Page 1429 – Texas Weekly Online

Ben Carson praises Trump for appearance at ‘hostile’ Black journalists conference

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson praised former President Trump for appearing before a “hostile” National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago. “I commend my friend @realdonaldtrump for going into a hostile environment at @NABJ today and answering tough questions,” Carson said in a post on X Wednesday. Carson’s comments came shortly Trump’s appearance at the event, where he clashed with ABC News reporter Rachel Scott over what he called a “nasty question.” “A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabbit’ to describe Black attorneys. You’ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they asked are ‘stupid and racist,’” Scott said during a Q&A panel that included Semafor reporter Kadia Goba and Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner. VANCE BRANDS HARRIS A ‘COWARD’; TRUMP DINGED FOR ‘ATTACKS AND INSULTS’ AS CAMPAIGNS WAR AFTER FIERY EVENT “You’ve had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So, my question, sir, now that you were asking Black supporters to vote for you,” she continued. “Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” The line of questioning did not sit well with Trump, who fired back that he had never “been asked a question in such a horrible manner.” “You don’t even say ‘hello, how are you.’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country; I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country,” Trump said. The former president also caused controversy when asked if he believed Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman, with Trump claiming that the presumptive Democratic nominee chose to “turn Black” a few years ago. TRUMP CLASHES WITH ABC NEWS REPORTER OVER ‘NASTY QUESTION,’ BLASTS ‘FAKE NEWS NETWORK’ DURING HEATED Q&A “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” While Trump sparred with journalists at the event, Harris was notably absent, with the NABJ saying in a statement that it had difficulty coordinating her appearance with the vice president’s schedule. “We were advised by her campaign at the time that her schedule could not accommodate this request. The last update we were provided (earlier this week) was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our Convention,” NABJ President Ken Lemon said in a statement. “We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement.” Carson also noted that Harris did not appear at the event, accusing the NABJ of doing “her bidding for her.” “What time does VP Harris get to Chicago? That’s right, she didn’t show up because most of the ‘journalists’ in that room already do her bidding for her,” Carson said. The NABJ did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Hundreds protest across Nigeria over soaring cost of living, fuel prices

Demonstrators voice discontent over government reforms they say have triggered high inflation and devalued the currency. Nigerian troops and police have tightened security in Lagos and the capital, Abuja, as nationwide protests over the rising cost of living kicked off and are expected to continue for 10 days. Africa’s most populous country is struggling with soaring inflation and a sharply devalued naira currency after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu introduced reforms a year ago aimed at reviving the economy. Tagged #EndbadGovernanceinNigeria, the protest movement has won support with an online campaign among Nigerians who are battling with food inflation at 40 percent and fuel prices that have tripled since Tinubu introduced his reforms. On Thursday, police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Abuja, the Reuters news agency reported. In the northern city of Kano, protesters tried to light bonfires outside the governor’s office and police responded with tear gas, the AFP news agency said. Security forces blocked roads leading to Abuja’s Eagle Square – one of the planned demonstration sites – while in Lagos, police and soldiers were placed at strategic points, including at the Lekki toll gate, where protests in 2020 against police brutality ended in bloodshed. “Duty is very clear: to ensure that the protest is peaceful, devoid of violence, devoid of the horrific things that happened during the rising in 2020,” Adegoke Fayoade, the state police commissioner in Lagos, told Al Jazeera. To ease the economic pain, the government on Wednesday announced some measures including delivering grain to states across the country and aid to the most needy. But in markets across Nigeria, residents stocked up on food and essentials amid concerns over the likelihood of growing violence during the demonstrations. “The police are brutalising the Nigerian people and people want that to stop,” activist Ismail Olushola Oladare, who participated in the 2020 protests, told Al Jazeera. “Today, this particular protest and bad governance protest is about the standard of living of people,” he said. Protest leaders, a loose coalition of civil society groups, promised to press on with rallies despite what they said were legal challenges trying to limit their rallies to public parks instead of marches. Omolola Pedro, a protest organiser, told Al Jazeera that the idea of the rallies was to let the government know that Nigerians have had enough of the government’s “abuse of human rights, unstable economic situation [resulting from] the policies that they have made”. The organisers have presented a list of 19 demands. At the core of their grievances is the removal of a state subsidy on petroleum products, which they blame for the crisis. The demonstrations come after weeks of unrest and antigovernment protests that turned violent in Kenya, where President William Ruto was forced to repeal planned tax hikes. In Uganda, police detained dozens of people as they took part in banned anticorruption protests organised online by young activists inspired by Kenya’s rallies. “Some groups of people, self-appointed crusaders and influencers, have been strategising and mobilising potential protesters to unleash terror in the land under the guise of replicating the recent Kenya protests,” said Kayode Egbetokun, Nigeria’s inspector general of police. “We will, therefore, not sit back and fold our arms to watch violent activities unleash violence on our peaceful communities or destroy any of our national critical infrastructure and assets again,” Egbetokun said after meeting senior officers in Abuja. Adblock test (Why?)

