Page 2095 – Texas Weekly Online

Israel says ‘date set’ for Rafah invasion amid ongoing Gaza truce talks

Hamas says Israel is not acceding to demands of a military withdrawal and allowing Palestinians to return home. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a date has been set to invade Rafah in southern Gaza as truce talks with Hamas in Cairo are ongoing but do not appear close to the finish line. In a video statement in Hebrew, Netanyahu reiterated his position that a ground military operation in Rafah, bordering Egypt, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, is essential for victory in the war. “It will happen. There is a date,” he said on Monday without elaborating. This comes as Hamas was presented with a new proposal in ceasefire talks at the end of the weekend, but one that does not appear to be able to secure a deal. The Palestinian group confirmed in a statement that it is reviewing the proposal, but said Israel “has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance”. Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zahry told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s remarks “raise questions about the purpose of resuming negotiations”. “The success of any negotiations depends on ending the aggression,” said Zahry, adding that the group’s “demands are clear: an end to aggression against our people”. Israel has so far rejected Palestinian demands of an unrestricted return of hundreds of thousands of Gaza Palestinians to the enclave’s north, and the retreat of Israeli military ground forces from the strip. The Israeli military said it has withdrawn some of its ground forces from Gaza, but has kept the troops in charge of maintaining an east-west corridor that effectively cuts the enclave in half and prevents the return of Palestinians to the north. The United States continues to be publicly opposed to the idea of Israel’s invasion of Rafah as it has said there are no viable plans to evacuate the large number of civilians who are in the area. An unnamed Israeli official told The Associated Press news agency that Israel is buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of Palestinians from Rafah. US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters following Netanyahu’s announcement that the US has not been fully briefed on any new Rafah developments. “We have made clear to Israel that we think a full-scale military invasion of Rafah would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel’s security,” Miller said. This comes as the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and France wrote a joint op-ed published by several media outlets, including The Washington Post and Le Monde, that called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as demanded by a United Nations Security Council resolution passed in late March. “We warn against the dangerous consequences of an Israeli offensive on Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge. Such an offensive will only bring more deaths and suffering, heighten the risks and consequences of mass forcible displacement of the people of Gaza and threaten regional escalation,” said the leaders. Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera it has become apparent to Israel’s Western allies and even within the country that Netanyahu has no interest in reaching a deal “any time soon”. “He wants more time, he wants to go to Rafah, he wants to have something he has failed to achieve so far,” Zweiri said. “He and the right wing need individuals, they need names – they talk about [Hamas leaders Yahya] Sinwar and [Mohammed] Deif, and none of this has been achieved.” Zweiri said as long as this continues, the Israeli prime minister’s stance will remain the same out of “self-interest” to preserve his political future. “Everyone knows, but the issue is whether the international community accept this, will accept to see more killing and more destructionfor someone who is irresponsible politically and immorally is waging war on civilians,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)

Alwar Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Check date of voting, key candidates, and other important details

This seat was a former stronghold of the Congress party for a long time, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been gaining ground.

DeSantis signs bills to protect officers from fentanyl exposure, raise awareness for opioid epidemic

