Category: Politics

Veteran: DOD Withholds Documents on Whether DEI Hiring Improves National Security

The Center Square
James Fitzpatrick

The U.S. Department of Defense is under scrutiny for refusing to release records about exactly how spending on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion helps with national security.

The Center to Advance Security in America in May filed with the DOD a Freedom of Information Act Request, the legal pathway to obtain government documents. The FOIA sought to find out what DOD officials estimate is the real impact on national security of DEI spending, for which Congress approved $86.5 million in fiscal year 2023.

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Youngkin Declares ‘Virginia Is Competitive’ for Trump Campaign Despite Biden-Harris Swap

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump

Governor Glenn Youngkin said on Wednesday that Virginia remains competitive for former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) despite President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been credited with making up ground lost under Biden.

Youngkin made the remarks during an appearance on The Brian Kilmeade Show, initially acknowledging the recent poll results that showed Harris narrowly leading Trump within the survey’s margin of error.

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Commentary: Law Enforcement Collapse Masks Rising Crime Rates

RealClearWire
Criminals smashing a window

Law enforcement in the United States has collapsed. Americans in many parts of the country see that products at CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart stores are behind plexiglass, that you must call a clerk to unlock the glass and then wait while you read and examine the different packages. People know these companies have no choice. Americans know that crime is rising, but the true collapse in law enforcement, particularly in large cities, is without precedent.

A Gallup survey last November showed that 92 percent of Republicans and even 58 percent of Democrats believed that crime was rising. In a series of surveys from March 2023 to April 2024, Rasmussen Reports finds a remarkably constant percentage of Americans who believe that violent crime is getting worse – 60 percent to 61 percent. Roughly four times as many people think violent crime is rising rather than getting better.

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Bill That Would Give Illegal Immigrants up to $150,000 to Buy Homes Heads to Gavin Newsom’s Desk

Daily Caller News Foundation
Illegal Migrants

A bill passed by the California state legislature on Wednesday that would make some illegal immigrants in California eligible for generous cash assistance to buy homes has been sent to the desk for consideration of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to Politico.

Under AB 1840, illegal immigrants with social security or taxpayer-identification numbers would qualify for a program called California Dream for All that gives first-time home buyers up to $150,000, with recipients only having to pay interest if they sell the property, Politico reported. Newsom has declined to comment on whether or not he will sign the bill after some moderate Democrats joined Republicans in the California Senate in an attempt to block the legislation.

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Canada Officials Express Alarm About Terrorism Threats and Its Impact on U.S-Canada Border.

The Center Square
Illegal immigrants arrested at U.S.-Canada Border

In addition to members of Congress expressing alarm about national security threats at the U.S.-Canada border, members of the Conservative Party of Canada are blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for being responsible for creating them.

A Canadian House of Commons hearing was held Wednesday to investigate how the Trudeau government granted citizenship to a member of ISIS who allegedly plotted a terrorist attack against Canadians.

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‘Further Away than It’s Ever Been’: Vast Majority of U.S. Adults Believe the American Dream Is Dead, Poll Shows

Daily Caller News Foundation
Home Buyer

Only about a third of U.S. adults believe the American dream is still alive, a Wall Street Journal / NORC poll published Wednesday found.

A survey of 2,501 people conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute twelve years ago found more than half of respondents believed the American dream “still holds true,” but now only a third feel that way, according to a recent WSJ/NORC poll of 1,502 adults. The study also found an increasingly large gap between people’s economic goals and what they think is actually attainable — a trend that was consistent across gender and party lines, but was especially common amongst younger generations.

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Analysis: Kamala Harris Hasn’t Promised to Build a Border Wall

Virginia Star Staff
Kamala Harris at Border Wall

In an article titled “Harris Flip-Flops on Building the Border Wall,” Axios is reporting that Kamala Harris is suddenly pledging to “spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the wall along the southern border.”

That claim is demonstrably false and is based on a misrepresentation of the Senate Border Act of 2024, which has been repeatedly misportrayed as a “tough” border bill.

