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‘I’m Not Quite Sure What They Want’: McCarthy Dares Republicans to Oust Him as His Frustration With Members Grows

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Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s frustration with his own House Republicans continues to grow as he dared them to oust him during a closed door meeting of the GOP Conference Thursday morning.

The Speaker “dared members from his own party who have been threatening to oust him to bring a motion to vacate to the House floor,” The Messenger reports.

McCarthy “said he’s not scared of the motion, which — if approved — would vacate him from the No. 1 leadership post,” The Messenger adds, citing a source in the room.

“Move the f—ing motion,” he dared them.

READ MORE: ‘Matt Is Upset About an Ethics Complaint’: GOP Divide Deepens as McCarthy Smacks Down Gaetz

That meeting was supposed to be focused on investigations but reportedly also included heated conversations on the rapidly approaching September 30 deadline to fund the government and avoid an October 1 shutdown.

Punchbowl News cofounder Jake Sherman reports he asked the Speaker “what was going on” with “this funding mess,” as McCarthy was headed in to the meeting.

“Yeah, I don’t understand how members, they have no complaint about the DoD [Dept. of Defense] bill. But they don’t want to pass it,” McCarthy told Sherman.

“I got a small group of members who don’t want to vote for CR [a continuing resolution], don’t want to vote for individual bills and don’t want to vote for an Omni,” he added, referring to a massive all-encompassing “omnibus” bill.

“I’m not quite sure what they want,” McCarthy said.

Minutes later Sherman reported: “House Republicans are meeting behind closed doors. The stated topic is investigations. But he’s [McCarthy’s] now talking about funding. We don’t win shutdowns, he’s telling his colleagues 16 days from funding expiring.”

McCarthy appeared to mock Democrats by telling his fellow House Republicans, while using his speech to also attack his fellow Republicans, which Sherman called McCarthy’s “’where we are’ pitch.”

READ MORE: ‘Everybody Has Seen That’: Fox News Host Smacks Down Republican Pushing Biden ‘Burismo’ Video People ‘Not Talking About’

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm “can’t charge her car,” McCarthy told his members, referring to reports of a hardware problem on an electric Cadillac that caused problems on a trip earlier this summer.

Sherman, paraphrasing McCarthy, reports he said: “Two ‘liberal newspapers’ say Biden shouldn’t run again. Pelosi getting asked about whether Biden and Harris should run again. ‘And we can’t pass our DOD bill?'” McCarthy said. If we get in a shutdown, McCarthy said, how do we get out of it. Biden, [McCarthy] said, would have articles written making him look like the adult in the room.”

McCarthy appeared to continue to blast Republicans.

Sherman reports McCarthy told his members, “If you think we have more leverage in a shutdown, I don’t think that. You give all the power to the administration. If you have an honor flight coming in, they’ll put bike racks around the monuments so they can’t see them. ‘Our power is if we pass appropriations bills and make Democrats defend their votes.'”

He also “effectively said he’s not afraid of a motion to vacate. He said any speaker would do roughly what he’s doing.”

The motion to vacate is part of the concession package McCarthy reportedly agreed to that allowed him enough votes to win the gavel in January after a contentious battle and 15 attempts.

READ MORE: ‘I’ve Never Changed My Position’: McCarthy Picks Fight With Reporter After Saying No Impeachment Inquiry Without a Vote

 

 

 

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

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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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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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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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