Tag: gop
Trump's Icky Birthday Message To Epstein Is All Too Real

Trump's Icky Birthday Message To Epstein Is All Too Real

As it turns out, all of President Donald Trump’s Truth Social temper tantrums about his lewd birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein might have been done in vain.

On Monday, after receiving the Epstein estate files, the House Oversight Committee's Democrats posted what they claims to be the actual birthday card that Trump sent to Epstein.

“We got Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn’t exist,” the committee minority wrote on X.“Trump talks about a ‘wonderful secret’ the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files!”

Part of alleged Epstein "birthday card" from Donald Trump released by House Oversight Committee Screenshot from NBC News

The card, which features a silhouette of a woman’s torso drawn over an alleged conversation between the two longtime friends, first surfaced in July when the Wall Street Journal got wind of an album of vulgar letters that Epstein received for his 50th birthday.

“We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” the card denoted above another line in which Epstein agreed with Trump.

Just above Trump’s signature, which oddly resembles pubic hair, Trump reportedly wrote, “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

When news first broke, Trump worked overtime to denounce and delegitimize what the Journal claimed were his own words.

“This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story,” he told the publication. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”

Soon after, Trump—who has previously sold his sketches for tens of thousands of dollars—filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Journal, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. While it’s unclear how the lawsuit will hold up following this latest development, Trump’s messaging around the Epstein scandal has been transitory at best since his name became attached to it.

From insisting that he would be a driving force in releasing the files to saying that the files themselves are a “hoax” created by the left, Trump’s stance has been anything but consistent.

“From what I understand, I could check, but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given. But it's really a Democrat hoax because they're trying to get people to talk about something that's totally irrelevant to the success that we've had as a nation since I've been president,” he said last week.

Trump’s denial has even pushed some of his GOP supporters, like Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia, to break with the president.

“We campaigned on transparency issues like ‘release the Epstein files,’” Greene said to reporters last week. “And all of a sudden there’s this hard stance coming from the Republican leadership and many of the members and the administration, and I’m shocked by it. I think it’s a major misstep. It is an uncalculated error that is going to have ramifications directly in the midterms.”

In step with Epstein survivors, even the most loyal MAGA politicians have found themselves opposing the president because of his refusal to be transparent.

“The truth needs to come out,” Greene said. “And the government holds the truth.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

As Congress Returns, GOP Majority Will Confront Big Trouble

As Congress Returns, GOP Majority Will Confront Big Trouble

As Congress heads back to Washington this September with more at stake than ever, the GOP faces several challenges.

In an article published in The Hill on Monday, political analyst Juan Williams noted that when the House abruptly adjourned in July, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) early recess granted Republicans a temporary escape from the fallout over the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But that pause is ending, and the pressure is back, full force.

And this is just one of the GOP's challenges.

A government shutdown looms less than a month away, demanding immediate solutions and likely bipartisan cooperation for funding. Republicans, despite holding majorities, have stalled on passing next year’s appropriations — even as government debt climbs to record levels.

The piece noted that a deal will probably require Democratic votes, in exchange for restored funding to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which were deeply cut by President Donald Trump’s controversial tax and budget reconciliation bill. Without action, millions face higher premiums, and voters across party lines are already siding with Democrats on this issue. Republicans across the country have faced backlash from their constituents during town halls, particularly when it comes to the president's signature legislation.

The writer notes that Trump’s approval ratings are sagging — especially on healthcare and inflation — adding to the pressure.

Williams further observed that with Trump not on the 2026 ballot, GOP lawmakers can’t rely on MAGA momentum to shield them from political fallout anymore. As Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio warned back in July, midterms are always “a slog” for the majority party, and Republicans still bear the scars of losing 40 seats in their first midterm under Trump.

"Epstein remains a problem for Republicans as Congress returns. But there are fires everywhere. And should Democrats take control in 2026, a third Trump impeachment will be on the table," the article said.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul

New York Governor Vows To Fight Texas 'Renegades' On Redistricting

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held a press conference Monday to respond to ongoing GOP efforts to disproportionately increase Republican representation in Congress. She discussed potential Democratic strategies to combat Texas’ gerrymandering scam, including redrawing New York state’s congressional maps to offset the loss of Democratic seats.

