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Republicans laugh with/ at Tim Scott in 2017 after giving tax cuts to the rich
This Juneteenth, there's gotta be no better totem of the grotesque lies of MAGA's revamped Lost Cause - just swap out white "Christian" men for slaveholders - than the spectacle of their felonious, "very fine people" leader hustling African-American votes at a "Black" church in Detroit that drew "the 15 Black people who support him" and a crowd of white MAGA-ites, some in WTF "Blacks For Trump" t-shirts. Consummate for a guy who's been vilely "wrong and loud" over a lifetime of racism.
At midnight on Freedom's Eve, Jan.1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln's historic Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, declaring millions of enslaved people legally free. But in Confederate-controlled Texas, the last bastion of slavery, it took until June 19, 1865, for Union soldiers to ride into Galveston on "America's second independence Day" and free over 250,000 black slaves - “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" - offering the (still-unfulfilled) promise of "absolute equality," not for some but for all. In 2021, in "the house built by enslaved people," Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a new federal holiday; 14 House Republicans denounced the bill as "identify politics" and voted against it. Calling the event one of his greatest honors and "a day of profound weight" in which to remember slavery's "moral stain (and) terrible toll," Biden knelt to embrace 94-year-old Texas activist Opal Lee, the driving force behind the new holiday. On Wednesday, he posted, "Today, we honor the tireless work of abolitionists who made it their mission to deliver the promise of America for all."
Then there's the other guy. The one who got sued 50 years ago for housing discrimination against Black families. Who demanded the Central Park Five's young brown and black men be executed, and declined to apologize after they were exonerated. Who for years dog-whistled racist tropes and demonized migrants. Who gave rise to vicious Birtherism attacks against Barack Obama, spewed the n-word on his stupid show, claimed he "knew" Black people 'cause they worked on his tacky buildings, boasted about "the Blacks" liking him more now that he's a criminal and discriminated against just like them. Who befriended and defended white supremacists, Nazi thugs and Proud Boys, decried the removal of Confederate statues, went fake gangsta to peddle sneakers and mugshot t-shirts. Who gave tax cuts to rich white men, cut funds to HBCUs and safety nets and lied about it, said African people lived in "shithole countries" and Americans in majority-black cities - Baltimore, Atlanta, Philly, Detroit - are "living in hell." DNC chair Jaime Harrison: "He’s telling us exactly what he thinks of Black Americans, and we’re listening."
He's also the guy who, having never heard of either Juneteenth or the 1921 Tulsa Massacre - when a mob of white Oklahomans attacked a thriving Black community, burning homes and businesses and killing up to 300 Black residents - planned a Tulsa rally on Juneteenth as both the pandemic and protests against the murder of George Floyd raged. Faced with fury at his ignorance about "the history of that hallowed ground" as well asJuneteenth, he backed down and pushed the rally up a day to June 20. Then, ever the moronic, juvenile narcissist, he proceeded to brag to the Wall Street Journal, " I did something good. I made Juneteenth very famous." “It’s actually an important event," he explained. "But nobody had ever heard of it" (except generations of Black Americans). It seems a Black Secret Service guy told him about it; when he asked an aide if she'd heard of Juneteenth, she mentioned a White House statement on it he likewise knew nothing about - for Black Americans, "another reminder that our communities and our history are an afterthought, or worse, a target. At every turn, Trump is loud and wrong."
