A new study finds that 55% of self-identified leftists thought murdering President Donald Trump would be somewhat justifiable.
The <a href="https://networkcontagion.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Network of Contagion Research Institute (NCRI)</a> joined <a href="https://sites.rutgers.edu/lee-jussim/social-perception-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab</a> to conduct the study titled “Assassination Culture: How Burning Teslas and Killing Billionaires Became a Meme Aesthetic for Political Violence,” which states that an “assassination culture” appears to be “emerging within segments of the U.S. public on the extreme left, with expanding targets now including figures such as Donald Trump,” The Federalist <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2025/04/07/survey-55-of-self-identified-leftists-say-killing-trump-is-justifiable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>.
“These attitudes are not fringe — they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse,” the report declares.
The report states that 55% of respondents who viewed themselves as left-of-center said the murder of Trump could be somewhat justified; 48% said the same of Elon Musk. Among all respondents, 38% said it would be somewhat justified if Trump were assassinated, while 31% said the same about Musk.
The report claims the social media platform BlueSky “plays a significant and predictive role in amplifying radical ideation.”
“NCRI also found that users are increasingly tying the ‘memification’ of (Luigi) Mangione with calls for political violence against Trump, Musk and others, ‘reflecting the growing cyber-social presence of assassination culture,'&#8221; The Federalist reported.
“This report points to disturbingly high levels of support for political violence, particularly targeting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” the report asserts. “Across survey responses, nearly one-third of respondents—and a significantly higher share of left-leaning respondents—expressed some degree of justification for acts of lethal violence.”
“Unless political and cultural leadership explicitly confronts and condemns this trend, NCRI assesses a growing probability of real-world escalation,” the report warns. “Given the current economic volatility and institutional distrust, the online normalization of political violence may increasingly translate into offline action.”

Donald Trump Injured During Shooting At Campaign Rally

55% Of Leftists Say They Could ‘Somewhat Justify’ A Trump Assassination: Study

assassination attempt

Donald Trump

Executive

George W. Bush

Leftists

Politics

Ronald Reagan

President Donald Trump is closing in on one month on the job, and his administration&#8217;s breakneck pace has barely slowed down since day one.
In honor of Presidents&#8217; Day, we thought we&#8217;d break Trump&#8217;s second term down by the numbers, and see how he compares to other presidents at this point in the year.
Here&#8217;s how he stacks up.
<h3>Executive Orders: Winning!</h3>
So far during his second term Trump has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/page/11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> 68 executive orders, far more than any other president in recent history. By this time in his first term, he had signed only a dozen orders, a sign of how much more aggressive Trump intends to be this time around.
Joe Biden had signed 32 executive orders by Presidents&#8217; Day — some on racial equity and requiring COVID face masks — while Barack Obama had signed 14 executive orders. George W. Bush had signed seven, Bill Clinton six, and Ronald Reagan five.
Trump immediately took a slew of actions against illegal immigration, sending troops to the border, launching a massive deportation operation, and ordering border wall construction. He took action to end the weaponization of the federal government, and cut regulation.
He also took aim at gender ideology, banning federal funding for transgender drugs and procedures for children and prohibiting public schools from promoting gender ideology or allowing men on women&#8217;s sports teams or in their bathrooms. He also took an axe to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies.
<h3>Cabinet Nominees: Winning!</h3>
Meanwhile, Trump&#8217;s cabinet nominees are working their way through their Senate confirmations, with 16 out of 22 nominees confirmed so far. By this time in Trump&#8217;s first term, he had only nine nominees confirmed.
Biden had only six nominees confirmed at this point, while Obama had 11. Bush had all 14 of his nominees confirmed, Clinton had all but one of his 14 nominees confirmed, and Reagan had all 13 of his nominees confirmed.
On Thursday, Trump was able to get his most controversial pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
<h3>Job Approval: Better Than Last Time</h3>
Despite years of relentless attacks from the media, Trump&#8217;s job approval is significantly better now than at this point during his first term.
Trump&#8217;s approval rating <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sits</a> at 48.8% as of Monday, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">higher</a> than the 40% he scored at this point in his first term, but below where recent Democrat presidents were.
Biden&#8217;s approval rating <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> 54.8% at this point in his presidency, as he enjoyed a brief honeymoon period while Americans hoped he would quickly end the pandemic. His approval rating started plummeting that summer, just before the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. It  never recovered, at one point dipping below 36%.
Obama&#8217;s approval rating was 62% this time in his first term, George W. Bush was at 57%, Bill Clinton at 51%, and Ronald Reagan <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/ronald-reagan-public-approval" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at</a> 55%.
<h3>Diplomacy: Winning!</h3>
Trump has also taken a forceful approach to bringing home Americans detained abroad.
Since taking office last month, Trump has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/02/wins-come-all-day-under-president-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> the <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/5147175-hamas-releases-israeli-american-ceasefire-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">release</a> of at least 12 hostages held by Hamas terrorists, the Taliban, Russia, Venezuela, and Belarus. The administration is working closely with Israel to free hostages in Gaza.
Biden <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-donald-trump-hostages-1933435" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last year that he had secured the release of more than 70 hostages over his entire four years in office.
Trump has also begun negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the decades-long war that accelerated when Russia invaded Ukraine a year after Biden took office.
Trump has also already hosted three foreign leaders at the White House. Biden did not have a foreign leader at the White House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-hosts-japans-suga-as-first-foreign-leader-at-the-white-house/2021/04/15/cd56f946-9e1a-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">until</a> April, when he hosted the Japanese prime minister.
<h3>Super Bowl Attendance: Winning!</h3>
Trump was the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl, delivering him a resounding victory in this category — which is more than you can say for the Chiefs.

