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‘Offensive’: Trump Turns Arlington Visit Into Campaign TikTok as Veterans Condemn ‘Stunt’

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Donald Trump has turned his highly-controversial and possibly unlawful campaign event at Arlington National Cemetery into a campaign TikTok video, complete with background music and his remarks as the voiceover. Arlington, the final resting place for about 400,000 of America’s service members, many of whom died in service to their country, has strict rules against using the grounds for political purposes, rules that are backed up by federal law.

Not only did the Trump campaign possibly violate federal law, according to a statement released by Arlington, but NPR reports members of the campaign allegedly got into a verbal and physical altercation with an Arlington official who apparently was attempting to enforce the rules.

“Video from Section 60, where recently buried U.S. service members are interred, later appeared in a Trump campaign Tik Tok in which he criticizes President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival for the presidency,” USA Today reports.

@realdonaldtrumpShould have never happened.♬ original sound – President Donald J Trump

Veterans and veterans’ groups are outraged, as are some members of the general public.

Former Trump Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CNN, “I think it should be investigated.”

READ MORE: CNN’s Jennings Slammed for Calling Walz Harris’s ‘Emotional Support Animal’ Over Interview

Esper says when he served as Secretary of the Army he was effectively the “custodian of Arlington Cemetery, since the Army has responsibility for it. There is no more hallowed ground in this nation than Arlington Cemetery.”

“Bottom line: The principle is that no person or party, either side, should ever use Arlington National Cemetery – or any of our cemeteries or battlefields – for partisan political purposes.”

The progressive veterans’ organization VoteVets blasted Trump for “using footage and photos his campaign took at Arlington National Cemetary for political purposes — against the rules and laws that govern this hallowed ground.”

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark called the Trump campaign’s event “deeply offensive” and a “stunt.”

The nonpartisan organization Veterans For Responsible Leadership called the Trump campaign’s actions “disgraceful.”

Army combat veteran and former Lincoln Project executive director Fred Wellman, who has sat on the boards of several military-related nonprofits, blasted Trump.

RELATED: ‘Campaign Stunt’: Did Trump Event ‘Desecrating’ Arlington Cemetery Violate Federal Law?

In his video for Vote Vets, Wellman notes he is a retired Lt. Colonel who served for 22 years. He says the Arlington official who allegedly got into the altercation with the Trump campaign staffers “wasn’t trying to stop ‘Trump,’ he was trying to defend the graves of a couple of thousand of our brothers and sisters…who were being used as a prop.”

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) has asked for the report Arlington National Cemetery filed to be made public:

“It’s sad but all too expected that Donald Trump would desecrate this hallowed ground and put campaign politics ahead of honoring our heroes. This is a man whose own military generals have disavowed, a man who has called heroes like John McCain suckers and losers, a man who has insulted Gold Star families. His behavior and that of his campaign is abhorrent and shameful.”

One veteran not expressing outrage but rather full-throated support for Trump’s actions: his vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance, a former U.S. Marine Corps military journalist. He discounted the reported “verbal and physical altercation” as a media creation.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Grand Jury Indicts Trump Again for J6: If He Loses ‘He’s Going to Jail,’ Expert Predicts

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Alina Habba Immediately Targets Top NJ Democrats After Trump Names Her New US Attorney

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President Donald Trump has named his former personal attorney Alina Habba, who has been serving as White House Counselor, the interim, or acting, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Habba immediately lashed out at the Garden State’s top Democrats.

Trump said the he is also nominating the current acting U.S. Attorney, John Giordano, who has been in that role for a mere three weeks, to a new post: U.S. ambassador to Namibia. Giordano is listed as a member of the White House Historical Association.

Habba, who recently faced backlash for suggesting that veterans dismissed from federal jobs may be “not fit to have a job at this moment,” quickly went on the offensive against U.S. Senator Cory Booker and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (video below), claiming they have “failed the state of New Jersey.”

READ MORE: ‘Fake Tough Guy’: JD and Usha Vance Blasted for Greenland Threat and ‘Aggressive’ Visit

Telling reporters that “there is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in Cory Booker’s backyard and right under Governor Murphy,” Habba vowed, “that will stop.”

“I look forward to working with Pam Bondi and with the Department of Justice and making sure that we further the president’s agenda of putting America first, cleaning up mess, and going after the people that we should be going after, not the people that are falsely accused,” she said, a possible reference to the numerous state and federal charges Trump had faced until winning back the White House.

