Trump claims facing Newsom in 2024 election would be ‘easy’

Former President Donald Trump boasted that he believes facing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in the 2024 election would be “easy” should President Joe Biden not be the Democratic nominee. “Personally, I don’t think so,” Trump said Sunday when asked by Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo whether he thinks Biden will be the nominee. She then asked how the former president thinks he would fair if the Democratic nominee were Newsom. “He’s, he’s so much bull****,” Trump said. “His state is doing horribly. You look at the homeless problem. You look at the people that are leaving. You have companies that are leaving. They’re all leaving for other locations. I think Gavin’s easy because California is a disaster,” Trump added. Although Biden hasn’t given a single indication that he would drop out of running for reelection, Republicans and some pundits have speculated that his waning approval ratings could spur the Democratic Party to put forth an alternative candidate to take on the former president, as Trump has also touted speculation over Biden’s prospects to tackle another four years in office. Bartiromo then asked, “How are you going to do against Michelle Obama?” hinting at unsupported rumors that former President Barack Obama‘s spouse could attempt a run. AD “Look, I’ve seen polls where she doesn’t do well. She may do well, but I’ve seen polls where I beat her easily,” Trump said, adding, “I beat her by a lot. I had four great years.” Biden won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, giving the president the first set of delegates he needs to claim the Democratic nomination at the party’s convention in August. While he isn’t the only Democratic candidate running for the nomination, his two opponents, Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips, only gained 3.8% of the state’s primary vote combined. There has been no indication that Newsom or the former first lady would throw their hats into the ring for the 2024 election. Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump. Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump. | AP CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Trump’s remarks come as an NBC News poll also revealed that Trump is leading Biden by five points among registered voters in a hypothetical 2024 general election race, 47% to 42%, within the margin of error. The former president also hinted that he may soon see support from Republicans who have yet to make an endorsement for the 2024 race, touting his recent endorsement from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

Ron DeSantis LOL The decline and fall of a first-class traveler and third-class presidential candidate DANIEL W. DREZNER JAN 21