President Trump Signs Executive Orders At The White House

Presidents’ Day Scorecard: How’s Trump Stacking Up To His Predecessors?

Presidents' Day Scorecard: How's Trump Stacking Up To His Predecessors?

Barack Obama

Bill Clinton

George H.W. Bush

Joe Biden

Trump Administration

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jenna-bush-hager">Jenna Bush Hager</a> reacted to her father, former President George W. Bush, going viral again, this time for the numerous expressions he made during President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s inauguration.
Speaking on the “Today” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niFefWx_kkY">show</a>, the morning host said the images of Bush making silly faces and giggling during the swearing-in of the 47th President of the United States on Monday has caused the family’s group chat to explode, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/21/entertainment/obama-was-bad-influence-on-george-w-bush-at-trump-inauguration-jenna/">New York Post</a> reported.
“You all already guessed what moment has been blowing up our family group chat,” Hager said, pointing out how her dad went viral for smiling, winking, looking surprised, and more.
“Yeah, my dad went viral for these cutaway shots during yesterday’s broadcast,” she added. “The internet’s obsessed with this little smile and goofy expression.”
In a later part of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niFefWx_kkY">show</a>, Jenna admitted inaugurations in her family are kind of like going to your kid’s holiday concert and said “you don’t really care about the whole scene. You’re just zooming in right on your kid.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jenna Bush Hager reacts to her father, George W. Bush, going viral during the inauguration on &#8216;Today With Jenna and Friends.&#8217;<a href="https://t.co/y9AFmGWXAD">https://t.co/y9AFmGWXAD</a>
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/etnow/status/1881842963820757002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
“That’s a little bit about how we watch an inauguration in my family. I’m like, ‘What’s happening with the parents,’” she added, pointing out that her dad seems to go viral for &#8220;basically anything.”
“He didn’t do anything, I mean, that’s what his face looks like,” Hager continued. “I mean that’s his face. He was actually very well-behaved.”
During the show, Jenna also reminded everyone how her father went viral eight years ago during Trump’s first inauguration, when Bush had a bit of a battle with a poncho at the ceremony. The hilarious video of him tussling with that poncho can be seen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYZK9ZMCaA">here</a>.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044212122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mp2MZNwEXBk00lKmCtOss">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
“Eight years ago there was a poncho,” Hager said. “He [Bush] couldn’t figure out a poncho and it became sort of a thing. This time evidently there was this video…where he and [former] President [Barack] Obama had this exchange.&#8221;
Jenna’s comment was in reference to when Obama leaned over and whispered something to Bush before the ceremony that made her father start laughing.
“You guys, you can’t just blame him because it looks like my dad was also seated next to a bad influence,” Hager said. “I just love how when they’re together, they become unusual friends.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loved-it-jenna-bush-says-her-father-didnt-mind-when-snl-made-fun-of-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Loved It’: Jenna Bush Says Her Father Didn’t Mind When ‘SNL’ ‘Made Fun Of Him’</a>