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills Monday that aim to address the opioid epidemic in the state by increasing penalties for exposing police to fentanyl and raising awareness for life-saving measures for someone experiencing an opioid overdose. DeSantis, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 718 and Senate Bill 66 during a news conference at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Professional Development Center in Sanford, Florida. “Because of the Biden administration’s unwillingness to secure the southern border, law enforcement officers are encountering fentanyl at alarming rates,” DeSantis said. “I’m signing legislation today to keep officers safe on the job, and to further combat the opioid epidemic.” Senate Bill 718 would make it a second-degree felony for adults who, while unlawfully possessing fentanyl, recklessly expose a first responder to the substance, leading to overdose or serious bodily injury. HAMBURGER STUFFED WITH FENTANYL INTERCEPTED AT US-MEXICO BORDER: CBP The legislation also expands protection from the law for people who, in good faith, solicit medical assistance on the belief that they or someone they know is experiencing an alcohol or drug-related overdose. Senate Bill 66 will designate June 6 as Revive Awareness Day in the Sunshine State. The law directs the Florida Department of Health to raise awareness each year of the dangers of an opioid overdose and the availability and safe use of opioid counteractants to quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The law, also known as Victoria’s Law, is named after Victoria Siegel, an 18-year-old girl who died of an accidental, lethal overdose of heroin and anti-depression medication in 2015. She was the daughter of Florida mogul David Siegel. ICE ARRESTS 216 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS WITH COCAINE, FENTANYL AND HEROIN CONVICTIONS DeSantis also announced that the Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network, or CORE, has expanded from 12 counties to 17 additional counties in Florida, including Bay, Broward, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okaloosa, Orange, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and St. Lucie counties. Under CORE, Florida has seen a reduction in the number of emergency medical service responses necessary for drug overdose, the governor said. “Opioid addiction has been a scourge in the lives of too many Floridians and too many Americans around the country,” State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said at the news conference. “Thanks to Governor DeSantis and the support of our legislators, we are continuing to take steps to address this human tragedy. CORE’s expansion will support and treat more Floridians and serve as a model for states around the country.”

Blue state squatters put on notice with ‘aggressive’ law and order bill: ‘People are getting killed’

