Greene County Democrat

Tag: President Donald Trump

  • Newswire : Experts say Trump’s South African land stance exposes a deep hypocrisy

    Elon Musk and South African President Cyril Ramaposa


    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    President Donald Trump’s latest maneuver, an executive order to cut U.S. aid to South Africa while extending refugee status to white South Africans, is yet another calculated exercise in race-baiting and historical revisionism. Trump claims that Afrikaners, the white descendants of Dutch and French settlers who own the vast majority of South Africa’s farmland, are victims of persecution under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s land reform efforts. Yet, the reality of land ownership in South Africa tells a different story, and Trump’s feigned concern for land rights is made even more absurd when compared to the systematic land dispossession endured by Black Americans in the United States.
    South Africa’s land reform efforts aim to redress the racial inequities created by apartheid, a regime that systematically transferred land from the Black majority to the white minority. Despite the official end of apartheid three decades ago, white South Africans still control between 70 to 80 percent of the country’s arable land.
    Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) government has introduced expropriation policies to correct this historic injustice, ensuring that land reform is in the public interest and within the constitutional framework. Yet, Trump has chosen to distort the issue, parroting the narrative pushed by AfriForum, an Afrikaner lobby group that claims white South Africans face racial discrimination.
    South African President Cyril Ramaposa recently asked billionaire and South African citizen, Elon Musk, to speak with President Trump on the land policy. The law allows the government to take land which is idle and unused. It does not allow the confiscation of land that is in use by white farmers.
    The hypocrisy of Trump’s sudden interest in land rights is stark when viewed against the backdrop of America’s own history of racialized land theft. While Trump amplifies the supposed plight of white South Africans, his own country has a long and well-documented history of dispossessing Black Americans of their land through legal and extralegal means. According to Inequality.org, at the beginning of the 20th century, Black Americans owned at least 15 million acres of land. By the 21st century, 90 percent of that land had been taken through fraudulent legal schemes, intimidation, and outright theft. Today, African Americans own only 1.1 million acres of farmland and part-own another 1.07 million acres, a staggering loss of generational wealth that has never been addressed.

    Land theft from Black people in the United States was carried out through methods such as heirs’ property laws, tax sales, and the Torrens Act, which allowed white developers to seize Black-owned land under the guise of legal loopholes. Heirs’ property laws divided land among multiple descendants, making it difficult for families to retain ownership. Tax sales preyed on Black families with fixed incomes, forcing them to auction off land they had no intention of selling. The Torrens Act allowed land to be sold without notifying all co-owners, stripping Black families of their property without legal recourse.
    The impact of this systematic theft is immeasurable. In Mississippi alone, between 1950 and 1964, nearly 800,000 acres of Black-owned land were stolen, amounting to a present-day valuation of up to $6.6 billion. The wealth lost through land dispossession remains one of the most enduring factors in the racial wealth gap, where the typical white family still has eight times the wealth of the typical Black family.
    Trump’s selective outrage over land redistribution in South Africa stands in direct contrast to his administration’s complete disregard for the historical theft of Black land in the U.S. His policies consistently benefited white landowners while neglecting the Black farmers and families who had been systematically robbed of their property for generations. His administration dismantled the civil rights division of the USDA, an agency long accused of discriminating against Black farmers and ignored efforts to provide restitution to those who had suffered under racist policies.
    The irony deepens when one considers Trump’s well-documented hostility toward refugees. His administration slashed refugee admissions to record lows, imposed draconian immigration bans, and separated children from their families at the border. But now, white South Africans—who remain the most economically privileged demographic in their country—are suddenly deemed worthy of asylum. Black and brown refugees fleeing war, famine, and persecution were demonized as threats under Trump’s watch, yet white Afrikaners are welcomed with open arms.
    Ziyad Motala, writing in the Middle East Monitor, noted that Trump’s claim of white South African persecution “would be an amusing episode of alternate history if it were not so transparently false.” White South Africans continue to dominate the country’s economy, with the top earners and corporate executives overwhelmingly white. Motala further pointed out that Trump’s narrative is being bolstered by figures like Elon Musk, whose family directly benefited from apartheid’s racially engineered economic system. Musk’s political pivot toward white grievance politics aligns seamlessly with Trump’s latest efforts to manufacture a racial crisis where none exists.

