Category: Politics

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Politics

How G.O.P. Legal guidelines in Montana Might Complicate Voting for Native People

How G.O.P. Laws in Montana Could Complicate Voting for Native Americans

STARR SCHOOL, Mont. — One week before the 2020 election, Laura Roundine had emergency open-heart surgery. She returned to her home on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation with blunt instructions: Don’t go anywhere while you recover, because if you get Covid-19, you’ll probably die.

That meant Ms. Roundine, 59, couldn’t vote in person as planned. Neither could her husband, lest he risk bringing the virus home. It wasn’t safe to go to the post office to vote by mail, and there is no home delivery here in Starr School — or on much of the reservation in northwestern Montana.

The couple’s saving grace was Renee LaPlant, a Blackfeet community organizer for the Native American advocacy group Western Native Voice, who ensured that their votes would count by shuttling applications and ballots back and forth between their home and a satellite election office in Browning, one of two on the roughly 2,300-square-mile reservation.

But under H.B. 530, a law passed this spring by the Republican-controlled State Legislature, that would not have been allowed. Western Native Voice pays its organizers, and paid ballot collection is now banned.

“It’s taking their rights from them, and they still have the right to vote,” Ms. Roundine said of fellow Blackfeet voters who can’t leave their homes. “I wouldn’t have wanted that to be taken from me.”

The ballot collection law is part of a nationwide push by Republican state legislators to rewrite election rules, and is similar to an Arizona law that the Supreme Court upheld on Thursday. In Montana — where Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, was elected in November to replace Steve Bullock, a Democrat who had held veto power for eight years — the effects of that and a separate law eliminating same-day voter registration are likely to fall heavily on Native Americans, who make up about 7 percent of the state’s population.

It has been less than a century since Native Americans in the United States gained the right to vote by law, and they never attained the ability to do so easily in practice. New restrictions — ballot collection bans, earlier registration deadlines, stricter voter ID laws and more — are likely to make it harder, and the starkest consequences may be seen in places like Montana: sprawling, sparsely populated Western and Great Plains states where Native Americans have a history of playing decisive roles in close elections.

In 2018, Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, won seven of eight Montana counties containing the headquarters of a federally recognized tribe and received 50.3 percent of the vote statewide, a result without which his party would not currently control the Senate. (One of the eight tribes wasn’t federally recognized at the time but is now.) In 2016, Mr. Bullock carried the same counties and won with 50.2 percent. Both times, Glacier County, which contains the bulk of the Blackfeet reservation, was the most Democratic in the state.

In recent years, Republicans in several states have passed laws imposing requirements that Native Americans are disproportionately unlikely to meet or targeting voting methods they are disproportionately likely to use, such as ballot collection, which is common in communities where transportation and other infrastructure are limited. They say ballot collection can enable election fraud or allow advocacy groups to influence votes, though there is no evidence of widespread fraud.

On the floor of the Montana House in April, in response to criticism of H.B. 530’s effects on Native Americans who rely on paid ballot collection, the bill’s primary sponsor, State Representative Wendy McKamey, said, “There are going to be habits that are going to have to change because we need to keep our security at the utmost.” She argued that the bill would keep voting as “uninfluenced by monies as possible.”

Ms. McKamey did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Geography, poverty and politics all create obstacles for Native Americans. The Blackfeet reservation is roughly the size of Delaware but had only two election offices and four ballot drop-off locations last year, one of which was listed as open for just 14 hours over two days. Many other reservations in Montana have no polling places, meaning residents must go to the county seat to vote, and many don’t have cars or can’t afford to take time off.

Advocacy groups like Western Native Voice have become central to get-out-the-vote efforts, to the point that the Blackfeet government’s website directs voters who need help not to a tribal office but to W.N.V.

Ms. LaPlant, who was one of about a dozen Western Native Voice organizers on the Blackfeet reservation last year, said she couldn’t begin to estimate how far they had collectively driven. One organizer alone logged 700 miles.

One of the voters the team helped was Heidi Bull Calf, whose 19-year-old son has a congenital heart defect. Knowing the danger he would be in if he got Covid-19, she and her family barely left their home in Browning for a year.

Asked whether there was any way she could have returned her ballot on her own without putting her son’s health at risk, Ms. Bull Calf, the director of after-school programs at an elementary school, said no.

The ballot collection law says that “for the purposes of enhancing election security, a person may not provide or offer to provide, and a person may not accept, a pecuniary benefit in exchange for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting or delivering ballots.” Government entities, election administrators, mail carriers and a few others are exempt, but advocacy groups aren’t. Violators will be fined $100 per ballot.

In May, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund sued the Montana secretary of state, Christi Jacobsen, a Republican, over the new laws. The lawsuit alleges that the ballot collection limits and the elimination of same-day voter registration violate the Montana Constitution and are “part of a broader scheme” to disenfranchise Native voters. It was filed in a state district court that struck down a farther-reaching ballot collection ban as discriminatory last year.

A spokesman for Ms. Jacobsen did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Ms. Jacobsen said, “The voters of Montana spoke when they elected a secretary of state that promised improved election integrity with voter ID and voter registration deadlines, and we will work hard to defend those measures.”

The state-level legal process may be Native Americans’ only realistic recourse now, because on Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a ballot collection law in Arizona, signaling that federal challenges to voting restrictions based on disparate impact on voters of color were unlikely to succeed.

Voting difficulties are acute not just for the Blackfeet but also for Montana’s seven other federally recognized tribes: the Crow and Northern Cheyenne, based on reservations of the same names; the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation; the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre of the Fort Belknap Reservation; the Assiniboine and Sioux of the Fort Peck Reservation; the Chippewa Cree of Rocky Boy’s Reservation; and the Little Shell Chippewa in Great Falls.

On the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations, many residents have no internet. Often, the only way to register to vote is in person at election offices in Hardin and Forsyth, 60 miles or more one way from parts of the reservations.

The Battle Over Voting Rights

After former President Donald J. Trump returned in recent months to making false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, Republican lawmakers in many states have marched ahead to pass laws making it harder to vote and change how elections are run, frustrating Democrats and even some election officials in their own party.

