Chris Christie to announce 2024 presidential campaign next week: report

Christie, who's making his second White House run, dropped out of the 2016 presidential race after disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire

Paul Steinhauser , Brandon Gillespie , Anders Hagstrom | Fox News

 

The formation of the group, Tell It Like It Is, was considered a key step ahead of Christie's expected entry into the White House race. Christie said on May 4 that he would make a 2024 decision in next two weeks, but has yet to announce his intentions.

Christie, who is considered one of the best communicators in the GOP, was once a strong ally of then-President Trump but has become one of the former president's most vocal GOP critics.

Christie, who held New Jersey's highest office from 2010-2018 and was the deep-blue state's last Republican governor, first ran for president in the 2016 cycle.

He placed all his chips in New Hampshire, but his campaign crashed and burned after a disappointing and distant sixth-place finish in New Hampshire, far behind Trump, who crushed the competition in the primary, boosting him towards the nomination and eventually the White House. Read more and see videos here.

Debt Vote Today: Rules Committee Sends McCarthy's Deal to the House Floor

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy falls short of his deal to increase the debt ceiling for the next two years. It’s a $4 trillion increase but comes with little to no guardrails; it could be unlimited. There’s no cap, and the spending cuts, while touted as an accomplishment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) of all people, are trivial at best. Regardless, his support guaranteed that the bill would pass the House Rules Committee, which it did last night, and now we expect the vote sometime this evening. Speaker McCarthy faces internal divisions, with the usual suspects on our side of the aisle forming the opposition. It’s not unwarranted. 

There are bad portions of this legislation, something you can’t gamble on with a meager five-seat majority, but we’re at a crisis point here. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave a June 5 date for the default deadline. It was June 1, but no one knew the actual date. I feel like Yellen extended the deadline like a college professor would for a term paper (via NBC News): Read more here.

(Almost) Daily Meme

 

Panicked Much? Joe Biden Rebuffs Peter Doocy When Asked About DeSantis Potentially Pardoning Trump

Rebecca Downs / Townhall Tipsheet

 

President Joe Biden once again issued a reminder of what little regard he has for members of the press, as he laughed off Fox News' Peter Doocy's question with a non-answer before boarding Marine One this Memorial Day.

Doocy had asked the president if he had seen that "[Florida's Governor] Ron DeSantis said that if he became president, he would pardon Trump?" He also asked "where are you on the idea of the president pardoning Trump?" 

In response, Biden laughed and gestured before heading off. "I’ll see you guys," he offered," also adding "that’s a great question." He clearly doesn't think it's that great a question if he's not going to answer the question about two Republican candidates, with at least one of them being the likely nominee to face Biden, assuming he wins his primary.

DeSantis' comments had come on Thursday, right after he made it official that he was running for president, while he appeared on "The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show"  Read more, see tweets, and videos here.

Jewish groups, allies demand CUNY Law lose funding after student's 'vile' anti-Israel commencement speech

The graduation speech was condemned as 'vitriolic, evil, antisemitic' propaganda

Yael Halon | Fox News

 

Pro-Israel groups and Jewish allies are calling for the City University of New York's (CUNY) public law school to lose its funding after a graduating student accused Israel of "indiscriminately raining bullets and bombs" on Palestinians during her commencement speech. She also claimed laws are "white supremacy" and attacked the "fascist" NYPD and U.S. military.

Fatima Mousa Mohammed, who was selected by the 2023 class to speak at the May 12 CUNY Law ceremony, accused Israel of "indiscriminately" murdering Palestinians and encouraging "lynch mobs." She also celebrated resistance to "Zionism around the world" while lauding the school's support of the anti-Israel BDS movement. 

The law school initially took the speech down from YouTube but released it in full last week following public outcry from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups.

 "I want to celebrate CUNY Law as one of the few, if not the only law school to make a public statement defending the rights of its students to organize and speak out against Israeli settler colonialism," Mohammed said from the podium. Read more and see video here.

Op-ed:
On Memorial Day...And Always  

By: Diane Sori / The Patriots Factor / Right Side Patriots / Right Side Patriots Radio

This an opinion piece, my opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.com.

