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Trump Rages Against Critics, All But Silent on Alleged Terror Attack on Dem Governor

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Nearly 36 hours after the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence was firebombed in what some have described as a possible assassination attempt and anti-Semitic terror attack targeting Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, President Donald Trump has yet to publicly condemn the act of violence—which has been charged as attempted murder, arson, and terrorism—committed as the governor and his family slept.

Just days after he was sworn in to office in January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order denouncing what he called “an unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism and violence,” as NPR reported January 29. He also declared that U.S. policy “shall be” to use “all available and appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”

But, as critics have noticed, it’s been all but radio silence from the U.S. President on the heinous crimes carried out against Governor Shapiro on the first full day of Passover, the Jewish holiday commemorating liberation from slavery.

READ MORE: ‘Apocalyptic’: Trump Plan Would Be ‘Science Demolition Derby’ Experts Warn

The suspect, “Cody Balmer, 38, jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers after he broke into the building, the authorities said,” The New York Times reported. “He fled the scene and was arrested after turning himself in to the police on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a news conference.”

According to the affidavit, Balmer said that if he had encountered Governor Shapiro, he would have beaten him with his hammer.

“Mr. Balmer was charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said early Monday.”

Since the attack on Governor Shapiro and the governor’s mansion, President Trump, on his Truth Social platform, has announced the visit this week of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, and thanked him for what some say is the unlawful imprisonment of “some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States,” whom Trump labeled “barbarians.”

He posted videos of his Saturday night visit to UFC 314, a mixed martial arts event. He denied the tariff exemptions on cell phones, computers, and other tech items are actually “exceptions.” He posted a message to Christians honoring Holy Week. He also posted video of an apparent drone strike and wrote: “Time for the terrorists to hide, but it won’t do them any good.”

Trump called for New York Attorney General Letitia James to resign from office.

In one random post, Trump wrote (in all-caps): “The best definition of intelligence is the ability to predict the future!!!”

In a lengthy post, Trump blasted CBS News for running two investigative stories on him Sunday evening. He called for the news network to lose its broadcast license, and wrote: “Hopefully, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as headed by its Highly Respected Chairman, Brendan Carr, will impose the maximum fines and punishment … for their unlawful and illegal behavior.”

And as recently as just past 10 AM, Trump posted a message effectively washing his hands of Russia’s unlawful war against Ukraine.

Trump also re-posted a video wishing Jewish families a “blessed Passover,” saying, “may God continue to watch over the Jewish people.”

As of publication time, the President does not appear to have said anything publicly to the people of Pennsylvania or Governor Shapiro to condemn the attack on their governor, his family, and the governor’s mansion.

Last night at about 2AM,” Governor Shapiro wrote on Sunday, “my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene and while they worked to put out the fire, we were evacuated from the Residence safely by Pennsylvania State Police and assisted by Capitol Police. Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished. Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities. Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”

READ MORE: ‘Beyond Contemptuous’: DOJ Slammed for ‘Sheer Indignation’ in Defying Judge

Responding to that message, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote that she is “deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago.”

There was no indication she was considering federal charges. The FBI reportedly is assisting in the investigation.

The New York Times DC correspondent Glenn Thrush noted: “Interesting to see how Bondi’s response evolves if there’s evidence the attack was political. She called Tesla vandalism ‘domestic terrorism’ — and vowed to seek max sentences. Shapiro and his family were at home during an arson attempt. Seems far more serious at 1st glance.”

Vice President JD Vance appears to be the only Trump administration official to condemn the attack.

“Thanks be to God that Governor Shapiro and his family were unharmed in this attack. Really disgusting violence, and I hope whoever did it is brought swiftly to justice,” he wrote.

Writer Charlotte Clymer, a former Human Rights Campaign press secretary on Sunday afternoon remarked: “The attempt to burn down the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion is pretty clearly an assassination attempt, and it’s likely an antisemitic hate crime. It should be referred to that way by political media.”

David Axelrod, the former Obama Senior Advisor and chief strategist, wrote: “Where is the @POTUS?”

“Did I miss it or has he not said, or posted, a word about this attack in PA?”

President Trump’s response so far follows a familiar pattern seen in previous instances of far-right violence or incendiary rhetoric—such as after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017, when public pressure ultimately led him to issue a condemnation that some viewed as equivocal.

Asked aboard Air Force One on Sunday night if he had any reaction to the attack on Governor Shapiro, Trump could only say, “I just heard about it, no, I’ll have to look into it.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘MAGA Leftist’ Ripped for Claim Trump Fights Wall Street for ‘Forgotten Working Class’

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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

READ MORE: Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

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Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

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A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.

Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”

Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.

“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”

“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”

Why?

“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.

“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.

He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”

Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”

“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”

READ MORE: Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

 

 

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Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.

Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.

“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”

READ MORE: White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability

On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”

“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.

Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.

“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.

“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”

Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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