One of the largest public state pension <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funds</a> in the nation has routinely accepted <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shareholder</a> resolution advice from a woke proxy advisory firm based in San Francisco, effectively leveraging its nearly $100 billion in assets to push companies toward adopting leftist <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/esg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">priorities</a> that critics say contradict the conservative state&#8217;s values.
Officials at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, also known as OPERS, and a senior elected Republican told The Daily Wire the fund is rightly concerned about &#8220;reputational risk,&#8221; but has not delegated its decision-making to Glass Lewis.
Glass Lewis advises investment entities on how they should employ their stakes in public companies to support or oppose various shareholder resolutions. OPERS, which currently <a href="https://www.opers.org/investments/Defined-Benefit/total.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">manages</a> more than $92 billion on behalf of retirees, survivors, and disabled citizens in Ohio, has accepted the firm’s recommendations to support equity audits, carbon emissions reports, and other progressive policies, according to a report created by the American Accountability Foundation and shared with The Daily Wire.
OPERS voted last year, for instance, in favor of proposals at Berkshire Hathaway which called for aligning greenhouse gas <a href="https://viewpoint.glasslewis.com/WD/MeetingDetail/?siteId=OPERS&amp;securityId=18692" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reductions</a> with the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as resolutions which endorsed the publication of climate and diversity reports. The fund also voted for the <a href="https://viewpoint.glasslewis.com/WD/MeetingDetail/?siteId=OPERS&amp;securityId=639499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">creation</a> of a gender and racial pay equity report at Disney, the <a href="https://viewpoint.glasslewis.com/WD/MeetingDetail/?siteId=OPERS&amp;securityId=21592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">release</a> of a net zero emissions analysis at Exxon Mobil, and the <a href="https://viewpoint.glasslewis.com/WD/MeetingDetail/?siteId=OPERS&amp;securityId=23100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issuance</a> of a racial equity audit at Home Depot.
Similar votes related to social issues were cast at the recommendation of Glass Lewis for Meta, United Airlines, Walmart, and other public companies in which OPERS maintains a stake. Some votes from the fund <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/354950/000035495022000116/hd-2022proxystatement.htm#ic093c1edc810406d92fceac310f5482e_106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supported</a> the “defund the police” movement and condemned contributions to police foundations, while others <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000119312522081678/d219457ddef14a.htm#toc219457_9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed</a> political donations to entities which denounce abortion.
Senior managers at Glass Lewis are overwhelmingly progressive: Glass Lewis President Carrie Busch has made donations to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization; Glass Lewis Chief Operating Officer John Wieck has donated to a number of Democratic candidates; and Glass Lewis Chief Legal Officer lauded a move from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban the importation of handguns, according to another analysis from the American Accountability Foundation shared with The Daily Wire.
The controversial OPERS votes came even as a number of Republican state lawmakers, treasurers, and attorneys general across the nation severed ties with asset management companies which endorse the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as ESG, an investment philosophy which leverages funds to advance political and social agendas in a manner which critics say distracts from the maximization of profits.
“I&#8217;m troubled by the woke left&#8217;s hijacking and capture of the American corporate sector and OPERS proxy votes for resolutions attacking pro-life lawmakers, promoting abortions, and calling for defunding the police,” former Ohio Republican State Treasurer Ken Blackwell said in comments to The Daily Wire. “I believe OPERS should, exercising independent judgment, make decisions in the best fiduciary interest of its members. Clearly, this is not happening.”
American Accountability Foundation Executive Director Tom Jones emailed the conservative research group’s analysis of proxy votes to OPERS Executive Director Karen Carraher on March 29 but never received a response. “OPERS needs to explain how it has happened and what you are going to do to purge the corrosive influence of Glass Lewis and other woke activists from the system,” he told the official in an email seen by The Daily Wire.
OPERS Communication Strategist Michael Pramik confirmed to The Daily Wire that Carraher did not reply to the inquiry and claimed that the fund “does not permit ideologies to influence our investment or proxy voting decisions.” He insisted that the fund’s investment objective is merely to “maximize returns within a reasonable risk framework, thus supporting the system’s mission of providing secure retirement benefits to our members.”
Jones also contacted Ohio Republican House Majority Leader William Seitz on March 29 with his concerns about the proxy votes. Seitz responded to the email on April 10 with copies of the OPERS corporate governance and proxy voting guidelines, informing Jones that he found the documents to be “very reassuring that OPERS is totally committed to maximizing fund values for its pensioners without regard to pursuing strategies that exalt environmental and social concerns” over the fundamental objective of maximizing returns.
Seitz added that he met with OPERS authorities, who informed him that some of the votes were for policies that board directors for the portfolio companies had recommended, while other votes were executed because the fund was “concerned that reputational risk to the corporation in which OPERS was invested could lead to shareholder losses.”
“I recognize that there is a fine line between making decisions based on perceived reputational risks, many of which are simply ginned up by liberal activists, and treading further into supporting the ESG woke agenda,” Seitz told Jones. “However, as long as the lodestar of OPERS’ policy is as stated in the enclosed, I am fairly comfortable with what they have done.”
Jones responded to Seitz on April 14 with more detailed information about the politically charged shareholder resolutions which OPERS had supported. “I hope you are aware that the woke activists use the ‘risk’ framing as a tool to manipulate lawmakers, press, and investor relations,” Jones asserted, noting that describing resolutions in such a manner “is the cover they give to liberals who want to sound like they actually care about shareholder value but actually want to implement a liberal agenda and attack conservatives.”
Seitz confirmed to The Daily Wire that he did not respond to the second message from Jones, asserting that “at some point, we had to terminate the dialogue to further evaluate how we should regulate the pension funds’ independent proxy decisions.”
The lawmaker later told The Daily Wire through a spokesperson that he has a “legislative effort underway on the issue.” The proposed <a href="https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a>, which appears to currently be in draft form, will deal with “financial institutions and other businesses that conduct economic boycotts or discriminate against certain companies or customers based on certain factors.”
The Daily Wire asked Seitz whether the bill would address the votes undertaken at the direction of Glass Lewis. His office said that the bill will &#8220;most likely&#8221; allow Glass Lewis to &#8220;electronically vote the proxies but only in accordance with instructions issued by the pension funds&#8221; with &#8220;no discretion to deviate from what the pension funds instructed them to do.&#8221;
A spokesperson for Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine told The Daily Wire that the official is monitoring legislative proposals and “waiting to see which bill will ultimately be sent” to his desk. When asked whether the bills would impact the relationship between OPERS and Glass Lewis, the spokesperson said that “it is too early to tell what will be in any final bill on this topic.”
Editor&#8217;s Note: This article has been edited to clarify Ohio Republican House Majority Leader William Seitz&#8217;s position on Glass Lewis&#8217; relationship with OPERS.

