A conservative U.S. senator, an MS NOW panel, a rising star in the Democratic Party, and a host of local GOP politicians publicly spoke out against a comment from the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner on Sunday.
"Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized?" asked Texas Sen. John Cornyn. "This is how great political parties self-destruct."
The comment in question came from Bo French, who shared a picture of what appears to be a screenshot of celebrating students at a Texas Longhorns football game.
"I heard UT graduation this year looked like this," Bo French wrote on X. "I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined."
French later replied to Cornyn's condemnation by doubling down on his race-based rhetoric.
JOHNSON: It's a new, creative idea. The president debuted it at the convention. We have had zero time, of course, to process that, deliberate, discuss it. As you know, I got to build consensus every day on everything. But we applaud the president for thinking outside the box.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Please pretend that I’m running. If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER: And joining me now is the Republican Speaker of the House, Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Speaker Johnson, welcome back to Meet The Press.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Hey, Kristen, great to be with you as always.
KRISTEN WELKER: It’s great to have you this Sunday after the Republican convention this past week. And I want to start right there at the convention. President Trump made a promise that he would send $5,000 to every American if Republicans hold onto the House and the Senate. Is that a plan you support, Mr. Speaker?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Well, look, what the president was doing is reminding the American people of our extraordinary record of success. And the fact that they have more money in their pockets under Republican control of Congress and the White House. I mean, look at it. Under the — this regime and under this presidency and our Republican majorities, we’ve given the largest tax cut in U.S. history, wages are going up. In my state of Louisiana, I’m there this morning in my home state. And the average Louisianan has over $2,900 more in their pocket they did not have to send in in their taxes. And the average take home pay has increased nearly $8,000 for every taxpayer. 97% of filers got a tax refund this year. And that’s all because of our policy. So elections have consequences. What the president is brainstorming about is ways to further incentivize and grow the economy and make sure that Americans keep more of their hard-earned dollars. So that’s an idea, a new one, an idea that we’ll process through Congress and talk through and debate and discuss. But we’re going to continue on this pace of an incredible record of achievement, also in addition to the economy of course.
KRISTEN WELKER: Yeah.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I mean, we talked about at the convention highlighting all the great wins. And listen, this is real statistics. You know that we have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years. We have the lowest level of illegal border crossing in over a century. We have the biggest decline in drug costs, prescription drugs, in over 60 years. And of course we gave the largest middle and working families tax cut in U.S. history, more wages, more jobs, more on-shoring of American manufacturing. And that was a lot of fun to tout at the convention and draw people’s attention to it because we have a contrast election coming up here on November 3rd.
KRISTEN WELKER: Mr. Speaker, I hear you saying wages are going up. It’s worth noting wages went up 3.1%, inflation 3.4%, so not keeping pace with inflation. But to my question, do you support sending $5,000 to every American citizen if Republicans hold on to the House and Senate?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Like every idea that the president comes up with, he’s a great idea generator. We’re going to process that in Congress and figure it all out. But I’ll tell you that the trend will continue. And what the president is trying to emphasize there is that the American people want to continue on the pace we’re on, which is more economic growth, expanding the pathway out of poverty for more people, providing more jobs and higher wages. We need to stay on track and continue with these big ideas. He’s the big idea’s president. We’re going to try to implement everything we can.
KRISTEN WELKER: Mr. Speaker, I want to read for you something that Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said about these $5,000 checks. She wrote, quote, “Tax and spending decisions should be made based on the needs of the American people and the state of the economy. They should not appear to be tied to election results.” The president said that these checks are contingent on election results. Is this an attempt to buy votes?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: No, of course not. Remember the Democrats who are making that claim are the same ones who gave out COVID checks and all sorts of stimulus checks and everything else —
KRISTEN WELKER: Well, she’s a Republican.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: It’s not an unprecedented —
KRISTEN WELKER: Susan Collins is a Republican —
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: You know, the president is not —
KRISTEN WELKER: Susan Collins is a Republican —
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Yeah, I understand that. I understand. Sure — sure, but that’s right. And so is the president. He’s the lead Republican in the country. And what he is articulating there is the obvious truth that you have more money in your pockets with Republicans in control than with Democrats. And at the same time, we are cutting government spending and doing it responsibility. Remember in the Big Beautiful Bill, the working families’ tax cut, we also cut $1.6 trillion in wasteful government spending. So it’s about prioritizing spending and making sure that hard-working families can keep more of what they earn. And we’re going to look at every ingenious idea on how to make that happen. And it’ll all be part of the process.
