4 crying out loud.......

While CNN was airing its cringe-inducing interview with Dem presidential ticket Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Thursday evening, GOP candidate Donald Trump was once again attempting to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

"I think the six week is too short, there has to be more time," former President Trump says how he'll vote on an abortion rights amendment in Florida. pic.twitter.com/rQAdPtW9i0

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 29, 2024

Conservative commentator Steve Deace wrote Friday that Trump can still extend an olive branch to the most loyal GOP voter base (i.e. pro life voters) without being a purist on the issue.

History shows the weaker you are on protecting the right to life, the weaker you will be on protecting all of our God-given rights. So it is perfectly reasonable for reasonable people to be concerned. They're not haters, they're not purists, and they're not traitors. And ignore the grifters and paid influencers calling you that.

They are Americans, and they are well within their rights to want their God-given rights as Americans protected.

All Trump has to do is make it clear he opposes the Democrats' abortion amendment in Florida that will allow full-term babies to be executed, provided there's still a pinky toe in the birth canal. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Opposing abortion with no restrictions is an 80% issue with the American people. Trump is being offered a way lower standard for support than the vow to overturn Roe he made in 2016 and we are thankful he fulfilled. He doesn't even have to be pro-life for goodness sake, just not be for infanticide.

Thankfully, that's exactly what happened. 

 

🚨BREAKING: President Trump says he is voting NO on Florida's Amendment 4, which would legalize abortion through the 9th month:

"All of that stuff is unacceptable so I will be voting no for that reason." pic.twitter.com/a8vf6QNjqV

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 30, 2024

Naturally the Harris campaign will continue to lie with impunity by stating that Trump, if elected President, will sign a "national abortion ban." It's bullsh*t of course, if for no other reason that such legislation would never even get to Trump's desk given Dem Senators would 1000% filibuster any attempts for such a bill to be passed. Also, Trump has clearly said that the abortion issue is a matter for the states to decide, and thus has vowed to veto a bill calling for a ban even after 15 weeks (which, again, would never even see the light of day in the Senate anyhow). 

In the end, Trump will do the right thing by voting "no" on Florida's Amendment 4, but my goodness is it an exhaustive process to get him there. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CCCLV

- This is more a confirmation than a revelation. 

The Biden-Harris administration pressured Facebook to censor content on its platform relating to COVID-19 and other major stories, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed in a Monday letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
 
“In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Nevertheless, Zuckerberg admitted Facebook’s culpability in censorship that took place on the platform. “Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure. I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”

This isn't a First Amendment violation per se, as there were no laws crafted which infringed upon speech. In addition to that, Zuckerberg would've been well within his rights to tell the Biden administration to pound sand and they would've had zero recourse against him. But this is also another lesson in how one shouldn't give government even one inch of latitude when it comes to our civil liberties, as it would soon turn into them demanding a country mile. 

While Zuck's letter is a nice start, it shouldn't be the end. A lot of prominent medical professionals had their reputations undermined when their Facebook posts addressing the COVID-19 pandemic were labeled "misinformation," despite ultimately being vindicated (but only after having their good names sullied). I'm thinking a full autopsy should be performed in the motif of what occurred when Elon Musk took over Twitter. 

- Not being a career politician is a good thing. But if one is attempting to run for the highest office in the land, one should possess at least a modicum of political acumen. 

Donald Trump clearly does not. 

If this is an attempt to draw in "pro choice" voters, it ain't gonna work. Trump is seen as the guy whose U.S. Supreme Court appointments shifted the balance of power in the Court, thus allowing them to overturn Roe v. Wade. No, he's forever out of their good graces. If anything, this will serve to hurt Trump among prolife voters (perhaps the most loyal GOP voting bloc in the party's history) given "reproductive rights" is a leftist euphemism for abortion. 

If you're wondering why Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris has basically ducked all press coverage since the millisecond her boss endorsed her to replace him on the Dem ticket, it's because her surge in the polls has occurred largely due to her opponent committing political suicide. From Harris's perspective, why screw up a good thing?