Lift Every Voice and Sing - A Cappella (Berklee We Will Rise Summit)www.youtube.com
And so, to Detroit - or as the right-wing New York Post blared, "Team Trump is bravely going where Republicans have never gone before - into the black community." Also, into a city - oops, cue "horrible" Milwaukee - he earlier called "a living hell," in a state now deemed vital in an alarmingly close election. Detroit is one of the country's largest majority-Black cities, and in 2020 Biden won almost 95% of the vote. To sweeten the pot, the campaign chose the occasion to launch a "Black Americans for Trump Coalition" endorsed by a handful of Black celebs and pols; they include former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who served only a bit of his 28 years in prison for felony fraud and racketeering convictions - "the best people" - before Trump commuted his sentence in 2021. Trump was scheduled to attend a roundtable at the evangelical 180 Church on the hardscrabble west side of the city; the event was moderated by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump sycophant and vice-presidential wannabe who's been busy trying to clean up an earlier, untoward claim that Blacks were better off in the deeply racist "Jim Crow" South.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, in a "Make Black America Great Again" shirt, hosted Trump; it's unclear how many of the city's bounteous churches with black pastors declined the honor. In a grinning interview, Sewell described congregants laughing when he invited them; at least one asked, "Why are you letting the devil into our church?" But he remained upbeat even as Trump, sitting two seats away, failed to recognize him: "Where's Lorenzo?" For many, the vital issue of the day was: Does it still count as a "Black" church if it's filled with white people? Despite a smattering of Blackpeople - they woke Ben Carson for the day, local rappers Peezy and Icewear Vezzo showed, as did some Black congregants, none from that church - most of the those who, per Jimmy Kimmel, "came to see Mr. Martin Luther Burger King in person" were white, stout, red-cap-wearing MAGA fans, raising the tricky question as to whether you can win the black vote with white folks. There was also a heckler yelling, "Drink some bleach!" and a skeptic noting, "I saw more Black people at my house today and I'm the only Black person who lives here."
As usual, the guy who's done more for Black people than Abe Lincoln, along with his lackeys, lied and ranted: Migrants are "coming into your community, they’re taking your jobs," crime is rampant, a crowd like you've never seen, more money for HBCUs, the American dream for all people," “I have so many Black friends that if I were a racist, they wouldn’t be friends, so I'm not racist." Pastor James Perkins: "Every time Trump opens his mouth to talk to Black folks, he demonizes us, insults us, and makes empty promises he’ll never keep." Pastor and head of Detroit NAACP Dr. Wendell Anthony panned Trump's "use of the sacred institution of the black church to peddle his pernicious, perilous lies." "He did not articulate any policy" - education, infrastructure, jobs, the John Lewis voting rights bill, the George Floyd policing act. "He articulated the fact that he wanted to come get some Black votes." "Some people may go for the okey-dokey," he said. "The fact is, he comes in and talks about what he's done for Black people. Look at the record. By their fruits, ye shall know them."
After the church event, Trump gave the keynote address to his real base of racists at Turning Point’s confab alongside Charlie Kirk, who argues the Civil Rights Act was “a mistake” and "Whiteness is great." From such dark places - see the rise of right-wing extremism, the dwindling of hopes of police reform or economic equity, the GOP's war on history, the persistence of holidays honoring the Confederacy in 10 southern states - does Juneteenth's promise of "absolute equality" become a mere "gilded token." MAGA is essentially a refurbished Confederacy, argues Thom Hartmann of a "post-political" GOP done with the niceties of democracy: "They’re using our political system (to) seize enough power to destroy our political system." On Jan. 6, more than one Confederate flag was seen waving in the Capitol. And on Newsmax Trump, representing all "oppressed people,” just became as big a victim as Emmett Till himself. Hint: It's the jury's fault, and "we've seen this before." Juneteenth represents how far we've come, but clearly, scarily, urgently how far we still have to go.
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are people who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters.” - Frederick Douglas, 1857
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
This Juneteenth, there's gotta be no better totem of the grotesque lies of MAGA's revamped Lost Cause - just swap out white "Christian" men for slaveholders - than the spectacle of their felonious, "very fine people" leader hustling African-American votes at a "Black" church in Detroit that drew "the 15 Black people who support him" and a crowd of white MAGA-ites, some in WTF "Blacks For Trump" t-shirts. Consummate for a guy who's been vilely "wrong and loud" over a lifetime of racism.
At midnight on Freedom's Eve, Jan.1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln's historic Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, declaring millions of enslaved people legally free. But in Confederate-controlled Texas, the last bastion of slavery, it took until June 19, 1865, for Union soldiers to ride into Galveston on "America's second independence Day" and free over 250,000 black slaves - “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" - offering the (still-unfulfilled) promise of "absolute equality," not for some but for all. In 2021, in "the house built by enslaved people," Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a new federal holiday; 14 House Republicans denounced the bill as "identify politics" and voted against it. Calling the event one of his greatest honors and "a day of profound weight" in which to remember slavery's "moral stain (and) terrible toll," Biden knelt to embrace 94-year-old Texas activist Opal Lee, the driving force behind the new holiday. On Wednesday, he posted, "Today, we honor the tireless work of abolitionists who made it their mission to deliver the promise of America for all."
