Month: September 2020

Note from management: The fact that Jacob Blake’s father appears to have a long history of bigoted social media posts has no bearing on questions surrounding his son’s shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Nevertheless, since former Vice President Joe Biden has decided to meet with him on Thursday during a visit to the town, his extremist views are newsworthy.

Jacob Blake Sr., the father of the man shot Aug. 23 by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, appears to have a long history of racist, antisemitic, and anti-Christian posts on Facebook. He is set to meet with Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday.

Blake Sr. has been a ubiquitous presence on television and at Black Lives Matter protests since his son, Jacob Blake Jr., 29, was shot seven times while allegedly resisting arrest. The younger Blake is currently hospitalized, paralyzed from the waist down. Riots erupted in Kenosha in the aftermath of the event, destroying many businesses and leading to a deadly shooting.

Blake Sr.’s social media posts, particularly on Facebook, reveal radical political views and extreme racist rhetoric. On Instagram, where Blake Sr. appears to have had a much more limited presence, he posted a video about the Sep. 11, 2001 terror attacks: “Man, I give a fuck about 9/11.” He went on to cite the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by police in Cleveland in 2014.

On August 23, a post appeared on the Facebook page of Jacob Blake Sr.: “My son is alive and stable.”

A search through the other posts on that Facebook account reveals a timeline replete with bigoted statements, such as:

– “A jew can’t tell me shit period”

– “The same pink toe Jewish people that control the interest rate control the media the control Minds and money”

– “The Jewish media picks and chooses who is a terrorists  and is not”

– “A cracker jew can do whatever to a white woman for years but let a jig try it”

In one post, Blake Sr. speculates that Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh were warned in advance about the mass shooting there in October 2018.

Eleven were murdered in the attack, the largest mass murder of Jews in U.S. history.

One post refers to attendees at the Young Black Leadership Summit at the White House as “Young black coons”:

Other posts frequently use racist terms against white people, such as “crackers” and others. There are also posts promoting Louis Farrakhan, the racist, antisemitic leader of the Nation of Islam, and denigrating Christianity as a way to fool black people.

In one post Blake Sr. shared, a photo of a white Jesus is shown in a toilet.

 

Blake Sr. also posted about Biden’s running mate: “Kamala Harris may have you Goofy’s fooled not me.”

Blake has spoken at protests in Kenosha and at a commemoration of the March on Washington last week in the nation’s capital.

The Blake family has an otherwise distinguished civil rights history.

According to the Charlotte Post: “Blake’s grandfather, the Rev. Jacob Blake Sr., was the pastor of Ebenzer African Methodist Episcopal Church and is credited with leading a fair housing march in Evanston [Illinios] in 1968.” Blake Sr.’s Facebook profile indicates that he went to school in Evanston.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

President Trump’s campaign is requesting “written confirmation” that Joe Biden (D) will participate in the three in-person presidential debates this fall following last week’s remark from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who told reporters that there should not be any debates between the two.

The Speaker became the latest high profile Democrat to discourage Biden from participating in the upcoming presidential debates, predicting them to be nothing more than an “exercise in skullduggery.”

“I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she said.

Her remarks prompted the Trump campaign to send another letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, requesting “written confirmation” from the Biden campaign that the former vice president will, in fact, participate in the in-person debates.

“The public discussion of cancelling the debate schedule should not be allowed to continue unchecked,” Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani wrote in the August 31 letter.

“Written assurance of Joe Biden’s attendance at debates is important because we have seen this act before,” he continued, citing “numerous instances of Biden saying one thing about a given topic in public, only to have his campaign come behind him and clean up his statements after the fact.”

“While he may verbally give vague assertions of his intentions, there is no way of knowing what his handlers truly have planned for him,” Giuliani continued.

“Presidential debates are too vital to the dissemination of information to voters to leave their very existence subject to the whims of political consultants pulling Joe Biden’s strings,” he added.

He also renewed the Trump campaign’s request to either add a fourth presidential debate prior to September 4 or move an existing debate to an earlier date, attributing the request to “the early voting calendar in many states and increased attention to absentee-by-mail voting and other early voting options.”

Additionally, Giuliani requested the commission to provide a “formal, detailed plan for in-person debates in the event that location hosts withdraw because of the coronavirus or other reasons.”