Jenna Bush Hager-2

Jenna Bush Hager Reacts To Dad Going Viral Again — This Time For Inauguration Expressions

Celebrities

Inauguration

Jenna Bush Hager

U.S.

&#8220;The View&#8221; cohost <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joy-behar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joy Behar</a> claimed that she could never have a beer with former President George W. Bush because she worried that she might actually like him — and she argued that might prevent her from being able to be as critical of him as she should.
Behar raised the issue as she and her cohosts on ABC&#8217;s &#8220;The View&#8221; discussed the post-election meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and the hosts of MSNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; — and Scarborough&#8217;s vociferous defense of that meeting.
While Behar admitted that dialogue was important, she complained that in Trump&#8217;s case, being willing to sit down and talk with him could have the effect of &#8220;normalizing&#8221; him.
&#8220;I think the problem that people are having with it is that there’s a certain feeling that they’re normalizing him, and he’s not normal. He’s not. He’s a very unusual case. He’s a TV talk show host, whatever it was that show he did,&#8221; she said.
Behar then pivoted to bring up her point about Bush, saying, &#8220;By the way, I have a personal thing about this because when George W. Bush was in the White House, I knew that if I had a beer with the guy, I would like him. I knew it. And so I didn’t want to have a beer with him. I had things to say about George W. Bush that were critical of him. If I had sat down with the guy, I would feel maybe I can’t anymore. That’s my problem with &#8216;Morning Joe.'&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
Behar&#8217;s concerns aside, a beer with Bush would have been highly unlikely solely because the former president, after coming to the realization that he was drinking too much, had quit drinking entirely in 1986.
And for his part, Scarborough once again defended his trip to Mar-a-Lago during Thursday morning&#8217;s broadcast.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Joe Scarborough screams at his ungrateful audience (all four of them) for not appreciating his willingness to talk to Herr Trump. <a href="https://t.co/UcIr111StM">pic.twitter.com/UcIr111StM</a>
&mdash; Bluesky Libs (@BlueskyLibs) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueskyLibs/status/1864689409309708656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I always have Republicans say, ‘Oh, they’re telling you exactly what to say.’ No! Nobody’s once told me what to say here,&#8221; Scarborough said. &#8220;Well actually, one person did one time. One leader did one time. I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, if you think you can do such a damn good job, why don’t you come here and do the show four hours a day? I’m fine quitting. But I’m gonna do my show. I’ll do my show the way I want to do my show!'&#8221;

