Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough lit into President Donald Trump for “playing the racist card” and lining up with “some of the most abhorrent regimes in the 20th century.”
“This last week, let’s just be really blunt about it, it’s why Republicans are scared of him right now. It’s been race. He’s been playing the racist card. He said, ‘I’m a nationalist.’ David Duke comes out the next day saying, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much for finally admitting that you’re a white nationalist.’ Then you have even some Republican back-benchers that are linking George Soros and these anti-Semitic threads to the caravan. You’ve got Fox News talking about smallpox and leprosy coming up,” Scarborough stated.
“I’m sorry. I won’t say specifically what regime this is out of, but go back and read your history books and look at some of the most abhorrent regimes in the 20th century,” he continued. “Might as well be certain countries talking about gypsies. It lines up historically exactly with what certain countries were talking about when they were talking about gypsies and Jews. Mika, that doesn’t play well in Peoria. That doesn’t play well in suburban Virginia. That doesn’t even play well in western Iowa. That’s why you have Republicans now distancing themselves from Donald Trump going to Pittsburgh, and the head of the NRCC distancing himself from a Republican who basically has identified with white nationalism in western Iowa, Steve King now, for far too long.”
Scarborough concluded that Trump’s presidency “is like Charlottesville every day,” a reference to the white nationalist rally in 2017 that turned violent.
Mexican authorities arrested two Hondurans who allegedly shot at federal police officers escorting the migrant caravan across the southern state of Chiapas. The attack follows shortly after government warnings about Molotov cocktail attacks around a second caravan near the border with Guatemala.
The attack took place near Ignacio Zaragoza, Chiapas, when members of Mexico’s Federal Police were escorting the migrant caravan as part of “Operativo Caminante” or “Operation Walker” across the southern border state. According to Mexico’s Interior Secretariat, two men identified only as 22-year-old “Jerson” and 17-year-old “Carlos” spotted the group of police officers guarding the caravan and began firing at them.
The attackers’ pistol jammed, allowing police officers to arrest them without any injuries. Federal authorities seized a .380 caliber Glock with nine rounds still in the magazine.
500 DAYS: In his first 500 days in office, President Donald J. Trump has achieved results domestically and internationally for the American people.
Since taking office, President Trump has strengthened American leadership, security, prosperity, and accountability.
After 500 days, the results are clear: the American economy is stronger, American workers are experiencing more opportunities, confidence is soaring, and business is booming.
President Trump has re-asserted American leadership on the world stage, secured vital investments in our military, and stood up against threats to our national security.
President Trump has put the American people first and made government more accountable.
AMERICA’S ECONOMY IS STRONGER: The American economy is stronger today and American workers are better off thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth agenda.
Nearly 3 million jobs have been created since President Trump took office.
304,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since President Trump took office, and manufacturing employment stands at its highest level since December 2008.
337,000 construction jobs have been created since President Trump took office, and construction employment stands at its highest level since June 2008.
Under President Trump, the unemployment rate has dropped to 3.8, the lowest rate since April 2000, and job openings have reached 6.6 million, the highest level recorded.
67 percent of Americans believe now is a good time to find a quality job, according to Gallup.
Only under President Trump have more than 50 percent of Americans believed it is a good time to find a quality job since Gallup began asking the question 17 years ago.
President Trump prioritized job training and workforce development to empower workers to seize more opportunities, signing an Executive Order to expand apprenticeship opportunities.
President Trump has restored confidence in the American economy, with confidence among both consumers and businesses reaching historic highs.
Consumer confidence in current conditions has reached a 17-year high, according to the Conference Board.
Optimism among manufacturers has hit record highs under President Trump, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.
Small business optimism has sustained record-high levels under President Trump according to the National Federation of Independent Business.
President Trump signed the historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, cutting taxes for American families and making American business more competitive.
American families received $3.2 trillion in gross tax cuts and saw the child tax credit double.
The top corporate tax rate was lowered from 35 percent to 21 percent so American businesses could be more competitive.
President Trump has rolled back unnecessary job-killing regulations beyond expectations.
