Category Archives: Donald Trump

In this, the Donda event earned him yet another banner week. The Daily Beasts blunt-force headline was representative: Kanye West Brings Out a Homophobe and an Accused Rapist at DONDA Chicago Show. Some critics called for Apple Music, which livestreamed the event, to be held accountable. British outlet the Independent refused to rate the record due to Mansons involvement. (None of which, of course, prevented the album from racking up astounding streaming numbersfor its debut on August 29.)

In 2021, Kanye West courts backlash might be uncomfortably close to dog bites man. But this round of censure was telling not just of the man himself, but American cultural politics writ large. For Wests critics, the sins of DaBaby and Manson, serious as they might be, become almost secondary to Wests giving them quite literally, in this case a platform. By refusing to shun such figures, West has re-invented himself as a sort of impresario for the cancelled. And in placing himself next to Manson particularly, once the bte noire of mainstream American morality in his own right, West has illustrated exactly how much our cultural conversation about it has changed.

As maybe heavy metals last iconic public figure in the late 1990s, Mansons combination of adolescent rage, provocative androgyny and Satanic shadowboxing earned him widespread protest from religious groups, the wary prohibition of concerned parents across middle America and even blame for the Columbine massacre. Today, such things register as kitsch if they register at all. In 2021, the quickest way to gin up outrage isnt to invoke taboo spiritual forces; its to flout liberal social norms in the manner in which West has become so skilled whether through these most recent antics or his embrace of Donald Trump, whom he reportedly also invited to the event. (No word on whether the former president was asked to lay down a verse himself.)

To be transgressive in todays mainstream pop culture or at least to be perceived as such is not to do something cancel-worthy, but to willingly align oneself with the cancelled. Wests bromance with Trump was a telling prelude to his current iteration. For all their differences, the quality that brought the two men together is a profound belief in the value of provocation for provocations sake. The substance of what is actually said is almost secondary to the reaction it earns.

That kind of trolling, and its attendant shaming, have been used to enforce cultural norms since antiquity. But West, once again, has produced a cultural innovation. By purposely stoking a controversy-by-proxy that almost obscures his accomplices original sins, hes revealed the matryoshka-like nature of mainstream American cultural discourse which in turn feeds an endless stream of tabloid, cable, and inevitably political controversies.

The Trump-West principle of controversy as an inherent good transfers to the company the latter now keeps. Whatever one thinks of him, it strains credulity to imagine Wests inclusion of Manson, for example, as an explicit endorsement of sexual violence. The intended message, rather, is one of defiance: West (or Trump) will not be proscribed in the company he keeps (or his speech) by the offense it might cause to a wider audience.

The gravity of that offense has grown much stronger in the nearly two decades since West launched his career, just as Mansons mainstream popularity was waning. Homophobia, once endemic to mainstream rap music, is now largely taboo; one of the genres biggest stars is an out gay man. (West himself has been sharply critical of homophobia in rap culture; he removed another recent collaboration with DaBaby from streaming services in the wake of the latter rappers comments, which he himself addresses on Donda in a neat ouroboros of controversy.)

In Mansons case, allegations of sexual assault are treated far more seriously today than in the era where Harvey Weinsteins predations were whispered about as a morbid inside joke. But more relevant to Wests success as a provocateur than Americans decreasing tolerance for such speech and behavior is the ongoing debate over whether or not to shun the achievements of those who take part in it. As Armin Rosen wrote in The Bulwark of the musical collaboration between the three men in question, West has gathered unto himself the cancelled in order to force people to reconcile artistic achievement with their own discomfort. (One gets the sense that, given the opportunity, West would return the films of Woody Allen to wide release as well, simply in protest of anything being placed beyond the cultural pale.)

In that sense, his one-man campaign against cancel culture is reminiscent of that from one of the few equally famous avatars of unreformed masculinity: Joe Rogan, the podcaster whose interviews with decidedly canceled figures such as Alex Jones, Roseanne Barr and West himself have earned him a massively loyal fanbase that shares his unwillingness to publicly shun (or, alternatively, to hold accountable) such figures for their transgressions.

Ironically, this debate over how to deal with such transgressors is very much alive in the one thing about Wests album rollout thats been somewhat obscured by the attendant controversy: the actual music. Donda, recorded amid Wests divorce from his mega-famous ex-wife Kim Kardashian, is a sprawling opus in which West acknowledges, yet still yearns for, the impossibly difficult path to redemption for his inner flaws and ill-thought-out actions alike. Messy as it may be, its Wests most fully realized and creative music in nearly a decade.

And its not just Manson and DaBaby who appear as musical props in Wests passion play. Buju Banton, a Jamaican reggae and dancehall star who gay rights groups have protested for homophobic lyrical content, appears on a track. Jay Electronica, whos long engaged in a coy anti-Semitism in both his music and on social media, gets in a verse. Wests overall subtext is characteristically messianic: all have been canceled, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Yeezus.

