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Archives for March 2023
Kinzinger blames McCarthy for Trump ‘factor,’ ‘crazy elements’ in Congress
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on Sunday that he blamed House Minority Leader (R-Calif.) for what he called the “crazy elements” in Congress and for the reason former President Trump is “still a factor” in politics.
Kinzinger said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that if he had a one-on-one conversation with McCarthy, he would tell his fellow Republican that he was “disappointed” in his leadership.
Kinzinger said McCarthy had an opportunity to tell “the truth” to the American people as a leader in Congress, but he instead went to Mar-a-Lago a few weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and “resurrected” Trump’s relevance in politics.
“He is the reason Donald Trump is still a factor,” Kinzinger said. “He is the reason that some of the crazy elements of the House still exist.”
McCarthy reportedly begged Trump to call off the rioters during the Capitol attack, and audio from a phone call McCarthy made revealed that he criticized Trump in the aftermath the insurrection. But he soon after increased his ties to the former president, as did much of the Republican Party.
Kinzinger said he believes Trump would have been pushed out as leader of the GOP if McCarthy did not travel to Mar-a-Lago, adding that Congress removing Trump from office following his impeachment over his role in the riot would have been “huge.” He said Trump not being removed from office is on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Senate Republicans who failed to convict Trump following the House’s second impeachment of him.
But Kinzinger said the “second” that McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago, the GOP went from not knowing what it was going to do about Trump to “begrudgingly” defending him.
“Donald Trump should consider Kevin McCarthy his best friend because Donald Trump is alive today politically because of Kevin McCarthy,” he said.
Kinzinger said the GOP will not be the future of the country unless changes are made. He said a successful country in 20 years from now will not be based on what “radicals” like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) want.
“The only way this country can succeed is if we learn to work together,” he said.
Trump’s Twitter spat with Chrissy Teigen turned into a hilarious gotcha moment
Republican House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer was correct when he declared, during Wednesday’s hearing aimed at looking into information surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop, that “it’s wrong for the government to call Twitter and say, ‘Take down a tweet.’” But the evidence revealed at the hearing did not support the GOP’s thesis: that the FBI had ordered Twitter to remove a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop shortly before the 2020 election.
What we did learn was that in 2019, the Trump White House contacted Twitter to demand a tweet by supermodel Chrissy Teigen mocking then-President Donald Trump be removed.
What happened during this hearing was actually worse for the GOP than simply not proving a point.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., responded to this news with a taunting, “My, my, my…. What happens when you hold a hearing and you can’t prove your point?”
Indeed. But what happened during this hearing was actually worse for the GOP than simply not proving a point.
The hearing revealed that Twitter had bent its rules to accommodate Trump’s racist attacks on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other Democratic women of color in “The Squad.” Witness testimony also divulged that Twitter’s management had refused to remove Trump tweets flagged by the company’s moderation unit in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack, which members of the unit warned could lead to violence.
These are not the key takeaways Republicans presumably hoped for. Comer had hyped up the event beforehand, claiming it would expose a “coordinated campaign by social media companies … and the intelligence community to suppress and delegitimize the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop.” The crux of these allegations was that the FBI had directed Twitter to ban sharing of a then-“unsubstantiated” New York Post article about Hunter Biden’s activities.
Alas for Comer and his GOP buddies, there was no evidence to support that. James Baker, Twitter’s former deputy general counsel, testified that the FBI — which at the time was under the control of the Trump administration — never directed them on how to handle the Hunter Biden news story. Instead, the FBI agents provided Twitter with warnings about possible Russian misinformation that led Twitter executives to block sharing the story for a 24-hour period as they reviewed its claims. Yep, all of this for a mere 24-hour delay in sharing unsubstantiated claims about Hunter Biden.
Sarah Fitzpatrick: Hunter Biden legal team ‘going on the offensive’
Meanwhile, in September 2019, Trump took to Twitter and described Teigen’s husband, musician John Legend, as “boring” and Teigen as “his filthy mouthed wife.”
Trump didn’t tag Teigen in the tweet, meaning she would not have known about Trump’s attack by way of a Twitter notification.
This prompted Teigen to tweet an offending message in response.
During the House committee hearing, Connolly asked Anika Collier Navaroli, a former employee of Twitter’s content moderation team, about Teigen’s tweet: “The White House almost immediately thereafter contacted Twitter to demand the tweet be taken down. Is that accurate?” Navaroli testified, “I do remember hearing we’d received a request from the White House to make sure we evaluated this tweet, and they wanted it to come down because it was a derogatory statement directed at the president.” However, since it didn’t violate Twitter policies, the tweet remained up.
While the government asking to silence those they disagree with is unconstitutional, it’s consistent with Trump. This is a man who repeatedly demanded “Saturday Night Live” be cancelled and even investigated the FCC for mocking him. Do you think the GOP will hold hearings on Trump’s war on comedy? (That’s a rhetorical question, of course.)
