I did not post the full X / tweets about Kamal nor about Pete because they are exceedingly racist, bigoted and crude, a typical maga response to anything not straight cis white.Β I am sick of these people that tRump enabled and the sooner we beat tRump soundly and put his people back under their rocks they crawled out from for good the better for the US.Β But seriously if this racist bigotry is the best they can do, we already won.Β Β Hugs.Β Scottie
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For a lot of conservatives, all they can say about Kamala Harris are gross, sexist comments.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with D.L. Hughley highlighting how the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity by improving access to housing, creating jobs and investing in small businesses as part of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour on Thursday May 16, 2024 at Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wis.Photo: Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via IMAGN
Republican Missouri secretary of state candidate Valentina Gomez just went on an unhinged rant attacking Vice President Kamala Harris on X, where she called her a βlittle wh*re,β as conservatives posted misogynist memes and jokes about Harris.
βKamala Harris slept her way to the top, and Tulsi Gabbard already destroyed and exposed her in 2020. Kamala is just another DEI hire, and President Trump is going to eat her alive,β she said in a video.
She could become president. Hereβs a closer look at her history on LGBTQ+ stances.
βKamala Haris is a little wh*re,β Gomez wrote when posting her video. [Update: The X post was put on βlimitedβ visibility by XΒ on July 22, 2024, hours after this article was published.]
β Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForSOS)Β July 21, 2024
The comment regarding Harris allegedly having sex to advance her career, alongside the βlittle wh*reβ comment, reflects recent bouts of misogyny against the vice president in an attempt to discredit her. Harris is the first woman to ever be vice president of the United States and could be the first woman president of the country.
The claim has also notably been spread by far-right figurehead Matt Walsh, who said on X,Β βKamala Harris got her start in politics by sleeping with Willie Brown. She became Vice President because Biden needed a non-white female on the ticketβ¦ Sheβs made a career out of begging for hand outs from powerful men. A thoroughly unimpressive human being.β
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These claims refer to a short relationship Harris had with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown 30 years ago, before he became mayor. There is no evidence that she only had a relationship with him to bolster her career. In aΒ Reuters fact check, both Harris and Brown disputed that this relationship led anywhere and instead regarded it as largely irrelevant.
Other users attacked her as a βside chickβ of Brown, referring to the fact that Brown was technically married during his time dating Harris. However, Brown was separated from his wife, making this claim misleading at best.
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Other conservatives, though, just posted gross memes about Harris that sexualized her, showing both sexism and misogynoir, or the combination of sexism and racism directed at Black women.
This is seen with one post comparing Harris to the βHawk Tuahβ girl, someone known in aΒ viral memeΒ about engaging in fellatio.
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One X user continued these claims, referring to her as βarm candyβ for reality TV show host Montel Williams. The twoΒ briefly datedΒ in 2001, however Williams has said since that he has βgreat respect for Sen. Harris.β
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Right-wing commentator Konstantin Kisin referred to her as a βvagina of colour,β and another user referred to her and out Transportation Secretary β and possible running mate β Pete Buttigieg as the βblowjob ticket,β reflecting both misogyny and homophobia.
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One political cartoonist made a comic of Harris giving fellatio to the Washington Monument, while another user made a post suggesting Harris wants to perform sexual acts on enough voters to get elected.
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Another user documented multiple accounts making memes of Harris engaging in sexual acts to various different presidential logos.
Once prominent and now largely forgotten alt-right icon and βex-gay trollβ Milo Yiannopoulos made a post encouraging people to rely on him for objectification of Harris.
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The attacks against Harris have been reflected in merchandise made about her. One shirt being sold says βJoe and the Hoe Gotta Goe,β a slogan thatβsΒ parrotedΒ in other right-wing merchandise that, while not officially endorsed by the GOP, has nevertheless been prominent among the Republican voter base
Gomezβs claim about former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-HI) attacking Harris is rooted in an oldΒ political debateΒ where Gabbard criticized Harrisβs history as Californiaβs attorney general, pointing out her thousands of convictions of people who used cannabis. Additionally, Gabbard criticized Harrisβs handling of people on death row, alleging that Harris could have done much more to protect innocent individuals.