Politico describes Habba as Trump’s “legal attack dog.” Trump remains a convicted felon after being convicted by a jury in the State of New York on 34 counts of business fraud in what prosecutors said was an effort to influence the 2016 election.

The New York Post’s Manhattan Courts reporter Molly Crane-Newman noted on Monday that “Habba’s behavior during Trump’s defamation trial last year was so far outside the bounds that Judge Kaplan threatened to imprison her.”

READ MORE: Arkansas Senator Files Bill to Abolish State Library, Give Education Department Control

The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reported that “Habba previously represented Trump in the New York civil cases where he was ordered to pay $450m for inflating his net worth and $83m for defaming E Jean Carroll.”

“In 2023, a federal judge also ordered Trump and Habba to pay $1m in sanctions for filing a frivolous claim against Hillary Clinton and others, calling the lawsuit ‘a hodgepodge of disconnected, often immaterial events, followed by an implausible conclusion,'” Lowell added.

Critics blasted the decision to name Habba.

Talking Points Memo founder and editor Josh Marshall appeared to compare Habba to an underboss in the Mafia, writing: “lol Alina Habba is now the capo of New Jersey.”

Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner wrote, “I served as an AUSA in the District of NJ from 2001-04.”

“I’m disgusted by this,” he said, adding: “Caligula’s horse would have been a better choice.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Claims US ‘Doesn’t Need Anything From Canada’, Yet Still Wants It as a State

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Fake Tough Guy’: JD and Usha Vance Blasted for Greenland Threat and ‘Aggressive’ Visit

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Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are launching a coordinated campaign targeting Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring for the United States—despite firm resistance from Denmark, Greenland’s residents, and NATO allies such as France.

Over the weekend, the White House announced that the Second Lady will travel to Greenland, the world’s largest island, on Thursday with one of the Vances’ sons.


It could be considered a cultural charm offensive given her published agenda, but also traveling to Greenland are Trump National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. According to The New York Times, Wright and Waltz are not traveling with the Second Lady, while others, including Sky News, report that Vance “will lead the delegation.”

‘WHAT IS THE SECURITY ADVISER DOING IN GREENLAND?’

Waltz is a former Army Special Forces officer who is seen as a war hawk. A Republican former U.S. Congressman, he was the sponsor of the American Critical Mineral Exploration and Innovation Act of 2020, which highlights the importance of the U.S. becoming independent from China for critical rare earth minerals. Some experts say Trump’s desire to take over Greenland is due to its rare earth minerals.

READ MORE: Arkansas Senator Files Bill to Abolish State Library, Give Education Department Control

Wright is the former CEO of a hydraulic fracturing company who served on the boards of companies related to nuclear technology and mineral and mining rights royalty payments.

Ahead of the visits, the Prime Minister of Greenland is sounding the alarm.

“The Trump administration’s posture is ‘now so serious that the level cannot be raised any higher,’ Prime Minister Múte Egede said in an interview with Greenlandic publication Sermitsiaq Sunday, according to a translation,” Axios reports.

“We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife,” Egede reportedly also said.

Asking, “what is the security adviser doing in Greenland?”  the Prime Minister said Waltz’s presence is a “demonstration of power.”

The New York Times added that Egede “said on Sunday that Greenlanders’ effort to be diplomatic just ‘bounces off Donald Trump and his administration in their mission to own and control Greenland.'”

The Trump administration’s posture is that this is just a friendly visit.

“The United States has a vested security interest in the Arctic region, and it should not be a surprise the national security adviser and secretary of energy are visiting a U.S. space base to get firsthand briefings from our service members on the ground,” Brian Hughes, the National Security Council spokesman, said in a statement. “We also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation. This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history and people.”

VP VANCE TARGETS GREENLAND

Meanwhile, Vice President Vance has come under fire in the U.S. for remarks he made on Sunday, which were anything but friendly.

“Denmark, which controls Greenland, it’s not doing its job, and it’s not being a good ally,” Vice President Vance told Fox News (video below). “So you have to ask yourself, how are we going to solve that problem, solve our own national security?”

“If that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do, because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us. He cares about putting the interests of American citizens first.”

CRITICS BLAST VP

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, now a Stanford University professor of political science wrote: “Trump and Vance have never explained what US national security would be advanced by invading Greenland. Not once. We can buy their minerals without invading. We can open new bases without invading. And even buying Greenland would be a giant waste of money. And Denmark is doing its job providing on a per capita basis much more to Ukraine than we are.”