“Without this sort of detailed information, we remain convinced that Biden will retreat to the safety of his remote video link, where he can rely on handlers, a teleprompter, or notes positioned near the camera as he clearly did on CNN last week,” the former New York City mayor said.

He concluded:

We can’t believe we have to say this, but the people should hear from the candidates for president side-by-side before votes are cast. With Joe Biden’s hastily-planned private plane excursion to Pennsylvania this week, it is clear that he is reacting to sliding poll numbers by leaving his basement, at least for one day. If Joe Biden’s handlers are now issuing day passes for the candidate, it stands to reason that they could let him out to stand on stage with President Trump before a sizeable portion of voters begin to cast their ballots.

As he did in a similar August 6 letter to the commission, Giuliani CC’d Joe Biden (D) and identified “basement” as his address.

Biden returned to his basement on Tuesday following Monday’s rare day on the campaign trail in Pittsburgh.

The presidential debates are currently scheduled for September 29, October 15, and October 22.

Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, has been vandalized with “Black Lives Matter” graffiti, as well as leftist slogans “Defund the Police “Abolish ICE,” and “Fuck Trump.”

“The wall outside @VisitGraceland in #Memphis where #Elvis fans write their names and tributes to The King was vandalized overnite,” wrote WMC Action News 5’s Joyce Peterson Tuesday on Twitter. “#BlackLivesMatter #DefundMPD #AbolishIce & #BreonnaTaylor were spray painted all over the wall.”

Graceland was once owned by Elvis Presley. It has been owned by his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, since the rock legend’s death in 1977.

Vandals also hit the Levitt Shell in Overton Park, leaving graffiti that contained messages such “Fuck Trump” and “Fuck Strickland,” — the later in reference to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland — as well a s “BLM,” “Defund MPD” — which stands for Memphis Police Department — and “Eat the Rich,” among other phrases, according to a report by The Commercial Appeal.

The Levitt Shell in Overton Park is the venue where Presley performed his first-ever paid concert.

The report added that the graffiti had also covered up a lot of the handwritten messages that have already been on the wall, which include “words of love and devotion to Elvis, penned in ink, felt-tip marker and paint by fans of the singer, often while standing in line to visit the Elvis grave during the annual ‘Candlelight Vigil.’”

By mid-morning on Tuesday, workers with power-wash equipment were removing the graffiti on the Graceland mansion, according to the Commercial Appeal.

The report added that Graceland spokesperson David Beckwith said that “Graceland has no comment” when asked about the vandalism found on Presley’s estate on Tuesday morning.

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Support for President Trump has surged in the black community, according to three recent polls.

If the polls are correct, the percentage of black voters who will cast ballots for Trump in 2020 could more than double from the eight percent he received in 2016.

An Emerson poll released on Monday found that 19 percent of black voters will vote for the president this November, while a Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll released on Sunday also found the level of black support for the president at 19 percent, and a Zogby poll released on Monday showed 20 percent of black voters intend to vote for Trump instead of Biden.

All three polls found the head-to-head match up between Trump and Biden tightening. The Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll shows the president with a three-point lead, 48 percent to 45 percent, while the Emerson poll shows Biden with a two-point lead, 49 percent to 47 percent, and the Zogby Poll shows Biden with a six-point lead, 48 percent to 42 percent.

“Biden should be pleased with his support among Democrats, women, and Hispanics but a lead of 75%-20% among Blacks can spell real trouble,” pollster John Zogby said of the Zogby poll results.

“A Democrat needs 90%+ and a high turnout among Blacks. Could it be that Trump’s law and order message is hitting home among Blacks who are worried about demonstrations getting out of control?” Zogby added.

“The Republican convention gave Trump his most positive week of news coverage which likely attributes to his bounce in this month’s poll and increasing job approval,” Director of Emerson College Polling Spencer Kimball said in the statement accompanying the release of the Emerson poll results Monday, which showed Trump’s surge among black voters:

Biden leads with all minority groups, albeit by different ranges. Biden leads with Asians 76% to 11%, Blacks/African Americans 77% to 19%, and Hispanic voters break for Biden 60% to 37%. White voters break for President Trump 56% to 41%. [emphasis added]

The Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll also confirmed Trump’s surge among black voters, as well as greater strength among Hispanic voters than in 2016, as Breitbart News reported:

The Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll shows that Trump leads Biden among white voters by a 53 percent to 45 percent margin. The president’s support among black and Hispanic voters has increased.