Then there's the other guy. The one who got sued 50 years ago for housing discrimination against Black families. Who demanded the Central Park Five's young brown and black men be executed, and declined to apologize after they were exonerated. Who for years dog-whistled racist tropes and demonized migrants. Who gave rise to vicious Birtherism attacks against Barack Obama, spewed the n-word on his stupid show, claimed he "knew" Black people 'cause they worked on his tacky buildings, boasted about "the Blacks" liking him more now that he's a criminal and discriminated against just like them. Who befriended and defended white supremacists, Nazi thugs and Proud Boys, decried the removal of Confederate statues, went fake gangsta to peddle sneakers and mugshot t-shirts. Who gave tax cuts to rich white men, cut funds to HBCUs and safety nets and lied about it, said African people lived in "shithole countries" and Americans in majority-black cities - Baltimore, Atlanta, Philly, Detroit - are "living in hell." DNC chair Jaime Harrison: "He’s telling us exactly what he thinks of Black Americans, and we’re listening."
He's also the guy who, having never heard of either Juneteenth or the 1921 Tulsa Massacre - when a mob of white Oklahomans attacked a thriving Black community, burning homes and businesses and killing up to 300 Black residents - planned a Tulsa rally on Juneteenth as both the pandemic and protests against the murder of George Floyd raged. Faced with fury at his ignorance about "the history of that hallowed ground" as well asJuneteenth, he backed down and pushed the rally up a day to June 20. Then, ever the moronic, juvenile narcissist, he proceeded to brag to the Wall Street Journal, " I did something good. I made Juneteenth very famous." “It’s actually an important event," he explained. "But nobody had ever heard of it" (except generations of Black Americans). It seems a Black Secret Service guy told him about it; when he asked an aide if she'd heard of Juneteenth, she mentioned a White House statement on it he likewise knew nothing about - for Black Americans, "another reminder that our communities and our history are an afterthought, or worse, a target. At every turn, Trump is loud and wrong."
Lift Every Voice and Sing - A Cappella (Berklee We Will Rise Summit)www.youtube.com
And so, to Detroit - or as the right-wing New York Post blared, "Team Trump is bravely going where Republicans have never gone before - into the black community." Also, into a city - oops, cue "horrible" Milwaukee - he earlier called "a living hell," in a state now deemed vital in an alarmingly close election. Detroit is one of the country's largest majority-Black cities, and in 2020 Biden won almost 95% of the vote. To sweeten the pot, the campaign chose the occasion to launch a "Black Americans for Trump Coalition" endorsed by a handful of Black celebs and pols; they include former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who served only a bit of his 28 years in prison for felony fraud and racketeering convictions - "the best people" - before Trump commuted his sentence in 2021. Trump was scheduled to attend a roundtable at the evangelical 180 Church on the hardscrabble west side of the city; the event was moderated by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump sycophant and vice-presidential wannabe who's been busy trying to clean up an earlier, untoward claim that Blacks were better off in the deeply racist "Jim Crow" South.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, in a "Make Black America Great Again" shirt, hosted Trump; it's unclear how many of the city's bounteous churches with black pastors declined the honor. In a grinning interview, Sewell described congregants laughing when he invited them; at least one asked, "Why are you letting the devil into our church?" But he remained upbeat even as Trump, sitting two seats away, failed to recognize him: "Where's Lorenzo?" For many, the vital issue of the day was: Does it still count as a "Black" church if it's filled with white people? Despite a smattering of Blackpeople - they woke Ben Carson for the day, local rappers Peezy and Icewear Vezzo showed, as did some Black congregants, none from that church - most of the those who, per Jimmy Kimmel, "came to see Mr. Martin Luther Burger King in person" were white, stout, red-cap-wearing MAGA fans, raising the tricky question as to whether you can win the black vote with white folks. There was also a heckler yelling, "Drink some bleach!" and a skeptic noting, "I saw more Black people at my house today and I'm the only Black person who lives here."