“The US has real security challenges to address. We don’t need to be inventing new ones by threatening to invade an ally,” Ambassador McFaul added.

READ MORE: Trump Claims US ‘Doesn’t Need Anything From Canada’, Yet Still Wants It as a State

Former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, Luis Moreno, noted that “Denmark lost 43 soldiers killed and over 200 wounded defending the United States of America in Afghanistan. But they’re ‘not a good ally.’ These people have no shame, no honor. Hope Denmark is taking steps to avoid a ‘Reichstag Fire’ type incident during provocative US VIP visits.”

Journalist, attorney, and former House Oversight Committee counsel Sophia A Nelson, a Republican turned independent, called Vance “a quack,” and added: “Threatening to take the territory of a sovereign nation, just because is sick, demented and dangerous. Also illegal.”

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican of Nebraska, chastised the vice president: “Denmark has been a great ally. They’ve served with us in the Middle East. They’ve been key contributors to Ukraine. Greenland is also our ally. We have a great base there and they’re willing to partner more. Let’s be a better ally and not a bully in our own right.”

Journalist John Harwood criticized the Vice President’s remarks, writing: “yes, you and Trump are bold enough to harm our allies and surrender to our enemies congratulations, fake tough guy anti-American freak.”

Healthcare advocate and former Democratic congressional candidate Melanie D’Arrigo said, “Trump wants to take Greenland because Elon wants to control the critical minerals his companies’ products rely on. Cut through the gaslighting and don’t overthink it. $390 million of Musk’s money buys a lot of policy.”

Joerg Lau, international correspondent for the German weekly DIE ZEIT warned: “We are heading for a clash. At some point, someone in Europe will have to stand up to this outrage. The US Vice President is threatening an EU member, a NATO member. We need a collective response to this. Appeasement is not working.”

Former Republican U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger added, “In fact, Denmark is one of our best allies, and one of the top donors to Ukraine relative to their size. Shut your stupid mouth @JDVance.”

Author and former FBI agent Joe Navarro warned, “Beware when out of nowhere, a leader says there is a security problem when none exists. Jethro needs to tune it down just a bit, Greenland Is part of a sovereign nation. Nation states are not up for grabs unless you are Mussolini, Hitler, or Putin, or . . .”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: AG Pam Bondi Says Tesla Vandals Could Get 20 Years In Prison

 

Image via Reuters 

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Arkansas Senator Files Bill to Abolish State Library, Give Education Department Control

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The right-wing war on knowledge continues as an Arkansas state senator filed a bill Thursday to abolish the State Library as well as the library board.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro), along with State Rep. Wayne Long (R-Bradford), filed Senate Bill 536 on Thursday. The bill would not just remove all references to the State Library from existing laws, but also put the state’s other libraries under the control of the Arkansas Department of Education.

A previous version of the bill, SB184, would have also shuttered the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees the state’s PBS stations, according to the Arkansas Advocate.

READ MORE: Clean Up Alabama Wants State to Dump ‘Marxist’ American Library Association

The Arkansas State Library is not just a regular library. In addition to providing information to state agencies and lawmakers, it also distributes funding to the other libraries around the state. Under SB536, the Department of Education would take on all its responsibilities. The State Library is officially a part of the Department of Education already, but it operates as an independent organization.

While the proposal may sound like a shuffling-around of duties, the main thrust of the bill is to allow more direct control over the Arkansas library system by controlling the purse strings. The bill would keep libraries from distributing “age-inappropriate materials” to those under 17 years old and sex education materials from those under 12. Libraries would also have to set up a system where those in the community could request that certain items be banned for minors, according to KARK-TV. Those that don’t meet these restrictions will have state funding pulled.

Earlier legislation filed by Sullivan and passed into law includes Act 242, which ended the requirement for library directors to have a master’s degree in library science, the Advocate reported.  Sullivan, however, was unsuccessful with a proposed amendment to another bill that would strip funding from libraries affiliated with the American Library Association—meaning most, if not all of them. That amendment was rejected this week over concerns the language in it was too broad, according to the Advocate.

The ALA has been a target of right-wing politicians and activists upset with its free speech stance and fights against censorship. Sullivan in particular has objected to a provision in the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights protecting library access for all ages, the Advocate reported. He also called for the state’s chapter of the ALA to be defunded—despite the fact that it receives no state funding.

Image via Shutterstock

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