It has not escaped the attention of the hard-working staff here at Drezner’s World that a lot is going on in the world. It is an increasingly violent place. Iran seems to have decided to piss off all of its neighbors simultaneously. Kim Jong Un is angry that no one is paying attention to him and is behaving even more menacing than usual. I want to comment on many of these developments in the days and weeks to come, I really do. But first — and this is very important — I want to dance on Ron DeSantis’ political grave. Drezner’s World is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid DeSantis announced today that he is dropping out of the presidential race with a fake Churchill quote. The Florida governor had bet his entire campaign on doing well in that state. He pretty much camped out there, visiting all 99 counties in the state and earning the endorsement of the governor. He finished second, but more than thirty points behind Donald Trump. This is quite the comedown from the fall of 2022, when DeSantis was coming off of a 20-point re-election victory even as Trump had harmed himself by backing candidates who flamed out in the midterms. Many pundits thought this sounded the death knell for Trump and heralded the rise of a new GOP frontrunner. The hard-working staff here at Drezner’s World had its doubts, many of which grew as DeSantis started opening his mouth and saying really dumb things about foreign policy. He also seemed thoroughly ill-equipped to cope with being the target of Trump’s brand of negative political attacks. Mostly, however, DeSantis imploded for two reasons. First, he was bad at, you know, basic human interactions, which kinda matter in places like Iowa and New Hampshire. Second, he and his team managed something I did not think was possible: exist in an even more insular, weird political cocoon than Trump. The disastrous glitch-filled Twitter Spaces campaign announcement was merely the most obvious example. Over time I lost count of the number of stories that made DeSantis sound like the World’s Most Online Politician. Thank you for reading Drezner’s World. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share With his departure, of course, come the political obituaries. Combine the internal turmoil of the DeSantis campaign, with his team’s initial hostility towards the mainstream media, and you have a recipe for some delicious stories of DeSantis dysfunction. Take, for example, this NBC News story by Matt Dixon, Dasha Burns, Allan Smith and Abigail Brooks, which came out even before DeSantis dropped out. There’s so much good stuff in it: In the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle. In the headquarters of Never Back Down in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wagner was, according to some of his staff, spending a significant amount of time in the precious final few days constructing a peaceful 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape…. “Staffers are putting their dedication and devotion to electing Gov. DeSantis and they come in and the CEO, the chairman of the organization, is sitting there working on a puzzle for hours,” said a Never Back Down staffer who was there. That’s just the opening anecdote. Then we get to the good stuff: It was just two weeks into the campaign, and already the squabbling had begun. The campaign’s top brass, including then-campaign manager Generra Peck, top adviser Ryan Tyson and Christina Pushaw — who was the architect of DeSantis’ communications strategy — held a conference call with those tapped to be the social-media knife fighters on DeSantis’ behalf. The group of roughly a dozen influencers was informally dubbed the “fight club” by the campaign. They were willing to combat members of the media and DeSantis’ political foes, but from the very early weeks of the campaign, many were flummoxed by leadership’s direction, or lack thereof. “The conference call was a s--- show, just an absolute s--- show,” said a former fight club member who was on the call. “People [top staffers] were pressed on the message, and, especially after the failed rollout, they had no answers.” During a particularly bizarre portion of the meeting, Bill Mitchell, a DeSantis supporter with a large social media following, asked the top DeSantis campaign staff if they could call Musk because he was concerned that the site was limiting the visibility of his posts — a practice commonly referred to as “shadow-banning.” “He cut me off — I’ll remember this to my dying day — and asked the top people on the campaign if they could call Elon Musk and ask why he is being shadow-banned,” a second person on the call recounted. “That was the level of people we were working with. It was just kind of embarrassing to a point.” I’m sorry, did that story say Bill Mitchell? Bill Mitchell??!! For those familiar with that name, go ahead and have your laugh, you’ve earned it. For those of you unfamiliar with Bill, count yourselves lucky. Let’s just say it’s a bit nuts that any serious political campaign would take him seriously. If you think I’m exaggerating… let’s just quote the next few paragraphs from the NBC story: In a statement, Mitchell said he had been “shadow-banned” as a DeSantis supporter, arguing that he has over 400,000 followers “yet it is not unusual for my posts to have fewer that 2000 views each.” “I believe the leftists at X are doing this because they want Trump to be our nominee as he is very beatable in the general,” he added. “DeSantis terrifies them as he is far more competent without the baggage.” That last sentence sounds a little like one of my occasional pro-DeSantis commenters, who has gone dark as of late. If it’s you Bill, thanks for reading! In dropping out, DeSantis endorsed Trump, which completes his circle of debasement. Maybe he has a political future: he is only 45 years old. Stranger things have happened. For today, however, I look across DeSantis and his terminally online staff, and take solace in the notion that not every arrogant asshole succeeds on the presidential stage. Leave a comment You're currently a free subscriber to Drezner’s World. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2024 Daniel W. Drezner 160 Packard Ave. Medford, MA 02155 Unsubscribe Get the appStart writing

