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Trump selects Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a once-fierce critic turned loyal ally, as his GOP vice presidential candidate

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Donald Trump and JD Vance, thegrio.com

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has chosen Senator J.D. Vance on Monday chosen an Ohio state representative as his vice presidential candidate, selecting a former critic who has turn into a staunch ally and is now the primary millennial to affix a major party’s ticket at a time of deep concern concerning the advancing age of America’s political leaders.

“After much consideration and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have determined that the person best qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social social network as the Republican National Convention opened in Milwaukee.

Vance, 39, rose to national fame after publishing his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016. He was elected to the Senate in 2022 and has turn into one among the previous president’s staunchest supporters of his “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.

But he has little experience in national politics and joins Trump’s roster at an unusual time. assassination attempt Trump’s speech at a rally Saturday sent shockwaves through the campaign, drawing attention to the country’s crass political rhetoric and emphasizing those that are only a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Vance himself faced criticism after the shooting for a tweet suggesting that President Joe Biden was in charge for the violence.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that the president Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who should be stopped in any respect costs,” Vance wrote. “This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”

Law enforcement has not yet released a specific reason for the shooting.

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Why Vance was chosen over other finalists

Vance, Trump said, “will be very focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American worker and farmer in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and far beyond.” Several of those Midwestern states are expected to play key roles within the November election.

According to a person acquainted with the conversation, who like others asked to stay anonymous, Trump and Vance spoke about 20 minutes before the Truth Social post was published, and Trump formally offered Vance the job.

Biden’s re-election campaign issued a statement criticizing Vance for saying that if he were vice president, he would have allowed “multiple slates of electors” to challenge Biden’s victory over Trump 4 years ago. Trump has repeatedly promoted falsehoods about election fraud before and after Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters loyal to the previous president stormed the Capitol to attempt to stop the certification of his loss.

“Donald Trump chose JD Vance as his vice presidential running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence would not do on January 6: he will do whatever it takes to enable Trump to advance his radical MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter what harm it does to the American people,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the opposite candidates on Trump’s shortlist, were informed earlier Monday afternoon that they weren’t his nominees, in line with people acquainted with their conversations.

Talks over the past 10 days between Rubio and the Trump campaign have focused on concerns about residency and the way to handle the indisputable fact that each men live in the identical state, in line with a person acquainted with the private discussions, who asked to not be identified.

The Trump campaign desired to ensure there could be no lengthy legal battle over the matter, the person said, and Rubio had no intention of uprooting his family.

Trump has spent months testing the sphere, gauging how his candidates performed on television, at fundraisers and on the stages of rallies. Several, including Burgum and Vance, joined him in his criminal bribery trial in New York. Others attended last month’s debate, where Biden’s disastrous performance upended his campaign, resulting in widespread calls for him to concede in favor of a younger candidate.

The election is bound to energise Trump’s loyal base. Vance has turn into a fixture on the conservative media circuit, often clashing with reporters on Capitol Hill, which has helped cement his position as a leader who could carry Trump’s mantle into the long run, starting with the following presidential election in 2028.

But the pick also signifies that two white men will now lead the Republican Party at a time when Trump is attempting to win over black and Latino voters.

In this composite photo, Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, is seen, March 9, 2024, and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, right, Aug. 5, 2022. (AP Photo, File)

In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance detailed life in Appalachian communities that had split from the Democratic Party, which many residents saw as disconnected from their every day struggles. Although the book was a bestseller, it was also criticized for oversimplifying rural life and ignoring the role of racism in contemporary politics.

Vance was once a harsh critic of Trump

The relationship between Vance and Trump was symbiotic.

Vance’s fame grew in tandem with Trump’s improbable rise from reality TV star to Republican presidential candidate and ultimately president. Early in Trump’s political profession, Vance forged him as a “total fraud,” a “moral catastrophe” and the “Hitler of America.”

But like many Republicans who’ve sought relevance within the Trump era, Vance eventually modified his tune. He said he had been proven flawed by Trump’s record in office and have become one among his staunchest defenders.

“I didn’t think he would be a good president,” Vance recently told Fox News Channel. “He was a great president. And that’s one of the reasons I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term.”

