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Year: 2024

Michelle Obama sparks backlash after posting ‘Happy Holidays’ video

Michelle Obama sparks backlash after posting ‘Happy Holidays’ video

Michelle Obama provoked a wave of online criticism Friday after she shared a New Year’s message with her followers on Instagram. The former first lady posted a video wishing her followers “Happy Holidays” and highlighting the work of the Obama Presidential Center as 2024 comes to a close. But critics noted with disapproval that her video begins on a sour note.  “Happy holidays, everyone. I know it’s been a difficult few months for so many of us, and that folks are feeling a little bit anxious and uncertain,” Obama says in the video. “But even during these tough times, there are plenty of reasons to stay hopeful,” she adds, before mentioning programs operated by the Obama Foundation. ‘GREATER RECKONING’: OBAMA’S SPOT IN THE DEMOCRATIC SUN FADING AFTER HARRIS LOSS Hundreds of Instagram users commented on Obama’s video within hours after it went live. While many thanked her for the message and showed support for the Obama Foundation, several supporters of President-elect Trump read into Obama’s comments. Their takeaway was that she had Trump’s victory in mind when she spoke about “a difficult few months,” and they made their objections known.   “Michelle, America is excited about what’s to come: a new horizon and prosperity for the nation. 2025-2029! No anxiety here,” one user replied. “A difficult few years from the damage the Biden administration has caused!” wrote another commenter. “Things have never looked better since Trum won the election! The people have the power! Not even all those celebrities could change that!” “We are certain it won’t be worse than your husband’s administration or the Biden administration,” said a third. “That we are CERTAIN.” STEPHEN A SMITH BLASTS OPRAH WINFREY, MICHELLE OBAMA FOR ‘ALIENATING’ VOTERS Obama’s supporters, on the other hand, expressed gratitude for her video and shared heart emojis and other positive comments. “Thank you for your message of hope,” one user replied. “It is so much needed.”  The Obamas were top surrogates for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign. Michelle Obama spoke at several rallies for Harris and delivered a speech in Pennsylvania three days before the election, alluding to Trump as a “skilled con man” who has poured gasoline “on other people’s genuine pain and anger and fear.”  TRUMP HAS MESSAGE OF UNITY FOR ‘GREAT DIVIDER’ OBAMA “We don’t always get it right, but here in America, we rise more than we fall,” Obama said in Norristown, Penn., on Nov. 2. In dark and difficult times, she said the country needs leaders who will “connect with people’s pain and address the systemic issues at their root, not leaders who stoke our fears and focus our fury on one another.”  But after the election, the Obamas released a joint statement that congratulated Trump on his victory while acknowledging, “this is obviously not the outcome we hoped for.”  “In a country as big and diverse as ours, we won’t always see eye-to-eye on everything,” the Obamas said. “But progress requires us to extend good faith and grace – even to people with whom we deeply disagree.”

Race to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in upstate New York heats up with new challenger

Race to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in upstate New York heats up with new challenger

New York State Sen. Dan Stec, a Republican and Navy veteran, is running for Congress. Stec has tossed his hat in the ring to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who will vacate her seat in the House of Representatives to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. A special election for New York’s 21st Congressional District will take place once Stefanik officially leaves Congress. “At the end of the day, it’s about representing the district, and for the last 12 years in Albany, I know what it means to represent the district and if I can do that in Albany I am certain I can do that in Washington,” Stec told WWNY in an interview on Dec. 24.  BLUE STATE CEO WHO PUT UP 100-FOOT PRO-TRUMP SIGN TO SPEND $2.6 MILLION ON CAMPAIGN FOR CONGRESS The North Country native, whose state senate district lies within Stefanik’s congressional district, argued he is the best candidate to win the seat for Republicans because he has the highest name recognition there.  “My argument is that I am the most electable. If we are concerned about holding this seat and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, you want to put your most likely-to-win candidate forward and no one can compare the numbers like I do with how much of the district I already represent,” Stec told the outlet. PRO-TRUMP TECH CEO MULLING CONGRESSIONAL RUN TO FILL STEFANIK’S SEAT IDENTIFIES NEW YORK’S ‘BIGGEST PROBLEM’ He pointed to his record in the New York legislature and the 104,000 votes he won in the previous election for state senate, which is nearly half of the total Stefanik won in her bid for re-election, in support of his argument that he’s best positioned to defeat the Democratic candidate in the special election. “I am proud of my track record, my resume, and my principles. I don’t have any votes that I am embarrassed that I would have to explain like maybe someone from the other side of the aisle I have worked with would have to explain,” Stec said. WHO COULD RUN TO REPLACE STEFANIK IN THE HOUSE? Stefanik won a sixth term to represent the district which encompasses North County, New York, but President-elect Donald Trump chose her in November to fill the U.N. ambassadorship in his new cabinet.  In the campaign to be the Republican nominee to succeed Stefanik, Stec joins Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, a political outsider whose claim to fame is a 100 ft. “Vote for Trump” sign he installed in upstate New York. Constantino is self-funding his campaign and has pledged $2.6 million to the effort.  Other Republicans mentioned as possible candidates include state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Christopher Tague; and Rensselaer County Executive Steven McLaughlin, according to WWNY. Possible Democratic candidates include Assemblyman Billy Jones, whose state district falls just east of St. Lawrence County, as well as past unsuccessful challengers to Stefanik such as Matt Castelli and Paula Collins. There will not be a traditional Republican primary for the special election. Instead, both the GOP and Democratic nominees will be chosen by party chairs in the district. 

