Top FBI and Secret Service officials testified Tuesday about security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump 17 days earlier.  The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a rare joint hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee that featured testimony from the Secret Service’s acting director, Ronald L. Rowe. Rowe, previously deputy director, took over for Kimberly Cheatle after she stepped down as Secret Service director July 23, one day after a bruising House oversight hearing.  FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, who also testified, gave the Senate committees some details about the time line before the shooter opened fire July 13 at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One bullet grazed Trump’s right ear at about 6:11 p.m.; another killed firefighter Corey Comperatore. The gunman also wounded two other rallygoers. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., last week established a special task force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt.  Here are six top takeaways from the two Senate panels’ hearing.  1. ‘Cannot Defend Why That Roof Was Not Better Secured’ Rowe and other Secret Service agents visited the site of the campaign rally in Pennsylvania after the fact.  He said he climbed onto the rooftop where the 20-year-old gunman fired at Trump.  “I went to the roof of the AGR building where the assailant fired shots and I laid in a prone position to evaluate his line of sight. What I saw made me ashamed,” Rowe said during his opening remarks.   “As a career law enforcement officer and a 25-year veteran with the Secret Service, I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured,” he added.  Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., later pushed Rowe on the point.  “My understanding is there is a detailed site survey that is done prior to an event to identify potential threat points,” Peters said, adding: “How did that site survey get approved when it was so clear that that was a major threat from that building?” Rowe showed large photos of the building where the shooter positioned himself, from a reenactment that the Secret Service conducted.  “This point of view is the point of view where the countersniper team locally was posted,” Rowe added. “We were told that that building was going to be covered when our team leads met.” To demonstrate the difficulty of the countersniper’s sight line, the next large photo from the reenactment showed a five-inch rise on the roof where the shooter fired.  Next, Rowe showed Exhibit C. “Shooter, no elbows, you barely make out the crown of his head,” he said.  “Let me just tell you, our countersniper, this individual—I know him, I consider him a friend,” Rowe said. “He has covered me operationally in conflict zones and when I did my time on the president’s detail. He exemplifies the courage, the skill, and the ability to respond under great stress in such a short time to neutralize the threat and prevent further loss of life.” Rowe, as he did at several points during the hearing, pointed to the role of local law enforcement.  “Getting back to your questions, Senator, these are discussions that were had between the Pittsburgh field office and the local counterparts and everyone supporting that visit that day,” Rowe said.  Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., led a press conference held after the hearing by Senate Republicans. The security failures at the former president’s campaign rally make most Americans feel unsafe, he said.  “I think it’s time to realize why this is so important to people back home. Why is this the topic of conversation?” Marshall asked. “I’ll tell you it’s because people back at home don’t feel safe.” 2. FBI’s Detailed Time Line In presenting a time line to the two Senate committees, Abbate said the FBI interviewed more than 460 people and accessed the shooter’s electronic devices.  “Thus far, though absolutely nothing has been ruled out, the investigation has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or others with advanced knowledge,” Abbate told the committees. Abbate added that the FBI found a social media account “believed to be associated with the shooter” where he posted 700 comments in 2019 and 2020.  “Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence, and are described as extreme in nature,” the FBI’s deputy director said.  “While the investigative team is still working to verify this [social media] account to determine if it did in fact belong to the shooter, we believe it important to note today, we believe it important to share and note today, particularly given the general absence of other information to date from social media and other sources of information that reflect on the shooter’s potential, motive, and mindset,” Abbate said.  