As usual, the guy who's done more for Black people than Abe Lincoln, along with his lackeys, lied and ranted: Migrants are "coming into your community, they’re taking your jobs," crime is rampant, a crowd like you've never seen, more money for HBCUs, the American dream for all people," “I have so many Black friends that if I were a racist, they wouldn’t be friends, so I'm not racist." Pastor James Perkins: "Every time Trump opens his mouth to talk to Black folks, he demonizes us, insults us, and makes empty promises he’ll never keep." Pastor and head of Detroit NAACP Dr. Wendell Anthony panned Trump's "use of the sacred institution of the black church to peddle his pernicious, perilous lies." "He did not articulate any policy" - education, infrastructure, jobs, the John Lewis voting rights bill, the George Floyd policing act. "He articulated the fact that he wanted to come get some Black votes." "Some people may go for the okey-dokey," he said. "The fact is, he comes in and talks about what he's done for Black people. Look at the record. By their fruits, ye shall know them."
After the church event, Trump gave the keynote address to his real base of racists at Turning Point’s confab alongside Charlie Kirk, who argues the Civil Rights Act was “a mistake” and "Whiteness is great." From such dark places - see the rise of right-wing extremism, the dwindling of hopes of police reform or economic equity, the GOP's war on history, the persistence of holidays honoring the Confederacy in 10 southern states - does Juneteenth's promise of "absolute equality" become a mere "gilded token." MAGA is essentially a refurbished Confederacy, argues Thom Hartmann of a "post-political" GOP done with the niceties of democracy: "They’re using our political system (to) seize enough power to destroy our political system." On Jan. 6, more than one Confederate flag was seen waving in the Capitol. And on Newsmax Trump, representing all "oppressed people,” just became as big a victim as Emmett Till himself. Hint: It's the jury's fault, and "we've seen this before." Juneteenth represents how far we've come, but clearly, scarily, urgently how far we still have to go.
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are people who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters.” - Frederick Douglas, 1857
This Juneteenth, there's gotta be no better totem of the grotesque lies of MAGA's revamped Lost Cause - just swap out white "Christian" men for slaveholders - than the spectacle of their felonious, "very fine people" leader hustling African-American votes at a "Black" church in Detroit that drew "the 15 Black people who support him" and a crowd of white MAGA-ites, some in WTF "Blacks For Trump" t-shirts. Consummate for a guy who's been vilely "wrong and loud" over a lifetime of racism.
At midnight on Freedom's Eve, Jan.1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln's historic Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, declaring millions of enslaved people legally free. But in Confederate-controlled Texas, the last bastion of slavery, it took until June 19, 1865, for Union soldiers to ride into Galveston on "America's second independence Day" and free over 250,000 black slaves - “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" - offering the (still-unfulfilled) promise of "absolute equality," not for some but for all. In 2021, in "the house built by enslaved people," Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a new federal holiday; 14 House Republicans denounced the bill as "identify politics" and voted against it. Calling the event one of his greatest honors and "a day of profound weight" in which to remember slavery's "moral stain (and) terrible toll," Biden knelt to embrace 94-year-old Texas activist Opal Lee, the driving force behind the new holiday. On Wednesday, he posted, "Today, we honor the tireless work of abolitionists who made it their mission to deliver the promise of America for all."
Then there's the other guy. The one who got sued 50 years ago for housing discrimination against Black families. Who demanded the Central Park Five's young brown and black men be executed, and declined to apologize after they were exonerated. Who for years dog-whistled racist tropes and demonized migrants. Who gave rise to vicious Birtherism attacks against Barack Obama, spewed the n-word on his stupid show, claimed he "knew" Black people 'cause they worked on his tacky buildings, boasted about "the Blacks" liking him more now that he's a criminal and discriminated against just like them. Who befriended and defended white supremacists, Nazi thugs and Proud Boys, decried the removal of Confederate statues, went fake gangsta to peddle sneakers and mugshot t-shirts. Who gave tax cuts to rich white men, cut funds to HBCUs and safety nets and lied about it, said African people lived in "shithole countries" and Americans in majority-black cities - Baltimore, Atlanta, Philly, Detroit - are "living in hell." DNC chair Jaime Harrison: "He’s telling us exactly what he thinks of Black Americans, and we’re listening."