Ohio Statehouse

Ohio Retirement Fund Votes For Leftist Shareholder Resolutions At Behest Of Woke Advisory Firm

Business

Ohio

Republican

Stock Market

Wall Street

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> lawmakers asked President <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> to force a divestiture of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> to an American firm after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) concluded that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> platform poses meaningful <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/national-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national security</a> risks.
CFIUS, a board composed of nine cabinet-level officials who weigh the national security implications of international investments, recently ordered ByteDance, the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese</a> technology firm which owns TikTok, to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-orders-chinese-company-behind-tiktok-to-sell-the-platform-or-face-nationwide-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sell</a> the platform or face a nationwide ban. The agency initially concluded after a national security review in 2020 that TikTok could “impair the national security of the United States,” a revelation that nearly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-says-he-will-take-action-to-ban-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-from-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prompted</a> former President Donald Trump to ban the platform via executive order.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said in a Friday <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_implement_tiktok_executive_order.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the White House that the findings should be enforced as concerns over the platform continue to surface. “We urge you to stand up to China and enforce this directive now. Congress stands ready to support you in doing so,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, in the absence of decisive presidential action, Congress will take the steps necessary to address the national security risks presented by TikTok.”
Scott and McHenry added that the current administration “already possesses the existing authorities necessary to address the national security issues” as a result of the review.
“As public servants, we bear a profound responsibility to protect the well-being of future generations by mitigating potential hazards. In the digital realm, this entails equipping users with the knowledge required to navigate online risks,” the letter continued. “We must empower parents with the tools to effectively monitor and comprehend their child’s online activities without compromising their child’s future.”
Another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-and-democrat-senators-join-forces-in-call-for-tiktok-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> issued in March by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to force the divestment of TikTok from ByteDance. The lawmakers referenced the CFIUS requiring that Beijing Kunlun Company divest itself of the dating site Grindr and healthcare platform PatientsLikeMe under the Trump administration.
ByteDance acknowledged at the end of last year that staff members had “spied on the private data of journalists and others in order identify sources behind articles critical of the company.” The revelation confirmed an earlier <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktoks-parent-company-in-china-planned-to-use-platform-to-track-locations-of-specific-americans-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Forbes which indicated that ByteDance planned to track the location of specific American citizens.
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Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said in reference to the divestiture order imposed earlier this year, which appears to remain unenforced, that divestment would not “solve the problem” of safeguarding national security since “a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
Beyond the national security concerns, some lawmakers have drawn <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-reveals-the-details-of-platforms-massive-censorship-operation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attention</a> to the censorship practices implemented by TikTok and asserted that the company allows members of the Chinese Communist Party to access user data. Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive of TikTok, likewise insisted in his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-ceo-swears-company-is-not-an-agent-of-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testimony</a> before the House Energy and Commerce Committee two months ago that a forced sale of TikTok to an American company would not resolve the issues.
“I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party,” the executive remarked. “Divestment doesn’t address the fundamental concerns that I have heard, as a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. This is not an issue of nationality.”

TikTok

‘Stand Up To China’: Republicans Press Biden To Take Enforcement Action Against TikTok

