Category Archives: Donald Trump

CORTLAND, Ohio Editor's note: Video at the top of this story was originally published on Feb. 28, 2021.

Have you ever visited Mosquito Lake State Park in Trumbull County? One Ohio state representative is hoping to change its name to Donald J. Trump State Park.

This legislation is meant to honor the commitment and dedication that our 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, bestowed upon the great people of Trumbull County, State Rep. Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) said in a statement regarding his push to rename the state park. I witnessed the unprecedented and astounding support that President Trump received from constituents across the 63rd District and on Mosquito Lake State Park.

Rep. Loychik said the enthusiasm for Trump was also historic throughout the state of Ohio last November as he pushed for initiatives and policies that was very well-received with my constituency and the state. I will soon be introducing this bill to recognize the triumphs Trump brought over the last four years to this great nation and the Buckeye state.

He also said there will be more news coming on this initiative, telling Ohioans to stay tuned.

Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published on Jan. 20, 2021.

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Donald Trump State Park in Northeast Ohio? Ohio Rep. wants to rename Trumbull County's Mosquito Lake in honor of former president - WKYC.com

QAnon followers are once again pulling in all directions as they struggle to explain why Donald Trump would urge people to get COVID-19 vaccinations, which are highly-detested among Q-conspiracists.

The former president, who is a savior-like figure in the conspiracy theory, told Fox News in a phone call on Tuesday night that he and Melaina, the former first lady, both received vaccine shots and told others to do the same.

"I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me," Trump said.

"But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by them and I agree with that also. But it is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works."

QAnon has long been an extreme anti-vaxx movement.

Influential QAnon followers have pushed misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, including claims that it will alter your DNA and turn people homosexual and transgender.

QAnon started pushing the anti-vaxx cause further in the wake of a series of setbacks and failed predictions which began to define their movement, including Trump losing the election, the lack of mass executions at Joe Biden's swearing-in ceremony and Trump not returning as president on March 4.

With Trump contradicting QAnon theories that the vaccine is dangerous and the coronavirus is a hoax, many of its supporters came up with ways to cope with the latest cognitive dissonance, including suggesting it was not actually Trump speaking to Fox.

"Hi guys, I listened to it again... how he greeted Maria [Bartiromo] and how he spoke to her! That wasn't him," Mary Cue wrote in a QAnon channel on encrypted messaging service Telegram.

"I saw and heard a lot of interviews between him and Maria that wasn't like he speaks to her normally and it wasn't his voice at all...Me and some other people noticed this immediately."

Melissa Weeks added on Telegram: "How do I even know that was really President Trump speaking? They can fake anything."

"I just listen to it again and I have to agree it doesn't really sound like him," wrote Katherine Proudfoot. "Whoever it was was very good at imitating him though."

Ghost Ezra, a QAnon advocate with more than 250,000 subscribers on Telegram, also suggested: "My first take on the interview is that it didn't sound like Trump.

"For conversation sake, let's assume it was," Ghost Ezra added, before that the people should make up their own minds about whether they should get the vaccine or not.

Ghost Ezra later posted a long held belief that the vaccine is somehow related to Trump ordering a military operation to carry out "the storm" prophecyin which Trump is supposedly to carry out the mass arrests and executions of high-profile child abusers.

"Vaccines = arrests. Learn the language, it could be a matter of life and death. Just say no to the jab," Ezra wrote.

Another Telegram user suggested: "Operation Warp Speed = administering vaccine (arrests) to Pedo Vampires."

Others also chose to believe that Trump was giving out coded messages to be interpreted by QAnon supporters and did not actually mean people should get the vaccine when he told people they should get the vaccine.

"Come on people he's talking about taking down all the bad people, saving the world," wrote Kim Stephens. "Read between the lines. Anybody in their right mind would not take the vaccine."

"He was NOT talking about the 'COVID' vaccine. He was definitely talking about the operation listen carefully to the interview again," Josh Walls added, without clarifying further.