Nineteen percent of black voters support President Trump, while 77 percent support former Vice President Biden. This represents an 11 point increase of support among black voters for the president, compared to the 8 percent support he received in the 2016 presidential election.

Thirty nine percent of Hispanic voters support President Trump, while only 50 percent support former Vice President Biden, a ten point increase in support among Hispanic voters for the president, compared to the 28 percent he received in the 2016 presidential election.

With the Libertarian Party nominee and Green Party nominee added to the presidential contest, Biden’s lead over Trump in the Zogby Poll drops to just three points, 45 percent to 42 percent.

“Historically, support for minor party candidates dwindles as the race between major party candidates gets fierce and tight – but both candidates need to be looking over their shoulder, particularly Biden at Hawkins who may be picking up disaffected Sander’s supporters,” Zogby said.

The Emerson poll of 1,567 likely voters was conducted August 30 to August 31 and has a margin of error of 2.4 percent.

The Zogby poll of 1,007 likely voters was conducted on August 29 and has a 3.2 percent margin of error.

The Democracy Institute/Sunday Express poll of 1,500 likely voters was conducted between Wednesday August 26 and Friday August 28 and has a 2.5 percent margin of error.

CLAIM: President Donald Trump wants “a militaristic response” to riots, and Joe Biden resists calls to “defund the police.”

VERDICT: FALSE. Trump wants to assist local law enforcement, and Biden’s position is no different from defunding police.

The Reuters news agency published an astonishing video Tuesday, riddled with errors and left-wing propaganda about racism, the current unrest, and the positions of the two presidential candidates about what should be done about these issues.

Reuters tweeted: “President Trump has responded to the nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death by focusing on ‘law and order’ and urging a militaristic response. On the other hand, Joe Biden has resisted activists [sic] calls to defund the police #USElection2020”. The accompanying video is titled “Trump vs. Biden on race in America.”

The video starts by playing a selectively edited clip of Trump’s 2015 campaign announcement in Trump Tower. It quotes him as saying: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. … They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

The video leaves out Trump saying he is not talking about all Mexican immigrants: “And some, I assume, are good people.”

It then goes on to quote Biden saying: “This guy’s more George Wallace the George Washington.” It does not show any of Biden’s numerous racist remarks — arguably, far more racist than anything Trump has said — including “you ain’t black.”

The narrator then accuses Trump of downplaying racism “while simultaneously making racist and xenophobic comments.” She claims that “Biden has positioned himself as a crusader for racial justice,” a claim evidently to be taken at face value.

The video then addresses the question of what each candidate proposes to do about unrest. It notes, correctly, that Trump wants a “law and order” approach, but then describes that as “a militaristic response.”

Reuters never explains what that is supposed to mean, but Trump said as recently as Monday that he was reluctant to use the military — the “tougher route” — and would prefer to be asked by struggling state and local authorities to provide federal law enforcement resources. (Notably, President Barack Obama sent the national guard to restore order in Baltimore in 2015; he was not accused of “militarism.”)

Reuters claims that Biden has “resisted activists’ calls to ‘defund the police’.” This is false, as Breitbart News has noted: “Biden formally opposes demands to ‘defund the police,’ but backs ‘re-directing’ funding from police to other priorities, which is the same thing.”

A Reuters journalist is brought on to question Trump’s claims to have helped the black community. He argues that Trump is playing “both sides of the issue,” and goes on to repeat claims that Trump uses racial language.

Again, the video does not discuss any of Biden’s past racial language, nor his controversial record on black incarceration.

This is not the work of a news agency; it is the agitprop of partisan political propaganda, but it bears the Reuters imprimatur.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

The Department of Public Health released a report on Monday that showed deaths from drug overdoses increased 70 percent last year in San Francisco, a staggering statistic that represents more than one death a day in that city.

The report said 441 people died of an overdose in 2019 compared to 259 in 2018. And more than half — 54 precent — were related to fentanyl, a drug that can be 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the federal government.