    • A Key Topic: The rules and procedures of elections have become central issues in American politics. As of May 14, lawmakers had passed 22 new laws in 14 states to make the process of voting more difficult, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a research institute.
    • The Basic Measures: The restrictions vary by state but can include limiting the use of ballot drop boxes, adding identification requirements for voters requesting absentee ballots, and doing away with local laws that allow automatic registration for absentee voting.
    • More Extreme Measures: Some measures go beyond altering how one votes, including tweaking Electoral College and judicial election rules, clamping down on citizen-led ballot initiatives, and outlawing private donations that provide resources for administering elections.
    • Pushback: This Republican effort has led Democrats in Congress to find a way to pass federal voting laws. A sweeping voting rights bill passed the House in March, but faces difficult obstacles in the Senate, including from Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia. Republicans have remained united against the proposal and even if the bill became law, it would most likely face steep legal challenges.
    • Florida: Measures here include limiting the use of drop boxes, adding more identification requirements for absentee ballots, requiring voters to request an absentee ballot for each election, limiting who could collect and drop off ballots, and further empowering partisan observers during the ballot-counting process.
    • Texas: Texas Democrats successfully blocked the state’s expansive voting bill, known as S.B. 7, in a late-night walkout and are starting a major statewide registration program focused on racially diverse communities. But Republicans in the state have pledged to return in a special session and pass a similar voting bill. S.B. 7 included new restrictions on absentee voting; granted broad new autonomy and authority to partisan poll watchers; escalated punishments for mistakes or offenses by election officials; and banned both drive-through voting and 24-hour voting.
    • Other States: Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill that would limit the distribution of mail ballots. The bill, which includes removing voters from the state’s Permanent Early Voting List if they do not cast a ballot at least once every two years, may be only the first in a series of voting restrictions to be enacted there. Georgia Republicans in March enacted far-reaching new voting laws that limit ballot drop-boxes and make the distribution of water within certain boundaries of a polling station a misdemeanor. And Iowa has imposed new limits, including reducing the period for early voting and in-person voting hours on Election Day.

This made same-day voter registration a popular option for people who could make the trip only once. But under a new law, H.B. 176, the registration deadline is noon on the day before the election.

Keaton Sunchild, the political director at Western Native Voice, said that last year, hundreds of Native Americans had registered to vote after that time.

Lauri Kindness, a Western Native Voice organizer on the Crow Reservation, where she was born and lives, said: “There are many barriers and hardships in our communities with basic things like transportation. From my community, the majority of our voters were able to gain access to the ballot through same-day voter registration.”

State Representative Sharon Greef, the Republican who sponsored H.B. 176, said its purpose was to shorten lines and reduce the burden on county clerks and recorders by enabling them to spend Election Day focusing only on ballots, without also processing registrations. She said that if people voted early, they could still register and cast their ballot in one trip.

“I tried to think of any way this could affect all voters, not only the Native Americans, and if I had felt this in any way would have disenfranchised any voter, discouraged any voter from getting to the polls, I couldn’t in good conscience have carried the bill,” Ms. Greef said. “Voting is a right that we all have, but it’s a right that we can’t take lightly, and we have to plan ahead for it.”

At a community organizing training in Bozeman in early June, Western Native Voice leaders framed voting rights within the broader context of self-determination and political representation for Native Americans.

With the State Legislature adjourned for the year and the lawsuit in the hands of lawyers, organizers are turning their focus to redistricting.

Montana will get a second House seat as a result of the 2020 census, and Native Americans want to maximize their influence in electing members of Congress. But arguably more important are the maps that will be drawn for the State Legislature, which could give Native Americans greater power to elect the representatives who make Montana’s voting laws.

Redistricting will be handled by a commission consisting of two Republicans, two Democrats and a nonpartisan presiding officer chosen by the Montana Supreme Court: Maylinn Smith, a former tribal judge and tribal law professor who is herself Native American.

Ta’jin Perez, deputy director of Western Native Voice, urged the group’s organizers to map out communities with common interests in and around their reservations, down to the street level. W.N.V. would send that data to the Native American Rights Fund, which would use it to inform redistricting suggestions.

“You can either define it yourself,” Mr. Perez warned, “or the folks in Helena will do it for you.”

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Politics

Search paused as authorities put together for demolition

Search paused as authorities prepare for demolition

Search and rescue teams search the rubble of the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, on July 2, 2021.

Giorgio Viera | AFP | Getty Images

Search-and-rescue operations at the partially collapsed condominium tower in Surfside, Florida came to a temporary halt Saturday, as authorities move to raze the rest of the building in a controlled demolition before the unstable structure is threatened by winds from Tropical Storm Elsa.

During a press briefing, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said operations were paused temporarily at 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday due to preparations for the demolition, which includes drilling into unstable columns. The search can restart once the remaining part of the building is demolished.

“We’re proceeding as quickly as we possibly can,” Levine Cava said Saturday evening.

“It is all of our fervent desire that this can be done safely before the storm so that we can direct the demolition,” the mayor said earlier Saturday. “This demolition would be one that would protect and preserve evidence and allow maximum search-and-rescue activity to continue.”

The death toll from the fallen building rose to 24 as of Saturday, and 121 people are still missing. No one has been rescued since the first few hours after Champlain Towers South, a 12-story condominium built in 1981, partially collapsed on June 24.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the building can be brought down within 36 hours once the final plan is in place, while Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said the demolition could occur as early as Sunday.

“The fear was that the hurricane might take the building down for us and take it down in the wrong direction on top of the pile where we have victims,” Burkett said, referring to Elsa which was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday.

Levine Cava signed a local state of emergency for Elsa on Saturday morning. “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re ensuring we’re mobilizing everything we need in the county to prepare for any possible impacts,” she said at the briefing.

The long-term forecast track shows Elsa heading toward Florida as a tropical storm by Tuesday morning, but some models would carry it into the Gulf or up the Atlantic Coast.