Newsweek, in partnership with NewsGuard, is dedicated to providing accurate and verifiable vaccine and health information. With NewsGuard's HealthGuard browser extension, users can verify if a website is a trustworthy source of health information. Visit the Newsweek VaxFacts website to learn more and to download the HealthGuard browser extension.

Others have questioned why Trump would tell the American public to get the vaccine if it is not safe or linked to a military operation which would result in mass arrests.

"Something is way off in that he's promoting it in contradiction to his previous statements, it means either he's compromised and blackmailed (maybe one of his family held hostage) or he was never what he seemed to be," wrote George Young.

Lisa C added: "Still don't understand why he would speak in code where only anons would know what he's talking about and the others who hear him say take the vaccine assume [logically] that he meant to take the actual vaccine. Particularly since taking it is potentially deadly or life altering."

Fellow Telegram user Rob Rock wrote: "Why doesn't Trump and the military just simply announce what is going on?!?! What is the point with keeping all the so-called secrets?

"Why push a vaccine if the pandemic is a 'hoax'?!? This narrative doesn't make sense. We're getting punked."

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QAnon Thinks Donald Trump's Vaccine Remarks Are Fake, Just a Very Good Imitation - Newsweek

Gil Dezer (Photos by Sonya Revell)

Any screenwriter who pitched the character of Gil Dezer to a Hollywood studio would be laughed out of the room. A chain-smoking, gold chain-wearing, foul-mouthed developer who owns the Aston Martin DB5 James Bond drove in Goldfinger and was married at Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago?

The 46-year-old president of the development firm started by his father, Dezer might be straight out of central casting, but hes also a genuine innovator. Dezer pioneered the practice of partnering with luxury lifestyle brands on condominium projects. His marquee developments include the Porsche Design Tower and Residences by Armani/Casa as well as six Trump-branded towers, all in Sunny Isles Beach, where his family has amassed more than 27 developable acres on the oceanfront.

All told, Dezers firm has sold more than $4 billion worth of condos some 3,000 units. It recently received approval for a $1.5 billion mixed-use project in North Miami Beach after a contentious rezoning. The family also owns over 1 million square feet of commercial space in New York City.

Dezer has attracted plenty of controversy with his take-no-prisoners management style and long partnership and friendship with Donald Trump. But he is unapologetic. We live on, he said in a conversation with The Real Deal. I think I did everything right. Up until now.

Born: March 1, 1975Lives: Trump Palace, Sunny Isles BeachHometown: Tenafly, New JerseyFamily: Daughters Daniela, 11; Alexandra, 8

I dont necessarily show it off.

I never really thought about it that way. I have an anonymous Instagram account where all I do is show my toys. I have 70,000-odd followers. Some people tell me, Hey, youre my inspiration. Which makes me feel bad. I hope they find better inspiration.

I have a Bugatti Veyron. They made only 300 of them. I have a Porsche 918, they made only 918 of them. I have number 305, which is cool for Miami [its area code is 305]. These things are assets like any other asset. But you get to play with them and have fun with them. You cant play with your Coca-Cola stock.

Hes a straight collector. He enjoys the transaction of buying, and he enjoys owning the car and looking at the car. I remember in fifth grade, he had 36 cars. I thought that was normal. He has over 1,500 cars today. Me, I love driving.

Its an intense seven, eight days of your life. You have to drive through the streets and obviously not get caught by police, but theres more to it. Theres the camaraderie and the friends you meet. You just wind up getting pulled over with some wild people. I get the best memes and jokes out of it.

We were slamming it the whole time. It was L.A. to Miami and we were the first ones to the checkpoints, the first ones to the hotel every single day. It was a great run, and we got lucky. The best plan you can have is a great radar detector, and thats it. A flat tire, the simplest things could go wrong. I remember getting the trophy. We drank a little bit too much, so by the time I actually had the trophy in my hands, I fell off the stage.