    Moreover, South Africa’s judiciary, bound by constitutional supremacy, has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to legality and justice, something that Trump’s presidency consistently undermined. Unlike Trump, South Africa’s Constitutional Court has held former leaders accountable who openly flouted the rule of law and sought unchecked power. When former South African President Jacob Zuma ignored court orders, he was held in contempt and sentenced to prison. By contrast, Trump’s abuse of presidential pardons saw convicted war criminals and insurrectionists absolved simply for their loyalty.
    Trump’s real motivation in targeting South Africa likely has little to do with land reform and everything to do with South Africa’s stance on international justice. The country’s decision to bring Israel before the International Court of Justice over its actions in Gaza has drawn Washington’s ire, and Trump, ever eager to shield Israel from scrutiny, has now concocted yet another race-based distraction.
    The hypocrisy is glaring. Trump, who has spent his political career demonizing Black and brown asylum seekers, now fashions himself a humanitarian for white South Africans. The same man who dismissed systemic racism in America and worked to dismantle civil rights protections now suddenly professes concern for racial discrimination—so long as the supposed victims are white.
    “For all the talk of ‘America First,’ Trump’s policies have never been about national interest but rather about the consolidation of power through fearmongering and race-baiting,” Motala observed. “South Africa, in its commitment to legal accountability, human rights, and constitutional integrity, exposes precisely what Trump and his enablers despise: a legal order where power is constrained, the rule of law prevails, and privilege is not an eternal birthright.”

  • Newswire : Top climate organizations react to Trump’s Executive Orders attacking health, environment, climate and clean energy jobs

    By Climate Action Campaign

    WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump wasted no time implementing the Project 2025 playbook. Within his first hours as the 47th President, he issued executive orders aimed at dismantling crucial climate, health, and economic protections, which could have dire consequences for the country and the environment. His actions of disservice to our communities on the first day of his presidency coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day which was meant for service and reflection.

    The policies introduced by President Trump, along with his new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, stand in stark contrast to the spirit of Dr. King’s commitments to service others and improve society.

    Climate Action Campaign (CAC), along with partners and allies, voiced strong concerns about the executive orders and the confirmation of Lee Zeldin as the 17th Environmental Protection Agency administrator. “The new administration has moved to undo hard-earned generational progress like Justice40 that was created to ensure every American has an opportunity to be healthy and thrive,” said Dr. Margo Browne, Senior Vice President of Justice and Equity, at Environmental Defense Fund.

    “These actions threaten the rights of tens of millions of Americans to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and use products free of toxic chemicals, particularly those people whose zip code or race add undue burdens.

    We must stay focused. Leaders change, but our work remains the same. And we will do everything we can to uphold the progress made with our partners and allies and to uplift the people on the frontlines fighting for equity every day.” “As we enter into an era of weaponized phrases and issues, we must remember that environmental justice means that all people should have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment,” said Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer, WE ACT For Environmental Justice.

    “Trump’s day one acts – including rescessions of nearly 80 vital executive orders while adding dozens of new, anti-democratic orders – roll back popular policies that promote clean, renewable, and affordable energy. These actions also place vulnerable communities in even greater danger from pollution and the dire, real-time consequences of the climate crisis. In the face of these assaults, we will not stop pursuing justice.”

    “The President of the United States is elected to lead and protect all Americans,” said Ben Jealous, Executive Director, Sierra Club. “Donald Trump promised to be a president who fights for working families, but his bluster of action shows he’s fighting harder to protect corporate polluters and their profits, all at the expense of our health, our safety, and our jobs. The American people want cheaper energy bills, safe drinking water, and clean air. Donald Trump should listen and offer actual solutions instead of exploiting their pain for political gain while he further lines the pockets of the wealthiest instead of American workers.”

    On the Confirmation of Lee Zeldin, 17th administrator of the EPA:

    “Lee Zeldin’s confirmation as EPA administrator is a catastrophic blow to the health of Americans, the climate, and the economy,” said Margie Alt, Director, Climate Action Campaign. “Under Zeldin’s leadership, the Environmental Protection Agency will no longer protect the American people and our communities – it will protect polluters. Zeldin’s public statements and record make it clear he will implement Trump’s anti-science, anti-clean energy Project 2025 agenda, prioritizing the interests of oil and gas CEOs at the expense of the clean air, water, and energy that Americans overwhelmingly support and rely on.