ABC’s “The View” – Season 25

Joy Behar Explains Why She Couldn’t Have A Beer With George W. Bush

Joy Behar Explains Why She Couldn't Have A Beer With George W. Bush

Joy Behar

Media

Morning Joe

Former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/george-w-bush">George W. Bush</a> finally weighed in on the 2024 election and congratulated former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> following his decisive victory against Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a post on Wednesday on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCCRcTiP3rq/?igsh=MTBlZjE4YzMxOA%3D%3D">Instagram</a>, Bush wrote that he congratulates “President Trump on his election as 47th President of the United States of America, as well as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and their families.”
“I also thank President [Joe] Biden and Vice President Harris for their service to our country,” he added. “The strong turnout in this election is a sign of the health of our republic and the strength of our democratic institutions.”
“Laura and I are grateful to the election officials, poll workers, and volunteers who oversaw a free and fair election,” Bush continued. “We join our fellow citizens in praying for the success of our new leaders at all levels of government. May God continue to bless our great country.”
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In the late days of the election, former Republican Rep. and Harris surrogate Liz Cheney encouraged Bush to endorse Harris, but he remained silent during the entire campaign and all the way up until Trump was named president-elect.
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Speaking to David Remnick at the New Yorker Festival, Cheney said, &#8220;I can&#8217;t explain why George W. Bush hasn&#8217;t spoken out, but I think it&#8217;s time, and I wish that he would,” <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-calls-george-w-bush-endorse-kamala-harris-election-1979034">Newsweek</a> noted.
The Associated Press, The New York Times, and other media giants called the race for Trump in the early morning hours of Wednesday. The call came after the outlets projected Trump to win Wisconsin with more than 95% of the vote totals reported.
When the race was called just past 1:00 a.m. on the east coast, Trump had won three of seven swing states — Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Campaign officials and advisers celebrated Trump’s victory late into the night on Tuesday and early Wednesday in West Palm Beach, Florida, at an election night party for the former and future president. However, it wasn’t until late Wednesday morning that Harris called Trump and congratulated him on his victory, Fox News reported.
Mary Margaret Olahan contributed to this piece.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/donald-trump-defeats-kamala-harris-wins-back-the-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump Defeats Kamala Harris, Wins Back The White House</a>

George W. Bush Speaks At The Struggle For Freedom Conference

‘Praying For The Success Of Our New Leaders’: George W. Bush Weighs In On Trump’s Victory

George W. Bush Reacts To Trump's Victory

2024 Election

Elections

Kamala Harris

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cnn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> Republican commentator Scott Jennings unloaded on a Monday night panel, torching Democrat panelists over claims that former Vice President Al Gore actually won the 2000 presidential election over former President George W. Bush.
Jennings dubbed the exchange, &#8220;Conspiracy Theory Night here at The Abby Phillip Show,&#8221; mocking his fellow panelist Elie Mystal for suggesting that the Supreme Court would find a way to change the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in former President Trump&#8217;s favor.
&#8220;Can someone remind me of the rules on election denialism?&#8221; Jennings asked in his caption on X. &#8220;Two panelists assured me on @cnn that the 2000 election was stolen. Plus, Dems gave the game away on Harris’s moderate rhetoric. My 10pm nightcap on Conspiracy Theory Night!&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Can someone remind me of the rules on election denialism? Two panelists assured me on <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnn</a> that the 2000 election was stolen. Plus, Dems gave the game away on Harris’s moderate rhetoric. My 10pm nightcap on Conspiracy Theory Night! <a href="https://t.co/m0OJNletJW">pic.twitter.com/m0OJNletJW</a>
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1836046619751411937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mystal, when given an open floor to discuss any topic he chose, ran with a recent story he&#8217;d read about the Supreme Court — particularly Chief Justice John Roberts.
&#8220;My big story this weekend was The New York Times’ excellent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/justice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reporting</a> on John Roberts and how he’s been putting the thumb on the scale for Donald Trump all past this term,&#8221; he began. &#8220;So my hot take is this: If Harris is lucky enough to win the Electoral College by only one state, John Roberts and his Supreme Court will find a way to flip that state back into Trump and give Trump the victory. It will be a redo of 2000. So the people in Harris’s camp need to understand they need to win by more than one state. They need to win by two, three, four states to make their margin of victory so large that the Supreme Court can’t take it away from them.&#8221;
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Anchor Abby Phillip appeared unsure how to respond, saying simply, &#8220;Hmmm, there’s a lot going on in that.&#8221;
Jennings jumped in, saying, &#8220;I mean, for the record, [George W.] Bush won Florida.&#8221;
&#8220;Come on, guys. It’s conspiracy theory night here at the Abby Phillip show!&#8221; he added when several jumped in to object.
Jennings went on to give his take on Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign&#8217;s attempt to appeal to the middle — namely that he wasn&#8217;t buying it, and he didn&#8217;t think anyone else should either.

