Greene County Democrat

Tag: President Donald Trump’s

  • Newswire : Trump Administration scrambles to blame Alex Pretti for his own death; Undermining 2nd Amendment in the process

    Makeshift memorial to Alex Pretti, at the site of his death in Minneapolis, Minnesota

    By Zack Linly, NewsOneInsert

    It’s quite possible that the Trump administration has finally flown too close to the sun, regarding its latest narrative of observably false propaganda against the latest victim of a killing by immigration cops in Minnesota.
    When 37-year-old Alex Pretti was gunned down by ICE agents while trying to protect a woman an agent had pushed to the ground and started pepper-spraying for no discernible reason, the Trump administration began its usual routine of trying its best to get ahead of the media by smearing the victim and claiming the agents were in imminent danger and in fear of their lives.
    White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has falsely claimed that immigration agents have“immunity” from prosecution, called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents” in a tweet that was re-tweeted by Vice President JD Vance, according to CNN.
    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters Saturday that Pretti “impeded the law enforcement officers and attacked them,” and that he “had a weapon on him, and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition; wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that.”
    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara refuted Noem’s claim about Pretti “brandishing” his gun — which he carried legally, and which video clearly shows that he never even touched, let alone brandished — saying, “I don’t have any evidence that I’ve seen that suggests that the weapon was brandished.” Noem also said in a Fox News interview Sunday that Pretti was “laying hands on law enforcement,” which video footage also shows is simply untrue.
    Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino — who has been at the center of clashes between immigration cops and protesters almost everywhere agents have been deployed, and has been ripped to shreds multiple times by federal judges for violating their orders restricting certain uses of force and for lying about protest violence to justify it — claimed it “looks like” Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” He also claimed Pretti “assaulted federal officers” during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, but when asked where in the viral video footage that happened, Bovino had no answers.
    Make no mistake, they lied on Renee Nicole Good the same way, expecting us to ignore video footage that showed her attempting to drive away from ICE agents before she was shot and killed by one, in favor of nonsense about her attempting to weaponize her vehicle against ICE, which is the same lie DHS told after agents shot Marimar Martinez as she sat in her vehicle, and after agents shot Richard LA, the TikTok influencer who documents ICE activities, in Los Angeles. In both cases, criminal charges against the victims were dropped because evidence proved the government was lying.
    This time, the Trump administration has gotten so desperate to smear Pretti the same way that it’s even going against conservative America’s sacred pro-Second Amendment doctrine by essentially claiming Pretti had no right to be armed.
    Perhaps this is why even Republican senators are calling for a fuller investigation into Pretti’s death.
    Meanwhile, Democratic senators are now vowing to oppose funding for homeland security over federal violence in Minnesota, threatening to cause yet another government shutdown on President Donald Trump’s watch.
    Has any administration ever been the cause of all of its own issues the way this one has? It just keeps shooting itself in the foot and blaming everyone else.

  • Newswire : Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say Nation is in political crisis, Quinnipiac Poll Finds

    By Stacy M. Brown
    Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    The nation trembles, and the numbers do not lie. A new Quinnipiac University national poll reveals that 79 percent of voters believe the United States is in the grip of a political crisis, a judgment cast in the shadow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

    Across partisan lines, the consensus is chilling: 93 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents, and even 60 percent of Republicans agree the country is spiraling. “The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” said Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy. Seventy-one percent of voters now call politically motivated violence a “very serious” problem, a sharp rise from just 54 percent in June. The voices of politicians, amplified and sharpened, are seen by 82 percent of respondents as feeding the violence that stalks the streets and corrodes the public square.
    A majority—58 percent—no longer believe the temperature of political rhetoric can be lowered. Instead, more than half of voters expect political violence to worsen in the coming years. Malloy captured the mood bluntly. “From a perceived assault on freedom of speech to the fragility of the democracy, a shudder of concern and pessimism rattles a broad swath of the electorate,” he insisted. Freedom of speech, once assumed inviolable, now carries the weight of doubt. Fifty-three percent of voters said they are pessimistic about its protection in America. Just six months ago, the numbers were reversed.
    The very machinery of democracy is also under suspicion. Fifty-three percent of voters say the system is not working. Democrats and independents share that belief by strong margins, while Republicans—mirroring their president’s claims—remain largely convinced it functions.
    President Donald Trump’s approval rating stands at 38 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. Disapproval is strong on nearly every front—foreign policy, the economy, immigration, and gun violence. Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, fares little better: 54 percent of voters disapprove of his performance, and nearly six in ten say they have little or no confidence in the medical information he provides.
    The crisis extends beyond politics. Asked about the economy, 53 percent of voters pointed to the price of food and consumer goods as their greatest worry, while another 28 percent named housing costs. And when it comes to the fate of those convicted of murder, 55 percent favor life in prison without parole over the death penalty.
    Gun violence, foreign conflicts, and the direction of democracy itself weigh heavily. Eighty-three percent of voters believe political leaders are more interested in blaming others than finding solutions. The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,276 registered voters nationwide from September 18–21, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. “Nearly 80 percent of registered voters feel they are witnessing a political crisis, seven in ten say political violence is a very serious problem, and a majority say this discord won’t go away anytime soon,” Malloy noted.

