Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Year: 2025

Former Republican congressman-turned-Democrat launches bid for governor in push to flip red-state Florida

Former Republican congressman-turned-Democrat launches bid for governor in push to flip red-state Florida

Democrats in Florida face an uphill climb as they work to win the governor’s office in next year’s elections. It’s been more than three decades since a Democrat won a gubernatorial election in the Sunshine State. You have to go all the way back to Democrat Gov. Lawton Chiles’ 1994 re-election. But former Rep. David Jolly, when asked how the Democrats could end their losing streak, told Fox News Digital, “It’s been even longer since we had an affordability crisis like we’re experiencing right now. That’s how.” Jolly, who, as a Republican a decade ago, won election and re-election to Congress, on Thursday announced his Democrat candidacy for governor in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis. THIS TOP TRUMP ALLY APPEARS TO BE GEARING UP FOR A GUBERNATORIAL RUN IN A KEY STATE “We have an affordability crisis in Florida driven by an insurance crisis that continues to worsen in the face of complete neglect by Tallahassee. We have abandoned public education, and we’ve allowed corruption to run rampant. It’s time for a change,” Jolly said in a statement. And in his Fox News interview, Jolly argued that the state’s affordability crisis has “largely been caused by Republican neglect that I don’t believe Republicans will address and that our campaign will.” REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS ELECTION BATTLE PLAN Jolly, who left the Republican Party seven years ago and became an independent and a cable news political analyst on MSNBC, pointed to the GOP’s voter registration advantage in Florida. “Let’s be honest about the math,” he said. “There aren’t enough Democratic votes in Florida for a Democratic governor to just win with their own party. We have to build a coalition that includes independents and commonsense Republicans. But here’s the good news, it’s already there.” Jolly, pointing to the recent town halls he’s been holding ahead of his campaign launch, said, “Republicans are turning out. Independents are coming out. There’s a perfect storm for legacy Republicans right now. We have an affordability crisis in Florida that’s hitting every family, every voter, every walk of life, and it doesn’t care what your partisan affiliation is, Republican, Democrat or independent.” “This is a race much like you’ve seen with Andy Beshear in Kentucky and Steve Bullock in Montana, a coalition for change can win next November. But that coalition is going to have to be led by today’s Democratic Party,” he added. The mentions of GOP-dominated Kentucky’s current Democrat governor and red-state Montana’s former Democrat governor were intentional. Jolly recently hired as an adviser Democrat political strategist Eric Hyers, who helped steer Beshear and Bullock’s successful campaigns. Four years ago, former governor and former Rep. Charlie Crist, another Republican-turned-Democrat, was trounced by DeSantis as the conservative governor cruised to re-election by 19 points. Jolly highlighted that Crist (who defeated Jolly as the then-congressman ran for re-election in 2016) quickly transitioned from Republican to Democrat. “It was transactional for running for office. He would always say, ‘I didn’t leave the party. The party left me,’” Jolly noted. “David Jolley left the party,” he said. “I’ve grown. I’ve changed.” “Over the last 10 years, my values haven’t changed,” Jolly said. “This is very important. When I was a Republican in Congress, I supported marriage equality, gun control, climate change, campaign finance reform. Republicans didn’t want me. Democrats didn’t need me, but those values were already there then. I am a person of deep faith. I grew up a preacher’s kid in a Christian church. I belong to a Christian church today.” But Florida Republicans predict Jolly will become the latest in a line of defeated Democrat gubernatorial candidates. “It’s good to know Never Trumper and failed MSNBC analyst has found his true home in the irrelevant @FlaDems,” Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power said after Jolly joined the Democratic Party. “I welcome him to run for Governor, the nearly 40% of the electorate that voted for @CharlieCrist deserve an equally bad choice this cycle.” Making the Democrats’ climb to win back the governor’s office next year even steeper is last month’s announcement by state Sen. Jason Pizzo, the former state Senate Democrat leader, to run for governor as an independent. Weeks earlier, Pizzo argued the Florida Democratic Party was “dead.” “I have enormous respect for Jason Pizzo. He followed his political conviction, just as I did. I disagree with his decision,” Jolly said. But Jolly also said, “Jason was right when he said you’ve got millions of disaffected independent voters” and added that “my job as the Democratic candidate, and perhaps the Democratic nominee, is to build a coalition that says [to] those independent voters, ‘We want you in this coalition.’” In the race for the Republican gubernatorial primary, Rep. Byron Donalds appears to be on an early glide path to the nomination as speculation of a possible bid by first lady Casey DeSantis cools. Donalds enjoys the support and endorsement of Florida’s most famous resident: President Donald Trump. “This race is not about Donald Trump. You’ll never hear me talk about Donald Trump. It’s about the affordability crisis and how Republicans in Tallahassee have created it,” Jolly said. But Jolly argued that “Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are the scene-setters for an earthquake-of-a-change election environment in the state of Florida, because if voters in Florida are demanding change, I’m not sure they could look at Trump’s endorsed candidate in Byron Donalds and see change. If it’s Casey DeSantis, you’re not seeing change. You’re seeing the third term of Ron DeSantis.”