To many (perhaps most) Americans, such absolution is not Wests to give. Hence the controversy: To those like the Independent reviewer who placed Donda beyond critical evaluation, the hard-won gains of the past two decades in holding figures like Manson accountable are too precious to risk normalizing their offenses by sharing ones cultural platform with them, much less as part of one of the years biggest pop-cultural events. That places West on a nearly equal moral footing to his band of canceled men: He is, in the eyes of his critics, complicit which makes him the modern successor to Mansons circa-2001 public-enemy status.

West stands beyond the bounds of polite society, at least as its defined by many Americans, helplessly, painfully and, yes, still occasionally transcendently himself. He is the habitual line-stepper of our time par excellence, and that line has shifted undeniably, and in most cases admirably, when it comes to our behavioral and speech taboos.

But even more so, the American cultural conversation has shifted largely beyond consideration of unacceptable behavior per se to a debate over who might or might not condone it, the words we use to speak about it, and what to do with the work of those who commit it. By diving head-first into that conversations farthest deep end, Kanye has once again revealed the combination of cultural intuition and sheer recklessness thats allowed him to largely own it for now nearly two decades.

Originally posted here:

Kanye West and the New Politics of Shock - POLITICO Magazine

Former President Donald Trump said Saturday that Americas bold step to begin a direct dialogue with Pyongyang has opened the door to the reunification of North and South Korea and paved the way for a more peaceful world in the 21st century.

Joined online by current and former heads of state and other prominent international figures for a major virtual rally, Mr. Trump offered an optimistic call for unity and newfound cooperation around the world and for permanent denuclearization of North Korea, which has been a longstanding policy goal of both the U.S. and its unwavering regional friend and ally, South Korea.

In one of his highest-profile public appearances since leaving office in January, he stressed there is no substitute for strong, creative, determined leadership from Washington.

I truly believe that an extraordinary future awaits the people of North Korea and I have faith that if they pursue the path of denuclearization, they will make that future a magnificent reality, Mr. Trump said at the digital Rally of Hope event.

Until that blessed day comes, the indispensable force for peace on the Korean peninsula remains a strong America. As we have seen recently in other parts of the world, weakness only invites more violence and chaos.

The true task for all of us who pray for peace on the Korean peninsula is to ensure that our nations are not only great in power and rich in wealth but even more, we must be strong in spirit. Every nation must summon the will to protect its citizens, its allies, and to leave a better world for its children, Mr. Trump said. These are the forces and values that inspire change, that move countries, that make history, and that ultimately lead to peace.

The rally, organized by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and the seventh such event since August 2020, drew participants from across the globe, all united in the fight against oppression, poverty and racial discrimination. Saturday evenings event was part of UPFs Think Tank 2022 Rally of Hope initiative, designed to bring together prominent figures from across the world and across all sectors of society to examine all aspects of the unification of North and South Korea, organizers said.

In addition to Mr. Trump, other speakers at Saturday nights event included: Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia; Jos Manuel Barroso, former president of the European Commission; Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former president of The Philippines; H.D. Deve Gowda, former Indian prime minister; Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmon, former president of Trinidad and Tobago; Natasa Micic, former Serbian president; and others.

Beyond the reunification of North and South Korea, speakers also addressed key regional issues, including Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and the Chinese Communst Partys broader effort to exert influence over the Pacific region.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for Japan, the U.S., South Korea and other stakeholders to come together as one and face that challenge head-on.

The need for more solidarity between countries that share the values of freedom and democracy such as Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea is more pressing than ever, he said.

We will need passionate leaders if we are to achieve solidarity between countries sharing freedom and democracy, maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and achieve peaceful reunification on the Korean peninsula. These Rallies of Hope will give us much strength, he said. Of that I am confident.

On Afghanistan, where the militant Taliban recently recaptured the country after the withdrawal of all U.S. troops, some world leaders called for international cooperation but also for an understanding that local populations are often best positioned to offer solutions.

Other countries cannot transplant political values and systems upon any country, as these fundamentals need to be indigenously developed corresponding to the political, economic, social and cultural contexts of each individual country, said Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia.

Kept the promise

In her own remarks Saturday, UPF co-founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon said todays generation is poised to see history made on the Korean peninsula.

Throughout human society, you have been specially chosen by heaven with regards to the heavenly unified Korea and the realization of world peace, she said. There is a profound meaning. You need to understand that heaven is working with you.

Mrs. Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, and her late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, devoted their lives to the reunification of the Korean peninsula and to the promotion of world peace.

Reuniting Korea is a key pillar of the Unification movement that grew from the Unification Church that Rev. Moon founded in 1954. Mrs. Moon has led the movement since a few years before the 2012 death of Rev. Moon, whose ministry grew from a tiny, embattled church in South Korea to a global spiritual movement and an affiliated commercial empire comprising real estate, manufacturing and agricultural operations, as well as media properties including The Washington Times.

The goal of truly changing the dynamic on the Korean peninsula seemed closer than ever during Mr. Trumps time in office.