In 2017, President Trump far exceeded his promise to eliminate regulations at a two-to-one ratio, issuing 22 deregulatory actions for every new regulatory action.
The Administration rolled back rules and regulations harming farmers and energy producers, such as the Waters of the United States Rule and the Clean Power Plan.
Regional and community banks and credit unions got relief after President Trump signed legislation reducing harmful requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act.
Since taking office, President Trump has advanced free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals that protect American workers, ending decades of destructive trade policies.
Days after taking office, the President withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and agreement.
President Trump’s Administration is working to defend American intellectual property from China’s unfair practices through a range of actions.
The President improved the KORUS trade agreement with the Republic of Korea, which will allow more U.S. automobile exports to South Korea with lower tariffs and increase U.S. pharmaceutical access to South Korea.
American agriculture has gained access to new markets under President Trump.
AMERICA IS WINNING ON THE WORLD STAGE: President Trump has re-asserted American leadership on the world stage and is achieving results for the American people.
President Trump followed through on his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
President Trump ordered an end to United States participation in the horrible Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
The President has taken action to confront aggression by Iran and its proxies.
The Department of the Treasury has issued a range of sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
Under President Trump, the United States has led an unprecedented global campaign to achieve the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
President Trump’s leadership has contributed to the return of 17 Americans held overseas.
In May 2018 alone, Venezuela released one American and North Korea released three Americans who came home to the United States.
The President has secured historic increases in defense funding in order to rebuild our Nation’s military with the resources they need, after years of harmful sequester.
President Trump signed legislation to provide $700 billion in defense spending for fiscal year (FY) 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.
The United States has worked with international allies to decimate ISIS.
President Trump ordered strikes against Syria in response to the regime’s use of chemical weapons in April 2017 and April 2018.
The Trump Administration has imposed a range of sanctions on the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, including sanctions targeting Maduro and other senior government officials.
AMERICA’S COMMUNITIES ARE SAFER AND MORE SECURE: President Trump has worked to secure our borders, enforce our immigration laws, and protect the safety and security of American communities.
Despite limited resources and obstruction from Congress, President Trump has worked to take control of our border and enforce our immigration laws.
President Trump has called on Congress to provide the resources needed to secure our borders and close loopholes that prevent immigration laws from being fully enforced.
President Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure our borders.
President Trump’s Administration has carried out immigration enforcement efforts based on the rule of law.
From the start of President Trump’s Administration to the end of FY 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made 110,568 arrests of illegal aliens.
Arrests made in this timeframe represented a 42 percent increase from the same timeframe in FY 2016.
Of the 110,568 arrests made, 92 percent had a criminal conviction, pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive, or had a reinstated final order of removal.
President Trump has made clear that his Administration will continue to combat the threat of MS-13 in order to protect communities from the horrendous violence the gang has spread.
In 2017, the Department of Justice worked with partners in Central America to file criminal charges against more than 4,000 members of MS-13.
The Trump Administration has cracked down on the import and distribution of illegal drugs in order to stop them from reaching our communities and causing even more devastation.
As of April 2018, U.S. Border Patrol has seized 284 pounds of fentanyl in FY 2018, already surpassing the total of 181 pounds seized in FY 2017.
The President has launched a nationwide effort to fight the opioid crisis, which has devastated communities across America.
The President’s Opioid Initiative seeks to reduce drug demand, cut off the flow of illicit drugs, and save lives by expanding treatment opportunities.
President Trump signed an omnibus spending bill which provides nearly $4 billion to address the opioid epidemic.
The bill included $1 billion for grants focused on the hardest hit States and Tribes and provided funding for a public-private research partnership on pain and addiction.
AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT IS MORE ACCOUNTABLE: Since taking office, President Trump has worked to ensure government is more accountable to the American people.
President Trump has confirmed the most circuit court judges of any President in their first year, and secured Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court.
President Trump has signed legislation to bring more accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and provide our veterans with more choice in the care they receive.
President Trump signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, improving processes for addressing misconduct.
President Trump signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act into law, authorizing $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program.
