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UPDATED: Pompeo’s Anti-LGBT Views Just Lost Him (Another) Critical Vote – Becoming Secretary of State Looks Unlikely

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Editor’s note: See update below.

President Donald Trump’s pick to become the next Secretary of State is in trouble. Right now, thanks to a Senator from New Hampshire,  Mike Pompeo may not have enough votes to be confirmed.

During his bombshell confirmation hearing last week CIA Director Pompeo revealed not only is he opposed to same-sex marriage for religious reasons, he refused to say if he believes sex between, say, a happily married same-sex couple, is “perversion.” Asked by Democratic Senator Cory Booker, Pompeo refused to answer.

New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen Tuesday evening announced her opposition to Pompeo becoming Secretary of State. She cited his anti-LGBT views, along with his views on Muslims and women’s rights.

“After careful consideration, I cannot support Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination to serve as Secretary of State,” Shaheen said in a statement.

Shaheen went on to say, “his previous roles are fundamentally different from that of Secretary of State, who represents American values around the world. The Secretary of State is a policy-making position and I continue to have deep concerns regarding Mr. Pompeo’s past statements and policy views, particularly in regards to the LGBTQ community, American Muslims and women’s reproductive rights. For these reasons, I have concluded that I cannot support Director Pompeo to lead the State Department at this critical time.”

Shaheen is one of 21 Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee. Pompeo would need 11 votes on to advance Pompeo’s nomination to the full Senate for a vote. As The Hill notes, Republican Rand Paul also has stated he will oppose Pompeo.

Democratic Senators Bob Menendez, Chris Coons, and Ben Cardin are reportedly undecided.

The Hill went as far as saying Pompeo “lacks votes for recommendation.”

Assuming all Democrats stand together in opposition, with Rand Paul voting no, Pompeo only has 10 votes and would be reported as not recommended.

Pompeo also has another problem. Even if one Democrat moves to support his nomination, Sen. Jeff Flake could block it:

Right now, Pompeo’s chances of becoming Secretary of State are very, very, slim.

Of course, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has demonstrated he has no qualms on destroying Senate rules and tradition to get his way (Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is one result of McConnell’s scorched earth politics) it’s possible he could advance Pompeo’s nomination. He could add a Republican to the committee. He could twist Rand Paul’s arm, forcing him to vote yes. He could easily demand the full Senate vote without a favorable committee vote. And then he would need a simple majority, which would be challenging, if not impossible – unless Senators change their votes.

Anything could happen.

But right now, chances are good Mike Pompeo may not become Secretary of State.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: 04.1818:
One of the three remaining undecided Democrats has announced he will not support Pompeo for Secretary of State:

 

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Trump Stands Silently for ‘God Bless the USA’ Then Trashes Detroit to Detroit Economic Club

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October 10, 2024

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Donald Trump gave what was billed as a speech on economic policy Thursday afternoon at the Detroit Economic Club, but he spent a good portion of his time focused on attacking the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene, attacking his Democratic presidential opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, attacking the city of Detroit, appearing to be unaware foreign auto manufacturers build cars in the U.S., announcing one of his daughters is expecting, and standing silently for several minutes for his own theme song, “God Bless the USA,” “like it was the national anthem,” according to one reporter.

“The whole country is going to be like—you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said, referring to Vice President Harris. “You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

The city’s Democratic mayor, Mike Duggan, hit back: “Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing. Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help.”

READ MORE: ‘On January 20’: Trump Exploits Hurricane Milton to Rally Floridians for Votes

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel commented, “This guy is calling us ugly and then asking us out on a date. Detroit and the rest of Michigan is ready to show Trump the exit when we overwhelmingly elect @KamalaHarris president.”

Michigan State Senator and Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow added: “As a proud elected representative of tens of thousands of Detroiters: Fuck this guy. Don’t come back.”

David Rothkopf, the noted foreign policy, national security and political affairs analyst and commentator had a different take on Trump’s remarks:

“Not only is this politically tone deaf, it’s something else. Can you tell me what it is? Can you tell me what he is saying when he says the whole country will be like Detroit, the city with the highest percentage of black residents of any in the U.S., if you elect the black woman to be president? Could it be racism?”

Trump also declared the American auto industry is going out of business.

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Dem Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence Horrified to See Herself in Anti-Harris Ad

ClickOnDetroit reports that “Trump also falsely claimed that his administration had the highest job numbers during his speech in Detroit. The unemployment rate fell slightly lower under President Joe Biden — to 3.4% early last year, the lowest in a half-century, below 3.5% before the pandemic under Trump.”