He's also the guy who, having never heard of either Juneteenth or the 1921 Tulsa Massacre - when a mob of white Oklahomans attacked a thriving Black community, burning homes and businesses and killing up to 300 Black residents - planned a Tulsa rally on Juneteenth as both the pandemic and protests against the murder of George Floyd raged. Faced with fury at his ignorance about "the history of that hallowed ground" as well asJuneteenth, he backed down and pushed the rally up a day to June 20. Then, ever the moronic, juvenile narcissist, he proceeded to brag to the Wall Street Journal, " I did something good. I made Juneteenth very famous." “It’s actually an important event," he explained. "But nobody had ever heard of it" (except generations of Black Americans). It seems a Black Secret Service guy told him about it; when he asked an aide if she'd heard of Juneteenth, she mentioned a White House statement on it he likewise knew nothing about - for Black Americans, "another reminder that our communities and our history are an afterthought, or worse, a target. At every turn, Trump is loud and wrong."
Lift Every Voice and Sing - A Cappella (Berklee We Will Rise Summit)www.youtube.com
And so, to Detroit - or as the right-wing New York Post blared, "Team Trump is bravely going where Republicans have never gone before - into the black community." Also, into a city - oops, cue "horrible" Milwaukee - he earlier called "a living hell," in a state now deemed vital in an alarmingly close election. Detroit is one of the country's largest majority-Black cities, and in 2020 Biden won almost 95% of the vote. To sweeten the pot, the campaign chose the occasion to launch a "Black Americans for Trump Coalition" endorsed by a handful of Black celebs and pols; they include former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who served only a bit of his 28 years in prison for felony fraud and racketeering convictions - "the best people" - before Trump commuted his sentence in 2021. Trump was scheduled to attend a roundtable at the evangelical 180 Church on the hardscrabble west side of the city; the event was moderated by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump sycophant and vice-presidential wannabe who's been busy trying to clean up an earlier, untoward claim that Blacks were better off in the deeply racist "Jim Crow" South.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, in a "Make Black America Great Again" shirt, hosted Trump; it's unclear how many of the city's bounteous churches with black pastors declined the honor. In a grinning interview, Sewell described congregants laughing when he invited them; at least one asked, "Why are you letting the devil into our church?" But he remained upbeat even as Trump, sitting two seats away, failed to recognize him: "Where's Lorenzo?" For many, the vital issue of the day was: Does it still count as a "Black" church if it's filled with white people? Despite a smattering of Blackpeople - they woke Ben Carson for the day, local rappers Peezy and Icewear Vezzo showed, as did some Black congregants, none from that church - most of the those who, per Jimmy Kimmel, "came to see Mr. Martin Luther Burger King in person" were white, stout, red-cap-wearing MAGA fans, raising the tricky question as to whether you can win the black vote with white folks. There was also a heckler yelling, "Drink some bleach!" and a skeptic noting, "I saw more Black people at my house today and I'm the only Black person who lives here."
As usual, the guy who's done more for Black people than Abe Lincoln, along with his lackeys, lied and ranted: Migrants are "coming into your community, they’re taking your jobs," crime is rampant, a crowd like you've never seen, more money for HBCUs, the American dream for all people," “I have so many Black friends that if I were a racist, they wouldn’t be friends, so I'm not racist." Pastor James Perkins: "Every time Trump opens his mouth to talk to Black folks, he demonizes us, insults us, and makes empty promises he’ll never keep." Pastor and head of Detroit NAACP Dr. Wendell Anthony panned Trump's "use of the sacred institution of the black church to peddle his pernicious, perilous lies." "He did not articulate any policy" - education, infrastructure, jobs, the John Lewis voting rights bill, the George Floyd policing act. "He articulated the fact that he wanted to come get some Black votes." "Some people may go for the okey-dokey," he said. "The fact is, he comes in and talks about what he's done for Black people. Look at the record. By their fruits, ye shall know them."
After the church event, Trump gave the keynote address to his real base of racists at Turning Point’s confab alongside Charlie Kirk, who argues the Civil Rights Act was “a mistake” and "Whiteness is great." From such dark places - see the rise of right-wing extremism, the dwindling of hopes of police reform or economic equity, the GOP's war on history, the persistence of holidays honoring the Confederacy in 10 southern states - does Juneteenth's promise of "absolute equality" become a mere "gilded token." MAGA is essentially a refurbished Confederacy, argues Thom Hartmann of a "post-political" GOP done with the niceties of democracy: "They’re using our political system (to) seize enough power to destroy our political system." On Jan. 6, more than one Confederate flag was seen waving in the Capitol. And on Newsmax Trump, representing all "oppressed people,” just became as big a victim as Emmett Till himself. Hint: It's the jury's fault, and "we've seen this before." Juneteenth represents how far we've come, but clearly, scarily, urgently how far we still have to go.