Republicans Press Biden To Take Enforcement Action Against TikTok

Biden Administration

China

Communist China

Congress

Executive

Joe Biden

National Security

Politics

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chicago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago</a> Democratic Mayor <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/lori-lightfoot?_gl=1*zagxri*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MzU2MjUwMS4xOTEuMS4xNjgzNTc0MzM1LjU2LjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lori Lightfoot</a> contended that the landslide defeat against her reelection campaign was attributable to “right-wing forces” and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/racism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">racial bias</a>.
Lightfoot, who overwhelmingly won the city’s mayoral election four years ago but failed to advance to the runoff this year, will depart office next week. She will be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftist-chicago-mayoral-candidate-defeats-moderate-rival-will-succeed-lori-lightfoot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">succeeded</a> by Brandon Johnson, the left-wing former commissioner of Cook County, who defeated Paul Vallas, the more moderate former chief executive of Chicago Public Schools.
Lightfoot said in a Monday <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tzIaWIfBys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with MSNBC that she lost because of national political tumult that caused divisions in Chicago, which she admitted is a “deep-blue Democratic city.”
“We came up short, but I leave my office with my head held high,” she asserted. “What we, I think, taught our city and taught the country is how to operationalize equity, whether it’s historic investments in affordable housing, the environment, our youth, coming up with a public safety that wasn’t just dependent upon law enforcement first and only.”
Lawlessness nevertheless <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wake-of-destruction-the-legacy-of-chicagos-departing-mayor-lori-lightfoot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rose</a> dramatically during Lightfoot’s four-year tenure: there were 490 homicides in the Windy City as of 2019, the year in which Lightfoot assumed office, while murders soared to 772 in 2020 and 800 in 2021, marking an increase of more than 58% as nationwide Black Lives Matter protests occurred in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Lightfoot, who has a personal police unit with 71 officers assigned to protect her life, meanwhile <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-mayor-lightfoot-has-71-person-police-unit-to-protect-her-blames-trump-for-being-in-danger" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> eliminating $80 million from the Chicago Police Department budget in 2020.
MSNBC contributor Al Sharpton asked Lightfoot whether she believes her race played a role in her defeat, even though her successor is also black. Lightfoot, who has repeatedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lightfoot-out-as-mayor-says-she-was-treated-unfairly-as-a-black-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> her race and her self-identification as a lesbian when describing her defeat, claimed that the reelection strategy of former President Donald Trump relied on attacking “cities and mayors” like herself, referencing Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta and Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.
“There’s no question, Reverend Al, that there are some people in Chicago and across the country that don’t want mayors like me to succeed,” she continued. “When the person with the biggest megaphone and biggest stage attacks you in a way that Trump attacked us, it unleashes a set of forces that are hard to control. Those dog whistles that were blown in 2020 are still resonating today, and it was fed by the uncertainty and the anger, and then funded by right-wing forces that wanted to take down a big-city mayor.”
Lightfoot acknowledged that her successor is even more left-wing than herself even as she said that Republicans had conspired to end her career. “Unfortunately the people who were jumping on the bandwagon of a Republican posing like a Democrat now got a democratic socialist as the mayor, so be careful what you wish for,” she remarked.
Beyond the city’s dismal record on public safety, Chicago also has the second-highest tax burden in the nation for combined state and local sales tax rates, according to a <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/sales-tax-rates-by-city-2021/?utm_source=Tax+Foundation+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=7f2ef02e5b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_17_07_28_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_8387957ec9-7f2ef02e5b-429489705&amp;mc_cid=7f2ef02e5b&amp;mc_eid=a9b206fa6a#_ftn13" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from the Tax Foundation. Lightfoot had introduced a property tax increase but reversed the policy ahead of her reelection campaign, according to a <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/lightfoot-cancels-property-tax-hike-in-announcing-new-budget/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Illinois Policy Institute. Prominent businesses such as food processing company Tyson, airplane manufacturer Boeing, constriction manufacturer Caterpillar, and hedge fund Citadel announced their exits from the city during her tenure even as Lightfoot said on her campaign <a href="https://lightfootforchicago.com/economic-development/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> that she created “an environment that supports and sustains entrepreneurs and workers who make Chicago their home.”

Lori Lightfoot

Lori Lightfoot Blames Racism, ‘Right-Wing Forces’ For Devastating Loss In Chicago: ‘I Leave My Office With My Head Held High’

Lori Lightfoot Blames Racism, ‘Right-Wing Forces’ For Devastating Loss In Chicago

