Politics

Among the materials turned over to special counsel Jack Smith about supposed fraud in the 2020 election are documents that touch on many of the debunked conspiracies and unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud peddled by former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Trump is returning to Erie to shore up support ahead of 2024 Republican presidential primary

As GOP sentiment toward COVID-19 vaccines shifted, DeSantis began focusing less on promoting vaccines, The New York Times reported.

So I'm reminded today that the Republican Party hasn't released an update to their policy platform since 2016. Seeing as they're having money troubles and all, I thought I'd ask the Fediverse to help out.

So Fediverse, in your opinion, what is the current policy platform of the Republican party?

If you can provide links to specific legislation (passed or pending) or news articles that support your answer, all the better.

#politics

“Calling DeSantis a fascist isn’t hyperbole, it’s defining what he is.”

The minimum has been an unlivable $7.25 an hour under three presidents. Today’s wage is worth less than at any point since 1956

The rise in unfavorability amongst the GOP comes after the 45th president was indicted twice and currently faces a potential third indictment.

Former President Donald Trump reposted a meme on Truth Social that suggested the government led the Capitol riot on January 6, despite the fact that he was president at the time.
The meme, which Mr Trump “re-truthed,” said: “January 6 will go down in history as the day the government staged a riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.”
The meme has been liked nearly 9,000 times and shared 2,400 times as of Monday. In reaction to Mr Trump’s repost, journalist Aaron Rupar sarcastically wrote on Twitter: “rubbing my last 2 brain cells together as I try to remember who ran the government on January 6.”
The former president shared the meme despite a House committee that investigated January 6 declaring Mr Trump the “central cause” of the day’s events. “None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him,” the House panel wrote in its final report.
Mr Trump’s move comes as it appears that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6 criminal probe is nearing the indictment phase. The former president announced on the platform last week that the special counsel informed him that he was a “target” in the investigation.
Mr Trump is currently the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race. A number of his colleagues have hesitated in calling out his actions – or inaction – leading up to the Capitol attack.
Mr Trump ‘re-truthed’ the meme that blamed the government for the Capitol riot
(Truth Social)
Fellow GOP presidential candidate and Mr Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, told CNN on Sunday that although his words were “reckless” on January 6, “I am not yet convinced that they were criminal.” He continued, “I don’t honestly know what his intention was that day.”
Similarly last week, another GOP candidate, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, accused Mr Trump of not doing enough during the Capitol riot, saying he “should have come out more forcefully.” Mr DeSantis’ decision to call out his former ally arrives one month after he avoided answering a question about how the former president behaved on January 6.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a recent interview that some states allow abortion after an infant has already been born.

As a nation, the time is long overdue for fundamental changes to our national priorities

The range of Republican voters’ views on Trump shows he continues to have a tight grip on the party, even among those weary of his rhetoric and legal woes.

The guest list to a 2017 dinner for $10,000-a-year donors with Justice Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh shows how the rich buy access to the Supreme Court.

Again the conservative small-government governor is penalizing a business for choosing inclusivity over bigotry.

Freedom from Religion Foundation says the Bible should be banned based on the same reasoning Moms for Liberty presented in their request to pull five books; \

The judge said Donald Trump “improperly invoked” a U.S. code in an attempt to have his case moved.

The extremely hot conditions at Angola and other prisons in the South amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

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Florida schools have embraced curriculum that shys away from discussing the evils of slavery

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended a hard-right school curriculum that went into effect in his state this week while on the campaign trail for the Republican presidential nomination.

At an event in Utah, Governor DeSantis defended how slavery will now be taught in Florida middle schools. Children will now be taught that enslaved persons picked up skills that they later “parlayed” into profitable crafts after slavery was abolished.

“They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,” DeSantis told reporters on Friday.

However at the same press conference, the GOP candidate also appeared to back away from the specific assertions of the teachings, saying of the curriculum: “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it.”

He went on to say that the curriculum was “rooted in whatever is factual”.