“This doesn’t surprise any of us,” Kristen Marshall, who manages the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) project at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, a city-funded program that coordinates San Francisco’s response to overdoses, said in a San Francisco Chronicle report. “We had been sounding the alarm bells for the last three, four, even five years. We said fentanyl is coming.”

The Chronicle noted that the majority of overdoses occurred among black people, men, and those in their 50s, and it reported on how experts believe things might get worse before they get better:

Dr. Phillip Coffin, the department’s director of substance use research and lead author of the report, says he expects the 2020 numbers to be even more dire as the pandemic isolates more people and increases the barriers to help.

“We are advising people to remain more isolated, which could parodoxically increase the risk of an overdose being more fatal,” Coffin said. “A lot of the things that we want to do and support are in conflict with our infectious disease prevention strategies.”

He said the increase in 2020 could be even higher than the 70 percent increase between 2018 and 2019.

The Chronicle reported that in 2019 2,610 overdose deaths were prevented using Narcan, a nasal spray to fight an opioid overdose, according to the Harm Reduction Coalition. 

That number is up dramatically from 2015, when 609 overdose deaths were prevented.

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A coalition of black leaders wrote to the CEO of Planned Parenthood to urge her “to confront the systemic racism of America’s abortion practices” and to “renounce the racist legacy” of her organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger.

According to Rev. Dean Nelson, executive director of Human Coalition Action, which organized the letter, at least 120 black leaders joined together Monday in calling upon Planned Parenthood to end its “ongoing systemic targeting of Black people.”

The leaders wrote to Alexis McGill Johnson:

We are a diverse coalition of Black leaders fighting for the dignity of all human life. Like you, we feel called to action by America’s collective reckoning with its history of racism and unjust violence against Black lives. We affirm, with you, that Black lives matter and that every human being, regardless of race or ethnicity, deserves equal respect, equal rights, and equal dignity.

That’s why we’re writing to you today. We are asking you to use your position at Planned Parenthood to confront the systemic racism of America’s abortion practices and to publicly renounce the racist legacy of your founder, Margaret Sanger.

The black leaders continued to Johnson that Planned Parenthood has provided vocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and has acknowledged the existence of racism experienced by employees within its own organization.

“But Ms. Johnson, will you confront the iniquity that your abortion practices perpetrated against Black lives?” the signers asked. “Will you fight the racism that targets Black lives in the womb?”

The leaders observed the racial disparities that exist in abortions performed, and that black women represent 36 percent of all abortions.

“Black women are five times more likely than white women to receive an abortion,” they added. “In some cities, like New York, more Black children are aborted every year than are born alive.”

“This is no accident,” they told Johnson, as they observed her organization’s surgical clinics “target minority communities for abortion” throughout the country.

“In fact, 79 percent of Planned Parenthood’s surgical abortion facilities are located in or near communities of color,” they challenged. “Can Planned Parenthood really claim to care for Black lives while remaining complicit in the targeting of Black pregnant women?”

Referring to these statistics as a “massive iniquity,” the black leaders also asserted to Johnson that they are in keeping with “the racist, eugenicist vision” of Margaret Sanger, the founder of her organization.

The letter challenged Johnson to take note that, as employees of Planned Parenthood have recently accused her organization of racist practices and a toxic culture, the black leaders are not surprised by this unrest, “considering the organization’s founding beliefs about minority and vulnerable populations.”

“Ms. Johnson, your words about the Black Lives Matter movement ring hollow while your organization perpetuates this racist legacy,” the coalition asserted. “While Planned Parenthood of Greater New York and North Central States has disavowed Sanger’s eugenic views, Planned Parenthood National has remained silent.”

However, Planned Parenthood denies it is targeting black communities for abortions. Instead, the organization, which profits from abortion, continues its “reproductive justice” narrative that states low-income black women deserve free abortions, and to deny them taxpayer-funded abortions is “racist.”

Among the letter’s signers are Dr. Alveda King, former NFL star Ben Watson, Texas State Rep. James White (R), Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (R), Georgia State Rep. Mack Jackson (D), Louisiana State Sen. Katrina Jackson (D), Rev. Bill and Deborah Owens of the Coalition of African American Pastors, former Professor Dr. Carol Swain, Family Research Council Senior Fellow Kenneth Blackwell, and political strategist Justin Giboney.