Tag: Fake News

PELOSI: Trump Tax Debt ‘Matter of National Security’

by Breck Worsham, posted in Uncategorized

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday said President Donald Trump’s alleged tax debts were not only an issue of public concern but a “matter of national security,”

Responding to a New York Times report which detailed the president’s financial records over the past two decades, Pelosi, (D)-Calif., called the revelations a matter of “grave concern.”

“This president appears to have over $400 million in debt, $420 million whatever it is,” Pelosi told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “To whom? Different countries? What is the leverage they have? So for me, this is a national security question.”

“We take an oath to protect and defend, Pelosi continued. This president is commander in chief. He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to whom? The public has a right to know.”

The Times report suggested that the president has paid no income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, primarily due to financial losses, and that the president is facing a decades long Internal Revenue Service audit over a $72.9 million tax refund he received that could wind up costing him more than $100 million.

Pelosi went on to question whether any of the debts in question were tied to Russia.

“The question is what does Putin have on the president politically, personally, financially in every way that the president would try to undermine our commitment to NATO, give away the store to Russia and Syria, try to cast blame on Ukraine for interfering in our elections when he knows full well with the consensus from the intelligence community that it is Russia. The list goes on and on. The annexation in the Crimea, and the rest of that that the president just turns away from,” Pelosi said. “So, he says he likes Putin and Putin likes him. Well, what’s the connection? We’ll see.”

In a series of tweets, the president defended himself and his financial records, referring to the New York Times report as “fake news.”

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‘FAKE NEWS!’: Trump Blasts Media Over Tax Record Leak

by Breck Worsham, posted in Uncategorized

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday tore into the mainstream media over it’s coverage of a leaked New York Times report regarding his tax returns.

In a series of tweets the president blasted the media, referring to it’s coverage as “fake news” and defended the tax credits he’s shown to have taken, saying he, like everyone else, is entitled to do so.

“The Fake News Media, just like Election time 2016, is bringing up my Taxes & all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent. I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits,” the president wrote.

“Also, if you look at the extraordinary assets owned by me, which the Fake News hasn’t, I am extremely under leveraged – I have very little debt compared to the value of assets,” he continued.

“Much of this information is already on file, but I have long said that I may release financial Statements, from the time I announced I was going to run for President, showing all properties, assets and debts,” he added. “It is a very IMPRESSIVE Statement, and also shows that I am the only President on record to give up my yearly $400,000 plus Presidential Salary!”

The New York Times report contained information on the president’s tax returns that spanned more than two decades.

‘FAKE NEWS’: Trump says mainstream media ‘never so dishonest’

by Breck Worsham, posted in news, politics

WASHINGTON– President Donald Trump on Wednesday came out swinging against the mainstream media, which he claimed had “never” been so dishonest.

In a barrage of Tweets cheering on Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann for filing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against The Washington Post, the president slammed the publication and called his other nemesis, The New York Times, “a true enemy of the people.”

“The Washington Post ignored basic journalistic standards because it wanted to advance its well-known and easily documented biased agenda against President Donald J. Trump.” Covington student suing WAPO. Go get them Nick. Fake News!” the president wrote in the first tweet, quoting a political pundit’s analysis of the case.

“The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” Trump added in response to a Times report that Trump had orchestrated an effort to place a top ally in charge of an investigation into his former attorney, Michael Cohen.

“The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today,” the president continued. “Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!”

The president’s tweets are just the latest in his ongoing attacks upon the mainstream media, which he often refers to as “fake news.”

Last month, he accused various media organizations of becoming “crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH.”

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TRUMP: Liberal media ‘true enemy of the people’

by Breck Worsham, posted in crime, law, news, politics

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday started his week by taking a swing at the liberal mainstream media, which he referred to as “the true enemy of the people”.

Responding to allegations by various left-wing news outlets that his outspoken criticism of the left may have fueled the actions of a suspect arrested for sending various bombing devices to high profile Democrats, the president blasted unspecified members of the press as “fake news”.

“There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news,” the president tweeted. “The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame.”

Cesar Sayoc, was arrested last week and charged with sending a total of thirteen mail bombs to news outlet CNN, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, George Soros and others who have been highly critical of Trump and of his administration.

If convicted, he faces up to 48 years in prison.

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‘FAKE NEWS NOT WELCOME’: Trump rally crowd chants ‘go home’ to CNN’s Jim Acosta

by Breck Worsham, posted in news, politics

Columbia, SC (The Hill) — Members of the crowd awaiting President Trump’s rally in South Carolina on Monday began chanting “Go home, Jim!” at CNN’s Jim Acosta.

Multiple reporters tweeted that a woman verbally attacked Acosta as he stood in the press area. Crowd members also reportedly chanted “CNN sucks.”

The jeers from the crowd came as people waited for a Trump rally in West Columbia, S.C., Monday night. Trump traveled to South Carolina to help campaign for Gov. Henry McMaster (R), who facing John Warren (R) in a runoff election.