Vance was rewarded for his transformation during his 2022 bid for the open Senate seat, where he won Trump’s coveted endorsement and powered to victory in a crowded Republican primary and a general election that Democrats fought tooth and nail. He is near Trump’s son, Donald Jr.

“Look, I’ve seen him on TV,” Trump Jr. said of Vance, chatting with CNN from the conference room. “I’ve seen him make the case against the Democrats. There’s no one more eloquent than him. And I think his story, his background, really helps us in a lot of places that you’re going to need from an Electoral College standpoint.”

Vance is now a Trump supporter who’s difficult the legality of the criminal prosecutions and civil judgments against him, as well as the 2020 election results.

In February, he told ABC News that if he were vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, he would tell states where Trump was contesting Biden’s win “that we need multiple slates of electors, and I think the United States Congress should fight for that from this point on.”

“This is a legitimate way to proceed in an election that many people, myself included, felt had a lot of problems in 2020,” he said.

Many states passed emergency measures 4 years ago to permit people to vote safely in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. But judges, election officials from each parties and Trump’s attorney general have concluded there isn’t any evidence of widespread voter fraud within the 2020 election.

Vance’s book brought him national fame.

Vance’s book—titled “Memories of a Family and Culture in Crisis”—was acclaimed for its observations on trump’s appeal in middle americawhere industrial job losses and the opioid crisis have driven many families like his into poverty, violence and addiction.

The story of Vance’s difficult childhood in Middletown, Ohio, where he was born, and his home region within the hills of eastern Kentucky also charmed Hollywood. Ron Howard directed the 2020 film, starring Amy Adams as Vance’s mother and Glenn Close as his love interest, “Mamaw.”

At his grandmother’s urging, Vance served within the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, and graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. From there, he joined a Silicon Valley investment firm before returning to Ohio to begin a nonprofit he said aimed to develop treatments for opioid addiction that may very well be “scaled nationally.”

Ultimately, our Ohio renewal failed to finish this mission and was shuttered. During the 2022 campaign, then-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, his Democratic rival, accused the charity of being little greater than a front for Vance’s political ambitions. Ryan pointed to reports that the charity made payments to a Vance political adviser and conducted opinion polls even as its real efforts to handle addiction largely fell through. Vance has denied that characterization.

As a senator, Vance has shown a certain willingness to work across party lines. He and Ohio’s senior senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, have joined forces on several issues vital to the state, including a fight over funding Intel is constructing a $20 billion chip factory in central Ohio and the introduction railway safety laws in response to fiery derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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A Washington police officer who shot a black man with his hands in the air over a stop sign, then dragged his body and slammed it into the ground, remains on the force despite an $8 million payout to his family

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The city of Lakewood, Washington, has reached an agreement with the family of a 26-year-old black man who was shot thrice by an officer who claimed he was acting in self-defense.

He said Joquin died on May 1, 2020, after Officer Michael Wiley stopped him for running a stop sign. The $8 million settlement announced last week is coming to an end federal civil rights lawsuit Joquin’s parents filed a criticism against the officer, who claimed their son had lunged for a gun lying on the floor of his vehicle.

According to the lawsuit, Wiley approached Joquin’s automobile with a gun drawn and told him, “Shut up or you’ll get shot.” The lawsuit states that Joquin, as Wiley requested, had his hands up when he was shot. After the shooting, Wiley allegedly pulled Joquin out of the automobile and “threw him to the ground.”

The police killing of Said Joquin led to protests in Lakewood, Washington. (Photos: YouTube screenshot/KING 5 Seattle)

Wiley was involved in one other expensive suit v. Lakewood in 2017. He was one in every of three officers found by a jury answerable for the death of one other young black man, Leonard Thomas, for a record $15.1 million. A post-trial settlement was reached in exchange for $13 million and a promise not to appeal.

Thomas was holding his 4-year-old son when he was shot in the stomach by a Lakewood SWAT sniper. Wiley reportedly announced “Jackpot!” Testimony shows he spoke on the police radio after Thomas was shot and later praised his colleague for taking the “million-dollar f–king shot,” according to trial testimony. Thomas bled to death, begging cops not to take his boy.

