News
Exclusive: Pulse Massacre Survivor Blasts ‘Bigot’ Steve King for Racist Attack on Emma González
A survivor of the Pulse nightclub massacre is speaking out against Iowa’s Republican Congressman Steve King, and praising fellow shooting survivor Emma González. In an exclusive interview with NCRM, Brandon Wolf calls Congressman King “a repulsive bigot that wears his favorite colors proudly in the form of a Confederate flag on his desk.”
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Rep. King’s official campaign attacked Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting survivor Emma González, a founding member of the student led #NeverAgain & #MarchforOurLives movement. Using a picture taken by media photographers during her historic speech before the crowd of approximately 800,000 gathered along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Saturday, the King Campaign turned it into a meme and wrote:
“This is how you look when you claim Cuban heritage yet don’t speak Spanish and ignore the fact that your ancestors fled the island when the dictatorship turned Cuba into a prison camp, after removing all weapons from its citizens; hence their right to self defense.”
The campaign staff was criticising the Cuban flag patch on the jacket that Gonzalez was wearing at the event while giving her speech.
In response, Pulse Nightclub shooting survivor Brandon J. Wolf, who has been one of several persons mentoring the MSD students immediately responded angrily, writing:
“Are you SERIOUSLY mocking a school shooting survivor for her ethnic identity?!
Do you losers have NOTHING else to do anymore? Have you lost the will to govern? Do you need a safe space from these teenagers?
When it was my community, where were you? When it was Sandy Hook? Columbine? Were you on the sideline mocking those communities too? Did you question someone identifying as a mother? Did you question whether people like me were crisis actors?
Emma stood for 6 mins and 20 seconds to honor the lives of 17 gone too soon. The least you could do is shut your privileged, ineffective trap for 6 seconds to hear someone else’s perspective.”
The Campaign immediately replied writing, “Uh, no…. assuming quite a lot, aren’t ya? – Team King”
Brandon then fired back with:
“No, I’m wondering whether this is a common trend for you or the fear of actually having to get something done on this issue has you acting irrationally. If you don’t want to debate the issues with her, fine. But let the woman express her ethnic heritage however she pleases without piping verbal diarrhea from Iowa. It’s not cute.”
King’s campaign staff responded, “Only a brainwashed Lefty could possibly look at this meme and deduce there’s racial prejudice. Good luck to you. – Team King”
Wolf gets the last word, however.
“Steve King is and always has been a repulsive bigot that wears his favorite colors proudly in the form of a Confederate flag on his desk,” he told NCRM exclusively. “Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds should be embarrassed and ashamed to keep him on as her campaign co-chair.”
Wolf also praised González, calling her “a survivor and a warrior.”
“The country made it clear on Saturday that they stand with Emma,” he says. “It’s unfortunate that corrupt legislators at the highest levels of Iowa’s government do not reflect the country’s overwhelming support of Emma’s brand of optimism and hope.”
King’s campaign staff refused to comment and did not respond to an email inquiry. King’s Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill office deflected, saying that the campaign staff needed to address the issue.
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News
‘Big Whop’: Even Right-Wing Critics Are Slamming Elon Musk’s ‘Underwhelming’ Hunter Biden Twitter Escapade
Right-wing Twitter users are weighing in to express their disapproval of the so-called bombshell “Twitter files” Elon Musk promised to deliver on Friday, December 2.
According to The Daily Beast, Musk was set to address Twitter’s decision to implement a policy that would restrict headlines and reports about Hunter Biden’s laptop from circulating on the social media platform. However, the leak ended up being a failure for many right-wing experts.
Sebastian Gorka, a right-wing radio host who previously served under the Trump administration, offered a critical response to Musk’s release after journalist Matt Taibbi shared a full Twitter thread about the findings.
“So far, I’m deeply underwhelmed,” Gorka said, adding, “We know the Dems in DC collude with the Dems in Palo Alto [Califonia]. Big Whop.”
He went on to reiterate his arguments when grilled by his far-right followers who were convinced that Musk’s Twitter files were some kind of “smoking gun.”
Per the news outlet: “Responding to a user claiming the Twitter company emails were ‘a clear violation of the 1st Amendment,’ the radio host fired back: ‘Err no, it’s not the DNC asking a private company to censor has nothing to do with the First Amendment.’”
Speaking to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, New York Post columnist Miranda Devine also disapproved of the release. “I feel that Elon Musk has held back some material,” she alleged. According to The Beast, Devine also claimed: “sinister forces were perhaps controlling Musk after the Twitter chief took a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier in the week.”
