t an event intended to tout economic policies that would usher in what his campaign calls a “new age of American industrialism”, Donald Trump spent as much time discussing personal grievances and blaming immigrants for everything from fentanyl overdoses to crime and taking Americans’ jobs as he did discussing the economy.
“This is a speech on economic development but this is a big part of economic development,” the former president said of immigration at a speech in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday.
[. . .]
Trump then became sidetracked with immigration, questioning Kamala Harris’s intelligence and patriotism, and reliving an assassination attempt in July in Pennsylvania and another scare in Florida earlier this month.
Trump claimed it had been more than luck that saved his life the day he was grazed by an assassin’s bullet.
“People say: ‘It was God, and God came down and saved you because he wants you to bring America back,’” Trump said as the crowd began to chant “USA!”
The Vice President: And we all know how we got here. When Donald Trump was president, he hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court — the court of Thurgood and RBG — with the intention that they would overturn the protections of Roe v. Wade. And as he intended, they did.
And now more than 20 states have Trump abortion bans — extremists that have passed laws that criminalize health care providers, doctors and nurses, and punish women. In two states of those states, they provide for prison for life — prison for life for health care providers for simply providing reproductive care, the care they so earnestly and rightly believe must be delivered. All Trump abortion bans.
And think about this: Many of these bans make no exception even for rape and incest.
Now, many of you know I started my career as a prosecutor specializing in crimes of violence against women and children. What many of you may not know is why.
So, when I was in high school, my best friend, I learned, was being molested by her stepfather. And I said to her, “Look, you’ve got to come and stay with us.” I called my mother. She said, “Of course she does.” And she came and she stayed with us.
And so, I made the decision early in my life that I wanted to do the work that was about protecting the most vulnerable among us and doing the work that was about giving them dignity in the process.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And so — well, thank everybody here for being here, standing in solidarity around the importance of that. (Applause.)
And so, I say to you, then, from that experience and from the work that I’ve done, the idea that someone who survives a crime of violence to their body — a violation of their body — would not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next, that’s immoral. That’s immoral.
And let us agree, and I know we do: One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do. (Applause.)
If she chooses — if she chooses, she will talk with her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her imam. But it should not be the government or Donald Trump telling her what to do with her body. (Applause.)
And think about it — the stories that Dr. Reddick shares with us, the stories we heard last night, the stories we’ve been hearing for two years.
One in three women in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban. This includes Georgia and every state in the South except Virginia.
Think about that when you also combine that with what we know has been long-standing neglect around an issue like maternal mortality. Think about that when you compound that with what has been long-standing neglect of women in communities with a lack of the adequate resources they need for health care — prenatal, during their pregnancy, postpartum. Think about that.
And these hypocrites want to start talking about “this is in the best interest of women and children.” (Applause.) Well, where you been? Where you been — (applause) — when it comes to taking care of the women and children of America? Where you been?
How dare they? How dare they? Come on.
And — and we understand the impact of these bans and the horrific reality that women and families — their husbands, their partners, their parents, their children are facing as a consequence every single day.
Since Roe was overturned, I have met women who were refused care during a miscarriage — wanted to have a child, suffering a miscarriage. I met a woma- — a woman — I’ve actually met several who were turned away from the emergency room. One, at early stages after the Dobbs decision came down, told me with tears — she was with her husband — about how only when she developed ses- — sepsis did she receive emergency care. Only when she developed sepsis did she receive emergency care.
And now we know that at least two women — and those are only the stories we know — here in the state of Georgia died — died because of a Trump abortion ban.
One — and we heard about her story last night — a vibrant, 28-year-old young woman. She was ambitious. You know, we — I talked with her mother and her sisters about her, and they described such an extraordinary life of a person. She was excited. She was working hard. She was a medical assistant. She was going to nursing school, raising her six-year-old son.
She was really proud that she had finally worked so hard that she gained the independence. Her family was telling me that she was able to get an apartment in a gated community with a pool for her son to play in. She was so proud, and she was headed to nursing school.
And her name — and we will speak her name —
AUDIENCE: Yes.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Amber Nicole Thurman.
AUDIENCE: Amber Nicole Thurman.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Amber Nicole Thurman.
AUDIENCE: Amber Nicole Thurman.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right.
And she had her future all planned out, and it was her plan. You know, let’s understand — just take pause on that for a moment. She had her plan, what she wanted to do for her son, for herself, for their future. And so, when she discovered that she was pregnant, she decided she wanted to have an abortion, but because of the Trump abortion ban here in Georgia, she was forced to travel out of state to receive the health care that she needed.