TROUBLE: Donald Attacks Judge What you need to know MARY L TRUMP JAN 20

OUTRAGEOUS: Donald personally attacks the judge presiding over the E. Jean Carroll trial. A lawyer told me Donald could end up in jail. Tonight, Donald’s attorneys have asked for a mistrial in the E. Jean Carroll case. It’s a gutsy—or desperate—move considering Judge Kaplan already declined their identical request last week. This lack of respect for the court is a pattern. Donald, who already has TWO active gag orders against him in his NYC fraud trial and the January 6th case, just tested the limits of his conduct and the behavior of his attorneys in his civil defamation trial, too. Appearing after his legal team’s disastrous performance, Donald tore into Judge Lewis Kaplan and personally attacked him for not delaying the trial for his mother-in-law’s funeral. First of all, Donald’s attendance at the trial was optional (he did not appear at the first defamation trial) and, second, instead of being with his family all week, he’s been on the campaign trail: “He's a nasty judge,” Donald said. He's a Trump-hating guy, and, uh, it's obvious to everybody in the court. It's a disgrace, frankly, what's happening. It’s a disgrace.” Donald un-gagged Donald’s courtroom behavior has been so bad, Judge Kaplan threatened to have him removed after he reportedly muttered complaints about the trial in earshot of the jury. In response, Donald tossed his hands up in the air exclaiming he’d “love” it if the Kaplan threw him out. When Kaplan asked Donald “you just can't help yourself under the circumstances, can you?” Donald reportedly responded, “you can't either.” Donald is playing with fire Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg appeared on MSNBC's "Way Too Early," and actually compared Donald’s failure to control himself in the courtroom to the sinking of the Titanic. "Yesterday was a disaster for Trump as a defendant," Aronberg said. "I would liken him to the Titanic but at least the Titanic had a band.” Civil trials are different For Donald’s criminal trials, he might be given a little more latitude to act out. As Danny Cevallos, an NBC News legal analyst, explained, “a criminal defendant has a right to be present at all proceedings,” Cevallos said. "So any time a judge removes a defendant in a criminal case, the judge has to consider some very important constitutional issues in the possibility that the case could get overturned." But E. Jean Carroll’s case is a civil suit — and Donald is marching toward penalties. Donald is heading into trouble I asked attorney Joe Gallina to predict what might happen next, and here’s what he told me: “I think Donald is using his appearance at court to speak to his base. He’s playing the victim, which works well with them, while attempting to malign the judge, intimidate E. Jean Carroll, and undermine the accusations by claiming it’s all a political ‘witch hunt.’ Sure he’ll score some political points, but he’s really damaging his case,” Gallina said. “That puts Donald in an impossible position. The more he attempts to appease his base, the more he’ll turn off the jury,” Gallina added. “In fact, I predict after witnessing the way Trump and his legal team have acted, the jury could award E. Jean Carroll a significantly higher amount than the original $5 million verdict— and it’s likely,” Gallina said. “There are also a host of punishments available to Judge Kaplan to apply to Donald if he continues to act out. It stands to reason we’ll hear a description of what those might be of. Donald could face fines and even be thrown in jail for contempt if he ignores repeated warnings,” Gallina concluded. I’ll be watching this case and I’ll update you every step of the way. If a jury does find Donald liable for additional and substantial damages — or if Judge Kaplan hands down a penalty commensurate with what Donald deserves, I’ll be on it. What happens now I am officially launching a nationwide campaign against Donald’s candidacy, and I will focus on motivating crucial swing state voters by helping them understand what’s at stake in 2024. It’s not hyperbole to say 2024 will be the most important election of our lifetimes. We already have the winning 2020 playbook, but we need to go even further. Everything is on the line. I’ll use this platform and a combination of strategies all across the country to energize our base in 2024. My only mission this year is to stop Donald from destroying our democracy. We must do that together. If you support me, please become a paying supporter now and help me reach even more swing state voters with the truth. 👇 Become a Paying Supporter Now THANK YOU for your supporter, and for being with me on this journey! Let's make sure Donald never sets foot in the White House again. – Mary © 2024 Mary L Trump 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 "THANK YOU for your supporter" ? Really ?