Law enforcement officials first saw the shooter just before 4:30 p.m. July 13 before the campaign  rally began. At 5:14 p.m., local law enforcement identified him as a suspicious person.  A local SWAT team operator took a picture of the shooter just after 5:30 p.m. Less than half an hour later, law enforcement notified the Secret Service command post that the person was suspicious.  Between 6:02 p.m. and 6:08 p.m., law enforcement officers lost sight of him, Abbate said. At 6:06 p.m., the shooter was on the rooftop, he said. Two minutes later, officers saw him on the roof.  At 6:11 p.m., law enforcement radioed that this suspicious person had a gun. He fired about 30 seconds, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear.  A Secret Service countersniper shot and killed the gunman. Eight shell casings were found next to his body on the roof, Abbate said, so he likely fired eight rounds.  Commenting during the press conference afterward, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked: “Why didn’t they remove President Trump from the stage after spectators and local law enforcement, assigned to help protect the president, had noticed that there was a guy with a rifle on a roof?” 3. Cruz: Spokesperson ‘Lied on Behalf of the Secret Service’ Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pushed for more information about why the Secret Service reportedly denied requests for more security from the Trump campaign—and whether the Secret Service lied about it.  “Just after the shooting, the Secret Service put out an official statement from your spokesperson that said ‘there is an untrue assertion that the former president’s team requested additional security resources, that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false,’” Cruz said, reading the statement.  The Texas Republican then asked: “Was this tweet accurate?” After some back and forth, Rowe, the Secret Service’s acting director, replied: “If you’re talking about Butler, Pennsylvania, all assets had been approved. If you are talking about media reporting of assets requested, there are times when assets were unavailable and not able to be filled, and those gaps were filled with state and local law enforcement.” Cruz also read from a story in The Washington Post about the Secret Service “repeatedly denying” requests from the Trump campaign for additional protection.  Rowe said of the report: “That is not accurate, Senator.” “Assets are requested. There is a process,” he added.  However, when asked, Rowe said he didn’t know how many requests the Trump team made for additional assets.  Rowe later said he couldn’t recall the answer to several other questions from Cruz.  Cruz, pointing to a poster board showing the wording of the Secret Service spokesperson’s tweet, asked: “Did you approve this statement when it went out?” Rowe replied, “I don’t know if I did or didn’t.” The spokesperson is still employed by the agency, he replied to another question.  “So he lied on behalf of the Secret Service and he still has a job,” Cruz said.  Cruz asked whether Cheatle, the agency’s former director, approved the statement.  “I don’t know if she did or did not,” Rowe replied.  Cruz: “You don’t know if you did either?” Rowe: “I don’t recall approving it.” Cruz later asked: “Who makes the decision to deny those requests [for more security]? Did you make that decision?” Rowe replied, “It’s a conversation, it’s not an absolute yea or nay.” Cruz brought up requests by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., the former U.S. attorney general who was assassinated in May 1968. (RFK Jr. is also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated less than five years earlier.) “Did the same person who denied the request for additional security to President Trump also deny the requests for security to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was murdered by an assassin and whose uncle was murdered by an assassin? Did the same person make that decision?” Cruz asked. Rowe replied that the Secret Service is not partisan. When Cruz pressed him for a yes or no answer on whether the same person made both decisions, Rowe insisted: “Senator, that is not a yes or no question. There is a process for a candidate [or] nominee to receive protection.” During the GOP press conference after the hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said he  thought the Secret Service still wouldn’t hold itself accountable for the security failures in Pennsylvania.  “All we’re asking the Secret Service is to give us their briefing,” Mullin said. “What did they break down? Where are the failure points? Because if you cannot admit you did something wrong, you’re destined to do it again.” 