Evidence from Thomas’ trial “revealed that Wiley was an exceptionally aggressive officer who had an insufficient understanding of the use of force, was willing to use weapons, explosives and unnecessary force, and who demonstrated a striking lack of concern for life,” Joquin filed the family’s lawsuit.

Wiley remains in service. Joquin’s lawsuit alleged that Lakewood police were “unreasonable and reckless” in continuing to employ him regardless that a jury in Thomas found that he had violated the victim’s civil rights.

A previous attempt to dismiss Joquin’s lawsuit was blocked by the US District Judge David Estudillo. Wiley, the judge wrote in his August order, had a “documented history of using force against people he helped detain.”

He said there was enough evidence for the jury to find that “Joquin did not engage in furtive or threatening behavior during the encounter.”

Dawn Kortner, Joquin’s mother, he said in a 2021 interview, she never believed Wiley’s account.

“I feel like it’s overkill,” Kortner said. “He took steps he shouldn’t have taken. I believe he was too aggressive and I would like him to be held accountable for what he did. He shouldn’t receive a pension and sit at home and enjoy his children when we will not enjoy Said.

Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office Attorney Mary Robnett declined to press charges against Wiley for Joquin’s death.

In a letter to Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro, Robnett cited Joquin’s “unpredictable and dangerous behavior” in running a stop sign in front of police on a busy road. She also concluded that bullet trajectory evidence showed that Joquin didn’t raise his hands when Wiley shot him.

Wiley was also cleared for internal examination.

In a statement, Lakewood officials said: “Any life cut short is a tragedy and we can only imagine the suffering and pain they experience. The decision to reach an agreement was made with the best outcome for all parties involved in mind.”

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Without Kamala Harris in the White House, Democrats are turning to Hakeem Jeffries

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As Democrats proceed to lick their wounds following Kamala Harris’ stunning defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, all eyes are on Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), whose party in Congress has little likelihood of regaining the majority in the House of Representatives.

If Democrats manage to win the House, it’s going to give the party its only hope of slowing Trump’s agenda. Jeffries, a 54-year-old congressman from Brooklyn, New York, also became Speaker of the House, making history as the first African American to hold the position, just two steps of separation in the line of presidential succession.

As Donald Trump begins to appoint members of his second administration’s Cabinet to be tasked with implementing his agenda – which incorporates proposed mass deportations, the elimination of racial equity programs and big cuts in federal spending – Democrats’ ability to play defense will probably be crucial to mitigating this. , which they see as potentially critical blows to vulnerable communities.

Democrats view Jeffries, the current House minority leader, as a key leader of the party, especially if his caucus can gain a majority. This would involve the commission’s control – which incorporates significant subpoena power – and shaping the federal budget. At the very least, it might enable Democrats to force Republicans to make concessions where possible.

As a six-term congressman known for sticking to his word, Jeffries is a respected and admired politician in the Democratic Party.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 21: U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) departs after speaking on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Payne said Jeffries, who represents a “generational turn” in the party, “has shown that he is a truly gifted communicator and communicator.” He added: “He has some different skill sets that other Democrats may not be able to. And I think that’s something that Democrats will really benefit from.

Payne continued if elected Speaker of the House, “(Jeffries) will become the most important Democrat in the country with any power. She is essentially taking over the mantle that Nancy Pelosi took on when she was re-elevated to speaker during Trump’s first presidency.”

But Payne cautioned that even when Democrats manage to amass a razor-thin majority in the House, it’s going to still be an uphill battle.

He noted that the caucus will include many Democrats “from districts where Donald Trump is popular.” “You still have to hold together a club that will come under cross-pressure from Donald Trump, who is more popular than he was four and eight years ago.”

At this point, Plaskett noted that Democrats would want to take a leaf out of her book as a member of Congress representing a U.S. territory.

“I have limited voting rights, so I understand what it means to punch above your weight,” said Plaskett, who said that being a political minority in Congress requires “cooperating with members of the Democratic caucus, as well as the Republican caucus when it is advantageous to do so for the interests of (our) voters.”