Consumers Are Murdering the March Rate Cut

Fed officials have made it very clear that the prospect of interest rate cuts will very much turn on the pace of economic growth. This week's economic data very likely pushed the timing of a rate cut further out on the calendar. It's very clear that the economy has slowed from the breakneck 4.9 percent pace of real growth and 8.3 percent pace of nominal growth we experienced in the third quarter of last year. No one expected the economy to grow that fast—in fact, many analysts began 2023 by predicting a recession in the second half—and no one expected it to keep growing that fast. But the economy does not appear to have cooled as much as expected. Waller Dressed as a Dove for Halloween Early on, it seemed as if some of the unusually high third-quarter activity might have been pulled forward from the fourth quarter, which would indicate below-trend growth for the final three months of the year. Christopher Waller, the last Fed Governor appointed by Donald Trump, pointed out this possibility in his "Something's Got To Give" speech back in October of last year. After pointing out how strong growth was in the third quarter—and hinting that maybe the initial estimate was likely to be revised down (it was not)—Waller explained that the fourth quarter might be weak enough to rebalance the strength of economy: The question is whether that acceleration of real activity will be sustained. Sometimes an uptick in activity is followed by some payback, or slowdown. For example, if firms pull construction forward because of good weather, then current structures investment will be high now but lower in the next period. Thus, we want to be careful and not pay too much attention to the specific month activity took place but instead average growth over a couple of quarters to get a clearer picture of the underlying strength of the economy. Waller went on to emphasize that he would be watching consumer spending data very closely and patiently. In October, there were hints that the slowdown might happen. The economic data seemed to be following Waller's "payback" script. Retail sales were reported to have contracted for the month, the first decline in nominal spending at stores in seven months. Excluding autos and gas stations, retail sales rose by just 0.1 percent. The consumer price index was flat for the month, and the index of core prices rose just 0.2 percent. The jobs report showed payrolls expanding by just 150,000 jobs (later revised down to just 105,000). Both the University of Michigan and Conference Board indexes showed a dimming of consumer attitudes. This fueled hopes for earlier and frequent interest rate decreases by the Federal Reserve. For some, it raised the prospect of a recession in the first half of 2024, with the expected decline in the fourth quarter of 2023 extending and deepening in the first and second quarters of this year. An even more popular forecast was that the economy was headed for a soft landing in which inflation stayed on a glide path toward the Fed target while growth cooled but avoided a serious slump. When Waller gave his follow up speech in December, he pointed to signs of weakening consumer spending as evidence that (as he titled his speech) "Something Appears to Be Giving": Data on economic activity in October indicate that consumer spending is cooling from its pace in the third quarter. Retail sales fell 0.1 percent, the first drop since March. Spending was down on motor vehicles, an interest-sensitive sector, which may be evidence that that the FOMC's tightening of monetary policy is having some effect. Spending was also down at gasoline stations, mostly because of a sizable decline in gas prices, often a larger factor for this segment of retail than shifts in demand. But even without motor vehicles and sales at gas stations, retail sales barely increased in October, which may reflect a broad-based moderation in demand. The Rate Cut Got Run Over by a Reindeer The more recent data, however, have painted a very different picture. Hiring picked up in November and then really took off in December, with payrolls expanding by 173,000 and 216,000 respectively. The consumer price index climbed 0.1 percent in November and then accelerated to 0.3 percent in December. The core inflation index rose 0.3 percent in November, a pickup from the prior month, and then rose another 0.3 percent in December, confirming the reacceleration. Retail sales rose 0.3 percent in November, which was much better than expected and showed shoppers were picking up the pace from the prior month. There were hints that this was just the beginning. Gallup reported that Americans had revised upward their estimates of holiday spending, a rare midseason increase in spending plans. When the December figures finally came in this month, they showed sales were up 0.6 percent for the month, beyond the hopes and dreams of even the most bullish retail analysts. On Friday, the University of Michigan released its latest read on consumer confidence. Not only did confidence surge for the second month in a row, it saw the biggest month increase since 2005. The combined rises in November and December produce a two-month increase not seen since 1991. Sentiment is now nearly 60 percent higher than its all time low hit in June 2022 and is very close to the historical average since 1978. In other words, the consumer side of the economy shows signs of heating up—not cooling as forecast. The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow gauge has the economy growing at a 2.4 percent real rate in the fourth quarter, much higher than the 1.5 percent penciled in by most economists. When it met back in December, the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections showed a median expectation of 2.6 percent growth in 2023. (It had been just 2.1 percent back in the September meeting, but the 4.9 percent growth figure in the third quarter almost made that a numerical impossibility.) To get there after growing 2.0 percent in the first quarter, 2.1 percent in the second quarter, and 4.9 percent in the third, growth would have to slow down to 1.5 percent or lower. If we come in at 2.4 percent for the fourth quarter, the economy will likely have grown by around 2.9 percent for the year. That pace of growth will very likely be enough to force the Fed to hold off on rate cuts, which will make next week's release of the advance estimate of fourth quarter and full year growth a very important report. Consumer Sentiment Surges, Biggest Gain Since 2005 Rising optimism about the prospects for the economy, confidence that inflation will decline, and bett... Home Sales Fall Again, Closing Out Worst Year Since 1995 Sales of previously owned homes in the United States fell in December, the sixth decline in the last... Google Is Flooding Its News Service with Nonsense AI-Generated Articles Google is reportedly boosting nonsense AI-generated articles that are ripping off other... READ MORE Dem Rep. Moore: Prices Haven’t Declined, But GOP Feeds ‘Fear’ on Inflation — We’re ‘Still Roiling’ from COVID On C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) stated that “Republicans just feed peop... Sign up to receive Breitbart Business Digest. ©2024 Breitbart News 149 S. Barrington Ave. #401 Los Angeles CA 90049 USA Breitbart Business Digest Fri, Jan 19, 5:21 PM (17 hours ago) to noah.bawdy This email has been sent to: Noah Bawdy ©2024 Breitbart News 149 S. Barrington Ave. #401 Los Angeles CA 90049 USA

Fani Willis’s Affair: There Are Receipts The likelihood of recusal just increased. TECHNO FOG JAN 19