Perhaps more than any other U.S. official in recent history, Mr. Trump spent time and expended political capital in a personal effort to break the stalemate of division between North and South Korea.

While past presidents have pursued policies of isolation toward Pyongyang, Mr. Trump met face-to-face with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Their first meeting in Singapore in 2018 sparked the hope that the two nations could strike a long-awaited denuclearization deal, which proponents say would be a key step in the broader push toward reunification.

Mr. Trump held a second meeting with Mr. Kim in Vietnam, and in 2019 the two men met at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea. The Trump administration pushed for a deal in which Pyongyang would have agreed to permanent and verifiable abandonment of its nuclear-weapons program in exchange for relief from crushing economic sanctions and millions of dollars of outside investment from around the world.

While such a deal did not materialize, Mr. Trump said its clear the outreach still paid major dividends. Most notably, he said, the North Korean leader has at least temporarily given up nuclear-weapons launches and other major weapons testing.

Although it became clear in our second summit in Hanoi that North Korea was not yet ready to make a deal, I remain full of hope for the future, Mr. Trump said. To this day, Chairman Kim has kept the promise he made to me in Singapore, that there would be no more long-range missile launches or nuclear weapons testing I hope that continues.

North Korea conducted several smaller-scale weapons tests early in President Bidens tenure. The U.S.-North Korean dynamic has remained frosty during the first nine months of the Biden presidency and its unclear exactly how the Biden administration will approach Pyongyang over the next several years.

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Trump: 'Magnificent reality' of denuclearized Korea within reach - Washington Times

Top loyalists to Donald Trump, who frequently push lies about election fraud, have joined forces with conservative doctors touting unproven Covid curesand vaccine skepticism, and like-minded evangelical ministers at a series of events across the US this summer.

The conservative ReAwaken America tour featuring ex-general Michael Flynn and top Donald Trump loyalist donors has held events in Florida, Michigan and other states.

It underscores how Trumps allies, anti-vaccine doctors and conservative preachers are amplifying baseless claims that are hurting the nations public health and its democracy with potentially far-reaching impacts, say pandemic and election experts.

The tour comes as Covid cases soar and as Republican drives to pass state laws weakening voting rights increase. While the tour has touted Flynns key role, a Tulsa Oklahoma media figure and Christian entrepreneur named Clay Clark has been instrumental in orchestrating the gatherings also dubbed health and freedom conferences using his ThriveTime podcast and radio show and Charisma News coverage.

The ReAwaken events have featured talks by vaccine skeptics such as Simone Gold, who was charged for taking part in the Capitol riot and leads Americas Frontline Doctors, a rightist group that garnered attention for touting dubious Covid-19 cures such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

Stella Immanuel, a Houston doctor who is part of Golds group and who spoke at a Michigan ReAwaken rally on 20 August, gained notoriety last year for public remarks at a Washington rally near the supreme court, suggesting Americas health problems were linked to alien DNA and sperm from demons.

Another doctor listed as a speaker at the rallies is Scott Jensen, a former state senator and Fox News favorite who is running for governor in Minnesota. Last year, Jensen was a candidate for Politifacts lie of the year for claiming baselessly that doctors were overcounting Covid cases for their own financial gain.

Further, the conservative tour has provided new audiences for rich Trump donors such as Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow, who has stated falsely that Trump would be reinstalled as president by 13 August, and Patrick Byrne, the former chief of Overstock, who bankrolled with millions of dollars a spurious audit in Arizonas largest county that has drawn bipartisan fire for lacking merit.

The ReAwaken meetings, which each appear to have drawn audiences in the hundreds or more, have also taken place this year in Oklahoma and California, with more slated for Colorado and Texas in coming months. Promotional materials indicate that attendees are asked to pay $250 for general admission or $500 for VIP tickets, with pastors eligible for half-price tickets.

Voting rights lawyers and pandemic experts are troubled by the volume of election and pandemic disinformation that the ReAwaken tour seems to be spreading.

Many Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen, despite numerous failed court cases alleging it and recounts that verified the results, said Gerry Hebert, who spent over two decades as a senior lawyer at the justice department handling voting rights.

Hebert added: People have refused to wear masks and get vaccinated because of Covid disinformation campaigns. Lies and disinformation campaigns can kill, both our fellow Americans and our democracy, and this ReAwaken America tour seems designed to accentuate these problems.

Similarly, Covid experts say that the ReAwaken America tour is exacerbating medical disinformation.

These events are stark reminders of how Trump was elected in 2016 and remains popular to this day, with many now vying to assume his mantle in campaigning for elected office at all levels of governments, said Irwin Redlener, who leads Columbia Universitys Pandemic Resource and Recovery Initiative.

Im actually embarrassed by the fact that there are doctors fully into this craziness.

Flynn, who was pardoned by Trump late last year after twice pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador in the federal investigation into Kremlin meddling in the 2016 elections, has become a fixture at conspiracy-heavy gatherings this year, including one in Texas in May that was backed by QAnon advocates who have falsely claimed Trump will become president again this year.