4. Durbin Pushes Gun Control Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., used the hearing to push the need for more gun control.  Durbin asserted that it’s typical to see a movie where a skilled international assassin is dispatched to kill a political leader.  However, he said, in this case, “a 20-year-old, introverted college student” managed to get past a sophisticated security force and get a shot at a former president. After making this point, Durbin quickly moved to blame the attempted assassination on the availability of guns.  “While we rely on the Secret Service to protect elected officials, we must acknowledge the unique challenges they face in light of the proliferation of weapons of war on our street,” Durbin said. “Pennsylvania, like many states, allows individuals to openly carry a loaded rifle without a permit,” he said. “To make matters worse, assault rifles can easily be purchased from the licensed dealers without a background check because of dangerous loopholes in our gun laws.” 5. ‘No Explanation’ for Why Shooter’s Drone Worked and Secret Service’s Drone Had ‘Technical Difficulties’ Before the Trump rally, the shooter surveyed the site using a drone. Yet, the Secret Service said its drones would not work in the area.  Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked: “Can you explain why the shooter’s drone worked?” Rowe replied: “There was no counter-UAS [unmanned aerial system] present.” Cornyn asked: “You had a drone system but you had bandwidth problems. The bandwidth was adequate, apparently, for the shooter’s drone, but not for the Secret Service. Can you explain that?” Rowe replied, “I have no explanation for it, sir.”  “In the military context,” Cornyn said, “electronic warfare or jamming capabilities are commonly used on the battlefield.” The senior senator from Texas then asked: “Does the Secret Service have jamming capabilities for drones?” Rowe said: “We have drones, sir. … We have technical security measures to address, I think, what you’re asking me.” Cornyn followed by asking: “Can you take down a suspicious drone? … Do you have the capacity to stop a weaponized drone?” Rowe said there were security matters he couldn’t talk about in a public forum.  “We have technical measures we use at permanently protected sites,” Rowe said. “We also have the ability in a limited fashion at temporary sites. What I can tell you is that on this day, the counter-UAS system had technical difficulties.” At the press conference afterward, Cornyn said the Secret Service’s failure to answer that key question was “another one of their multiple points of failure.” 6. Ron Johnson: Lack of Transparency ‘Very Unfortunate’ Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., pointed to the photos displayed by Rowe earlier in the hearing, and questioned why the Secret Service waited so long to share them. “I appreciate these photos today,” Johnson said. “These things could have been released in days and a whole lot more information as well.” Near the beginning of his remarks at the Pennsylvania rally, Trump used an oversize chart depicting illegal border crossings that was created by Johnson’s office. He turned his head slightly to point to the chart.  That slight turn has been credited for Trump’s not being struck in the head by the bullet that grazed his right ear.  Johnson’s office released preliminary findings from his office’s own investigation of the security failures July 13.   Johnson pushed for more transparency and asked for transcripts of related FBI interviews.  “Does the Secret Service use encrypted communications at events?” Johnson asked.  “The radio traffic from Butler we did not have recorded, sir,” Rowe replied.  “Do you normally?” Johnson asked.  “Not on the road outside of D.C., outside of a presidential or vice presidential stop,” Rowe answered.  Johnson said that is “very unfortunate.” Rowe agreed, saying, “Moving forward, I’ve directed we will now start recording those.” Johnson pressed further about Secret Service communications with local law enforcement.  “My understanding is that what was communicated was the locals had a plan and they had been there before,” Rowe replied.  Johnson, referring to Trump’s Florida home, asked: “Was there ever requested additional coverage for Mar-a-Lago?” Rowe replied: “We have provided additional resources to Mar-a-Lago.” Lawmaker, Johnson said,  “need to find out literally second by second what happened.” The post 6 Takeaways From Senate Hearing on Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Kamala Veepstakes Shortlister: Socialism Is Just 'Neighborliness'!

Behold the Lies They Tell...

