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Report: Trump Has ‘Joked’ Mike Pence ‘Wants to Hang’ All Gay People

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Mike Pence, the Vice President of The United States, Does Not Believe in Evolution

Even President Donald Trump is aware just how anti-gay his vice president is. According to a report in this week’s The New Yorker, Trump has “joked” that Mike Pence “wants to hang” all gay people. 

In “The Danger of President Pence,” the magazine’s Jane Mayer profiles the far right wing, uber-conservative, anti-LGBT, anti-women former Indiana governor, and details some of his interactions with the President.

A staff member from Trump’s campaign recalls him mocking Pence’s religiosity,” The New Yorker notes. “When the conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, ‘Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!'”

Some joke.

Trump during the campaign had promised LGBT people he would be the most pro-LGBT president ever, and more supportive than Hillary Clinton. He of course lied. But to have chosen Pence as his VP, knowing the former Indiana governor’s positions on issues like LGBT people’s rights, is even more despicable.

Pence, of course, became nationally infamous for signing into law Indiana’s “religious freedom” bill that allowed anyone, including corporations, to discriminate against LGBT people. Here’s the photo of the signing ceremony:

pence_nuns_insert_600.jpg 

It became such a lightning rod Pence was forced to sign another law specifying the first did not allow discrimination. It still cost the state at least tens of millions of dollars. In the Trump administration, Pence is believed to have a hand in many of Trump’s anti-LGBT moves.)

That same campaign staff member also “said that, when people met with Trump after stopping by Pence’s office, Trump would ask them, ‘Did Mike make you pray?’ Two sources also recalled Trump needling Pence about his views on abortion and homosexuality. During a meeting with a legal scholar, Trump belittled Pence’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade. The legal scholar had said that, if the Supreme Court did so, many states would likely legalize abortion on their own. ‘You see?’ Trump asked Pence. ‘You’ve wasted all this time and energy on it, and it’s not going to end abortion anyway.'”

Trump clearly has no ideologies or moral callings, that’s always been clear. Which is why Pence is so dangerous: he does, and Pence is Trump’s bridge to the far right wing evangelical arm of the GOP.

The New Yorker details the rampant evangelical activity, as NCRM has reported, thanks to Pence, that takes place inside Trump’s White House.

There have been other evangelical Christians in the White House, including Carter and George W. Bush, but Pence’s fundamentalism exceeds theirs. In 2002, he declared that “educators around America must teach evolution not as fact but as theory,” alongside such theories as intelligent design, which argues that life on Earth is too complex to have emerged through random mutation. Pence has described intelligent design as the only “remotely rational explanation for the known universe.”

Mike Pence, the Vice President of the United States, does not believe in evolution.

At the White House, Pence has been hosting a Bible-study group for Cabinet officers, led by an evangelical pastor named Ralph Drollinger. In 2004, Drollinger, whose organization, Capitol Ministries, specializes in proselytizing to elected officials, stirred protests from female legislators in California, where he was then preaching, after he wrote, “Women with children at home, who either serve in public office, or are employed on the outside, pursue a path that contradicts God’s revealed design for them. It is a sin.” Drollinger describes Catholicism as “a false religion,” calls homosexuality “a sin,” and believes that a wife must “submit” to her husband. Several Trump Cabinet officials have reportedly attended the Bible-study group, including DeVos, Pompeo, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In a recent interview with the Christian Broadcast Network, Drollinger said that Pence “has uncompromising Biblical tenacity” and “brings real value to the head of the nation.”

UPDATE:
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), an LGBT legal organization, posted this in response:

RELATED STORIES:

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Questions Whether LGBT Civil Rights Are ‘Necessary or Even Possible’

Ten Times Mike Pence Worked to Defeat the LGBT Community

Watch – Mike Pence Doubles Down On Anti-Gay Law: ‘We’re Not Going To Change This’ (Video)

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Hat tip: The Hill

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Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

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U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is calling on President Donald Trump to support her bipartisan bill that would grant temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, allowing them to remain in the United States. On immigration, Congresswoman Salazar says Trump could be just like Reagan was for communism or Lincoln was for slavery.

“There’s no way we can grow as a country and continue being the number one economy in the world if we don’t have hands,” Salazar said, referring to immigrant workers. “So let’s be intelligent. Let’s just bring them out of the shadows, make them pay—something that they’re not paying right now. Make them pay a fine, no federal programs, and they can go home for business, and they can buy a home.”

Her plan, the Dignity Act, would not provide amnesty or a path to citizenship. But, she says, it “offers a strong, commonsense approach and focused on putting American interests first.”

READ MORE: ‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

Salazar praised President Trump, saying with his so-called One Big beautiful Bill, “the economy is going to gonna burst, just like it happened in 2019.”

