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Biden campaign believes president can flip Florida blue, citing Trump legal and financial woes

Biden campaign believes president can flip Florida blue, citing Trump legal and financial woes

President Biden’s campaign believes he can swing solidly red Florida into the blue. The Biden team is claiming it can beat presumptive Republican nominee, former President Trump, due to his ongoing legal troubles and financial penalties. “Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trump’s weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition,” wrote Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez in a memo this week. Democratic coalitions are “growing and energized,” according to the campaign. TRUMP AIMS TO TROUNCE BIDEN’S RECORD $26 MILLION HAUL AT UPCOMING FLORIDA FUNDRAISER: ‘WE FEEL REALLY GOOD’ Rodriguez went on to say that Florida is “a state where President Biden has a compelling story of results, Trump and Rick Scott’s extreme agenda is making Floridians’ lives worse, and the Democratic coalition is growing and energized,” according to the report. The Biden team’s efforts to flip Florida will likely be an uphill battle – the Sunshine State has become a Republican stronghold in recent years, though it has a long history of changing color. STATE’S LARGEST POLICE UNION MAKES MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Florida was a solid Republican state that broke for GOP candidates in four straight presidential elections. The state flipped blue for former President Bill Clinton in 1996, and has occasionally flip-flopped between the parties ever since. Trump scored a narrow victory against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 with approximately 49% to Clinton’s 48%. Trump won Florida in the 2020 presidential election against Biden, snatching approximately 51% of votes compared to the Democrat’s 48% – widening the gap between Republican and Democratic support in the state.

New York judge says FDNY booing of Letitia James, pro-Trump chants not about politics, ‘has to do with race’

New York judge says FDNY booing of Letitia James, pro-Trump chants not about politics, ‘has to do with race’

Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis reportedly cited the incident involving members of the New York City Fire Department booing state Attorney General Letitia James and chanting in favor of former President Trump last month in suggesting that a racist culture persists at the FDNY.  Garaufis recently ordered FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh and the city’s Corporation Counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, to appear before him at a status conference scheduled to discuss the settlement in the Vulcan Society of Black firefighters’ case against the FDNY in May, the New York Daily News reported.  At the last status conference on March 14, Vulcan Society President Regina Wilson complained to Garaufis about a March 8 incident where some members of the FDNY booed James and chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” as the attorney general took the stage during a promotion ceremony at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.  It happened weeks after Trump was also found liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in the civil fraud case brought against him, his family and the Trump Organization by James.  “I don’t know if you had an opportunity to just see the vile nature of these members even when we were at Christian Cultural Center where they started booing and saying ‘Trump, Trump Trump,’ while Letitia James was at the podium,” Wilson said, referencing the incident that sparked an internal probe and prompted Kavanaugh to apologize. “This behavior is who this department is. Not all of them, but a large portion of them. So when Black people go to work and have to deal with this and you don’t get any help or support really from the department, it’s horrific.”  FDNY REVERSES COURSE ON ‘HUNT’ FOR FIREFIGHTERS WHO BOOED LETITIA JAMES, CHEERED DONALD TRUMP “Get the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] office straightened out. Take some of your brilliant lawyers from the Corporation Counsel and put them in there and start holding hearings. That’s not a request, that’s a direction,” Garaufis responded, according to N.Y. Daily News. “I’ve lived in New York City all my life. I know what the problem is. And believe me, front and center is what happened the other day. This doesn’t have to do with politics, this has to do with race.” The Vulcan Society accused the city of discrimination in a 2007 lawsuit, which the city agreed to settle for $98 million in back pay and benefits for aspiring minority firefighters in 2014.  While the case was still ongoing in 2011, Garaufis ruled that firefighter exams intentionally discriminated against Black people, according to the Daily News. A federal appeals court later overturned that conclusion but allowed Garaufis’ proposed solutions, including the appointment of a federal monitor, to stand.  Wilson has long lamented about a backlog of EEO complaints, which are supposed to be fully investigated within 90 days, according to city policy.  At last month’s hearing, FDNY officials argued the department has just half the investigative attorneys on staff compared to the 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They said EEO cases are being assigned to lawyers in other FDNY bureaus and to the Law Department while the FDNY works to hire more people to combat address the shortage.  FDNY ‘LOOKING INTO’ STAFF WHO BOOED NY AG LETITIA JAMES, CHEERED FOR TRUMP AT CEREMONY “You have 900 lawyers sitting doing other things in the Corporation Counsel’s office and lawyers all over the city government. Put them on detail, they already work for you, and do it. One hundred eighty days is not acceptable,” Garaufis said. “And I want the commissioner here at the next meeting.” “I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s not working on this. And she’s a former judge. I doubt she’d be too happy about having her orders ignored and her instructions ignored,” Garaufis added of Hinds-Radix.  “Commissioner Kavanagh and the FDNY is committed to providing a professional work environment free of discrimination and harassment for all Department employees, which is why we continue to work with our city partners so we can effectively re-staff the EEO office,” FDNY spokesman James Long said, according to the Daily News.  He reportedly added that FDNY top brass are “having ongoing conversations with our members about decorum during department events.” “The FDNY takes every EEO complaint seriously, diligently investigates each complaint, and is committed to addressing the complaint backlog,” Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci told the newspaper. “The court has previously expressed appreciation for the Corporation Counsel’s active engagement in finding solutions in the past, and continued to acknowledge that a lot of the city’s efforts have been done well. We’ll be updating the court on how we plan to further assist the FDNY EEO Office.”

Oregon governor signs bill recriminalizing hard drugs, completing liberal experiment’s U-turn

Oregon governor signs bill recriminalizing hard drugs, completing liberal experiment’s U-turn

Oregon has legislatively completed its U-turn on a short-lived liberal policy that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of certain drugs. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, on Monday signed into law a bill that reverses Measure 110, a 2020 law that voters approved to decriminalize most illegal possession of controlled substance offenses and redirect much of the state’s marijuana tax revenue to fund grants for addiction services. Around 58% of Oregon residents approved the initial measure but since then, addiction and overdose deaths have skyrocketed in Oregon and nationwide as fentanyl swept across the country. In August, 56% of Oregonians said they disapproved of the pioneering drug law and both Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation to roll back the controversial measure. OREGON GOVERNOR TO SIGN BILL RECRIMINALIZING ILLICIT DRUGS, ENDING LIBERAL EXPERIMENT The new law, HB 4002, makes so-called personal use possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. It enables police to confiscate the drugs and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks. It also establishes ways for treatment to be offered as an alternative to criminal penalties by encouraging law enforcement agencies to create deflection programs that would divert people to addiction and mental health services instead of the criminal justice system. The changes take effect Sept. 1. In a signing letter, Kotek said the law’s success will depend on “deep coordination” between courts, police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and local mental health providers, describing them as “necessary partners to achieve the vision for this legislation. Oregon House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich said he supported the governor’s decision and said it was a crucial first step toward addressing the ongoing drug crisis in the state.  “Republicans stood united and forced Democrats to do what Oregonians demanded: recriminalize drugs,” Helfrich said, according to KEZI. Rep. Tim Knopp, R-Ore., echoed Helfrich’s sentiments and said it brings an end to the liberal experiment although more needs to be done to address the state’s drug crisis.  CRISIS IN THE NORTHWEST: POLICE STRUGGLE AS FENTANYL’S GRIP IN RURAL OREGON BECOMES ‘NEXUS’ OF DAILY RESPONSES “Make no mistake, this bill is not enough to undo the disaster of Measure 110,” Knopp said in a statement. “House Republicans are ready to continue the work we started and bring real change to Salem in the next session.” “Now that the Governor has given the recriminalization bill her stamp of approval, we can finally end the chapter on Oregon’s experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs.” “HB 4002 is not a perfect solution; legislators will have much more work to do in upcoming sessions. But it sets a standard for how the state should approach the drug addiction crisis: by empowering law enforcement and our behavioral health systems to work together to help Oregonians struggling with chronic addiction seek life-saving treatment.”  Measure 110 directed hundreds of millions of dollars of the state’s cannabis tax revenue toward addiction services. But the money was slow to get out the door and health authorities, already grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, struggled to stand up the new treatment system, state auditors found. At the same time, the fentanyl crisis began to spark an increase in deadly overdoses. Those pressures prompted Oregon Democrats to shift their stance on decriminalization policy in recent months. Kotek, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson in February declared a 90-day state of emergency for downtown Portland over the public health and public safety crisis fueled by fentanyl. The reversal bill was passed by the state Senate 21-8 after the House passed it 51-7, Democrats have majorities in both chambers.  Portland private security guard Michael Bock told Fox News in February that fentanyl overdoses rose by 533% in Multnomah County, the state’s most populous county, between 2018 and 2022. Dealers act with “absolute impunity,” he said, and hand out drugs like they are a “7-Eleven.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Mississippi runoff to determine which Republican runs against longtime Democratic incumbent congressman

Mississippi runoff to determine which Republican runs against longtime Democratic incumbent congressman

A runoff election Tuesday in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District will determine the Republican nominee to face longtime Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson in the Nov. 5 general election. Republicans Ron Eller and Andrew Scott Smith advanced to the runoff after a three-person primary three weeks ago. They’re competing in a majority-Black district that Thompson has represented since winning a special election in 1993 and where President Joe Biden won by 27 percentage points in 2020. Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, was unopposed in the primary. He said he wants to decrease prescription drug costs, invest in historically Black colleges and universities, reduce student loan debt and build the middle class “by making sure the wealthy pay their fair share.” JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI CASINO PROPOSAL DIES IN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Eller is a military veteran and physician assistant who ran unsuccessfully for the 2nd District Republican nomination in 2022. He said he supports construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and expansion of domestic energy production. Smith has worked in pumpkin farming and commercial real estate. He said he wants to rejuvenate agriculture, rebuild infrastructure, reinforce the southern border and require more transparency in government. The 2nd district stretches along the Mississippi River on the western side of the state, through the flatlands of the Delta and into the capital of Jackson. It supported Biden over Republican Donald Trump 63% to 36% in the 2020 election. Eller received about 47% of the vote on March 12, and Smith received 36%.

House Republicans push to rename DC international airport after Trump

House Republicans push to rename DC international airport after Trump

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is pushing to rename Washington, D.C.’s, main international airport after former President Trump. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., the House GOP’s chief deputy whip, introduced the bill Friday along with six cosponsors.  “In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital. “As millions of domestic and international travelers fly through the airport, there is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing ‘Welcome to Trump International Airport’ as they land on American soil.” TRUMP SLAMS BRAGG AFTER PLEADING NOT GUILTY: ‘I NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN IN AMERICA’ Legislative text obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday showed that, if passed, “the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia shall after the date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the ‘Donald J. Trump International Airport.’” “Any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the airport referred to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference to the Donald J. Trump International Airport,” the brief bill said.  Reschenthaler’s bill is also backed by Reps. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.; Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Barry Moore, R-Ala.; and Troy Nehls, R-Texas, according to the website Congress.gov. CHRIS CHRISTIE WITHDRAWS FROM CONSIDERATION FOR ‘NO LABELS’ PRESIDENTIAL RUN The bill has little chance of being taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate, but if passed, it would be the second D.C.-area airport named for a Republican commander in chief after Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. “In 1998, Congress renamed the National Airport in Washington after one of our great presidents, Ronald Reagan. It is only fitting that we would do the same for another one of our greatest presidents, Donald J. Trump, especially as he stands against the onslaught of weaponized government to fight for Americans like us,” Moore told Fox News Digital. Gosar similarly said, “I can see no more fitting recognition than naming both airports in our nation’s capital after America’s two best presidents: DCA after President Reagan and Dulles after President Trump.” MANHATTAN DA BRAGG REQUESTS JUDGE IMPOSE GAG ORDER ON TRUMP DURING HUSH-MONEY CASE Dulles is a busy international hub that’s critical for lawmakers and other Washington officials’ travel, particularly for airlines and routes that do not operate out of Reagan, which is smaller than its Loudoun County counterpart. Dulles was ranked 33rd out of 764 U.S. airports in terms of passenger traffic in 2023, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. With domestic and international travel combined, roughly 25 million passengers went through Dulles last year. It’s also the fourth-largest U.S. airport in terms of land area, according to the website Air Advisor. Fox News Digital reached out to the campaign for Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, for comment.