MAGA Republicans Push Unhinged Conspiracy to Explain Trump’s Shooting

Republican lawmakers are ignoring the evidence to blame the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on anyone but themselves.

Although the gunman behind the shooting has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old white conservative, GOP leaders have decided to collectively attack the Secret Service—specifically, the members that are women and people of color.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Representative Cory Mills was quick to divert attention away from the conservative shooter and toward the nonobvious target: diversity, equity, and inclusion hires.

“Look, I’m not sure about who the individuals are on the individual detail of the Secret Service, but I can tell you under this Biden administration, the one thing I’ve seen is massive DEI hires,” Mills, a former U.S. Army sniper, told Jesse Waters Primetime, appearing to suggest that only white men should be members of the Secret Service. “And I can tell you, when you primarily go after DEI, you end up with D-I-E.”

But Mills wasn’t the only Trump ally frustrated with a service detail that kept the former president alive.

“Somebody really dropped the ball,” Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett told Fox Sunday afternoon. “You’ve got a … DEI initiative-person who heads up our Secret Service. You know, she was working at Pepsi before this. I know she was a former Secret Service agent, but still.”

“This is what happens when you don’t put the best players in. It’s a complete failure on our part,” he said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Burchett baselessly pushed that Democrats’ focus on the violent rhetoric of MAGA Republicans—including likening Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and describing Trump’s political ambitions as fascist—was the reason behind the shooting, despite the fact that Crooks’s former classmates repeatedly described him as holding exclusively conservative ideals.

“It is a manifestation of what they brought upon us,” Burchett said. “It is not the Republicans’ fault.”

And network hosts also jumped in on the fury, including Jeanine Pirro and Laura Ingraham, who were seemingly unhappy with the women who risked their lives and bodies to create a human shield for Trump.

“You and I, in our own way, have been trailblazers in our fields,” Ingraham bemoaned. “And we support women in all we do. But when it comes to shielding the body of someone who is six foot three, and shielding him, you can’t do it if you’re five-five.”

At a time when tensions are high following an assassination attempt against Donald Trump on Saturday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene still saw fit to immediately use violent rhetoric to describe Democrats.

In an interview on Real America’s Voice right after the shooting, Greene called politics today “a battle between good and evil.”

“Look at the views and the policies on the left. This is the party that is literally trying to destroy God’s creation,” Greene said, before going on a rant blaming Democrats for a number of conservative bogeymen, including trans rights, abortion, Black Lives Matter protests, and prison sentences against conservative figures including January 6 rioters. She was happy enough with her message that she posted a video of it the next day to her X (formerly Twitter) account.

Greene has a reputation for using extreme and bigoted rhetoric, so this initial reaction isn’t unexpected. She has called for a “national divorce,” infamously blamed California wildfires on “Jewish space lasers” back in 2018, spread conspiracy theories about 9/11, and alleged conspiracies behind school shootings. Her political party has enabled her ever since she was elected to Congress, and in some cases has even echoed her talking points. As such, she isn’t likely to receive calls to apologize from her fellow Republicans, particularly as a host of them will probably be saying the same things at the Republican National Convention this week.

But one would think that, at a time when the motive of the gunman who shot at Trump still is unclear, Greene might not want to escalate tensions and be seen as promoting more violence. But that would be out of character for Greene, and out of touch with today’s Republican Party.

Rudy Giuliani has lost bankruptcy protection, and creditors can now go after his assets, a New York judge ruled Friday. 

The former New York mayor turned Donald Trump lawyer was found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers in December, with a jury awarding them $148 million. Giuliani then applied for bankruptcy protection, arguing that he was unable to pay the judgment because of the other many sizable debts he owes. 

Judge Sean Lane, of New York’s federal bankruptcy court, made the ruling partly due to Giuliani’s lack of transparency, writing in his 22-page opinion that the disgraced lawyer hadn’t opened the books of the companies he owns, which have recently received thousands of dollars in wire transfers. Lane also said that Giuliani hasn’t explained other financial dealings, from book contracts to what his podcast and radio show earn. 

“Mr. Giuliani has failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs in the six months that this case has been pending,” Lane wrote. “The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.” 

Giuliani claims a net worth of $10.6 million, mostly tied up in two apartments: one in New York City and another in Palm Beach, Florida. The two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freemon and Shaye Moss, plan to seek liens on the two properties soon, their lawyers say. 

Giuliani’s creditors can also try to seize his other assets, which include bank accounts, his collection of luxury watches, his Mercedes-Benz sports car, three New York Yankees World Series rings, and other baseball memorabilia. Giuliani’s creditors accuse him of downplaying how much these items are worth or failing to acknowledge them altogether.

Giuliani does not manage his money well. He lost his accountant in May, and, despite his many debts, still spends extravagantly while blowing off his financial responsibilities. He didn’t pay back his accountants, lawyers, or his ex-wife. Lately, in a desperate attempt to make money, he even tried to sell his own coffee.  