Al Sharpton

Chicago

Elections

Racial Bias

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/democratic-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democratic</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> lawmakers, including conservative firebrand Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-gaetz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Gaetz</a> (R-FL) and leftist rising star Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY), proposed a bill that would ban members of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Congress</a> from trading individual <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stocks</a>.
Several prominent lawmakers have been accused in recent years of using their intimate knowledge about forthcoming regulations or economic tumult to purchase stocks at opportune times and reduce losses by selling shares. The legislative proposal, entitled the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act, would <a href="https://fitzpatrick.house.gov/_cache/files/3/9/398bd440-0401-437f-95fc-c647be5971f9/59CA5D1EE9BEF420D6256B34A0F31A1B.fitzbr-005-xml.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibit</a> lawmakers, their spouses, and their dependents from purchasing individual stocks or derivatives.
“The fact that members of the Progressive Caucus, the Freedom Caucus, and the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, reflecting the entirety of the political spectrum, can find common ground on key issues like this should send a powerful message to America,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), another sponsor of the bill, said in a <a href="https://fitzpatrick.house.gov/2023/5/fitzpatrick-ocasio-cortez-gaetz-krishnamoorthi-introduce-the-bipartisan-restoring-faith-in-government-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “We must move forward on issues that unite us, including our firm belief that trust in government must be restored, and that members of Congress, including their dependents, must be prohibited from trading in stocks while they are serving in Congress and have access to sensitive, inside information.”
Lawmakers would still be permitted to hold assets in a qualified blind trust or the federal pension system, as well as widely held investment funds and government securities.
The act is one of several legislative proposals to introduce bans on individual stock trading by lawmakers and their relatives: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) earlier this year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-hawleys-insider-trading-bill-returns-to-congress-under-new-title-pelosi-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act, also known as the PELOSI Act, while Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) introduced a similar <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-bill-would-fine-lawmakers-hefty-sum-if-they-are-caught-trading-individual-stocks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> two months ago.
“Members of Congress are spending their time trading futures instead of securing the future of our fellow Americans. We cannot allow the Swamp to prioritize investing in stocks over investing in our country,” Gaetz said.
“When members have access to classified information, we should not be trading in the stock market on it. It’s really that simple,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Several politicians <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawmakers-made-massive-stock-trades-amid-failure-of-multiple-banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executed</a> bank stock trades over the past several weeks amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, three medium-sized financial institutions which imploded as account holders with balances greater than the insured deposit threshold rushed to withdraw their funds. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) purchased as much as $15,000 in New York Community Bancorp, the company which acquired Signature Bank, days after she met with officials regarding the failure of the firm, according to a periodic transaction <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2023/8219436.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>. The wife of Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) meanwhile purchased as much as $15,000 in Silicon Valley Bank stock and sold as much as $15,000 in both Bank of America and First Republic Bank stock, according to another periodic transaction <a href="https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/ptr-pdfs/2023/20022667.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
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As many as 97 lawmakers or their immediate family members purchased or sold assets related to their legislative committee work between 2019 and 2021, according to an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-members-stock-trading-list.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> published last year by The New York Times. Paul Pelosi, an investor and the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), as well as Elaine Chao, a Republican who served as Transportation Secretary and the wife of current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), traded individual stocks while their spouses were in leadership positions.

AOC and Gaetz

AOC And Matt Gaetz Team Up To Ban Stock Trading Among Lawmakers

Democrats and Republicans Team Up To Ban Stock Trading Among Lawmakers

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Democrat

Matt Gaetz

Nineteen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> state attorneys general asserted on Tuesday that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jp-morgan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JPMorgan Chase</a> “de-banked” organizations for their conservative and religious tendencies, calling on the nation’s largest <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial</a> institution to respect the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">viewpoints</a> of their customers.
The officials stated in a letter to the firm provided to The Daily Wire that the National Committee for Religious Freedom, a “nonpartisan, faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to defending the right of everyone in America to live one’s faith freely,” had its Chase account nixed three weeks into starting a relationship with the company and was asked to provide a list of their donors to the firm. A credit card processor owned by Chase likewise terminated the account for Family Council, a conservative organization working to strengthen traditional family values, while a firm called WePay, which is also owned by Chase, refused to serve Defense of Liberty, a Missouri-based political action committee.
JPMorgan Chase nevertheless contends that the firm remains devoted to diversity and inclusion because of its high scores on the Corporate Equality Index, an initiative from the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBTQ activism and political lobbying organization.
“To be clear, banks generally have the right to conduct their business however and with whomever they choose,” the attorneys general said in the letter. “But a bank does not have the right to mislead its customers. Chase cannot call itself ‘inclusive,’ publicize that it ‘opposes discrimination in any form,’ promise to ‘prevent discrimination’ against customers, and then refuse to commit to the most basic equality of treatment and fair dealing.”
The officials asked JPMorgan Chase to participate in the survey component of the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, an initiative from the Alliance Defending Freedom that evaluates prominent firms for their commitments to religious liberty and freedom of speech. JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/company/jpmorgan-chase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scored</a> 15% out of 100% due to “unclear or imprecise policies” which allow the bank to “deny service for arbitrary or politically biased reasons,” according to the letter.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, to whom the letter was addressed, has previously professed support for the liberties guaranteed by the United States and contended that free expression is a core component of free markets. “We live in the greatest country in the world predicated on foundational beliefs in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise, the sanctity of the individual, and the promise of equality and opportunity for all,” he said in <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Dimon%20Testimony%209-22-22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testimony</a> before the Senate Banking Committee last year.
The state attorneys general urged Dimon and his firm to act consistently with fundamental American values. “No individual or organization should have to worry that religious or political beliefs will limit access to financial services or undermine financial stability,” the letter continued. “Surely Chase’s promised inclusivity should extend to these fundamental characteristics of American identity. Accordingly, we call on Chase to stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included.”
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The financial system has been leveraged by public and private actors to oppose certain political perspectives, including those often held by conservatives. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trudeau-announces-unprecedented-action-freezing-bank-accounts-of-freedom-convoy-protesters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invoked</a> emergency powers last year to freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts of people involved with demonstrations against vaccine mandates, while PayPal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-paypal-policy-lets-company-pull-2500-from-users-accounts-if-they-promote-misinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that the firm would withdraw funds from accounts deemed to be promoting racism or misinformation, a policy that the company later claimed was published by mistake.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, Republican State Officials Say

JPMorgan Chase Repeatedly ‘De-Banked’ Conservative And Religious Groups, State Attorneys General Say