Search and rescue personnel work at the site of a collapsed Florida condominium complex in Surfside, Miami, U.S., in this handout image July 2, 2021.

MIAMI DADE FIRE DEPARTMENT | via REUTERS

The accelerated plan comes a day after Levine Cava said the demolition might not occur for weeks as engineers studied and signed off on next steps. Officials have restricted access to parts of the building zone that threaten public health and safety.

However, Levine Cava said a demolition expert came forward Friday evening with the experience to move more quickly than originally anticipated. Engineers and state, local and federal authorities reviewed the plan and agreed it was the best path forward, Levine Cava said.

“This proposed demolition is a very narrow footprint so we’re not looking at major impacts to the area or additional evacuations,” Levine Cava said. “We are still in the due diligence process.”

The decision to demolish the portion of the building that’s still standing comes after search-and-rescue operations were halted most of Thursday out of concern that the remaining structure could fall, endangering first responders searching the site.

The cause of the building collapse is still unknown. An engineering firm reviewed the condo tower in 2018, nearly three years before the collapse, and issued a report which found failed waterproofing below the building’s pool was causing “major structural damage.”

“Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,” the report said.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has launched a full investigation into the collapse and will make recommendations about how to improve building safety.

Levine Cava ordered a 30-day audit of buildings 40 years or older in Miami-Dade County which are five stories or taller and have not completed the re-certification process. The county is reviewing 14 such buildings and 10 that recently began recertification.

A condo building in North Miami Beach was closed and more than 300 residents evacuated Friday after an audit and building inspection report found unsafe structural and electrical conditions.

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Politics

Far-Proper Extremist Finds an Ally in an Arizona Congressman

Far-Right Extremist Finds an Ally in an Arizona Congressman

WASHINGTON – Nick Fuentes, der Anführer einer weißen nationalistischen Gruppe, beklagte die politische Verfolgung, der er von der Bundesregierung ausgesetzt war, als er kürzlich während eines Livestreams eine Pause machte, um einen seiner wenigen Verteidiger zu loben.

„Vielleicht gibt es Hoffnung für America First im Kongress“, sagte Fuentes und bezog sich auf den Namen seiner Bewegung, einer Gruppe, die sich zum Ziel gesetzt hat, weiße, christliche Identität und Kultur zu bewahren. „Und das ist – fast ausschließlich – dem Abgeordneten Paul Gosar zu verdanken.“

Herr Gosar, ein Republikaner mit fünf Amtszeiten und Zahnarzt aus Prescott, Arizona, trat dieses Jahr als lautstarker Unterstützer der „Stop the Steal“-Bewegung auf, die fälschlicherweise behauptete, der ehemalige Präsident Donald J. Trump habe die Wahlen 2020 gewonnen und die Kundgebung angeführt in Washington am 6. Januar, die zu den tödlichen Kapitol-Aufständen führte.

Aber die Verbindungen von Herrn Gosar zu Rassisten wie Herrn Fuentes und America First sowie zu ähnlichen rechtsextremen Randorganisationen und Aktivisten wurden weniger genau untersucht. Eine Überprüfung öffentlicher Kommentare und Social-Media-Posts legt nahe, dass sie in Herrn Gosar einen Verbündeten und Fürsprecher im Kongress gefunden haben.

Seine kompromisslose Verbindung zu ihnen ist vielleicht das anschaulichste Beispiel für die wachsende Akzeptanz des Extremismus durch die Republikanische Partei, die deutlich wurde, als immer mehr Gesetzgeber Verschwörungstheorien und rechtsextreme Ideologien unterstützen und verstärken, die in den Glaubenssystemen von Randgruppen eine herausragende Rolle spielen.

„Die Politiker erhalten die Unterstützung der aufstrebenden und sichtbarer werdenden rechtsextremen Gruppen – sie erhalten die Unterstützung dieser Wähler“, sagte Kurt Braddock, Kommunikationsprofessor an der American University, der Extremismus studiert. „Bedeutsam für die Gruppen ist, dass sie durch die Verbindung mit diesen Politikern – sitzenden Mitgliedern des Kongresses – ein Maß an Legitimität erhalten, das sie sonst nicht erhalten hätten.“

Der Vertreter von Florida, Matt Gaetz, trat letztes Jahr bei einer Veranstaltung auf, bei der die Sicherheit von den Proud Boys, einer rechtsextremen Miliz mit mehr als einem Dutzend Mitgliedern, die bei den Kapitol-Aufständen angeklagt wurden, übernommen wurde. Die Abgeordnete Lauren Boebert aus Colorado wurde wegen ihrer Verbindungen zu Mitgliedern der Three Percenters, einer radikalen Milizgruppe, auf den Prüfstand gestellt.

Und bevor sie in den Kongress gewählt wurde, unterstützte die Abgeordnete Marjorie Taylor Greene von Georgia die Hinrichtung demokratischer Gesetzgeber, darunter die Sprecherin Nancy Pelosi. Sie war auch eine Anhängerin von QAnon, der Pro-Trump-Verschwörungsbewegung, die davon ausgeht, dass eine korrupte Kabale aus Demokraten, globalen Eliten und berufstätigen Regierungsangestellten, die einen satananbetenden Kinder-Sexhandelsring betreiben, bald zusammengetrieben und für ihre Vergehen bestraft wird , und dass Herr Trump in die Präsidentschaft zurückgekehrt wird. (Frau Greene hat seitdem gesagt, dass sie QAnon nicht folgt.)

Herr Gosar ist bei Kundgebungen im ganzen Land erschienen und hat Präsident Biden als „betrügerischen Usurpator“ bezeichnet und die Bemühungen, ihn als „Aufruhr“ und einen „Putsch“ zu unterrichten, bezeichnet. Letzte Woche wurde Herr Gosar unter die Lupe genommen, nachdem ein mit Herrn Fuentes verbundener Social-Media-Kanal für eine bevorstehende Spendenaktion mit beiden Männern geworben hatte. Und in einer kürzlich durchgeführten Spendenaktion verbreitete er eine grundlose Verschwörungstheorie, dass das FBI möglicherweise hinter dem Anschlag vom 6. Januar steckt.