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At Least Nine States Have Pro-Abortion Ballot Measures for November, with Some Facing Lawsuits

Just the News

At least nine states will have pro-abortion constitutional amendment proposals on ballots in November, during a presidential election with high voter turnout, with some states facing lawsuits from conservatives and pro-life groups.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the question of abortion legalization back to the states, some states are facing ballot measures over whether to ensure that abortion is codified in state constitutions.

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Biden Admin Pushed Group to Cut Trans Surgery Age Requirements, Faces Probe

The Center Square
Transgender

A U.S. House Committee has launched a probe of the Biden-Harris administration after reports that the White House pressured the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, a leading professional nonprofit association, to remove the age limits for transgender surgeries and drugs for minors.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., chair of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra opening the probe, which requests all documentation and communication around the alleged “political interference” and whether HHS has pressured other medical groups to alter its guidance.

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Eugene Vindman Accused of ‘Dodging Simple Questions’ over ‘Inflating Military Resume’ in Virginia U.S. House Race

Tom Pappert
Eugene Vindman

Derrick Anderson, the Republican U.S. House candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional district, said on Tuesday that his Democratic opponent is “dodging simple questions” about whether he exaggerated or inflated the sum of his military experience while on the campaign trail.

The Vindman campaign is currently the subject of a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint over its reliance on an outside group to provide a response for questions about the candidate’s military experience.

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Commentary: The Legacy of California’s Political Impact on America

American Greatness
Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsome

California has finally arrived. A female former California attorney general and U.S. senator is at the top of the Democrat presidential ticket. This is the culmination of generations of California politicians who have heavily influenced American politics and culture and are now, once again, on the verge of taking the top political office in the Free World.

“California is having a moment,” said Don Sipple, a California political strategist. To be more accurate, on a nationwide political basis, California has been having a lot of moments for decades.

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‘Totally Failed:’ Pelosi Admitted in Secret Video She Should Have Sought National Guard for January 6

Just the News
Nancy Pelosi in front of January 6 protesters (composite image)

As she fled the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear she did not want to evacuate the building and expressed regret that the National Guard had not been pre-positioned to protect Congress ahead of the contentious certification of the 2020 election results, according to video footage turned over this week to House Republican investigators and obtained by Just the News.

“We’re calling the National Guard now?  They should have been here to start out,” Pelosi can be heard saying as she flees through a tunnel under the Capitol on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, as her daughter Alexandra videotaped her for an eventual HBO movie.

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Tim Walz Has a History of Rubbing Elbows with Nonprofit Linked to Chinese Intel and Influence Agency

Daily Caller News Foundation
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has a long history of attending events organized by members of a nonprofit with connections to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence and intelligence agency, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Since 2018, Walz has attended multiple events hosted by members of the Chinese American Association of Minnesota (CAAM) and related organizations, including one 2022 fundraiser for his gubernatorial campaign, according to a DCNF review of dozens of Chinese government announcements, Chinese-language news reports and social media posts.

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Commentary: Biden-Harris Admin Uses Loopholes to Expand Welfare Benefits, Again

Virginia Star Staff
Family using a Tablet

It seems reasonable that a program designed to assist those with low incomes should go only to low-income households. But the Biden-Harris administration is using a dubious mechanism to get around that expectation in a program designed to help low-income families pay for broadband internet service.

Congress created the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide broadband internet assistance to low-income households.

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Biden-Harris Admin Rapidly ‘Trump-Proofing’ DOJ as Election Looms

Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden-Harris administration has deployed a little-known hiring mechanism to staff key divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) ahead of the 2024 election, according to documents provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT).

Hundreds of people, primarily lawyers and judges, have been appointed to the Environmental and Natural Resources (ENRD) and Antitrust and Immigration Review divisions of the DOJ using its “Schedule A” hiring authority since President Joe Biden took office, documents shared with the DCNF by PPT show. Schedule A hiring does not require appointments to be made on the basis of merit and appointments do not expire at the end of the current president’s term, meaning these bureaucrats will stick around even if former President Donald Trump takes office in 2025, according to the Office of Budget and Management.

