MAGA Hats and Middle Fingers
Louisiana Gov. Brad Landry (R) took a break from throwing out tens of thousands of his constituents’ votes this week to take a little foray to Greenland, the off-and-on target of President Donald Trump’s imperialistic whims.
Predictably, the locals did not take kindly to the special envoy’s visit.
One woman followed his entourage, reportedly yelling at him to “go home.”
In another episode that is physically uncomfortable to watch, a little boy asked whether Landry is famous. When Landry offered to take a photo with him, the boy said no.
His offer of MAGA hats to local children was reportedly rebuffed, and he was greeted by at least one middle finger.
He vented by lashing out at the journalists covering his trip, berating them for not giving Trump adequate credit for being the first president to pay attention to Greenland. That the attention was solely rapacious, he did not mention.
“Who cares more about Greenlanders than the Trump administration and the president? Because it seems that before the president, no one cared,” Landry exclaimed to the scrum.
While Trump has backed off (read: gotten distracted from) his desire to take Greenland by conquest, the United States is demanding a permanent installation of troops, veto power over major investments on the island and a share in the country’s natural resources, per the New York Times.
— Kate Riga
Jan 6 Police Officers Sue Trump, Blanche and Bessent Over Slush Fund
Two members of law enforcement, former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Officer Daniel Hodges of Washington’s Metropolitan Police, sued Trump and two other administration officials in an attempt to block the creation of the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that will ultimately serve as a slush fund to reward rioters and far-right militia groups that stormed the Capitol for President Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.
“In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,” the lawsuit says. “The fund, styled the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” is illegal. No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law.”
The lawsuit argues that the creation of the fund puts the lives of Dunn and Hodges in danger and claims that the Trump administration officials named as defendants — President Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — exceeded their statutory authority in creating the fund without the approval of Congress.
“Although Trump and his cronies have been secretive about the fund’s ends, reporting leaves no doubt that it will be used, among other purposes, to pay the nearly 1,600 people charged with attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” the lawsuit says.
Dunn and Hodges both testified before the House January 6 Select Committee as it was investigating the insurrection and Trump’s role in inciting it. They described the violence they witnessed from the mob of Trump supporters that day as it breached the Capitol. The lawsuit also outlines the violence they endured personally, including photos of Hodges being “nearly crushed by rioters in a Capitol door.” Both have faced “a series of credible death threats” ever since their testimony, according to the lawsuit. (Dunn is also running as a Democrat for Congress in Maryland.)
While Blanche has not denied that Jan. 6 rioters and members of the militia group that stormed the Capitol that day could technically apply for compensation through the anti-weaponization fund, both he and Vice President JD Vance were skittish about directly answering public questions about whether those who assaulted police officers would be entitled to compensation. Context, per the Times:
More than 150 officers were injured during the violence on Jan. 6. Some were hit in the head with baseball bats, flagpoles and pipes. One lost consciousness after rioters used a metal barrier to push her down as they marched to the building.
— Nicole LaFond
Trump Wants Senate Parliamentarian Punished
Even though several Republican members of Congress have publicly expressed concerns about shoving an additional $1 billion in White House and Secret Service security funding, related to Trump’s ballroom, into the upcoming reconciliation package, Trump is lashing out at the Senate Parliamentarian this week, blaming her for the legislation’s possible demise. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined this week that Republicans could not include that funding in the reconciliation package under Senate rules. The package is meant to try to address a handful of Trump’s legislative priorities, including three years of no-strings-attached funding for immigration enforcement.
“Shockingly, Republicans have kept the very important position of ‘Parliamentarian’ in the hands of a woman, Elizabeth MacDonough, who was appointed, long ago, by Barack Hussein Obama and a vicious Lunatic known as Senator Harry Reid, who ran the Senate for the Dumocrats with an ‘iron fist,’” Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday. “Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced?”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) gave a rather bleak response to Trump’s calls for her replacement, acknowledging that whether or not the ballroom funding passes is less about the parliamentarian and more about whether his caucus will support it, and suggesting that she would be kept safe after Trump’s public attacks on her. Per Politico:
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota observed that it’s not the first time Trump has made such a demand, adding that while “there may be some issues related to the parliamentarian, but most of the issues we have here are votes.”
“That’s, I guess, his opinion. But that would create even more vote issues here if we were to try and do something like that. So we’ll make sure that everybody has got security around here,” Thune said, referring to concerns that MacDonough could be targeted after Trump’s broadside.
— Nicole LaFond
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“Who cares more about Greenlanders than the Trump administration and the president? Because it seems that before the president, no one cared,” Landry exclaimed to the scrum.
This ‘cares’ may be stretched past its breaking point here; although, there are viable alternative uses for it:
“Donnie cares deeply about Greenlanders opposition to his imperial ambitions.”
Donnie is deeply concerned that Greenlanders may be an impediment to his plans to extract the island’s mineral wealth."
You know, like that
I’m not mathematical genius, but a $1,776,000,000 slush fund divided by 1,600 J6 rioters, is roughly $1million each. With $176 million left over for the extra special boys and girls.
“Needs more heckling.”
The Senate Majority Leader is promising to provide security for the Senate parliamentarian, to protect her from the President of the United States.
I really, really care about this nice island you got here. Would be too bad if something happened to it, wouldn’t it?