I didnt know until I got to university. I was born in Queens, New York. When I was 7 years old, we moved to Tenafly, New Jersey, into a beautiful house. It wasnt a mansion. So we were still very humble in that respect. I think thats the reason why Im so not humble now, is because I was like, Fuck this nonsense, growing up.

What he saw and what he always sees is what makes him the visionary. What he saw was a way to make money. He started a very interesting business called Automatic Typing, which is whats todays junk mail. You typed on one typewriter and it was connected to 500 other typewriters. He started buying up his competitors. He was buying the Brooklyn competitor, the Queens guy, the Bronx guy. To the point where he needed so much space in Manhattan, he found it easier to buy his own building.

$200,000, something ridiculous like that. He understood that individual floors in the neighborhood were selling for as much as $50,000 [as commercial condos]. One thing he did, which was in retrospect one of the best things he could have ever done for the entire family, was he kept the storefronts and the penthouses of each one of these buildings.

We still own these properties here and there. I think the last one we sold for $9 million, and we bought a strip mall with it. Its all worked out.

How to negotiate, how to be patient, know when youre winning, know when youre losing. One thing about my father is the guy can pivot 45 times in a five-second period. He doesnt allow himself to get stuck in one way. Thats always worked for him because hes dynamically moving around through good and bad markets.

I own the best piece of dirt in the entire United States today [in Sunny Isles Beach], so to go put something mediocre up there would be horrible. Ive traveled around the world, Ive seen great things, Ive understood different ways of doing things. I wouldnt call myself a guru of construction, but I understand enough to be dangerous.

Not just that, but were a bit more dynamic of a company than your typical developer, because when we were buying these motels [now development sites], we were actually running them as motels. The Thunderbird hotel, which is an iconic hotel for the last 70 years here in Miami, we were making money there. That gave us the ability to wait.

Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Development, with his supercars

I was 19 years old, at the University of Miami. We had owned that hotel on 87th Street [in Miami Beach, now home to Terra Groups Eighty Seven Park]. We found that one or two guys at the car rental desks at the airport were sending us a tremendous amount of business. So we said, well, if thats working, lets push that button.

I started going down to the airport. Id hit all the rental car desks. I would meet all the agents and give them this pass that said, Luxury for Less, Rooms for $69. And all the guest had to do was hand over that pass when they came to the hotel. I was paying $5 per night commission to these rental car desk guys.

It was unbelievable, until their bosses started seeing what I was doing. I got thrown out the first time. Of course, that didnt stop me. I went back, I got thrown out the second time. By the third time they said, Listen, we know what youre doing. If you come back, were going to arrest you. Thats guerrilla marketing right there.

The car rallies. Im meeting like-minded, well-heeled people who are as loud as I am, if not louder Im actually one of the quiet guys there. Ive sold apartments on those rallies to Bugatti owners who love the idea of the car elevator.

How do you answer that question without sounding like a jerk? Im the guy who says, Hey, Ive been to the nicest hotels in the world and they have swimming pools in every one of their suites. How come nobody ever did that in Miami? But I dont just say, Go put a swimming pool on the balcony. I get involved in every single aspect, [such as] the sight line from the pool. What are you looking at when youre sitting in the pool? I dont want to put you in a pool and youre looking right at your neighbor thats stupid.

Heres the best part: The guy paid cash. Meaning he didnt start, Give me this, give me that because Im famous. He came in and he liked the apartment so much, he paid for it. That, to me, is a pat on the back.

It started off as a branding agreement. We were building a condo-hotel in Sunny Isles Beach, and we werent getting traction. When we heard that Trump was running around, looking for stuff, he was actually about to sign a deal [at the site now home to the Continuum in Miami Beach]. So we said, Hey Donald, look, we have multiple towers for you, not just one or two. And we were able to convince them to come to Sunny Isles.

I learned the value of placing a brand. Donald Trump was the real estate brand. I had the ability to get to know him. I went with him to Miss Universe a couple of times, and of course Mar-a-Lago [where Dezer got married in 2007] was right around the corner from us.