Other Trump loyalists have popped up at the ReAwaken events, including Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser who also was pardoned by Trump after he was convicted of lying to Congress and other felonies as part of the federal inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, and Charlie Kirk who runs the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA.

Anne Nelson, the author of Shadow Network, a book about the rightwing Council for National Policy, which boasts some key evangelicals, said Clarks ReAwaken tour has echoes of earlier religious political entrepreneurs but said Clark has modernized their techniques with religious rallies and media platforms promoting Trump surrogates like Michael Flynn and medical misinformation peddlers like Simone Gold, to build momentum for the radical right, leading up to next years midterms and 2024.

The ReAwaken gatherings have dovetailed with more drives by conservative doctors and Trump loyalists spreading pandemic and election disinformation.

For instance, Golds Americas Frontline Doctors, which was formed with the help of Tea Party Patriots early last year, filed a motion this July aimed at the health department seeking to halt vaccinations. The motion contained some widely debunked assertions about Covid-19.

The discredited claims included that CDC data reveals that the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not effective in treating or preventing Covid-19, and that the pandemic is not a public health emergency.

Further, Golds group announced in May that it was launching a national RV Uncensored Truth Tour with an initial focus on several states including Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Critics see the RV tour as another vehicle for Gold to spread disinformation, as in her comments in Washington at a rally the day before the Capitol attack, when she labeled FDA approved vaccines an experimental biological agent deceptively named a vaccine and urged people to avoid being coerced.

More broadly, Redlener is dismayed by the abundance of disinformation at the ReAwaken America rallies, and via similar avenues. The increasingly flagrant promotion of anti- science ignorance and bizarre political extremism is worrisome, he said.

The rest is here:

Trump loyalists team up with anti-vax doctors for health and freedom tour - The Guardian

Former President Donald Trump paid a visit to the Heart of Dixie last week. Obviously, this is Trump country.

Alabama was one of Trumps best states in the 2020 Election. He got an amazing 65 percent of the vote in our state. If the turnout for his August 21 rally in rural Cullman County is any indication, he would get that same margin of victory this year if the election were held again. Many of those in attendance were insistent that Trump won last years presidential contest and that it was stolen from him.

The event was held on a desolate rural north Alabama farm. It was reminiscent of the 1969 Woodstock event in rural New York. In fact, our newly minted U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville referred to it as Trumpstock. Tuberville nor I either one attended Woodstock, but we are old enough to know about the legendary music and imbibing event. It was also reminiscent of some of the old George Wallace rallies in the 1960s only much larger.

The rally drew an enormous crowd. Estimates said there were 45,000 Trumpites in attendance and I am not an expert on estimating crowds, but I do not disagree with that number. It took me 30 minutes to walk through the crowd to get to my car.

Trump is truly an entertainer and Alabama is truly Trump Country, although there were quite a few folks in attendance from neighboring states. I was very appreciative to be given a VIP front row private reception invitation to the event. Allow me to share some of my observations.

Coach/Senator Tommy Tuberville won his seat in the U.S. Senate because Trump endorsed him. It is obvious that Trump and Tuberville like each other and have bonded. Tuberville ran for and is in the Senate for the right reason. He wants to spend some of his retirement years giving back to this country. Tuberville was not groomed to be a politician. He is a football coach, but he is doing a good job representing Alabama in Washington. He has put together a good staff headed by veteran Stephen Boyd. They are doing a good job with constituent service. Tuberville looked jovial, relaxed, and dapper when he spoke prior to Trump.

Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth gave a great speech. It was fiery and almost George Wallace level. He is a true conservative. He has two young sons who accompanied him to the rally. They are very gentlemanly young men, who are always courteous and mannerly.

Attorney General Steve Marshall gave an excellent speech. It was conversational, sincere and well received.

Congressman Robert Aderholt was spectacular and gave a great speech and welcome. He represents Cullman in congress. His 4th Congressional District gave Trump the largest percentage votes of any congressional district in the country. Aderholt looks like a congressman. He is polished and erudite, but has a grassroots appeal. His people in North Alabama love him.

Mo Brooks spoke and was fiery as ever. Trump has endorsed him in the senate race. However, Trump only endorsed him once on this night.

There is a lot of internal discord among the Republican Party membership. It appears that the Mo Brooks supporters have taken over the Republican Party hierarchy and that this Trump event was a Mo Brooks rally. Trump probably was asked to temper his Brooks endorsement. Indeed, Mo Brookss opponents, Katie Britt, Lynda Blanchard and Jessica Taylor were all in attendance.

Several state senators were there, along with the aforementioned state constitutional officers. I saw Greg Reed from Jasper, Tom Whatley from Auburn, along with hometown Cullman Senator Garlan Gudger, and PSC Commissioner Jeremy Oden also from Cullman County. In addition, Secretary of State John Merrill and Jefferson/Shelby Congressman Gary Palmer were in attendance.