Policy

Democrats also see an incredible opportunity to strengthen Black political power in Washington with the elevation of Hakeem Jeffries.

“Him coming out as a black man from Brooklyn and being a major foil for Donald Trump — I think that’s important at a time like this,” Payne said.

But Congressman Clyburn cautions that Jeffries must overcome a few of the challenges Harris faced as the first woman and first person of color to function vice chairman.

“It’s a big burden that needs a lot of help to carry,” said the lawmaker who served as House majority whip and deputy Democratic leader.

“Kamala Harris suffered for this reason. I took it upon myself to check many individuals who kept telling me that she wasn’t this and he or she wasn’t that, she didn’t do that and he or she didn’t try this,” he recalled. “I’d ask them what number of women have been vice presidents before? She took office two months before you criticized her conduct.

As the first speaker of the Black House, Clyburn had doubts that Jeffries could be “allowed to get his sea legs… to master this job from day one.”

Seawright, the Democratic strategist, said Jeffries won’t only be speaker of the House but additionally leader of the entire national party, which he believes must “rebound, learn and grow as the next election cycles approach” in 2025 and 2026. The role Jeffries will play will probably be crucial “whether we win a majority or not.”

After the devastating defeat in the 2024 election, Seawright said Jeffries and other Democratic Party leaders need to rethink their message to voters.


Headshot by Gerren Keith Gaynor

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Donald Trump’s pick for deputy chief of staff sparks outrage from CNN guest and others who remember Stephen Miller’s white nationalist views

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President-elect Donald Trump has named longtime adviser and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy in his recent administration.

Fresh off a tumultuous election cycle, the nation’s eyes now turn to who Trump appoints to his Cabinet and keeps in his inner circles. The announcement of Miller’s nomination comes days after Trump announced that his campaign manager, Susan Wiles, can be his chief of staff.

Deputy Chief of Staff of Donald Trump
Stephen Miller, former senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally for Republican Party presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump on October 18, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. There are 17 days left until the US presidential election, which is able to happen on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 (photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Miller is a longtime member of Trump’s camp, serving as an in depth aide within the president-elect’s first campaign and a senior adviser in his first White House administration.

He helped shape rigid immigration deterrence policies during Trump’s first term, equivalent to separating migrant children from their parents and implementing a highly controversial travel ban on majority-Muslim countries.

Miller continued to give attention to this issue throughout the ultimate weeks of Trump’s second presidential campaign, assuring Americans of this mass deportations will probably be a top priority once the president-elect returns to office.

Miller made headlines in 2019 after he was discovered sending white nationalist literature and propaganda to news editors on the far-right news organization Breitbart. A former Breitbart author leaked over 900 emails to the location Southern Poverty Law Center revealing that several of Miller’s immigration policy proposals were modeled on extremist source material.

After Trump was removed from office in 2020, Miller founded and led the conservative organization America First Legal, which formed the premise of a broad anti-DEI movement, filing quite a few discrimination lawsuits alleging that “anti-white racism” was rampant in corporations and colleges and universities .

America First Legal was behind the litigation that led last summer to the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 decision declaring race-based affirmative motion college admissions policies unconstitutional.

In 2021, the group also filed a successful lawsuit looking for to dam a $29 billion program for restaurants run by women and minorities from going into effect. The organization argued that this system discriminated against white-owned businesses.

Many Trump supporters reacted positively as news of Miller’s recent White House post began to spread. There are also opposing reactions. CNN political commentator Tara Setmayer bristled on the news of the nomination.

“Well, that is what people voted for. I suggest that many individuals who voted for Donald Trump return and watch Stephen Miller’s many interviews and media appearances. And you see who he’s. He is a vile man, a racist and a xenophobe, and his family has disowned him,” Setmayer said on CNN’s news program Monday.

Adding: “And that’s now who is near power within the White House, mainly number 2, next to Susie Wiles, within the ear of the president of the United States. Well, I suppose the upside is that no less than he won’t be DHS secretary or attorney general.

Miller’s role as deputy chief of staff for policy means he’ll work with Wiles and take responsibility for implementing Trump’s policy proposals.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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