Top political gaffes of 2024

Top political gaffes of 2024

The presidential election generated numerous high-profile political gaffes this year, including President Biden’s widely-panned debate performance and him calling Trump supporters “garbage” in the closing days of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.  Here are six of the biggest political gaffes of 2024:  A disastrous performance by President Biden during his debate with former President Trump on June 27 appeared to be the beginning of the end for Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.  He struggled with a raspy voice and delivered rambling answers during the debate in Atlanta, sparking doubts about his viability at the top of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket.  KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF 2024  Biden’s campaign blamed the hoarse voice on a cold and the 81-year-old admitted a week later that he “screwed up” and “had a bad night,” yet that didn’t stop a chorus of Democrats from making calls for him to drop out of the race.  In a shocking move, Biden then pulled the plug on his campaign on July 21 and endorsed Harris, who would go on to lose to Trump in November.  Biden appeared to galvanize Republicans when he called Trump supporters “garbage” less than a week before Election Day.  Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27 made headlines when a comedian mocked different ethnic groups, calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”  Then, during a conference call with the Voto Latino group on Oct. 30, Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”   Biden and the White House then tried to clean up his words in the days afterward. However, the remark was quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables” in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign.  Vice President Kamala Harris’ answer to a question during an Oct. 8 appearance on “The View” may have been a turning point in the 2024 presidential election.  Co-host Sunny Hostin asked Harris, “If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Harris paused for a moment and then said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”  TOP POLITICAL COURTROOM MOMENTS OF 2024  Hostin had given Harris a clear opportunity to differentiate herself from Biden, but Harris instead effectively cut an ad for Trump’s campaign by allowing it to tie her directly to an unpopular administration.  Harris’ running mate Tim Walz raised eyebrows during his vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Oct. 1, when he declared he had “become friends with school shooters.”  The poorly timed mishap occurred when the Minnesota governor was asked about changing positions on banning assault weapons. “I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it,” Walz said.  Walz presumably meant he had become friendly with parents who lost children during horrific school shootings.  Trump appeared to confuse then-Republican presidential primary opponent Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a rally in New Hampshire on Jan. 20. Speaking in Concord, Trump said that Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, had been responsible for the collapse of Capitol Hill security during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Trump has previously blamed Pelosi for turning down National Guard support before the riot.  “You know, by the way, they never report the crowd on January 6, you know, Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — did you know they destroyed all the information and all of the evidence. Everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it, all of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard. So whatever they want, they turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people,” Trump said.  Harris found herself in the headlines repeatedly this year for making confusing verbal statements.  “I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community, and we should all have a vested interest in ensuring that children can go grow up with the resources that they need to achieve their God-given potential,” the vice president once said in September.  “We are here because we are fighting for a democracy. Fighting for a democracy. And understand the difference here, understand the difference here, moving forward, moving forward, understand the difference here,” she then said at a campaign event in November.  The remarks drew criticism and ridicule from conservatives online.  President Biden mistakenly introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” during a NATO conference in Washington, D.C., in July. “And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said, before starting to leave the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”  “He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin,” Biden then said, appearing to realize the verbal stumble. “We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.”  Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Jacqui Heinrich, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, David Rutz, Brian Flood and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.