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Georgia Democrats, DNC Sue State Election Board, Warn New Rules Could Block Final Vote Certification

Just the News
Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath in front of the Georgia State Capitol Building (composite image)

Georgia Democrats have sued the state Election Board, arguing new measures implemented by the agency regarding the election-certification process are illegal.

According to the lawsuit filed Monday in state court, local election officials are now able to “hunt for purported election irregularities of any kind, potentially delaying certification and displacing longstanding (and court-supervised) processes for addressing fraud.”

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Kamala Harris Used to Think Border Wall Was ‘Un-American,’ but Now She Supports It

Daily Caller News Foundation
Kamala Harris in front of wall at the US Southern Border (composite image)

Vice President Kamala Harris has reversed her position on spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build a wall along the southern border, Axios reported Tuesday.

Harris is now in favor of building a wall after being attacked repeatedly by former President Donald Trump for presiding over an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration to the U.S. as the Biden administration’s unofficial “border czar,” according to Axios. Prior to her second run for the presidency, Harris had called the border wall “un-American,” a “stupid waste of money” and Trump’s “medieval vanity project.”

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Commentary: The Democrats’ Mixed Messages

American Greatness
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the DNC

Bearing my cross like the good book counsels us to do, I watched most of the Democratic National Convention last week. Reflecting the party as a whole, it was a mélange of mixed messages.

Back in 2020, the party’s leaders intervened during the primary in order to stop a Bernie Sanders’ victory. Right before Super Tuesday, they rallied around Joe Biden, the excuse being that he could win because he was a likable moderate from Pennsylvania.

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Commentary: Kamala Harris Has a Problem on Her Hands Heading into November

Daily Caller News Foundation
Kamala Harris

When Florida was hit with severe storms and Hurricane Ian in 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris demanded that “communities of color” must be first in line for aid and that assistance should be prioritized “in a way that is about giving resources based on equity.”

She has repeatedly made similar claims, differentiating “equity” from equality, stating that “not everyone starts in the same place.”

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Trump Announces Agreement on ABC Debate Rules

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed that he agreed to debate rules from ABC News ahead of his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris next month. The debate will take place on Sept. 10, in Philadelphia. It will be moderated by ABC News’ “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis and will be the first debate between Trump and Harris. The first presidential debate in May was between Trump and President Joe Biden.

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Analysis: 12 Percent of Bernie Sanders’ Supporters Backed Donald Trump in 2016; Predictions for Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Supporters in 2024

Virginia Star Staff
RFK supporters

Around 12 percent of Bernie Sanders’ supporters 13.2 million in the 2016 Democratic Party primary against Hillary Clinton ended up supporting former President Donald Trump in the general election, or almost 1.6 million, according to the Guide to the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey released by Harvard University in Aug. 2017.

That included 9 percent of Sanders’ 570,000 Wisconsin supporters, or 51,300, 8 percent of his 590,000 Michigan supporters, or 47,200, and 16 percent of his 732,000 Pennsylvania supporters, or 117,120.

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Anti-Trump PAC ‘Lincoln Project’ Funnels Millions of Donor Dollars to Firms Owned by Insiders

Daily Caller News Foundation
Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson, Trump Event

Roughly one-third of the funds spent by the Lincoln Project, a PAC founded by ex-Republican political consultants with the aim of stopping former President Donald Trump, this election cycle has gone to firms controlled by its senior operatives, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.

The Lincoln Project has spent $12.8 million since January 2023, and just over $4 million of that has gone to firms owned by members of its leadership, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of FEC records. Fox Business in 2021 reported that more than half of the $90 million the Lincoln Project had raised for the 2020 election was paid out to firms owned by leaders.

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Judge in Arizona ‘Fake Elector’ Case Sets Trial Date for 2026

Just the News

Arizona Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen on Monday set the trial date in the “fake electors” case, which saw charges brought against multiple allies of former President Donald Trump, for January 5, 2026.