In 2009, when everybody was losing buildings left, right and center, we redid our loans on all the projects. By 2011, I was able to pay off $475 million of loans by selling the units one by one. [Trump] always gave us a lot of credit for that.

At the time, you opened the newspaper and this guy was bankrupt and that guy lost his building. So we wanted to let the world know, Hey, were successful. It got us a lot of notoriety, and more importantly, it got a lot of banks to start calling me to help them out with their problems.

Not for a minute. I know the man, he is a great man. Some of the things he did, of course, nobody agreed with all the time. But his heart was in the right place. He wanted to put the country first. And I agree with almost all of his policies. It was a great moment when he became president, and I hope it happens again.

A lot of these writers are not qualified to be writing about business, unfortunately. Russians buy brands. The joke is, When does a Russian get a new Mercedes? When the ashtrays full. They like brands.

Trump would have made the same amount of money from me whether the guy [buyer] is from Zimbabwe, China or wherever. A sales a sale. It wasnt like he was grabbing Russians by the ear and saying, Hey, go buy my building.

I dont think Id be in it directly. Its like being on your condo board. You do all the work and nobody says thank you for it.

Whats the flip side of the conversation? Oh, youre Venezuelan? Oh. And youre friends with Chavez? Im not going to sell you an apartment. Its not like people are walking in with suitcases of cash. If you say no, youre discriminating automatically, if he wants to make a stink about it. And were happy to make a sale, so we dont say no.

The problem falls on the banking side. If this guys wiring money that he stole from Venezuela into Switzerland, and back to the Caymans, back to Miami, thats where the problem is. We, unfortunately, cannot start saying who we want and who we dont want.

Completely evolved. I have a top tier of seven executives that I speak to now. They dont mind if I use foul language theyre not sensitive and thats the easiest way. And they help execute for me. When I started, I was doing everything myself. I didnt have a real company. I was a one-man show. I was young and stressed and made it happen. We had some employees who didnt like it, but it is what it is. And now we have a real company. We have an HR department who teaches us what we can say and what we cant.

I dont get excited at smaller things anymore. Having kids [two daughters with ex-wife Lorena; the couple divorced in 2017] has been the greatest thing thats ever happened to me. I do homework with them, to the extent that I even know what theyre learning. I remember my parents saying, Oh, the kids these days. Im starting to feel like that. The kids these days, they play Roblox [an online gaming platform], and to bond, you have to get it. But then your stockbroker calls you up and he says, Hey, Roblox is about to go public. You want to buy some? And I knew thats probably going to be a good bet because Im $40 a week into that thing.

That happens the minute you meet your new child. You feel like such a piece of shit for all the bad things you did to your parents.

I am personally not, no.

Im not going to answer that.

Success is not a number, because theres almost nothing that I cant buy today. When you complete on your word, when you do what you say youre going to do, and come out with a new, beautiful baby these buildings are my babies thats success.

Im a smoker. I recently gauged myself at a pack and a half a day. I went once for hypnosis, to quit. The hypnotist started talking to me and I started asking questions and she said, Ive never met anybody like you in my whole life. She pretty much gave up on me.

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The Closing: Gil Dezer - The Real Deal

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, said Sunday that the Biden administration wants to see a responsible end to Americas longest war, but the level of violence must decrease for fruitful diplomacy to have a chance.

With questions swirling about how long U.S. troops will remain in the country, Austin said that in terms of an end date or setting a specific date for withdrawal, thats the domain of my boss. He said his stop in Kabul, the capital, where he met with military commanders and senior Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani, was intended to let him listen and learn and inform my participation in reviewing the future of the American force.

President Joe Biden said last week in an ABC News interview that it will be tough for the U.S. to meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. But Biden said that if the deadline, which is laid out in an agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban, is extended, it wouldnt be by a lot longer.

Austin, who arrived after a visit to India, said: Theres always going to be concerns about things one way or the other, but I think theres a lot of energy focused on, you know, doing whats necessary to bring about a responsible end, a negotiated settlement to the war.

