Category: Politics
Nancy Pelosi’s daughter announces run for blue state Senate seat
The daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a campaign for a California state Senate seat after her mother said she would not seek re-election.
Christine Pelosi, 59, has worked as an attorney, an author, and the chair of the California Democratic Party’s Women’s Caucus, and she believes that experience qualifies her to become a state senator.
‘Fighting for consumer rights, women’s rights, gun violence survivors, immigrants, and our most vulnerable communities against the threat we face.’
“I’m running to represent you, San Francisco, in Sacramento,” Pelosi said in a video she posted to social media Monday. “Fighting for consumer rights, women’s rights, gun violence survivors, immigrants, and our most vulnerable communities against the threat we face.”
Her mother announced Thursday that she was not seeking re-election to the U.S. House after 38 years in the same office, where she was the first and only female speaker of the U.S. House in history.
“What do we do when our freedoms are under attack?” Christine Pelosi continued. “We speak up, we fight back, and we organize power for the people, and that’s what I want to do for you.”
She is currently on the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee and previously worked as a special counsel in the Clinton administration.
Some had speculated that the daughter might seek Nancy Pelosi’s office after she retired, but Christine Pelosi decided against it.
“I like the thought of forging my own path,” Christine Pelosi said in an interview.
RELATED: Video shows Nancy Pelosi exploding with fury at reporter over Jan. 6 claims: ‘SHUT UP!’
“I don’t think that there is a better representative or a better speaker in Washington, D.C., for San Francisco than Nancy Pelosi,” she continued. “And I wish everybody luck as they attempt to follow in those stilettos.”
Christine Pelosi is the second of five children of the former speaker.
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City officials back down after rejecting nativity display at Christmas farmers’ market
A woman who has organized a local farmers’ market for years in the city of Pataskala, Ohio, was prohibited from putting on a live nativity display for a Christmas-themed market until officials backed down.
Susan Conley requested in September to be allowed to set up the nativity scene on public grounds this year after previously having it located on private property. The city denied the request, despite allowing other displays that included the Grinch, Santa Claus, and Buddy the Elf.
‘Pataskala cannot ban religious displays on public property just because they’re religious.’
The First Liberty Institute, which represents Conley, said in a press release that city officials backtracked after the organization sent a letter to them on her behalf.
“This is nothing new for Susan. She has worked with the city for nearly a decade to set up a live Nativity as a part of Pataskala’s annual Mainstreet Christmas event,” reads the statement from the organization.
Conley said she had organized live nativity displays on private grounds in the city for about 16 years.
“It was very frustrating. I couldn’t understand really why the city would deny my request,” she said to WKEF-TV.
“For many in the community, celebrating the season means coming together to celebrate Jesus,” she continued.
Mayor Mike Compton admitted that he and other officials initially had concerns about religious expression on public grounds. “This was brand new, and we just said, ‘Hey, you know what? Staying with our normal policy, not mixing religion on city property, your permit is approved, but you cannot do the nativity. You will have to find another location,'” Compton said, according to WBNS-TV.
After Conley and FLI threatened a lawsuit, city officials reconsidered their decision.
“We are grateful that the city administration recognized that the Constitution protects Ms. Conley’s right to put up a nativity at the farmers’ market,” said First Liberty Institute senior counsel Nate Kellum.
“Pataskala cannot ban religious displays on public property just because they’re religious,” he added.
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released a statement on his social media siding with Conley.
“The city of Pataskala, Ohio recently denied a petition from local residents to set up a live nativity scene at a holiday-themed farmers market in December. This is blatantly unconstitutional,” he wrote.
“Denying permits for religious displays on public property because of their content is a First Amendment violation & has a chilling effect on all religious faiths. In recent years, Christianity has been unfairly targeted by secular political leaders; in the future, it could easily be other faiths too. But it’s always wrong, unconstitutional, and un-American,” he added.
