Jen Bendery
@jbendery.bsky.social
Yes, it's pathetic seeing Republicans in Congress flock to NYC to suck up to Trump at his criminal trial.
But what's actually alarming IMO is seeing these people, esp the House Speaker, casually attacking a judge, his family, the court + the rule of law. www.huffpost.com/entry/republ...
Republicans Flock To Trump's Trial To Attack The Judge, The Court, The Law
The GOP presidential hopeful is under a gag order in his hush money case, so he can’t trash the court anymore. His loyalists in Congress are eager to do it for him.
www.huffpost.comWASHINGTON ― Republicans in Congress have found a new way to prove their loyalty to Donald Trump: flock to New York City and attack the U.S. legal system at the courthouse where his criminal hush money trial is underway. www.huffpost.com/entry/republ...
Republicans Flock To Trump's Trial To Attack The Judge, The Court, The Law
The presidential hopeful is under a gag order in his hush money case to keep him from trashing the court anymore. His loyalists in Congress are eager to do it for him.
www.huffpost.com
As a reminder, when Trump said "stand back and stand by" to the Proud Boys in 2020, they hailed it.
They put this phrase on T-shirts and saw a surge of new recruits and revenue from merchandise.
They also took it as marching orders and actively declared civil war when Trump said it.
👀 "Stand back and stand by": Matt Gaetz ominously parrots Trump's call to violent extremists at his criminal trial www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-g...
'Stand Back And Stand By': Matt Gaetz Parrots Trump's Call To Violent Extremists At His Trial
The House Republican, one of several who joined Trump at his criminal trial in New York, repeated a line hailed by the neo-fascist Proud Boys.
www.huffpost.comWASHINGTON -- House Speaker Mike Johnson once said, "The Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority." Well, then God has raised up an adulterer mired in a hush money trial with a porn star -- and Johnson is here for it. www.huffpost.com/entry/donald...
Speaker Mike Johnson Joins Trump At His Criminal Hush Money Trial
Johnson, a devout evangelical Christian, is the latest Republican to make a public show of support for the first ex-president to face criminal charges.
www.huffpost.com
Trump declares the GOP is the “party of fertilization" in an apparent attempt to argue that Republicans have been here protecting women's access to IVF.
But not only is that false, he lost his point completely in this indecipherable word salad:
In one of his most bizarre interviews in recent memory, Trump insisted abortion is “not that big of an issue,” claimed Republicans are the “party of fertilization” and said every legal scholar in the world supported overturning Roe v. Wade. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Says Abortion 'Not That Big Of An Issue,' GOP Is 'Party Of Fertilization'
In a bizarre interview, the Republican presidential hopeful also said that “every" legal scholar "all over the world” supported overturning Roe v. Wade.
www.huffpost.com
NEW: Senate Republicans squirm and scoff when asked if they agree with Trump that a president has total immunity from being prosecuted for anything, including ordering the assassination of a political rival.
"No. No. No immunity. No!” www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Senate GOPers Scoff At Trump’s Lawyers Arguing He Could Legally Kill A Political Rival
“No. No. No immunity. No!” insisted Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
www.huffpost.com
UNDER HIS EYE: Trump is fine with states monitoring pregnant women so they don't get abortions
"I think they might do that." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Is Fine With States Monitoring Pregnant Women So They Don't Get Abortions
"I think they might do that," the GOP presidential nominee said of a scenario that sounds straight out of the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale."
www.huffpost.com
Trump says he'll use local police in his mass deportation plans in a second term in the White House -- and vaguely threatens to deny them federal $ if they don't participate.
“They won’t partake in the riches, you know." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Says He'd Use Local Police For His Massive Immigration Crackdown
Local law enforcement that won't participate "won't partake in the riches," the presumptive GOP presidential nominee vaguely threatened in a new interview.
www.huffpost.com
Trump says he'll use local police in his mass deportation plans in a second term in the White House -- and vaguely threatens to deny them federal $ if they don't.
“They won’t partake in the riches, you know." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Trump Says He'd Use Local Police For His Massive Immigration Crackdown
Local law enforcement that won't participate "won't partake in the riches," the presumptive GOP presidential nominee vaguely threatened in a new interview.
www.huffpost.com
Morning. ☕
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) has been insisting lately that he opposes a national abortion ban, but he's been cosponsoring legislation for the last 7 years that would impose a near-total national abortion ban.
He's still a cosponsor of this bill. www.huffpost.com/entry/republ...
GOP Rep. Scott Perry Flip-Flops On Whether He Backs A National Abortion Ban
The Pennsylvania conservative says he opposes such a ban — but he’s been sponsoring legislation to impose one for the last seven years.
www.huffpost.com
LOL -- a reporter asked Chuck Schumer if he's worried at all about a backlash from young voters if TikTok gets banned, and Schumer blamed Mike Johnson for it.