This claim reflects the widespread public concern about Harrisβs history as a prosecutor with many likening the candidate to a corrupt police officer. This is further reflected in criticism about her denying a trans womanΒ gender-affirming careΒ while in prison. She has since walked back on this decision.
Nevertheless, the misogyny reflected among right-wing criticisms largely ignores any critiques of her policy positions and instead aims to reflect on her sexual and romantic history. This neglects her substance as a person and a candidate and swipes aside any debates about her merit as a candidate. Notably, these types of posts are rarely directed at male candidates.
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On the first day of the Republican National Convention, prominent Republicans used their national platform to target transgender people. This signals that the party is not abandoning its efforts to curtail transgender and LGBTQ+ rights if they gain power in the next election. This comes after the vice presidential running mate pick of JD Vance, the lead author ofΒ a Senate billΒ that would institute a national ban on transgender youth care and bar all medical schools from teaching about transgender care, including adult trans care.
The most prominent figure to use her platform to attack transgender people was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene criticized Transgender Day of Visibility for falling on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024. Notably, Easter Sunday is a moving holiday, while Transgender Day of Visibility has always been held on March 31. There have been more Transgender Days of Visibility on that date than Easter Sundays since America was founded.
βThey promised normalcy and gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday,β Greene said to raucous boos. βAnd let me state this clearly: There are only two genders, and we are made in Godβs image,β she continued.
Video at link above
Many on X (formerly Twitter) questioned the statement and its implications for the nature of God’s gender. Vinny Thomas, a user on the platform,Β pointed out, ββThere are only two genders and we are made in Godβs imageβ is so fascinating because what exactly are you saying about Godβs gender?β
Representative John James from Michigan also joined in, using some of his time to target transgender women in sports and changing rooms. βOur daughters were sold on hope, and now they are being forced onto the playing fields and into the changing rooms of biological males. America was sold on hope, and now the world is on fire,β Rep. James continued.
Senator Ron Johnson joined in with his speech, calling LGBTQ+ inclusive education, sports participation, and inclusion βsexual indoctrination,β and stating that it was an attack on American values. βThis fringe agenda includes biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children,β he said to boos. He continued, βTodayβs Democrat agenda, their policies, are a clear and present danger to our institutions, our values, and our people.β
Video at link above
One of the “everyday Americans” chosen to speak at the Republican National Convention, Linda Fornos, was the last to target transgender people. In a speech that fell rather flat with little reaction, she questioned children learning pronouns in schools. Many correctly pointed out that pronouns have always been part of an English education.
Video at link above
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The willingness to lean into anti-LGBTQ+ policies on the first day of the Republican National Convention may seem puzzling. Attacks on LGBTQ+ people have faltered in 2024 compared with 2023, with far fewer laws passing. Several states that had targeted trans people in previous years, such asΒ Florida,Β Georgia,Β West Virginia, andΒ Kansas, failed to pass anti-LGBTQ+ policies this year, despite over 80 bills proposed in those states targeting the community. In many elections where anti-trans policies were a major issue, the Republican Party suffered setbacks:Β 70% of Moms for LibertyΒ and Project 1776 candidates lost their races in 2023. Other losses Republicans have suffered on this issue occurred in theΒ Virginia legislature elections, theΒ Arizona Governorβs race, theΒ Michigan legislature elections, theΒ Wisconsin Supreme Court election, theΒ Walker-Warnock Senate race, and in dozens more places. Furthermore, recent polling fromΒ Gallup,Β Navigator, and theΒ LA TimesΒ indicates fading public support for such laws, with huge majorities of respondents seeing them as a distraction and opposing bans on trans youth care.