The Taliban on Friday warned of consequences if the United States doesnt meet the deadline. Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiation team, told reporters that if American troops were to stay beyond May 1, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. ... Their violation will have a reaction.

A statement released by the presidential palace on the Ghani-Austin meeting said both sides condemned the increase in violence in Afghanistan. There was no mention of the May 1 deadline. Washington is reviewing the agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year and has been stepping up pressure on both sides in the protracted conflict to find a swift route to a peace agreement.

Its obvious that the level of violence remains pretty high in the country, Austin said. Wed really like to see that violence come down and I think if it does come down, it can begin to set the conditions for, you know, some really fruitful diplomatic work.

In a sharply worded letter to Ghani earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was urgent to make peace in Afghanistan and that all options remained on the table. He also warned that it was likely the Taliban would make swift territorial gains if U.S. and NATO troops withdrew. The United States spends $4 billion a year to sustain Afghanistans National Security Forces

The Taliban warned America against defying the May 1 deadline, at a news conference in Moscow, the day after meeting with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to jumpstart a stalled peace process to end Afghanistans decades of war.

Washington has given both the Taliban and the Afghan government an eight-page peace proposal, which both sides are reviewing. It calls for an interim peace government that would shepherd Afghanistan toward constitutional reform and elections.

Ghani has resisted an interim administration causing his critics to accuse him of clinging to power. He says elections alone would be acceptable to bring a change of government.

Both the U.S. and Kabul have called for a reduction in violence leading to a cease-fire. The Taliban say a cease-fire would be part of the peace negotiations. The insurgent movement has not attacked U.S. or NATO troops since signing the agreement.

But U.S. military commanders and NATO leaders have argued that the Taliban have not lived up to their part of the peace agreement, which includes a reduction in violence and a separation from al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Austin said he was confident in the ability of Gen. Austin Miller, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to accomplish his mission with the resources he has and to protect American troops.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last month that the alliance will only leave when the time is right and when conditions have been met.

The main issue is that Taliban has to reduce violence, Taliban has to negotiate in good faith and Taliban has to stop supporting international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, he said.

Austin has said little on the record about the stalemate. After a virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers, Austin told reporters that our presence in Afghanistan is conditions based, and Taliban has to meet their commitments.

Austins stop in Afghanistan was his first return to a U.S. war zone in the Middle East since taking the Pentagon post. But he spent a great deal of time in the region during his service as an Army commander.

Austin, a retired four-star general, served in Afghanistan as commander of the 10th Mountain Division. From 2013-2016 he was the head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan visit comes at the end of Austins his first overseas trip as secretary. After a stop in Hawaii, he went to Japan and South Korea, where he and met with their defense and foreign counterparts.

___

Baldor reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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In Kabul, Pentagon chief speaks of 'responsible end' to war - The Associated Press

(WTRF)- QAnon has marked March 4th as a very significant date in their calendar.

QAnonwho gained attention during the Capitol Insurrection on January 6th believes this is the dayDonald Trumpwill return to power as president.

The FBI is listing this as a domestic terrorist threat.

Experts sayQAnonfollowers latest theory will cause further humiliation for the radical group when their threat fails.

QAnonbelieves a secret law that was actually passed back in 1871 changed the United States into an actual corporation.

In essence, to these followers, all presidencies afterUlysses S. Granthave been illegitimate.

This would make formerPresident Donald Trumpthe 19th president instead of the 45th.

The reason behind the March 4th date is that this is when presidential inauguration ceremonies used to take place before it was moved to January 20th in 1933.

Both Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Departments are continuing to monitor potential threats and are aware of the significance of QAnons March 4th date.

U.S. Capitol Police are increasing security around the building following threats of more violence from a militia group Thursday.

The U.S. House of Representatives has canceled its Thursday session because of the threat.

Continued here:

Today Is The Day QAnon Believes Donald Trump Will Be Reinstated As President - WTRF

Moments after voting to acquit Donald Trump of the impeachment charge, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for the deadly Capitol riot. Still, he said conviction would be unconstitutional. (Feb. 13) AP Domestic

WASHINGTON That Mitch McConnell-Donald Trump feud is still happening.