“It was not anything that was done politically,” he added.

The Florida governor’s hard-right record will likely be a key talking point on the 2024 campaign trail - potentially presenting both a boon for DeSantis in the GOP primary but also a challenge as he seeks to woo moderates in a general election.

Florida Department of Education’s social studies standards for the 2023-2024 school year provide lesson topics for teachers including a “benchmark clarification” which instructs educators to teach students that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”.

It isn’t clear what “their personal benefit” would be in this scenario.

The line is included as part of a broader lesson entitled: “Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).”

The majority of polling puts DeSantis second in the crowded GOP primary field, though he trails former president Donald Trump by a wide margin and faces a number of rivals closing in on his position including Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.

Video (Twitter)

Jadarrius Rose, 23, is seen on video during the July 4 traffic stop with his hands up surrendering to police before an officer deployed his canine.

A police dog mauled a Black man in Ohio during a July 4th traffic stop after he surrendered to authorities with his hands raised in the air following a "lengthy pursuit," according to officials.

A Motor Carrier Enforcement inspector with the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) attempted to stop 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose who was driving a semi-tractor trailer because it "was missing a left rear mud flap," according to an incident report. Rose was traveling westbound on U.S. Route 35 and failed to stop for the inspector and troopers who were called in for help.

Stop sticks were deployed twice on the vehicle before it came to a stop on U.S. Route 23.

"After several times of being ordered to exit the vehicle, the suspect exited the vehicle from the driver’s side door," the incident report stated. "The driver was given orders to get down on the ground and the suspect would not comply."

Rose can be seen on video released by the OSHP standing in front of troopers with his hands in the air.

An officer with the Circleville Police Department who has a K9 with him can be heard telling Rose to "go on the ground or you’re gonna get bit." Meanwhile, a trooper with the OSHP is telling Rose to "come to me."

It was then that the Circleville Police Department officer, identified as "R. Speakman," deployed his K9.

[article continues]

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The Supreme Court ruled that Alabama must create two congressional districts that would encompass majority-Black electorates. Republicans in the state didn’t listen.

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Republicans in the Alabama legislature have passed a new congressional map with only a single majority Black district—ignoring a recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered the creation of a second.

In a June ruling, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court surprised some onlookers when it ruled 5-4 that Alabama’s new map of congressional districts likely violated the Voting Rights Act as an illegal racial gerrymander. Under that map, only one out of Alabama’s seven districts had a majority Black electorate, even though Black residents comprise more than a quarter of the population.

The justices, upholding a lower court’s ruling, ordered Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature to redo the maps, this time carving out a second Black-majority district, “or something quite close to it.”

But Republicans in the state didn’t go through with it, effectively ignoring the high court’s order, opponents argue.

After a special session convened in response to the ruling, Alabama’s legislature passed a new map on Friday that created only one seat with a majority Black electorate, NBC reported. Another seat included in the revised plan has a 40 percent Black voter base.

The new maps passed a vote on Friday afternoon—as a court-mandated deadline loomed—and got Alabama governor Kay Ivey’s signature that night. They advanced over the objection of Democratic lawmakers, as well as the advocacy groups that successfully challenged the previous maps—and which have promised to fight the new one as well.

"The Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline,” Ivey said in a statement Friday night.

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Cornel West, a Green Party 2024 presidential candidate, fights to reach ballots in states with differing laws.

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With the 2024 presidential election heating up, debates over the role of third parties are beginning to simmer -- and Democrats fear the Green Party could offer voters an enticing alternative who could hamper their chances in the general election.

At the center of those concerns is newcomer presidential candidate Cornel West, a philosopher and activist who announced his intent to run with the left-wing, populist People's Party on June 5 before switching, saying on June 14 he would seek the Green Party nomination.

Bernard Tamas, a political science professor at Valdosta State University, told ABC News that American third-party candidates don't need to win elections to be influential. Rather, they often "sting like a bee" and shock one of the two major parties to take up issues they're passionate about.