'It's Only Money' CA Episode #...I've Lost Count: Stay Clean, Get Paid

In an interview with Puck’s Dylan Byers on Tuesday afternoon, longtime CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell announced she’d be resigning from the CBS Evening News after the November presidential election in order “to focus on major cross-platform interview specials” in what he nauseatingly dubbed a “new, Barbara Walters-ish role” for CBS. O’Donnell released an open letter around the same time, telling colleagues that “[a]fter this year’s election, I’ve decided I will be leaving my role as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News to take on a new position at the network.” “We just celebrated an amazing five years together. I love what I do...I have spent 12 years in the anchor chair here at CBS News, connected to a daily broadcast and the rigors of a relentless news cycle. It’s time to do something different...I don’t need to tell you what a transformative time our business is facing. I see this as an opportunity,” she added. Byers said CBS is unlikely to name “another high-paid, high-profile anchor,” but rather replace O’Donnell with “an ensemble cast with rotating anchors—making CBS the first network to relinquish the half-century-plus format of a singular, expensive anchor in the chair, signaling another retreat from the paradigm.” Byers said this came thanks to “a new, long-term, sinecure-ish deal” in which she’ll relinquish both the title of anchor and managing editor for the third-place-rated network evening newscast. He claimed speculation of O’Donnell’s exit “began after her May primetime interview special with Pope Francis, which she described as ‘a real lightbulb moment’” and “has an ambitious shortlist for additional interviews she hopes to land” and air across all CBS shows and platforms. O’Donnell was announced on May 6, 2019 as anchor after nearly seven years as co-host of CBS This Morning and a litany of bias. She took the job thanks to the firing of Jeff Glor, who made the show the closest thing to a respectable, un-biased newscast. Having left CBS This Morning ten days later, O’Donnell took time off before starting the PM gig on July 15, 2019 following two months of fill-ins, but hasn’t been able to move out of third place behind ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Byers argued she “was also beset with no small amount of internal drama and more than a few anonymously sourced tabloid pieces that attacked her ratings and character and cast doubt on her future at the network.” He never linked to them, so we’ll mention a few here. As our Nick Fondacaro wrote, her ratings floundered and, by October 2021, the New York Post said CBS suits considered dropping her. By March 2022, the Post claimed Norah was showing “toxic behavior” and a symbol of excess given her reported $65,000 a year wardrobe budget. Through it all, CBS has stuck by. Byers concluded by citing a staff memo from CBS News boss Wendy McMahon that “Norah’s work here is legendary, and she has several major interviews in the works”, but “[t]here is an urgency to transform and drive revenue around audience growth.” In other words, they’re hemorrhaging money. Alas, O’Donnell sounded a hopeful note to her colleagues by saying they “have a lot of work to do covering the most important election of our lifetime” and are “so fortunate to share those values with so many hard-working journalists who believe how important the work of journalism is to a healthy democracy.”

Trump took to Truth Social to revel in Facebook and Google getting called out for censoring search terms and an iconic image related to the attempt on his life. “Facebook has just admitted that it wrongly censored the Trump ‘attempted assassination photo,’ and got caught. Same thing for Google,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They made it virtually impossible to find pictures or anything about this heinous act. Both are facing BIG BACKLASH OVER CENSORSHIP CLAIMS.” The former president added, “Here we go again, another attempt at RIGGING THE ELECTION!!! GO AFTER META AND GOOGLE. LET THEM KNOW WE ARE ALL WISE TO THEM, WILL BE MUCH TOUGHER THIS TIME. MAGA2024!” The Daily Mail drew attention to Google’s search suppression in a July 28 report. Users who typed the words "assassination attempt on" were given autocomplete search suggestions finishing the search that did not include former President Donald Trump. Instead, Google finished the search with the names: "truman," "reagan," "ronald reagan," "george wallace," "lenin," "gerald ford," "franklin roosevelt," "andrew johnson," "fdr," and "seward."  Notably missing was the most recent assassination attempt against a former president just 15 days prior. In Google's explanation of how its search autocomplete feature works it claims: "To determine what predictions to show, our systems look for common queries that match what someone starts to enter into the search box." The search giant alleged that it also considers factors such as the language, location and trending interest of the query as well as the user's past searches. However, Google Trends showed that the number of searches for "assassination attempt on trump" was significantly higher than "assassination attempt on truman" and "assassination attempt on reagan." That was true for searches in the state of Virginia (where MRC researchers conducted the search), for searches conducted in the United States and also for searches conducted worldwide. Researchers also examined searches over the last 24 hours (July 28 and 29), the last 30 days, and the last 20 years.  