Still, Trumpβs selection of Senator JD Vance as his running mate indicates that he and the Republican Party have not backed off from this issue. Vance notably was the primary sponsor of aΒ Senate billΒ to bar all trans care for trans youth nationwide. His bill would also bar secondary educational institutions, including medical schools, from teaching gender-affirming care for any age. Trump himselfΒ has called forΒ investigations of hormone therapy manufacturers, bans on LGBTQ+ inclusive policies in schools, and targeting transgender people βat any age.β
As the Republican National Convention unfolds, the stage is set for a parade of speakers with deep-rooted anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ records. For LGBTQ+ people, these are not just rhetorical threats but a potential harbinger of laws that could be passed over the next four years. LGBTQ+ people will therefore likely be especially tuned in over the remaining nights.
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On Tuesday Night, the Teamsters Union posted a tweet criticizing President Sean O’Brien over anti-trans article endorsement. This comes after O’Brien spoke at the RNC, a first for the union.
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On Monday evening, Teamsters President Sean OβBrien made history byΒ speaking at the Republican National Conventionβthe first time a Teamsters Union President has ever done so. The move, however, didnβt come without controversy. Union Vice President John PalmerΒ calledΒ the decision βunconscionable.β
OβBrien then stirred more debate byΒ tweeting in supportΒ of anΒ articleΒ by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, which criticized corporate initiatives supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and transgender workers. The situation then erupted when the official Teamsters Twitter accountΒ posted a statementΒ condemning OβBrienβs endorsement, which was swiftly deleted.
βUnions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right, no matter how much people like Sen. Hawley attempt to tether such bigotry to a cynical pro-labor message. The message this sends to Teamsters of color, Teamster women, and LGBTQ Teamsters is that they are not welcome in the union unless they surrender their identity to a new kind of anti-woke unionism. You don’t unite a diverse working class by scoffing at its diversity,β said the now deleted tweet.
OβBrienβs support for Hawleyβs views received swift backlash. βWe get it. He promised you Secretary of Labor,β read a response by transgender writerΒ Parker Molloy.
βIf you’re a Teamster of color, are LGBTQ+, Sean O’Brien has just said he doesn’t give a fuck about you,β said theΒ Daily Union ElectionsΒ account.
βScab,β said American journalist and labor activistΒ Talia Jane.
OβBrienβs speech at the RNC puzzled many observers. He used the platform to advocate for unions while also praising Donald Trump, calling him βone tough SOB.β Throughout much of the speech, the applause was tepid to nonexistent. Reports even indicated that at leastΒ one audience memberΒ shouted βright to work,β reflecting anti-union sentiments in the Republican Party.
Meanwhile, other labor union leaders were critical of OβBrienβs appearance at the RNC. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO,Β responded, βDonald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bossesβ sideβ¦ We wonβt be fooled.β These critiques were echoed by members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and other union leaders.
Even John Palmer, the Teamsters Vice President,Β weighed in: βA speaking engagement at the Republican National Convention by Teamsters President Sean OβBrien, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes the most anti-union party and president Iβve seen in my lifetime seem palatable.β
OβBrienβs support for a senatorβs explicitly anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ viewsΒ runs contraryΒ to Teamsters Unionβs official documents and policies. One document on the Teamsters website states, βWe are pro-union and pro-equality. In keeping with the labor movement motto, βan injury to one is an injury to all,β we support a strong and progressive labor movement that promotes full equality and respect for LGBTQ workers and their families.β
The Teamsters presidentβs participation and apparent endorsement of anti-trans and anti-queer politics from the Republican Party could signal a profound betrayal to LGBTQ+ workers, who depend on union protections for their safety and rights. As the Teamsters Union remains silent on its presidential endorsement, the stakes have never been higher for those workers impacted by Republican policies. LGBTQ+ union members are left with the question of whether or not their rights will be bartered away for political favor with a party that has repeatedly positioned itself against their very existence.
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Again republicans know that their possition on abortion is not popular and the public wants access to it.Β Β But republicans don’t care what the people want, they only want to force everyone to obey the rules they create.Β So they have to lie and mislead to get their way.Β Don’t fall for it.Β Β Hugs.Β Scottie
A Florida panel has approved language that will appear beneath an abortion ballot proposal in November that states the referendum will βnegatively impact the state budget,β a move that reproductive rights proponents call βa dirty trick.β
The financial impact language says public funds may be required to pay for abortions, and that possible lawsuits could be costly. The statement concludes that βcosts cannot be estimated with precision,β but asserts that if the amendment passes, it could be bad for growth in the state.