“I stand ready to help local residents in my home state who stand up for their constitutional rights,” Ramaswamy concluded.
Ramaswamy later posted that he had discussed the issue with Mayor Compton and that it had been “resolved.”
“Thank you to the leaders of the great city of Pataskala for handling the matter promptly!” he wrote.
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‘F**k your dead homie’: Hateful leftists clash with TPUSA supporters as Charlie Kirk’s planned tour ends in violence
Violence erupted outside a Turning Point USA event on the UC Berkeley campus as protesters gathered to challenge TPUSA’s presence at the school on the final stop of TPUSA’s tour after Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September.
KTVU reported that protesters clashed on Monday with attendees outside Zellerbach Hall, where the event was scheduled to take place. Comedian Rob Schneider and Christian apologist Frank Turek headlined the event.
Other signs read: ‘Kirk said death penalties should be public, quick, and televised … Congrats Bud!’ and ‘TP belongs in the toilet.’
KTVU’s Crystal Bailey described a “rowdy” crowd outside the venue, noting that there was heightened security as well.
The event sold out the 1,900-seat venue, a UC Berkeley TPUSA chapter representative told KTVU.
Bailey reported that the protests turned violent as protesters and attendees clashed, saying that there was “blood splattered on the ground” as the result of an “altercation.”
In a now-viral video posted Monday night, leftist protesters and students could be heard chanting, “F**k your dead homie,” referring to late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was publicly assassinated exactly two months ago Monday.
The crowd can be seen holding signs that read, “This machine fights fascism,” “No safe space for fascists,” “Karma’s a b***h,” and “The lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of trash.”
Other signs read: “Kirk said death penalties should be public, quick, and televised … Congrats Bud!” and “TP belongs in the toilet.”
A large red sign with two hammer and sickle symbols could be seen with the words “Drown Fascism in a Sea of Resistance.” Underneath the slogan was an apparent reference to a group called the Revolutionary Student Organization. With a portrait of Mao Zedong on the “about” page of its website, the RSU participates in several forms of “direct action.”
In other videos from the event shared by reporter Andy Ngo, activists can be seen shouting incoherently at California Highway Patrol officers and igniting smoke bombs.
TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet still claimed the event was a success. “Despite Antifa thugs blocking our campus tour stop with tear gas, fireworks, and glass bottles, we had a PACKED HOUSE in the heart of deep-blue UC Berkeley,” he said, according to the New York Post.
KTVU reported that at least four students were arrested in connection with vandalism associated with the event.
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Kamala Harris cackles uncontrollably while claiming she defeated Trump’s campaign strategy to bait her
Failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris claims to have outplayed the campaign strategy employed by President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Harris made the comments while a guest on the “Storehouse and Friends” podcast hosted by Tamira Chapman. The podcast was published Sunday, but the clip of her comments went viral on social media.
‘I understood the game that was being played. And I made the decision that I wasn’t gonna get played!’
“I was aware of my opponent’s strategy, and I wasn’t about to fall prey or fall into those traps. And part of his strategy and those around him was to try to take me off our game and message,” Harris explained.
“And I wasn’t about to be distracted by those little, those flames that he was trying to throw to get me away from … my highest priority, which was talking to people about the economy and their well-being in terms of their financial well-being,” she added.
“And that’s, I understood the game that was being played,” Harris added. “And I made the decision that I wasn’t gonna get played!”
Harris cackled at her own joke and prompted the other women to similarly cackle.
“Chess, not checkers!” replied one.
“Three-dimensional chess! I’m telling you!” she added.
On the same show, Harris was asked by a co-host if she faced difficulties as a black woman, and she answered by blaming the Democratic Party.
“Often I feel like black women have this tension between, you know, who they are and the mission that they are trying to accomplish. I want to know if you faced any of that tension when you were on your mission, especially considering that your mission was race agnostic and gender agnostic. You were trying to do the work that the country needed,” asked Melissa Butler. “Did you find that you faced tension of that sort?”