- A silver lining in the event we have a President Kamala Harris come 1/20/2025? The Republicans are in a really good position to flip the U.S. Senate. 

Three-term incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has been trailing GOP challenger Tim Sheehy by at least six points for some time now. Given that all Republican held Senate seats up for election this cycle are labeled "Lean GOP" or better, they merely have to flip two seats to wrest control. With Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) not seeking reelection, ruby red West Virginia is a shoo-in to go Republican. There's also a fighting chance in Ohio with Sen. Sherrod Brown receiving a serious challenge from Republican candidate Bernie Moreno. 

Given Republicans are vulnerable to the losing their razor-thin majority in the U.S. House, the Senate may be the one backstop against a progressive utopia which would include statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico (giving Dems four additional Senate seats in perpetuity), expansion of the Supreme Court, etc. I don't believe I've ever uttered the phrase "most important election in our history," but I'm hard pressed to recall a timeframe when America has been teetering on the brink of collapse moreso than in the past four years. 

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Box Score of the Week

Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies - September 27, 2014.

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Braves outfielders B.J. Upton and Justin Upton each hit a home run and recorded an outfield assist in this game, making them the first sibling teammates to accomplish such a feat. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 8/25/2024

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Listen to the propaganda, listen to the latest slander.....

With political convention season mercifully over, it's crunch time for campaigns. As always, I'll be devoting plenty of coverage on my radio show The Closer. Today's 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

I'll obviously weigh in on many aspects of this past week's Democrat National Convention. Basically it was your standard fare leftist convention in that it was long on symbolism, woefully short on substance. 

At 1:30, Republican candidate in MN House District 49A (southern Minnetonka, northern Eden Prairie) Stacy Bettison will stop by to discuss her candidacy. 

At 2:00, Anna Brennan will join the broadcast to share her passion for anti-technology with "SHI: Social Health Initiative." This movement's goal is to help people break free of their technology and social media addiction and re-engage society. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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On to November

With the Democrat National Convention having concluded Thursday evening, the torch has been officially passed to VP Kamala Harris to be the party's presidential nominee. 

Harris's acceptance speech was short on substance and long on platitudes (perfectly understandable when core issues don't favor you), but she at least tamped down her criticism of opponent Donald Trump, leaving the savagery to the other DNC speakers. Sure, she still took shots at Trump, but it was measured criticism, the type which resonates with Americans still concerned over the prospects of another Trump presidency. 

It has been literally more than a month since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris to succeed him, yet she's agreed to no substantive interviews or held any press conferences in that time frame. If she indeed employs the same basement strategy her boss utilized in the 2020 campaign, will the media allow her to get away with it like they allowed Biden? If so, Trump still has an opportunity to capitalize, given voters favor his handling of the economy, border security and foreign policy. And now that there's a media effort to paint Harris as a "centrist" on issues, Trump can point to her myriad radical leftist positions she espoused on the 2020 campaign trail as well as during her Veep tenure. If Trump employs that tactic, Harris will be left with two choices: a) acquiesce to supporting those leftist positions of b) try to convince voters she's "evolving." She could attempt to gaslight the American public by suggesting she never conveyed those radical stances, but that'd be political suicide. As such, the media will take the mantle on that one. 

Naturally, I'm skeptical Trump is able to run a substantive campaign for a prolonged period of time, simply because he hasn't done it before. But I will say that reading this Trump tweet gives me hope: 

Thank you to @BrianKempGA for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.

I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2024

It should be considered a layup that a GOP presidential candidate thank a popular Republican governor of a state the POTUS candidate desperately needs in order to win the general election. But given Trump seemed more focused on his grievances towards Kemp just a couple of weeks ago didn't give me a lot of hope that he could pivot. This is definitely a good start. 

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Opulence for we, not for thee

Former First Lady Michelle Obama was one of the keynote speakers at the Democrat National Convention Tuesday evening. It was the same bilge we've heard from Mich before, basically how she isn't proud of her country (unless of course her hubs is POTUS). 