But when she returned to Georgia, she needed additional care, so she went to a hospital. But, you see, under the Trump abortion ban, her doctors could have faced up to a decade in prison for providing Amber the care she needed.
Understand what a law like this means. Doctors have to wait until the patient is at death’s door before they take action.
You know, on the other side of my — you know, the — the other folks, th- — Trump and his running mate, and they’ll talk about, (deepens voice) “Oh, well, yeah, but I — you know, I — I do believe in the exception to save the mother’s life.” (Laughter.) Okay. All right. Let’s break that down. Shall we?
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let’s break that down. (Applause.) Let’s break that down.
So, we’re saying that we’re going to create public policy that says that a doctor, a health care provider, will only kick in to give the care that somebody needs if they’re about to die? Think about what we are saying right now. You’re saying that good policy, logical policy, moral policy, humane policy, is about saying that a health care provider will only start providing that care when you’re about to die?
And so, Amber waited 20 hours — 20 hours, excruciating hours — until finally she was in enough physical distress that her doctors thought they would be okay to treat her. But it was too late. She died of sepsis. And her last words to her mother — which her mother, as you know, tears up and cries every time she speaks it — last words to her mother, “Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”
So, I met last night and I spent time with Amber’s mother and her sisters, and they spoke about Amber — a daughter, a sister, a mother — with the deep love that you can imagine and how terribly they miss her. And their pain is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking.
Amber’s mother, Shanette, told me that the word “preventable” is over and over again in her head when she learned about how her child died — the word “preventable.” She cannot — she can’t stop thinking about the word that they spoke to her. It was “preventable.”
Because, you see, medical experts have now determined that Amber’s death was preventable. And through the pain and the grief of her mother, who courageously told her story, I promised her, as she has asked, that we will make sure Amber is not just remembered as a statistic — (applause) — that she will not just be remembered as a statistic, so that people will know she was a mother and a daughter and a sister and that she was loved and that she should be alive today — (applause) — and that she should be alive today.
And many of us remember — there’s so many leaders here — from two years ago when the Dobbs decision came down, we knew this could happen. There is a word “preventable,” and there is another word: predictable.
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And the reality is for every story we hear of the suffering under Trump abortion bans, there are so many other stories we’re not hearing but where suffering is happening every day in our country, an untold number of people suffering.
Women who are also being made to feel as though they did something wrong. The judgment factor here is outrageous — being made as though to feel as though they are criminals, as though they are alone.
So, to those women, to those families, I say on behalf of what I believe we all say: We see you, and you are not alone, and we are all here standing with you. (Applause.) Standing with you. You are not alone. You are not alone. (Applause.)
So, Georgia —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We will not be silent.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We — and we will not be silent.
AUDIENCE: We will not be silent.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And we will not be silent. But this is a health care crisis.
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of this crisis. He brags about overturning Roe v. Wade. In his own words, quote, “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it,” he says. He is proud.
Proud that women are dying? Proud that doctors and nurses could be thrown in prison for administering care? Proud that young women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers?
How dare he? How dare he?
The Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, on Tuesday endorsed eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade, the federal abortion rights ruling that was overturned two years ago.
"It is well within our reach to hold onto the majority in the Senate and take back the House," Harris, a former U.S. senator, toldWisconsin Public Radio. "I would also emphasize that while the presidential election is extremely important and dispositive of where we go moving forward, it also is about what we need to do to hold onto the Senate and win seats in the House."
"I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe," she continued. "And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do."
Multiple current lawmakers joined a wide range of reproductive rights advocates in welcoming Harris' comments about ending the filibuster, which requires 60 of the Senate's 100 members to agree to hold a final vote on a bill.
"This is so important," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has shared her own abortion story. "Abortion access is under attack as extreme MAGA Republicans pass cruel laws to strip away our rights. Congress needs to step up and codify abortion rights—and we do that by ending the filibuster."
Unable to pass any defenses of reproductive healthcare in the divided Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has instead held recent votes on legislation regarding abortion, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) to call out Republicans.
"The filibuster is an undemocratic rule that prevents us from passing policies that a majority of Americans want. Look no further than last week's IVF vote," Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said Tuesday. "Could not agree more with Vice President Harris."
Anti-LGBTQ+ activist Corey DeAngelis has been placed on leave from the right-wing “school choice” organization American Federation for Children (AFC) amid online allegations that he previously performed in gay adult films. DeAngelis’ automated email reply states he’s “out on paternity leave.”
DeAngelis served as a senior fellow for AFC. But a week ago, AFC removed a webpage mentioning his role from its website. AFC said that he has been placed on leave while the organization investigates a claim that he once performed as “Seth Rose” on the gay adult video website GayHoopla.