“I think the Democratic Party has taken black women for granted,” Harris responded. “There are very specific issues that impact black women in America that should be some of the highest priorities.”
RELATED: ‘He totally f**ked us’: Top Harris adviser blames Biden for devastating election loss
Harris is on a marketing tour for her campaign memoir titled, “107 Days.” The effort has been ruthlessly mocked and ridiculed by many on social media since she announced it in July.
Video of the entire show with Harris can be viewed on the show’s YouTube channel.
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‘Clear example of judicial activism’: Judge gives Democrats a boost with congressional map in red state
As Republicans attempt to redraw districts to gain a cushion in their razor-thin majority in Congress ahead of the midterms next year, an unexpected setback in a reliably red state raises the stakes.
A redistricting case in Utah has potentially thrown a wrench in the nationwide redistricting battle.
‘Turns out, she was orchestrating it from the start.’
The AP reported that Judge Dianna Gibson has ordered the Utah congressional districts to be redrawn in conformity with a 2018 ballot initiative known as Proposition 4, which in effect could grant Democrats a seat in the House.
Proposition 4’s map was drawn by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the plaintiffs of the redistricting case. That map largely keeps Salt Lake City intact in one district rather than breaking it apart, creating a reliably blue voter base that could flip one of the state’s four congressional seats to the Democrats.
Gibson rejected S.B. 200, a congressional map that was enacted by Republican lawmakers and that maintained four seats, on the grounds that it did not meet the rules against gerrymandering.
RELATED: Gov. Gavin Newsom threatens to redistrict California after Texas GOP drops new district map proposal
Photo by Matt Archer/Getty Images
Gibson’s decision was reportedly handed down just a few minutes before the clock struck midnight on Monday.
Republican Utah state Rep. Candice Pierucci called the redrawn map a “clear example of judicial activism.”
Pierucci added, “The Judge drove the entire process, set aggressive deadlines and refused an extension for map drawing by the legislature. We moved 104 lawmakers under those deadlines and she herself couldn’t be bothered to issue the decision before a quarter to midnight. We followed her direction every step of the way — turns out, she was orchestrating it from the start.”
All four Utah congressional seats are currently occupied by Republicans, and Republicans currently have a slim majority in the U.S. House, holding 219 seats to Democrats’ 213. Three seats are vacant following two deaths and one resignation.
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Jimmy Kimmel’s wife has cut off family members over Trump: ‘We’re not aligned anymore’
The public feud between the president of the United States and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel led to Kimmel’s wife distancing from pro-Trump family members.
Molly McNearney is a writer on the show and is Kimmel’s wife. She made the comments while a guest on the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast.
‘It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man.’
McNearney said that she felt family members who supported Trump were a personal insult to her.
“I personalize everything now. When I see these terrible stories every day, I’m immediately mad at certain aunts, uncles, cousins who put him in power. And it’s really hard,” she said.
She also said she had “sympathy” for relatives who are “deliberately being misinformed every day,” but added that “it hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have where my husband is out there fighting this man.”
McNearney said she had tried to persuade her relatives against voting for Trump.
“I’ve definitely pulled in closer with the family that I feel more aligned with. And I hate that this has happened,” she said.
“Part of me goes, ‘Don’t let politics get in the way.’ But to me, this isn’t politics. It’s truly values. And we just were not aligned anymore,” she continued.
She added, “To me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family.”
RELATED: Warren faces continuing backlash over outlandish response to Kimmel controversy
She also recalled the moment she and her husband went home to tell their children that Kimmel’s show had been canceled.
“Our daughter immediately burst into tears. And she said, ‘I’ll sell my Labubus,'” McNearney recalled.
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MESSING WITH TEXAS: Newsom Eyes 2028, Drops By the Lone Star State
He’s talking 2026, but has his sights set on 2028.