KRISTEN WELKER: Mr. Speaker, since you took office though, inflation is up, gas prices are up. Estimates show tariffs have cost American households nearly $2,000 so far. I know you’re saying Americans have more money in their pockets. But as you well know, many Americans say they just don’t feel that. Is there a disconnect there in terms of what you’re saying, what Americans are feeling?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: No, I mean, we have to consider all of the facts of course. But remember that when President Trump took over, the economy was in shambles. I mean, we reached a 40-year high of inflation under Biden and Harris, 9.1%. At this stage, in President Biden’s presidency, it was about 8.3% inflation. Right now it’s 3.4% under President Trump. Now that’s too high, of course. But we are the team that has the policies in place to continue to bring that down. The inflation is tied right now, as we all know, to the Strait of Hormuz and the fact that commerce there is not reopened and stabilized as much as it should be. But we all believe and the president’s working around the clock that that will come to a resolution here very soon. And I think it’s going to be a combination of our allied nations, our, our friends in NATO and other Arab states in the region over there in that Gulf region who will come together to help make sure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open so that that stabilizes gas and fuel prices —
KRISTEN WELKER: We’re going to get —
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: – and brings down costs overall. I think that’s the next phase.
KRISTEN WELKER: We’re going to get to Iran. It is worth noting inflation was at 3.0% when President Biden left office. It’s now at 3.4%. but let’s talk about the price tag. Because there’s been a lot of discussion about that. The checks would cost the government an estimated $1.2 trillion. I want to pay for you something that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said about how this plan would impact the nation’s already $40 trillion debt. Take a look.
[BEGIN TAPE]
GOV. RON DESANTIS:
What I don’t think you want to do is borrow another million — trillion and a half dollars and then just try to flood that into the economy. Because that will lead to more inflation. That will lead to more debt and more inflation.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER: In the past, you have called the national debt the largest threat facing the country. Why would you want to add to the debt, Mr. Speaker?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I don’t want to add to the debt, Kristen, and I guess we’re going to spend the whole segment talking about this one issue when there’s so many other things —
KRISTEN WELKER: No, we’re going to get to other issues —
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: – I want to talk about what we’ve actually done and not ideas on the table. Okay well I’d love to but let me just say, no we don’t want to add to the debt. But if you look at what Commerce Secretary Lutnick said in the last 48 hours or so and what the president himself has said, this is not to add to anything. It’s not going to take taxpayer funds. We’re not going to get further in debt if this idea was implemented. This would be in the president’s mind and the way he analogized it like a dividend check for shareholders. That’s how he thinks of it. If a corporation does well, everybody gets the benefit of that. And he thinks of it this way. They’re talking about the new, you know, tariff revenue and other revenues coming into the country. He said at the convention, you know, trillions of dollars are coming into the country since he took office because of the new trades, that things are more advantageous for America. And he wanted — he wants to make sure the American people feel the good effect of it. So again, we’ve got to process it like every idea. We’ll work that through Congress. But you and I are wasting a lot of time this morning when there’s other important things to talk about.
KRISTEN WELKER: Oh — well, you still haven’t answered the question. Let me just button it up. We’re going to move on to a number of other topics. But do you commit that if Republicans hold onto the House and Senate that Americans will get those $5,000 checks?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that like they have to do everything else. We have a small margin in this Congress. We’ve had smallest — almost smallest in history, one or two vote margin on every given day. So it takes some time. I never go out and give– give big commitments on the front end because I’ve got to work through it. And that’s what we do every single day.