Banks

Free Speech

General

Jamie Dimon

JP Morgan

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Cash App Creator Killedss
The creator of Cash App, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tech-mogul-stabbed-to-death-in-san-francisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile payment service</a>, was stabbed to death in San Francisco yesterday morning. According to police, 43-year-old tech mogul Bob Lee was attacked in the city’s downtown Rincon Hill neighborhood around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday — and no arrests have yet been made. Elon Musk took to Twitter to condemn San Francisco for its ongoing spree of &#8220;violent crime.&#8221; He also asked San Fran’s district attorney if the city was “taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat offenders.”
Missouri Tornado Kills Multiple
Missouri officials are reporting that multiple people are dead or injured after a Tornado swept through Bollinger County, 50 miles south of St. Louis, early Wednesday morning. Sgt. Clark Parrot of the Missouri State Highway Patrol added that damage is widespread and “devastating.”
&#8220;We knew it was going to be bad, just based on what we saw roadside but just seeing aerial footage of it, it’s just heartbreaking to try to absorb it,&#8221; Parrot said. 
Kevin McCarthy Meets With President Of Taiwan
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy <a href="https://ktvz.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2023/04/05/taiwan-president-tsai-and-speaker-mccarthy-set-to-meet-in-show-of-democratic-solidarity-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met with the president of Taiwan</a> today in Southern California despite warnings from China — which called the meeting a provocation. A bipartisan group of lawmakers attended the meeting which is a show of support for the independent island and the first time the leader of Taiwan met with a House speaker on U.S. soil.  
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Results
Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Janet Protasiewicz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liberal-wisconsin-judge-wins-supreme-court-race-flips-balance-of-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">soundly defeated</a> conservative-backed candidate Dan Kelly on Tuesday in a race that was crucial for the ideological balance of the court. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo joined Afternoon Update with more:
<blockquote>Prestigiacomo: Protasiewicz, who made no apologies about her support for abortion and other liberal policies, earned about 55.5% of the vote to Kelly’s 44.5%. Protasiewicz racked up huge margins in urban areas like Milwaukee and Madison, while Kelly was unable to get the turnout he needed in more rural areas. The race, which was one of the most expensive court races in history, will likely have major impacts on policies in the Badger State, including abortion, voter integrity measures, election maps, and guns. The state’s voter ID law could even be in jeopardy as a result of Tuesday’s election, as Left-wing challenges could prevail in court.</blockquote>
Chicago Mayoral Race
In Chicago, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftist-chicago-mayoral-candidate-defeats-moderate-rival-will-succeed-lori-lightfoot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> on Tuesday as the city’s next mayor, defeating moderate rival Paul Vallos, a former Chicago Public Schools CEO. Johnson will succeed <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/lori-lightfoot">Lori Lightfoot</a>, the first incumbent Chicago mayor to lose re-election in decades.
NC Democrat Switches Parties
North Carolina State Representative Tricia Cotham has switched political parties, joining the Republican Party and giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the state legislature. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Democrats will &quot;villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgement, has solutions,&quot; says North Carolina State Rep Tricia Cotham after switching parties. 
&quot;If you don&#39;t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. They will try to cast you aside.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Jhnn1TxXjK">pic.twitter.com/Jhnn1TxXjK</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1643631031554121735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Wednesday

Wednesday Afternoon Update: Cash App Creator Killed, Deadly Tornado Hits Missouri, McCarthy Meets With President Of Taiwan

Kevin McCarthy

Missouri

North Carolina

Wisconsin

I&#8217;m not sure what I expected a CNN senior political analyst to think about America&#8217;s Democratic Republic, but it certainly wasn&#8217;t Ronald Brownstein&#8217;s revelation on Wednesday that Republican-led states have different policies than Democrat-led states.
&#8220;On so many fronts, the states w/unified Republican control of government (or veto proof legislative majorities as here) are building a nation w/in a nation,&#8221; Brownstein said. &#8220;The breadth, degree, and pace, of separation by the red states is breathtaking.&#8221;
One would be forgiven for thinking that Brownstein was commenting on a state voting to secede from the Union. He wasn&#8217;t, he was referring to North Carolina&#8217;s decision to override its governors&#8217; veto thereby repealing the requirement to obtain a  permit in order to buy a pistol.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On so many fronts, the states w/unified Republican control of government (or veto proof legislative majorities as here) are building a nation w/in a nation. The breadth, degree, and pace, of separation by the red states is breathtaking. <a href="https://t.co/peQmjH1dJj">https://t.co/peQmjH1dJj</a>
&mdash; Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonBrownstein/status/1641165927436656644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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In response, one person wrote, &#8220;It’s called federalism. And it might be the only thing that saves the republic. Not everyone wants to be Ca, NY, or DC. They kinda suck.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s called federalism. And it might be the only thing that saves the republic. Not everyone wants to be Ca, NY, or DC. They kinda suck.
&mdash; Stacey (@ScotsFyre) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScotsFyre/status/1641279169899134976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Indeed, that form of government is what allows California to do things like pass laws legalizing abortion through all nine months or potentially pass a reparations package that costs a whopping $800 billion. If that&#8217;s your cup of tea, have at it. Meanwhile, states like Texas can pass laws banning abortion as soon as there is a heartbeat while doing away with diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
That&#8217;s part of what makes America, America. Or at least it should.
The Left believes that laws should be decided from the top down and that states should have little to no control over what goes on within their boundaries.
If this sounds elementary, forgive this author, this column is really directed toward Brownstein — a two-time Pulitzer prize winner and New York Times best-selling author.
Of course, it should be noted that the &#8220;<a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1934-w-e-b-du-bois-negro-nation-within-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nation within a nation</a>&#8221; line is likely borrowed from W.E.B. Dubois, who argued that black Americans shouldn&#8217;t await a &#8220;white God&#8221; to save them and should instead become self-sufficient amongst each other, with black trade groups, churches, schools, businesses, and more.
Whether or not he meant a direct comparison to that is beside the point.
His disgust that Republican states with unified control of government would dare enact laws differently than their liberal counterparts is evident in his text.  It seems more likely that Brownstein, like so many other liberals upset at newly passed conservative policies, is angrier that conservatives are realizing that it isn&#8217;t always dangerous to wield the power that government affords them to create a society as they see fit — including one where people carry pistols without a permit.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-left-has-zero-idea-how-to-react-to-conservatives-actually-using-government-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Left Has Zero Idea How To React To Conservatives Actually Using Government Power</a>
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CNN Senior Political Analyst Shocked And Appalled Federalism Still Works