Google trends repeatedly showed that the assassination attempt on Trump was by far searched more often and by more people than the attempts on former presidents Harry Truman and Ronald Regan. Indeed, it appears that the Daily Mail article on Google's search suppression may be what prompted a July 28 and 29 uptick in users searching for the little-known assassination attempt on Truman. Google Communications responded to the backlash in an X post claiming, "There was no manual action taken. Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event. We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date.”  Defending itself, the company downplayed the issue. “Of course, Autocomplete is just a tool to help people save time, and they can still search for anything they want to. Following this terrible act, people turned to Google to find high-quality information – we connected them with helpful results, and will continue to do so," Google added  MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider, however, called Google out for its lackluster response. “Note how Google says ‘no manual action take[n],’ admitting that its algorithm is designed to silence info about Trump.” Meta similarly repeatedly censored a photo taken by Associated Press photojournalist Evan Vucci after the assassination attempt on Trump.  Facebook and Instagram placed fact-check interstitials over a number of posts featuring the photo including one posted by For America. "The same altered photo was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post," the platform's notification to users read. Meta has since removed the fact check interstitials and warnings over the posts. BREAKING: Meta is now censoring actual photos of the Trump assassination attempt pic.twitter.com/o7yUbN7vsa — Jack Poso ?? (@JackPosobiec) July 29, 2024 Meta spokesperson Dani Lever responded to the issue in an X post. “This fact check was initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo,” she claimed. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

The national debt reached an appalling new high of $35 trillion, yet ABC, NBC and CBS News kept their evening viewers completely in the dark.  This new milestone went entirely unreported by ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News on June 29, despite the massive ramifications of the growing debt. By ignoring the increase in debt, the networks did not inform their viewers about the burgeoning threat to the federal government’s ability to fund Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare or the U.S. Military. They also overlooked how a growing national debt will lead to larger interest payments to service the debt.  Instead, World News Tonight and CBS Evening News spent time on Democratic talking points, making sure their viewers heard the latest attack on Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. These two networks also highlighted presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s characterization of Republicans as “weird.”  World News Tonight also tried to scare its viewers by airing a brief clip of a speech by former President Donald Trump telling supporters that he would do such a good job in office that they wouldn’t have to vote again in four years. ABC immediately followed this clip by noting that Harris characterized his remarks as proof “that democracy is under assault,” which may give the impression that Trump plans to end voting. Meanwhile, CBS Evening News found time to carry water for President Joe Biden’s recent attack on the Supreme Court by mentioning accusations against Republican-appointed justices. All three networks devoted coverage to the Olympics over the national debt, with World News Tonight discussing a swim cap floating in an Olympic pool. World News Tonight viewers may not know that the national debt hit $35 trillion, but at least they can sleep easier knowing someone saved the swim cap. The Big Three networks’ silence on the national debt does not lessen its impact. During a July 12 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, The Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni pointed out the horrifying monthly impact of such a massive debt. “[T]he government is spending trillions of dollars it doesn’t have. I mean my goodness, look at the data we got yesterday,” he said, referring to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s monthly statement for June. Antoni noted that “we spent $140 billion just in interest on the debt,” emphasizing that these funds didn’t even go to eliminating the debt, but merely to address the interest. Antoni previously pointed out in an Oct. 21, 2023 post on X that the growing national debt leads to ever-growing interest payments, exceeding $2 trillion a year by 2030. He also noted that interest spending has already surpassed that of the military. “Gross interest payments on the federal debt hit $879 billion last FY, eclipsing all military spending by $103 billion; if Treasury keeps issuing new debt ($500 billion this month alone) and rolling over old debt at higher rates, annual interest will exceed $2 trillion by 2030,” he wrote. Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192, and demand they report on the massive unsustainable spending of the U.S. Government and our growing National Debt.