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Professors Sue to Overturn Florida’s New Post-Tenure Review Law

The College Fix
Law professor Steven Willis

Three Florida professors have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2023 state law subjecting public university faculty to mandatory post-tenure review every five years.

The scholars argue the law “imperils academic freedom” and enables the Florida legislature to “usurp the exclusive powers and duties” of the state university system’s Board of Governors granted to it by Florida’s constitution.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Kamala Harris Likely to Tap Matthew Graves for Attorney General

Julie Kelly
US Attorney Matthew Graves

Democrats ended their four-day convention on Thursday with a vacuous speech by the party’s installed candidate, Kamala Harris. Her short stint on the main stage made the regime media, which has blessed her with 84 percent positive news coverage since the Pelosi coup according to one analysis, drunk with joy. Harris,…

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Commentary: ‘ZuckBucks’ Heads to Rural America in 2024

Daily Caller News Foundation

Money always finds a way. In the years following the 2020 election, dozens of states managed to ban private funding of elections. But even though Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly promised not to pour more of his money into your local election office, this year, the “Zuckbucks” team is recommitted to spreading cash wherever they legally can.

Recall that in late 2020, Zuckerberg directed his charitable arm to pass $350 million through an obscure nonprofit called the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) to fund large and small election offices around the nation. Some politically important counties received millions of dollars while others did not. As of today, 28 states have since banned the practice. Despite the bans, the CTCL’s work continues. In fact, the bans guide cash along new paths of least resistance.

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Commentary: Teacher Fired after Alleged Jan. 6 Involvement Wins Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

The College Fix
Allentown School District

A Pennsylvania teacher who was fired for allegedly attending the U.S. Capitol “insurrection” on January 6, 2021, has won a wrongful termination lawsuit after a two-week trial.

Jason Moorehead, a 17-year veteran social studies instructor in the Allentown School District, had always maintained he was “at all times over a mile away” at the Washington Monument when the riot occurred.

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Trump Can Now Deploy Ex-Democrat ‘Power Rangers’ RFK Jr., Musk and Gabbard to Prod Bigger Exodus

Just the News

When Robert F Kennedy Jr. formally divorced the party his family once ruled as kingmakers, he opened the door for more Democrats to follow suit in embracing Donald Trump in 2024 and creating a “unity party” where Americans can disagree and debate without destroying each other.

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Report Challenges Harris’ Assertion That Higher Food Prices Equal Corporate Greed

The Center Square
Grocery Shopping

Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report.

Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.

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RFK Jr’s Family Slams Trump Endorsement as ‘Betrayal’

Daily Caller News Foundation
RFK Trump Rally

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family condemned his endorsement of former President Donald Trump in a joint statement on Friday.

Kennedy announced that he is suspending his campaign and threw his support behind the Republican frontrunner during a speech in Phoenix, Arizona after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, previously alluded to the candidates joining forces. In response, his family posted a joint statement calling the decision a “sad ending to a sad story.”

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Virginia Democrat Who Sparked First Trump Impeachment Faces FEC Complaint over Response to ‘Stolen Valor’ Question

Tom Pappert
Eugene Vindman

Retired Army Col. Yevegny “Eugene” Vindman, the Democrat nominee for Virginia’s 7th Congressional district, on Thursday was confirmed to be the recipient of a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint over an alleged improper contribution from a political organization that supports his candidacy.

Vindman’s twin brother Alexander is the man who overheard the phone call between former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to the first attempt to impeach Trump. Vindman reportedly took the information about the call from his brother and made a report to White House lawyers.

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Red State Schools Reluctant to Follow Mandate Requiring Bibles Be Taught in Classrooms

Daily Caller News Foundation

Oklahoma school districts have not changed their curriculum despite a mandate requiring the Bible to be taught during the 2024-2025 school year, according to the New York Times.

Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters mandated in June that all schools are required to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in the upcoming school year. The school districts in Oklahoma have been slow implementing the mandate, as some teachers stated that there has been no direction, the NYT reported.