The explosive allegations that could possibly sink Fulton County’s RICO case against Donald Trump, et al. – that she is having an ongoing affair with Nathan Wade, the Special Prosecutor she appointed to persecute Trump – have now been corroborated. On January 8, attorneys for defendant Michael Roman (who faces various charges for challenging the 2020 election) filed this motion, alleging (in part) that Willis and Wade must be disqualified from the case due to ethical violations and prosecutorial abuses due to their affair. Specifically, the attorneys for Roman alleged that DA Willis and Wade: “have traveled personally together to such places as Napa Valley, Florida, and the Caribbean and the special prosecutor has purchased tickets for both of them to travel on both the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines.” Those were serious allegations. And they were very specific as to the locations they traveled and Wade’s purchase of the tickets. It’s one thing to hear gossip from the Fulton County DA’s office… but how could Roman’s attorneys know all the particulars? Because there are receipts. They all come from Wade’s Cobb County divorce proceedings with his soon to be ex-wife, Joycelyn Wade. Joycelyn has sought to depose Willis as part of the divorce case, alleging that Willis has an ongoing affair with her husband and that Willis would have insight into Nathan Wade’s actions and the marriage itself – knowledge that would help the divorce court divide the marital assets and calculate spousal support. Willis sought a protective order to prevent her deposition and gave implied threats that Joycelyn was obstructing the DA’s investigation of Trump. Yet Willis never denied the affair. And so attorneys for Joycelyn Wade dropped today’s bomb, which included her husband’s credit card statements where trips were purchased for Willis. You can read it here. Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade has, according to his credit card statements, taken trips to San Francisco and Napa Valley, Florida, gone on a Caribbean cruise, Australia, Panama, and Belize. These trips all took place after he filed for divorce. And Willis – the boss of Nathan Wade, the woman who enriched him by appointing him as Special Prosecutor – joined Wade some of (if not all) of these trips. Here’s the rundown. April 25, 2023: Nathan Wade purchases Delta Airlines tickets for himself and Fani Willis. As part of this trip, they apparently traveled to Napa Valley and stayed at the Doubletree hotel. Let’s be clear - this is just the start of the documentation of the affair between Wade and Willis. Not only will more of Wade’s credit card statements be released, but there is a real possibility (we estimate at 70-30) that Fani Willis will be deposed as a witness in the divorce proceeding. She’ll be under oath, and her answers could very well force the recusal of herself and Wade from the Trump case. The Reactionary is a reader-supported publication. As we previously reported, there is a glaring ethical violation in Wade’s appointment, as it has served to pay for domestic and international trips for Willis, his supervisor. Compounding the violation is that Wade has been overpaid - his office allegedly receiving nearly $1 million since he was appointed to the case - and that he is, by all accounts, unqualified to prosecute this case. The Georgia Supreme Court agrees, observing a conflict of interest can “arise where the prosecutor has acquired a personal interest or stake in the defendant’s conviction.” Willis and Wade have by February 2, 2024 to respond to the motion by Roman’s attorneys. The court has set an evidentiary hearing on the matter for February 15, 2024. If I’m Roman’s attorney, I’m calling Fani Willis and Nathan Wade to the stand. There could be fireworks - if the court allows their testimony. Assuming they recuse themselves or are disqualified, what’s next? We figure it most likely that Fulton County, which has an expressed interest in prosecuting Trump, assigns the case to one of the other attorneys currently assigned to the matter. This would allow the case to go forward. Or, there’s the potential that an outside lawyer is appointed. That would be the best chance for dismissal, as there are serious concerns with using Georgia’s RICO statute to target Trump and the rest of the defendants. After all, Georgia’s RICO law emphasizes that it should be used to prosecute financial crimes or those involving injury to another - not for challenges to an election. Jonathan Turley explains: “Some prosecutors would likely balk at the tenuous connections used to sweep Trump into this grand conspiracy theory, which many critics believe Willis has pursued for political purposes.” We’re not sure Fani Willis would allow that. It’s a certainty that she’s already thinking of ways to have this case survive if she has to recuse. © 2024 Techno Fog 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

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It's not just Trump facing removal from ballots TOM KNIGHTON JAN 4 ∙ PREVIEW

 It's not just Trump facing removal from ballots TOM KNIGHTON JAN 4

I’m not a fan of Donald Trump being removed from ballots because of supposedly being an “insurrectionist.” Trump may not have tripped over himself to denounce what happened on January 6, 2021, but he didn’t plan it and he wasn’t a part of it.