It was good to see some of the old, longtime, 50 year Republican Party faithful founders there Elbert Peters from Huntsville, Joan and Paul Reynolds from Shelby County, and Vicki and Mike Drummond from Jasper. They were laboring in the Republican vineyards before it was cool to be a Republican, and still are.

I had a chance to see Trump closeup. He looks amazing for 75. People age differently. He is a lot more cognizant and alert than 78-year-old Joe Biden. If you made me bet, I would say that Trump is running for President in 2024 and that he will carry Alabama.

Happy Labor Day.

See you next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabamas leading political columnist. His weekly column is seen in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: http://www.steveflowers.us.

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Heart of Dixie remains Donald Trump Country - The Troy Messenger - Troy Messenger

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Biden is a stumbling, unready leader, visibly in a state of intellectual entropy

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I miss Donald Trump.

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Not so much in any personal sense, but in the sense that while his lively demeanour and super energetic style inhabited the White House all the world was fed a daily diary of his doings and sayings.

Some say Mr. Trump leveraged his years on The Apprentice ( a show I could not stand, it was worse than the Dragons Den, another 30 minutes offering a preview of Purgatory without the escape clause) to earn the fame that brought him to the Presidency.

This is an error. It is not so much that reality television brought Donald Trump to the White House, as that Donald Trump brought the White House to reality television. Whether the White House or reality TV suffered the more from this interesting collision will require history to determine.

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I miss Mr. Trump as well because of the fascination he exerted on almost everybody, and particularly the hypnotic power over those who radically despised him. His gift for disconcerting his enemies was something beyond biology: he had something like a Draculean hold over their spirits. He exhaled; they fretted madly.

The feral hosts of cable TV, the Lemons, the Cuomos, the Maddows not the stoutest spars on the vessel of public enlightenment could speak of no one else. They were enthralled.

During his tenure, here in Canada, even with Justin Trudeau as our prime minister, a charismatic magnet though of far less field strength than Mr. Trump, the CBC drank as fervidly and fulsomely at the Trump waterhole, as any of the mastodons in his own country, CBS, NBC, ABC and The New York Times.

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Trump news was evidently very Canadian news. We were deluged by reports of the most trivial and most serious aspects of the Trump presidency. As if it were crucial to know in Red Deer or Twillingate that Donald Trump was most likely a Russian plant in the service of Vladimir Putin. When Trump was president, American news was very much our news. Why, was never detailed.

What I find odd, is how with a Biden presidency our news networks have fully lost interest in the guy that won against him, the hapless, hopeless somnambulistic, Im not supposed to take questions, Joseph Biden. Biden is a disaster as president. As feeble and confused a leader as can be imagined.

Mr. Biden just committed the most bumbling, tragic and incompetent major actions of an American president since the Bay of Pigs. The mangled, bungled, tragic, unspeakably incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan is a massive humiliation of the worlds preeminent power.

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Under Bidens tottering leadership, the U.S. has left its armaments, its high tech helicopters, its base in Bagram $70 billion of weaponry by some cited estimates to a ragtag militia of fundamentalist Islamists. Worse, it has abandoned some of its citizens, shamed its own military, and left Afghan allies and the women and girls of that sad country to the fierce and revenge-hungry Taliban.

Yet, Mr. Biden, does not get the headlines, does not get the fire-breathing panel shows, the incessant condemnations, the high paid mockery of the late night comics not a fraction that Trump received during his tenure when he so much as walked somewhere with a Bible in his hand.

Biden is a stumbling, unready leader, visibly in a state of intellectual entropy. And that is a world story. It has far more meaning for us than did all the fake drama of Russian collusion. And yet the Canadian news media which were bloated in their coverage of Trump, by comparison, only nibble, and reluctantly so, at Bidens devastatingly inept and world-historical mis-exercise of American power.

On very many issues the media are blatantly activist, not really different from the many pressure groups, politicized NGOs, and various campaigners that they should be reporting on.The difference between how Trump was reported on and how Joe Biden is, is merely the largest illustration of this very unhappy decline.

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Rex Murphy: I miss Donald Trump and the hypnotic hold he had on his enemies - National Post

The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has branded cryptocurrencies a potential disaster waiting to happen.

The ex leader also expressed his doubts and worries about digital money saying that it could be fake.

Trump told Fox Business that he hasnt and never would invest in cryptocurrencies because he likes the currency of the United States.

He went on to claim the others were potentially a disaster waiting to happen.

I feel that it [cryptocurrency] hurts the United States currency, he said.

I think we should strengthen, we should be invested in our currency, not in [cryptocurrencies]. They may be fake, who knows what they are?

Trump also warned it was dangerous to invest in crypto assets since they are certainly something that people dont know much about, adding that he never was a big fan.

The former president has often criticised Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. In June this year, he said Bitcoin seemed like a scam.

I dont like it because its another currency competing against the dollar, he complained.

I want the dollar to be the currency of the world.

I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated crypto-assets can facilitate unlawful behaviour, including drug trade and other illegal activity.