She added, “In particular, there’s a tweet in which Matt Taibbi says he hasn’t seen any evidence that law enforcement specifically warned off Twitter from our story. But that’s just not correct.”
Free Beacon reporter Joe Simonson also echoed similar sentiments on Twitter. “Twitter files [are] underwhelming so far,” Simonson tweeted. “Just revealing what we already knew: Twitter was staffed by democrats who did the bidding of Democrats.”
Image by Daniel Oberhaus (2018) via Flickr and a CC license
Lachlan Murdoch, the executive chairman and CEO of Fox News‘ parent company, Fox Corporation, is set to be deposed next week in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit. Dominion Voting Systems, which manufactures voting machines, claims the eldest Murdoch son and his father, Rupert Murdoch, have responsibility in Fox News promoting pro-Trump false election fraud claims it says has caused its company harm.
Murdoch is “scheduled to face questions from Dominion’s lawyers on Monday in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports, and will be the highest-ranking official at Fox to be deposed by Dominion,” The Hill reports.
Fox News propagandists Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson have already faced Dominion’s attorneys.
After a federal judge in June ruled the case could move forward, Law & Crime explained, “Dominion’s lawsuit contends that Rupert and his son Lachlan Murdoch personally caused Fox News to broadcast false claims about their role in the 2020 election, even though the Murdochs knew former President Donald Trump’s election fraud narrative was false.”
Rupert Murdoch reportedly spoke with Donald Trump just days after the 2020 presidential election to tell him he had lost.
Judge Eric M. Davis ruled there is “a reasonable inference that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion.”
“Dominion has successfully brought home actual malice to the individuals at Fox Corporation who it claims to be responsible for the broadcasts,” Judge Davis added, Law & Crime reported.
A federal judge has rejected Fox News’ First Amendment defense. The case is expected to be argued before a jury early next year.
Martha Menefield, an 82-year-old Black woman in Valley, Alabama, had police officers show up to her home on Sunday and arrest her for failing to pay a $77 trash bill, CBS42 reports.
Menefield told CBS42 that she thought the bill had already been paid, “but they said it hadn’t.”
“And the cuffs,” she said, her eyes swelling with tears. “They’re so heavy.”
When the officer told her not to cry, Menefield asked him, “How would you feel if they came and arrested your grandmama?”
IN OTHER NEWS: Pennsylvania Republicans change their tune on mail-in voting after getting pasted twice in a row
“I’m just happy my grandkids weren’t here to see that,” Menefield said, her voice shaking. “That would have upset them. I was so ashamed. And it’s been bothering me.”
In a post on the city’s social media account, Valley’s police chief defended the arrest.
“City of Valley Code Enforcement Officers issued Ms. Menefield a citation in August of 2022 for non-payment for trash services for the months of June, July, and August,” Chief Mike Reynolds’ statement said. “Prior to issuing the citation, Code Enforcement tried to call Ms. Menefield several times and attempted to contact her in person at her residence. When contact could not be made, a door hanger was left at her residence. The hanger contained information on the reason for the visit and a name and contact phone number for her to call. The citation advised Ms. Menefield that she was to appear in court on September 7, 2022, in reference to this case. A warrant for Failure to Pay-Trash was issued when she did not appear in court.”
Since the arrest, Menefield has been thinking about the role of God in her life.
“I’ve been questioning God a little bit,” she said. “I guess cause I’ve been so upset. I had a daycare here for eight years, and I’ve been asking the Lord. I say ‘Why did this happen to me as much as I’ve done for people, Lord? I’ve paid my tithes every Sunday. I ushered at church. I was just questioning. Something’s just not right.”
Read the full report over at CBS42.
‘Big Whop’: Even Right-Wing Critics Are Slamming Elon Musk’s ‘Underwhelming’ Hunter Biden Twitter Escapade
Musk’s Twitter Is ‘Welcoming With Open Arms’ a ‘Full-Fledged Nazi’ – and Recommending Users Follow Him: Reports
Anti-LGBTQ Slurs on Twitter Up Over 800% as Musk Allows Thousands of Previously Banned Users Back: Reports
15-Year Old Campaigning Door-to-Door for Raphael Warnock Shot Through Door– ‘No Indication’ Politically Motivated: Police
Fox News Chief Lachlan Murdoch to Be Deposed in $1.6 Billion Dominion Defamation Case
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