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Year: 2023

Most memorable political gaffes and blunders of 2023

Most memorable political gaffes and blunders of 2023

If there is one thing Americans can expect from an election season, it is a plethora of political gaffes, and 2023 did not disappoint. From the GOP presidential primary to the White House, America’s politicians continued to stumble and bumble their way toward 2024. Let’s get the easiest target out of the way first. Perhaps the single-most memorable political gaffe of the year occurred June 2 when President Biden was sending off graduates at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Biden delivered a commencement address and stood on stage to shake the hands of every last graduate, but he collapsed to the floor as he turned to leave. Americans have seen Biden trip and fall previously, most often on the steps leading up to Air Force One, but his tumble at the Air Force Academy was by far the most drastic of his presidency so far. Secret Service and military members nearby rushed to lift the president off the ground. FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS FLOATED SEX TRAFFICKING CHARGES AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN, DOC SHOWS Vice President Kamala Harris served Americans a generous helping of word salad throughout the year, but her most recent verbal stumble came just in time for Christmas. Harris appeared on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell earlier this week to discuss former President Trump’s recent claim that illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” THOUSANDS OF BLUE STATE RESIDENTS FLOCK TO IDAHO, BRINGING CONSERVATIVE POLITICS WITH THEM: DATA Her attack on Trump didn’t land how she planned, however. “You know, every election cycle we talk about this is the most election of our lifetime,” Harris said. “Lawrence, this one is, this one is.” “We are literally talking about people who are attempting to divide our country in the most crude, frankly, and profound way,” she said. “We are talking about those who are intent and purposeful to, to attack fundamental freedoms.” “The freedom to be free from fear of violence and hate … the freedom to just … be. The freedom to just be,” she added. Harris’ biggest gaffe came in July, however, when she gifted the American people with an incomprehensible and repetitive definition of the word “culture.” “Culture is — it is a reflection of our moment in our time, right? And in present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment,” Harris said at a New Orleans music festival. NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA EXODUS CONTINUES, BUT ‘CATASTROPHIC EFFECT’ OF BIDEN ECONOMY MAY BE ON THE WAY: EXPERTS “And we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment that is a reflection of joy, because as you know, it comes in the morning,” she added. “We have to find ways to also express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and a connection to how people are experiencing life. And I think about it in that way, too,” Harris finished. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the brave and potentially innovative move to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on what was then called “Twitter Spaces.” The highly anticipated announcement, set to be made via a conversation with X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks, was plagued by tech issues, with mobile apps repeatedly crashing and participants on the call unable to speak or hear one another. Nearly 700,000 users logged in to hear the announcement roughly 20 minutes after it was set to launch. The event was then abruptly shut down without explanation. “The servers are straining somewhat,” Musk was heard saying at one point. DeSantis’ opponents were quick to jump on the stumbling start. “This link works,” Biden tweeted, with a link to donate to his campaign. Former President Donald Trump’s MAGA War Room tweeted an image of the Twitter Spaces with the words “failing to launch…” emblazoned across the top. Entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has had many viral moments on the campaign trail, but none of them compare to an interview he conducted last week on X. Ramaswamy appeared in an X “Spaces” conversation with Musk, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, influencer Andrew Tate and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. At one point during the conversation, participants called out Ramaswamy for appearing to have taken his phone into the restroom. Ramaswamy could be heard talking about how he is “super pro-human – and I mean all humans … uh, you know, humans in America” while the sound of splashing water could be heard in the background. Jones jumped on the sound immediately: “Somebody’s got their thing on while they’re peeing!” Host of the conversation Mario Nawfal jumped in to attempt to fix the situation. “Vivek, Vivek, that’s your phone, Vivek. I’m not able to mute you.” “Sorry about that,” Ramaswamy responded. “Well, I hope you feel better now,” Musk quipped. “I feel great, thank you,” Ramaswamy finished. Fox News’ Jamie Joseph, Thomas Catenacci and Kelley Phares contributed to this report

GOP lawmaker introduces bill requiring age verification technology for porn sites

GOP lawmaker introduces bill requiring age verification technology for porn sites