And that doesn’t even touch on the fact that it wasn’t remotely an insurrection.

But as bad as the thing with Trump is, at least some could make the case that he’s facing charges relating to what supposedly happened. Others, however, are facing potential removal simply because Democrats don’t like them...

 GODS OF CHAOS ☙ Thursday, January 4, 2024 ☙ C&C NEWS 

A giant roundup: Claudine Gay story bears more fruits; SADS airline cluster; court dumps new Epstein docs; Florida smashes jab narrative; Trump appeals Colorado; scary news from Space; and lots more.

JEFF CHILDERS JAN 4 First, public support for DEI has cratered. Following the outpouring of sympathy on elite campuses for Hamas, many Americans—including many center-left liberals—began to question the sweet-sounding euphemisms of DEI and examine what they mean in practice. Second, the political right has learned how to fight more effectively. Any activist campaign has three points of leverage: reputational, financial and political. Journalists applied reputational pressure, exposing Gay’s alleged plagiarism and Harvard’s scandalous effort to cover it up. Donors, led by hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman, applied financial pressure, withholding contributions. And Congress applied political pressure, exposing Gay’s equivocations on antisemitism. The nation’s leading university had subordinated veritas to politics, compromising its mission. The only choice was to force Ms. Gay to step down. Conservatives have demonstrated an increasing sophistication in their successful campaigns against national brands such as Disney, Target, Bud Light and now Harvard. Legislators in Florida, Texas and other states have recently passed laws abolishing DEI in their state universities. Professors across the political spectrum are working on efforts to depoliticize academic administration, rebalance faculty politics, and restore truth as the guiding principle of American universities, including at Harvard. Sometimes evidence of the culture-war’s progress appears in unlikely places. Say what you like about Elon Musk, but Bless Twitter! The AP’s ridiculous Claudine Gay headline, which I reported on yesterday, immediately drew fact-checking “Community Notes” on Twitter, which publicly beclowned the so-called news agency: To describe the media’s Carlee coverage as fawning would be an insult to baby deer. Here’s an example paragraph from the Tampa Bay mask article: The reason I bring up Carlee is because of how she and the her scheming school board co-conspirators were able to flush the previous, not woke, well-liked Superintendent notwithstanding his ironclad contract: they accused her of plagiarism. It’s another SADS cluster! Australia’s News.Com ran a story yesterday headlined, “‘In shock’: Two British Airways flight attendants die suddenly.” Think about it: Same airline. Same age. Same week. Same job → Two sudden and unexpected deaths of healthy flight attendants. Does that really “happen all the time?” The Epstein documents dropped yesterday. "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small." — Greek saying. "Justice is like a train: it is slow, it is noisy, it is full of jerks, but it gets you to your destination eventually." — David Sedaris. The UK Independent ran a slow-justice story yesterday headlined, “Epstein told victim Bill Clinton ‘likes them young’, new court filings reveal.” The sub-headline added, “Among the hundreds of pages of filings unsealed Wednesday, victim Johanna Sjoberg spoke about what she knew about Bill Clinton’s ties to Epstein.”

“The evidence has been completely provided by the FDA … These vaccines are the antichrist of all products … it’s a complete disrespect to the human genome and the importance of protecting it … and that is our connection to God.”

Finally, in space news, Science website Earth.com ran a disquieting story yesterday headlined, “"God of Darkness" asteroid Apophis set for historic Earth flyby and NASA visit.”

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T_9Hlfn-H0o

Tucker Carlson Reveals What He'd Do if Trump Convicted

 

Texas Drops Legal Bombshell on Pfizer

Newsom and DeSantis Both Win Debate

George Santos Expelled From Congress in Historic Vote

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Rodney Anderson

Didn’t watch, I compared California to Florida, debate over

Debate over

 

Rodney Anderson

Didn’t watch, I compared California to Florida, debate over

Washington Examiner 

2 minutes ago  · 

Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) red vs. blue state debate battle royale promised to deliver political fireworks, and it was like the Fourth of July.

I saw Aerosmith at MSA on July 4th.

