All posts tagged: Republicans

Charlie Kirk Was Shot a Year Ago. The Conspiracy Theories Are More Rampant Than Ever

Charlie Kirk Was Shot a Year Ago. The Conspiracy Theories Are More Rampant Than Ever

Published by Miika Tikkanen

In the days after the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point cofounder Charlie Kirk, the online reaction was a mess. Graphic videos of the shooting were everywhere within minutes of his death, far-right figures called for violence and vengeance, and right-wing lawmakers and influencers called for the cancellation—and worse—of anyone celebrating. Then, the conspiracy theories began. It’s been one year since Kirk’s death, and conspiracy theories about the shooting have persisted, supercharged by social media algorithms and right-wing influencers like Candace Owens, who has used her huge following to push baseless allegations about the incident. Experts believe these conspiracy theories will continue for a long time to come. “There’s no reason to believe conspiracy theories about Kirk’s murder will lose steam anytime soon,” Jared Holt, senior researcher at Open Measures, tells WIRED. “If anything, I expect them to escalate further as the criminal trial against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Kirk, plays out over the next year or so. The trial is bound to draw major media attention and offer conspiracy theorists …

Missouri Republicans are trying to repeal abortion rights by leaning into anti-trans sentiment

Missouri Republicans are trying to repeal abortion rights by leaning into anti-trans sentiment

Published by Sam Flores

Two years ago, abortion opponents in Missouri tried to defeat Amendment 3, a ballot initiative to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution, by falsely telling voters that it would allow gender transition surgeries for minors — even though it wouldn’t. Voters approved Amendment 3 anyway, overturning the near-total abortion ban enacted by Missouri’s GOP-dominated legislature that had taken effect after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now Republican leaders in the state are trying to repeal those rights again, using the same issue. They placed a new amendment on the November ballot, also called Amendment 3, that would restore Missouri’s abortion ban while allowing limited exceptions but also constitutionally prohibit gender transition care for minors — though the state has banned surgeries and new prescriptions of puberty blockers and hormones by law since August 2023. For the Missouri GOP, Election Day can often seem like Groundhog Day. The party holds a supermajority in the legislature and controls every statewide office, yet voters have repeatedly used the initiative petition process to …

Florida Republicans did what Mike Johnson is too partisan to do — they showed disgraced Rep. Cory Mills the door

Florida Republicans did what Mike Johnson is too partisan to do — they showed disgraced Rep. Cory Mills the door

Published by Sam Flores

On Tuesday evening, Florida Republicans in the 7th district did something that House Speaker Mike Johnson so far has refused to do: they booted Rep. Cory Mills. Mills lost to former news anchor Ryan Elijah. This came after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Mills for allegedly violating campaign finance laws, misusing congressional resources and engaging in sexual misconduct or dating violence. Last year, a judge hit Mills with a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting an ex-partner after she claimed that Mills threatened to leak nude videos and images to blackmail her. Over time, he had become a liability and Republicans feared he could cost them the seat in hyper-Republican Florida. Tellingly, despite President Donald Trump having endorsed Mills back in February, he did not support Mills publicly before the primary. The day after, though, Trump claimed he told Mills to step aside. “I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen. He thought he could win, so who can …

From ‘terror threat’ to ‘civilizational threat,’ top Republicans escalate anti-Muslim rhetoric

From ‘terror threat’ to ‘civilizational threat,’ top Republicans escalate anti-Muslim rhetoric

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Within 24 hours of Abdul El-Sayed becoming Michigan’s Senate Democratic nominee, the candidate faced an onslaught of attacks. But instead of critiquing his policy positions or campaign promises, the comments focused on his background and Muslim faith, framing the epidemiologist-turned-political candidate as a danger to the country. Sitting in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump referred to him as a “jihadist.” The National Republican Senatorial Committee published a digital advertisement referring to El-Sayed by his full name and labeling him a “radical.” And Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who once championed the separation of church and state, published a post on X insisting every “Muslim holding public office in America is a Trojan horse and a threat to both national security and our republic.”  El-Sayed has deflected the attacks, saying the GOP is resorting to Islamophobia “because their ideas are tired.” “I’ve been Abdul in Michigan my whole life,” he told MS Now. “I’m so grateful for the way Michiganders have embraced me and my family, and I know that Michiganders are …

Contributor: Do Republicans realize they’re doing socialism out in the open?