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Judge Finds RFK Jr. Can Bring Censorship Lawsuit Against Biden Admin After Supreme Court Rejects States’ Challenge

Daily Caller News Foundation
RFK Jr. in a courtroom (composite image)

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can continue to pursue his censorship lawsuit against the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that state and individual plaintiffs who alleged the Biden administration violated their First Amendment rights when it pressured social media companies to suppress speech did not have standing to sue. District Court Judge Terry Doughty found Kennedy meets the standard set by the Supreme Court because there is “ample evidence” to show he has been censored in the past at the direction of government actors and “substantial risk” that the censorship will continue.

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Ex-Gov. Terry McAuliffe Disputes Virginia Poll Showing Trump Tied with Harris, Argues Federal Employee Turnout Pivotal

Tom Pappert
Terry McAuliffe

Former Governor Terry McAuliffe on Thursday disputed the results of a Virginia poll that showed former President Donald Trump statistically tied with Vice President Kamala Harris in the commonwealth, raising allegations about the pollster’s credibility and claims its data was skewed, before arguing federal workers would turnout in sufficient numbers to propel the Harris-Walz ticket to victory.

McAuliffe claimed the pollster who released the Tuesday survey showing Trump and Harris statistically tied, with the Democrat leading the former president by just 3 percent, “has never had a poll that’s been correct in their life,” according to The Washington Times.

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Commentary: The Left Is ‘Destroying Democracy in Darkness’

American Greatness
United States Capitol building at night

The 2023-2024 campaign season is not just the strangest on record, it’s also arguably the most anti-democratic.

Ostensibly, the Democratic Party has claimed over the last decade that Donald Trump posed a continued and existential threat to the republic.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton Launches Probe of Groups Allegedly Registering Non-Citizens to Vote

Just the News
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Wednesday that his office has launched an investigation into organizations allegedly registering non-citizens to vote.

The AG’s Election Integrity Unit found that multiple nonprofit organizations have opened booths outside Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License offices to assist with voter registration. U.S. citizens have the opportunity to register to vote at the offices when they are being issued or renewing their driver’s license or identification card.

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Hunter Biden’s Former Partner Placed Under Investigation by Chinese Government, Resigned from Fund

Just the News
Hunter Biden

The one-time business partner of Hunter Biden resigned from his role at the head of a major investment fund earlier this month after he was placed under investigation by the Chinese authorities for “personal problems.”

Zhao Xuejun—who Biden and his other business associates referred to as Henry—was the Chairman of Harvest Fund Management, one of the largest asset managers in China. The investigation of Zhao is suspected to stem from Beijing’s wider crackdown on the securities sector.

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DHS Watchdog Says Border Patrol Did Not ‘Thoroughly’ Plan for Risks in CBP One Program

Just the News
US CBP Agent with migrants

Some of the issues the investigation found included the functionality of the application, the sufficiency of the program’s language translations, and the “equity of appointment distribution.” This meant users experienced frequent crashes of the system, error messages, and language barriers.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General on Wednesday revealed that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not adequately prepare for the risks that came with its latest immigration program.

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Harris Formally Accepts Democratic Nomination for President After Biden Passes Torch

Just the News

Vice President Kamala Harris officially became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee on the final day of the party’s convention on Thursday night following President Joe Biden’s withdraw from the race a little over one month ago in an unprecedented turn of events.

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Secret Service Agents Placed on Leave After Trump Assassination Attempt

RealClearWire

Three weeks ago, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe angrily pushed back on senators’ calls to immediately fire or discipline key agents directly responsible for the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at last month’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Since that time, Secret Service leaders have placed several members of the Pittsburgh Field Office on administrative leave, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.

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Walz Promises Harris Will Help Middle Class in DNC Speech

The Center Square

Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz leaned heavily into his Midwestern roots in his speech that wrapped up the third night of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, painting the Harris-Walz ticket as pro-middle class, pro-freedom, and pro-neighborliness.

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