The Senate Republican leader, dismissed last month as "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack" by Trump, made clear Wednesday he did not watch the former president's comeback speech on Sunday and does not agree with Trump's suggestion that the party should "get rid" of GOP lawmakers who backed impeachment.

We're dealing with the present and the future, not looking back to the past," McConnell told Fox News.

The back-and-forth between the ex-president and the Senate's most powerful Republican underscores GOP turmoil as they look to regain control of Congress in next year's elections and win back the White House in 2024.

More: At CPAC, Donald Trump targets the Republican Party of Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell

Trump and McConnell have clashed over the latter's assertion that the president's false claims of election fraud provoked the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the subject of Trump's second impeachment.

Former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are in a struggle for control of the Republican Party.(Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP via Getty Images)

In his speech Sunday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump called on supporters to oppose the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him, and the seven GOP senators who voted to convict him.

"Get rid of them all," he said.

"We want Republican leaders who are loyal to the voters and who will work proudly for the vision that I've laid out," Trump also told CPAC delegates during his speech in Orlando, Florida.

OnPolitics: The GOP's Trump problem

Only one of the Senate Republican impeachers Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is planning to be on a ballot in 2022.

In his Fox interview on Wednesday, McConnell said "absolutely we support Sen.Murkowski," and dismissed the complaints about impeachment during Trump's speech.

"Well, Ididn't watch it," McConnell said.

Trump did not attack directly McConnell in the speech the Kentucky Republican voted to acquit Trump, after all but he did claim his endorsement carried McConnell to victory in his Senate reelectionrace last year. That is a dubious assertion; McConnell was favored throughout his 2020 race, and he won with nearly 58% of the vote.

More: Donald Trump will protest the 2020 election for years.CPAC is here to help him spread his conspiracies.

Former President Trump speaks to a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, promises not to start a new political party. USA TODAY

The CPAC speech came less than two weeks after Trump issued a scathing attack on McConnell over his criticism regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection. Blaming him for the GOP loss of Senate control, Trump said in a written statement that "the Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political 'leaders'like Sen. MitchMcConnellat its helm."

"Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," Trump said in that statement, "and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again."

While he voted for acquittal, McConnell also held "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day." He said he supported acquittal anyway because hebelieved the Senate lacked the legal authority to try an ex-president.

CPAC or Trump-PAC?Conservative conference delegates stick with Donald Trump

During the Fox interview on Wednesday, McConnell said he would not take back anything from that floor speech. He also said Republicans are more unified than they appear to be.

While "we've had some internal back and forth that's been widely covered," McConnell said, the Republican Party is being unified in reaction to President Joe Biden's administration. "We'relooking forward,we're not looking backward," he said.

Before the CPAC gathering, McConnell also told Fox News that he would support Trump if heagain wins the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

Earlier this week, McConnell mocked Trump's claim that an endorsement propelled his reelection in Kentucky.

"Yeah, well, I want to thank him for the 15-point margin I had in 2014 as well," McConnell told reporters.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/03/mitch-mcconnell-donald-trump-were-not-looking-the-past/6909296002/

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Mitch McConnell on Donald Trump: We're looking to the 'future,' not 'the past' - USA TODAY

To the editor: Even with a few embattled members in revolt against former President Trump, its the same old Republican Party of birtherism, intolerance, voter suppression and climate denialism. Theres not a lot to work with, and the worst parts of it are now on steroids. (What GOP civil war? Trumps party is just rounding up the stragglers, Opinion, March 1)

Is Trump really the leader, or is it Q?

According to true believers of QAnon, the mysterious Q said that Trump was secretly planning to vanquish the blood-drinking, pedophile liberals and Hollywood elites. The GOP isnt asking about what Trump will do next, but rather what Q might tell them to do.