Die Erklärungen und Handlungen haben zu keiner Bestrafung durch die republikanischen Führer des Repräsentantenhauses geführt, die es weitgehend abgelehnt haben, diejenigen in ihrer Konferenz öffentlich zu tadeln, die Randanschauungen vertreten oder Fehlinformationen verbreiten. Der Vertreter der kalifornischen Minderheit, Kevin McCarthy, sagte der Washington Post letzte Woche, dass Herr Gosar ihm gesagt habe, dass die angekündigte Spendenaktion „nicht echt“ sei. Ein Sprecher von Herrn McCarthy antwortete nicht auf Fragen zu Herrn Gosars Verbindungen zu Herrn Fuentes.

Im Gegensatz dazu bemühte sich McCarthy schnell, den ausgesprochensten republikanischen Kritiker von Herrn Trump zum Schweigen zu bringen: Er säuberte die Abgeordnete Liz Cheney aus Wyoming von ihrem Führungsposten, weil sie über die Lügen gesprochen hatte, die den Aufstand im Kapitol angeheizt und vorgeschlagen hatten, dass sie verlieren könnte ihre Ausschusszuweisungen, um sich den Demokraten bei der Untersuchung anzuschließen.

Herr Fuentes, ein 22-jähriger weißer Nationalist, Online-Provokateur und Aktivist, der die America First-Bewegung anführt, kann sich mit einem Lebenslauf rühmen, vor dem die meisten Kongressmitglieder weglaufen würden. Nachdem er sowohl bei der Unite the Right-Kundgebung in Charlottesville, Virginia, im Jahr 2017 als auch außerhalb des US-Kapitols am 6. Januar marschiert war, hat er gewarnt, dass die Nation „seinen weißen demografischen Kern“ verliert. Andere konservative Organisationen haben ihn als Holocaust-Leugner und Rassisten denunziert.

Herr Gosar hat weiterhin mit ihm zusammengearbeitet.

Der Republikaner aus Arizona war Hauptredner auf einer Konferenz, die von Herrn Fuentes’ Gruppe im Februar veranstaltet wurde und als einziges Mitglied des Kongresses teilnahm. Herr Gosar hat das Motto und die Projekte von America First auf Twitter verbreitet und zu Herrn Fuentes’ Verteidigung auf dem Briefkopf des Kongresses an das FBI geschrieben. Im Gegenzug hat Herr Fuentes den Kongressabgeordneten in seiner Show und seinen Social-Media-Kanälen gelobt und seine Anhänger aufgefordert, Geld für seine Kampagne zu spenden.

Das Büro von Herrn Gosar antwortete nicht auf detaillierte Fragen zu seinen Verbindungen zu America First und anderen Randgruppen.

Als schriller Konservativer im Jahr 2010 zum ersten Mal in den Kongress gewählt, hat Herr Gosar zuvor Verschwörungen unterstützt und sich dadurch eine rechtsextreme Online-Basis aufgebaut. In einem Interview vor seiner Wahl wollte er nicht sagen, ob Präsident Barack Obama seiner Meinung nach amerikanischer Staatsbürger ist. Er behauptete 2017 fälschlicherweise, dass die tödliche rechtsextreme Kundgebung in Charlottesville von Liberalen geplant und von George Soros finanziert wurde. In jüngerer Zeit hat er in Frage gestellt, ob Beamte der Bundespolizei Agenten in rechtsextreme Gruppen eingesetzt haben, die das Kapitol stürmten.

Herr Gosar machte 2018 landesweit auf sich aufmerksam, als sechs seiner neun Geschwister seinen Gegner unterstützten und warnten, dass seine zunehmend extremistischen Ansichten ihn für das Amt untauglich machten. Aber er hat in seinem zutiefst konservativen Bezirk selten ernsthafte Herausforderer auf sich gezogen und steht häufig vor der Wiederwahl, auch im letzten Jahr, als er fast 70 Prozent der Stimmen erhielt.

Obwohl er immer offener über seinen Glauben an Randtheorien geworden ist, hat Herr Gosar es vermieden, die Art von ausdrücklich rassistischer Sprache nachzuahmen, die von Herrn Fuentes verwendet wurde – Kommentare, wie sie Steve King, einen republikanischen ehemaligen Kongressabgeordneten aus Iowa, dessen rassistische Äußerungen führten zu seiner Entfernung aus Kongressausschüssen, brachten ihm Zurechtweisungen von seiner eigenen Partei ein und kosteten ihn schließlich seinen Sitz.

In einer Erklärung, die letzte Woche auf Twitter veröffentlicht wurde, als Reaktion auf eine Welle der Empörung über die angekündigte Spendenaktion mit Herrn Fuentes, versuchte Herr Gosar, die Kritik abzulenken, indem er auf die Anschuldigung der Konservativen anspielte, dass unter Herrn Biden – der sich zu Wort gemeldet hat gegen systemischen Rassismus in den USA – die Institutionen des Landes werden Weißen gegenüber feindselig.

„So wie Rassenvorherrschaft in America First keinen Platz hat, hat sie keinen Platz in unserem Militär, unseren Schulen oder Sitzungssälen“, schrieb Gosar.

Er bestritt, dass die Gruppe von Herrn Fuentes „rassistische Vorherrschaft“ umfasste und schrieb, dass er „nicht sicher sei, warum jemand ausflippt“.

„Es gibt Millionen von Konservativen der Generation Z, Y und X“, schrieb Gosar. „Sie glauben an America First. Sie werden sich nicht in jedem Punkt zu 100 % einig sein. Keine Gruppe tut es. Wir werden uns nicht von der Linken unsere Strategie, Allianzen und Bemühungen diktieren lassen.“

Im Februar trat Herr Gosar auf der America First-Konferenz von Herrn Fuentes in Orlando als Hauptredner auf und konzentrierte seine Ausführungen auf Einwanderung und Zensur in sozialen Medien. Der Rest der Veranstaltung nahm einen entschieden weniger zurückhaltenden Ton an.