Blue States

Federalist

Media

Red States

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kentucky</a> Gov. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andy-beshear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Beshear</a> is the latest prominent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/democratic-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrat</a> to turn against his own party and the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/esg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESG</a>, amid a run for reelection in a heavily <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/republican" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> state.
Critics of the ESG movement largely align with conservatives and assert that the philosophy intermixes political and social causes in a manner that compromises or distracts from profitability. Beshear signed a <a href="https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/23rs/hb236.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> last week to require fiduciaries of the state’s retirement funds to only consider factors which have a “direct and material connection to the financial risk or financial return of an investment” rather than any “environmental, social, political, or ideological interest” without a connection to the financial realities of an asset.
Beshear, who won an upset victory four years ago in the predominantly Republican state, is presently campaigning for a second term; the general election will occur at the end of the year.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), both of whom will be on their respective ballots in primarily Republican states next year, recently voted against fellow Democrats to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/absolutely-infuriating-manchin-blasts-biden-for-vetoing-rebuke-of-esg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pass</a> a resolution scrapping a White House rule that allows retirement fiduciaries to invest in accordance with the ESG movement. President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-uses-first-veto-of-his-presidency-to-kill-rebuke-of-federal-esg-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vetoed</a> the resolution last week.
American investors are broadly skeptical of the ESG movement and desire that their funds are allocated in a politically neutral manner. An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exclusive poll</a> from The Daily Wire showed last year that 64% of respondents believe “individual investors whose savings are being invested” should decide whether funds are appropriated according to ESG standards, while a mere 20% believe that “Wall Street asset managers” should make such decisions.
Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed <a href="http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?INPUT=2862&amp;year=2023&amp;sessiontype=RS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> this week similar to the law enacted in Kentucky. Justice, a former Democrat who became a Republican six years ago, has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-has-formidable-2024-opponent-for-joe-manchin-in-mind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushed</a> as a possible contender for the Senate seat currently held by Manchin.
Republican officials in both Kentucky and West Virginia lauded the endorsement of the bills.
&#8220;Kentucky now has the strongest anti-ESG legislation in the nation,” Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. “For many years, pension investments were about maximizing returns. Recently, however, there has been a destructive shift in investment methodology to use the savings of Americans as financial muscle to push ideological causes through the ESG movement. Kentucky has said no to this shift.”
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“West Virginia is once again leading the way to protect pensioner and taxpayer dollars from woke Wall Street activists who prioritize their own political and social agendas over the best financial interests of our people,” West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore said in another statement provided to The Daily Wire. “Each year, public employees in West Virginia retire from their jobs after decades of service to our state and rely on their hard-earned state pensions to support them and their families through retirement.”
The ESG movement could emerge as a core issue in the 2024 election cycle, particularly among declared and potential Republican primary candidates. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who currently lead early polls as Republican voters’ preferred nominees, have each spoken against the totalizing investment approach, while former Strive Asset Management Executive Chairman Vivek Ramaswamy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-top-private-sector-voice-against-esg-teases-possible-presidential-run" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entered</a> the contest and placed the issue at the center of his platform.

Andy Beshear

Democrat Governor In Heavily GOP State Signs Bill To Crack Down On Woke Investments