"Look, Speaker Johnson put it in the bill ... and we had to get the supplemental bill passed as quickly as possible."
Bernie Sanders opposed this bill.
He called it "a dark day" for the Senate.
"I voted no tonight ... for one simple reason: U.S. taxpayers should not be providing billions more to the extremist Netanyahu government to continue its devastating war against the Palestinian people."
"The need is urgent," says Biden. "For Ukraine, facing unrelenting bombardment from Russia; for Israel, which just faced unprecedented attacks from Iran; for refugees and those impacted by conflicts ... including in Gaza...."
Biden out with a statement moments after the Senate sends him the $95B foreign aid package.
"I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week."
JUST IN: The Senate has overwhelmingly passed a $95.3 billion package of foreign aid bills — and tucked inside is a provision that could lead to a TikTok ban in the U.S. www.huffpost.com/entry/senate...
Senate Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok In The U.S., Sends To Biden
The president is expected to sign the measure, which requires TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell its stake in the popular video platform or get blocked.
www.huffpost.comAhead of his impending retirement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-IDGAF) has arrived.
McConnell also took a shot at Trump for causing delays in getting aid to Ukraine by demanding action on border security -- and then killing the Senate's bipartisan border deal so Biden wouldn't get a win.
“Our nominee for president didn’t seem to want us to do anything at all."
Mitch McConnell unexpectedly ripped Tucker Carlson today, saying he's why GOPers turned on Ukraine.
“I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should’ve been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin." 🔥 www.huffpost.com/entry/mitch-...
Mitch McConnell Blames Tucker Carlson For The GOP’s ‘Demonization of Ukraine’
The far-right political commentator has “ended up where he should've been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin," charged the Senate GOP leader.
www.huffpost.com
My 4-year-old, bereft and out of absolutely nowhere:
"I wish I was alive in the 80s so I could wear long skirts."
??
NEW: I spent some time in Madison, Wisconsin talking to college students about the presidential election, if they plan to vote, and if so, who they'd vote for and why.
There was a clear consensus on who these first-time voters said they want -- and why. www.huffpost.com/entry/madiso...
These College Students Are Voting For Biden For 1 Reason — And It's Not Student Debt Relief
Wisconsin will be pivotal to winning the presidential election in November. Here's how Trump and Biden are doing with young voters there.
www.huffpost.com
“I wish we could have eliminated all abortion in the state,” Herrell said during a virtual candidate forum hosted by the Republican Party of Valencia County in New Mexico.
“I wish we could have gotten even that to go through. But we couldn’t.”
NEW: In a newly discovered video, New Mexico GOP congressional hopeful Yvette Herrell said in 2020 that she wished her state had "eliminated all abortion" -- a sharp contrast to her recent efforts to sound more measured on abortion issues ahead of Nov.
www.huffpost.com/entry/yvette...
GOP Congressional Hopeful Wished Her State Had ‘Eliminated All Abortion’ In 2020
New Mexico Republican candidate Yvette Herrell is currently trying to downplay her past hard-line anti-abortion stances.
www.huffpost.com
NEW: A Q&A with the top librarian fighting the GOP's book bans, the relentless harassment of librarians and even bills to put librarians in jail.
"The weaponization of libraries ... is a bludgeon that’s scaring people everywhere." www.huffpost.com/entry/americ...
NEW: Universities and museums are still holding onto the remains of ~58,000 Native people, despite a 34-year-old federal law demanding their return to tribes.
A closer look at NAGPRA, how so many have flouted it + the U.S. senator publicly shaming them to act. www.huffpost.com/entry/brian-...
Tonight, Joe Biden is set to hold the most lucrative political fundraiser in U.S. history.
$25 million from one event? Thanks, Obama. (And Clinton.) www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-bi...
Joe Biden Is Holding The Most Lucrative Political Fundraiser In U.S. History
$25 million from one event? Thanks, Obama. (And Clinton.)
www.huffpost.com
I said I wasn't sure that was the Christian response to the question of when life begins.
Susan: “I’m a Christian, and that is my response.” www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...
Susan also said conservatives don't get to claim religion as their own. She came to D.C. on a bus with other people from her church in N.C.
“I like the Christian answer to the question, ‘When does life begin?'" she said.
"When the dog dies and the children leave home.” 😂
Susan was also hilarious.
On the conservative groups coming for mifepristone:
“I think it’s quite wonderful that the group is called the Hippocratic Alliance, but it’s the Hypocrite Alliance."
Susan seemed to have seen it all.
She lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. and at some point worked for Planned Parenthood.
"I'm of an age where [birth control] went from condoms to diaphragms to pills to IUD to sterilization."
Incredible to see so many women outside the Supreme Court yesterday, protesting attacks on medication abortion, who have been at this for 5 or 6 fuckin decades.
This is Susan, who is 85 and undergoing skin cancer treatment.
And yet, there she was. Her shirt says V-O-T-E.
Jennifer, a retiree from MD, she’s been fighting for abortion rights since the 1980s but Tuesday was her first SCOTUS protest.
“I live in suburbia.... I’m very comfortable,” she said. "But what is happening before me, it scares the shit out of me. And I cannot stay silent.”
“They’re slowly dismantling all the things that protect us and the little kids and my little grandkids. It’s very scary,” said Dickinson.
“Why would anybody want less clean water for their children and grandchildren? Why would you want that?” www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...
Dona Dickinson, a 70-year-old retiree from Va., stood outside the court, too.
What's “frightening,” she said, is the tie between GOP efforts to roll back access to mifepristone & its efforts to roll back regs on all things, whether it's clean water, clean air or women's repro rights.
One woman, Susan, is 85 and has been fighting for abortion and civil rights for decades. She was even at the 1963 March on Washington with MLK.
Does anything feel different about protesting that day, 60+ years ago, vs now?
“It’s colder now."
Yesterday, as SCOTUS heard an abortion pill challenge, there were lots of women outside stunned to still be fighting for basic reproductive rights.
"I’m 70 years old and we were talking about this when I was in college, and that's insane to me." www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...
Inside the Supreme Court today, justices wondered why they were hearing a case about distribution of medication abortion.
Outside the court, plenty of others wondered how they ended up here again, after so many decades, fighting to protect abortion rights. Again. www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...
Mangi speaks!
“Whether motivated by attempts to portray my religion as violent, or any other goal, any suggestion that I have sympathy for attacks on law enforcement is shocking and false,” he said in a new letter to Cory Booker.
Letter in here: www.huffpost.com/entry/adeel-...
Biden Court Pick Adeel Mangi Refutes 'Shocking And False
In a new letter obtained by HuffPost, the historic Muslim nominee rejects Republican claims that he is somehow anti-law enforcement.
www.huffpost.comNEW: Adeel Mangi, Biden’s historic Muslim court pick, is now directly pushing back on the misleading and ugly claims that some Republicans, and one Democrat, have made about his record and his character. www.huffpost.com/entry/adeel-...
Biden Court Pick Adeel Mangi Refutes 'Shocking And False
In a new letter obtained by HuffPost, the historic Muslim nominee rejects Republican claims that he is somehow anti-law enforcement.
www.huffpost.com
A regular day with my 4yo.
Kid: Do you like Chinese?
What? Chinese what?
Kid: Chinese pudding.
Hmm, I dunno? Did you have Chinese pudding?
Kid: No.
Hmm. Why are you asking this?
Kid: It's just so beautiful.
*Conversation over*
???
It looks like it's over for Biden's historic Muslim judicial pick, Adeel Mangi.
Two Democrats said they'll oppose the U.S. appeals court nominee, caving to the GOP's baseless and Islamophobic smear campaign against him. www.huffpost.com/entry/adeel-...
It Looks Like It's Over For Biden's Historic Muslim Court Pick, Adeel Mangi
Two Democrats said they'll oppose the U.S. appeals court nominee, caving to the GOP's baseless and Islamophobic smear campaign against him.
www.huffpost.com
A Democrat just caved to the GOP's disgusting and bogus attacks on Biden's Muslim judicial nominee, Adeel Mangi.
Ya folded like a deck of cards, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.). www.huffpost.com/entry/cather...
A Democrat Just Caved To The GOP’s Bogus Attacks On Biden’s Muslim Court Pick
“I cannot support this nominee,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said of Adeel Mangi, who has been the target of a nasty and baseless smear campaign.
www.huffpost.com
Oh, one last thing to note.
One Democrat voted against Berner: Joe Manchin.
“As recently as 2005 or so, [this court] was considered the most ideologically conservative appeals court in the nation,” Tobias told me.
It's become increasingly more centrist "and even progressive on certain issues," for a few reasons. www.huffpost.com/entry/nicole...
Nicole Berner, Longtime Union Lawyer, Confirmed As Federal Judge
Berner, who will serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, is also one of President Joe Biden's historic LGBTQ+ judicial picks.
www.huffpost.com
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law prof and judicial nominations expert, said this confirmation is notable a few reasons.
Beyond being a historic LGBTQ+ pick and one of very few judges who practiced employee-side labor law, Berner is further tilting this court's changing ideological balance.