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reintroduced a bill that would require all pornography websites to adopt age verification technology to ensure children aren’t being exposed to explicit content online.  “Every day, we’re learning more about the negative psychological effects pornography has on minors. Given the alarming rate of teenage exposure to pornography, I believe the government must act quickly to enact protections that have a real chance of surviving First Amendment scrutiny,” Lee said in a statement. “We require age verification at brick-and-mortar shops. Why shouldn’t we require it online?” The bill, called the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, directs the FCC to create a rule ensuring these websites adopt such technology, establishing a “more likely than not” standard for verification.  It allows sites to choose their verification method, provided it meets FCC standards and prevents minors from accessing such content. Additionally, the bill instructs that the FCC must oversee compliance, allowing third-party verification providers and ensuring no identifiable user data is shared with the government.  ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AT MINNESOTA SCHOOL EXPOSED TO PORN DURING SCHOOL ZOOM CALL Should the bill be approved, it would grant the FCC authority to enforce the rule by imposing penalties and providing injunctive relief. Prior to such enforcement, warnings would be issued, offering a chance to rectify violations. However, specific enforcement measures would be withheld until a website persists in non-compliance for a period of 30 days. According to the bill’s analysis, Congress has passed several bills over the past three decades aimed at restricting children’s access to online pornography. However, all the bills, except for one, were invalidated by the Supreme Court due to their failure to meet First Amendment standards.  WHERE NO CONGRESS HAS GONE BEFORE: FACING GALACTIC-SCALE FISCAL CLIFF AND BORDER SECURITY THREATS In these cases, while the court acknowledged Congress’s valid interest in protecting children from explicit content, it found Congress hadn’t employed the least intrusive methods to fulfill this objective. The court even indicated personal “blocking and filtering software” might serve as a more lenient alternative. According to the lawmaker’s analysis, pornography has “unique psychological effects” on minors, “including anxiety, addiction, low self-esteem, body-image disorders, an increase in problematic sexual activity at younger ages, and an increased desire among minors to engage in risky sexual behavior.” “Technology has vastly improved in the last 20 years and Sen. Lee believes that age verification technology is now the least restrictive means for Congress to fully achieve its compelling government interest of shielding children from online pornographic content,” the text states. However, getting the bill passed is likely to face a wave of opposition.  PROSECUTORS IN ALL 50 STATES URGE CONGRESS TO GUARD AGAINST AI-GENERATED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY In September, a federal judge struck down a Texas law requiring age verification and health warnings to view pornographic websites and blocked the state attorney general’s office from enforcing it. U.S. District Judge David Ezra agreed that House Bill 1181, signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June, violates free speech rights and is overbroad and vague. The Texas law is one of several similar age verification laws passed in other states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana. The Texas law carried fines of up to $10,000 per violation that could be raised to up to $250,000 per violation by a minor. The Utah law was upheld by a federal judge who rejected a lawsuit challenging it in August. Arkansas’ law, which would have required parental consent for children to create new social media accounts, was struck down by a federal judge in September, and a lawsuit challenging the Louisiana law is pending. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Calls grow for Biden to denounce Colorado’s removal of Trump from 2024 ballot: ‘Smartest move’

Calls grow for Biden to denounce Colorado’s removal of Trump from 2024 ballot: ‘Smartest move’

A growing number of political commentators and experts are calling for the Biden administration to denounce the Colorado Supreme Court’s removal of former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, arguing it could be a strong political move for him.  “If Biden were smart, he’d denounce the CO Supreme Court ruling,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer posted on X. “He’d call it wrong and show confidence he can win without throwing Trump off the ballot. “But he won’t do that because he is too afraid of the progressive left and too weak to stand up to them.” “The smartest move for Biden would be to direct the DOJ to oppose Colorado’s efforts to kick Trump off the ballot,” Fox News Host Laura Ingraham posted on X.  DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINES ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT “Democrats in Colorado are removing President Trump from the ballot because the ‘Democrat’ Party opposes democracy, which is a system where voters get to select their elected leaders,” Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller posted on X. “If Biden and the ‘media’ actually believed in democracy, they would denounce this immediately.” COLORADO KICKING TRUMP OFF BALLOT SHOWS DEMOCRATS WAKE UP EVERY MORNING ACTING LIKE IT’S JANUARY 6: CONWAY “This is a good time for Biden to convey the image that he cultivated in the election,” Jonathan Turley, a Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and Fox News contributor told Fox News Digital. “James Freeman Clarke once said ‘a politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.’ It is time for Biden to show that he can think of the next generation and oppose this insidious ruling.” Alex Conant, founding partner at Firehouse Strategies, told Fox News Digital Biden “should do everything he can to distance himself from these efforts. “The more partisan it looks, the more it will help Trump.” CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP David Avella, chairman of GOPAC, told Fox News Digital the issue goes “beyond” President Biden.  “Americans need a 9-0 ruling from our U.S. Supreme Court justices to send a definitive signal that the Colorado court’s action is unconstitutional,” Avella said. So far, President Biden has declined to take advice from commentators to denounce the Colorado court ruling and declined to comment on it when asked by a reporter Wednesday. “Now, whether the 14th Amendment applies, let the court make that decision,” Biden said. “But he certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it. None. Zero. And he seems to be doubling down on about everything.”  Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response. The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots in 2024, citing the 14tth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021. Tuesday’s 4-3 ruling is stayed until Jan. 4 because of likely appeals, and it is widely expected Trump will take the case to the Supreme Court.