"If that's what's called for, I will put saving democracy as my top priority at any cost, because it is under siege,” Hochul told reporters. “Just like those who put on a uniform to fight in battles across the ages. For centuries we've stood up and fought. Blood has been shed. This is our moment in 2025 to stand up for all that we hold dear and not let it be destroyed by a bunch of renegades in a place called Texas.”

Hochul joins Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has also pledged to counter Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s machinations to sabotage democracy by redrawing California’s congressional maps.

Texas Democrats have been preparing for this fight. On Sunday, most Democratic state legislators left the state, denying Republicans the quorum needed to pass any legislation. Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico accused the GOP of “trying to rig the midterm elections right before our eyes.”

Abbott has since threatened to replace Democratic representatives and charge them with “bribery.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Jeanine Pirro

'Unfit And Unqualified': GOP Senate Confirms Jeanine Pirro As US Attorney

The far-right former Fox News commentator Jeanine Pirro was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Saturday night in a strictly party-line vote to become the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, a position progressive critics and Democratic opponents warn she is deeply unqualified to hold.

Pirro, who has been serving as the acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. since May, has a long history of spewing far-right conspiracy theories on air and throwing facts to the wind when it comes to lining up behind President Donald Trump. Pirro was a prominent figure when Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for defamation over the outlet's coverage of the 2020 election and she was a vocal proponent of Trump's "Big Lie" that the voting was rigged against him.

Christina Harvey, executive director of the pro-democracy group Stand Up America, condemned Pirro's confirmation.

"Republicans have handed the keys to our nation's capital to a Trump loyalist with zero credibility and a track record of unhinged extremism," warned Harvey. "Keanine Pirro isn't a serious prosecutor—she's a partisan attack dog who's made a name for herself by promoting conspiracy theories and threatening to criminally investigate January 6 prosecutors in the office she was just confirmed to oversee. A Fox News producer once called her a 'reckless maniac.'"

"By confirming Pirro," added Harvey, "Senate Republicans made one thing clear: they care more about pleasing Donald Trump than honoring their constitutional duty to advise and consent on presidential nominations. Qualifications, independence, integrity—none of it matters. Just blind loyalty."

The vote in the Senate was 50-45, with every Republican voting for Pirro and every member of the Democratic caucus voting against. Five senators did not cast a vote.

Congressional Democrats voiced their contempt for Pirro both leading up to the vote and following it.

"Pirro should never be a permanent U.S. Attorney," declared Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, just after the vote was finalized. "She endorsed the firing of January 6 prosecutors. She recklessly spread the Big Lie to the point her *own producers* had to tell her to cool it. Ultimately, she’s a rubber stamp for Donald Trump."

Ahead of the vote, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) explained his opposition to her confirmation, saying Pirro was "deeply unfit and unqualified" and describing her as "a loyal acolyte and sycophant" of Trump.

"She is not objective, she is not independent," said Blumenthal. "Instead she has made her mark spreading damaging, offensive conspiracy theories."

Last week, Rep. Jeremy Raskin (D-MD), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Senate leadership urging against Pirro's confirmation, calling her a threat to the government's independent judiciary and unfit to run the U.S. Attorney's office in D.C., the largest of its kind in the nation.

"Over the past decade, Ms. Pirro has consistently demonstrated that her loyalty lies with Donald Trump the person, not with the Constitution or the rule of law," said Raskin in a letter addressed to Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"Her blind loyalty to Donald Trump at the exclusion of other principles, her embarrassing support of the 'big lie' that the 2020 election was rigged in the face of all evidence to the contrary and 60 federal and state court decisions rejecting such claims, her unswerving defense of convicted January 6th rioters, and her incendiary rhetoric that urges President Trump to seek retribution against his alleged enemies," continued Raskin, "all make it clear that she lacks the intellectual honesty, personal principles, temperament, integrity, and fundamental constitutional fidelity required to lead this important office."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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