  • Newswire : Columnist Karen Attiah fired at The Washington Post 

    Karen Attiah

    By Lauren Burke, NNPA Congressional Correspondent

     

    Washington Post opinion editor Karen Attiah posted on her Substack, The Golden Hour, that she was fired last week by The Washington Post. According to Attiah, she was the last full-time Black opinion columnist at The Post, where she was employed for 11 years
    Other Black Washington Post staffers in senior positions who have recently departed, via the recent buyout round, include Monica Norton and Krissah Thompson. “Once many Black reporters, editors, and columnists at the upper ranks of Washington Post, but now: Courtland Milloy, Krissah Thompson, Eugene Robinson, Joe Davidson, Vanessa Williams, Ovetta Wiggins, Darryl Fears, Monica Norton, Perry Bacon, Jonathan Capehart, gone ~ soon Colby King,” wrote Vincent Morris on July 23 on social media. Morris is a former spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was also a media columnist.
    Though the Black population in Washington, DC, has decreased from 70 percent in 1980 to 40 percent in 2020, the District of Columbia has a substantial Black population at 40 percent as of 2020. The news regarding Attiah emerged on the morning of Sept. 15 after Attiah wrote a lengthy description of her side of the events.
    They included the disclosure that she was fired because of a social media post related to controversial conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot to death on Sept. 10 in Orem, Utah, during an appearance at Utah Valley University. “I was the last remaining Black full-time opinion columnist at the Post, in one of the nation’s most diverse regions,” Attiah wrote. “Washington D.C. no longer has a paper that reflects the people it serves. What happened to me is part of a broader purge of Black voices from academia, business, government, and media — a historical pattern as dangerous as it is shameful — and tragic,” she added.
    Since the start of President Trump’s second term in January, there has been a forced exodus of Black federal officials and a push by Trump’s Administration to end any police related to “diversity” or “inclusion.” Prominent Black officials have been pushed out, including the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who was fired in May, and General Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was removed in February. Republicans have also moved to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — moving to less regulation. The departure of Attiah for The Post is yet another sign that a rightward shift is underway in legacy media.
    “The Washington Post Guild condemns the unjust firing of columnist Karen Attiah. The Washington Post wrongly fired Opinions columnist Karen Attiah over her social media posts. The Post not only flagrantly disregarded standard disciplinary processes, it also undermined its own mandate to be a champion of free speech. The right to speak freely is the ultimate personal liberty and the foundation of Karen’s 11-year career at The Post,” wrote The Washington Post Guild on social media.
    The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon, the retail on-line marketing giant. Bezos and other billionaires appeared on the platform at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration and their influence has expanded as their politics turned rightward.

  • Newswire : Jobless rates for Black men and women jump under Trump’s cuts and tariffs

    By Blackmansstreet Today

    Payroll employment rose a disappointing 73,000 in July, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2, but the Black jobless rate for both men and women jumped as the Federal government continued to cut jobs, like at the Department of Education.

    The U.S. job market slowed sharply in July and was substantially weaker than first estimated for prior months, suggesting President Donald Trump’s trade policy may be stifling hiring.

    The U.S. economy added just 73,000 jobs last month, and the monthly totals for May and June were revised downward by a combined 258,000 jobs.

    The prior two months’ revisions were “stunning,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, in an interview with CNN. May’s estimated 144,000 net gain was revised down by 125,000 to 19,000; and June’s preliminary tally of 147,000 was slashed by 133,000 to 14,000, according to data released Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    The jobless rate for Black men was 7.0 percent in July 2025 compared with 6.7 percent in July 2024. The employment rate of Black women was 6.3 percent in 2025 compared to 6.2 percent in 2024.

    Black workers continued to face a disproportionately high unemployment rate at 7.2 percent—nearly double the rate for White workers, which remained at 3.7 percent. Hispanic workers saw a jobless rate of 5.0 percent, while Asian workers had a jobless rate of 3.9 percent.

    Historically, Black women have been overrepresented in the federal workforce, in positions that have offered stability, security, and more pay equity. Black women constitute about 12 percent of federal workers, compared with 7 percent of civilian workers.

    They are also more likely to be in the departments that have been most targeted for cuts by DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency), including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.

    For example, take a look at the Department of Education, which Trump wants to destroy. U.S. Department of Education has 4,133 employees, according to the administration’s numbers.

    Nearly 600 workers have since chosen to leave, by resigning or retiring. And this week, more than 1,300 workers were told they’re losing their jobs in a Tuesday purge.

    That leaves 2,183 remaining department staff, according to the administration. Which means the Education Department will soon be roughly half the size it was just a few weeks ago.

    Black women made up 28 percent of the education department. They also made up many of the diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, positions that Trump set out to eliminate during his first day in office.

