ignoring that Charlotte’s transgender citizens need protection regardless of who else is in the restroom. McCrory cried the ordinance “defies common sense and basic community norms.”

McCrory stated HB2 “does not change existing rights under state or federal law.” But it does under several other North Carolina cities, whose LGBT nondiscrimination laws are now null and void.

“It is now time for the city of Charlotte elected officials and state elected officials to get back to working on the issues most important to our citizens,” McCrory concluded.

That’s what state elected officials should have been doing all along.

 

EARLIER:

BREAKING: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory to Sign Anti-LGBT Bill Immediately

BREAKING: North Carolina General Assembly Passes Sweeping Anti-LGBT Bill

BREAKING: North Carolina House Passes Bill Voiding All Local LGBT Nondiscrimination Ordinances

 

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‘He Was the Only One’: Trump Mocked for Declaring Iran’s Moves ‘Shocked’ Him

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March 16, 2026

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President Donald Trump is facing criticism and mockery after admitting he was “shocked” that Iran fought back against Operation Epic Fury.

“Trump just admitted publicly that his administration underestimated the Iranian response to his attack,” The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin reported.

During a meeting of the board governing the Kennedy Center, Trump said, “look what happened. In the last two weeks, they weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

Focusing on Trump’s “shocked” remark, some critics blasted the president, once again, for what many have previously said is a Commander-in-Chief who was unprepared to go to war against Iran.

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser called Trump’s comments a “Remarkable admission.”

READ MORE: ‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash declared, “We are governed by complete morons.”

Podcaster Clint Russell noted, “Just FYI, this is the EXACT reason our generals have consistently advised against a war with Iran. Even Charlie Kirk had laid this all out on his show a couple years ago. Iran was no threat to America but they were fully capable of destroying the global economy by striking oil facilities and transit throughout the region.”

Robert Manning, a Distinguished Fellow in Global Foresight at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, wrote: “If so, he was the only one surprised. Strategic planners have war games this for 40 years. Hard to believe JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] didn’t advise Trump this was likely.”

“I’m pretty confident every war plan US has ever done in last 30 years gaming out this conflict was based on expectation that Iran could in fact [and] would in fact do this,” noted The Nation’s Jeet Heer.

“Every institution built to prevent exactly this outcome existed, was bypassed, and we are now watching the president express shock at conclusions that were already written in the classified assessments he didn’t read,” observed Christine Villaverde, the chairwoman of Anchoring Democracy.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

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‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

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15 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

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A prominent Republican senator is denouncing his own party while lamenting the lack of an official presidential endorsement in the highly contentious Texas Republican Senate runoff election.

Agreeing that it is a mistake for President Donald Trump to withhold his endorsement of either Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned, “I think the more time we spend millions of dollars with Republican-on-Republican violence, Democrats are in the marketing department, loving the idea of a competitive runoff.”

“I get tired of Republicans being lazy and unstrategic,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju, appearing to suggest there are other ways for one of the candidates to pull ahead.

“People on my side of the aisle, and people at the far right of the political spectrum, are trying to swing for the fences, and they’re not gonna succeed,” he warned.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

A runoff election between Cornyn and Paxton will take place on May 26, and the president has yet to endorse either contender.

Reports suggest a Cornyn endorsement is more likely, although Paxton has been a reliable MAGA supporter. Trump has even suggested that whichever candidate does not get his backing should quit the race entirely, clearing the way for the presumptive nominee to battle the Democratic nominee, James Talarico.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, on March 4, “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!”

He vowed to make his endorsement “soon,” but has yet to do so.

Each passing day gives Talarico more time to campaign and build his war chest as the two GOP contenders spend their time and money battling each other.

READ MORE: Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

 

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Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

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18 hours ago

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March 16, 2026

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Gas prices are continuing to substantially increase, with five states now hovering near $4 a gallon and several others seeing sharp increases as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran enters its 17th day.

“Big gas price hikes just now starting to happen in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri today, which will likely push the national average to $3.75-$3.80 by mid-week,” reports Patrick De Haan, the head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

But, he also notes that Michigan and the Chicago area are already seeing $3.99 per gallon as of Monday. Indiana drivers are seeing $3.89, and Ohio and Kentucky are seeing $3.79 per gallon.

De Haan directly attributes the increases to the summer gasoline changeover and the ongoing Iran situation.

“The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reports, citing GasBuddy’s data.

Drivers should not expect to see prices come down significantly anytime soon.

“Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist,” De Haan said. “At the same time, seasonal forces are beginning to intensify as several regions complete the transition to summer gasoline, creating a double headwind that could continue driving pump prices higher in the weeks ahead.”

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

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