Four takeaways from DeSantis-Newsom debate: 'Lion’s den'

by Naomi Lim, White House Reporter

 December 01, 2023 12:25 AM

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Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) red vs. blue state debate battle royale promised to deliver political fireworks, and it was like the Fourth of July.

The debate, televised without an audience and slower in pace than its 2024 Republican counterparts, allowed DeSantis to differentiate himself from his primary opponents and Newsom to introduce himself to a general election audience should he run for president in the future.

DESANTIS GOES FOR 'HAIL MARY' IN HIGH-RISK DEBATE AGAINST NEWSOM

Here are the Washington Examiner's top four takeaways:

DeSantis had a good night

DeSantis has improved in the Republican primary debates over the course of his campaign and had a strong performance against Newsom.

Despite appearing awkward at times, DeSantis had a solid opening, criticizing Newsom and other blue state governors, several of whom have lost residents to red ones.

"You almost have to try to mess California up," DeSantis said. "They actually, at one point. ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California because so many people were leaving!"

“He’s imposed restrictions on his own people while exempting himself from those restrictions and going to The French Laundry while his people were suffering," he added.

DeSantis's responses also included anecdotes from people he has met during the election cycle, in addition to a pandemic-era story about Newsom's father-in-law, who now lives in Florida.

"These liberal elites, they like to impose burdens on you," he said. "They don't want to have to face the consequences of their actions."

The debate was a "throwback" to a more traditional time before former President Donald Trump’s presence on the political scene, according to University of Michigan debate director Aaron Kall.

"This will provide DeSantis with practice and momentum heading into next week’s Alabama debate," he told the Washington Examiner of the fourth primary debate. "DeSantis can now say he’s gone toe-to-toe on a debate stage with the Democratic governor of California, which is good preparation for general election debates with President [Joe] Biden."

Newsom had a tough crowd

With Fox News as the host, Newsom was aware he would have to answer harder questions than DeSantis, with anchor Sean Hannity interfering less when DeSantis interrupted Newsom than vice versa.

Newsom went into the "lion’s den" to debate both DeSantis and moderator Hannity, according to Kall.

"Newsom was effective tonight in defending the legislative record of the Biden-[Vice President Kamala] Harris administration while simultaneously raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the campaign," he said. "High-profile events like tonight’s will put Newsom in an excellent position to be one of the Democratic Party’s top standard bearers heading into the 2028 presidential election."

Republican strategist Cesar Conda countered that the debate will make Democrats "even more depressed."

"Gavin Newsom is far more articulate than Joe Biden, who everyone knows would get destroyed by [former U.N. Ambassador Nikki] Haley, DeSantis, or Trump in a presidential debate," he said. "Newsom has become the leading 'break glass in case of emergency' Democratic nominee should something happen to Biden."

Regardless, Newsom persevered, criticizing DeSantis for weaponizing "grievance" during his bid and "focusing on false separateness."

"There's one thing, in closing, that we have in common, is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024," he said to DeSantis.

Newsom hugged Biden

Newsom underscored his support of Biden and his record before next year's election during his opening remarks, going on to defend the president against criticism regarding his age and economic policies, rebranded as Bidenomics.

DeSantis seized on Newsom's strategy, anchoring him to Biden and Harris amid their poor polling.

"I'll give Gavin credit — he did at least admit in his first answer he's joined at the hip with Biden and Harris," DeSantis said.

One of DeSantis and Newsom's most cacophonous clashes concerned DeSantis's claims Newsom is running a shadow 2024 campaign against Biden.

"I thought this guy was running for president of the United States," Newsom said.

"You are too. You just won't admit it," DeSantis replied.

Immigration, education, and freedom

Aside from their dissection of each other's leadership during the pandemic, DeSantis and Newsom's most memorable exchanges centered on immigration, education, and freedom.

Newsom criticized DeSantis for "lying" to immigrants before "using human beings as pawns" and sending them to places such as Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and his home state's capital of Sacramento.

"I’m the only guy here that is a border state governor," he said. "You’re trolling folks trying to find migrants to play political games, to get some news, so you can out-Trump Trump, and by the way … how is that going for you, Ron? You’re down 41 points in your own home state."

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DeSantis came prepared with props, including Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir and a graphic from an app that tracks where human feces has been found in Newsom's hometown of San Francisco.

"California does have freedoms that some people don't, that other states don't," he said. "You have the freedom to defecate in public in California, you have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard, you have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway."