Trump’s Controversial Remarks: During a donor retreat in Florida, former President Donald Trump, who is currently facing 88 criminal charges from four separate indictments, made a 75-minute speech where he compared the Biden administration to Nazis.
“These individuals are governing like the Gestapo,” Trump stated. “According to them, this is their only path to victory, and it’s actually backfiring on them. But it doesn’t faze me.”
Trump’s Gestapo remarks were in response to his belief that President Joe Biden’s administration is orchestrating the multiple criminal cases against him, including the ongoing hush money and fraud trial in New York, as well as other legal matters stemming from his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election, as reported by the Associated Press.
“These comments were made in passing and weren’t the main focus of his speech,” said North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who was a GOP nominee contender earlier in the election cycle, during a CNN panel on Sunday. “A majority of Americans believe that the trial he’s currently involved in is politically motivated.”
Trump also made other contentious statements. “If you’re a Democrat, you basically start with a 40 percent advantage because of the civil service, unions, and welfare,” Trump mentioned during his speech. “And let’s not underestimate the impact of welfare. They receive welfare in exchange for their votes, and then they engage in fraudulent activities on top of that.”
As is typical with Trump, there is some truth mixed in with falsehoods and exaggerations: Union members and individuals dependent on government assistance tend to lean Democratic. This point is further emphasized by Biden’s repeated but unsuccessful efforts to implement widespread student loan forgiveness, which appears to be a tactic to attract younger voters, regardless of the policy’s soundness and legality.
Trump’s repeated claims that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election, however, lack substantial evidence. The courts have consistently dismissed the notion of Democratic voter fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election, with decisions that have been consistently unfavorable to those who propagate the “stolen election” narrative, across various jurisdictions and assessed by judges of different political affiliations. (Before criticizing this point, I encourage readers to peruse a substantial number of the 12 links I have included above.)
Exploring New York: Visited Streecha in the East Village over the weekend.
“More reminiscent of dining at someone’s home rather than a formal restaurant, Streecha—operated by volunteers and serving as a gathering place for Ukrainian immigrants—offers a modest menu of Ukrainian specialties,” as per Eater.
“An extension of the nearby St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, the proceeds from Streecha’s food sales contribute to fundraising efforts for the church.”
Reasonably priced, informative about the situation in Ukraine, and enjoyable for my young child who loved the holubtsi (and the attention from elderly ladies).
QUICK HITS
- The Israeli military is advising civilians to evacuate Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, signaling a potential imminent attack in that area, as reported.
- New data on birth and fertility rates has just been released. Some notable points include a 20% decline in Chile, a 16% decrease in Macao (resulting in an extremely low total fertility rate of 0.59), and a 9% drop in Hungary (despite maintaining a relatively high total fertility rate, possibly due to incentivizing a baby boom through tax breaks), which is concerning for those worried about declining fertility rates.
- Tonight marks the Met Gala, with Condé Nast employees threatening to picket the event, as reported by The New York Times.
- “A hyped venture space only emerges after the dominant company in that sector has already been established, identified, funded, and gained popularity,” writes Trae Stephens for Pirate Wires. “The existence of such a space indicates that the search for a successful investment is already completed. This reality of venture investing is hindered by herd behavior that goes against this truth, ultimately limiting fund returns and depriving promising companies of capital simply because they are not in vogue.”
- “There are individuals worldwide who may choose, through their democratic rights, to elect Donald Trump as president,” shared New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn with Semafor‘s Ben Smith. “It is not the responsibility of the news media to prevent this outcome. It falls on Biden and his administration to prevent such a scenario.” Naturally, liberal critics have vehemently reacted to Kahn’s statements.
- “Israel instructed the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to shut down on Sunday, escalating the ongoing dispute between the network and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas mediated by Doha hang in the balance,” as per Politico.
- Concerning development:
Russian forces are now stationed near withdrawing US troops in Niamey. This supports CTP’s assessment that Russian troops will also support the US base in northern Niger, providing strategic threats to Europe in the long term. 1/9???? https://t.co/mWtWuvBHl8 pic.twitter.com/80ToSFGD2I
— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) May 3, 2024
Please rewrite this sentence.
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