Politicon 2019 – Day 1

CNN Pundit Torches Panelists Over 2000 ‘Election Denialism’: ‘Remind Me Of The Rules?’

CNN Pundit Torches Panelists Over 2000 'Election Denialism': 'Remind Me Of The Rules?'

Al Gore

Supreme Court

Tim Walz claims that he was first inspired to seek public office after being denied entry to a rally for former president George W. Bush in 2004. But contemporaneous accounts of the story cast doubt on Walz’s version of the story.
Walz claimed in an <a href="https://x.com/Tim_Walz/status/1295422955028086795">August 2020 thread</a> on X, formerly Twitter, that he decided to run for office after he and his students &#8220;were denied entry because the students had previously volunteered for the democratic party.”
“The last sitting President to visit my hometown of Mankato, Minnesota was George W. Bush in 2004. As a high school teacher and football coach, I brought two fellow teachers&#8217; children to the speech as an educational experience,” Walz wrote. “It was at this moment that I decided to run for office,” Walz states in his story.
But testimonies from multiple people present at the rally suggest that the Democrat’s origin story could be missing valuable context, the Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3138767/tim-walz-political-origin-story/">reported</a> Friday.
Chris Faulkner, who says he was the state director for the Republican National Committee’s ground game in Minnesota, claims that Walz had been protesting Bush the day prior. Faulkner says that he was the one who denied Walz entry to the event.
&#8220;You were out here yesterday with a sign protesting President Bush’s visit,&#8221; Faulkner <a href="https://chrisfaulkner.substack.com/p/how-i-inspired-tim-walz-to-run-for?utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true">recalls telling Walz</a>.
“He knew we would ask him to leave. He literally was standing outside our HQ the day before protesting. He brought those students as ‘cover,” Faulkner says. He also says that Walz came back with a local television crew to put on an “impromptu press conference” after being denied entry.
Replying to Faulkner on X, a man named Matt Klaber said that he and two other students were denied tickets, and arranged for a local TV crew to come to the event. According to Klaber, when they were eventually granted tickets, &#8220;our families decided to send us with Tim.&#8221; According to the Washington Examiner, Klaber was at the time an active member of a local College Democrats chapter, and never took a class with Walz.
Klaber recounted the story in an <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5rr0rgg3lo">interview</a> with BBC News, but did not mention the fact that he and his friends arranged for a camera crew to come to the event. BBC reports that the students were not denied because they had &#8220;previously volunteered for the democratic party,&#8221; as Walz claims, but because &#8220;staffers observed a faded John Kerry sticker on [Klaber&#8217;s] wallet.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hey, you&#8217;ve got your facts wrong. Me and two other students are who you denied tickets to, and who recruited the local TV station. We then subsequently were granted tickets and our families decided to send us with Tim. (Respect for making us wait 3hrs, tho.)
— Matt Klaber (@maphu) <a href="https://twitter.com/maphu/status/1820920444276347046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
A photograph posted on X by Michael Brodkorb, who says he worked for the Minnesota Republican Party, shows Walz and three others demonstrating, allegedly outside of the Bush rally. Faulkner confirmed in a comment to The Daily Wire that the protest was out front of a ticket pickup location the day before the rally, which allowed them to identify Walz and bar him from entering the event the following day.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In ‘04, I worked for the MNGOP. President Bush visited Mankota on August 4, 2004, and I took pictures of protesters outside the event. Tim Walz (pictured on the far-right) protested Bush’s visit to Minnesota. The thread below from Walz about his role at Bush’s event is dishonest. <a href="https://t.co/rEpzoF0yE9">https://t.co/rEpzoF0yE9</a> <a href="https://t.co/ygLiIEG4p1">pic.twitter.com/ygLiIEG4p1</a>
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) <a href="https://twitter.com/mbrodkorb/status/1295434186984218624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
Walz is seen holding a sign that says “Enduring Freedom Veterans for Kerry.” Three other demonstrators can be seen in the image as well, each of whom are holding a protest sign, with one wearing a “College Democrats” shirt.
Walz has come under fire since joining Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217;s campaign for misconstruing his military service. Walz, who was in the National Guard, has said that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/asked-directly-about-stolen-valor-walz-hides-behind-school-shooting-bad-grammar">carried</a> &#8220;weapons in war,&#8221; though he never deployed to an active war zone.
Neither the Harris campaign nor Klaber responded to requests for comment.