President Trump successfully eliminated the penalty for Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate.
The President’s Administration is seeking to provide more affordable health coverage and broader access to affordable alternatives to Obamacare plans.
President Trump has released a blueprint to lower drug prices for Americans.
President Trump has ensured that the religious liberties and conscience of Americans are protected and respected by the Federal government.
President Trump signed an Executive Order to protect the free speech and religious liberties of groups such as the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The Department of Justice issued guidance to all executive agencies on protecting religious liberty in federal programs.
Democrats and phony Republicans want us to believe it is not happening.
An undocumented Mexican immigrant who lived for years in a rural San Antonio suburb pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of fraud and identity theft, admitting he used a stolen identity to vote in several elections.
Enrique Salazar Ortiz, 63, would not tell federal agents how many times he had voted using the name of former San Antonio resident Jesse H. Vargas Jr., but Salazar did admit casting a ballot in the 2016 general election, according to the plea agreement.
But Bexar County records show a man with Vargas’ name and date of birth voted in every general election for the past 24 years, county elections administrator Jacque Callanen said Thursday.
“He’s been voting since at least 1994,” Callanen said. “Vargas” also voted in the 2008 Democratic primary, she said.
Vargas, now 57, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but a relative said that he hasn’t lived in Bexar County since he was in his teens, when his family moved to California. Vargas now lives in Arizona and told federal agents that he did not know Salazar nor give permission to use his name and date of birth, according to court documents.
Salazar’s lawyer, assistant federal public defender Molly Roth, said her client worked in construction, is married and has a daughter. Both his wife and daughter are U.S. citizens, she said.
Salazar’s scheme was discovered by the State Department when he mailed an application in December 2016 to renew a passport he had been using over the prior 10 years, court documents say. A fraud prevention manager referred the application to the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service because the Social Security number being used had been issued later in life, which is unusual, a criminal complaint affidavit said.
During the investigation, agents determined there were two people with the same name and date of birth but with different appearances, including the real Vargas, who had previously lived in San Antonio.
The agents raided Salazar’s home in Elmendorf on Aug. 24, 2017, and arrested him. Salazar told them he bought a U.S. birth certificate with Vargas’ identifying information on it for $20 and had used the identity ever since.
Salazar’s plea deal said Salazar admitted that he used Vargas’ information to get a passport in 2006 and used it to travel several times.
“When asked if he had ever voted, at first Mr. Salazar Ortiz was hesitant to answer, but when confronted with voting records, he indicated that he voted in the most recent election” on Nov. 8, 2016, the plea deal said.
The plea agreement said the voting records also showed Salazar had registered to vote multiple times.
In federal court Thursday, Salazar pleaded guilty to making a false statement in a passport application, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison; unlawful voting by an alien, punishable by up to one year in jail; and aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two years incarceration on top of any other charges.
As part of the deal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Moore will dismiss two other charges, including false representation of U.S. citizenship and being an alien in unlawful possession of a firearm.
Salazar told U.S. District Judge Fred Biery that he was born in Veracruz, Mexico and did not have legal documents to be in the United States.
Biery asked Salazar if he knew what he was doing was illegal.
“Unfortunately, yes, I knew it was,” Salazar replied.
Biery set sentencing for Jan. 24.
Have any of these bastards condemned the Left-Wing nuts that have attacked conservatives?
MILWAUKEE/MOSINEE, Wis. (Reuters) – The undercurrent of rage that has been driving U.S. politics for the past few years surfaced on Wednesday in a series of suspected bombs sent to prominent U.S. Democrats and the news outlet CNN less than two weeks before congressional elections.
None of the devices went off and no injuries were reported, but a number of top Democrats were quick to label the threats a symptom of a coarsening brand of political rhetoric promoted by President Donald Trump, who also condemned the acts.
Police intercepted six suspected bombs sent to targets including Trump’s 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama and prominent political donor George Soros. Law enforcement agencies were investigating.
