Connect with us

News

‘Surrounded by Sharks’: After Touring ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Trump Vows to Renovate Original

Published

on

President Donald Trump toured “Alligator Alcatraz” on Tuesday, the federal immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades that boasts alligators as part of a natural escape barrier. Now, Trump is vowing to renovate the original Alcatraz, just off the coast of California, a former federal maximum security prison that he claims is, or will be, “surrounded by sharks.”

Before jetting off to Florida, Trump joked with reporters (video below) about detainees facing deportation who would have to navigate around the alligators in the Everglades should they try to escape.

Later in the day, Trump posted to his social media website about his new inspiration.

“Because of the Violence and Criminality I have seen due to the Open Border Policy of Sleepy Joe Biden, in particular allowing millions of people into our Country who shouldn’t be here, I wanted something representative to show how we fight back, and then, it happened,” the President wrote.

READ MORE: ‘This Is Fascism’: Trump Sparks Fury After Calling to Deport U.S. Citizens

“I saw a picture of ALCATRAZ looking so foreboding, and I said, ‘We’re going to look into renovating and rebuilding the famous ALCATRAZ Prison sitting high on the Bay, surrounded by sharks. What a symbol it is, and will be!’ Conceptual work started six months ago, and various prison development firms are looking at doing it with us. Still a little early, but lots of promise!”

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere remarked, “the president says he’s looking into spending federal money, in part, to put sharks into the San Francisco Bay.”

If Trump actually wants Alcatraz to be surrounded by truly dangerous sharks, as Dovere notes he may have to bring them there. The ones currently surrounding the tiny island reportedly may not be especially dangerous, according to the Pacific Open Water Swim Co.

Other critics blasted Trump’s remarks.

Investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze remarked, “So we’re rebuilding Alcatraz based on… a vibe?”

“Trump saw a moody picture of a defunct prison and decided that’s the future of immigration policy, locking up desperate families on a shark-surrounded island like a Bond villain with zoning permits,” he added. “This cruel and reckless governance is nothing but a cinematic cosplay with real human lives at stake.”

READ MORE: Trump Pushes Census Do-Over to Exclude Non-Citizens — and to Immediately Redistrict House

Another social media user wrote: “Trump wants to bring back Alcatraz. Not to house mob bosses or war criminals, but to make a ‘symbol’ out of locking up desperate migrants. Sharks and spectacle. This isn’t immigration policy. It’s a twisted cruelty straight out of a 1930s Germany. You don’t rebuild a prison for the camera unless cruelty is the point. That’s not ‘fighting back’, that’s feeding fear and hatred to your base and calling it leadership. History already wrote this playbook, and it ends in concentration camps, not justice. We are better than this, no?”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Panic Button’: JD Vance Blasted After Calling $1T in Medicaid Cuts ‘Minutiae’

 

Image via Reuters

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows

Published

on

Barely more than one-third of Americans approve of how President Donald Trump is doing his job, and on key issues, his support is underwater.

Just thirty-seven percent of Americans give President Trump good marks overall, while more than half the country, fifty-five percent, disapprove, according to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll.

The partisan divide is large, with 84% of Republicans saying he is doing a good job, and 98% of Democrats saying he is not. The majority of independents, 58%, agree with Democrats and disapprove.

Just less than three in ten women (29%) approve of President Trump’s performance, while 46% of men do.

READ MORE: ‘It’s Always a Young White Male’: Fox Host Urges Action After Deadly School Shooting

On crime, the majority (54%) disapprove of Trump’s performance, just 42% approve.

On the economy, fewer than four in ten (39%) approve, and 57% disapprove.

Similarly, on trade, just 38% approve, while 56% disapprove.

On his efforts to end the Ukraine war, a majority (52%) disapprove, while just 40% approve.

“Voters have little confidence in President Trump’s effort to broker peace in Ukraine, and most voters don’t trust Vladimir Putin to keep a peace deal if one were reached,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy wrote. “And though the president has ruled out putting U.S. troops in the war theater to keep the peace, four out of 10 voters would support it,”

READ MORE: Trump Orders Death Penalty for All D.C. Homicides, Defying Long Ban

And two-thirds of Americans (67%) disapprove of his handling of the Epstein files.

According to the non-partisan group Political Polls, this is Trump’s lowest approval rating in this term.

Critics and strategists weighed in.

Mike Madrid, the top Republican Latino political consultant, remarked, “Brutal poll results for Trump. Just brutal.”