Herr Fuentes warnte, dass die Nation verloren wäre, wenn sie „aufhört, diesen englischen kulturellen Rahmen und den Einfluss der europäischen Zivilisation zu bewahren“. Er zeigte ein Hype-Video mit Filmmaterial über den Aufstand im Kapitol und lobte dann die „Hunderttausende Patrioten“, die das Gebäude stürmten, wie er es nannte.

Andere Redner waren Mr. King, dessen Einführungsvideo seine früheren Bemerkungen hervorhob, dass „wir die Zivilisation nicht mit den Babys von jemand anderem wiederherstellen können“, und Michelle Malkin, eine rechtsextreme Kommentatorin, die von „unserem gefährdeten Heimatland“ und der Notwendigkeit sprach, „vernichtet links und rechts globalistische Schwindler, die unsere Vergangenheit dezimieren.“

Abgesehen davon, dass er seiner Bewegung das Imprimatur eines amtierenden Kongressmitglieds verliehen hat, hat Herr Fuentes einen mächtigen Verteidiger gewonnen. Im Mai schrieb der Republikaner aus Arizona auf seinem offiziellen Briefkopf an das FBI und beschuldigte die Behörde, ihre Macht missbraucht zu haben, Personen auf die Flugverbotsliste zu verbannen, hob Herrn Fuentes hervor und behauptete, dass auch andere „Konstitutionalisten“ und „Patrioten“ ungerecht ausgerichtet.

Herr Fuentes sagte, dass Herr Gosar der einzige republikanische Gesetzgeber gewesen sei, der dazu bereit sei.

“Fast niemand von der Republikanischen Partei hatte etwas dazu zu sagen oder war besorgt”, sagte Fuentes in seiner Show und fügte hinzu, dass sein Versuch, sich mit Frau Greene zu treffen, von ihrem Team zurückgewiesen worden sei.

Der Rand ist für Herrn Gosar kein ungewöhnlicher Ort. Nach dem Kapitol-Aufstand wurde er wegen seiner Verbindungen zu Ali Alexander, einem rechtsextremen Aktivisten und Verschwörungstheoretiker, der als Anführer der „Stop the Steal“-Bewegung hervorgetreten war, auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Herr Gosar markierte ihn häufig in Twitter-Posts, einschließlich solcher, in denen er seine Anhänger aufforderte, „einen Putsch nicht zu akzeptieren“.

Bei einer Kundgebung im Dezember vor dem Arizona State Capitol, bei der Herr Gosar sprach, nannte Herr Alexander den Kongressabgeordneten „das Krafttier dieser Bewegung“.

„Er hat geholfen, wo er konnte“, sagte Herr Alexander. „Er hat angeboten, Spender anzurufen. Wir hatten tatsächlich unseren ersten DC-Marsch, weil er mich anrief und sagte: ‘Sie müssen zum Obersten Gerichtshof gehen.’ Ich sagte: ‚In Ordnung, mein Kapitän.’ Und damit hat es angefangen.“

Im April verteidigte Herr Gosar als Reaktion auf eine Ethik-Beschwerde, die die Abgeordnete Pramila Jayapal, Demokratin aus Washington, gegen ihn eingereicht hatte, Herrn Alexander und erklärte, seine Interaktionen mit dem Aktivisten hätten „einen frommen Katholiken offenbart“, der „durch eine ernsthafte Suche nach die Wahrheit und Liebe seines Landes.“

Im selben Dokument verteidigte Herr Gosar auch das Treffen im Jahr 2017 mit den Oath Keepers, einer rechten Miliz, deren Mitglieder an den Kapitol-Aufständen teilnahmen. Während des Treffens sagte der Kongressabgeordnete den Mitgliedern der Gruppe, dass sich die Vereinigten Staaten in einem Bürgerkrieg befänden; „Wir haben einfach noch nicht angefangen, aufeinander zu schießen.“

Herr Gosar sagte, er habe die Eidhüter nur angesprochen, weil sie ihn eingeladen hatten, bei ihrem Treffen zu sprechen. Aber er fügte hinzu, dass nur „Linke“ sie als extremistische Gruppe betrachteten und verwies auf ihre Website, die sie als „eine überparteiliche Vereinigung aktueller und früher dienender Militärs, Polizisten und Ersthelfer“ beschreibt, die schwören, die Verfassung zu verteidigen.

Herr Gosar nickte dann zu einer weiteren falschen Verschwörungstheorie, die nach dem 6. Januar weit verbreitet war: dass linksextreme Gruppen, darunter Black Lives Matter, dahinter gestanden hätten.

„Wenn Mitglieder von Antifa, BLM oder Oath Keepers in das Kapitol eingebrochen sind“, schrieb er, „sollten sie angemessen wegen Hausfriedensbruch usw. angeklagt werden.“

Categories
Politics

LeBron James advisor exhausted from Me Too, Black Lives Matter

LeBron James advisor exhausted from Me Too, Black Lives Matter

NBA player LeBron James and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles, California.

Chelsea Lauren | FilmMagic | Getty Images

Longtime white advisor to black NBA superstar LeBron James was caught on tape telling an ESPN white reporter, “I’m exhausted. I have nothing left between Me Too and Black Lives Matter, ”revealed a report on Sunday.

Communications expert Adam Mendelsohn’s outspoken comments – referring to catchphrases used for the movements aimed at reducing sexual violence against women and police murders and brutality against blacks – came during a taped phone call he made last summer with the NBA Reporter Rachel. from ESPN had Nichols, the New York Times reported.

Mendelsohn apologized for these specific comments in an email to CNBC after being asked about them on Sunday.

Nichols, who is white, had complained to Mendelsohn during that July 2020 call about a black reporter, Maria Taylor, getting the pre-game NBA final hosting spot from her sports cable TV network had, a spot Nichols expected her to, The Times reported.

Nichols on this tape implied that Taylor received this gig to the detriment of Nichols because Taylor is black – and because ESPN was under pressure to have more racial diversity in its lineup of on-air talent.