Trump did offer some economic remarks, including wanting to make interest on car loans tax deductible.

Former Chief Economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers Ernie Tedeschi responded to the news (via Trump’s prepared remarks): “Add this to the list of Trump’s policies that will raise your cost of living. If the after-tax cost of financing a car becomes cheaper, that savings will be at least partially capitalized in the price of the car itself.”

He also vowed to impose massive tariffs.

“I will impose whatever tariffs are required — 100 percent, 200 percent, 1,000 percent,” he said, according to Washington Post White House economics reporter Jeff Stein.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump’s Upcoming Madison Square Garden MAGA Rally Sparks Comparisons to 1939 Nazi Event

 

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‘On January 20’: Trump Exploits Hurricane Milton to Rally Floridians for Votes

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October 10, 2024

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As Floridians begin to assess the damage and loss of life after Hurricane Milton hit Wednesday night, bringing with it a historic 150 tornadoes and causing power outages for millions, Donald Trump recorded and posted a video suggesting Floridians will be better off on “January 20,” Inauguration Day, implying they should vote for him.

“Hello, Florida, this is President Donald J. Trump,” the Republican ex-president began his video (below). Some of his supporters praised him on social media for acting as if he were the current president.

“Melania and I are praying for you as you face the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. We are deeply saddened by the devastation being reported and it sounds like it’s a bad as it gets and, ah, we feel so sorry for you and we want God to be with you and we know God is with you, our hearts go out to each and every one of you to those who’ve lost so much, know that you are not alone,” Trump says, before making his election pitch.

“We’ve seen you stand tall against storms before, and you will stand tall now and hopefully on January 20th, you’re gonna have somebody that’s really going to help you and help you like never before. Because help is on the way,” he says. “Together, we will rebuild, we will recover, and we will come back stronger, bigger, better than ever before.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Dem Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence Horrified to See Herself in Anti-Harris Ad

Trump has been spreading massive lies about Hurricane Helene, and has continued those lies as Floridians prepared to be hit by Hurricane Milton.

“Donald Trump has decided to close the election with a flurry of disinformation, lies and deliberate cruelty relating to the massive hurricane relief effort in the wake of Helene, which struck the southeastern United States in late September,” The Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin wrote Thursday.

On Monday, CNN published “Fact check: Six days of Trump lies about the Hurricane Helene response,” revealing how the former president has “delivered a barrage of lies and distortions.”

Among the lies, according to CNN:
“Trump falsely claims Biden hasn’t answered calls from Georgia’s governor”
“Trump cites baseless ‘reports’ about anti-Republican bias in the North Carolina response”
“Trump falsely claims the Biden-Harris response had received ‘universally’ negative reviews”
“Trump falsely claims Harris spent ‘all her FEMA money’ on housing illegal migrants”
“Trump falsely claims $1 billion was ‘stolen’ from FEMA for migrants and has gone ‘missing’”
“Trump falsely claims the federal government is only giving $750 to people who lost their homes”
“Trump falsely claims there are ‘no helicopters, no rescue’ in North Carolina ”

In his video, Trump goes on to promise, “You’re gonna be better than before. And just keep your chin up and God bless you all, and God bless the great state of Florida, your governor is doing an excellent job. I’ve been talking to him and watching, Ron is doing a really good job. We’re proud of him and we’re gonna have something very, very special in the end. I think it’s gonna turn out a lot better than people thought, but this is a big one, so be very, very careful. Thank you very much.”

READ MORE: Trump ‘Let Americans Die’ By Secretly Handing COVID Testing Machines to Putin: US Senator

Florida Politics, reporting on Trump’s video wrote: “Less than a day after landfall, Donald Trump casts doubt on federal response to Milton.”

Marc Etzold, the U.S. correspondent for Germany’s Stern magazine, pointed to Trump invoking January 20, Inauguration Day, and remarked (according to Google translate): “Abusing a natural disaster for such electoral purposes is practically a must-do in Donald Trump’s world.”

Jonathan Boucher, the chief of staff to a New York City Council Member, commented: “Nooooo Trump isn’t politicizing a storm or anything. Not a peep from republicans.”