Tim Walz

Tim Walz Says He Got Into Politics Because His Students Were Kicked Out of a Bush Rally. That Doesn’t Seem to Be The Case.

Talk show host Phil Donahue, who championed various leftist perspectives on his eponymous TV show and changed the industry by interacting with his studio audience, has died at the age of 88.
Donahue’s second wife, former actress Marlo Thomas, to whom he was married for 44 years, was with him and Donahue’s children and grandchildren when he died at his home on Sunday night.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Donahue graduated from Notre Dame before starting his broadcasting career, first at KYW-AM TV, then WABJ in Michigan as program/news director, then at WHIO-AM-TV in Dayton as a reporter. In the late 1960s, he hosted a morning interview program on WLWD TV in Dayton, where his first guest was famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
“Soon Donahue was tackling controversial subjects like premarital sex and homosexuality as well as other social, political and lifestyle issues,” <a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/phil-donahue-dead-talk-show-host-1236110652/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a> noted.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723848169620000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3E3OUC3roIcb5fjwk-l_Ct">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
In 1974, his show moved to WGN-TV and was renamed “Donahue.” Newsweek wrote, “One sometimes suspects that Donahue’s idea of the perfect guest is an interracial lesbian couple who have had a child by artificial insemination.”
“And in fact, such a couple appeared on the show in 1979,” Variety pointed out. But the door Donahue had opened for salacious topics prompted other shows to go even further. By 1996, Donahue called it quits as his audience had dwindled, not only because other shows were pushing the envelope further but because his primarily female audience had drifted off to competing hosts such as Oprah Winfrey.
“No apologies&#8211;not for cutting deals to get ‘hot’ guests on the air before anyone else, nor for putting tossed dwarfs and roller games queens and transvestites on the air during the after-school viewing hours, nor for airing panel discussions on such topics as ‘catching your mate in bed with someone else,’” The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-28-ca-1377-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> of Donahue in 1990.
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1723848169620000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Sf3qpHNBu8vICyZg-J1qc">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
“Come on. Let’s get rid of the pretense and understand that we’ve got an unholy alliance between the media, which is focused on ratings and circulation, and a community of people that it serves in the marketplace who are focused on Madonna, Jim and Tammy Faye and Zsa Zsa!” Donahue snapped.
Donahue <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-28-ca-1377-story.html">mocked</a> journalists who did not attack President Ronald Reagan, taunting, “Ronald Reagan, he’s our man, he can fight the Commies if anybody can.” In 2013, Donahue joined a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dallasmorningnews/photos/a.10151445544918800/10151445551483800/?type=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protest</a> at the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

