Month: October 2020

In a review of key U.S. Senate races this election season, the president of abortion industry watchdog Operation Rescue warned Kansans against ignoring state Sen. Barbara Bollier’s (D) “radical support” for abortion.

“Kansans are predominately pro-life, and it will be up to the pro-life supporters in Kansas to thwart this underhanded attempt to take over this seat for the pro-abortion left,” Troy Newman wrote Thursday. “Operation Rescue fully supports and endorses Roger Marshall [R] for U.S. Senate and urges Kansans to make sure they are registered and get to the polls to vote in person for President [Donald] Trump and Roger Marshall.”

Marshall and Bollier are vying for the open seat vacated by the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

Bollier is a retired anesthesiologist, and Marshall is a member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG).

“Despite virtually no serious polling in this race, the seat has been considered a solidly Republican one,” Operation Rescue reported. “However, [we believe] that Bollier has a dramatic funding and public relations advantage over Marshall that has placed this seat in jeopardy.”

Bollier tweeted results of a poll that showed she is leading Marshall by three points:

Operation Rescue noted Bollier, who left the Republican Party in 2018, is actually running as a “moderate” who is backed by some Republicans.

“She has boasted of being an ‘elder’ in her church and ‘leading with Christian values,’” the organization observed:

Kansans need to understand the Democratic tactic employed in this tight race. Democrat public relations firms in the past have polled Kansans to see what resonates with them on issues and language. Then they craft a campaign message that coincides with what Kansans want to hear. That deceptive tactic helped elect Democrat Laura Kelly as Kansas Governor in 2018.

“Bollier’s effort to portray herself as a ‘Christian values moderate’ is just her public relations persona,” Newman stated. “It is not who she really is. In reality, she is a leftist Democrat who will take her marching orders from [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Planned Parenthood in Washington.”

In 2016, when still a Republican state representative, Bollier supported a bill to repeal a ban on tele-abortions, enabling more women and girls to perform their own at-home, drug-induced abortions.

However, at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, she voted against a bipartisan bill that temporarily expanded telemedicine so that more Kansans could obtain medical care.

Her reason for voting against the bill was that it would allow out-of-state physicians to treat Kansans.

According to the Kansas Health Institute, the bill allowed out-of-state physicians to practice telemedicine if they advise the Kansas Board of Healing Arts in writing, and if they hold an unrestricted license to practice medicine in another state and are not the subject of an investigation or disciplinary action.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Bollier said she was alarmed the bill would enable out-of-state health care professionals who were not overseen by the state licensure board to treat Kansans.

“This creates a tremendous safety issue for the people of Kansas,” she said.

Bollier stated she follows “science,” but, with many other states allowing expanded telemedicine services that allow physicians in good standing from other regions to treat patients during the pandemic, the Democrat’s expressed reason for voting against these services appeared to be a concern over a change in regulations.

In 2011, Bollier also voted against a popular bill that required both parents or guardians to consent to a minor’s abortion.

As Kansans for Life pointed out, the language in the bill clearly stated the consent of the mother would be sufficient if the girl has been attacked by either a father figure or legal guardian.

Nevertheless, Bollier said she voted against the bill because some girls are raped by family members, including their fathers.

“And to expect someone who has been raped to go to their rapist and get permission to deal with the issue seems cruel and unusual,” she said.

Kansans for Life said Bollier either did not read the bill or was attempting to deceive voters about the measure.

In her current race, Bollier seems focused on the Democrat strategy of identity politics, hence her recent tweet about becoming “the first woman physician in the Senate.”

Marshall has earned the endorsement of the Susan B. Anthony List’s (SBA List) Candidate Fund PAC.

“Dr. Roger Marshall is an unwavering champion for unborn children,” said the Honorable Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List’s vice president of government affairs.

“His 100% pro-life voting record in Congress stands in stark contrast to his opponent Barbara Bollier, who shamefully supports late-term abortion and is endorsed by the abortion industry,” Musgrave added. “Unlike Bollier, who is radically out of step with constituents’ values, pro-life Kansans can count on Roger Marshall to make their voices heard.”

Public advocacy on behalf of the Armenian media indicates that reality television star Kim Kardashian West may be using her relationship with President Donald Trump to urge the United States to support the country in its ongoing conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan, the Hill reported on Thursday.