During his presidential campaign, Trump regularly urged his supporters to chant “Lock her up,” a threat to jail Clinton, and supported conspiracy theories that Soros plays an underhanded role in influencing U.S. politics. Trump has also disparaged the mainstream media and criticized CNN as “fake news.”
At a political rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, Trump sought to project a message of unity, pledging to find those responsible for the suspected bombs and calling on Americans to come together.
“You see how nice I’m behaving tonight? Have you ever seen this?” he asked the crowd in Mosinee, Wisconsin. “We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way.”
Democrats were having none of it, saying the Republican president had little credibility to act as a unifying figure.
“President Trump’s words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier in the day.
“For years now, Donald Trump has been calling for the jailing of his critics and has lauded violence against journalists,” said U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat. “The danger of right-wing extremism cannot be ignored and more attention must be paid to it before even worse violence occurs.”
Politicians from both major parties have made condemning the harsh tone of politics part of their everyday stump speeches.
Republicans have criticized Democrats and liberal activists as a “mob,” decrying protesters crowding the U.S. Capitol to oppose Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and confronting and chastising Republican lawmakers in restaurants and other settings. Scenes of small-scale violence also marked Trump’s 2017 inauguration.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found rising anger would be a factor driving voters on the Nov. 6 elections when Democrats are seeking to regain control of at least one of the two chambers of Congress.
HEATED TONE
Trump sometimes invokes images of violence in remarks to his supporters. Last week, he reiterated his support for a Montana congressman who body-slammed a reporter in 2017. In August, Trump warned that if Democrats gained control of Congress, they would “quickly and violently” overturn his agenda.
Last year, he said there were bad people on both sides of a clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters.
Some of the people who received suspicious packages, including Obama, Clinton and former Attorney General Eric Holder, have been targeted by online groups such as QAnon that push vast conspiracy theories saying Democrats are behind international crime rings.
Posts on online message boards dismissed the cluster of suspected bombs as a “false flag,” an allegation that a widely covered news event was a politically motivated hoax.
Paul Achter, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Richmond, said Trump’s frequently violent tone increased the likelihood of violent actions.
“Verbal abuse has consequences,” Achter said. “Just because Trump did not send a bomb or beat up a reporter or shoot up a newsroom doesn’t excuse this kind of speech.”
But Republican U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, who was wounded last year by a gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers during a baseball practice, said it was a mistake for Democrats to criticize Trump for the suspected bombs.
Two more suspicious packages found – FBI
“I think it was important that the President did come out with a statement the way he did – strongly,” Scalise said in a statement. “I heard silence a lot of times, when Republicans were under attack, from Democrat leaders. We all should be calling this out, whether a Republican or Democrat is under attack.”
How in the HELL is this the USA’s problem. Close the damn border and send their asses back to the hell hole they came from.
CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AP) — Despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border, a growing throng of Central American migrants resumed their advance toward the U.S. border early Sunday in southern Mexico.
Their numbers swelled to about 5,000 overnight and at first light they set out walking toward the Mexican town of Tapachula, 10 abreast in a line stretching approximately a mile.
This Is A Damn Invasion.
Kate Linthicum
✔@katelinthicum
I’m only just realizing the massive scale of this caravan as they march north into Mexico. It’s several thousand people. Just look.
Despite Mexican efforts to stop them at the border, a growing caravan of Central American migrants on Sunday resumed their advance towards the US border in southern Mexico.
Their numbers swelled to about 5,000 overnight and at first light they set out walking.
It was not immediately clear where the additional travelers had materialized from since about 2,000 gathered on the Mexican side Saturday night. They seemed likely to be people who had been waiting on the bridge over the Suchiate River or in the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and who decided to cross during the night.
At dawn there were still an estimated 1,500 migrants on the Guatemalan side hoping to enter legally.
They marched on through Mexico like a rag tag army of the poor, shouting triumphantly slogans like “Si se pudo!” or “Yes, we could!”
As they passed through Mexican villages on the outskirts of Ciudad Hidalgo, they drew applause, cheers and donations of food and clothing from Mexicans.
Maria Teresa Orellana, a resident of the neighborhood of Lorenzo handed out free sandals to the migrants as they passed. “It’s solidarity,” she said. “They’re our brothers.”