A New York Republican lawmaker is railing against the state’s squatting “epidemic” with a bill that would allow police to immediately evict squatters, while ushering law and order back into the Democratic-run state, he said. “We need to make sure that we fix this huge epidemic right now. And it’s coming more and more and more,” Republican state Sen. Mario Mattera, who represents the 2nd Senate District on Long Island, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview this week. New York, most notably in New York City, has been rocked by repeated instances of squatting cases, including a handful that have turned violent and even murderous. Mattera pointed to one man on Long Island in 2021, plumber Thomas Buckleman, who was brutally beaten with a baseball bat by a squatter when he was hired to winterize a building in Blue Point. Buckleman was left with three fractures to his skull and blood on his brain, and told local media at the time he believed he was going to die. Last month, another woman died when she allegedly walked into her deceased mother’s New York City apartment and discovered squatters. The squatters were arrested in Pennsylvania after allegedly stealing the dead woman’s Lexus and stuffing her body in a duffel bag. SUSPECTED MIGRANT SQUATTERS FOUND IN NYC APARTMENT WITH CHILD FACE GUN, DRUG CHARGES “We need to fix this now, so we can stop the bleeding. The bleeding needs to stop. People are getting hurt. People are getting killed. And what are we doing about it? Guess what, my bill gives the tools to all law enforcement to do their job,” Mattera said. ICE AGENTS RECAPTURE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH RAPE WHO WAS RELEASED ONTO STREETS IN VIRGINIA Mattera introduced a four-part bill package late last month, including Senate Bill S8867, which would notably allow police to immediately evict a suspected squatter based on the legal homeowner’s sworn testimony complaint. “Just by a complaint, calling police officers, prove that you are [in] ownership of that home, and you have the attesting to certain facts, can immediately cause a squatter or other unauthorized persons to be evicted from residential property by a police officer on the spot, without court intervention,” Mattera explained. The bill is styled after a bill in Florida that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into law that eliminates “the squatter scam.” Mattera lauded Florida and DeSantis for the bill’s passage and called on Democrats in New York to rally around his bill as Democrats did in Florida. ABC 7 REPORTERS URGE NEW YORKERS TO GET ‘NO TRESPASSING’ SIGNS FOR LEGAL PROTECTION AGAINST SQUATTERS “You know, the American dream. Just think about it: life, liberty, and property. The American Dream, and you know what, it is shattered by bad laws of the land of New York State. This is a great law. Governor Ron DeSantis signed it. It was a bipartisan law. He signed it into law effective July 1 of 2024,” he said, adding that he would love to see DeSantis as former President Trump’s 2024 running mate. Under New York law, people can claim “squatter’s rights” after occupying a property for 10 years or more. Under New York City law, however, squatters can claim rights to a property after living there just 30 days. In many cases, squatters move into empty homes that are on the market or the homes of recently-deceased people. They either fly under the radar for 30 days in New York City to claim squatters’ rights, or produce fraudulent documentation that they are on a lease for the property. Such crimes are considered civil cases, meaning legal homeowners spend months in court, and often thousands of dollars in legal fees, to legally evict the squatters. NEW YORK MOTHER FOUND STUFFED IN DUFFEL BAG AFTER MOVING INTO HOME, PEOPLE SEEN LEAVING IN HER CAR: REPORT Savvy criminals have apparently exploited the laws, with Mattera pointing to a case unfolding in Queens where a suspected squatter showed proof of rights to a home by presenting an UberEats receipt from burger joint Shake Shack for $25.27, ostensibly to show they lived on the property as it had the address. WIFE OF SLAIN NYPD OFFICER JONATHAN DILLER DELIVERS EMOTIONAL EULOGY AS THOUSANDS ATTEND FUNERAL “A married couple invested … in a home in Queens, Jamaica, Queens, several years ago. Now they’re forced to go to court right now,” he said. “An alleged squatter hired an attorney. There it is. Imagine, this squatter hired an attorney. And there they are, they have a burger chain receipt that says that that’s the proof that they live in that house. By a burger shack giving them a receipt with the address on it when they delivered it,” he said. “This is serious. My bill is a very, again, a very aggressive bill. It gives the tools to our police officers to do their job.” Though “aggressive” against squatting, Mattera said the legislative package also provides protection for individuals wrongfully removed from a property, “including potential triple damages, restoration of possession, and attorney fees for the aggrieved party,” his office explained in a press release last week. The package would also redefine the definition of “occupant” to exclude squatters and trespassers, it would exclude squatters and trespassers from the “current squatter-friendly remedy for self-help evictions,” and clarify that criminal trespass in the third degree includes squatters. LA SQUATTERS TAKE LUXURY HOLLYWOOD HILLS MANSION, RENT ROOMS TO ONLYFANS MODELS: REPORT Mattera said the explosion of squatting cases in New York comes after a series of “bad laws” in the state that have emboldened criminals, including cashless bail that has allowed repeat offenders to return to the streets after certain arrests. Mattera pointed specifically to the fatal shooting of NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller in Queens last month, allegedly at the hands of a career criminal who had been arrested 21 times prior. “Twenty-one [priors] … that person should have been in jail. And we wouldn’t be talking about Officer Diller. We would

McConnell looks to cement legacy as ‘Reagan Republican’ with crusade for Ukraine support