Trump orders Attorney General to investigate Biden’s autopen use amid cognitive decline concerns

Trump orders Attorney General to investigate Biden’s autopen use amid cognitive decline concerns

President Donald Trump called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead an investigation into whether certain individuals working for former President Joe Biden conspired to deceive the public about his mental state while also exercising his presidential responsibilities by using an autopen. In a memo on Wednesday, Trump said the president of the U.S. has a tremendous amount of power and responsibility through the signature. Not only can the signature turn words into laws of the land, but it also appoints individuals to some of the highest positions in government, creates or eliminates national policies and allows prisoners to go free. “In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” Trump wrote. “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.” He continued, saying Biden had suffered from “serious cognitive decline” for years, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently concluded that Biden should not stand trial, despite clear evidence he broke the law, because of his mental state. EXCLUSIVE: COMER HAILS DOJ’S BIDEN PROBE AS HOUSE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP “Biden’s cognitive issues and apparent mental decline during his presidency were even ‘worse’ in private, and those closest to him ‘tried to hide it’ from the public,” Trump said. “To do so, Biden’s advisors during his years in office severely restricted his news conferences and media appearances, and they scripted his conversations with lawmakers, government officials, and donors, all to cover up his inability to discharge his duties.” Still, during the Biden presidency, the White House issued over 1,200 Presidential documents, appointed 235 judges to the federal bench and issued more pardons and commutations than any administration in U.S. history, Trump said. The president wrote about Biden’s decision just two days before Christmas 2024, to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 most dangerous criminals on federal death row, including mass murderers and child killers. TRUMP SAYS BIDEN DIDN’T FAVOR HIS ADMIN’S LAX BORDER SECURITY POLICY, SUGGESTS AUTOPEN PLAYED A ROLE “Although the authority to take these executive actions, along with many others, is constitutionally committed to the President, there are serious doubts as to the decision-making process and even the degree of Biden’s awareness of these actions being taken in his name,” Trump wrote. “The vast majority of Biden’s executive actions were signed using a mechanical signature pen, often called an autopen, as opposed to Biden’s own hand. This was especially true of actions taken during the second half of his Presidency, when his cognitive decline had apparently become even more clear to those working most closely with him. “Given clear indications that President Biden lacked the capacity to exercise his Presidential authority, if his advisors secretly used the mechanical signature pen to conceal this incapacity, while taking radical executive actions all in his name, that would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency, a circumstance that would have implications for the legality and validity of numerous executive actions undertaken in Biden’s name,” he added. TRUMP HAS NOT DIRECTED ADMIN TO DECLASSIFY BIDEN DOCS ON HEALTH ‘COVER-UP’ The memo goes on to call for an investigation that addresses if certain individuals, who are not named in the document, conspired to deceive the American public about the former president’s mental state and “unconstitutionally” exercised the president’s authority and responsibilities. Specifically, Trump called on the attorney general’s investigation to look at any activity that purposefully shielded the public from information about Biden’s mental and physical health; any agreements between his aides to falsely deem recorded videos of Biden’s cognitive ability as fake; and any agreements between Biden’s aides to require false, public statements that elevated the president’s capabilities. The investigation will also look at which policy documents the autopen was used for, including clemency grants, executive orders, and presidential memoranda, as well as who directed Biden’s signature to be affixed to those documents. Trump said last week that he thinks Biden did not really agree with many of his administration’s lax border security policies, instead suggesting that those surrounding the former president took advantage of his declining faculties and utilized the autopen to pass radical directives pertaining to the border. House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, launched an investigation earlier last month aimed at determining whether Biden, who was in declining health during the final months of his presidency, was mentally fit to authorize the use of the autopen. Comer said last week he was “open” to dragging Biden before the House to answer questions about the matter if necessary.  Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.

Trump suspends foreign student visas at Harvard University amid national security concerns

Trump suspends foreign student visas at Harvard University amid national security concerns

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation to student visas for foreigners seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University, the move in the ongoing feud between the White House and the Ivy League school.  The proclamation directs the State Department to “consider revoking” existing academic or exchange visas of any current Harvard students who meet certain criteria.  “Admission into the United States to attend, conduct research, or teach at our Nation’s institutions of higher education is a privilege granted by our Government, not a guarantee,” Trump said. “That privilege is necessarily tied to the host institution’s compliance and commitment to following Federal law.  Harvard University has failed in this respect, among many others.” The proclamation doesn’t apply to foreign nationals attending other universities’ Student Exchange Visa Program (SEVP) and exempts others whose entry is deemed in the national interest. STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD Last month, the State Department said that it would begin scrutinizing all visa holders associated with Harvard University, not just student visa holders. The investigation is aimed at identifying potential security vulnerabilities or other abuses of the visa system. Wednesday’s proclamation cited Harvard’s history “concerning foreign ties and radicalism.” “Harvard has failed to provide sufficient information to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about foreign students’ known illegal or dangerous activities, reporting deficient data on only three students,” it said.  It said Harvard has also developed “extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries,” while receiving more than $150 million from China alone.  In exchange, Harvard has “hosted Chinese Communist Party paramilitary members and partnered with China-based individuals on research that could advance China’s military modernization.” TRUMP SAYS HARVARD’S FOREIGN STUDENTS ARE FROM COUNTRIES PAYING ‘NOTHING’ FOR THEIR EDUCATION The Trump administration has accused Harvard of failing to stamp out antisemitism on campus, among other issues.   The proclamation said Harvard has seen a “drastic rise in crime in recent years while failing to discipline at least some categories of conduct violations on campus.” Harvard officials have said the Trump administration is retaliating against the university with moves to freeze taxpayer-funded research grants, an attempt to revoke its ability to enroll international students, to end its tax-exempt status and to open an investigation into whether it discriminated against white, Asian, male or straight employees or job applicants. Fox News Digital has reached out to Harvard for comment.