But really, there's been nothing new under the sun at this week's DNC. It's the same "wE'rE tHe PaRtY oF tHe WoRkInG cLaSs, WeAlTh Is EvIl" shtick we've seen for decades. And we also know that they're full of shit. 

The Obamas are Exhibit A. 

Wearing $890 pants and a $1690 designer jacket, Michelle Obama lectures Americans on greed and taking more than what is needed. pic.twitter.com/gMEdfwnxrJ

— Clarity (@covid_clarity) August 22, 2024

Well....to clarify. Progs *do* believe wealth is evil, but only if it isn't possessed by leftists. Then it's virtuous because they earned it through legitimate means or something. 

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Box Score of the Week

Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles - August 6, 1986.

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The Orioles became the first (and still only) team to hit multiple grand slam home runs in a game, yet still lose. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 8/18/2024

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And just like the Prodigal Son, I've returned...........

After a schedule change last weekend, I'm back in my regular Sunday time slot today for my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour, I'll weigh in on results from the primary election in Minnesota. Sadly, venomous anti Semite Ilhan Omar fended off yet another challenge in this year's Dem primary. 

At 1:30, MN House candidate Max Rymer will join the broadcast to discuss his candidacy. Max is the Republican candidate in House District 28B (eastern North Branch, Wyoming, Chisago). 

Then at 2:15, our official I.T. guru D. Greg Scott will join the broadcast to weigh in on the Iranian hacking of the two presidential campaigns. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Trump slump

I'll admit that I've grown quite angry with presidential candidate Donald Trump due to his reckless behavior on the campaign trail the past few weeks. Not only has he not focused on going after the radical ideas of his opponent, VP Kamala Harris, but he turned his ire towards a popular GOP governor (Brian Kemp of Georgia) in a state which is a "must win" this November. It's also been reported that he became hostile with the head of a pro Trump Super PAC, one which is pouring money into campaign ads in key battleground states. 

Meanwhile, Harris has overtaken Trump in most national polls and has turned three states (Arizona, Nevada and Georgia) from "Lean Trump" to "Toss-up." And while Trump, his running mate JD Vance, Trump surrogates and supporters rightly call out Harris for her unwillingness to conduct interviews with national media (thus shielding herself from reminding voters how awful she is), it doesn't change the fact that Trump himself has woefully lacked focus.

Yeah, I know what some of you may be thinking. This is going to turn into one of my obligatory anti Trump screeds. And while that may have been the path I took had I conveyed my initial thoughts earlier this week, I've had time to ponder this a little more. What I believe now is Trump has lost his edge, but I don't say that in a condescending manner. No, it would appear that Trump is.....human (despite what his most fervent critics might say). Specifically, he survived an assassination attempt barely more than a month ago, yet got right back into campaign mode (the Republican National Convention began literally two days after Trump was almost killed). As such, I wouldn't be shocked if he's enduring some significant PTSD while trying desperately to adjust his campaign strategy now that an opponent he'd prepared to face for 3-1/2 years suddenly dropped from the race. Such a pivot in strategy would be daunting in normal circumstances, much less for a person dealing with legitimate personal trauma like almost being shot to death as well as the prospects facing jail time after his felony conviction in a sham "hush money" trial.

The question is, can Trump get it together with less than 12 weeks until Election Day? I honestly don't know. Truth is, I'm beginning to wonder if this campaign is even prudent for him at this point. The assassination attempt may not have been successful in literally killing Trump, but it appears to have seriously wounded his desire. 

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Putting the "BS" in CBS

CBS News' Twitter account posted this in mid June: 

Then just this past week when Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris conveyed the same proposal, this was CBS's spin: 

The media will report on substance and facts if it is a detriment to the political right, but it's all emotions and feels in every other instance. 

A corrupt and hack-ish media is a far greater threat to democracy than Donald J. Trump.

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Box Score of the Week

Sandy Koufax tosses his third career no-hitter on June 4, 1964 when his Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Philadelphia Phillies. 