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is planning to devote much of his energy in the remaining months of his term as Republican leader, as well as the next few years of his term, to ensuring Ukraine is supported as its war with Russia rages on. “It may not be fashionable now, but I’m a Ronald Reagan Republican: peace through strength,” the longtime Senate GOP leader said during a speech in Shelbyville, Kentucky, per local outlet the Kentucky Lantern. McConnell has been a proponent of continued support for Ukraine, even after members of his party began to push back. MCCONNELL PUTTING ‘MAIN PART OF MY FOCUS’ ON OPPOSING RUSSIA IN UKRAINE: ‘A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM FOR DEMOCRACIES’ “Mitch McConnell is a Reagan Republican through and through,” said Republican strategist Doug Heye. Therefore, its unsurprising that he is “standing strong on those principles,” he said. But not everyone equates Ukraine support with republicanism in the image of former President Reagan. According to Republican strategist Matt Dole, “Reagan republicanism, or any label that is historical in nature, is not driven by one issue or one vote.” He posited that such labels have been used by some “as a way to encourage people to their side.” “I don’t think a senator voting for or against aid to the Ukraine takes them closer or further away from the legacy of Ronald Reagan,” he added. TRUMP’S ABORTION STANCE PROMPTS PUSHBACK FROM LINDSEY GRAHAM AS OTHERS RALLY BEHIND FORMER PRESIDENT Speaking to a local radio station last week, McConnell said Ukraine and preventing Russia’s advances would be “the main part of my focus in the coming years.” He said Ukraine’s war presents “a worldwide problem for democracies.” “McConnell understands the long game that Russia is playing,” explained Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, former top spokesperson to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former chief of staff of the Senate Republican Conference. According to Grant Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, it’s likely that McConnell “really believes in the importance of standing up to Putin and preserving the integrity of Ukraine’s sovereignty, and wants to have that as his ‘last act.’” At the same time, “it would be a moment of statesmanship that would also help frame the way he is remembered” as McConnell and his generation pass the baton, Reeher said. McConnell said during his radio interview that Ukraine’s fate is a global issue and that “they need our leadership, and we need their partnership.” PENCE BLASTS TRUMP’S ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ ANNOUNCEMENT ON KEY ISSUE FOR CHRISTIAN VOTERS He also decried the growing wave of “isolationist” sentiment among his Republican colleagues. He acknowledged his fellow Kentuckian, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as one of those perpetuating the movement. Paul’s office was contacted by Fox News Digital but did not provide comment. “A growing number of his colleagues are now looking at Ukraine through a populist outlook of how sending foreign aid abroad helps their constituents back home,” explained Bonjean. However, McConnell’s focus toward Ukraine may be rendered unsuccessful “unless there is a concerted effort to make the connection between sending foreign aid to Ukraine and protecting American interests,” he said. Without this, the leader’s anti-isolationism campaign may “be a losing fight over time.” Dole also noted the leader’s “influence immediately waned upon his announcement that he intended to step down.” This, in part, will make it hard to unify the conference on “an issue that they’ve always disagreed about.” McConnell revealed his decision to step down from the role of party leader in November after his term in the position ends. His stepping aside presents an opportunity for the Senate GOP to select a new leader and potentially chart a far different path. The Kentucky Republican is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, having maintained the title since his election in 2007. Dole further disputed the idea that Republicans have shifted toward isolationism, instead suggesting that the divided stances on Ukraine aid represent “discernment.” “McConnell has earned the right to try to convince the caucus of his position,” he said, but added, “His last battle will be uphill.” John Mark Hansen, the Charles L. Hutchinson distinguished service professor and interim chair for the department of political science at the University of Chicago, echoed that “isolationism never really went away, particularly among the electorate.” Instead, Hansen said, what has occurred is a Republican retreat from “support for NATO and defense against Russian expansionism.” This is due to former President Trump’s influence, he said. HOUSE REPUBLICANS REBUKE BIDEN FOR ‘ONE-SIDED PRESSURE’ ON ISRAEL AFTER NETANYAHU CALL “I don’t think it’s something the base feels strongly about,” he said. Therefore, McConnell is in a better position “to make a stand.” “He’s not alone. Speaker [Mike] Johnson is clearly willing to take a risk in supporting aid for Ukraine,” Hansen said. “Isolationism may be en vogue right now, but peace through strength and not abandoning our allies are principles still shared among a lot of the Republican Party, including many of McConnell’s conference colleagues,” Heye said. A $95 billion supplemental bill with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed the upper chamber in February with 70 votes in support. However, nearly all the 29 votes against the measure were Republicans, highlighting the divided conference. The Senate minority leader has called on the House to similarly pass the measure. McConnell’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.