    Americans deserve an EPA administrator who will prioritize the health and safety of families over polluter profits. Zeldin’s confirmation is a tragic failure for all Americans.”
    “The new head of the EPA must ensure that neither he nor the President denies vulnerable communities their most basic rights—the right to breathe clean air, drink water free from poison, and live on land that does not make them sick,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, Executive Vice President, National Wildlife Federation. “

    Environmental Justice is not a privilege; it is the foundation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  To neglect it is to abandon the people who need protection the most.” “Confirming a director who normalizes baseless conspiracies, while failing to earnestly accept the facts of climate change, is a threat to the health of everyone in the United States and especially the most vulnerable Justice 40 communities,” said KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution. “Lee Zeldin is the antithesis of environment and climate justice. We are amid a climate crisis that demands a protector, not a big oil pawn.”

    Climate Action Campaign is a vibrant coalition of advocacy organizations working together to drive ambitious, durable federal action to cut carbon pollution, address the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

  • Newswire : Trump Administration rescinds Federal Funding Freeze after Court ruling and backlash

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday rescinded a Project 2025-inspired order that had abruptly frozen most federal grants and loans, a sweeping directive that threw social service programs like Head Start, student loans, and Medicaid into disarray.

    The initial order, issued earlier in the week, sparked widespread confusion and disruption, prompting a swift legal challenge. On Tuesday evening, a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze, and by Wednesday, the White House pulled back the directive altogether. The order’s reversal came after mounting pressure from lawmakers, advocacy groups, and affected organizations.

    The White House insisted the move was intended to “end any confusion” following the court’s injunction, but critics called it a political miscalculation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the administration backed down only because of public outcry. “Americans fought back, and Donald Trump backed off,” Schumer said in a statement. “Though the Trump administration failed in this tactic, it’s no secret that they will try to find another, and when they do, it will again be Senate Democrats there to call it out, fight back, and defend American families.”

    However, the administration made clear that its broader policies on federal funding remain intact. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that this was “NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” but rather a rollback of the memo itself to “end any confusion” created by the court’s ruling. “The President’s executive orders on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented,” she added.

    The initial freeze caused immediate uncertainty, particularly in Washington, D.C., and Republican-leaning states heavily reliant on federal funds. Throughout Tuesday, the White House attempted to clarify exemptions—such as Medicaid—but the damage had already been done. Reports surfaced by people and organizations unable to access critical federal resources, heightening concerns about the real-world impact of the freeze.
    The legal challenge that led to the order’s reversal was filed by Democracy Forward, a progressive nonprofit, which argued that the directive was an unconstitutional overreach that endangered millions of Americans. “While we hope this will enable millions of people in communities across the country to breathe a sigh of relief, we condemn the Trump-Vance administration’s harmful and callous approach of unleashing chaos and harm on the American people,” said Skye Perryman, the organization’s CEO. “Our team will continue to bring swift legal actions to protect the American people and will use the legal process to ensure that federal funding is restored.”

    The uncertainty caused by the administration’s actions drew sharp criticism from organizations that rely on federal assistance. Melicia Whitt-Glover, executive director of the Council on Black Health, warned that the confusion threatens health programs serving historically marginalized communities. “While the Council on Black Health is not fully reliant on federal funding, many of our partners are, and they now face disruptions that threaten their ability to continue their vital work. This impacts the communities we serve and exacerbates health inequities,” she said.

    The administration’s actions have drawn scrutiny given the financial reliance of Republican-leaning states on federal aid. A MoneyGeek analysis found that seven of the 10 states most dependent on federal funding lean Republican, receiving an average of $1.24 for every dollar contributed, while blue states receive $1.14. New Mexico, a Democratic-leaning state, saw the highest return on federal spending at $3.42 per dollar contributed, while Delaware had the lowest at $0.46. Public Citizen, a government watchdog group, called the original freeze an unnecessary crisis that harmed vulnerable Americans.

    “The incompetence and cruelty of this order caused nationwide confusion and anxiety, as across the country regular Americans spoke out about the human impacts—the loss of jobs, essential services, and harms to children among many other vulnerable populations,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the organization. “The White House overplayed their hand as they levied this Project 2025-inspired order and made it clear that they want to sow chaos and gut programs that help families. We will keep up the fight to make sure that does not happen.”