On Tuesday, MSNBC Morning Joe hosted liberal commentators Molly Jong-Fast and Donny Deutsch and gave the former the floor to suggest that Senator and Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance was “racist” and wanted “more white Children.” But in reality, Vance was in an interracial marriage and had three biracial children. JD Vance has been receiving backlash after a clip of him went viral where he said parents have the biggest say in how a democracy should function.     Politico’s White House bureau chief, Jonathan Lemire began the discussion by sharing a statistic from Pew Research “47 percent of childless adults under 50 say they aren't planning on having any children.” He continued to state that many young people want to “focus on other things” or are concerned about the “costs associated with raising a child.” Unsurprisingly, Lemire mentioned “Vance’s comments about childless Americans, childless cat ladies could be so politically damaging” to his career. Jong-Fast jumped in and quickly exclaimed – without evidence – that Vance’s comment had racial undertones: Well so what’s interesting is this is this nativism that comes from an authoritarian playbook right that there – there need to be more white children, right? That's the idea that there is – you know this is about great replacement theory racism, right? This is what this is. Jong-Fast failed to recognize that Vance, who married Usha Chilukuri, is a father to three biracial kids. Regardless, Jong-Fast went on to say that we shouldn’t “misunderstand him for him wanting more children. He wants a certain kind of you now racist thing.” She then called his words an “attack [on] people for not having children” which she found “cruel.” Adding on to what was previously said, Deutsch shared “you know it's just so interesting. We live in this new cycle of -- of politicians people say stupid things and the parade moves on.” But he professed that “this JD Vance parade is not gonna move on” because “there is just something that hit a nerve with people.” Deutsch concluded “As I said, and you used the word cruel, I used the word cruel, that I think Vance, I don't know if Vance is here in the end. We will see.” The X account of RNC Research posted a video of Jong-Fast’s comments and called her out for spreading lies. “JD Vance is the father of three biracial children with his Indian-American wife,” they said. Jong-Fact promptly untagged herself from the post and locked down her account. RNC Research also called out Lemire for not pushing back on Jong-Fast. Click "Expand" to view the transcript: MSNBC Morning Joe 7/30/2024 7:53:13 – 7:55:05 AM JONATHAN LEMIRE: And in Louisiana, the daily advertiser reports that the United States birth rate is down as fewer adults want to have kids. According to a 2023 Pew Research survey, 47% of childless adults under 50 say they aren't planning on having any children. Many younger adults say they want to focus on other things instead and raise concerns about the state of the world and the costs associated with raising a child. Some older adults say they don't have kids due to medical reasons or because they haven't found the right partner and Molly is – is -- the stats are there. More and more Americans choosing not to have kids which again emphasizes why JD Vance's comments about childless Americans, childless cat ladies – MOLLY JONG-FAST: Right. LEMIRE: -- could be so politically damaging. JONG-FAST: Well so what’s interesting is this is this nativism that comes from an authoritarian playbook right that there – there need to be more white children, right? That's the idea that there is – you know this is about great replacement theory racism, right? This is what this is. So don't misunderstand him for him wanting more children. He wants a certain kind of you now racist thing.  So I would say yeah there -- it is certainly true and attacking people for not having children is really cruel, right, because some people can't have children, some people, you know, want to have children and you know – can’t you know --missed the window. So I do think it's -- it's really just a very terrible way to go after people. DONNY DEUTSCH: Yeah. I—you know it's just so interesting. We live in this new cycle of -- of politicians people say stupid things and the parade moves on. This J.D. Vance parade is not gonna move on. There is just something that hit a nerve with people. As I said, and you used word cruel I used the word cruel, that I think Vance, I don't know if Vance is here in the end. We will see. LEMIRE: Yeah it’s hard for Donald Trump to admit to making a mistake but certainly a lot of Republicans very unhappy right now.