Biden admin defends Chinese visa exemption as Republicans warn ‘loophole’ risks national security

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is defending a 2009 decision that allows Chinese nationals to enter U.S. territory without a visa based on a perceived “significant public benefit,” while Republicans blast the “loophole” as a way for members of the Chinese Communist Party to “infiltrate” the United States and put national security at risk. DHS penned a letter to Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., in response to their request for information about the influx of Chinese immigration to U.S. territory Guam. Republican lawmakers have warned that influx poses a risk to national security due to the U.S. military bases on the island. Guam hosts Naval Base Guam, the Navy’s only submarine base in the western Pacific, as well as Anderson Air Force Base, which is large enough to host U.S. strategic bombers and fighters. INFLUX OF ILLEGAL CHINESE MIGRANTS THREATENS US TERRITORY; ISLAND MUST SHOW ‘STRENGTH OF THE NATION’ The lawmakers have been calling for the Biden administration to close what they call a “visa loophole” that they view as “exacerbating” the issue of illegal immigration to Guam from China. But DHS is defending the policy that protects the so-called loophole. “As you note, a foreign citizen generally must obtain a visa to enter the United States, including its territories,” wrote Zephranie Buetow, DHS’s assistant secretary for legislative affairs. “However, Public Law 110-229, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA), established the Guam-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Visa Waiver Program codified at Immigration and Nationality Act § 212(l).” “The CNRA requires DHS to identify countries from which the CNMI receives a ‘significant economic benefit’ from the number of visitors for pleasure within the year preceding enactment,” Buetow continued, adding that DHS determined that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) “met this economic threshold in 2009.” Buetow, citing the policy, said that PRC nationals “may travel” to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands “without a visa for the purpose of a temporary visit for business or pleasure for up to 14 days.” Buetow said those PRC nationals “are not authorized for employment.” SPIKE IN NUMBER OF ILLEGAL CHINESE IMMIGRANTS BECOMING US NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE “Individuals without a visa are not authorized to travel to other parts of the United States, including Guam,” Buetow wrote, adding that when they are encountered at CNMI airports, U.S. Customs and Border Protection “will prohibit their onward travel to other U.S. destinations.” Buetow added, “DHS remains vigilant in its screening and vetting duties, which focus on rooting out exploitation of our immigrant and nonimmigrant visa processes, including by identifying, and where necessary denying entry to, high-risk travelers.” But Republican lawmakers are blasting the Biden administration for keeping the “loophole” in place. “The Biden administration shamefully defends an outdated immigration policy while our national security is on the line,” Ernst told Fox News Digital. “Allowing our military base and national secrets in Guam to remain at risk shows just how seriously this president takes the threat of China.” Ernst told Fox News Digital that the Chinese Communist Party “has already proven they will stop at nothing to infiltrate the United States, and that threat is increasing every day as Chinese nationals use a visa loophole to gain access to our critical military installations in Guam.” “We must change this visa policy and put an end to Chinese nationals accessing our homeland for any malign activity,” she said. And Dunn slammed DHS, saying the agency responded “with willful ignorance of ongoing national security concerns.” CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED AFTER DRIVING ONTO MILITARY BASE IN CALIFORNIA “They confirmed that the current statute allows Chinese nationals to enter the commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days visa-free; however, they fail to see why it’s critical that we must implement the requirement of a B-1/B-2 visa to enter the CMNI to successfully deter the Chinese Communist Party’s aggression and transnational repression,” Dunn told Fox News Digital. “Law enforcement does an outstanding job capturing those with ill-intent, but look how DHS handles our border crisis.” He added, “We cannot risk the same thing occurring in the CNMI.” The comments come amid separate concerns about an increase in Chinese nationals arriving at the U.S. border illegally. That number has surged more than 6,300% in recent years, further fueling national security fears that came back into focus last week when a Chinese immigrant was detained at a Marine base in California. There have been 22,233 encounters of Chinese nationals crossing illegally at the northern and southern border so far in fiscal 2024, which began in October. That means this year is likely to significantly exceed last year’s total of 24,125. That figure was itself a massive increase over the previous two years. There were just 342 apprehensions of Chinese nationals in fiscal 2021 and 1,987 in fiscal 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS for comment.