The rest of his life isn’t going well either. Giuliani was disbarred from practicing law earlier this month over his false statements on the 2020 election and is facing criminal charges in Arizona over his election misdeeds after a comical attempt to avoid being served. His old client Trump still owes him $2 million in unpaid legal fees, but aside from throwing the odd fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, hasn’t helped his ex-lawyer. It looks like Rudy may soon hit rock bottom.  

A crushing Zoom call between President Joe Biden and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Friday began with an hour-long delay, and ended in seemingly the first instance of a lawmaker telling the president directly that he should exit the 2024 race.

Originally, just two members of the caucus were going to be allowed to ask Biden questions: Representatives Sylvia Garcia and Lou Correa, reported NOTUS. But trouble brewed after Biden tried to open up the floor for comments from other lawmakers.

Representatives Gabe Vasquez and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez—the latter of whom had already called for Biden’s withdrawal—both attempted to use the “raise hand” feature on the teleconference platform in order to ask a question but had their signal disabled by leaders of Bold PAC, the caucus’s political arm.

Still, one member was able to sneak in some final comments: Representative Mike Levin, who announced to the president that he believed Biden should step out of the race and allow another party leader to face off against Donald Trump in November.

Before the call’s host, Representative Linda T. Sánchez, abruptly shut down the meeting, Biden responded that the growing calls for his withdrawal are precisely why he’s letting people “poke” him and ask him questions.

“It’s a legitimate concern for people, but that’s why I think it’s important I gotta get out and show people everything from how well I move to how much I know and that I’m still in good charge,” Biden told Levin, according to CNN.

But apparently, Biden did not make as good a showing as he hoped. Shortly after the call concluded, Levin released a statement reiterating his call for Biden to withdraw from the race.

President Joe Biden’s assuredness that he intends to stay in the 2024 presidential race, amid mounting calls for him to drop out from within his own party, is reportedly having the opposite effect on some of his top-dollar donors. 

Some of Biden’s biggest backers are withholding roughly $90 million in pledged contributions to Future Forward, the largest pro-Biden super PAC, until the president decides to withdraw, two anonymous sources told The New York Times. 

In the wake of Biden’s disastrous performance at the presidential debate last month, multiple donors are holding off on making their eight-figure commitments, the sources said. They wouldn’t offer specifics on which donors were behind the cash freeze. 

One donor to Future Forward said that the super PAC had approached them multiple times since the debate, but he and his friends had been “holding off” on contributing. 

Future Forward would not comment on any conversations with donors, but an adviser for the group said that they presumed that all donations would resume once the uncertainty about the Democratic ticket was resolved. 

Some of Biden’s donors have begun working furiously behind the scenes to make way for the president to step aside and bring in another candidate. A group of donors has reportedly begun working to raise $100 million for the Next Generation PAC. Other major donors have directly called for the president to drop out, including Abigail Disney, who said the Biden campaign would not receive “another dime” until Biden was dropped from the top of the ticket.  

Thus far, Biden has dismissed concerns from donors as the opinions of party elites, a decision that suggests a self-sabotaging single-mindedness. As he forges ahead with his campaign, the president is likely to feel that decision where it hurts most: in his wallet. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is loath to directly criticize Donald Trump. But he is opposing Trump’s America First foreign policy, calling this week’s NATO summit a “top priority, no question about it.”

“This is the most important thing going on in the world right now,” McConnell said in an interview with Punchbowl News.  

The Kentucky senator has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, consistently pushing for funding to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion. In contrast, Trump has a long history of supporting President Vladimir Putin and Russia, and has even questioned the need to fund Ukraine. 

Trump has endorsed primary candidates who parrot his pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine position, in opposition to candidates who have taken the establishment GOP position advocated by McConnell. In Utah’s Republican Senate primary last month to replace the retiring Mitt Romney, Trump’s pick was defeated by a pro-Ukraine Republican. 

“I’m hoping that people on our side have figured out this is not some kind of political suicide mission to support [Ukraine].… The political situation among Republicans has improved,” McConnell said.

McConnell went further in criticizing Trump’s foreign policy, comparing it to the nativist language from before World War II.

“The language they used in the ’20s and ’30s are similar to what you hear today—‘America First,’” he said. He also criticized Trump’s friendship with Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán, whom the convicted felon is meeting on Friday. Orbán visited Moscow in recent days and used pro-Russian language to describe the war in Ukraine.  

“By highlighting that, I’m hoping [conservatives] might decide they better keep better company,” McConnell said. “And that’s not just the former president, but other so-called conservative groups that have invited him over or gone over there.

“My guess is they’re having some second thoughts about that, because many of them argue we ought to be spending our time worrying about China,” McConnell added. “Well, [Orbán] is completely in bed with the Chinese and the Russians. So I hope highlighting that issue changes behavior.” 

McConnell and Trump have a tortured relationship. As president, Trump appointed McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as secretary of transportation, but then made racist attacks on her and accused McConnell of being compromised by China. Trump has also called McConnell a “dumb son of a b----.” McConnell nonetheless endorsed Trump’s 2024 candidacy, but only after Trump locked up the GOP nomination.

Democrats are searching for possible pathways away from another Joe Biden nomination, including by essentially staging a revolt at the Democratic National Convention in August.