North Korea’s fleeing defectors

As China cracks down on North Korean defectors, 101 East follows two families’ desperate searches for freedom. China is expelling record numbers of North Korean defectors, instilling fear and desperation in this vulnerable community. In October 2023, 600 North Koreans were forcibly deported in the largest repatriation in years. Human rights groups say the defectors, who North Korea calls “traitors” and “criminals”, have disappeared since their return, and warn they may face imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, and even execution. 101 East has exclusive access inside this secretive world, where defectors share harrowing stories of survival, human trafficking and their fragile dreams of finding a safe haven. Adblock test (Why?)

Starmer meets police as far-right violence spikes after Southport stabbing

PM to offer ‘full backing’ to police chiefs as far-right activists attempt to stoke anger against Muslims and immigrants. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has convened police leaders for an emergency meeting following a second night of violent far-right protests after a stabbing spree in the town of Southport earlier in the week. Starmer called the meeting at Downing Street on Thursday to demonstrate the government’s “full backing” for police amid “multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets”, said an official statement. The Prime Minister’s Office said Starmer would tell police leaders that “while the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs”, he would make it clear that criminals exploiting that right to “sow hatred” and carry out violent acts would “face the full force of the law”. The country is reeling since the stabbing on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the English seaside town of Southport, which killed three girls – Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. Eight other children and two adults were also wounded. The 17-year-old suspect, named as Axel Rudakubana, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, facing three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder following the killings. Prior to his court appearance, the suspect’s identity had been withheld owing to his age, but Liverpool judge Andrew Menary allowed the details to be released, justifying the decision on grounds of him turning 18 next week. Even though little was previously known about the suspect other than that he was born in Britain, the stabbing had been used by far-right activists spreading misinformation online to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims. Protests led by the far-right on Wednesday night took place in three cities – London, Hartlepool and Manchester. In London, crowds massed outside Starmer’s 10 Downing Street official residence in London, throwing beer cans and bottles and chanting “Shame on you”, launching flares at a nearby statue of wartime leader and former Prime Minister Winston Churchill. More than 100 people were arrested. In Hartlepool, demonstrators set police cars on fire and threw bottles and eggs at the officers, with police saying eight arrests were made. A smaller disturbance was reported in Manchester. The previous night, more than 50 police officers were injured in violent clashes in Southport, in which bricks were thrown at a mosque and rubbish bins and vehicles were set on fire, hours after a peaceful vigil for the stabbing victims. Fifty-three police officers were injured. Police have blamed members of the far-right English Defence League grouping, an Islamophobic organisation founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism. Adblock test (Why?)