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One former White House Press Secretary has a few words of advice for President Joe Biden: &#8220;cancel the press conference.&#8221;
Fox News anchor Dana Perino, who served as press secretary to former President George W. Bush, suggested that Biden — whose recent struggles and apparent cognitive decline have been front and center since his disastrous first debate with former President Donald Trump  — would not be best served by another public attempt at clean-up.
Referencing a scheduled news conference Biden has planned for Thursday — two weeks to the day since the debate — Perino said that Biden was likely to be flooded with questions that he thus far has not seemed prepared to answer.
&#8220;I’d cancel tomorrow’s press conference,&#8221; Perino said in a post to X. &#8220;Save the embarrassment of the questions he will get. Provide him dignified space to absorb what’s happening.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’d cancel tomorrow’s press conference. Save the embarrassment of the questions he will get. Provide him dignified space to absorb what’s happening.
— Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaPerino/status/1811161507679588596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;If they cancel the presser, he’s done. And it will signal to everyone that they know it,&#8221; Guy Benson responded to Perino&#8217;s post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
If they cancel the presser, he’s done. And it will signal to everyone that they know it. <a href="https://t.co/zWxUISrjw8">https://t.co/zWxUISrjw8</a>
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) <a href="https://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/1811166710671511941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
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She replied to Benson, saying that was pretty much what she had been trying to get at: &#8220;That’s the point though. Well, my point!&#8221;
Doug Powers argued that the news conference was likely to be scripted, suggesting that Biden was likely to be directed with regard to which reporters he could call on and what they would ask.
&#8220;If the reporters are hand-picked and required to submit questions in advance the media will again be complicit in this embarrassment. If WH press refuses to do so then Biden&#8217;s staff will find an excuse to cancel,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
If the reporters are hand-picked and required to submit questions in advance the media will again be complicit in this embarrassment. If WH press refuses to do so then Biden&#8217;s staff will find an excuse to cancel. <a href="https://t.co/i8fdMC29J2">https://t.co/i8fdMC29J2</a>
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThePowersThatBe/status/1811168558505660707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Matt Whitlock raised another potential sticking point, however, asking how anyone could justify keeping President Biden in office until January if they were ready to pull him out of a press conference because they didn&#8217;t believe he could handle it.
&#8220;If there’s any inkling he’s going to step aside they should cancel &#8211; too embarrassing and jarring for our country. But if he does that I’m not sure how they explain keeping him in office through January,&#8221; he explained.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
If there’s any inkling he’s going to step aside they should cancel &#8211; too embarrassing and jarring for our country.
But if he does that I’m not sure how they explain keeping him in office through January. <a href="https://t.co/sI7R33p8nE">https://t.co/sI7R33p8nE</a>
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1811212549511368991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Fox News’ Super Tuesday 2024

Former (Republican) Press Sec Offers Advice To Biden: ‘Cancel The Press Conference’

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Jenna Bush Hager said her father, former President George W. Bush, didn&#8217;t have a problem with the ribbing he got from shows like &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; and, in fact, &#8220;loved it.&#8221;
During Wednesday&#8217;s episode of &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/HodaAndJenna/status/1767940210459804128?s=20">Today with Hoda and Jenna</a>,&#8221; Hager told her co-host, Hoda Kotb, that her love language is &#8220;gently roasting,&#8221; something from which her father was not exempt. She reflected on laughing at the old SNL skits with her father and twin sister, Barbara.
&#8220;I like to harass my dad,&#8221; Hager said. &#8220;Like when he was the president, Barbara and I would show him … like the &#8216;Saturday Night Lives&#8217; where they made fun of him and stuff. He loved it!&#8221;
&#8220;Like when Will Ferrell [impersonated him], but there were other comedians who also did things,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Once, we were at the gym and there was a bumper sticker that said, &#8216;A Village in Texas Is Missing Its Idiot.'&#8221;
&#8220;Barbara and I read it, took a minute and then we were like&#8230; We told our dad. He didn&#8217;t care,&#8221; Hager continued. &#8220;He thought it was hilarious.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jenna says when her father was president, she and her twin Barbara would show him clips of “Saturday Night Live” where they made fun of him — but he would laugh it off! <a href="https://t.co/enSVvUnIJX">pic.twitter.com/enSVvUnIJX</a>
— TODAY with Hoda &amp; Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) <a href="https://twitter.com/HodaAndJenna/status/1767940210459804128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
Her co-host Kotb said, &#8220;If you can&#8217;t laugh at yourself, then you feel like there&#8217;s some truth to it.&#8221;
&#8220;But also, if you&#8217;re going to be the President of the United States, people are going to make fun of you,&#8221; Jenna added. &#8220;And guess what — it ain&#8217;t just about you. That&#8217;s how it is, man. That&#8217;s how it is, that&#8217;s how it&#8217;s always been!&#8221;
The &#8220;Today&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jenna-bush-hager-says-her-wedding-mightve-been-very-different-if-shed-taken-then-president-bushs-advice-and-eloped">show</a> co-host has spoken about her relationship with her father in the past. She once discussed how he had encouraged her and then-fiance Henry Chase Hager to elope in 2008.
&#8220;My dad wanted us to elope because it was a pain,&#8221; Hager told Kotb. &#8220;He was like, &#8216;What are y&#8217;all doing? Y&#8217;all should just elope.&#8221;
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In the end, Dad&#8217;s suggestion was a no-go, and Jenna and Henry got married in a private ceremony at the Bush family&#8217;s Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas.
Hager made it clear it couldn&#8217;t have gone better.
&#8220;The wedding was spectacular,&#8221; President Bush said at the time. &#8220;It&#8217;s all we could have hoped for. It was just a special day and a wonderful day, and we&#8217;re mighty blessed.&#8221;
Jenna and Henry share three children together.

