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Tommy Tuberville Pledged to ‘Donate Every Dime I Make When I’m in Washington’ to Vets – He Hasn’t

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Although Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) has exalted himself as a tireless supporter of veterans, he has been a major source of aggravation for the U.S. military in 2023.

The MAGA senator has held up the confirmation of more than 250 military officers because of the Biden Administration’s policy of reimbursing women in the U.S. Armed Forces for travel expenses incurred when seeking abortions. And his critics, including Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois (a U.S. Army veteran) and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, have slammed him for endangering the United States’ national security in order to score brownie points with the Religious Right.

In a Fact Checker column published on July 19, the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler examines promises that Tuberville has made to veterans but not lived up to.

READ MORE: Abortion, the military and white nationalism have put Tommy Tuberville in the hot seat

“As senator,” Kessler reports, “Tuberville has made veterans one of his key issues. The former football coach serves on both the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee…. Yet there is no evidence that Tuberville has kept a key pledge he made when he ran for Senate three years ago — that he would ‘donate very dime’ he made in Washington to Alabama veterans.”

In a campaign video posted on Facebook on March 9, 2020, Tuberville declared, “I stand with our veterans, and I’m going to donate every dime I make when I’m in Washington, D.C. to the veterans of the state of Alabama. Folks, they deserve it. They deserve it a lot more than most of us.”

Kessler, however, emphasizes that Tuberville hasn’t been nearly as generous with veterans as he promised during his 2020 campaign.

“A U.S. senator earns $174,000 a year,” Kessler explains. “We’re assuming that Tuberville was proposing to donate only his salary, not the substantial earnings he makes from his investments. He has an estimated net worth of $20 million. With Tuberville now having served 2½ years as senator, that would amount to a total of $437,000 in potential donations.”

READ MORE: GOP’s Tommy Tuberville refuses to answer questions about his defense of white nationalists

Kessler continues, “In the past decade, Tuberville has made contributions to veterans via a charitable organization, the Tommy Tuberville Foundation, that he established in 2014 after he was hired as football coach at the University of Cincinnati…. But a review of IRS filings made by the Foundation show that very little has been spent on charitable causes — especially since he became a senator…. In 2021, the foundation reported it had $74,101 in revenue and spent just 12 percent of that, or $9000, while $32,000 went to administrative costs — including nearly $12,400 to pay off a truck the charity purchased in 2018 for $27,369.”

The Washington Post journalist adds that in 2022, the Tuberville Foundation “apparently had gross receipts of less than $50,000 and was required to file only a 990-N, known as a postcard, providing even less detail.”

According to Kessler, “The Fact Checker contacted nine veterans’ organizations represented on the Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs. Three state affiliates — Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars — responded and said they have received no donations from either Tuberville or the Tommy Tuberville Foundation.”

READ MORE: ‘Destructive spectacle’: Chuck Schumer admonishes Tommy Tuberville’s defense of white nationalists

Find Glenn Kessler’s full Washington Post column at this link (subscription required).

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‘Misinformation’: Peter Doocy Smacked Down by White House Press Secretary

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Peter Doocy‘s efforts to promote hurricane misinformation got smacked down Monday when Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted the Fox News White House correspondent.

Doocy began his for-the-camera claims by declaring, “President Biden is fond of saying, ‘show me your budget and I will tell you what you value.’ If he’s got money for people in Lebanon right now, without Congress having to come back, what does it say about his values? There’s not enough money right now for people in North Carolina who need it,” Doocy declared.

The Fox News reporter was promoting part of the right-wing falsehood that alleges Vice President Harris offered just $750 to hurricane victims, part of the larger conspiracy theories put out by far-right wing influencers including Donald Trump.

“That’s not misinformation,” Doocy insisted.

READ MORE: ‘Trafficking in Nazi Race Science’: Trump Blasted After ‘Vile Trifecta’ of Antisemitism

“Wait,” Jean-Pierre patiently urged. “No, that is, your whole, your whole premise of the question is misinformation, sir.”

After a heated back-and-forth, the Press Secretary exploded, “I just mentioned to you that we provided more than $200 million to folks who are impacted in the area, and I just shared with you that people are deciding not to, people are deciding not to, not to.”

Doocy, Jean-Pierre tried to explain, is conflating different federal government programs, all of which are vital to victims of Hurricane Helene, and likely will after Hurricane Milton hits Florida later this week.

“This is nothing new. Peter, this is nothing new. Congress comes together. They provide money, millions of dollars for disaster relief. We’re asking them to do the job that they have been doing for some time under the President Biden, doing for some time,” Jean-Pierre added.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to cut the House’s vacation short and order Congress back into session to provide more funding for FEMA and other disaster relief agencies.

“The President’s letter is not misinformation. Would you agree?” he continued.

READ MORE: ‘Trump Did This’: SCOTUS Blocks Biden Emergency Abortion Mandate in Texas

“No,” she replied, “the way you’re asking me the question is misinformation. “There is money that we are allocating to the impacted areas, and there’s money there to help people who truly need it. There are survivors who need the funding, who need the funding, and it’s there.”

“I actually said we have the money available to help survivors of Hurricane Helene and also Hurricane Milton. Now there’s going to be a shortfall, right? Because we don’t know how bad it’s, Hurricane Milton, is going to be, and so we’re going to need additional funding. We’re going to need additional funding,” Jean-Pierre explained.