Two States Enact Bills To Crack Down On Woke Investments

2024 Election

Economy

Kentucky

West Virginia

Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox said Sunday that placing age limit restrictions on social media use is not fool-proof.
In an interview on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-utah-governor-enforcing-social-media-laws-for-minors-isn-t-fool-proof-166858309843" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet the Press</a>,&#8221; Cox admitted that enforcing a new state law requiring a parent&#8217;s permission for a child under 18 to use social media would be tough to enforce because kids can find ways around the rules.
&#8220;We understand that there are definitely going to be enforcement issues,&#8221; Cox told host Chuck Todd. &#8220;Any time you wade into this type of an industry, it&#8217;s going to be tough. And we don&#8217;t expect that we&#8217;re going to be able to prevent every young person from getting around this. Kids are really smart. That&#8217;s one of the problems.&#8221;
&#8220;I would prefer that Congress act,&#8221; Cox continued. &#8220;That&#8217;s where this should happen, and I think it will,&#8221; he said, pointing to a <a href="https://stewart.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1166" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> authored by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) that would raise the minimum age to use social media to 16.
&#8220;[There is] broad bipartisan support,&#8221; he went on. &#8220;The president, in his State of the Union, said we need to do this. So I have President Biden, I have very conservative members of Congress working on this together. But the states have to lead out on this, and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re doing &#8230; and then that helps Congress kind of coalesce and come to an agreement on how we prevent these terrible harms from happening.&#8221;
Cox argued that the new law is necessary to protect the health and safety of children.
&#8220;We know this is killing our kids,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have to start there. The harm being done to our children far outweighs — and this started well before COVID, since 2012 — especially among young women, the rates of suicide, depression, anxiety, self-harm, have skyrocketed, and every research institution that has looked at this is pointing to social media as the cause.&#8221;
Cox signed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/utah-gov-signs-new-restrictions-on-social-media-use-for-kids-as-congress-questions-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two bills into law</a> on Thursday that would regulate children’s use of social media as lawmakers in Congress questioned TikTok&#8217;s CEO over the platform&#8217;s effect on kids and national security. The legislation, which is the first of its kind in the nation, is expected to be challenged in court by social media companies. The laws, House Bill 311 and Senate Bill 152, were passed by the Republican-controlled Utah legislature earlier this year.
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Included in the new legislation, which goes into effect in 2024, is a ban on social media use by children from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., which parents will have the liberty to adjust. Additionally, children will not show up in search results under the new law and will not be able to receive direct messages from those they are not friends with or following.
A provision in HB 311 allows children to sue for damages related to social media use. This takes aim at “addictive” features in social media, including “a $250,000 fine for social media companies which use addictive design features” and “a penalty of up to $2,500 per child exposed to an addictive feature.” For those under 16, there will be a presumption of harm unless proven otherwise, according to the Utah government.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

US President Joe Biden hosts governors and their spouses in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington

‘Kids Are Really Smart’: Utah GOP Governor Says Age Restrictions On Social Media Use Aren’t Fool-Proof

Utah Republican Governor Says Age Restrictions On Social Media Use Aren't Fool-Proof

Big Tech

Children

governor

Meet the Press

Social Media

Utah

I recently moved right smack dab into the middle of a Civil War battlefield. My new neck of the woods in West Virginia and its environs passed back and forth from the Union to the Confederacy 14 times in four years. The local citizenry by mid-war would vote to divorce from the Old Dominion, Virginia, and form a new Union state. The people by and large, according to the local histories, were not particularly ideological, mostly they just wanted the ravages of war to take place somewhere else for a little while. It is hard to avoid thinking about those times as America contemplates a new Civil War or national divorce.
One thing seems clear, this new Civil War will not be a military enterprise. There is no Mason-Dixon line to separate the combatants in our current troubles. There will be no distant battlefield shimmering above with fixed bayonets and bathed in brotherly blood below. Our battles are fought on the high ground of cable news and the endless tortuous fields of social media. Like the denizens of the Shenandoah Valley so long gone, we live our lives constantly amidst both sides. Each takes its turns with our attention.
But what are the sides in this Civil War of the mind? What is the irresistible difference between us that forms the lines of battle and its flanks? Put simply, this war is about nothing short of reality itself. For one side, that we vaguely call the Left, reality is a tabula rasa, swept clean of history’s sins. They can choose what is real and build a new society befitting those high-minded ideals. The other side, roughly the Right, are the stubborn practitioners of received reality, they see the new definitions of gender, racism, and even freedom not as an opportunity, but as a dead end.
The decades leading up to the American Civil War were an ultimately fruitless and flailing attempt at accommodation. Perhaps, the great compromisers like Henry Clay believed the nation could survive, half slave, half free, if a balance could be struck and if people could mind their own business. That, of course, was not to be.
We too have spent decades now in search of accommodation regarding the culture war, and like the AnteBellum period itself there have been some successes. On gay marriage, we have found a balance, notwithstanding a few disputes over bakers and photographers. But in other areas, especially race and gender identity, our efforts at compromise have largely failed. 
On basic questions, questions like can a man become a woman, or should people be judged by their race there can be no more compromise. Gender-neutral bathrooms cannot save us, nor can endless affirmative action or departments of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lurking in every corner of civic life. One side must be right, the other wrong, and so with memes and tweets instead of lead ball and cannon we seek to destroy the other side. 
In 1994, the celebrated Civil War historian Shelby Foote spoke about the great compromise on how we look back at that seminal conflict. “It consists of southerners admitting, freely, that it&#8217;s probably best the Union wasn’t divided, and the north admits, rather freely, that the south fought bravely for a cause in which it believed,” he said. But he says something else, something vital. This compromise, according to Foote, took a century to obtain, it took that long for tempers to cool. Thirty years later that “great compromise” has completely collapsed along with countless Confederate statues.
It seems to me that the great historical compromise over the actual Civil War is not an analogy for the compromises we have sought and failed to find in our new cultural Civil War, but that it is, in fact, the self same compromise. At bottom, the compromise is the belief that those with whom one so adamantly disagrees, are also acting in good faith. Sadly, but for good reasons, we are a long, long way from that. And so, the animosity and hurtful rhetoric, the fiery fusillade crashing into every faction will only increase in its virtual noise and smoke.
Today as I wander the twisting byways of my new West Virginia home, the rattle and hum and historical churn of the city is replaced by the almost audible sound of marching soldiers on a landscape not much changed. By the end of the war, the men and boys marched home to the Shenandoah Valley, some from the north, some from the south, some not at all. I see the shadow of clouds pass on mountaintops, and I wonder where our Appomattox Courthouse is to be found. 
Civil war is one of those terms that you don’t want to say out loud too often lest you manifest it — it has that kind of power. But facts are facts. In almost every way short of martial engagement we are a society at war with itself, in definitional battles over reality, over science and education, over the very nature of what America is, of what being an American is.
Shelby Foote said that the great American genius was for compromise, but he was quick to note it doesn’t always work. And so we are at the beginning not near the end of this Civil War of the Mind, the fighting will continue. And only one version of reality can win.
David Marcus is a West Virginia based columnist and author of &#8220;Charade: The Covid Lies That Crushed A Nation&#8221;
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Antietam’s 150th