“Striking” is how The New Republic’s Greg Sargent described the poll’s finding on Trump deploying the National Guard, and he noted that Trump’s “overall approval on crime is cratering.”

“Predictably, Trump’s terrible overreach is again turning people against him in an area where he was previously perceived as strong, just as on immigration and the economy,” wrote Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “Per Quinnipiac, independents oppose his DC occupation 61-34. Overall: 56-41 against.”

READ MORE: ‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘It’s Always a Young White Male’: Fox Host Urges Action After Deadly School Shooting

Published

on

A Fox News host is blaming mass shootings on access to guns and young white males, after the latest school shooting that left two young children dead and seventeen others injured during mass at a Catholic school. The gunman reportedly was in his early 20s and is now deceased.

“Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot dozens of rounds through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School. Police believe the gunman then killed himself,” the Associated Press reported. “The children who died were 8 and 10, and 14 other kids were among the wounded, the [police] chief said. Dozens of youngsters were inside.”

Trey Gowdy, a Republican former U.S. Congressman from South Carolina and a former federal prosecutor, stunned his co-host while speaking live on Fox News (video below).

READ MORE: Trump Orders Death Penalty for All D.C. Homicides, Defying Long Ban

“Our system is reactive,” Gowdy lamented. “Something bad happens, we react to it. And what people are crying for now is, ‘How can we prevent this? How can we stop it?’ And the only way to stop it is to identify the shooter ahead of time or keep the weapons out of their hands.”

“And so we’re going to have to have a conversation of freedom versus protecting children. I mean, how many school shootings does it take before we’re going to have a conversation about keeping firearms out?”

“It’s always a young white male, almost always. I mean, did anyone this morning think, ‘I wonder if that was a female?’ Did any of y’all think that? I mean, there’s been one school shooting involving a female. One. Tennessee. But other than that, it is usually young white males.”

His co-host, off camera, protested.

READ MORE: ‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’

“Don’t we have laws on the books for these types of situations?” she asked.

“Like what?” he pressed.

“Well, well murder is what happened, and maybe the why is that you had a 10-year-old an eight-year-old praying in the pews. Were they targeted for their faith?” she asked.

Gowdy is not a liberal. On Tuesday, appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity,” he declared the left’s politics are “absolutely idiotic.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Duffy Slammed After Handing Trump Credit for Biden’s ‘Brand New Beautiful Trains’

 

Image via Wikimedia and a CC license

Continue Reading

News

Duffy Slammed After Handing Trump Credit for Biden’s ‘Brand New Beautiful Trains’

Published

on

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is under fire for claiming credit for new Amtrak trains, as well as funding and improvements, all of which came from President Joe Biden’s landmark bipartisan infrastructure law — the nation’s largest infrastructure investment in more than half a century.

“Announcing the NextGen Acela!” Secretary Duffy declared on Wednesday. He touted the “brand new beautiful trains” delivered by U.S. DOT and Amtrak that will, he wrote, “increase reliability,” “lower ticket costs,” and “improve Amtrak profitability.”

“This is all part of @POTUS’ vision to Make Travel Great again,” Duffy claimed.

READ MORE: Trump Orders Death Penalty for All D.C. Homicides, Defying Long Ban

But several critics were quick to point to President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that was signed into law in November 2021.

CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere wrote: “as detailed on the Amtrak website, the improvements that Secretary Duffy says are all part of Trump’s ‘vision to Make Travel Great again’ are in fact from the Biden-signed bipartisan infrastructure act, and which were underway long before Trump took office again in January.”

The “information about the source of the funding for the ‘new era of rail’ — a priority for famously Amtrak-loving Biden — is up on the Amtrak site here,” he noted, pointing to this Amtrak website, which reads:

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Amtrak and passenger rail to play a central role in improving how people move and securing our economic future. This historic legislation provides $66 billion for rail, including: $22 billion directly to Amtrak over five years to repair or replace aging assets, modernize our fleet, improve station accessibility, and other capital projects and purposes defined under the law.”

READ MORE: ‘Frogs in a Boiling Pot’: Trump Blasted After Again Insisting ‘I’m Not a Dictator’

Also, Amtrak noted, “$44 billion for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) discretionary grants to support various improvements to passenger and freight railroads.”

Others also blasted the DOT chief.

“Sean Duffy, surprising absolutely no one, taking credit for something brought to you in large part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden,” charged former chief Pentagon spokesperson Chris Meagher.

Watch the video below or at this link.

RELATED: Trump Expands D.C. Occupation, Will Seize Control of Union Station Operations


Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.