Azerbaijan and Armenia both claim the other initiated unprompted military hostilities in a region known as Nagorno-Karabakh, legally part of Azerbaijan but populated, by a wide majority, by ethnic Armenians. Baku does not govern Nagorno-Karabakh, run by Armenian leaders and identifying itself as the sovereign Republic of Artsakh. The government of Armenia does not recognize the sovereignty of Artsakh, but does support Armenian self-determination there.

Artsakh has been part of Azerbaijan since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin placed it in the Azeri Soviet Socialist Republic. Armenians contend that there is no history of any significant ethnic Azeri population in the region and reject Azeri rule.

Since hostilities erupted in late September, Artsakh officials claim that over half the population of the region has been displaced. Amnesty International verified reports this week that Azerbaijan has launched cluster bombs – munitions that human rights activists have long fought to ban due to their inability to target properly, causing widespread civilian harm – into Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian officials have particularly sounded the alarm over the behavior of Turkey, an Azeri ally, against the Armenians. Yerevan has accused the government of Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of flying in as many as 4,000 jihadists from the Syrian civil war theater to fight on Azerbaijan’s behalf, claims Ankara denies.

Kardashian West, who is an ethnic Armenian, has regularly updated fans on her multiple social media accounts on the situation in Artsakh, urging action to prevent civilian strife. She has relied on messaging organized by Eric Esrailian, a human rights activist and gastroenterologist in Los Angeles, for specifics. The Hill spoke to Esrailian, who explained that Armenian-Americans found the relative lack of international outrage at the Artsakh situation “frustrating.”

“What I’ve done with my friends, like Kim Kardashian, her family, her siblings, and other friends like Cher, [System of a Down frontman] Serj Tankian, [Reddit mogul] Alexis Ohanian, all of us — obviously they have a bigger platform than I do, but I have the ability to pull everybody together … and I feel honored that everybody cares and they basically say, ‘what can I do?’” Esrailian said, referring to high-profile Armenian-American celebrities who have promoted his campaign.

Kardashian West and others in her family have shared a message urging specific measures to help end the fighting in the region.

“Armenians in Artsakh have been attacked. We are praying brave men & women risking their lives to protect Artsakh & Armenia. The news is misleading & these are not ‘clashes,’” the message read. “Armenia has been the victim of unprovoked attacks by Azerbaijan & the predictable disinformation campaign that accompanies them. Azerbaijan is blocking social media except for war propaganda. We need international observers to investigate & call for international political and diplomatic measures to prevent unnecessary escalation & tragedy.”

The message also called for Washington to “cut off all U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan being used against Armenians & warn Turkey to stop sending arms & fighters to Baku.”

Unlike other celebrities sharing messages of solidarity with the Armenians of Artsakh, the Hill contended that Kardashian West could have more success in shaping policy because of her history of cooperating with the Trump administration on legal reform. Kardashian and her husband, rapper Kanye West, were at the forefront of celebrity efforts to convince President Donald Trump to pardon non-violent criminals and reform criminal laws that prevent reformed American citizens from leading full lives after paying their dues to society in prison.

West himself has also expressed support for Armenia on social media.

“It’s unclear if Kardashian West has been in direct contact with the White House recently over the issue with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill,” the publication noted.

The Trump administration signed a statement alongside France and Russia urging for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, but has otherwise not intervened. Turkey is a NATO member, so the United States is treaty-bound to protect it if Turkish soldiers get involved in the conflict and Erdogan invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. America maintains friendly relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Kardashian West has been a vocal advocate for the Armenian people consistently throughout her time as an international celebrity. She typically uses the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide, in which the precursor to the modern Turkish state killed over 1.5 million Armenians, to raise awareness of the event and demand recognition. Turkey has never officially acknowledged that it happened. In 2016, Kardashian West condemned the Wall Street Journal for publishing an advertisement denying the Armenian genocide, calling it “reckless, upsetting, and dangerous.”

“It’s one thing when a crappy tabloid profits from a made-up scandal, but for a trusted publication like WSJ to profit from genocide — it’s shameful and unacceptable,” Kardashian West said.

Few celebrities outside of those with Armenian heritage have at press time expressed concern for Nagorno-Karabakh. One exception is rapper Cardi B, who posted a link to a fundraiser to help Armenian civilians this week, only to apologize after Turkish and Azeri social media users bombarded her with messages calling her a terrorist.

“I did not know that this is a war between two countries,” Cardi B explained, apologizing for her support. On social media, the rapper apologized several times, some in response to angry Azeri tweets, responding, “I don’t know wats going on !” and “I love peace … I don’t fucking know.”

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.