  • Newswire : Black reaction to Trump DEI blame for D. C. plane crash

    American Airlines plane

    By April Ryan, NNPA White House Correspondent

    “We are dealing with a vicious adversary,” according to Rev. Al Sharpton, the head of the National Action Network speaking of President Donald Trump and his hate diatribe Thursday morning. President Trump blamed DEI, the Obama and Biden administrations along with former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg for the deadly midair crash over the Potomac last night. 67 people died after an accident between an American Airline Plane and an Army Helicopter.

    When asked why President Trump thought diversity had something to do with the crash, he said,” I have common sense and most people don’t.” Reverend Al, who is investigating the impact of the Trump anti-DEI efforts in retail believes Trump is “obsessed with race” and he is a “raw, insensitive, uncaring man.”

    Former Secretary Buttigieg immediately went to social media making a statement saying, Trump should be leading, not lying.” Buttigieg also fact-checked Trump saying we grew Air Traffic Control and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.” Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) / X 

    During Trump’s rant on DEI at the White House briefing room podium, he asserted, “the FAA’s diversity push includes a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. And then it says, the FAA says, people with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in, and they want them. They can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so.” Trump went on to say the prior administrations felt those departments were “too white.”

    According to reports FAA staffing has been an issue since Inauguration Day January 20, 2025.  Also, Elon Musk, the head of the White House Office of Government Efficiency is reported to have asked the head of the FAA to resign,  Former Black Obama Administration Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx exclusively told this reporter after the Trump statements,” I would caution against any definitive conclusions until that work [investigation] is done by trained, experienced professionals.”

    Foxx, who also worked as a transportation consultant in the Biden administration admonished the Trump address saying, “There is no sugar-coating the tragic midair collision that occurred last night. In my experience, safety has always been the number one focus of the Federal Aviation Administration.” Foxx says there is a safety mission to be completed after this tragedy. “There is a well-practiced root cause process that has been taken in the past. It should be used now with competent professionals. A comprehensive, fact-based investigation will answer the many questions we all have. It would also help guard against future accidents of this type,” according to the transportation expert.

    Before the completed investigation officially began, President Trump laid the blame for the accident on the Army helicopter. He felt it should have been flying at a different altitude, higher or lower, than the jet.

    When it comes to the president’s corrosive comments, reaction has been swift from the civil rights community. In a statement from the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Derrick Johnson, “The NAACP is disgusted by this display of unpresidential, divisive behavior.” Johnson told this reporter in a text message, “The President has made his decision to put politics over people abundantly clear as he uses the highest office in the land to sow hatred rooted in falsehoods instead of providing us with the leadership we need and deserve.”

    As Trump worked to distract with his words on DEI, the questions still abound as to what caused the deadly plane crash. Former Sec. Foxx, immediately following the fatal crash last night said. “My worst fear is that something happened with the avionics. I hope and expect that this is not the case. But most aircraft these days run in a form of GPS. Could a warning system have failed? But then, how can two systems fail? That leads to some even more grave concerns about interference with the systems. There are many other potential causes.”

  • Newswire : Several conservative anti-vaxxers die of COVID as Delta variant spreads

    By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

    Several conservatives have died of complications of COVID as the Delta variant rages through the southern part of the U.S. Many of them have publicly downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and have opposed mask mandate laws in the U.S. On August 28, Texas anti-mask organizer Caleb Wallace died after being infected with the COVID virus and remaining in the hospital since July 30. Wallace, 30, organized a “Freedom Rally” in early July for those “sick of the government being in control of our lives.” Wallace was a founder of the San Angelo Freedom Defenders. On August 14, longtime conservative radio host Dick Farrel, 65, who was based in Palm Beach and a skeptic of the seriousness of the coronavirus, died. Farrel refused to get the COVID vaccine. During his show on July 2, Farrel described the Delta variant as “another avalanche of Footchi bull shif.” Farrel was referring to medical guidance by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden. On August 21, another conservative COVID skeptic, radio host Phil Valentine, died. In late July Valentine’s radio station, 99.7 WTN in Nashville, announced that Valentine was hospitalized and “in very serious condition, suffering from Covid pneumonia.” On August 5, another Texas anti-mask/anti-vaccine activist, Scott Apley, 45, died of COVID complications. Apley was a leader in the Texas Republican Party and a member of the Dickinson City Council. Apley wrote, “You are an absolute enemy of a free people,” as he replied on a twitter to news that clinical trials showed that the Pfizer vaccine was effective at fighting COVID. On August 20, South Carolina tea party Republican leader Pressley Stutts died from complications of COVID. He was 64. Stutts opposed mask mandates but stated on social media that Covid-19 was a serious and deadly disease. Days before his death Stutts wrote on social media that he was choosing to go on a ventilator to take “a short rest.” COVID has killed over 600,000 people in the U.S. before the pandemic struck in March of 2020. President Donald Trump attempted to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic. President Biden has had a different approach. Plans for a booster shot of the vaccine are expected to get underway in September.

    Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

  • Newswire : Georgia prosecutors open investigation into Trump’s call to Secretary of State

    Fani Willis, Fulton Co. District Attorney

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Georgia prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger. During the call, the former President asked him to “find” the votes he needed to overturn the state’s election results.
    “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump said to Raffensperger during the call.
    The transcript of the phone call played a prominent role in the House of Representatives’ second impeachment of the 45th president and is expected to play a central role in the Senate trial.
    Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis promises to look into Trump’s actions following the now infamous Jan. 2 telephone call.
    “Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable,” Willis said in a statement last month.
    “Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office based on the facts and the law.”
    During his Jan. 6 rally that led to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Trump told his supporters about the phone call.
    “In Georgia, your secretary of state, who — I can’t believe this guy is a Republican. He loves recording telephone conversations,” Trump told the large gathering. “You know, that was a — I thought it was a great conversation, personally. So did a lot of other — people love that conversation because it says what’s going on,” he bellowed. “These people are crooked.”
    According to the “Articles of Impeachment Against Against Donald John Trump,” with closing endorsement by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, “…President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
    The resolution cites the call to Raffensperger urging him to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s election results.
    “We cannot allow this unprecedented provocation to go unanswered,” House members said in a statement.
    “Everyone involved in this assault must be held accountable, beginning with the man most responsible for it – President Donald Trump. We cannot begin to heal the soul of this country without first delivering swift justice to all its enemies — foreign and domestic.”

  • Newswire: It’s not over: as video champions new attacks, Biden-Harris Inauguration to be held outside

    By Hazel Trice Edney

    Right-wing group attacks Capitol on Jan. 6 ( Photo by Hamil/Trice Edney Communications) and Insurrectionists carry Confederate flag in Capitol attack

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – A futuristic video circulating on social media early this week features the voice of President Donald Trump calling for a “Day of Reawakening” on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2021.
    The three-minute video, which features images of people dressed in Trump t-shirts, hats and other paraphernalia concludes with the apparent voice of Donald Trump encouraging them to not be afraid and saying that “God will protect you.”
    This kind of rhetoric has heated up since the Jan. 6 violent insurrection in which thousands of vastly White Trump supporters showed up at the U. S. Capitol where thousands rioted, vandalized and assaulted police officers. Five people died as a result of the riot; including a Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he received while fighting off insurgents. Another officer, Howard Liebengood, died by suicide three days after the riot.
    Widespread reports, including from NBC and CNN, say the FBI has warned of more likely terrorist attacks, insurrections and riots leading up to the presidential inauguration and on that day, Jan. 20. These riots are being planned for all 50 capital cities as well as the U. S. Capitol.
    President Biden says he will still hold the inauguration outside of the Capital despite continued threats. A possible 15,000 National Guard troops are expected to guard the Capitol during the ceremony. People are being encouraged to watch the swearing in on television.
    Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats and some Republicans are moving ahead with the impeachment of Trump for the charge, “Incitement of insurrection” for his verbal encouragement that resulted in the rioters storming the Capitol. He would be the first U. S. president to be impeached twice. Trump has repeatedly told his supporters the lie that his election “was stolen” from them.
    Members of Congress may also face punishment for their words that day, namely Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who doubled down on Trumps lie, claiming the election was stolen and led the vote against the certification of the Biden-Harris election. Some members of Congress insist that to also have been insurrection, which the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, Section 3, cites as a reason for expulsion from the seats they hold.
    The Fourteenth Amendment states: “No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
    The “Day of Reawakening” video went dead shortly after the social media website, Parler, was taken offline on Monday. Twitter and Facebook also shut down President Donald Trump’s accounts, blocking tens of millions of his followers. But tech experts believe these actions will simply drive Trump supporters and possible rioters to other more obscure platforms where law enforcement investigators can not easily track and monitor their organizational activities.
    A string of arrests has taken place since Monday, mainly of people involved in the Capitol break in and the threats on the lives of members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they threatened to shoot, and also threats against the life of Vice President Mike Pence, who they threatened to hang for certifying the Electoral College confirmation of the Biden-Harris election. At least two Capitol police officers have been suspended and about 10 others are under investigation for their apparent involvement in the insurrection.
    Black leaders around the country, are calling for Trump’s immediate removal. They are also raising questions about why the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies were not better prepared and more aggressive against the perpetrators as they have been against Black Lives Matter protestors.
    “What we are witnessing at this moment is the manifestation and culmination of reckless leadership, a pervasive misuse of power, and anarchy. This is not protesting or activism; this is an insurrection, an assault on our democracy, and a coup incited by President Trump,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson during the insurrection Jan. 6. “We must not allow President Trump to continue to place our nation in peril. The NAACP calls for President Trump’s impeachment so that he will never again be able to harm our beloved country, and more importantly, its people.”

