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Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, imploring conservative Christians at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, DC to vote for him in an energetic and joke-filled speech, and telling a crowd in Philadelphia that his rambling is a sign of genius.
At the DC event, he bragged about having pitched a UFC league for migrants, claimed he has taken “more wounds” than any other president, and reeled out his bizarre stories about sharks, batteries, and Hannibal Lecter.
In Philadelphia, Trump told NBC News that he has chosen his running mate, that he hasn’t told anyone who it is yet, but they will be at the first presidential debate on Thursday when he faces Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon entertained a motion from Trump’s legal team that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
The Trump argument that Smith’s appointment was illegal stems from the claim that Attorney General Merrick Garland doesn’t have the legal authority to appoint a special counsel who the Senate hasn’t confirmed.
Cannon seemed skeptical but also said that the prosecution’s argument was an excessively “malleable” reading of the Constitution.
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Trump mocked for half empty Philadelphia venue
After digesting those highlights from Donald Trump’s Philadelphia rally last night, you might be wondering how well it was attended given that the city is something of a Democrat stronghold.
Well, Tennessee Democratic election commissioner Chris Jackson posted this video that shows an excited crowd on the lower level of the Liacouras Center at Temple University, but an entirely empty upper level.
Jackson then got into quite an amusing back-and-forth with disgraced former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis about crowd size which is worth a click.
Conservative Iraq War veteran Peter Henlein made the same observation and compared the crowd with Trump’s exaggerated numbers for his rallies in Wildwood, New Jersey, and the Bronx in New York City which he claims pulled in 107,000 and 30,000 people respectively.
[Estimates of the crowd size in Wildwood, New Jersey range from 30,000 to 60,000 people, and law enforcement sources put the Bronx rally crowd at 8,000-10,000 people]
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 15:30
Boebert rival teases her with ad filmed in Beetlejuice theater
Colorado Republican Rep Lauren Boebert’s Democratic rival posted a hilarious new ad speaking from the lawmaker’s seat during her scandalous Beetlejuice outing last fall.
Democratic Congressional hopeful John Padora sat in a maroon movie theater chair, saying in his new ad: “I’m sitting in the very same seat Lauren Boebert got kicked out of. The same way she got kicked out of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional district.”
Kelly Rissman has the story.
Lauren Boebert rival releases ad filmed in Beetlejuice theater she was kicked out of
The latest ad underscores how the embattled Republican can’t seem to escape the 2023 incident
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 15:00
And finally...
“Now the fake news will say, ‘Trump is rambling.’ No, it’s genius what I’m doing up here, but nobody understands.”
OK then.
“We will fight this scum that we have to beat. We will fight them, and we will win.”
Inspiring words.
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 14:42
Watch: More highlights of Trump’s rally in Philadelphia
Those pesky pollsters.
Oddly specific...
Debate rules state that candidates’ microphones will be shut off when they are not answering a question, so Trump may not have much choice.
He still doesn’t get how tariff costs are passed on to consumers in the US.
Let’s hear it for “luxuriant hair”... 💇♀️
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 14:36
Watch: Highlights of Trump’s rally in Philadelphia
Imagine how surreal it would be to run into Trump in a Walgreens and you both had to patiently wait while they unlocked the “steel” to get your “little bar of soap”...
Crime is in fact down.
What a badge of honor.
He really loves this migrant fight league idea. Disturbing.
Huh?
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 14:22
Trump says he has chosen his running mate (but it’s a secret)
Donald Trump told NBC News reporters Jake Taylor and Dasha Burns on Saturday evening that he has chosen his vice presidential running mate.
Speaking to them at Tony and Nick’s Steaks in Philadelphia ahead of his rally in the traditionally Democrat city, the former president also said that he hasn’t yet told the person he has selected.
Whoever it is will be at the first presidential debate on Thursday, hosted by CNN at its Atlanta studios. Trump will face off against President Joe Biden for 90 minutes at 9pm with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash asking the questions.
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 14:06
Evangelicals on why they’re still backing Trump: ‘We’ve all broken the Ten Commandments’
Bel Trew reports from the ‘Road to Majority’ policy conference in Washington, DC.
Wearing cowboy hats bejewelled with “Free Trump” broaches and waving American flags, evangelical Christians promised to vote for Donald Trump at a key gathering on Saturday, saying that while he is not perfect “he’ll do the right thing for America”.
Trump was the keynote speaker at the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington DC, a gathering of politically influential conservative Christian activists who advocate for strict abortion restrictions and a tougher stance on the southern border.
There he called on his religious supporters to go to the polls in a speech which notably quickly glossed over abortion, which has become a sensitive issue for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Continue reading...
‘We’ve all broken the Ten Commandments’: The evangelicalsstill backing Trump
‘I’m not voting for a pastor. I’m voting for someone that leads the country’, conservative Christians tell Bel Trew at the Road to the Majority conference in Washington, DC
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 14:00
Analysis: Trump wants Republicans to ‘swamp’ early voting and mail-in ballots. But he can’t stop lying about elections
Alex Woodward writes:
Former president Donald Trump wants you to vote early or cast a ballot by mail. He also thinks that mail-in voting is irreparably corrupt and should be banned.
His campaign and the Republican Party want to “promote the use of absentee and mail ballots and early in-person voting.”
They’re also suing states to block mail-in ballots, even in states where most people vote by mail.
Continue reading...
Trump wants Republicans to vote early. But he can’t stop lying about elections
Trump cannot stop spreading false claims about mail-in voting and the ‘rigged’ 2020 election while his own campaign and the GOP spend millions trying to convince supporters to vote early, Alex Woodward reports
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 13:36
Trump mixes up Jan 6 riot ‘suspects’ with Russian spies
Giving his customary shout-outs to lawmakers in attendance at an event in Washington, DC on Saturday, Donald Trump gave a somewhat confused version of a story involving one of his allies in Congress.
Read on...
Trump mixes up Jan 6 riot ‘suspects’ with Russian spies in rambling speech
Former president appears to confuse different stories while giving shout-out to Georgia lawmaker
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 13:00
Trump says he suggested setting up a UFC migrant fighting league
Donald Trump told a room of conservative Christians that he pitched a migrant fighting league to UFC president and CEO Dana White.
“Not the worst idea I’ve ever had,” he told the conference in Washington on Saturday.
Trump says he suggested setting up a migrant fighting league to UFC’s Dana White
Former president made comment in speech to conservative Christian group Faith & Freedom coalition at annual policy conference
Oliver O'Connell23 June 2024 12:00
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