KRISTEN WELKER: President Trump promised that to voters though. You’re not willing to double down on that promise?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I’ll work with the president hand-in-hand as I do all the time. And we’ll deliver for the American people. That’s the promise.
Johnson brought up Lutnick. Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick thinks Trump’s $5,000 midterm bribe can be paid for with funds from the so-called “Trump Platinum Card,” which hasn’t even been launched yet.
Lutnick shared this ridiculous idea with NBC News on Thursday.
“Together we’re going to deliver that plan and we’re going to pay that money to the Americans, and not from taxpayer money.... We have a waitlist of more than 100,000 people who want to come,” he said, referring to the Platinum Card applicants. “That’s $500 billion.”
The Platinum Card is a $15,000 application and $5 million donation to the government for extremely wealthy immigrants looking to expedite their citizenship process. The program would allow applicants to live in the U.S. for nearly the entire year without paying taxes on foreign income.
Johnson was willing to talk about Lutnick's ridiculous idea but Johnson refused to promise $5,000 to every American. They tried, Tapper and Welker on two different programs today to pin him down on the 'pledge'/'promise' and he wouldn't commit to it. On CNN's THIS MORNING, Rene Marsh spoke with Erik Wasson:
MARSH: Well, we will see. Monday is right around the corner. Let's bring in Bloomberg congressional reporter Erik Wasson. Erik, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us.
I mean, let's start there with Mitch McConnell. What are you hearing about the possibility that he returns to the Senate tomorrow after this three-months absence? And honestly, if he does not show up, what's the practical impact here?
ERIK WASSON, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: You know, I'm not -- don't have any recent intel on this. He has been gone for about 80 days. You know, certainly he's facing serious health issues. It's certainly possible he'll come back.
But, you know, the Senate is really not doing too much of great import. They're going to be working on nominations, trying to clear more of those Trump backed judges and other nominees, but not really planning to enact any of the major promises, including the $5,000 checks that, you know, President Trump mentioned could be coming. The Republicans control both Houses of Congress, but they're not acting on that.
[. . .]
MARSH: All right. Let's turn to the midterm sprint, because that is where their focus is. We are about seven weeks out from the election. What's the messaging that voters are going to expect to hear from Democrats versus the messaging from the Republicans in the time we have left?
WASSON: You know, we have a good piece on Bloomberg now looking at Trump's promises at the convention. He talked about those $5,000 checks. But, you know, Republicans that I talked to are divided. That would add $1.3 trillion to the debt.
They're also talking about other things like passing the Save America Act, this voter id act. But all that requires nuking the Senate filibuster. They don't have the votes for that.
They don't have the votes for it. This was also addressed on ABC's THIS WEEK:
And late Friday, new concern about prices going up even further. Saudi Arabia shutting down a pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz after repeated attacks by the Houthis.
Trump facing near record low approval ratings and well aware the cost of living is a top issue for voters, making an unprecedented offer -- to pay every American $5,000 if Republicans win both chambers of Congress.
TRUMP: Five thousand dollars for every adult citizen in our country.
BRUCE (voice-over): He did not say how he would come up with the roughly $1.3 trillion he'd need to pay every American adult, or how that would even work.
Democrats say that the president's pitch is nothing more than a stunt.
REP. ROBERT GARCIA, (D) CALIFORNIA: The dividend is not happening. He promised a dividend on tariffs. That didn't happen. He promised a dividend on DOGE. That didn't happen.
BRUCE (voice-over): Some Republicans pushing back on the idea.
Maine Senator Susan Collins calling it extraordinarily costly, adding, tax and spending decisions should not appear to be tied to election results.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune sounding skeptical.
DANA BASH, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Would you have enough votes to pass a $5,000 dividend to every American?
SEN. JOHN THUNE, (R) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, that's a good question, Dana, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks to Mary Bruce for that. We're joined now by the House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Leader, thank you for coming in this morning.