Republicans wary of using DEI against Harris as Trump jokes about her being ‘Indian or black’

Congressional Republicans are wary of using diversity, equity and inclusion politics to criticize Vice President Harris, with some urging former President Trump to stick to “the issues.” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Trump’s path to victory is through arguing the issues and not getting bogged down in racial politics. His comments came after Trump mentioned Harris’ race during an event with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “The campaign is, needs to be, must be about the issues, and there’s plenty to talk about. I just think that’s where the focus needs to be. That’s how we’re going to win in November,” Thune told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks. Trump appeared to crack jokes about Harris’ heritage during his remarks to the NABJ, expressing confusion about whether she was Indian or black. JOE ROGAN WARNS KAMALA HARRIS WILL WIN BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE ‘GIVING INTO THE BULLS—’ LIKE NEVER BEFORE “I’ve known her a long time indirectly. Not directly very much,” Trump said. “She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black.” FLASHBACK: SEE HOW KAMALA HARRIS ANSWERED WHEN SHE WAS CONFRONTED IN 2020 AS ‘THE MOST LIBERAL SENATOR’ “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?” he added. House Speaker Mike Johnson has urged Republican lawmakers not to go down the DEI route when attacking Harris as well. MONTAGE: LIBERAL MEDIA TRIES TO DOWNPLAY KAMALA HARRIS’ BORDER RESPONSIBILITIES “This election … is going to be about policies, not personalities. This isn’t personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” Johnson said in a press conference last week.”Her ethnicity, her gender, has nothing to do with this whatsoever.” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., jumped on Trump’s comments almost immediately on Wednesday. “I’ll tell you what it’s not: It’s not surprising. This is who Donald Trump is. This is the politics of insult, of revenge and resentment and retribution, and I suspect we’ll hear that all the way until November,” he said. “I think at the end of the day the people of America are going to reject that. They know what Kamala Harris represents,” he continued. “Here’s a woman who is the daughter of a Jamaican man and an East-Asian immigrant mother. She went to Howard University. She’s married to a Jewish man,” Warnock added. “She embodies in her life story the American covenant, E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one. Donald Trump doesn’t understand that.

Trump applauds Catholic group’s multi-million anti-Harris campaign appealing to Church faithful

Former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is continuing his campaign to cement further Catholic support — warning that the faith is being targeted by the federal government. Trump posted a message to his proprietary social media outlet Truth Social on Wednesday cheering on a recent campaign launched against Vice President Kamala Harris on behalf of Catholic voters. “A large group of Catholics is launching a major Political Campaign against Crazy Kamala Harris. FINALLY! Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Wack Job, just ask the Knights of Columbus,” Trump wrote. VIRAL CATHOLIC LEADER: CHRISTIANS MUST NOT BE ‘WEAK’ IN FACE OF OLYMPICS OPENING SPECTACLE “They say that she is the most Anti-Catholic person ever to run for high office in the U.S,” the former president continued. “This respected group wants ALL CATHOLICS TO VOTE AGAINST KAMALA, and they are 100% correct.” Trump was referencing a multi-million dollar campaign launched by CatholicVote — the largest Catholic political activism group in the United States. The group recently launched a multi-million dollar campaign in heavily Catholic swing states to try to defeat Harris’ bid for the White House. CatholicVote amplified Trump via social media platform X, thanking the former president for “bringing attention to our campaign.” “We’re proud to expose Kamala’s vile hatred of Catholics,” CatholicVote wrote. “Having a President who unapologetically brings this hatred to light is needed to combat religious bigotry.” PRIEST AT TRUMP RALLY WHO GAVE BENEDICTION WARNED OF ‘PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SHOOT’ FORMER PRESIDENT Not long after, Trump followed up with a more explicit endorsement, specifically naming CatholicVote and clarifying his remarks about the Knights of Columbus. “CatholicVote.org is doing GREAT work getting Voters to the Polls — All Catholics should join this incredible cause! Crazy Kamala Harris is anti-Catholic,” Trump wrote later on Tuesday. “She attacked a Judicial Nominee for being a member of the Highly Respected Knights of Columbus! There should NEVER be a Religious Test for serving our Country. IN GOD WE TRUST!” In 2018, Harris vilified then-federal judge nominee Brian Buescher’s membership in the Knights of Columbus during questioning. In her written questions to Buescher, then-Sen. Harris, in her preamble, called the KOC “an all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men, led by Mr. Carl Anderson.” Harris asked Buescher, “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization? Did you agree with Mr. Carl Anderson that abortion is ‘the killing of the innocent on a massive scale?’ Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization?” In previous comments to Fox News, Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer said on Monday, “Vice President Harris is proud to serve with the second Catholic president ever. Catholic voters are not defined by a single partisan organization, but by their values, communities, faith in each other, and love of our country — and Kamala Harris will fight every day to earn their vote.” BIDEN ‘DOESN’T UNDERSTAND THE CATHOLIC FAITH,’ BISHOP SAYS: ‘I’M NOT ANGRY AT HIM, HE’S JUST STUPID’ The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Fr. Michael McGivney to be a “mission of charity,” to help widows, orphans and the less fortunate. CatholicVote president Brian Burch, in a previous interview with Fox News, said, “Kamala Harris represents the most vile anti-Catholic threat of any leading candidate for president in American history. She is a candidate of the hard left. And her record and her words demonstrate a gross anti-Catholic bias and bigotry.” Defenders of Harris have pointed out that she currently serves alongside President Biden, who routinely appeals to his Catholic identity at political rallies. However, those appeals spark intense debate among the faithful about how much deviation from Catholic ethics on issues such as abortion and marriage can be excused before one is separated from the Church. Trump’s running-mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, converted to Catholicism in 2019. When Vance was announced as the vice-presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention this month, many Democrats expressed concern at his Catholic-aligned views on social issues. Trump has been acutely targeting Catholics and religious Jews in his 2024 campaign, usually addressing them as a pair of religious minorities whose interests he claims are compromised by the Biden administration. The former president tagged Jews on at the end of his original Wednesday appeal to Catholics, writing: “P.S. Jewish people are treated even worse, if that’s possible. They are dropping Kamala and the Democrats like flies – And it’s about time!” Fox News Digital’s Lauren Green contributed to this report.