  • Newswire: U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to oversee former President Trump’s election interference case

    Federal Judge Tanya S. Chutkan

    By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Judge Tanya S. Chutkan will preside over the case of former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
This decision comes after Chutkan’s previous involvement in key motions related to the January 6 committee’s investigation.
Chutkan has a history with Trump. She denied his 2021 motion to prevent records from being given to the January 6 committee.
In her decision, she emphasized that “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not president.” This ruling showcased her commitment to upholding the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
A trailblazer in her own right, Chutkan’s background is impressive.
She was born in Kingston, Jamaica and moved to the United States to pursue higher education.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Washington University and later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Chutkan began her law career working in private practice and later at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service.
After that, she joined the law firm Boies, Schiller, & Flexner LLP, where she specialized in white-collar criminal defense for a total of 12 years.
Legal experts described Chutkan as incredibly dedicated to justice and fair representation as a public defender. They said her commitment to ensuring equal access to justice was evident.
Her colleagues said her extensive experience in complex legal matters and criminal defense undoubtedly contributed to her well-rounded understanding of the law.
Chutkan was appointed to the District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Barack Obama in 2014.
Chutkan has a reputation for being a fair and committed judge.
Still, she hasn’t shied away from imposing harsher sentences than the Justice Department initially requested in cases involving January 6 defendants.
When federal prosecutors suggested that Matt Mazzocco serve three months of home confinement and probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Chutkan insisted that there must be consequences “beyond sitting at home” for individuals involved in an attempted violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
“If Mr. Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that’s not going to deter anyone trying what he did again,” Chutkan asserted from the bench.
“It does not, in this Court’s opinion, indicate the severity – the gravity of the offenses that he committed on Jan. 6.”
Ultimately, she sentenced Mazzocco to 45 days in jail and 60 hours of community service.
Many observers said her stance reflects a belief in the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions during the insurrection.
The judge has refused to bow to political pressure or executive privilege.
In addition to denying Trump’s emergency motion in 2021, attempting to prevent the National Archives from turning over his administration’s records to the January 6 committee, she has remained steadfast in upholding the law.
“For a lot of people, I seem to check a lot of boxes: immigrant, woman, Black, Asian. Your qualifications are always going to be subject to criticism and you have to develop a thick skin,” Chutkan was quoted as saying in a February 2022 profile posted by the federal judiciary.

  • Newswire : Growing number of states reject voter data request from Trump’s election commission

    Voting rights groups have also come out against Kris Kobach’s push to gain information about voters in all 50 states.

    By: Arturo Garcia, Snopes News Service
    Kristen Clarke, Director Lawyers Committee
    Kristen Clarke, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law condemned the national request for voter data

    At least twenty-two states have signaled resistance or rejected a request from President Donald Trump’s administration for data for every registered voter in the U.S.
    The request was submitted via letters to all secretary of state offices in the nation and the District of Columbia by the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity on 29 June 2017, seeking information that includes the names, party affiliations, addresses, military statuses and the last four digits of the voters’ Social Security numbers, as well as voting history from 2006 onward.
    Kris Kobach, the commission’s vice-chair and current Kansas secretary of state, has claimed in the past, as has Trump, that U.S. voter fraud is widespread — but without providing evidence. Trump signed an executive order creating the commission in May 2017, which quickly spurred accusations that it would be used to implement, rather than investigate, voter suppression.
    Ten states — California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia — have fully rebuked Kobach’s call for voter data.
    Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, in a statement of his own said, “They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great State to launch from. Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our State’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.”
    Even Kobach’s home state of Kansas balked, prompting backtracking from his office: “In Kansas, the Social Security number is not publicly available. … Every state receives the same letter, but we’re not asking for it if it’s not publicly available,” Kobach said.
    He did not rule out the possibility of providing that information to the commission in the future. “If the commission decides that they would like to receive Social Security numbers to a secure site in order to remove false positives, then we would have to double check and make sure Kansas law permits,” Kobach said.
    “I know for a fact that this information would be secured and maintained confidentially,” he added in response to security concerns.
    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) made reference to the allegations that led Trump to create the commission in a statement said: “New York refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election. We will not be complying with this request and I encourage the Election Commission to work on issues of vital importance to voters, including ballot access, rather than focus on debunked theories of voter fraud.”
    Several other states have responded by saying that they will only share information that is already publicly available.
    Voter advocacy groups have also come out against the commission’s push for access to the data, which it said it wanted by 14 July 2017. League of Women Voters president Chris Carson said in a statement that her group would support any state that refused to comply with Kobach’s request: “There is no justification for this giant fishing expedition. The Commission itself is a distraction from the real issue of voter suppression, and that efforts to “investigate voter fraud” threaten our most fundamental voting rights. This most recent move by Mr. Kobach is an indicator that the so-called Election “Integrity” Commission is not interested in facts, but false accusations and dangerous policy recommendations.”
    Kristen Clarke, Executive Director of The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also condemned Kobach’s letters and called on his counterparts in other states to “discourage state and local officials” from participating in the commission’s activities: “This meritless inquisition opens the door for a misguided and ill-advised Commission to take steps to target and harass voters and could lead to purging of the voter rolls.”
    Before joining Trump’s administration, Kobach worked as an attorney for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a hardline anti-immigration group. In September 2016, a federal appeals court found that Kobach had provided “precious little” evidence that non-U.S. citizens were engaging in voter fraud.