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Cruz: I Had No Idea The ‘Kill The Gays’ Pastor Who Hosted A Conference I Spoke At Was So Anti-Gay

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CNN On-Air Told Cruz of Pastor’s Anti-Gay Hate Speech in Interview Before Conference

Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has built his political career by positioning himself as one of the most anti-gay Republicans in the 21st Century, but now he seems to be trying to appear supportive of LGBT civil rights. He’s even trying to claim he was wholly unaware of the violent and vicious platform of the organizer of a “religious freedom” conference at which he spoke last year.

Kevin Swanson has been dubbed the “Kill the Gays” pastor because of his positions on homosexuality. Right Wing Watch has repeatedly documented Swanson’s attacks on the LGBT community, calling him “a far-right pastor and host of the ‘Generations Radio’ program, on which he has frequently claimed that the government should put gay people to death, warned that the Girl Scouts and the movie “Frozen” turn girls into lesbians and blamed natural disasters on gay people and women who wear pants.”

Cruz spoke at Pastor Swanson’s Freedom 2015 National Religious Liberties Conference last year, but before doing so sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper, who point-blank told him Swanson has called for gay people to be put to death. Cruz, after being told what Swanson has said, responded by saying he doesn’t know what Swanson has said.

Right Wing Watch, today reporting on Cruz’s attempt “to rewrite history,” notes that before the conference they “publicized Swanson’s history — including his discussions of the death penalty for gay people.”

Cruz remained steadfast, attended the conference, shared the stage with Swanson, sat down and did a one-on-one interview, even joked about fantasy football with the “Kill the Gays” pastor.

Sen. Cruz, it should be noted, is no saint when it comes to the civil rights of LGBT people, including accusing them of waging “jihad” on Christians.

Asked Monday on a radio talk show about speaking at a conference organized by a religious zealot who has called for gay people to be put to death, here’s how Cruz responded, according to Right Wing Watch (audio below).

“He was an individual I didn’t know, I’d never met him,” Cruz told the hosts of the “John and Ken Show.” 

“I went to a conference on religious liberty because it is an issue I care very much about. After the conference, his comments were drawn to my attention and I denounced them at the time, I think they’re wrong, I totally disagree with them. I didn’t know this fellow and when I saw what he said, I came out publicly and said I disagree with what he’s saying.”

Note that Cruz says “after the conference” he learned about Swanson’s anti-gay comments, wholly ignoring the fairly extensive media attention his scheduled appearance garnered before the conference, and wholly ignoring the fact that he sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper who very clearly painted a picture of Kevin Swanson for Cruz.

“We need to be bringing people together and we need to be standing up for the rights of every American, that’s what I’ve done in the Senate and that’s what I’ll do as president.” 

Senator Cruz might want to check the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell, because it clearly states that same-sex couples have a legal right to marriage. Actually, he has. He called it “fundamentally illegitimate.” Is he now saying he has been standing up for that right and will stand up for that right as president?

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

 

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Democrats Call for Trump-Appointed Scandal-Ridden Inspector General to Be Ousted

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October 3, 2024

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Two House Democratic Ranking Members are calling for the removal of the Dept. of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, appointed by Donald Trump in 2019, accusing him of lying to Congress, misleading Congress, blatantly abusing his powers, and wasting millions in taxpayer dollars.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, in a statement following the release of a damning independent report say “Inspector General Cuffari’s extensive and shocking record of misconduct and obstruction is evidence that he has seriously compromised the public’s trust and is plainly not fit to serve in a position that requires him to guard the public interest and act beyond reproach.”

“Cuffari’s unprecedented misconduct in office has been underscored and exacerbated by his persistent and repeated obstruction of oversight efforts. Not only did he fail to fully and meaningfully comply with our investigation—he actively worked to undermine and thwart it.” They call his actions “an outrageous affront and embarrassment to the inspector general community and have undermined the reputation of the entire DHS Office of Inspector General.”

READ MORE: JD Vance Says ‘Yes’ Trump Won in 2020 Then Walks Away When Asked ‘Will You Concede?’

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), a nonpartisan independent watchdog, on Wednesday released a report alleging Cuffari “waged a years-long campaign to derail and discredit investigations into allegations of his misconduct, which include claims he retaliated against whistleblowers.”

The independent report from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) did not cite Cuffari’s actions in deleted texts scandal, but as NCRM reported in 2022, Cuffari appeared to have waited seven months to notify Congress of the missing text messages from the day before and day of the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

That means that four months after the January 6 insurrection the Dept. of Homeland Security knew Secret Service agents’ text messages, from the day before and day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, were missing and did not inform Congress or the National Archives, which is required by law to retain those records.

RELATED: ‘Coverup of Treason’: Trump-Appointed IG, Under Investigation, Knew of Missing Secret Service and DHS Texts Far Earlier

The deleted Secret Service texts were not the only missing data at DHS.

“Text messages for President Donald Trump’s acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol,” The Washington Post reported in July 2022.

Cuffari also reportedly “declined to pursue investigations into Secret Service during Trump administration,” The Washington Post reported in 2021, and “blocked investigations proposed by career staff … to scrutinize the agency’s handling of the George Floyd protests in Lafayette Square and the spread of the coronavirus in its ranks.”

“Hundreds of Secret Service officers were either infected with the coronavirus or had to quarantine after potential exposure … as Trump continued to travel and hold campaign events during the pandemic.”