Harris hit with blistering ad targeting Catholic, Hispanic voters on key issue in crucial swing state

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative Catholic nonprofit advocacy group is launching an ad campaign highlighting Vice President Kamala Harris’ immigration record that it says will be targeting 300,000 Catholic and Hispanic voters in the key swing state of Arizona. “Raped, strangled to death,” the ad says in text overlayed onto photos of 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant in Pasadena, Texas, last year. Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, the alleged killer who is also shown in the ad, illegally entered the United States from Guatemala in 2023 but was allowed to stay in the country via a sponsor in Louisiana. “The murderer? An illegal alien released by the Biden-Harris administration,” the ad says. BUTTIGIEG FACES GRILLING ON HARRIS’ IMMIGRATION RECORD: ‘LET’S GET REAL’ “In charge of the border for 3 years. Vice President Harris. Protect the vulnerable. Not Votes.” The new ad, released on Wednesday as part of a six-figure ad campaign in the swing state of Arizona, is part of a digital and OTT effort by CatholicVote to highlight Harris’ record on the border after being appointed by President Biden to address the issue in 2021. “Vice President Kamala Harris’ shameful mismanagement of the border is morally indefensible,” Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, told Fox News Digital. BIDEN-HARRIS AIDED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND MADE AMERICANS PAY FOR IT “Her failures have cost the lives of American citizens, while putting tens of thousands of vulnerable migrants at risk of rape, sexual assault, and exploitation. While cartels, sex traffickers, and drug dealers profit, real people, including children, are suffering. It’s clear that Kamala Harris has put politics and votes ahead of the lives of real people. Catholics are some of the most generous and welcoming citizens in America, but we are disgusted by this moral catastrophe.” “Our country, and more importantly, the poor and vulnerable deserve a leader that will restore order and sanity to the border before another child is raped and strangled to death,” Burch added. “This ad campaign is only the beginning of our massive effort to expose the truth about Kamala Harris.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

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