In his initial comments on the Black Lives Matter and Me Too statements, Mendelsohn told CNBC, “I made a stupid, negligent comment rooted in privilege and I am truly sorry.”

“I shouldn’t have said it or even thought it,” Mendelsohn said in an email.

“I am working to support these movements and I know that the people affected by these problems are never exhausted or left with nothing. I must continue to review my privilege and work to be a better ally.”

Nichols apparently did not know that the conversation was being recorded by a video camera broadcasting images and audio from her hotel room at a resort in Walt Disney World, Florida. Walt Disney Company is the majority owner of ESPN.

The video from the camera she used to appear on the network’s shows was fed into ESPN’s control room in Bristol, Connecticut. A tape of the call later circulated within ESPN and was leaked.

Mendelsohn has been an advisor to James for over ten years. Last year he co-founded James’ Black Vote Promotion Group More Than A Vote and is a senior advisor to the group.

The More Than a Vote website notes that the group was launched “amid the protests against Black Lives Matter following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Our goal: energy, education and protection of black voters. “

Taylor joined More Than a Vote last summer and recorded videos as a member of the group supporting the group’s efforts.

Mendelsohn is also a Senior Advisor at the private equity firm TPG, where he previously worked as Managing Director for Global Communications. Previously, he was Deputy Chief of Staff to then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Times reported that the video of the call lasted more than 20 minutes, with “continuous talk”. The newspaper only put two audio snippets online, which together last 2 minutes and 47 seconds.

Anthony Davis # 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James # 23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Quinn Cook # 28 of the Los Angeles Lakers kneel down during the National Anthem with VOTE shirts before the start of the game against the Denver Nuggets in Game Three of the Western Conference Finals during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at the AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 22, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Mike Ehrmann | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

The Times article stated that “many employees were outraged when they saw the video” because they believed that Nichols “reflected a common criticism used by white workers in many workplaces of non-white colleagues Denigrate – that Taylor was only offered the job of hosting because of her race, not because she was the best person for the job. “

And The Times reported that ESPN staff had also said Nichols made Taylor’s job difficult because Taylor had to deal with Mendelsohn to get interviews with people in professional basketball.

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Last May, The Times reported, the stars of ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” discussed whether they would refuse to appear in protest against changes to production they believed were made in Nichols’s favor .

These changes included Nichols becoming the game’s main reporter, which in turn resulted in three colored side reporters being given fewer tasks.

The bomb report comes weeks before Taylor’s contract with ESPN expires.

The New York Post reported last week that Taylor turned down a contract proposal last year that would have increased her current annual salary from $ 1 million to nearly $ 5 million a year. Taylor reportedly held out after significantly more money.

The Post also reported that ESPN’s current offering to Taylor is valued at $ 2-3 million per year. The lower amount reflects a move by the network to cut salaries across the board, according to The Post.

Nichols called Mendelsohn on July 13, 2020 to request an interview with James and another Lakers player, Anthony Davis, who is another client of James’ agent, Rich Paul. Mendelsohn is also an adviser to Black Paul.

Nichols also took the time on the same call to ask Mendelsohn’s advice on how to deal with the situation at ESPN, and was denied the assignment, which went to Taylor.

“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world – she reports on football, she reports on basketball,” said Nichols during the phone call with Mendelsohn, whose audio was posted online by The Times.

“If you have to give her more to do because you are feeling pressure because of your shitty long-term record in terms of diversity – which, by the way, I know personally from the female side – then just do it. Just find it somewhere else. You won’t find it from me or take my thing away. “

She also noted that the assignment to moderate coverage of the NBA finals “is written in my contract,” the newspaper reported.

After Nichols said she was planning to wait for ESPN’s next move, Mendelsohn paused, then said, “I don’t know. I am exhausted. I have nothing left between Me Too and Black Lives Matter. “

Nichols laughed at that, as the tape reveals.

Mendelsohn then suggested to Nichols that the situation be so that ESPN played two women, Nichols and Taylor, against each other.

“About the fact that it is just so very white men that they turn two women against each other to compete for the one point that they dangle over them,” said Mendelsohn.

“A broader discussion of all the points that should be considered.”

Nichols then said on the tape, “There’s not just one place at the table for a minority of the version we’re trying to try this week.”

Mendelsohn replied, “If you think about it, this is exactly the problem we’ve been talking about for a long time, which is white men – it’s an example of the one black person on the boardroom … you don’t? Not having a black woman in a prominent position and feeling, OK, all the work is done. “

“And you certainly can’t say, ‘Okay, we have a white woman, we have a woman in a critical place, and now that we’re going to put a black woman in the same place,” he said.

“The question is, what other seats do white men sit in?”

The Times reported that he told the paper for its article, “I will share what I believed then and what I still believe to be true. Maria [Taylor] earned and earned the position, and Rachel [Nichols] must respect it. “

“Maria deserved it because of her job, and ESPN realized that, like many people and companies in America, she needs to change on purpose,” said Mendelsohn.

“Just because Maria got the job doesn’t mean Rachel shouldn’t get what she deserves. Rachel and Maria shouldn’t be forced into a zero-sum game by ESPN, and Rachel had to challenge them. “

The Times reported that Mendelsohn did not answer follow-up questions about the taped call.

In his statement to CNBC, Mendelsohn said, “I’ll reiterate what I believe advised Rachel on the call and told the Times. Maria deserved and deserved the position and Rachel had to respect her. If Rachel wanted to challenge ESPN, she needed” to focus on their overall culture. “

ESPN has declined to say if an employee has been disciplined in connection with the case.

The Times reported that the only known person known to have been punished was a black digital video producer who was suspended for two weeks without pay after telling ESPN Human Resources that they were sending the video to Taylor had sent.

Josh Krulewitz, spokesman for ESPN, declined to speak to CNBC, but cited statements he had given the Times for its article.

“A diverse group of executives thoroughly and fairly examined all facts related to the incident and then handled the situation appropriately,” said Krulewitz.