The White House says the report is “concerning, but Politico reports Republicans are circling the wagons around Cuffari.

“Firing Cuffari could spark outrage from Capitol Hill Republicans, who have praised him for investigating DHS’s trouble vetting people evacuated from Afghanistan and its inability to monitor all unaccompanied migrant children released from federal custody after traveling to the United States,” Politico reports. “As CIGIE’s investigation into Cuffari has unfolded, congressional Republicans have rallied around him, suggesting he is being targeted as punishment for criticizing the administration. In an occasionally contentious July hearing, House Oversight Republicans pressed the head of CIGIE on how his office handles investigations into inspectors general and raised concerns about the Cuffari probe.”

In 2023 Cuffari testified before Congress he had deleted text messages from his government-issued cell phone which he also stated he did not use for personal reasons. He alleged the texts he deleted were not considered government records.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Bullhorn’: MAGA Congressman Blasted for Using ‘Antisemitic Trope to Demonize Jews’

 

 

 

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JD Vance Says ‘Yes’ Trump Won in 2020 Then Walks Away When Asked ‘Will You Concede?’

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October 3, 2024

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U.S. Senator JD Vance, less than 48 hours after refusing to correctly answer when asked if Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, faced the question again on Thursday — but this time instead of evading he answered it directly: “Yes,” the vice presidential nominee lied.

“Who won the 2020 election? Just answer — did Donald Trump win?” asked Jason Selvig, half of the political comedy duo “The Good Liars,” who frequently troll conservatives in videos that go viral.

“Yes,” Vance replied, strongly.

“He did win?” Selvig asked again, seemingly to confirm Vance’s response.

“Yup,” the Ohio Senator stated.

READ MORE: ‘Bullhorn’: MAGA Congressman Blasted for Using ‘Antisemitic Trope to Demonize Jews’

“So will you, will you concede, if your opponent gets more votes, will you concede?” Selvig pressed.

“I really feel bad for you man,” Vance appeared to say, as he turned into what appeared to be a hotel conference room, ducking Selvig and his camera. “I just want to know, if your opponent gets more votes, will you concede?”

“Completely disqualifying,” is how political scientist David Darmofal described Vance’s lie Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

“As this moment shows,” remarked attorney David R. Lurie, “Vance’s now confirmed status as an opponent of democracy is not going to be something he can quip away during the weeks before the election.”

READ MORE: ‘Judicially Executed Cover Up’: Experts Say Jack Smith Filing ‘Major Indictment’ of SCOTUS

Near the end of Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Vance’s Democratic opponent, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, asked what became a historic question that was called it the “only moment from the VP debate that mattered.”

“Did he lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked Vance.

“Tim,” Vance replied, “I’m focused on the future.”

The Harris campaign quickly turned that into an ad which quickly went viral:

The full context of Walz’s and Vance’s interaction can be read here.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Headaches’: Trump Under Fire for ‘Trivializing’ US Soldiers’ Traumatic Brain Injuries

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‘Bullhorn’: MAGA Congressman Blasted for Using ‘Antisemitic Trope to Demonize Jews’

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14 hours ago

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October 3, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is under fire for spewing “blatant anti-semitism” and doing so in the middle of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

On Fox News Thursday morning, Congressman Burchett attacked George Soros, the liberal billionaire who has donated the vast majority of his fortune to his non-profit which has a goal to “support the growth of inclusive and vibrant democracies.”

“You have a man that does not have America’s interests at heart,” Burchett said of Soros. “He wants to destroy this country.”

READ MORE: ‘Judicially Executed Cover Up’: Experts Say Jack Smith Filing ‘Major Indictment’ of SCOTUS

“He is a money-changer of the worst kind,” charged Burchett, using an antisemitic trope before making his pitch for Donald Trump to be back in the white House.

Last year Congressman Burchett bragged, “I voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We can’t be representing anti-Semitic viewpoints on the world stage,” and told Newsmax, “Antisemitic activity or speech has no place in the United States Congress.”

“As a Jew, this strikes me as VERY antisemitic,” declared MSNBC’s and Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast, responding to the video of Burchett. “I don’t think people who traffic in antisemitism are ‘good’ for the Jews.”

Russell Drew, a self-described “amateur historian,” explains: “In calling George Soros a ‘money changer’, Congressman Burchett knows EXACTLY what he’s doing. Using an antisemitic trope to demonize Jews as greedy manipulators of finance. Such language has long fueled violence.”

RELATED: ‘We’re Not Gonna Fix It’: TN Republican Says Congress Can Do Nothing to Stop Gun Violence – Calls for Christian ‘Revival’

David Simon, the author, journalist and TV writer/producer known for “The Wire” wrote: “Just shout ‘dirty scheming Jew’ and get it all over with.”

MeidasTouch editor-in-chef Ron Filipkowski added, “Ah yes, those globalist Jewish ‘moneychangers’ who hate America pulling the strings behind the scenes. Welcome to 1936 in Donald Trump’s Republican Party.”

Former Obama chief strategist and White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod snarked, “A New Year message from the heart of MAGA to the Jewish community.”

Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy added, “Every evangelical voter knows exactly what this is supposed to mean. It’s not a dog whistle it’s an antisemitic bullhorn.”

Matthew Zeitlin, a correspondent at Heatmap News, asked why “money changer” was “even at the tip of your tongue?”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: Harris Ad Showing Vance Refusing to Say Trump Lost Gets One Million Views in Just Hours

 

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