  • Newswire : Electoral College seals President-Elect Biden’s election victory

    Graphic map of US

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    On Monday, December 14, the nation’s Electoral College officially stamped Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President-Elect and Vice-President Elect. A total of 538 electors from every state and Washington, DC, took part in the critical portion of the U.S. electoral process, voting to affirm the votes cast during the 2020 election.
    To win, a candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes. Biden earned 306 while outgoing President Donald Trump tallied 232.
    Though largely viewed as a formality, the many challenges and the outrageous – almost treasonous – behavior displayed by Trump, his supporters, and a large swath of Republican officials made this year’s Electoral College gathering more eventful, if not uncertain.
    In Michigan, where Biden won by 50.6 percent to 47.8 percent, state legislative offices closed due to safety concerns while members of the Electoral College cast their official votes. State authorities there said they closed the offices because of “credible threats of violence.”
    In Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported that state and local officials of both major political parties warned that Trump’s “increasingly desperate tweets about election fraud and the coronavirus are fueling the potential for violence as well as another ominous trend of 2020, in which public servants and others who disagree are targeted at their offices and homes with armed protests, harassing phone calls and stalkers.”
    The newspaper added that an “enemies” list of state and federal officials who rejected Trump’s baseless election conspiracy theories floated up from the dark corners of the Web, with home addresses listed and red targets over their photos, the latest in a string of threats to public officials.
    During a violent outbreak involving the Pro-Trump group, “Proud Boys,” conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told Trump supporters in Washington, D.C., that Biden “will be removed one way or another.”
    On Monday, as the Electoral College cast its formal vote for Biden, the Daily Beast reported that Trump’s small circle of devoted legal advocates were still determined to carry on its fight to overturn the 2020 election despite the string of resounding defeats in court, including a seemingly terminal rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court.
    “But the futility of the effort is apparent in the campaign’s northern Virginia headquarters – the office that is supposed to be devoted to supporting and housing the legal crusade – which, knowledgeable sources said has virtually emptied out,” the newspaper reported, adding that many of the Trump-Pence signs had been stripped from the walls of the headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
    “The desks and memorabilia have been largely packed, thrown out, or removed from the office space too. Television sets, mounted to the walls around the rented 14th floor of the building, are being sold off for extra cash,” a source told the newspaper.
    Following Monday’s Electoral College gatherings, votes must arrive in Washington, D.C. by December 23, fulfilling the nine-day deadline in which certified electoral ballots are due on Capitol Hill.
    On January 6, three days after the 117th Congress is sworn in, members of the House and Senate are scheduled to meet in the House chamber where the President of the Senate – Vice President Mike Pence – will preside over the reading and counting of the Electoral College votes.
    Pence will then announce the vote and ask for any objections. The House and Senate consider all objections separately and then decide how to count those votes. The 538 electoral votes are divided – one for each Congress and senator member and three for Washington, D.C.
    The 435 members of the House decides the election, with each state receiving a vote. There are more Democrats in the House, but Republicans control more state delegations, so it is possible the House could seek to select Trump.
    Biden and Harris are scheduled for inauguration on January 20.
    “The peaceful transition of power…is a hallmark of our democracy that has been handed down for more than 220 years,” Governor Hogan of Maryland said. “At times it has been tested, sometimes even questioned. But it is a reminder that despite our differences, we are united as Americans who honor the will of the people through the greatest and most enduring Democratic process that the world has ever known.”
    Washington Informer Staff Writer William J. Ford contributed to this story.