‘Loved It’: Jenna Bush Says Her Father Didn’t Mind When ‘SNL’ ‘Made Fun Of Him’

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California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman suggested filling the vacant Speaker of the House seat with former President George W. Bush as GOP lawmakers attempt to get the lower chamber of Congress back in order after nearly a month of chaos.
&#8220;He could come back,&#8221; Sherman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzTJO_aiITM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the &#8220;Forbes Newsroom&#8221; podcast. &#8220;Obviously, I&#8217;m not a real fan of how the Iraq War went, but I would think that any reasonable Republican would be somebody that Democrats could work with — if it was part of a system where you didn&#8217;t have five of the most extreme Republicans blocking important legislation and saying, &#8216;If you bring that to the floor for a vote, we&#8217;ll knock you out of your Speakership.'&#8221;
Sherman tore into some dysfunctional aspects of the House of Representatives, notably the Republican side ousting former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last month. The historic removal has since left the chamber unable to vote on legislation like pending fiscal year 2024 spending bills, avoiding a government shutdown, and supplying aid for Israel&#8217;s war against Hamas.
House Republicans nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) last week — after holding two rounds of secret ballots — to rally behind him to become Speaker as soon as midday Tuesday, according to reports.
Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, won the GOP nomination in his second try on Friday. He defeated Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) in a 124-81 Republican conference vote. In a second secret ballot asking members if they would support Jordan in a House floor vote, Republicans voted 152-55.
But the lawmaker still faces a challenge in mustering enough support to secure a simple majority needed to secure victory in a chamber-wide vote.
Sherman called Jordan &#8220;among the worst speakers&#8221; for the House but noted it&#8217;s good politics for Democrats, as the Ohio Republican has the backing of former President Donald Trump.
Still, Sherman asserts he would choose Bush or Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), both of whom he called &#8220;traditional&#8221; Republicans.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not the person, it&#8217;s the program,&#8221; Sherman said. &#8220;And if the program is to say that if a bill passes, the Senate will get an up or down vote on it in the House. And that would be more important to me than the personality.&#8221;
Although Bush is not a sitting member of Congress and hasn&#8217;t held elected office since 2009, his status does not necessarily disqualify him from holding the position as the U.S. House of Representatives does not require the speaker to be a member of the lower chamber — although elected officials have consistently voted for one.
The House is expected to vote for the speaker as early as Tuesday, two weeks after eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting to oust McCarthy.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is serving as speaker pro tempore in the short term.
Jordan has secured <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jordan-scores-key-endorsement-in-bid-for-house-speaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivotal endorsements</a> since GOP lawmakers nominated him last week, including support from McCarthy, members of the House Freedom Caucus, and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL).
Daniel Chaitan contributed to this report.

Dem Rep. Suggests George W. Bush For Speaker Of The House

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