On the other hand, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler recently said he supports digital currencies, but he argued that the field is not going to reach any of its potentials if it tries to stay outside of our laws.

Continue reading here:

Donald Trump takes another swipe at crypto - Yahoo Finance

Barry Meier, a retired New York Times reporter and author of "Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies," discussed with Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today" some of the topics of the book including how corporate investigation firms have sprung up over the past few decades and have had tangible effects on politics and business.

Host Tucker Carlson asked Meier about his research into the effect on investigational firms and the Trump campaign, specifically how Fusion GPS an opposition research firm founded by former Wall Street Journal reporters became involved in looking into then-private citizen Donald Trump.

"What I'm trying to tell in the book is, this a story about an industry. It's about a business that most of your viewers and certainly, I didn't know much about when I started researching the book and that was the business of what's known as corporate investigations private spying companies who are hired by lawyers, corporations, litigants often, to dig up dirt on their adversaries, or to dig up information that will embarrass them publicly," Meier said.

"In the past decade, there's been a huge boom in this industry, and demand for these services and the growth of the number of firms conducting these types of activities."

Meier said the business model evolved from the mid-20th century covert private investigators that may have surveilled an allegedly cheating spouse or as Carlson described, someone who might stake out "outside a motel on the other side of town take pictures and get paid."

"Essentially, they were all digging up dirt of one type or another. So for example, if I have a beef with you, and you know, I think you've done something unfair or whatever that case happens to be, I would go to one of these corporate intelligence firms. And I'd say, find out everything you can about Tucker, and tell me-- and dig into his past," Meier explained. "[G]o talk to his friends and find out whatever you want to find out, and tell me about it, and maybe I'll use it in a lawsuit about him. Maybe I'll use it through some publicity to embarrass him."

That, he said, was the business model used by various entities like Fusion GPS to undermine Trump's candidacy in 2015 and 2016.

"In the case of the Steele dossier, it was information about Donald Trump and any business activities that he and his associates might have had in Russia," he said.

He called the corporate investigations into Trump "historically significant," adding that it "changed the presidency and therefore the country."

While opposition research has been eternal in U.S. politics, Meier said the advent of the Steele dossier was a new level in that.

Meier claimed Fusion GPS had initially been hired by people who were interested in helping Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the Republican primary.

"Fusion's assignment was basically to go through Donald Trump's business personal history, whatever, and dig up whatever information that would be detrimental, unflattering to Donald Trump. And obviously, Donald Trump's had a long, checkered business career, so there's of plenty stuff in business records with his bankruptcies and various business problems there to dig up," he explained.

He noted that by early 2016, Trump was viewed as all but a lock in the GOP primary, with remaining candidates like former Ohio Gov. John Kasich polling exponentially lower and lacking delegates.

At that point, Meier reported that attorneys for the DNC and Hillary Clinton's campaign then sought for Fusion GPS to continue their work, albeit for them.

"But they say at that point, well, we'd like to start looking at his activities in Russia, because we haven't really looked at that closely before. They get the go-ahead and the money to do that. And that's when they hire Christopher Steele, a person has become sort of notorious in the aftermath of all this," he said.

Steele, a former MI6 agent on the United Kingdom's spy agency's Russia desk, became one of the previously-described "corporate investigators" and started a firm specializing in cases relevant to Eastern Europe, the journalist said.

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"So Fusion GPS was hired by people who didn't like Trump on the Republican side, switched, and now is employed by the Hillary Clinton campaign, contracts with Christopher Steele's firm in London to learn more about Trump's involvement with Russia," he said.

Meier claimed that Steele, as a former British agent, cannot go to Russia, so an intermediary was hired to "write up a series of memos, of which there were something like 17 or 18."

"And those memos, which were then passed back to Fusion GPS, became known as the dossier," Meier said.

New episodes of "Tucker Carlson Today" are available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday exclusively on Fox Nation.

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Former NYT reporter describes secretive 'industry' of 'corporate investigations' that targeted pharma, Trump - Fox News

Former U.S. President Donald Trumps PAC unveiled the official Trump card this week via campaign email, and the token emblem a golden eagle seems to be a free stock image.

In an email sent on September 2, Trumps PAC said, the card you select will be carried by Patriots all around the Country, as reported by Business Insider. They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and Im putting my full trust in you. In a second email, they added: Were about to launch our Official Trump Cards, which will be reserved for President Trumps STRONGEST supporters.

The piece of plastic had already been repeatedly compared to Nazi paraphernalia, and one of the designs contained a typo, mispelling official. And now, Insider has revealed that the creators of the official cards, which cost $45, seemingly obtained their eagle imagery from Shutterstock, free of charge.

Titled Golden Eagle with wings spread, the file is available for free download by signing up for a Shutterstock trial. Its one of the most popular eagle options on the site, and the graphic designer who hosts the image is David Randall Peters. Its also the third option to come up when you search golden eagle illustration on the site, so it doesnt take a particularly deep dive to uncover its origins.