Watch Trump’s video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump’s Upcoming Madison Square Garden MAGA Rally Sparks Comparisons to 1939 Nazi Event

 

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‘Sick’: Dem Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence Horrified to See Herself in Anti-Harris Ad

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9 hours ago

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October 10, 2024

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Kimberly Burrell, a life-long Democrat who will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris for President, lost her 18-year-old son Darryl Pray Jr. in 2009 to gun violence. In July, around the anniversary of his death, she sat down with a group of Philadelphia mothers who also lost loved ones to gun violence, for an interview with MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian.

“Burrell was a bundle of raw emotion” during taping, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas wrote Wednesday.

“I was a mess,” Burrell, a 53-year-old paralegal, told her. “I couldn’t stop crying.”

During the two-hour MSNBC interview, which Burrell wanted to keep non-political, she was asked about inflation and made a short comment.

“Imagine the mother making minimum wage trying to feed children,” a “choked up” Burrell said, “They’re killing us without killing us.”

READ MORE: Trump ‘Let Americans Die’ By Secretly Handing COVID Testing Machines to Putin: US Senator

Those comments showed up in an anti-Harris ad from a right-wing Super PAC.

Then, “a split screen juxtaposes an emotional Burrell with a cheerful Vice President Kamala Harris declaring: ‘That’s called Bidenomics!’ before ending with the candidate’s signature laugh,” The Inquirer wrote.

Burrell was shocked to see that out-of-context clip in the ad by a Super PAC that spends 98.86% of its expenditures attacking Democrats, according to Open Secrets.

Ubiñas writes, “Burrell was horrified. How could a passionate supporter of Kamala Harris for president become the face of a political attack ad for Trump that had co-opted her image and words in one of her most vulnerable moments?”

“I’m distraught,” Burrell said. “They can just steal your image and comments and twist it the way they want it to be twisted.”

“It’s just really sick.”

“Even if she wasn’t a Democrat, she said,” Ubiñas writes, “voting for Trump — a man whose character and values she deplores — would not be an option. The tears she shed during the interview were about the loss of her son, she said, not the price of peppers.”

The Super PAC that produced the attack ad, Restoration PAC, currently has the video (below) pinned to the top of its page on the social media site X.

Ubiñas says she reached out to Restoration PAC.

“Your X feed indicates you are a hard-partisan with a strong case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Dan Curry, Restoration PAC spokesperson responded, “therefore you don’t need my help in cobbling together your biased column. Have a blessed day.”

Restoration PAC is largely funded by the billionaire founder of Uline, an $11 billion shipping and packing materials business.

Dick Uihlein, The New York Times reported in 2020, is a “Midwestern packing supply magnate and Trump donor who has a history of giving to combative, hard-right candidates, like Roy S. Moore of Alabama.”

Moore, of course, as NCRM reported, is the twice-former, twice booted former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who became the twice-failed GOP U.S. Senate candidate. Uihlein supported him even after the multiple, credible accusations of rape and harassment came out against him, according to Blue Virginia.

READ MORE: Trump’s Upcoming Madison Square Garden MAGA Rally Sparks Comparisons to 1939 Nazi Event

The Daily Beast has reported Uihlein “gave millions to groups associated with overturning” the 2020 election:

“Uihlein’s nonprofit—the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation—poured millions of dollars in 2020 into a sprawling number of groups connected to efforts to challenge Joe Biden’s victory and reimagine election law, as well as other right-wing extremist organizations, including ones designated as hate groups.”

“Kyle Herrig, president of left-leaning watchdog group Accountable.US, told The Daily Beast that money from Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth, has ‘promoted hate and sedition.'”

“In 2020, as workers and families struggled to get by, Dick and Liz Uihlein’s company cashed in on pandemic aid—then turned around and funded hate groups pushing COVID conspiracy theories, bigotry, and efforts to undermine democracy,” Herrig said. “By signing away more than $1 million to groups that have promoted hate and sedition, Dick and Liz Uihlein have made it clear where their company’s values truly lie.”

Kimberly Burrell, meanwhile, has contacted both the Trump campaign and Restoration PAC, “so far to no avail. She’s also contacted a lawyer and is crafting a cease and desist letter.”

“This is what we’ve allowed this country to become, a place where lies can be told and go unchallenged” Burrell told Ubiñas. “We give them power by not calling them out on anything.”

Watch the Restoration PAC ad below or at this link.

READ MORE: Top GOP Strategist Names Three Key Issues That Will Get Republicans to Vote for Harris

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