Friday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) sounded off on Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe recently declassifying documents that show former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Barack Obama on 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s “plan” to distract the American public from her email scandal by alleging Russian collusion ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Nunes said that “everybody within the Obama orbit knew” Clinton was “running an operation” to dig up dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump.

“I think these documents only appeared in the last few months, and these were major bombshells that have been buried by debates and the president coming down with COVID, but the reality is that we now have the smoking guns of the fact that … everybody within the Obama orbit knew that Clinton was running an operation,” Nunes told host Maria Bartiromo. “And secondly, the Crossfire Hurricane team, the team that was doing the spying, doing the investigation into the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, they also knew that there was a Hillary Clinton operation.”

“[T]he only remaining issue that’s out there that I don’t have clarity on and that we need [John] Durham to get to the bottom of is at what point did the FBI and Department of Justice back in 2016, possibly late 2015, begin working hand in glove with the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to run this investigation into the Trump campaign,” he continued. “That’s really the only thing we don’t have now.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent

Social media giant Twitter has announced a number of new restrictions for both politicians and ordinary users ahead of November’s presidential election.

The Washington Post reports that Twitter is imposing new warnings on politicians’ tweets, restricting “premature declarations of victory,” and will block calls for polling violence or disruptions. The new initiatives were announced on Friday as it rolled out the changes in an attempt to protect the platform from abuse and manipulation leading up to the November 3 election.

The moves will temporarily alter the look of Twitter also. Twitter has announced that retweeting will now require an extra step that is designed to encourage users to add their own thoughts before posting, a move that appears to go against Twitter’s general design of quick short messages being tweeted and retweeted.

Twitter’s recommendations and trends features will also get new designs intended to prevent abuse. These changes are similar to those recently announced by Facebook and appear to be mainly aimed at combating what Twitter considers to be efforts to manipulate the political landscape.

Vijaya Gadde, the legal, policy and trust & safety lead at Twitter, and Kayvon Beykpour, its product lead, published a blog post discussing the changes stating: “Twitter has a critical role to play in protecting the integrity of the election conversation, and we encourage candidates, campaigns, news outlets and voters to use Twitter respectfully and to recognize our collective responsibility to the electorate to guarantee a safe, fair and legitimate democratic process this November.”

The new changes also state that U.S. political figures with more than 100,000 followers will now be subject to “additional warnings and restrictions” if they spread falsehoods. This rule would include President Donald Trump who boasts a follower count of 87 million. Twitter has previously taken action to label tweets from President Trump in the past attempting to fact-check the President.

Twitter also plans to restrict the way that it recommends content to users, starting on Friday users will be limited in their ability to view content from users that they don’t follow directly likely impacting the viral spread of tweets.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com

President Donald Trump on Friday defended himself and his supporters against allegations that they were “racist.”

Trump spoke about the left during a virtual radio rally with talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh on Friday, in response to a question from a listener.

“When we are beating them they have nothing else to fall back on but the word racist,” he said. “It means that when you’re winning and you’re just knocking the hell out of them, they have nothing else to say, they call you a racist and this has been going on for decades.”

Trump said he and Limbaugh were constantly accused of being racists by the left, but said that many Americans could see through the political tactic.

“I don’t know that you’re going to stop it, but people are wise to it and people are rolling their eyes now. They’re rolling their eyes.” he said, calling the allegation “disgusting.”

President Donald Trump on Friday expressed frustration with Attorney General Bill Barr and the Justice Department in response to a report that the “Obamagate” investigation would not be finished before the 2020 election.

“I’m very disappointed. I think it’s a terrible thing and I’ll say it to his face,” Trump said in a “radio rally” with talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh on his show on Friday afternoon.

The president responded to a report that Attorney General Bill Barr privately told Republicans that the investigation led by U.S. Attorney John Durham into former President Barack Obama’s administration and the handling of the investigation into his campaign would not be released until after the election.

“This is what I mean with Republicans: they don’t play the tough game,” Trump said.

He said that if Democrats were leading the investigation into Republicans, there would already be 25 people in jail.

“I think it’s a disgrace; it’s an embarrassment, I don’t have the words to express my anger,” he said.

The president said that he had declassified all of the documents necessary for the investigation, noting that the Justice Department had years to investigate.

“We caught them cold and we have people that don’t know how to do anything about that,” he said. “If that’s the case I have to check that I find that hard to believe.”

Trump appeared angry that he had decided to stay out of the process.

“I purposefully tried to stay away for it because they said it would be better if I were not involved,” he said.