Before being heralded on The View, ABC’s Good Morning America promoted Fred Trump III on Tuesday for his new memoir containing wild claims that not only has former President Trump repeatedly denigrated disabled people behind closed doors and wished his disabled nephew (and Fred’s son) would just die, but uttered the n-word when Fred was a child. “First on GMA. Fred Trump III tells us about the man he calls atomic crazy, his uncle, Donald Trump,” bragged fill-in co-host Rebecca Jarvis in a tease.     Correspondent Aaron Katersky scored the interview with Fred to coincide with the memoir All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, hitting shelves. Katersky began with this howler of a lie: “The son of former President Trump’s late older brother says he wrote this to advocate for people with severe developmental disabilities like his adult son, William. He says this latest Trump tell all is no political hit job, but the full-on truth about his uncle and Republican nominee.” The first question they aired was a softball too: “It says it’s The Trumps and How We Got This Way. What way? What’s the Trump way?” Fred replied the “Trump way” is “[c]omplex and sometimes cruel” and while “[e]very family has their crazy uncle”, his isn’t just crazy, “but “atomic crazy”. Fred elaborated on what it meant, saying he “sort of shudder[s]” now as “he’s done really horrific things to me” and wonders how the former President today “is...the same guy I knew”, but claims in the same answer the two “have always had a good relationship.” This rolled into the first of two tall tales from Fred in which Trump wished disabled Americans — including his nephew, Michael — would die off so the rest of us could move on (click “expand”): KATERSKY: After his uncle was elected president, Fred Trump says he saw an opportunity to advocate for the disabled. TRUMP: I was in the Oval Office 12 times — about. That was our mission, to advocate for people with complex disabilities. It culminated in May of 2020. In the Oval Office, Donald was there and — and he was very gracious. Several other folks were there, including the group that we brought down. We dispersed. I was asked to go back and see Donald. He greeted me with his familiar, “hey, pal, how’s it going?” We sat down for a bit. And he just came out with, “these people, all the expenses, they should just die.” Ha! He’s talking about human beings who have complex issues and the first thing he could say was, “they should just die.” KATERSKY: Fred claims this wasn’t isolated, describing a phone call to alert his uncle the medical fund set up by the family for his son William was running low, a fund his former president consistently replenished. TRUMP: A couple years ago, I said — I called him. I said, “Donald, the fund is running out.” Without hesitation, he said, “your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida.” KATERSKY: Were you surprised? TRUMP: Ha! That’s a great question. My response was, “no, Donald, he does recognize me” and said, I’ll — I’ll — “thanks” and hung up. Was I surprised? I don’t think you can hear something like that and not be surprised. But that is what he has become. It — it’s sad. This immediately transitioned to the other dose of Resistance fan fiction and proof this wasn’t a genuine memoir about physically and mentally challenged Americans, but an anti-Trump smear. “There’s a chapter that you write called the — The Race Card. What’s that about,” Katersky asked. Fred then insisted without evidence he “was about 10 years old and I was at my grandparents house” when he could hear his uncle “screaming and I went down to the driveway of my grandparents house and there was his white El Dorado convertible with two slashes”. It was then, Fred claimed, the now-former President “used the word — the n-word twice just saying who he thought probably had done this.” Katersky totally bought it (click “expand”): KATERSKY: You were 10 years old when these comments were allegedly uttered? TRUMP: Mmhmm. Right. KATERSKY: You sure you remember them? TRUMP: Absolutely. KATERSKY: He said he doesn’t use the word. TRUMP: Okay. He did twice that day. (....) KATERSKY: Is he a racist? TRUMP: He, at times, espouses things that people who I believe are racist espouses....I don’t believe he is a racist. I think that he uses people, whether they’re black or they’re — whoever can help him, he will use them. Back on-camera, Katersky read from a Trump campaign statement and Fred’s hilarious insistence that he’d be “voting for Kamala Harris, but if his uncle wins, he would attend the inauguration if he’s invited.” To see the relevant transcript from July 30, click here. ABC’s Good Morning America July 30, 2024 8:05 a.m. Eastern [TEASE] [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: 8:11; Donald Trump’s Nephew Talks New Memoir] REBECCA JARVIS: First on GMA. Fred Trump III tells us about the man he calls atomic crazy, his uncle, Donald Trump. (....) 8:10 a.m. Eastern GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And we’re back with our GMA Cover Story. Donald Trump’s nephew, Fred Trump III. He’s out with a memoir All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way. Aaron Katersky spoke with him. Good morning, Aaron. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Cover Story; Donald Trump’s Nephew Talks New Memoir; Fred C. Trump III on His Uncle: “Atomic Crazy”, “Complex,” “Sometimes Cruel”] AARON KATERSKY: Good morning to you, George. The son of former President Trump’s late older brother says he wrote this to advocate for people with severe developmental disabilities like his adult son, William. He says this latest Trump tell all is no political hit job, but the full-on truth about his uncle and Republican nominee. [TO TRUMP] It says it’s The Trumps and How We Got This Way. What way? What’s the Trump way? FRED TRUMP III: Complex and sometimes cruel. And, within every family — people know this, families are complicated. Every family has their crazy uncle. My uncle Donald is atomic crazy. And he has put his mark on the family history. KATERSKY: Atomic crazy? TRUMP: Yes. KATERSKY: What’s that mean? TRUMP: It means he does things that, even as much as I know him when he’s out there now, I — I sort of shudder and say, is this the same guy I knew? What — what’s making him change? What — what got him this way? But, that all being said, I have always had a good relationship. But he’s done really horrific things to me, which some people will say, how — how could you still want to have a relationship with him? He’s — he’s my uncle. He’s — he’s family. And that means a lot. KATERSKY: After his uncle was elected president, Fred Trump says he saw an opportunity to advocate for the disabled. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Cover Story; Donald Trump’s Nephew Talks New Memoir; What He Says the Former President Said About People With Complex Disabilities] TRUMP: I was in the Oval Office 12 times — about. That was our mission, to advocate for people with complex disabilities. It culminated in May of 2020. In the Oval Office, Donald was there and — and he was very gracious. Several other folks were there, including the group that we brought down. We dispersed. I was asked to go back and see Donald. He greeted me with his familiar, “hey, pal, how’s it going?” We sat down for a bit. And he just came out with, “these people, all the expenses, they should just die.” Ha! He’s talking about human beings who have complex issues and the first thing he could say was, “they should just die.” KATERSKY: Fred claims this wasn’t isolated, describing a phone call to alert his uncle the medical fund set up by the family for his son William was running low, a fund his former president consistently replenished. TRUMP: A couple years ago, I said — I called him. I said, “Donald, the fund is running out.” Without hesitation, he said, “your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida.” KATERSKY: Were you surprised? TRUMP: Ha! That’s a great question. My response was, “no, Donald, he does recognize me” and said, I’ll — I’ll — “thanks” and hung up. Was I surprised? I don’t think you can hear something like that and not be surprised. But that is what he has become. It — it’s sad. KATERSKY: There’s a chapter that you write called the — The Race Card. What’s that about? [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: GMA Cover Story; Donald Trump’s Nephew Talks New Memoir; Fred C. Trump III on Turbulent Relationship With His Famous Uncle] TRUMP: I was about 10 years old and I was at my grandparents house, like, I — I was a lot. And Donald, I could hear him screaming. And I went down to the driveway of my grandparents house and there was his white El Dorado convertible with two slashes. Still remember it. And he had electrical tape cause the roof was black. He used the word — the n-word twice just saying who he thought probably had done this. KATERSKY: You were 10 years old when these comments were allegedly uttered? TRUMP: Mmhmm. Right. KATERSKY: You sure you remember them? TRUMP: Absolutely. KATERSKY: He said he doesn’t use the word. TRUMP: Okay. He did twice that day. KATERSKY: You do write in the book about how people have labeled former President Trump a racist and some people feel he is. Some people say he’s not. And you — you ask the question, is he a racist? You don’t necessarily answer it. TRUMP: Right. KATERSKY: Is he a racist? TRUMP: He, at times, espouses things that people who I believe are racist espouses. That’s the best I can answer that question. KATERSKY: Say more. TRUMP: I don’t believe he is a racist. I think that he uses people, whether they’re black or they’re — whoever can help him, he will use them. And, you know, call it racist or not, I — I don’t believe in that. He uses them as props and, when he gets what he needs out of them, votes, he’ll cast them aside. KATERSKY: In a statement, the Trump campaign said “this is completely fabricated and total fake news of the highest order. It is appalling a lie so blatantly disgusting can be printed in mea. Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language and false stories like these have been thoroughly debunked.” Now, Fred Trump told us he’s voting for Kamala Harris, but if his uncle wins, he would attend the inauguration if he’s invited. All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way is out today, George. STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, Aaron. Thanks very much.

If you love simple recipes, you will love this Pineapple BBQ Chicken! It’s made with only three simple ingredients, in the crock pot, and tastes like sweet and sour chicken. If you love delicious chicken recipes, you have to give our No Peek Chicken a try! It’s wonderful for a busy night, doesn’t take much...