And that wasn’t the end of it. By way of Ocasio-Cortez’s questioning, we learned that Twitter modified its rules in a way that allowed Trump to spew racist tweets about “The Squad” in 2019.
Navaroli testified that Twitter’s moderation team recommended Trump’s tweet be removed for violating Twitter’s rules at the time, which categorized phrases such as “go back to your country” as derogatory rhetoric. (Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is an immigrant.) Navaroli explained, however, that she was overruled by Twitter’s vice president of trust and safety, who then changed the rules to allow such taunts on Twitter. This answer prompted Ocasio-Cortez to rightly comment, “So much for bias against right-wing on Twitter.”
Perhaps the most alarming news from the oversight hearing came when Navaroli testified about how “Twitter’s leadership bent and broke their own rules in order to protect some of the most dangerous speech on the platform … in the months leading up to Jan. 6.” She testified that despite raising red flags to management the day before the Jan. 6 attack, “no action was taken.” This despite her concerns that Trump’s tweets could result in someone being shot.
The House GOP promised to expose Twitter’s collusion with Democrats. But all they actually exposed were facts that made Trump and Twitter management look even worse. If this hearing is a preview of the type of information we can expect to learn from future House GOP investigatory hearings, then all I can say is: Bring it on.
Eagles Fan Goes Crazy And Destroys His TV After Super Bowl Loss vs Chiefs – Daily Snark
It’s going to be a tough offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles lost a heart-breaking game in Super Bowl LVII after they lead 24-14 at halftime. The Chiefs overcame a deficit and defeated the Eagles, 38-35 thanks to a late field goal from Harrison Butker. One particular Eagles fan took the game really hard […]
Ivan Toney may end up having the last laugh as Arsenal drop crucial points again – Mirror Online
After converting the third of three glorious chances that came his way, Ivan Toney was only interested in collecting a shirt from the bench and sending support to his absent team-mate Sergi Canos.
He was not interested in responding to the mild abuse from some home supporters.
The 26-year-old striker might have been tempted, feeling Arsenal fans over-reacted to his infamous tweet on opening day of the 2021/22 season.
“Nice kickabout with the boys,” Toney posted after a 2-0 win over the Gunners.
Ahead of the reverse fixture later in the campaign, Mikel Arteta used Toney’s mickey-taking message to motivate his men.
Displaying it on a screen, the Arsenal manager said : “You know what he (Toney) did, you know his tweet? ‘Nice kickabout with the boys’. So, today they play in our house guys, and there is only one team on that f****** pitch.”
His colourful rallying cry went on in similar vein and it worked, Arsenal winning that game 2-1 and, then, after the Premier League leaders won at Brentford earlier this season, some of Arteta’s players poked fun at Toney.
Well, it turns out Toney might just have had the last laugh.
Image:
PA)
There is a lot of football to be played but Toney’s equaliser – one which Brentford thoroughly deserved – could turn out to be a crucial moment in the title race.
For the second successive Saturday, Arsenal found an imposing physical challenge tough to cope with.
To put it simply, Arsenal looked lightweight and last weekend’s defeat at Goodison Park and this draw will raise questions about their durability in a protracted title chase.
Their shortcomings, such as a work-rate that was not up to scratch here, will be analysed ahead of the meeting with Manchester City on Wednesday.
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Getty Images)
But the priority in the wake of this contest should be to pay tribute to the job Frank and his players are doing.
In fact, in the context of current form, it could have been argued that Brentford would pose as difficult a challenge as the one City will bring to the Emirates.
If there is a Premier League manager who remains somewhat under-rated, it is Frank.
Perhaps his quirkiness means he is not treated with the same sort of gravitas as some rivals but he has done a towering job with Brentford.
Frank is a counter-attacking specialist, which is why he has enjoyed success against possession-hungry elite teams.
In the first half, the home side dominated the ball, the away side dominated the chance tally.
But Rico Henry hooked a sitter towards the corner flag and Toney sent an equally glorious opportunity onto the meeting of post and crossbar.
It was a rare false moment from Toney, whose link-up play was outstanding all afternoon.
Toney – named in one England squad but not given a kick – has Football Association betting charges hanging over him but Gareth Southgate insists the prospect of those charges was not the reason for his omission from the World Cup party.
Image:
PA)
If Southgate picks on form alone, it is hard to think Toney will not be under serious consideration for the games in March.
And he will be under the same serious consideration when the wealthy weigh up their striking options in the next window, even though he was guilty of squandering another presentable opening early in the second half, inviting Arsenal to step up their game.
Briefly, the Gunners did just that, substitute Leandro Trossard tapping in a brilliant assist from Bukayo Saka.
But, on the balance of play, justice was served when Christian Norgaard presented Toney with a chance that he actually could not miss.
His 14th Premier League goal cemented his unpopularity in these parts but if Arsenal do go looking for a striker in the summer, at least they know one who would definitely fit the bill … like him or not.