  • Newswire : Black and other voters of color restored democracy in America in 2020 Presidential Election

    Biden and Harris

    By Sunita Sohrabji and Pilar Marrero
    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Ethnic Media Services
    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – In a country that is polarized and hurt by Covid-19 and a divisive leadership, a massive turnout of voters resulted in a close election where Democrat Joe Biden was pushed across the finish line by large majorities of voters of color.
    On Saturday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were the projected winners of the 2020 elections, relegating Donald Trump to a one term, even as he refused to concede, and his lawyers tried legal maneuvers to argue electoral fraud.
    The Democratic presidential ticket reached that goal mainly because communities of color rejected the Trump Administration by large margins, explained experts who discussed the numbers, the history, and the motivations of electoral choices by communities of color in the United States in a briefing with ethnic media.
    Election eve surveys and exit polling confirmed that the majority of white voters voted for President Donald Trump, but that Asian Americans, Latinx, and Black voters turned out in record numbers to oust the incumbent, and to propel the first woman of color into the White House.
    According to the American Election Eve Poll by Latino Decisions, 56% of whites voted for Trump. A CNN exit poll found a similar number, 57% of whites voting for the President.
    But voters of color were a different story. According to the LD poll, 70% of Latinos, 89% of Blacks, 68% of Asians and 60% of American Indians voted for Biden.
    “I want to thank people of color and communities of color for saving our democracy,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice at the Nov. 6 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services. “Speaking as a white man, I come from a community that voted in the majority for Donald Trump. And if it were not for the African American, Latinx, and Asian American Pacific Islander Community, we would not be celebrating the victory that we’re celebrating today,” said Sharry.
    It was a very close election, a cliffhanger that lasted from Tuesday November 3rd until Saturday morning, November 7th, when the official numbers made it clear that Biden-Harris had clinched the 270 electoral college votes needed.
    That polarization and the states in which the Biden advantage played out made it clear that lopsided democratic votes by people of color had an outsize role in the results.
    Stephen Nuño-Perez, a senior analyst at Latino Decisions, whose firm conducted an election eve poll of ethnic voters in key battleground states, said that “it’s extremely difficult to win an election when you have mobilized minorities and Latinos in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Albuquerque”. Latinx voters were critical in flipping Arizona blue, said Nuno Perez of Latino Decisions, pointing to counties such as Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma, which all have significant Latino populations.
    Latinx voters also made their presence known in Florida, handing Biden victories in Miami-Dade, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Broward County. In Miami, Cuban Americans threw their support behind Trump. Nuño warned about taking some outliers, like the Cuban vote in Miami-Dade and a couple of counties near the border in Texas where Trump did much better with Latinos, to project that into the larger narrative.
    “Yes, Latinos are not a monolith, and yes, they are a monolith, they do respond to certain types of messaging and at the national level, seventy percent of Latinos voted for Biden. That’s a clear pattern”, he said.
    Theodore Johnson, a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, said that a summer of protests for racial justice along with the disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 and record levels of unemployment in black communities, galvanized Black voter turnout in record numbers to remove Donald Trump from office.
    “That explains why we’re seeing Atlanta change Georgia, Philadelphia change Pennsylvania, Milwaukee change Wisconsin, and Detroit change Michigan,” he said. “That’s the enthusiasm and power of the Black vote.”
    Overall Black voters were pragmatic, Johnson noted, pointing to South Carolina where they opted for Joe Biden over Kamala Harris or Corey Booker. “They picked the candidate they thought had the best chance of winning over white voters.” Johnson attributed the small increase in Black males voting for Trump to those Black Republicans who had opted to vote for the first Black president in 2008 and 2012 and who were now returning to the Republican Party.
    Asian Americans turned out in significant numbers for the 2020 election, said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice/ AAJC. Some 300,000 were first-time voters. Exit polls plus pre-election polls showed there was much more enthusiasm to vote, Yang noted. Between 65%-70% of AAPI voters supported Biden, with 30 percent voting for Trump, consistent with voting patterns in 2012 and 2016.
    While one-third of Asian Americans live in the 10 battleground states, and it would be easy to attribute the margin of victory in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania to the AAPI vote. But Yang said it was the common values that brought Black, Latinx, Native and Asian Americans together that provided the margin of victory for Biden in those states.
    Yang recalled June 16, 2015, when Trump rode down an escalator at Trump Towers to announce his bid for the White House. “That was a defining moment for me and changed my career path. When he talked about illegal aliens being rapists and gangsters and criminals, he was talking about me because I was at one point an undocumented immigrant.”
    Mark Trahant, editor of Indian Country Today, discussed the impact of the Native American vote, indicating that a large number of Native Americans ran for elected office and that next year’s Congress will have a caucus with three Republicans and three Democrats. “This will give a bipartisan spin on Native issues,” he said.
    Native Americans were also elected to state Legislatures including Arizona and Kansas.
    Sharry, of America´s voice, said that the massive vote by minorities was also a rejection of Trump´s flagstone issue: xenophobia and racism.
    “An American public was forced by Donald Trump and his extremism to choose, and they chose to come down on the side of refugees and immigrants. This is a statement of what a multiracial majority in America said through this election. They said ‘we want to be a welcoming country. We don’t like Trump’s separation of families.’”
     