America’s Civil War Of The Mind

Civil War

Leftists

Readers Pass

Social Issues

An 87-year-old New Jersey state senator who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/87-year-old-new-jersey-state-senator-says-he-is-leaving-gop-to-become-a-democrat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ditched the Republican Party</a> now says he won&#8217;t seek re-election this year.
Two weeks after saying he would become a Democrat because GOP leaders &#8220;abandoned&#8221; him while he pursued another term, state Sen. Samuel Thompson <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/thompson-wont-seek-re-election-after-party-switch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the New Jersey Globe</a> he wants to turn his attention to home.
“I have decided I’m not going to run for re-election,” Thompson said. &#8220;My priority should be my wife. She’s 91, and she’s had two falls in the last year and has trouble getting around. We are celebrating our 66th anniversary on Thursday. I owe her my full attention.&#8221;
Thompson made headlines earlier this month when he rebelled against the Republican Party after Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry, 63, <a href="https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/02/nj-senate-12th-distrcit-owen-henry-sam-thompson/69860352007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced he would compete</a> against him in the June GOP primary for New Jersey&#8217;s 12th legislative district.
The four-term state senator claimed ageism was to blame as GOP leaders signaled they were interested in a fresh face.
Some Democrats welcomed Thompson into their ranks, including <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/murphy-welcomes-thompson-to-the-democratic-party-but-doesnt-endorse-him/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Governor Phil Murphy</a>, and Thompson claimed they had even &#8220;pledged to support my re-election.”
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Despite the party swap, Thompson insisted that he would not change his voting habits. “I am not a liberal; I’d put myself as a moderate conservative,” <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/how-is-trenton-reacting-to-sam-thompsons-party-switch-cautiously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thompson said</a>, <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/how-is-trenton-reacting-to-sam-thompsons-party-switch-cautiously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per the New Jersey Globe</a>.
But with a candidate petition filing <a href="https://nj.gov/state/elections/vote.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deadline on March 27</a>, Thompson indicated that he wants to give Democrats the chance to come up with an alternative contender in his heavily Republican district.
“I wanted to make my announcement now so that my party has time to find another candidate,&#8221; he said.

NJ Capitol rotunda

87-Year-Old New Jersey State Senator Gives Up On Re-Election After Bailing On GOP

New Jersey

MSNBC host <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/joy-reid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joy Reid</a> delivered a monologue on Wednesday claiming that Republicans are so afraid of progress that they actually hate the 20th century and everything it stood for.
Arguing that Republicans were desperate to plot a course &#8220;setting back the clock&#8221; on things like abortion and keeping pornographic materials out of the hands of elementary-school-aged children, Reid said that the obvious conclusion was that Republicans simply hated the 20th century.
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JOY REID: &quot;Republicans really hate the 20th Century. From setting back the clock on women&#39;s reproductive rights, to&#8230;their zeal for banning books.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/MsoquX1ByT">pic.twitter.com/MsoquX1ByT</a>
&mdash; Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1628559062227877889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Republicans really hate the 20th century,&#8221; Reid announced, throwing up her hands for emphasis.
&#8220;From setting back the clock on women&#8217;s reproductive rights, to trying to ban the mere act of learning about black history and the Civil Rights movement, to their zeal for banning books about anything related to the advancements of the last century,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Books by black authors, and gay authors, and any book questioning their rose-colored view of America&#8217;s distant past.&#8221;
&#8220;In fact, it is quite clear why they don&#8217;t want you to read a book,&#8221; Reid declared. &#8220;Because if you did, you&#8217;d know how the future they want is a return to the frequently very unpleasant history that they don&#8217;t want you to learn.&#8221;
What Reid did not mention was that Republicans had not made efforts to ban certain books outright — but rather, had objected to <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/oklahoma-lawmaker-proposes-bill-that-would-let-parents-ban-sexually-explicit-books-from-public-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certain volumes</a> being placed in libraries at schools where young children might have access to them before they reached an appropriate age. There also has been no broad movement in Republican circles to ban broad swaths of books by black or gay authors, despite Reid&#8217;s claim to the contrary.
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She also claimed that Republicans objected to schools <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/black-florida-democrat-sides-with-ron-desantis-on-ap-african-american-history-course-i-think-its-trash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teaching black history</a> and the history of the Civil Rights movement — when the opposition from the Republican Party and from parents across the country has primarily been to lesson plans that adopt the tenets of <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/debunking-critical-race-theory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Critical Race Theory</a> and promote teaching through an ideological lens rather than an objective one.

Los Angeles Red Carpet Premiere Event For Hulu’s “The 1619 Project” – Arrivals

Joy Reid Delivers Wild Rant Claiming Republicans Hate The 20th Century

Joy Reid

MSNBC

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