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Democratic Senator Slams ‘Racist’ Videos That Will Be ‘Piped Straight Into the Bloodstream’ of Florida Schoolchildren

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A top Democratic U.S. Senator is furious over “racist, right wing indoctrination” videos produced by a unaccredited conservative organization which downplay or defend slavery, and are now allowed to be used in Florida public school classrooms.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Tuesday called the videos “Abhorrent.”

“The videos,” PEOPLE reported last week, “are the creation of PragerU, an organization founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager. While the videos are not considered required content in Florida schools, the state’s Department of Education has said the PragerU material ‘aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards’ and ‘can be used as supplemental materials in Florida schools at district discretion.'”

One video features an animated Christopher Columbus saying, “Slavery is as old as time and has taken place in every corner of the world. Even amongst the people I just left.”

“Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no?” the animated Columbus continues in the PragerU video. “Before you judge, you must ask yourself, ‘What did the culture and society of the time treat as no big deal?'”

READ MORE: Gaetz Pushing for Public School Prayer Instead of ‘Pansexual Poetry Hour in Portland’

Senator Murphy says he watched several of the PragerU videos with his young teenaged son. He is now denouncing them.

“My 14 year old heard about these and asked me to sit down a watch a few full videos. There is no context to save these clips,” the Senator said.

“This is racist, right wing indoctrination being piped straight into the bloodstream of schoolchildren. Abhorrent.”

Earlier this month WUSF, the Tampa NPR station owned by the University of South Florida, reported, “Despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ repeated assertions that Florida backs ‘education not indoctrination,’ conservative radio host Dennis Prager, the founder of PragerU, has said the content is meant to indoctrinate, showcasing pro-American, Judeo-Christian values.”

NBC News last week noted that “some of the lessons included in PragerU Kids videos” include: “Slavery was a compromise. The Black Lives Matter movement led to more crime. Masculinity helped win World War II.”

One PragerU video includes an animated Frederick Douglass saying, “Children, our founding fathers knew that slavery was evil and wrong. And they knew that it would do terrible harm to the nation. They wanted it to end. But their first priority was getting all 13 colonies to unite as one country.”

Asked if he was “ok with that,” the animated Douglass says in the PragerU video: “The founding fathers made a compromise to achieve something great.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

 

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Trump Appears to Think Jeb Bush Was President: ‘He Got Us Into the Middle East’

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September 25, 2023

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During a rally in South Carolina on Monday, Donald Trump appeared to confuse former Florida GOP Governor Jeb Bush with his brother, former President George W. Bush, while bragging to supporters how he beat him.

Jeb Bush, who was largely considered to be the default Republican Party nominee for the 2016 presidential election when he launched his campaign, dropped out in February of 2016 after the South Carolina primary.

“When I come here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,” Trump said, before claiming he was “up by about 50 points” over Bush. “They thought Bush because Bush was supposedly a military person.”

“You know what he was…He got us into the Middle East,” Trump claimed, wrongly. “How did that work out?”

READ MORE: ‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

“But they also thought that Bush might win. Jeb. Remember Jeb? He used the word ‘Jeb,’ he didn’t use the word ‘Bush,’ I said, ‘You mean he’s ashamed of the last name?’ and then they immediately started using the name Bush,” Trump claimed.

The ex-president went on to continue denigrating Jeb Bush, accusing him of bringing his mother to campaign with him.

“Remember,” Trump said, “he brought his mother, his wonderful mother who’s 94 years old and it was pouring and they’re wheeling her around and it’s raining and horrible. I said, ‘Who would do that your mother, 94 years old. How desperate are you to win?”

Media Matters’ Craig Harrington, commenting on Trump’s latest gaffe, observed: “In the past two weeks, Donald Trump has:

– Warned that Joe Biden might start ‘World War 2’
– Confused his 2016 election opponent (Hillary Clinton) with former President Barack Obama
– Confused his 2016 primary opponent (Jeb Bush) with former President George W. Bush.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

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Fulton County Judge in Trump Case Orders Jurors’ Identities and Images Must Be Protected

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September 25, 2023

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The Fulton County Superior Court judge presiding over Georgia’s RICO, conspiracy, and election interference case against Donald Trump on Monday afternoon ordered the identities and images of all jurors and prospective jurors to remain secret, ordering they may only be referred to by a number.

“No person shall videotape, photograph, draw in a realistic or otherwise identifiable manner, or otherwise record images, statements, or conversations of jurors/prospective jurors in any manner” that would violate a Superior Court rule, Judge Scott McAfee ordered, “except that the jury foreperson’s announcement of the verdict or questions to the judge may be audio recorded.”

“Jurors or prospective jurors shall be identified by number only in court filings or in open court,” he added.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

Judge McAfee also ordered no juror’s or prospective juror’s identity, “including names, addresses, telephone numbers, or identifying employment information” may be revealed.

MSNBC’s Katie Phang posted the order, and added: “Another important part of the Order: no responses from juror questionnaires or notes about jury selection shall be disclosed, unless permitted by the Court.”

Judge McAfee’s order comes after Donald Trump’s weekend of attacks on his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Trump strongly suggested he should be executed for treason. Trump also strongly suggested he would target Comcast, NBC News, and MSNBC if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

Responding to the news, MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan observed, “We have just normalized the fact that the former president, and GOP presidential frontrunner, is basically a mob boss.”

 

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‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

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11 hours ago

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September 25, 2023

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During a photo shoot at a South Carolina gun shop, Donald Trump posed with and then said he wanted to buy a Glock, asking if it is “a good gun.”

Some say it might be illegal to sell a gun to anyone under criminal indictment, and if he took the gun with him that too might be illegal. It was not clear if, despite saying he would, he actually bought the firearm. The Trump campaign initially said he had, although later backtracked on its claim, and deleted the social media post saying he had.

In the photo op (video below,) Trump posed with several people, including the Republican Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who has held that elected position since 2011.

“Trump’s spokesman announced that Trump bought a Glock today in South Carolina. He even posted video,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. “If Trump took the gun with him, that’s a federal crime since he’s under indictment. There’s also a law against selling a gun to someone under federal indictment like Trump.”

READ MORE: ‘Poof’: White House Mocks Stunned Fox News Host as GOP’s Impeachment Case Evaporates on Live Air

Reuters’ crime and justice reporter Brad Heath posted the federal laws that might apply, as well as Trump’s campaign spokesperson’s clip of the ex-president’s remarks, and his spokesperson saying, “President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!”

CNN analyst Stephen Gutowski, who writes about gun policy, added, “It would be a crime for him to actually buy this gun because he’s under felony indictment. Did he actually go through with this purchase?”

“People under felony indictments can’t ‘receive’ new firearms. That also means you can’t buy them,” he also wrote.

MSNBC anchor and legal contributor Katie Phang wrote, “I don’t know if he actually bought the gun. At least it didn’t happen in this video. Also, the Attorney General of South Carolina is in this video. Is he watching Trump commit a crime?”

But some pointed to a federal judge in Texas’ ruling from last year. Reuters reported, a “federal law prohibiting people under felony indictment from buying firearms is unconstitutional.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

 

 

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