Tamas believes that the best hope for Green Party members is that the Democratic Party will shift towards their preferred positions in an effort to neutralize the threat that they could siphon away voters.

"I don't think anyone in the Green Party has any delusions that they're going to win anything," he said. "This is a way for the progressives, those on the left, to force the Democratic Party to take [seriously] issues that they take seriously."

In other words, Tamas said, the possibility that West might cost Biden the election isn't a coincidence: It's a core part of third parties' strategy.

"They're between a rock and a hard place," he said of the Green Party. "Stepping aside for this election, well, it would effectively end their impact at all."

The stated priorities of the U.S. Green Party's platform are decreasing the U.S. military budget, addressing global climate change through a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, social justice, and democratic reforms like the public financing of elections.

The U.S. Green Party has about 200,000 registered members as of July 2023, according to a party database, and 133 members of the Green Party hold elected office.

So far, the only candidate competing against West for the Green Party nomination is Randy Toler, a co-chair of Florida's Green Party, who has filed to enter the race but has not yet formally begun his campaign. Toler is also running for Florida's open Senate seat in 2024.

With the endorsement of Jill Stein, a two-time Green Party presidential nominee who is now West's campaign manager, and as the only candidate who is actively campaigning so far, West is considered the clear frontrunner in the race.

Like the Democrat and Republican parties, the Green Party nomination will be decided through primaries or conventions across the country starting early next year, culminating in the 2024 Green National Convention. The date of the convention has not yet been announced.

No third party nominee has ever won a presidential election -- but some famous third-party bids, such as that of businessman Ross Perot, may have shifted electoral outcomes, and campaigns from Teddy Roosevelt, Strom Thurmond and others even won a few states.

Who is Cornel West and why is he seeking the Green Party nomination?

According to his staff, West, who is a philosopher and former professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University, switched to seeking the Green Party nomination because it is more widely listed on presidential ballots than his original selection of the People's Party.

In order to appear on the ballot, presidential candidates need to meet state-by-state requirements – a fairly costly and labor-intensive endeavor. In the U.S., only a select few parties, like the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, have the organizational and grassroots support needed to meet those requirements across the country.

"It became clear that he needed a party that could actually get him on the ballot," said Stein.

While the Democratic and Republican parties also have those resources, Stein argued, West sought a third party nomination because he believes neither party met the Green Party's standards on the issues of climate change, the influence of corporations and wealthy donors in U.S. politics, and more.

"Dr. West is acting on the reality of the cards that we've been dealt," said Stein. "If you know anything about the polls, you know that American voters have broken with the system. ... People are hungry for more choices and more voices in this election and Dr. West is speaking to the deeply felt need."

West's candidacy has sparked fears and heated criticism from Democrats that the professor's campaign could "spoil" the election for Biden, pulling votes away from the incumbent in vital swing states and tipping the election towards former President Donald Trump. In 2016, the number of people who voted for Stein, then the Green Party presidential nominee, exceeded Trump's margin of victory in Michigan, though Stein has disputed that she cost Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the election there, arguing that not all of her voters would have voted for Clinton otherwise.

"I think that Democrats have reason to worry," Tamas said. "1% of the vote, 2% of the vote, could very well shift the election over to the Republican Party."

Stein dismissed that possibility as "propaganda."

"This is about the party elite protecting themselves," she said. "To call that spoiling, when people like Dr. West stand up and offer people another way forward, instead of this pathway that has just been throwing working people, poor communities of color, under the bus, that's just nonsense."

West has also drawn backlash from progressives for a recent op-ed where he praised Florida Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for supporting a "classical education" oriented around the Western literary canon.

Which voters will West woo?

Given West's background in racial justice, Tamas said the natural inclination would be to believe West could attract African American voters.

But history suggests that might not be the case, Tamas said. Historically, African-American voters have been a fairly risk-averse voting bloc, only voting for candidates that are thought to have good odds of winning.