Contributor: Do Republicans realize they’re doing socialism out in the open?

Published by Sam Flores

The Democratic Socialists of America released their platform last month, and let’s give them credit for candor. They want public ownership of large corporations, the abolition of police and prisons, a defunded Pentagon and open borders. Conservatives read that document and saw the future they have been warning American voters about: the government seizing the commanding heights of the economy and becoming owner rather than referee. Their alarm is warranted. The socialist program would be a catastrophe. So, here’s an awkward question: Why is a Republican administration quietly doing the public ownership of businesses part on its own? Last week, the Commerce Department announced that letters of intent have been signed to provide federal incentives to seven more companies under the CHIPS program. Each letter of intent is conditioned on the government taking an equity stake. By a Cato Institute count, that brings the federal corporate portfolio to roughly 30 firms. A year ago, these deals looked like improvisation — one-offs stitched together under pressure with President Trump’s fluid negotiating style. Now, the department announces …

McCarthy: Pelosi would ‘yell’ at Republicans that they ‘shouldn’t be in the room’

McCarthy: Pelosi would ‘yell’ at Republicans that they ‘shouldn’t be in the room’

Published by Sam Flores

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Wednesday that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) treated Republicans poorly, recalling that she would sometimes “yell” at GOP lawmakers. Speaking on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” while discussing a graphic comparing how conservatives and liberals perceive one another, McCarthy agreed with the sentiment that most liberals view conservatives as… Source link

Republicans want a Smithsonian that skips history’s hard parts

Republicans want a Smithsonian that skips history’s hard parts

Published by Sam Flores

Your chances of running into a marketer at a neighborhood bar are slim but never zero. Given the remote-capable nature of the work and the continued growth of their economic sector, marketers have spread across the U.S., making the most of their relatively high salaries by moving away from the more expensive coastal centers of industry. By and large, they’re lovely people. But I live in fear of the moment when the conversation takes that dreaded turn toward the last redoubt of small talk: What do you do? Posed with that question, any halfway enthusiastic marketer is likely to let loose a litany of acronyms and jargon that cause a physiological response in listeners, or at least in me — a glazing over of the eyes that is instant and unavoidable. As with Microsoft Outlook, the board game CATAN and the rules of hurling, there’s something there I can’t bring myself to grasp, a Lovecraftian boredom that lies just beyond the borders of what I can perceive.    I’m not one of those rubes who thinks …

Republicans urge Justice Department to investigate Jack Smith

Republicans urge Justice Department to investigate Jack Smith

Published by Sam Flores

Former special counsel Jack Smith leaves on Jan. 22 after testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Trump. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images House Republicans are urging the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith, alleging that Smith made false statements last year about his effort to gather phone records of lawmakers. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, wrote DOJ late Wednesday to argue that Smith “seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements” when he answered questions under oath last December. The criminal referral of Smith marks yet another step in a campaign by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to pursue people who once investigated Trump. The Justice Department already has attempted to initiate criminal cases against former FBI Director Jim Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Smith has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire on social media. “Justice at last???” Trump posted in the early morning …

Republicans eye Arizona comeback in Hobbs-Biggs governor match-up: Primary takeaways

Republicans eye Arizona comeback in Hobbs-Biggs governor match-up: Primary takeaways

Published by Sam Flores

Arizona voters teed up a slew of competitive races Tuesday as Republicans look to take back control of the Grand Canyon State’s executive branch in November.    Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who’s considered the most endangered gubernatorial incumbent this cycle, will face off against Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), a House Freedom Caucus member backed by President Trump.  Democrats also currently hold Arizona’s attorney general and secretary of state posts in the battleground… Source link