Olivin Castellanos, 58, a truck driver and mason from Villanueva, Honduras, said he took a raft across the river after Mexico blocked the bridge. “No one will stop us, only God,” he said. “We knocked down the door and we continue walking.” He wants to reach the U.S. to work. “I can do this,” he said, pointing to the asphalt under his feet. “I’ve made highways.”
The migrants, who said they gave up trying to enter Mexico legally because the asylum application process was too slow, gathered Saturday at a park in the border city of Ciudad Hidalgo. They voted by a show of hands to continue north en masse, then marched to the bridge crossing the Suchiate River and urged those still on it to come join them.
The decision to re-form the migrant caravan capped a day in which Mexican authorities again refused mass entry to migrants on the bridge, instead accepting small groups for asylum processing and giving out 45-day visitor permits to some. Authorities handed out numbers for people to be processed in a strategy seen before at U.S. border posts when dealing with large numbers of migrants.
But many became impatient and circumventing the border gate, crossing the river on rafts, by swimming or by wading in full view of the hundreds of Mexican police manning the blockade on the bridge. Some paid locals the equivalent of $1.25 to ferry them across the muddy waters. They were not detained on reaching the Mexican bank.
Sairy Bueso, a 24-year old Honduran mother of two, was another migrant who abandoned the bridge and crossed into Mexico via the river. She clutched her 2-year-old daughter Dayani, who had recently had a heart operation, as she got off a raft.
“The girl suffered greatly because of all the people crowded” on the bridge, Bueso said. “There are risks that we must take for the good of our children.”
In addition to those who crossed the river, immigration agents processed migrants in small groups and then bused them to an open-air, metal-roof fairground in Tapachula, where the Red Cross set up small blue tents on the concrete floor.
Mexico’s Interior Department said it had received 640 refugee requests by Hondurans at the border crossing. It released photos of migrants getting off buses at a shelter and receiving food and medical attention.
At least half a dozen migrants fainted in the crush.
Some tore open a fence on the Guatemala side of the bridge and threw two young children, perhaps age 6 or 7, and their mother into the muddy waters about 40 feet below. They were rafted to safety in on the Mexican bank.
Mexican workers handed food and bottled water to the migrants on the bridge. Through the bars, a doctor gave medical attention to a woman who feared her young son was running a fever.
Sustenance also came from Guatemalan locals — for Carlos Martinez, a 24-year-old from Santa Barbara, Honduras, the plate of chicken with rice was the first bite to eat he’d had all day.
“It is a blessing that they have given us food,” Martinez said. “It gives me courage to keep waiting, as long as I can.”
Migrants cited widespread poverty and gang violence in Honduras, one of the world’s deadliest nations by homicide rate, as their reasons for joining the caravan.
Juan Carlos Mercado, 20, from Santa Barbara, Honduras, says corruption and a lack of jobs in Honduras has stymied him. “We just want to move ahead with our lives,” he said Sunday. He said he’d do any kind of work.
The caravan elicited a series of angry tweets and warnings from Trump early in the week, but Mexico’s initial handling of the migrants at its southern border seemed to have satisfied him more recently.
“So as of this moment, I thank Mexico,” Trump said Friday at an event in Scottsdale, Arizona. “I hope they continue. But as of this moment, I thank Mexico. If that doesn’t work out, we’re calling up the military — not the Guard.”
“They’re not coming into this country,” Trump added.
“The Mexican Government is fully engaged in finding a solution that encourages safe, secure, and orderly migration,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Saturday, “and both the United States and Mexico continue to work with Central American governments to address the economic, security, and governance drivers of illegal immigration.”
After an emergency meeting in Guatemala, presidents Hernandez of Honduras and Jimmy Morales of Guatemala said an estimated 5,400 migrants had entered Guatemala since the caravan was announced a week ago, and about 2,000 Hondurans have returned voluntarily.
Morales said a Honduran migrant died in the town of Villa Nueva, 20 miles from Guatemala City, when he fell from a truck.