At least 21 Democratic lawmakers have formally called on the president to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, while some high-profile party leaders, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have signaled behind closed doors that the president’s time leading the party is over. After Biden reaffirmed during a post-NATO Summit press conference on Thursday that he would not be taking his name off the ballot, the intraparty panic began to fuel curiosity about a potential alternative.

At least one Democratic National Committee member and convention delegate is openly speculating about simply not endorsing Biden at the convention. Joe Salazar, a former Colorado state representative and a DNC delegate at the August convention, believes that the conference should force Biden off the ticket if he refuses to step aside on his own.

“No Democrat presidential candidate should ever be trailing Donald Trump. That dude is a treasonous lyin’ multi-felon,” Salazar told The Lever’s podcast Lever Time. “I’ve been hearing from people before Biden announced his reelection campaign. And people were concerned then back in August and September, about the fact that he was thinking about running again. And so he decided to run.”

But Salazar says that since Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, Coloradans of every stripe are “begging and pleading” that he figure out a way to get the president to step down.

Biden isn’t yet the party’s official nominee, although he did win thousands of delegates through the Democratic primary, during which the DNC did not truly consider other options. That has provided the basis for Salazar’s plan.

The DNC’s official rules designate that pledged delegates’ votes must in “good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” The nomination process requires a candidate to win 1,976 delegates. Since Biden has already secured 3,896 delegates, he should be a shoo-in on the first ballot, even if a significant number of delegates opt to defect.

But on the second ballot, approximately 700 superdelegates, who include governors and lawmakers, will join the vote, and their inclusion could potentially turn the vote.

“If Biden doesn’t budge, Salazar and others hope that DNC rules could allow them to file a petition to call for a different candidate, and essentially revolt at the convention,” explained Lever Time host Arjun Singh. “He added that this is still a hypothetical point. But he and an official in the Colorado Democratic Party are actively exploring whether their idea of a petition could be a provable workaround.”

However, should Biden decide to leave the race by his own volition before the convention, all of his pledged delegates will be released to nominate whomever they choose.

Donald Trump is desperately trying to use George Clooney’s call for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race to his advantage … and it’s coming across weirdly flirtatious? 

In one of his latest fundraising emails, the former president highlighted Clooney’s recent break from his Democratic ranks. 

“George Clooney just said Biden should drop out,” the email read. “Does that mean he’s endorsing me?!”

“Even though he’s a proud member of the Hate-America Hollywood Elite, I will gladly accept his endorsement IF he pledges to change his ways!” Trump wrote, adding, “But I honestly couldn’t care less what George Clooney thinks.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery hit the nail on the head, writing, “Trump’s latest weird fundraising email reads like a desperate plea to date George Clooney fresh out of a breakup.”

Sure, Biden and Clooney appear to be splitting up. The president even reportedly unfollowed the Academy Award–winning actor on social media—a classic breakup move. 

But the space between the president and one of his most outspoken backers certainly doesn’t leave space for Trump to, for lack of better words, slide in. Trump is simply anxious to use the star power of his haters to elevate his platform, to supplement his own lack of high-profile celebrity support. 

What Trump really doesn’t want anyone to know is that he, and the Republicans, really want Biden to stay in the race because they think they can beat him. So by calling for Biden to drop out of the race, Clooney isn’t so much signaling a crush on Trump but rather that he hopes to crush him in November.  

Never mind about Project 2025: A Republican congressman just wants to go back to the good old days of 1960, before “the angry feminist movement” ruined things for men. 

In a speech on the House floor Thursday, Representative Glenn Grothman railed against government programs such as subsidized childcare, calling out President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on poverty” as taking “the purpose out of the man’s life, because now you have a basket of goodies for the mom.”

“They’ve taken the purpose of the man to be part of a family,” Grothman said. “And if we want to get America back to, say, 1960, where this was almost unheard of, we have to fundamentally change these programs.”

Grothman went further in his misogynist rant, blaming the “breakdown of the family” on “people like Angela Davis, well-known Communist, people like the feminists who were so important in the 1960s” and somehow coupling them with the U.S. government in the 1960s. 

“So I hope the press corps picks up on this, and I hope Republican and Democrat leadership put together some sort of plan for January, in which we work our way back to where America was in the 1960s,” Grothman added.

At least part of the press will pick up on Grothman’s remarks, but not for the reason he wants. Not only is his recollection of history way off, but it’s highly doubtful that Republicans and Democrats would ever want to work together to bring back gender imbalances from 60 years ago. If Grothman thinks the purpose of men is diminished because of “a basket of goodies for the mom,” he is quite mistaken. Single mothers and other women still don’t earn salaries as high as men’s, and the “goodies” have been vastly reduced or in some cases eliminated by Grothman and his fellow conservatives. 

And while more than a few Republicans have criticized the reforms of the Johnson administration, their hypocrisy does not allow them to mention how those reforms actually  benefit Americans of all political stripes, including through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Civil Rights Act. Now, if Grothman wants to return to 1960s economics, where one adult salary could support a family of four, he would probably find plenty of support from Democrats, but probably none from Republicans.