Below is an image of the stock photo, which can be downloaded as a high-resolution file for free, if you feel so inclined.

The third option when you search golden eagle illustration on Shutterstock.

This is Trumps official card, which again, will cost $45.

The purpose of the cards, as well as who is eligible to receive them, remains unclear.

Our thoughts are with the graphic designers behind the eagle and official cards at this time.

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The eagle on Donald Trumps official card seems to be a free stock photo from Shutterstock - indy100

Updated at 10:35 p.m. ET on September 2, 2021

Last night, the Supreme Court quietly green-lit the most extreme abortion ban the United States has seen in half a century: a Texas law that prohibits abortions at six weeks from a womans last period, even in cases of rape or incest, and that deputizes citizens to spy on women and sue anyone who helps someone obtain a prohibited abortion.

The rest of the states now have a road map to ban abortion almost entirely and put bounties on women and doctors without court intervention. The constitutional right to abortion until viability is no longer being enforced. Republicans have been looking forward to this moment for decades. But some have mysteriously gone quiet. Even the loudest of the anti-abortion senators, Ted Cruz, who happens to hail from Texas, had managed, as of this writing, to refrain from gloating about the victory on Twitter.

Mary Ziegler: The deviousness of Texass new abortion law

Perhaps they dont want the big headlines, because overturning Roe v. Wade is consistently unpopular with American voters. But another motivation could explain the silence: For half a decade, Republicansespecially self-described moderate members of the partyhave been gaslighting America on the issue of abortion rights, pretending they didnt know that Donald Trumps Supreme Court picks were always planning to overturn Roe. A central goal of the conservative judicial movement that these justices came out of is overturning Roe. The Federalist Society handpicked them for that reason. Its a transparently phony act, one thats now been exposed as such.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, for example, tried to convince everyone that she genuinely believed Brett Kavanaugh would let Roe stand, despite all evidence to the contrary. Protecting [the right to an abortion] is important to me, Collins told The New York Times after a two-hour, face-to-face session with Kavanaugh during which, she said, he convinced her that he would not overturn Roe. His views on honoring precedent would preclude attempts to do by stealth that which one has committed not to do overtly. Collins said that Kavanaugh assured her Roe was settled law, and that his answer on Roe was very strong, though he had openly criticized the decision in a speech, used the anti-abortion lingo abortion on demand, and voted more than once as a federal judge against reproductive rights.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an outspoken abortion opponent, also said on Fox News before Kavanaughs confirmation that the justice will give great deference to Roe v. Wade. Women, in particular, protested loudly about Kavanaughs nominationless than a third of them supported itnot only because he clearly threatened Roe, but also because he had been credibly accused of attempted rape. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a Republican, in turn called women hysterical for sounding the alarm about Roe.

Read: Trump, Kavanaugh, and the limits of male power

People are going to pretend that Americans have no historical memory, and supposedly there havent been screaming protesters saying Women are going to die at every hearing for decades, Sasse told Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing. So the fact that the hysteria has nothing to do with you means that we should ask: Whats the hysteria coming from?

Kavanaugh was then confirmed, tipping the Supreme Court toward an anti-abortion majority.

The same charade repeated itself when Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, a religious conservative and formerly outspoken abortion opponent, to replace the liberal lion Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett very carefully answered a question about Roe during her confirmation hearings. All nominees are united in their belief that what they think about a precedent should not bear on how they decide cases, she told senators.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a supposed pro-abortion-rights moderate Republican in the same vein as Collins, told reporters that she did not believe Barrett would ever overturn Roe. She voted to confirm Barrett in the middle of Trumps reelection campaign. And then Trump himselfdespite having promised in 2016 to nominate only anti-abortion judgesflatly denied in a debate with then-candidate Joe Biden that Roe was on the ballot.

You dont know whats on the ballot. Why is it on the ballot? Trump asked Biden in an exchange about Roe.

Its on the ballot in the Court, Biden said, to which Trump replied, You dont know [Barretts] view on Roe v. Wade.

Of course, now that Chief Justice John Roberts has sided with the liberal justices on the Texas case, its clear that Kavanaugh and Barrett were the votes that effectively ended abortion rights for women in Texas. That was always the plan. It was exactly why they were chosen. Women werent being hysterical about the threat to RoeRepublicans were simply lying about it. And now they hope we wont notice.

An earlier version of this article said that women who obtain abortions could be sued under the new law. In fact, only people suspected of performing illegal abortions or helping someone obtain one are subject to lawsuits under the law. This article originally stated that Senator Susan Collins voted to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett. In fact, Collins opposed Barrett's confirmation.

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How Trumps Supreme Court Picks Ruled on the Abortion Ban - The Atlantic

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference announcing a class action lawsuit against big tech companies at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 07, 2021 in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Several of the Republican Party's biggest and most influential donors are signaling that they don't plan on helping fund former President Donald Trump's political operation, at least for the moment.