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Would you believe that up until the 1964 season, a reigning Cy Young award winner had never thrown a no-hitter? Well, Koufax would be the first after his no-no this game. In the 60 seasons since, four other reigning Cy Young winners have thrown a no-hitter. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist (Headliner edition) - 8/10/2024

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Hey, here is the story; Forget about the troubles in life.....

With my Northern Alliance Radio Network colleague Mitch Berg away on assignment, I will assume the reins of today's edition of The Headliner. The 2-hour blitz begins at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

Obviously there will be a lotta talk about the Democrat presidential ticket now that Minnesota's own Gov. Tim Walz is the VP candidate. As such, Walz's record is coming under more scrutiny nationally than the nearly 18 years combined he's served Minnesota in Congress and the governor's office. Also, it's been almost three weeks since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, yet presumptive Dem nominee Kamala Harris has been ducking media inquiries. 

At 1:15, political commentator Jon Gabriel will join the broadcast to also weigh in on the presidential race as well as update us on a crucial U.S. Senate race in his home state of Arizona. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Worst of the worst

Just three years removed from a 93-win season, this year's Chicago White Sox are bad. Like, historically bad. I'll come back to that. 

But first, the obligatory firing of the manager occurred on Thursday morning. 

pic.twitter.com/g3xyqkkx44

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 8, 2024

Grifol didn't even last two full seasons, yet his overall managerial record is 101 games under .500. ONE. HUNDRED. ONE. Oof. 

With a record of 28-89 this season, the Sox are on pace to finish 39-123. The previous worst one-season win percentage was by the expansion New York Mets of 1962, who sported a record of 40-120.

So how brutal are the pale hose this season outside of the obvious 61 games under .500? Well, they've had two absurdly long losing streaks in 2024 - a 14-game streak from May 22 thru June 6, and a 21-gamer from July 10 thru August 5. Hypothetically, let's say those 35 games never happened (I know. Work with me here). That would give the White Sox a record of 28-54, which would put them at a winning percentage of .341....which would still be the lowest win percentage among all teams in 2024.

Just stunning ineptitude. 

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Walz is the Veep pick

With presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris selecting Nebraska Fats Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, we will officially have the most radically far left presidential ticket in U.S. history. Combine that with the GOP presidential ticket going all MAGA, it's going to be an interesting battle which side can effectively sway independent/moderate voters who have little appetite for such polarization. 

A few thoughts: 

- Walz is a prog rock star given the buffet of radical left policy (or as the governor himself called it - "neighborliness") that passed through the all-Democrat Minnesota legislature the past two sessions. As such, media outlets like CNN and MSNBC have allowed him to appear on their respective networks to demagogue leftist positions as well as lie about conservatives, all with little to no pushback. However, on the rare occasions he's outside the echo chamber, he comes off as incredibly thin skinned. There's a reason the one debate with his 2022 gubernatorial opponent Scott Jensen didn't get a lot of play. Also, he got into a heated discussion with a Minnesotan who called Walz out on his famous quote of outstate Minnesota being little more than "rocks and cows." 

If Walz and JD Vance engage in the obligatory Vice Presidential debate, it won't be too difficult for Vance to get Walz all agitated. Getcha popcorn! 

- Over the weekend, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker made reference to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as Harris' running mate. While this would've been a smart pick for Harris given that popular Pennsylvania governor would appeal to more moderate voters (in addition to the keystone state being a "toss up" with 19 electoral votes), the Shapiro speculation caused the loudest portion of the far left base (i.e. the anti Semites) to lose their collective sh*t. As such, I can't help but wonder if Mayor Parker's "leak" was a trial balloon to gauge Dem voters' reaction to Shapiro. Regardless, this doesn't help the Democrat party with their current reputation of being hostile towards Jewish people. 

- Finally, the Minnesota media is going to be more insufferable than ever. I'm not sure how it is other markets, but the journos in the Twin Cities bend over backwards to find a local angle in any high profile national story. The fact our own governor is now a VP candidate will cause a shortage of adult diapers given how so many scribes/TV people are going to be constantly wetting themselves. And can you imagine the over-the-top media fawning if Harris/Walz emerge victorious his November, in turn elevating a female Native American to the Governor's office? Ugh. 