“We pride ourselves on the coverage we continue to produce and our focus will continue to be on Maria, Rachel and the rest of the talented team that collectively serve NBA fans.”

Krulewitz also told the newspaper that ESPN emphasizes diversity, inclusion and equity, and that the company “arguably has the most diverse talented professionals in the sports media business, including those behind the scenes”.

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Politics

Trump Holds Rally in Florida, Throughout State From Constructing Catastrophe

Trump Holds Rally in Florida, Across State From Building Disaster

Former President Donald J. Trump held a Fourth of July-themed rally on Saturday night in Sarasota, Fla., across the state from where a tragedy has been unfolding for more than a week as firefighters, search dogs and emergency crews search for survivors in the collapse of a residential building just north of Miami Beach.

The political rally in the midst of a disaster that has horrified the nation became a topic of discussion among aides to the former president and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Trump ally whose growing popularity with the former president’s supporters is becoming an increasing source of tension for both men, according to people familiar with their thinking.

After officials from the governor’s office surveyed the scene of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla., Adrian Lukis, chief of staff to the governor, called Michael Glassner, a longtime Trump aide who is overseeing the Florida event, according to people familiar with the discussion. In a brief conversation, Mr. Lukis inquired whether the former president planned to continue with the event given the scale of the tragedy, two people said.

He was told there were no plans to reschedule.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Liz Harrington, said that the rally in Sarasota was “three-and-a-half hours away, approximately the same distance from Boston to New York, and will not impact any of the recovery efforts.”

She added that the former president “has instructed his team to collect relief aid for Surfside families both online and on-site at the Sarasota rally.”

After a brief moment of silence for the victims and families of the tragedy as he took the stage, Mr. Trump quickly launched into a castigation of cancel culture and of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

He dismissed charges filed this week against his business, the Trump Organization, by the Manhattan district attorney’s office as “prosecutorial misconduct.” And while he appeared to deny knowledge of any possible tax evasion on benefits, he also seemed to acknowledge that those benefits occurred.

“You didn’t pay tax on the car, or the company apartment,” he said, adding, “Or education for your grandchildren. I don’t even know, do you have to put, does anyone know the answer to that stuff?”

Much of what followed was a familiar list of his grievances, but he drew an enthusiastic crowd that waited for hours in pouring rain to hear him speak.

Mr. DeSantis, who met on Thursday with President Biden when the president visited the site of the disaster, originally wanted to attend the rally but ultimately decided he could not go. “He spoke with President Trump, who agreed that it was the right decision, because the governor’s duty is to be in Surfside,” his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said, adding, “Governor DeSantis would have gone to the rally in normal circumstances.’’

In an interview with Newsmax ahead of the rally, Mr. Trump said he told Mr. DeSantis not to come. But during the rally, when he thanked local Republican leaders in Florida, he notably did not mention Mr. DeSantis.

The governor, an early supporter of Mr. Trump, has been eager to play down any perceived tension with the former president, who endorsed his campaign for governor in 2018 and could cause him a political headache if he turned against him.

“Governor DeSantis is focusing on his duties as governor and the tragedy in Surfside, and has never suggested or requested that events planned in different parts of Florida — from the Stanley Cup finals to President Trump’s rally — should be canceled,” Ms. Pushaw said after The Washington Examiner reported that Mr. DeSantis had pointedly asked Mr. Trump to delay his rally.

The recent conversation between Mr. Lukis and Mr. Glassner was not the first time Mr. DeSantis’s staff had expressed reservations about the timing of Mr. Trump’s event. Before the condominium collapse, Mr. DeSantis’s office had suggested to the Trump team that the fall was better timing for a rally, given the perils of hurricane season in Florida, two people familiar with the conversation said.

Mr. Trump ignored the suggestion. Shut out of Facebook and Twitter, Mr. Trump has been eager for an outlet to have his voice heard and has been chomping at the bit to return to the rally stage, aides said.

Mr. DeSantis is seen as a top-tier Republican presidential candidate for 2024, and may end up in a political collision with the former president, who himself has hinted that he is considering a third try for the White House.

People close to Mr. Trump said he had become mildly suspicious of a supposed ally. He has grilled multiple advisers and friends, asking “what’s Ron doing,” after hearing rumors at Mar-a-Lago that Mr. DeSantis had been courting donors for a potential presidential run of his own. He has asked aides their opinion of a Western Conservative Summit presidential straw poll for 2024 Republican presidential candidates, an unscientific online poll that showed Mr. DeSantis beating Mr. Trump.

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Fb chief Mark Zuckerberg odd Fourth of July Instagram put up

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg odd Fourth of July Instagram post

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rides an electric surfboard holding the American flag. July 4, 2021.

Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram

Make America Weird Again.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday posted a wacky American-flag waving, surfboard-riding video on Instagram to celebrate Independence Day.

“Happy July 4th!” Zuckerberg wrote on the post of the video.

It features him deftly skimming along atop an electric foil surfboard on an idyllic-looking lake, toting the Stars and Stripes as John Denver’s anthem to West Virginia, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” plays as a soundtrack.

Facebook, which the 37-year-old mega-billionaire co-founded, owns Instagram.

“This is some meme materials,” one follower of “Zuck” wrote in response to the post.

“Fantastic!” another follower wrote.

A third wrote, “When you get your antitrust lawsuit thrown about by a judge. Let’s GOOOOO Zuck!

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Pentagon Seeks to Soften Blow of U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Pentagon Seeks to Soften Blow of U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan

The August date also gives the government more time to find places to relocate thousands of Afghans and their family members who helped Americans during the Twenty Years’ War. The White House has come under severe pressure to protect its Afghan allies from Taliban revenge attacks and to speed up the lengthy and complex process of issuing special immigrant visas.

“We cannot turn our backs and let them die,” said Texas MP Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Fox News Sunday. “They are being slaughtered by the Taliban.”

Administration officials previously said they would consider Guam as a possible location, but State Department officials say they will need multiple locations. The Foreign Ministers of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were in Washington last week and the issue of Afghan security was raised at their meetings with Mr. Austin and Foreign Secretary Antony J. Blinken.