“Congress needs to come back and do their job and provide extra assistance, extra funding to Disaster Relief Fund,” she added after Doocy pushed back. “That’s what Congress needs to do and we’re going to continue to urge that, you may not want that, but that’s okay. That’s what this President wants and that’s what the Vice President wants.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: Greene Mocked for Weather Control Claim as NC Lawmaker Pleads for Conspiracy ‘Junk’ to End

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‘Trafficking in Nazi Race Science’: Trump Blasted After ‘Vile Trifecta’ of Antisemitism

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On the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Donald Trump took a deep dive into antisemitic and Nazi rhetoric.

The ex-president—win or lose—near the end of his final White House run told right-wing political commentator and host Hugh Hewitt that immigrants have “bad genes” which make them more likely to commit murder. It is a charge some say is direct out of Nazi eugenics.

“Echoes of Nazi Germany,” declared former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul.

Just hours later Trump unleashed a “vile trifecta” of antisemitism, according to Andrew Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs.

“Israel has to do one thing,” Trump had told Hewitt. “They have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. It’s not reciprocal.”

Those words unleashed great anger and pain.

READ MORE: ‘Trump Did This’: SCOTUS Blocks Biden Emergency Abortion Mandate in Texas

“On anniversary of deadliest day for Jews post-Holocaust, Trump hits a vile trifecta,” Miller writes of Trump’s remarks to Hewitt. “1. Antisemitism: Israel and Jews are the same – dual loyalty. 2. Victim blaming: 10-7 is the fault of Jews bc they didn’t back him. 3. Narcissism: Forget victims’ families, it’s all about me.”

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt had also told Haaretz, Israel’s newspaper of record, that the “atrocities, including the slaughtering and capturing of innocent Israelis and Americans, that took place on October 7th would have never happened if President Trump were still in the White House.”

“For Americans and Israelis alike, it’s imperative that President Trump is re-elected so he can end the bloodshed caused by an emboldened Iranian terrorist regime, which is stronger and richer today from the Harris-Biden Administration’s incompetence and weak policies,” she claimed.

Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America blasted Trump.

“One year since the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, & Donald Trump exploits our pain, presenting his support of Israel as completely transactional, conflating American Jews & Israelis. It’s ‘not reciprocal’ b/c Trump continues to issue depraved antisemitic threats,” she said.

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs wrote, “Israel and the global Jewish community are mourning the anniversary of the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And Trump’s message is effectively “vote for me or else” — just as he is preemptively blaming Jews for a potential loss. This is so dangerous.”

READ MORE: Greene Mocked for Weather Control Claim as NC Lawmaker Pleads for Conspiracy ‘Junk’ to End

Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy observed, “Of the many times Trump has made something all about himself, this has to be one of the most unhinged and vulgar. You wouldn’t hire someone who said something this weird and gross for a job. You wouldn’t want them around your kids or friends. How can his supporters defend this?”

Attorney Daniel Miller wrote: “On a day when American Jews should be able to mourn the deadliest day for our people since the Holocaust, Trump is threatening Jews who don’t support him and trafficking in Nazi race science. As a Jew, I am alarmed not only for my own people, but for my country and the world.”

Miller also pounded Trump over his earlier remarks to Hugh Hewitt on immigrants.

“The fact Trump is trafficking in Nazi race science should be on the front page of every newspaper in America. Every elected official should issue a statement condemning this. Republicans should be asked why they remain silent. This is NOT OK. He might soon control our military,” Miller wrote. He also said, “Trump has promised to put immigrants into camps and is now trafficking in openly Nazi race science,” which “should terrify every single person with a conscience.”

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

 

This article has been updated to include Professor McFaul’s remarks.

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‘Trump Did This’: SCOTUS Blocks Biden Emergency Abortion Mandate in Texas

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On the first day of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court in an unsigned opinion upheld a lower court ruling that enforces Texas’ ban on certain emergency abortions. The Biden administration had sought to overturn the ban and enforce its policy requiring hospitals to perform the emergency, potentially life-saving procedures. The Court declined, allowing the Texas law, one of the strictest in the nation, to remain in effect.

The Biden administration had argued “that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court’s action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues,” the Associated Press reports. “Doctors have said the [Texas] law remains dangerously vague after a medical board refused to specify exactly which conditions qualify for the exception.”

“Pregnancy terminations have long been part of medical treatment for patients with serious complications, as [a] way to to [sic] prevent sepsis, organ failure and other major problems,” the AP added. “But in Texas and other states with strict abortion bans, doctors and hospitals have said it is not clear whether those terminations could run afoul of abortion bans that carry the possibility of prison time.”

READ MORE: ‘Full Eugenicist’: Trump Says ‘Bad Genes’ Make Immigrants More Likely to Commit Murder

Critics are blasting Donald Trump, who has repeatedly bragged he killed Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that found a constitutional right to abortion. That ruling was overturned in 2022 by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision. Trump put on the Court three conservative justices after vowing to pick justices who would end Roe.

“Trump did this. These are his hand-picked justices,” charged former Fox News and CNBC contributor Julie Roginsky Monday morning after the Court’s ruling in the Texas case.

“Thanks to Trump overturning Roe, the Supreme Court just issued a ruling that woman bleeding out from a miscarriage or stroking out from pre-eclampsia can die on the ER table in Texas,” noted Democratic communications strategist Laura Chapin, adding: “Trump’s Republican Party wants women to die.”

“Trump’s Supreme Court just signed a death warrant for more Texas women,” warned Dem Socratic strategistAdam Parkhomenko.

Leigh McGowan, who runs the popular PoliticsGirl podcast, wrote: “SCOTUS confirms it’s the state’s right to let women die.

Neera Tanden, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council responded to the AP report: “Let’s be clear that this means women’s lives take a back seat in Texas.”

READ MORE: Greene Mocked for Weather Control Claim as NC Lawmaker Pleads for Conspiracy ‘Junk’ to End

 

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