The party of Lincoln is long deceased, and whats left is Loony Tunes. Good luck to the remaining, rational faithful in staging a revolt against that.

Wendy Blais, North Hills

..

To the editor: Jonah Goldberg left out the most important and extreme example of right-wing cancel culture: the mob of Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol building Jan. 6 and wanted to kill then-Vice President Mike Pence for not overturning the election.

This is the prime example of cancel culture.

Michael Asher, Valley Village

..

To the editor: The letters in response to the golden statue of Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference missed the more apropos biblical analogy in the book of Daniel, Chapter 3.

In that story, King Nebuchadnezzar erects a 90-foot-tall statue of himself (at least he wasnt wearing boxer shorts) and declares that anyone who fails to bow down and worship him will be thrown into a fiery furnace. I certainly hope that all the Republicans whom Trump named in his speech will survive like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did in the story in Daniel.

Tim House, Lancaster

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It's the party of QAnon, not Donald Trump - Los Angeles Times

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Texas voters are almost evenly split on the question of whether Donald Trump should be allowed to mount a comeback, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Asked whether Trump took actions as president that justify preventing him from holding future elected office, 45% said he did and 48% said he did not. Not surprisingly, 84% of voters who identified themselves as Democrats say he did, and 81% of Republican voters say he didnt. Among independent voters, 38% said barring Trump would be justified, and 47% said it would not be justified.

Almost all of the Democrats say he should be barred, along with 13% of Republicans, said Daron Shaw, co-director of the poll and a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

A similar question in the February 2020 UT/TT Poll, taken after Trumps first impeachment, produced similar results. Asked whether Donald Trump has taken actions while president that justify his removal from office before the end of his term, 43% of Texas voters said yes and 46% said no. Then, as now, partisan differences were stark: 80% of Democrats said yes, and 84% of Republicans said no.

These numbers suggest hes going to remain influential among these Republican voters, said Jim Henson, co-director of the poll and head of the Texas Politics Project at UT-Austin. Whether you like Donald Trump or not, these numbers show why Republicans are hanging on his every word.

Trump is viewed about as favorably now in the state as he was in the UT/TT Poll in October 2020, right before the election: 46% of Texas voters view him favorably and 46% have an unfavorable opinion of the former president. In October, his favorable/unfavorable numbers were 49%-46%. And Trump remains in better light than he did right before his election four years ago. In an October 2016 UT/TT Poll, 31% of Texans had a positive opinion of him while 58% had a negative one.

He has completely consolidated his Republican base in Texas, Shaw said.

The University of Texas/Texas Tribune internet survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted from Feb. 12-18 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.83 percentage points. Numbers in charts might not add up to 100% because of rounding.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Correction, Feb. 26, 2021: An earlier version of this story misstated when the University of Texas/Tribune Poll was conducted. The poll was conducted Feb. 12-18, not Feb. 12-25.

Excerpt from:

Should Donald Trump be allowed to hold office again? Texas voters are split. - The Texas Tribune

The former mid-level aide is first member of Trump administration to face criminal charges for the January 6 breach.

The FBI has arrested a former State Department aide from the administration of former President Donald Trump in connection with the January 6 storming of the United States Capitol, according to US media.

Federico Klein was charged with unlawful entry, violent and disorderly conduct, and obstructing Congress and law enforcement, the New York Times reported.

He is the first member of the Trump administration to be implicated in the storming of the Capitol by supporters of the former president in an attempt to overturn the results of the November presidential election that was disputed by Trump.

The newspaper reported that 42-year-old Klein had worked on Trumps 2016 campaign and began working at the State Department shortly after Trumps victory. The violence left five dead.

A former colleague told the Politico news site that Klein had worked with the office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs before being transferred to the office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Trump appointee was seen in videos of the riot assaulting officers with a stolen riot shield, federal investigators said in court documents obtained by the Times.

He is wearing a Make America Great Again hat and is seen trying to push through a line of officers in a tunnel near the west terrace of the Capitol building and also tried to push through a doorway into the complex, where he physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line, the document says.