After all, General Miller’s stay for a few more weeks and the extension of the security umbrella at least until August should give the oppressed Afghan troops a boost. Pentagon officials said leaving Bagram Air Base and leaving General Miller at the same time would have been a devastating blow to Afghan morale.

“A safe, orderly exit allows us to maintain an ongoing diplomatic presence, assist the Afghan people and government, and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again for terrorists threatening our homeland,” Kirby said.

The White House joined the calming campaign on Friday – up to a point. Mr Biden said that while the United States still retained the ability to conduct air strikes in order to protect the Afghan government, no withdrawal of the withdrawal was on the table.

“We have developed a capacity beyond the horizon,” he said, speaking of American fighter jets and armed Reaper drones stationed mostly in the Persian Gulf, “but the Afghans have to do it themselves with the air force that they have.” . “

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Demolition of collapsed condominium tower in Florida to start Sunday night time

Demolition of collapsed condominium tower in Florida to begin Sunday night

In this handout image dated July 2, 2021, search and rescue workers are working on the site of a collapsed Florida condominium complex in Surfside, Miami, USA.

MIAMI DADE FIRE DEPARTMENT | about REUTERS

The demolition of the partially collapsed residential tower in Surfside, Florida will begin search operations on Sunday evening once the site is safe, according to Miami-Dade County’s Mayoress Daniella Levine Cava.

The demolition will take place between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., Levine Cava said during a press conference on Sunday evening. According to the Miami-Dade police, residents in the protection zone should stay indoors with immediate effect.

The on-site protection order will be lifted two hours after the demolition is complete, Levine Cava said. Residents should close all windows, doors and air intakes, she said.

“The demolition is limited to the immediate vicinity of the building,” said the mayor. “However, there is dust and other particles that are an inevitable by-product of all types of demolition, and as a precautionary measure, we ask residents in the immediate vicinity to stay indoors during the demolition.”

Search and rescue operations on the building were temporarily suspended on Saturday afternoon in preparation for demolition, which included drilling the building’s remaining pillars. Levine Cava said Sunday the search would resume immediately after the building is shut down and the site is believed to be safe.

“The controlled demolition of the building is critical to expanding our search area, as you know in the pile, and allowing us to search the area closest to the building, the one for the teams given the great risk to ours Teams was inaccessible. ” First responders because of the instability of the building, “said Levine Cava.

No one has been rescued since the first hours after the Champlain Towers South collapsed 11 days ago. The death toll rose to 24 by Saturday, 121 are still missing. Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis said during a press conference early Saturday that the state will pay for all costs of the demolition.

The demolition is carried out through a technique called “energetic felling,” which relies on gravity to demolish the building with small designations and limit the collapse to the area of ​​the building, according to Levine Cava.

The officials initially thought it could take weeks to demolish. Plans to demolish the remaining structure were accelerated, however, amid concerns that the effects of the weather from Tropical Storm Elsa could hit Florida early next week and further threaten the unstable structure with heavy rains and winds.

The cause of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South, built in the 1980s, is still unknown. However, an engineering firm filed a 2018 report warning of cracks and major structural damage under the building’s pool deck.

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Biden to Host Independence Day Occasion Celebrating Progress on the Pandemic

Biden to Host Independence Day Event Celebrating Progress on the Pandemic

While the White House once set July 4th as the date when at least 70 percent of adults would be at least partially vaccinated, officials admitted last month that they would almost certainly miss that target as vaccination rates peaked at April has fallen.

Updated

July 4, 2021, 3:27 p.m. ET

And while 20 states, Washington, DC, and two territories passed the 70 percent mark last week, the country’s overall progress has slowed significantly, with now an average of about a million doses per week. According to the New York Times, about 67 percent of adults had received at least one injection on Sunday.

The rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has also raised concerns among public health officials, who fear that new outbreaks could occur in parts of the country where vaccination rates have remained comparatively low, and that the variant could mutate to that extent vaccinated, Americans remain vulnerable.

While the pageantry at the White House will be a demonstration of normality that seemed far from likely at the start of Mr Biden’s tenure, the occasion will be marked by a reluctance seldom seen under the previous administration.

Even as new cases soared to a summer high last year, President Donald J. Trump hosted 35-minute fireworks and military flyovers on the National Mall, against the will of Washington Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who urged people to do so do not participate. This year’s fireworks show will be half as long, and Ms. Bowser has welcomed guests to town, encouraged by advances on vaccines.

Under Mr Trump, the White House held other large gatherings well before vaccines were approved, including two to celebrate the nomination and endorsement of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, at which he and several other attendees were believed to have been exposed and infected.

For Mr Biden, this year’s celebrations seem choreographed to signal that Americans can enjoy some measure of normalcy when they get together, even as his own public health officials continue to emphasize the importance of maintaining momentum with vaccines to have.

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Pope Francis will bear colon surgical procedure in Rome hospital

Pope Francis will undergo colon surgery in Rome hospital

Pope Francis waves during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican on October 14, 2020.

Alberto Pizzoli | AFP | Getty Images

Pope Francis was hospitalized in Rome on Sunday for what the Vatican said was scheduled surgery for an abnormal narrowing of the large intestine of the 84-year-old Roman Catholic leader.

“This afternoon His Holiness Pope Francis went to the A. Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome where he will undergo a scheduled surgery for a symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See’s press office, in a statement.

Stenosis is an abnormal narrowing.

“The surgery will be performed by Prof. Sergio Alfieri. At the end of the surgery a new medical bulletin will be issued,” Bruni said.

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The Argentina-born Roman Catholic pontiff was elected as the first pope from the Americas in February 2013. He succeeded German-born Benedict XVI, who retired because of advancing age.

The announcement that Francis was entering the hospital came just hours after the pope made a public appearance before crowds in St. Peter’s Square.

A week ago, at the same regular appearance there, Francis had asked people for special prayers for himself. During that earlier event, he said he plans to visit Hungary and Slovakia in September.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.