Why Trump is deferring to the states, after weighing an abortion ban at 15 weeks

Donald Trump told me he wanted to devise an abortion compromise that would “make everyone happy.” I said I didn’t think that was possible. But he didn’t dispute a New York Times report that he was talking to advisers about banning the procedure after 16 weeks, soon modified in another interview to 15 weeks. Instead, in an early morning video yesterday, Trump tried to take a stand that didn’t make anyone unhappy. That’s because he embraced the status quo. SHERIFF DOESN’T MINCE WORDS, CALLS OUT DEMS’ ‘LIE’ TO VOTERS AS PLAYING ROLE IN SURGE OF VIOLENCE He said the states should decide, both voters and lawmakers, and that some would set more conservative limits and others looser ones. The former president made no mention of any time limits. Which means things will proceed under the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling exactly as if he had made no statement at all. Trump did take credit – not that he had much choice – for appointing the three conservative justices who helped overturn the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade. He thanked all six conservative Supreme Court members by name. “Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be,” Trump said in the video. “At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.” Biden hit back hard, particularly at the assertion that legal experts on both sides wanted Roe thrown out. “Trump is simply lying. There was no groundswell of support in America for overturning Roe. In fact, support for Roe is higher today in America than it has ever been,” he said in a statement. “Trump admits as much in his statement today. Having created the chaos of overturning Roe, he’s trying to say, ‘Oh, never mind. Don’t punish me for that. I just want to win.’ Trump is scrambling. He’s worried that since he’s the one responsible for overturning Roe, the voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will.” WILL A SECOND-TERM TRUMP BE RADICAL, RESTRAINED OR ROUTED BY THE RESISTANCE? But look at the difference. Trump makes a video, the Biden campaign puts out a statement. The president loves statements, but they do little to drive television and online coverage. Unless he gets before a camera on this issue, he will have forfeited a prime opportunity – eclipsed, like the sun across America. The ex-president did disappoint some on the pro-life side with his remarks. The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said she was “deeply disappointed” and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who favors a 15-week ban, said “the states’-rights-only rationale today runs contrary to an American consensus that would limit late-term abortions and will age about as well as the Dred Scott decision” – the 1857 ruling that slaves were not American citizens and could expect no federal protection even if they lived where slavery was outlawed. Trump responded to Graham’s criticism by saying he “is doing a great disservice to the Republican Party, and to our Country. At first, he wanted no Abortions under any circumstances, then he was up to 6 weeks, where you’re allowed Abortion, now he’s up to 15 weeks, where you’re allowed Abortion, but what he doesn’t understand, or perhaps he does, is the Radical Left Democrats, who are destroying our Country, will never approve anything that he or the Republicans want.” Looking back at my Mar-a-Lago sit-down with the former president, he used language remarkably similar to what he released yesterday. “The Democrats are the radicals on this issue because it’s okay to have an abortion at seven, eight, nine months and even after birth,” he told me. That last part was a reference to comments by former Virginia governor Ralph Northam – who later walked it back and said he’d only been talking about rare cases involving fetal abnormalities. THIS MIGHT BE A ‘TURNING-POINT’ FOR THE WHITE HOUSE: HOWARD KURTZ Trump also told me that “you have to have the three exceptions…now there are a few places where you don’t.” He cited the example of Doug Mastriano, who got creamed in the Pennsylvania governor’s race after opposing the exceptions. Trump yesterday emphasized the need to allow abortions in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. And, he said to me, “But I tell people, number one, you have to go with your heart. You have to go with your heart. But beyond that, you also have to get elected.” Yesterday: “You must follow your heart or in many cases, your religion or your faith.” So here’s the thing. By talking up a 15- or 16-week ban in interviews with me and others, Trump sent an unmistakable signal that he wants that approach. Most people who have followed it know he believes that the procedure should not be allowed by the second trimester, even though that doesn’t cover the vast majority of abortions. But by leaving that out of his “official” position, he avoids most of the political blowback. He’s just going along with what the Supreme Court mandated, despite the earlier wink and nod. You have to follow your heart, but first you must get elected.

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