The FBI said Klein was still employed by the State Department at the time of the incident, and maintained top-secret security clearance.

The bureau had previously released Kleins photo, and received tips identifying him.

Federal prosecutors have so far charged more than 300 people in connection with the US Capitol breach. Those include members of the far-right Proud Boys group and the Oath Keepers militia.

Trump was also impeached by the House of Representatives on the charge of incitement of insurrection for his campaign of disinformation leading up to the riot and a rally he gave moments before the Capitol breach.

He was later acquitted in a Senate trial. The former president could still potentially face federal and local charges for his alleged role in inciting the violence.

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Trump appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot: Reports - Al Jazeera English

Political appointees who stay to the very end of an administration often face a gap between Jan. 20 and when they land their next job, given the time it takes to network, get job interviews and then get a formal offer. Trump appointees face the added problem of job hunting in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, which made some companies reluctant to hire former Trump appointees, in part because of fear of a backlash.

Im sitting here going, how do I pay my rent? How do I pay my cellphone bill? one former Commerce appointee said in an interview.

Another former Trump Commerce official said: I have enough money to make it a month, but when rents due next month, what happens then? Rent in D.C. isnt cheap.

Besides the vacation payouts, at least three former Commerce appointees havent gotten their separation packets that contain a document called the SF-50, which allows them to apply for unemployment benefits, according to another former Commerce appointee, who only just received his packet.

A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement: Commerces HR Department is available to past appointees and more than happy to help them finish any outstanding paperwork.

The spokesperson added that Commerce had completed separation procedures for appointees who have completed the necessary paperwork and that it was ready to assist appointees who have outstanding questions or havent completed all of the steps for off-boarding out of the department, which is necessary for payouts to be issued.

The lack of timely vacation payouts is not affecting just former Commerce appointees. A former Homeland Security official said she hadnt received payout of her annual leave, which is more than 200 hours and equivalent to three months of pay. Another former senior DHS official said he also hadnt gotten his one month of vacation payout, which comes out to about $15,000 minus taxes.

For all pay and benefits inquiries, former DHS employees are encouraged to reach out to their servicing Human Resources office, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.

Its not known how widespread the payment delays are or the exact cause, but there have been other personnel hiccups during the transition, which was especially rocky because of former President Donald Trumps refusal to acknowledge President Joe Bidens win. POLITICO previously reported that a number of Trump appointees unexpectedly lost their parental leave benefits when Biden was sworn into office.

While some Trump appointees have been able to land jobs on Capitol Hill or in the private sector, many of them are still looking, and one called the job market for Trump appointees a little slow and said that shed received no offers yet.

Two former Commerce political appointees who served at the end of the Obama administration said that their vacation payouts werent delayed as long, and that there werent major delays in getting appointees their separation packets.

I dont remember it being a problem, said one of the former Obama Commerce officials. I dont remember us having any issues. Another former official got his vacation payout in the middle of February of 2017.

Some of the former Trump appointees say they are getting increasingly frustrated with the prolonged delays in the payouts, although others have started to get them recently.

I dont understand how its taking so long to figure out how much comp time you have and how much youre owed and why that isnt falling directly into my account, one former Trump appointee said. Jan. 20 was never a moving target. While he has only 72 hours of unused comp time because he was new at the department, he said some people have hundreds of hours.

A lot of the politicals are not getting jobs, so a lot of them were relying on the lump-sum payments to get them through the next few months, a third former Trump appointee said.

A separate issue some former Trump appointees are facing is temporarily extending their federal government health insurance through COBRA, although such insurance would be paid by the appointees themselves.

While theres a 31-day grace period in which appointees still get health insurance, several told POLITICO that the government hadnt given them the proper forms to apply for COBRA, and one said that when he went to a doctor recently, the office couldnt find evidence of his insurance.

One said the delay was leaving a lot of people asking: Am I going to lose health care for the time that the processing center would take to get our information into the system?

A lot of people are freaking out, another said.

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