“I go back to the president. The president is the guy who can make this happen. There is no other president like Trump. Look what he did with Iran. Look what he did Venezuela, with China.”

“So I have no doubt, I have faith that he could be for immigration, what Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for communism.”

Critics blasted Salazar’s comparisons.

“Rep. Salazar has used this line a few times and while I understand what she *means* to say I respectfully submit that she has not thought through the implications of what she *actually* said,” remarked attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. He added: “hint: Reagan was not good for Communism and Lincoln was not good for slavery.”

“Maria Salazar comparing Trump to Lincoln on slavery and Reagan on communism is beyond absurd,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Lincoln fought to end human bondage. Reagan opposed totalitarian regimes. Trump put kids in cages, demonized immigrants, and ran on fear, not freedom. History will remember the difference. Seems like she meant to compare Trump to Nixon, not Lincoln.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

 

 

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‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has a blunt message for undocumented farmworkers: “Go home.” She’s urging farmers to assist in the process—by helping those workers “self-deport.”

“I would encourage everybody,” Secretary Noem said on Wednesday, “if people are here in this country illegally, go home.”

“I mean, the law is the law, and we are upholding the law, and, the President is very clear that he doesn’t believe that the law should apply to some people and not to others—that there should be consequences for some people and not for others,” she said.

President Donald Trump has said that he and his administration are working on a plan to help farmers keep their undocumented workers, many of whom, he said, are “almost impossible to replace.” Trump suggested some form of sponsorship might be possible in the future, where farmers would be responsible for their workers who are undocumented.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

Noem said that every undocumented person, including the undocumented farm workers—has “the opportunity right now to self deport.”

“We will buy their plane ticket and when they land, they will be able to get $1,000 in their hand to care for their families, and they get the chance to come back, she claimed. Federal law places bans on some of those trying to return, in some cases for up to ten years.

“And so, that’s what I think is so remarkable, is that we will let them come back the right way, and we’re facilitating that today,” she insisted.  “So every individual that’s here in this country that’s concerned, or every farmer out there that has somebody that’s working for them, that’s concerned, you know, you know, work with getting them home, so they can come back and get in the right way.”

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Jeremy Konyndyk is the president of Refugees International.

He says, “Farmers face financial ruin over deportations.”

Noem’s “claim that people can ‘come back’ after self-deporting is ludicrous on its face,” Konyndyk adds. “Why then deport in the first place? And in any case, that does nothing for farmers who need crops picked NOW.”

President Donald Trump’s favorability on immigration continues to drop. What was once among his most positive categories now has him underwater.

“About half (52%) of Americans think that Trump’s approach to immigration policy is too harsh; 36% think it is about right and 7% think it is too soft,” according to a YouGov poll report published Tuesday. “At the start of Trump’s term, significantly fewer — 40% — thought his approach to immigration was too harsh; 43% thought it was about right and 4% said it was too soft. The largest shift has been among Independents: 57% currently think Trump’s approach is too harsh, up from 36% in January.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Popping Champagne’: Russia Scoffs, Snubs Trump’s 100% Tariff Ultimatum

 

Image via Reuters

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Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

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President Donald Trump is denying multiple reports that he intends to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as he continues to criticize him and express frustration over the Fed’s refusal to cut interest rates to the levels he has demanded. The Federal Reserve is an independent central bank, and the President has no legal authority to dictate its actions. On Wednesday, Trump criticized Powell, appeared to forget that he appointed him, and blamed President Joe Biden for his nomination.

Should Trump attempt to fire Powell, it would be an unprecedented move. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated there are limits to the President’s authority to remove Fed officials.

On Tuesday evening, in a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump asked their opinion of firing Powell, whom he nominated in late 2017. Powell was renominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. The chairman of the Federal Reserve serves four-year terms, and Powell’s expires next year.

READ MORE: ‘Loathsome’: Fox Host’s ‘What Up, My Nazi?’ Rant Slammed by Civil Rights Icon

“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” a senior White House official told CNBC, NBC News reported.

“A recent Supreme Court decision indicated that the president does not have the authority to remove Fed officials at will,” NBC also reported.

But CNBC later reported that Trump denies he plans to fire Powell.

“We’re not planning on doing it,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely.”

Minutes ago, in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to forget he had been the first to nominate Powell as Fed chair. He told reporters that Powell is a “terrible Fed chair,” and he was surprised he had even been appointed. Trump added, “I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.”

Responding to the video (below) the House Ways and Means Democrats asked, “Did he forget?”

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) wrote: “Legit question, does he have memory issues? Or does he remember but doesn’t want people to know that this is his fed chair? I just want a normal leader in this job….”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Image via Reuters

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