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are people who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters.” - Frederick Douglas, 1857
"The North Carolina Republican Party is one step closer to stealing an election in broad daylight," said one state Democrat.
Allison Riggs, a Democratic associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, vowed to continue a legal battle over her narrow November victory after a state appeals panel on Friday took a major step toward invalidating more than 60,000 votes.
Riggs' GOP challenger, Judge Jefferson Griffin, lost by 734 votes—but rather than conceding, he has sought to have select ballots thrown out. In Friday's 2-1 decision, Republican Judges Fred Gore and John Tyson gave the targeted citizens 15 days to provide documentation to election workers confirming their eligibility to vote. If they don't do so, their votes could be discarded.
"We will be promptly appealing this deeply misinformed decision that threatens to disenfranchise more than 65,000 lawful voters and sets a dangerous precedent, allowing disappointed politicians to thwart the will of the people," Riggs said in a statement.
"North Carolinians elected me to keep my seat, and I swore an oath to the Constitution and the rule of law—so I will continue to stand up for the rights of voters in this state and stand in the way of those who would take power from the people," she added.
Since Riggs has recused herself from the case, only six of the North Carolina Supreme Court's justices will hear her appeal, "raising the possibility of a 3-3 deadlock," The News & Observer reported Friday.
As the Raleigh newspaper detailed:
If that were to happen, the most recent ruling of a lower court prevails, which means Friday's decision from the Court of Appeals could stand.
Riggs has said that if she loses at the state court level, she intends to return the case to federal court.
Republicans already hold a 5 to 2 majority on the state Supreme Court. If Griffin ultimately wins his case and replaces Riggs, that majority will grow to 6 to 1, further complicating Democrats' hopes to retake control of the court in coming elections.
Although the court fight is far from over, Griffin spokesperson Paul Shumaker and North Carolina GOP Chair Jason Simmons cheered Friday's decision, from which Democratic Judge Toby Hampson dissented.
Hampson's dissent begins by pointing out that Griffin "has yet to identify a single voter—among the tens of thousands petitioner challenges in this appeal—who was, in fact, ineligible to vote in the 2024 general election under the statutes, rules, and regulations in place in November 2024 governing that election."
"Changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to discard their otherwise valid votes in an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution," Hampson argued.
Democratic leaders in North Carolina and beyond also blasted the majority's decision. State Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said that "Judge Tyson and Gore put party affiliation above the rights of North Carolina voters" when they "legitimized Jefferson Griffin's unconstitutional challenge" to tens of thousands of legally cast votes.
Reminder: From my legal and partisan sources, this ultimately gets decided based on how fed courts address military and overseas voters who didn't provide photo ID (and were expressly advised before election that they didn't need to). Why it matters: andersonalerts.substack.com/p/nc-supreme...
[image or embed]
— Bryan Anderson (@bryanranderson.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
North Carolina House of Representatives Minority Leader Robert Reives (D-54) declared: "We cannot mince words at this point: The North Carolina Republican Party is one step closer to stealing an election in broad daylight. Justice Allison Riggs won her election—full stop. Our democracy continues to be tested, but we cannot allow it to break."
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin warned that "this partisan decision has no legal basis and is an all-out assault on our democracy and the basic premise that voters decide who wins their elections, not the courts. If upheld, this could allow politicians across the country to overturn the will of the people."
"North Carolinians chose Allison Riggs to be their North Carolina Supreme Court justice," Martin stressed. "They won't stand for Republicans trying to take their votes away or those of active duty North Carolina military. It's six months past time for Jefferson Griffin to concede this race that he lost."
Bob Phillips, executive director of the nonpartisan voting rights organization Common Cause North Carolina, was similarly engaged, saying: "Today's ruling is a disgrace. This poorly conceived decision is an extreme overreach and sides with a sore loser candidate over the citizens of our state. If allowed to stand, the ruling would inject chaos into North Carolina's elections in ways that could disenfranchise tens of thousands of lawful voters and invite similar challenges nationwide."