  • Newswire : Trump campaign rallies led to 700 deaths and 30,000 coronavirus cases, Stanford researchers say

    By Berkeley Lovelace Jr., CNBC
     
    President Donald Trump’s campaign rallies led to more than 30,000 coronavirus cases, according to a new paper posted by researchers at Stanford.
    Researchers looked at 18 Trump rallies held between June 20 and Sept. 22 and analyzed Covid-19 data the weeks following each event. They compared the counties where the events were held to other counties that had a similar trajectory of confirmed Covid-19 cases prior to the rally date. Out of the 18 rallies analyzed, only three were indoors, according to the research.
    The researchers found that the rallies ultimately resulted in more than 30,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19. They also concluded that the rallies likely led to more than 700 deaths, though not necessarily among attendees.
    The researchers said the findings support the warnings and recommendations of public health officials concerning the risk of Covid-19 transmission at large group gatherings, “particularly when the degree of compliance with guidelines concerning the use of masks and social distancing is low.”
    “The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death,” said B. Douglas Bernheim, chairman of Stanford’s economics department and a lead author of the paper, wrote.
    The paper, which has not undergone a peer review yet, was published on open access preprint platform SSRN.
    In response to the paper, Trump campaign spokesperson Courtney Parella said, “Americans have the right to gather under the First Amendment to hear from the President of the United States.”
    “We take strong precautions for our campaign events, requiring every attendee to have their temperature checked, providing masks they’re instructed to wear, and ensuring access to plenty of hand sanitizer. We also have signs at our events instructing attendees to wear their masks,” she added.
    A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign issued a statement after the paper posted, saying, Trump is “costing hundreds of lives and sparking thousands of cases with super spreader rallies that only serve his own ego.”
    “The worst part is that this doesn’t even capture Trump’s many superspreader events on White House grounds or the last five weeks of events across the country. How many more lives have been upended in that time? How many more empty seats are there at kitchen tables across America because of Donald Trump’s ego?” spokesperson Andrew Bates said.
    The researchers said they had to overcome “significant challenges,” acknowledging that the dynamics of Covid-19 are “complex,” and “even the most superficial examination of the data reveals that the process governing the spread of Covid-19 differs across counties.”
    The new research comes as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across the United States. The U.S. continued to set new highs for infections this week, with Friday marking a record 99,321 daily new cases, bringing the seven-day average of daily new cases to a new high at 78,738, a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University showed.
    Trump has often been criticized for holding in-person rallies, sometimes with tens of thousands of people, during a pandemic. He has sought to downplay the virus, often tying the increase in Covid-19 cases to more testing. But public health officials and infectious disease experts dispute that claim, saying the rate of tests that come back positive and hospitalizations are also on the rise.
    Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Friday that the U.S. is reporting an “extremely high and quite unacceptable” daily number of cases ahead of the winter season when people will be spending more time indoors.
    “We’re in a precarious position over the next several weeks to months,” Fauci told SiriusXM’s “Doctor Radio Reports,” calling on people to continue wearing face masks, social distance and spend time outdoors over indoors as much as possible.