I want to talk about the convention in a second, but let's start with A.I. and these remarkable warnings we're getting this week. I know you met with President Obama and talked about this issue earlier this week. What will Dem -- what do Democrats think need to be done right now?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D-NY) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Well, we certainly need to begin to act urgently to address the challenges that exist. And unfortunately, Republicans have abandoned their responsibility.
So, under Speaker Mike Johnson, he killed a bipartisan task force this Congress that was prepared to do the serious work necessary to try to erect the guardrails to protect the health, the safety, the well-being of the American people.
STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, let's turn to the midterm convention, the president's $5,000 promise. If Democrats take control next year, is that dead on arrival?
JEFFRIES: Well, listen, it wasn't a serious proposal that was presented by Donald Trump. He's broken every promise that he's presented. Donald Trump promised to actually lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down. They've gone up.
Donald Trump promised not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them, and then turned around and did the exact opposite in Iran.
Donald Trump even promised to love and cherish Medicaid and then enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
As Democrats, we're going to focus on aggressively driving down the high cost of living and fighting for an affordable America, because the cost of living in this country is way too high. Republicans have made the situation worse. Democrats are going to act aggressively.
President Donald Trump guaranteed that his $5,000 checks to all Americans are “100%” going forward if Republicans win the midterms and that he knows “exactly” how he’ll pay for it.
Trump met with reporters on the tarmac in Shannon, Ireland, when he was asked when he first came up with the idea.
“A while ago,” Trump said. “And that’s going forward. The $5,000 checks are going forward. And that’s because we’re taking in so much money in so different ways, including the tariffs.”
For decades, secretaries of defense have largely sought to insulate the military from the country’s divisive culture wars.
Pete Hegseth, more than any of his predecessors, has taken the opposite approach, bringing those fights directly into the Pentagon.
There have been purges of senior military officers on a scale unlike anything in the modern history of the department. There have been new restrictions on where officers can study and what thoughts they can express in academic papers. There have been widespread polygraphs aimed at ferreting out leakers or intimidating those tempted to share sensitive information.
The turmoil comes at a moment when the extended war with Iran has caused a series of cascading strains on the force. Long deployments have sapped the morale of sailors. Shortfalls of critical missile interceptors have raised troubling questions about the military’s ability to outlast Iran and fight a conflict in another part of the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, urged a U.K. court to lift the secrecy around a reported order from the U.K. government that Apple create a secret backdoor in its products to allow surveillance.
Wyden and Davidson urged the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which oversees government surveillance in the UK, to allow more transparency in the matter, in a letter sent today.
“The U.K. government’s unprecedented demands for secrecy in this matter undermine democratic governance in both the United States and the U.K., and needlessly strain the relationship between our two nations,” Wyden and Davidson wrote.
In their letter, Wyden and Davidson revealed that Apple informed Congress that it is challenging the U.K. government’s authority to issue surveillance directives and that it was denied permission to discuss the issue in detail with both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. Apple informed congressional staff that the U.K. government granted the company permission to brief the U.S. Attorney General, the Vice President and key staffers, but blocked the company from discussing the issue in detail with Congress.
The U.K. has reportedly sought to weaken security features of Apple’s iCloud service, which stores private messages, passwords, photos and other files, since last year. While the U.K. government’s first order would have impacted American Apple users, it reportedly revised its request in response to pushback from the U.S. government, including a letter by Wyden and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., that warned of the risks to privacy and national security.
The full scope of the current request is unknown, both to the public and members of Congress, due to secrecy mandated by the U.K. government.
Wyden and Davidson echoed a warning from the prior Director of National Intelligence that secretly undermining encryption would leave individual Americans and our country at risk of hacks.
“Weakening encryption in consumer software introduces critical vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hostile foreign actors,” the lawmakers wrote. “Congress cannot fulfill its constitutional duty to evaluate and mitigate these national security threats if foreign non-disclosure orders are weaponized to prevent U.S. technology companies from answering inquiries from duly elected lawmakers.”
Wyden and Biggs previously urged the Investigative Powers Tribunal to provide more transparency about its surveillance orders, which observers have credited with influencing the court to release more information about its proceedings last year.
The full letter is available here.
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