"They are much less likely to jump on board to a challenge," he said.

However, West's left-wing platform could appeal to a certain base of progressive voters, said Melissa Deckman, a researcher and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. This is especially true among younger voters for whom socialism is an appealing economic policy divorced from its negative Cold War-era connotations.

"Generally speaking, the term 'socialism' is not one that is necessarily embraced by the general public. However, younger Americans, especially young women, I found in my research, tend to be more open to the concept of socialism," Deckman said.

"Many Americans would say that capitalism as a system isn't working well for them," she continued. "For example, many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, increasingly because the cost of living is too high."

Deckman also named climate change as a factor shaping some voters' perception of capitalism. West has made the issue a pillar of his campaign, frequently naming "ecological collapse" as one of his key priorities.

The first challenge: Getting on the ballot

The potency of West's campaign could turn on a set of relatively obscure proceedings surrounding ballot access laws. Each state has different rules for who can qualify to appear on the ballot for a certain office. Most states require candidates to gather signatures or pay a filing fee.

But the Green Party argues these laws unfairly benefit well-funded candidates.

"There's always been, even in the Constitution, a check on the people," wrote Tony Ndege, a co-chair of the Ballot Access Committee for the Green Party, in an email to ABC News. "They spin the propaganda of, 'Well, these are the serious candidates.' Well, they're the candidates serious about remaining beholden to big money interests."

The swing state of Pennsylvania could become a key battleground. The Green Party gathered the sufficient number of signatures for ballot access in that state during the last presidential election cycle, but it was disqualified from the ballot due to technical issues with how the requisite signatures were gathered. The Green Party is already on the ballot in two other key swing states: Michigan and Wisconsin.

Taken together, Ndege said he is expecting an "interesting 2024."

"There will always be pushback from those in power when you are doing the right thing. I think that will intensify dramatically as the months continue," Ndege said.

The party has not announced a date or location for its convention.

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“It’s pretty remarkable that you’re not concerned about it, given the fact that they wanted to hang you on on Jan. 6,” Bash told the ex-veep.

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Former President Donald Trump warned on a conservative talk-radio show last week that it would be “very dangerous” if he went to prison over the Jan. 6 insurrection, as his supporters are “a passionate group of voters.”

But his former vice president, Mike Pence, who encountered a large group of passionate Trump voters out for his blood two years ago, doesn’t seem worried.

“Everyone in our movement are the kind of Americans who love this country, are patriotic or law-and-order people who would never have done anything like that there or anywhere else,” Pence told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s State of the Union. “I have more confidence in the American people than that. I hear my former running mate’s frustration in his voice, but I'm sure the American people will respond in our movement in a way that will express, as they have every right to under the First Amendment, to express concerns that they have about what they perceive to be unequal treatment of the law. But I'm not concerned about it beyond that.”

The winding answer seemingly left Bash flabbergasted, prompting her to note why someone like Pence of all people should be concerned.

“It’s pretty remarkable that you’re not concerned about it, given the fact that they wanted to hang you on on Jan. 6,” she said through a laugh before attempting to move on.

But Pence wouldn’t let that stand, refusing to let the CNN anchor “use a broad brush” to classify everyone at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as being perpetrators of violence.

“The people in this movement, the people who rally behind our cause in 2016 and 2020, are the most God-fearing, law-abiding, patriotic people in this country,” he said. “And I just I won’t stand for those kinds of generalizations because they have no basis in fact.”

But Pence wouldn’t say much about the person being investigated for allegedly helping to perpetuate some of the violence itself: His former boss.

Earlier in the interview, Bash asked Pence whether the Department of Justice should charge Trump if it finds evidence he committed a crime related to the insurrection. The ex-veep, however, would only note that Trump’s actions were inappropriate—though perhaps not criminal.

“I've said many times that the president’s words were reckless that day,” he said. “I had no right to overturn the election. But while his words were reckless, based on what I know, I’m not yet convinced that they were criminal.”

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A White House official says President Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.