Monday is Memorial Day and while many will go to the beach or enjoy a hearty barbecue, let’s not forget the real reason for this most special and solemn of days…a day to remember and honor those who put their lives on the line for our beloved country…a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for a purpose they believed was greater than themselves…a purpose of keeping "We the People" safe and free at home.

And while political battles continue in D.C. and across the nation, Memorial Day offers us the chance for all Americans…no matter our race, creed, color, religion, party affiliation, or whether this president is our president of choice…to unite together and remember the one thing we all we have in common...gratitude...gratitude for those who served…gratitude for the brave men and women who proudly wore but sadly died wearing our nation’s uniform…gratitude so that we can go to that beach and can enjoy that barbecue.

On Memorial Day there should be no hyphenated Americans (nor should there ever be)…just Americans bowing their heads together in prayer as the flag of these United States is raised throughout this great nation, and then as it's solemnly lowered to half-staff. On this day let us remember the more than one million American patriots who gave their lives in service to this country. And when the flag is once again raised high at noon we must also remember to not allow their sacrifice to be in vain for a nation that forgets its true heroes is a nation that loses its soul.

Memorial Day is a day when we should teach our children the importance of the sacrifices made by so many to ensure their freedoms and the freedoms of generations to come.

Memorial Day is a day when many Americans will visit cemeteries or memorials nationwide to place small flags at the base of the headstones of the fallen to let them know they are not forgotten nor will they ever be.

Memorial Day is a day to honor the remains buried at the Tomb of the "Unknown Soldier" for while he, brave soldier whomever he may be, is home resting on American soil he is not with his loved ones, but serves as a reminder of the many who never made it home, and should remind us that there are still some left behind who must be brought home.

Memorial Day is a day when the "Pledge of Allegiance" should take on a renewed meaning, and should reawaken in us all the realization that we do live in the greatest nation the world has ever known, and remind us that some things are indeed worth both fighting and dying for.

Memorial Day is a day to honor courage for while those lost in battle knew fear, they sacrificed with courage of heart and strength of conviction, something that must never be forgotten for without knowing fear there can be no courage and without courage there can be no victory. Those who gave all deemed their love of country and duty to freedom were of greater value and more important then the fears they faced in dying.

Memorial Day is a day to also honor the very freedoms those lost in battle gave to each and every one of us…the freedom we have in our beloved America to act, speak, and think as we so choose without hindrance or restraint…a freedom we intend never to lose…a freedom we will fight for with just as much passion, dedication, determination, and courage as those who sacrificed before us…for we will not allow their sacrifice to be forgotten nor will we allow our freedoms to be taken away.

No…we will never allow their sacrifice to have been in vain.

Memorial Day is a day for prayers for those lost…a day for honoring their memories not just with tearful remembrances but also with a smile…a day to rediscover the meaning of what our military fights and dies for…our liberty, our safety, our individual rights guaranteed us under our Constitution, and the continuing American story of which we all play a part in.

So on this Memorial Day I will bow my head in solemn prayer and thank and remember those who made that ultimate sacrifice to keep our nation free…and pray to God that someday…"nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:4)

Someday…someday soon I pray. And may God our Father Bless America today, tomorrow,  and always.

Copyright @ 2023 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved. 
(I originally published this article Memorial Day Weekend 2018.)

Ron DeSantis Makes 2024 Campaign Official in Conversation With Elon Musk

Spencer Brown / Townhall Tipsheet

After months of speculation, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis filed paperwork to officially run for President of the United States on Wednesday afternoon ahead of formally announcing he was jumping into a crowded GOP primary field that's likely to see even more hopefuls declare candidacy in the weeks and months ahead. 

DeSantis' initial pitch came in his first campaign ad targeting President Joe Biden's crisis-plagued administration and contrasting Biden's failures with Florida's successes:

In a first-of-its-kind campaign announcement, DeSantis made his bid official in a Twitter Spaces conversation with Elon Musk, moderated by David Sacks. DeSantis' initial rollout on Wednesday will also include an interview with Trey Gowdy on Fox News Channel at 8:00 p.m. ET and a conversation with Mark Levin on his radio program at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Twitter Spaces initially crashed on Wednesday evening after hundreds of thousands of users attempted to tune in for DeSantis' announcement and conversation with Musk, but the broadcast was eventually restored without further issues. Read more, see tweets, and video here,