Wealthy financiers such as Stephen Ross and Larry Ellison have instead opted to spend money on the GOP's efforts to take back Congress during next year's midterm elections or have shown support for potential 2024 presidential candidates such as Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Donors are also concerned about how Trump's organization is spending the piles of money it has raised from smaller donations.

"Big money, sophisticated people are just losing interest in this s--- show," said an advisor to longtime Trump allies in Silicon Valley. Many donors are tired of seeing the former president use his resources on rallies during which he often makes false claims including that the election was stolen from him,this person said.

Trump has not ruled out running for president in 2024, and he has not made any official announcements. His political action committees have raised a great deal of money through email and text message appeals to supporters thatoften criticize President Joe Biden's performance,including, most recently, his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

TheTrump PACs had over $100 million on hand after the first half of 2021. CNBC has previously reported that his PACs spent nearly$8 million on legal feesandover $200,000on Trump's properties earlier this year.

"Donors don't contribute out of the goodness of their heart. And right now they're being asked to donate to an organization that has no other purpose than pumping cash into someone who doesn't need it and isn't using it," said a Republican strategist whorepresents financiers on Wall Street. "They have better things to do."

The donor consultants who spoke to CNBC declined to be identified in this story in order to avoid retribution from Trump and his supporters.

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The pro-Trump Make America Great Again Action super PAC, which raised over $1.5 million in July and August, is not without some wealthy donors, according to newFederal Election Commission filings. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who is an ardent spreader of false claims about the 2020 election, is among its donors, as are businesswoman and former GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Texas banking executive Andrew Beal and casino magnate Phillip Ruffin.

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But bigger forces in Republican fundraising are instead focusing onHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership's efforts to retake the House and funding pro-GOP redistricting efforts such as the National Republican Redistricting Trust. Others are helping the reelection campaigns of potential 2024 presidential contenders such as Scott, Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Several people who previously backed Trump held a fundraiser recently for DeSantis' 2022 gubernatorial campaign in the upper-crust Hamptons on Long Island. Theinvitationto the July event shows that the co-hosts for the event included former Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, along with billionaire investors Stephen Ross, John Paulson and Ken Griffin.

Paulson was one of thefew Wall Street donors who backedTrump's 2020 bid for president during the final stretch of the campaign.

Stephen Ross, who is also the owner of the Miami Dolphins, came under fire in 2019 whenhe hosteda fundraiser in the Hamptons for Trump. Ross and other principals of Related Cos. are investors in the luxury fitness brand Equinox. SoulCycle and Equinoxdistancedthemselves from the Trump event as customers threatened to boycott.

Wilbur Ross and a representative for Paulson did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Stephen Ross declined to comment.

Neither Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison nor Oracle CEO Safra Catz have given large sums of money to Trump's PACs post the election. Both helped raise money for Trump's reelection campaign. Ellison's California home was the site of a Trump fundraising event last year. In June of this year, however, Ellison gave $5 million to a super PAC supporting Scott's reelection efforts in South Carolina.

A spokesman for Catz and Ellison did not respond to a request for comment.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, whose PACendorsed Trumpduring last year's election, is co-hosting a New York fundraiser for Rubio's 2022 reelection campaign in September, according to an invitation. The RJC's board of directors includes a slew of influential Republicans, including Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, former Trump advisor Jason Greenblatt and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Trump also might not be able to count on financial help from Miriam Adelson, a megadonor and the widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, whodied earlier this year. The couple were among the few business leaders who supported Trump during the last election.They gave millions to a pro-Trump super PAC in the final months of the campaign.

Since her husband's death, Adelson has privately indicated to allies that for now she doesn't have any immediate plans to use much of her money in politics. That could change as the midterms approach. Records show that Adelson contributed $5,000 in June to the Stand for America PAC, a committee founded by potential 2024 contender and former Trump United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.

A spokesman for Adelson's company, Las Vegas Sands, declined to comment.

Another key Trump and GOP financier is in legal hot water. Investor Tom Barrack was arrested on charges of illegally lobbying then-President Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. Barrack has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Even if he weren't in trouble with the feds, Barrack had indicated that he might not have ended up supporting Trump, his longtime friend, for a 2024 run.

"Today it looks like it's a campaign of divisiveness, which I'm not interested in," Barrack told Bloomberg News before he was arrested.

A spokesman for Barrack did not respond to a request for comment.

Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah were big Trump supporters during the 2016 campaign, yet there's no indication they'll throw their backing to him in 2024. CNBC reported in 2018 that the Mercers were planning to scale back their financial support for Trump.

Records show that the Mercers have not written major checks to any of Trump's PACs after his presidency.

For the time being, they're backing a new face in GOPpolitics: "Hillbilly Elegy" author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance, who has adopted several Trump-style nationalist policy stances after having criticized the former president in the past.

Robert and Rebekah Mercer donated a combined $150,000 in March to a super PAC backing Vance's candidacy for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by retiring Republican Rob Portman.

Representatives for the Mercers did not respond to requests for comment.

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'They have better things to do' Major Republican donors are staying away from Trump - CNBC