Phillips continued:
Let's be clear: these North Carolina voters did absolutely nothing wrong. They followed the rules and cast ballots that should count. To say otherwise now is an affront to the rule of law and our Constitution.
If Griffin gets his way, never again will the people of North Carolina be able to have confidence in the outcome of our elections. Instead, Griffin's reckless lawsuit will open the door to an endless stream of other sore loser candidates who will attempt to throw out enough votes until they can cheat their way into office.
This fight is not over. We are confident that the courts will ultimately see Griffin's ploy for what it is: an unconstitutional attack on our freedom to vote.
"The people of North Carolina will continue to protest against Griffin's outrageous attack on our rights," he added, "as we continue our work to protect our family members, friends, and neighbors who are targeted by Griffin's disgraceful scheme."
"How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are," said one lawyer.
A U.S. judge on Friday ordered the return of a Maryland resident who the Trump administration mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador last month, according to The Associated Press.
Prior to issuing the ruling, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis called the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia "an illegal act."
The judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, gave the Trump administration end of the day of the day on Monday to bring him back to the United States.
Supporters outside the courtroom cheered as the judge handed down her order, according to The Washington Post.
Responding to the ruling on social media, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said: "This is a big win. Now Trump must comply with the judge's order."
Immigration lawyer Ava Benach wrote: "The right decision. How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are."
The right decision. How the government reacts will tell us so much about how far down the road to autocracy we are.
[image or embed]
— avabenach.bsky.social (@avabenach.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Abrego Garcia was among hundreds of people the administration expelled in mid-March to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador after targeting them for alleged gang ties.
In a court papers filed earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting field office director admitted that the removal of Abrego Garcia on March 15 "was an error."
Abrego Garcia was deported despite the fact that in 2019, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that he could not be deported to his native El Salvador because he would likely face gang persecution there.
"Corporations get let off the hook, Musk gets insider information, and the American people get hosed."
The latest U.S. agency in the crosshairs of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly the Federal Trade Commission, an already-understaffed department tasked with preventing monopolistic practices and shielding consumers from corporate abuses.
Axios reported Friday that at least two DOGE staffers "now have offices at" the FTC. According to The Verge, two DOGE members "were spotted" at the agency's building this week and "are now listed in the FTC's internal directory."
The Verge noted that the FTC is "a fairly lean agency with fewer than 1,200 employees," a number that the Trump administration has already cut into with the firing of some of the department's consumer protection and antitrust staff.
At least two of Musk's companies, Tesla and X, have faced scrutiny in recent years from the FTC, which is now under the leadership of Trump appointee Andrew Ferguson, who previously pledged to roll back former chair Lina Khan's anti-monopoly legacy.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, which referred to the operatives as Musk's "minions," said Friday that "DOGE is yet again raiding a federal watchdog tasked with protecting working Americans from Wall Street and Big Tech."
"The FTC has worked to stop monopolistic mergers that would have led to higher grocery prices and is now gearing up to go to court against Meta's social media monopoly," said Peterson-Cassin. "It's no surprise that at this moment, while the economy is in freefall and fraud is on the rise, DOGE is choosing to raid the federal watchdog that protects everyday Americans and threatens corporate monopolies and grifters."
News of DOGE staffers' infiltration of the FTC came as Trump's sweeping new tariffs continued to cause global economic turmoil and heightened concerns that companies in the U.S. will use the tariffs as a new excuse to jack up prices and pad their bottom lines.
Ferguson pledged in a social media post Thursday that under his leadership, the FTC "will be watching closely" to ensure companies don't view Trump's tariffs "as a green light for price fixing or any other unlawful behavior."
But Trump has hobbled the agency—and prompted yet another legal fight—by firing its two Democratic commissioners, a move that sparked fury and has already impacted the FTC's ability to pursue cases against large corporations.
Peterson-Cassin said Friday that "the only winners" of DOGE's targeting of the FTC "are Trump's billionaire besties like [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg and especially Musk, who now stands to gain access to confidential financial information about every company ever investigated by the FTC, including the auto manufacturers, aerospace firms, internet providers, tech companies, and banks that directly compete with his own companies."
"Corporations get let off the hook, Musk gets insider information, and the American people get hosed," Peterson-Cassin added.