DeAngelis — who wrote The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools, a 2024 book endorsed by former President Donald Trump — has repeatedly advocated for redirecting taxpayer money to fund private for-profit schools, a major goal of anti-LGBTQ+ Christian conservatives. Such schools can reject students for any reason and operate largely without government oversight to ensure that they adhere to federal nondiscrimination laws.
In a recent Fox News appearance, DeAngelis claimed that public schools are “focusing more on the LGBTs than the ABCs,” a statement echoing a right-wing claim that accepting LGBTQ+ students and opposing anti-LGBTQ+ bullying in schools degrades the quality of public education.
“It’s just propaganda and a way for the left to control the minds of other people’s children,” he said.
A
former aide in Donald Trump’s presidential administration and a senior
adviser to Project 2025 is in trouble for sending creepy internet
messages to teenagers.
John McEntee, who also co-founded the conservative dating app The Right Stuff, sent messages to multiple young women offering in some cases to give them free trips to Los Angeles and making sexual advances, Wired reports. The app’s sole investor is right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, and it has been criticized for its mostly male user base.
One
of the women, Grace Carter, said McEntee reached out to her through
Instagram in October last year when she was an 18-year-old freshman at
North Carolina State University. McEntee used the business account of
The Right Stuff to message Carter, asking if she wanted free
merchandise.
Initially, Carter was interested in a
free hoodie but didn’t know much about the app, and didn’t know she was
corresponding with McEntee. He introduced himself as John and gave
Carter a southern California phone number to message him at, which a Wired reporter recognized as one that McEntee has used in the past. Carter doesn’t know how or why McEntee decided to reach out.
“I actually have no idea how he found me,” Carter told Wired. “Based on the other accounts I follow and things I post, it’s very leftist. So I was surprised when he found me.”
Carter didn’t use McEntee’s number, although she accepted his offer of a free hoodie. Despite the fact that she rarely answered his messages, he offered to fly her and one of her friends to Los Angeles. She responded in a sort of “trolling” way to see if he’d actually follow through on the free trip, but the conversation fizzled out when Carter decided not to visit him.
Later, McEntee’s views on
reproductive rights would provoke Carter’s ire. After the September 10
presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, McEntee posted a
video on TikTok asking, “Can someone track down the women Kamala Harris says are bleeding out in parking lots because Roe v. Wade was overturned? Don’t hold your breath.”
Carter was incensed, and posted her own video to TikTok sharing her interactions with McEntee. Soon she began receiving messages from other women who said they had similar experiences with the conservative operative.
The publication spoke to one of those women, who asked to
remain anonymous. Also aged 18, she said that McEntee reached out to her
on The Right Stuff’s app before moving to text messages, using the same
southern California phone number he sent to Carter. Over text, he sent
her clearly identifiable selfies and began mentioning explicit sexual
acts that made her uncomfortable, and encouraged her to come to
California.
“It was very sexual from day one,” she said. “He kept making comments about my age and how hot it would be to sleep with someone who was my age.”
There are just so many cringey things about the New York magazine journalist Olivia Nuzzi‘s inappropriate relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
First of all, he’s married. (The political scion’s wife is the actor Cheryl Hines.) Second, Nuzzi is 31, and Kennedy, straying into Hugh Hefner territory, is 70. Third, she was until recently engaged to the political journalist Ryan Lizza, who was “MeToo’d” in 2017, when the New Yorker dismissed him for what it described as improper sexual conduct.
Apart from prurient interest, why should any of us really care?
[. . .]
The relationship between Nuzzi and Kennedy was an open secret in certain media spheres, according to Business Insider. Kennedy, a one-time heroin addict whose second wife once found a diary in which he rated his various sexual conquests, boasted to friends that Nuzzi sent him intimate photos. Word got back to New York‘s editor in chief, David Haskell, who confronted his star reporter.
Abrams said:
It’s not a good look for her — but it’s also not a good look for him. He is married, he is 70, she’s 31. And I do think there is some — I do think that some of the reaction to her versus him is sexism. The reports are that she sent him, quote, “demure” nudes of herself. And now he’s trying to claim that they were unwanted. There is no way she is sending nudes of herself without him making it clear that this was going both ways, meaning he wanted them or whatever.
But more importantly, she’s sitting on the sidelines now waiting to hear what New York Magazine is going to do to her for violating journalistic ethics. Yeah, I mean, this is a seeming violation of journalistic ethics. But what about him? He’s sitting back out there making speeches, no one’s really asking him much about it.
If it had been a 70-year-old woman politician caught up in a similar scandal with a young man, there’d be more questions for the politician, Abrams added, questions he does not seem to be facing today.
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