The attacks aimed at Acosta and CNN come just a week after the crowd at a Trump rally in Duluth, Minn., chanted “CNN sucks.” Those chants came after Trump slammed the news media.

“And I’ve said before if I would have said that to you during the campaign, those very dishonest people back there, the fake news. Very dishonest,” Trump said to boos from the crowd.

Acosta has had a contentious relationship with the White House and Trump campaign officials.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted in early June that Acosta’s credentials should be revoked for asking questions during a ceremony between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Acosta replied, “dictatorships take away press credentials. Not democracies.”

Trump’s rally on Monday begins at 7 p.m.

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‘FAKE NEWS’: Trump slams mainstream media over ‘vicious’ and ‘unfair’ Melania coverage; Denies abusing First Lady

by Breck Worsham, posted in news, politics

Washington, D.C. (The Hill) — President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at recent media coverage of first lady Melania Trump, calling speculation surrounding her whereabouts in the weeks following a kidney surgery “unfair” and “vicious.”

“The Fake News Media has been so unfair, and vicious, to my wife and our great First Lady, Melania,” Trump tweeted.

“During her recovery from surgery they reported everything from near death, to facelift, to left the W.H. (and me) for N.Y. or Virginia, to abuse. All Fake, she is doing really well!”

Trump claimed in another tweet that “four reporters spotted Melania in the White House last week walking merrily along to a meeting” but “they never reported the sighting because it would hurt the sick narrative that she was living in a different part of the world, was really ill, or whatever.”

“Fake News is really bad!” he added.

CNBC reporter Eamon Javers had tweeted on May 30 that he had seen the first lady “walking with her aides in the West Wing” the day prior.

“Not that this will deter the conspiracy theorists, but I saw the First Lady walking with her aides in the West Wing yesterday afternoon,” Javers wrote.

Melania Trump attended a ceremony for Gold Star families on Monday that was closed to the press. It was slated to be her first public appearance since she underwent surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on May 14.

The first lady is slated to appear at a Federal Emergency Management Agency event Wednesday afternoon with the president.

Speculation surrounding the Trump’s whereabouts in the weeks after her surgery has been the subject of several tweets and discussions on cable news.

One Rolling Stone writer speculated that she was “concealing abuse,” and The Atlantic’s David Frum posed a hypothetical about President Trump having “punched the First Lady in the White House.”

“I wish that I didn’t suspect that the prolonged, poorly explained public absence of Melania Trump could be about concealing abuse. I wish that it was a ludicrous prospect. I wish that the @POTUS wasn’t a man with a history of abusing women, including those to whom he is married,” Stone reporter Jamil Smith wrote on Twitter.

“Suppose President Trump punched the First Lady in the White House (federal property = federal jurisdiction), then ordered the Secret Service to conceal the assault. POTUS has Article II authority over Secret Service. Is that obstruction? Under Sekulow/Dowd, apparently NO,” David Frum, senior editor of The Atlantic tweeted in response.

CNN also discussed Melania Trump’s whereabouts on its weekly media affairs program “Reliable Sources,” which included a graphic with a calendar of the number of days the first lady was absent.

If any First Lady “disappeared,” you’d “want to know where she is,” tweeted Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources”.

Calls to the White House for comment were not immediately returned.

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CNN UNDER FIRE: Florida school shooting survivor says network gave him scripted question during town hall on gun reform

by Breck Worsham, posted in crime, news, politics

TALLAHASSEE, FL — A Florida high school student who survived last week’s deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School says cable news network CNN denied him the chance to ask his own questions during a town hall discussion on gun control, and instead pushed a scripted question for him to use on air.

Colton Haab, a member of the Junior ROTC shielded students while the school was under attack from the shooter, said he was going to address the option of using veterans as armed security guards in schools, but that his question was ultimately shot down.

Instead, Haab says, the network gave him a “scripted question” to use, an option he wanted no part of.

“CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions and it ended up being all scripted,” Haab told WPLG-TV (https://tinyurl.com/y76tbm84). “I expected to be able to ask my questions and give my opinion on my questions.”

Frustrated by the network’s attempt to use him to push their own agenda, Haab says he chose not to participate in the town hall discussion, which was aired to millions around the country.

“I don’t think that it’s going to get anything accomplished,” Haab said. “It’s not going to ask the true questions that all the parents and teachers and students have.”

CNN issued a statement on Thursday to repudiate Haab’s claims once the teen’s comments went viral.

“There is absolutely no truth to this,” CNN said in a statement posted Twitter (https://tinyurl.com/y7enf6ca). “CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever.”

“After seeing an interview with Colton Haab, we invited him to participate in our town hall along with other students and administrators from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” CNN’s statement continued. “Colton’s father withdrew his name from participation before the forum began, which we regretted but respected. We welcome Colton to join us on CNN today to discuss his views on school safety.”

Last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida left 17 people dead and dozens more wounded. The incident again sparked calls from gun control advocates for stricter gun laws and more thorough background checks.

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LOCK AND LOAD: Trump calls for arming of teachers, staff in response to Florida school shooting

by Breck Worsham, posted in crime, news, politics

WASHINGTON, D.C.– President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the arming of school officials in the wake of last week’s Florida school shooting during which 18 students were reportedly killed.

Responding to criticism he received the day before after suggesting that teachers should be trained in the use of a firearm, the president said that well-armed staff may prevent such tragedies in the future.

“I never said ‘give teachers guns’ like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC”, the president tweeted (https://tinyurl.com/yc3m6jaf). “What I said was to look at the possibility of giving ‘concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience- only the best.”

“20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards,” Trump continued. “A ‘gun free’ school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!”

The president’s comments followed a gathering at the White House Wednesday in which he was joined by students, parents, and teachers affected by the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting. Parents affected by the Sandy Hook and Columbine massacres were also invited to attend.

After asking the parents for their feedback, one father suggested the possibility of arming teachers, an idea that the president openly embraced. After discussing the suggestion at length, the president said his administration would be looking “very closely” into the option.

The president also on Thursday announced plans to ban bump stocks, gun modifiers that enable semi-automatic firearms to fire more quickly. In addition, he spoke of plans to raise the age requirement to buy a gun from 18 to 21 and called for stricter background checks.

“I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health,” he announced on Twitter. “Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue—I hope!”

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FLAKE(Y) JEFF: Arizona Senator compares Trump to Stalin during rant over ‘fake news’

by Breck Worsham, posted in Uncategorized

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Departing Sen. Jeff Flake, (R) -Arizona, blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday, comparing the 45th president to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

The comments came as Flake addressed his colleagues on the Senate floor in a rant about President Trump’s “war on the press”, which Flake described as an “assault as unprecedented as it is unwarranted.”

“It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies,” Flake said.

“It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase ’enemy of the people’ that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of ’ annihilating such individuals ’ who disagreed with the supreme leader ,” Flake ranted.

“When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press,” he continued.

“This alone should be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the president’s party,” his tirade went on. “The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.”

“Here in America, we do not pay obeisance to the powerful – in fact, we question the powerful most ardently – to do so is our birthright and a requirement of our citizenship — and so, we know well that no matter how powerful, no president will ever have dominion over objective reality,” Flake contended. “Anyone who presumes to try to attack or manipulate the truth to his own purposes should be made to realize the mistake and be held to account. That is our job here. And that is just as Madison, Hamilton, and Jay would have it.”

“2018 must be the year in which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken it. In this effort, the choice is quite simple. And in this effort, the truth needs as many allies as possible. Together, my colleagues, we are powerful. Together, we have it within us to turn back these attacks, right these wrongs, repair this damage, restore reverence for our institutions, and prevent further moral vandalism,” Flake challenged.

Flake’s comments come just one day after Trump ordered CNN correspondent Jim Acosta removed from the Oval Office after Acosta repeatedly accused the president of racism (https://rebekahworsham.org/2018/01/16/out-cnn-reporter-forced-out-of-white-house-after-verbal-showdown-with-the-trump/).

The president, no fan of CNN or the liberal media, has often referred to many mainstream media outlets as “fake news”.

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‘OUT!’: CNN reporter forced out of White House after verbal showdown with the Trump

by Breck Worsham, posted in Uncategorized

WASHINGTON, D.C. — CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta was ordered by administration officials out of the White House Tuesday after repeatedly shouting at Donald Trump over alleged “s***hole” comments made by the president last week.

During his first meeting with the White House press corps since he allegedly referred to certain African nations as “shithole countries” during a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform, Trump attempted to keep the focus on the United States’ economic successes over the last several months, including historically low black unemployment numbers and the return of manufacturing jobs. Acosta, however, seemed unwilling to allow the president to focus on his administration’s recent successes, and repeatedly shouted out questions over what’s come to be known as “S***holeGate”.

As Trump attempted to exit the Oval Office after a photo op with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Acosta turned his attention to the issue of immigration from Norway, asking the president why he “only wanted white people” to immigrate to the U.S. After repeatedly shouting at the president, members of the White House staff reprimand Acosta with a quick “Jim, thank you. Please exit.”

The president, a bit less subtle, pointed at Acosta, then pointed at the door and said, “Out!’

Acosta quickly took to Twitter (https://twitter.com/Acosta) to rant about what he claimed to be “unfair treatment,” tweeting, “As I attempted to ask questions in Roosevelt Room of Trump, WH press aides shouted in my face to drown out my questions. I have never encountered that before.”

“What occurred reminded me of something I would see in a different country. Certainly not at the WH. Certainly not in the U.S.,” Acosta continued. “When I tried to follow up on this in the Oval Office, Trump told me to get “out.” We then went to the Roosevelt Room where WH aides obstructed us from asking questions.”

“Look around the world and check out the countries that have government control over the media. They are not places where you want to live,” Acosta added.

The incident is just the latest in a series of showdowns between Trump and CNN. The president has made no secret of his disdain for the network, having referred to them on numerous occasions as “fake news”.

Calls for comment to CNN were not immediately returned.

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