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Box Score of the Week

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs - September 21, 2007.

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In this game, the Cubs' Alfonso Soriano hit his 10th leadoff home run of the season. In 2003 while a member of the New York Yankees, Soriano hit 13 leadoff homers. As such, he became the first player in MLB history to have multiple seasons of 10 or more leadoff home runs.

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 8/4/2024

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I believe in our fate, we don't need to fake.....

Dang, it's August already?!?!?!

After being away on assignment last week, I'll be back in the Patriot bunker for today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour blitz gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

Another guest-a-palooza on today's broadcast: 

1:30 - Brad Jacob, Associate Dean for Academic Programs at Regent University Law School, will be on to discuss President Joe Biden's proposed changes to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

2:00 - John Bristol, GOP candidate for Minnesota House District 37B (eastern Maple Grove). 

2:30 - Dwight Dorau, GOP candidate for Minnesota House District 47B (eastern Woodbury). 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Focus

After the June 27 presidential debate, I fell into the camp of this presidential election being Donald Trump's to lose. And when Trump showed remarkable poise (and even some rarely seen grace and humility) mere minutes after he was almost shot to death at the Butler, PA rally in mid July, I believed his victory in November was all but assured. Less than a week later, Trump and his fellow Republicans had one of the most uplifting unifying national conventions in the party's recent history. As such, complete GOP control in D.C. (POTUS, House and Senate) suddenly seemed plausible. 

But a mere three days after the Republican National Convention ended, the trajectory of the race began to change when President Joe Biden announced he was not seeking reelection. Since that fateful announcement on Sunday, July 21, the Republican presidential ticket has been bordering on inept. With VP Kamala Harris now the presumed Dem nominee, Trump et al are focused on nonsense such as allegations of her being a "D.E.I. hire" or wondering aloud if she's legitimately black. 

As conservative commentator Erick Erickson astutely points out, there are plenty of lines of attack to levy against Harris without alienating much needed independent voters. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Erick Erickson (@ewerickson)

Along those same lines, Abigail Shrier at The Free Press gives the GOP a treasure trove of policy issues in which to use against Harris.

In 2019, she expressed remarkable hostility to American energy. On CNN, she said there was “no question” she would ban fracking and offshore drilling. She fully supported Biden’s disastrous, inhumane policy of encouraging not only hormones but also gender surgeries for vulnerable minors and of flinging open the doors of women’s jail cells to biologically male offenders.

When Joe Biden was running for election in 2020 and referred to the “Latino community,” she corrected him on X: “the Latinx community,” she wrote, preferring the agender, woke neologism unpopular with the Latino community.

In June of 2020, Harris urged her supporters to post bail for BLM rioters who had ransacked our cities, even tweeting a payment link to the Minnesota Freedom Fund just four days after rioters burned a Minneapolis police precinct to the ground. “They’re not going to stop and everyone beware, because they’re not going to stop,” she said on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, referring to the BLM protesters. “They’re not going to let up, and they should not.”

Each of these positions is out of step with the moderates in her party and the vast majority of the American people; had they come out in a primary, they would have been quite damaging. For good reason, Harris was ranked the “most liberal” member of the senate by the government transparency organization GovTrack, which recently memory-holed the webpage bearing the accolade.

Definitely read the entire piece.

It's political malpractice that the Trump campaign hasn't been hammering these points home since the millisecond Biden (or some twerpy White House intern) hit the "Post" button on his tweet announcing his exit from the presidential race. In a little less than three weeks, Harris will become the official Democrat nominee at the party's convention in Chicago. As balloons are dropping from the United Center rafters upon conclusion of the DNC on August 22, there had best be GOP political ads hitting Harris on her undeniably radical positions. Remember, there was a reason her support cratered among Dem supporters in the 2020 primary race, so much so that her presidential campaign didn't even make it to the Iowa caucuses. 

It's not too late, Trump campaign. But time is definitely running short. 

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