Last fall, the panel approved language that said the impact of Amendment 4 was βindeterminate.β Since then, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R) appointed new members to the panel who voted to change the financial statement that will be on the ballot.
The proposed amendment would result in significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year in Florida. The increase in abortions could be even greater if the amendment invalidates laws requiring parental consent before minors undergo abortions and those ensuring only licensed physicians perform abortions.
There is also uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds. Litigation to resolve those and other uncertainties will result in additional costs to the state government and state courts that will negatively impact the state budget.
An increase in abortions may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time. Because the fiscal impact of increased abortions on state and local revenues and costs cannot be estimated with precision, the total impact of the proposed amendment is indeterminate.
One would think that having a bunch of abandoned, unwanted infants in state care would affect the budget, but then it IS Florida. They don’t really give a crap about kids so I guess they won’t be helping to support them.
This is not merely savvy. It’s framing the message to influence the millions with short attention spans and low intellectual skills, and to get it in few enough words to make a bumper sticker. The wording probably derives from lots of expensive political consulting work and focus groups.
Or the free State of Florida could see a massive windfall in income from all those nasty whores travelling to Florida to have weekly abortions on demand in conjunction with their vacations to Disney. As they so freely point out, the economic impact is indeterminate.
Republicans know their polices are unpopular.Β They don’t want to serve the will of the people, they want to rule the people.Β They want minority rule over the majority.Β Their goals, not your needs or desires as the public are important to them.Β They see you are a problem, not as a valued voter.Β They don’t want to win your vote, they want to keep you from voting.Β We must defeat the republicans at all costs, yet our politicians are busy tearing down our best chance and arguing about who should run.Β There is no time for this shit.Β Get 110% behind the single candidate and beat the fuck out of praising them.Β Do it.Β The republicans do that.Β They don’t let tRump’s court cases or his rambling make no sense speeches stop them.Β They sing his praises which are all lies.Β Β And they win that way.Β They don’t care what is true.Β By my dogs that love gravy, the democrats love to sabotage themselves every chance they get.Β They are nervous nellies at every turn.Β Β Hugs.Β Scottie
Love β or at least a spike of users on the gay dating appΒ GrindrΒ β was reportedly in the Milwaukee air this week while theΒ Republican National ConventionΒ was in town.
Over 1,000 users reported a Grindr outage in the Milwaukee area around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Downdetector, a website that collects online service status information.
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The Grindr app also allegedly experienced problems in the Cream City on Thursdayβ theΒ fourth and final dayΒ of the RNC β as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. However,Β Grindr’s official status updatesΒ show there hasn’t been an outage since May.
Nevertheless, a Grindr user who did not want to be identified told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he noticed an influx of anonymous users this week.
“On any given day, you’ll go on there and see a headless torso or blank profile,” the man told the outlet Thursday.
The source explained that a headless photo on someone’s Grindr profile usually means the person is looking for a fling and not a relationship. On a normal day, the Grindr user said he usually comes across around 10 users who don’t show their face, but claimed he stopped counting at 50 anonymous profiles when he checked the app Thursday.
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NewsweekΒ has contacted Grindr for comment but has not heard back.
The buzz surrounding allegedly increased Grindr traffic in Milwaukee rapidly spread on social media. Even ex-Congressman Geroge Santos, who said he met his husband on Grindr, got involved.
“Grindr executives are calling the RNC convention the Grindr Superbowl,” Santos saidΒ in a videoΒ posted Wednesday.
“Let me tell you something: just come out of the closet boys. Come on, it’s fun. You can be gay and conservative,” he added. “But look,Β Grindr is already outing youΒ anyway based on the hits and guess who is in town? It’s all you conservatives.”
ThisΒ wouldn’t be the first timeΒ Grindr saw increased traffic in cities hosting the RNC. In 2016, the Cleveland area saw a 66% increase in Grindr traffic while the convention was in town, according to a Vice article. Comparatively, Grindr hotspots like Times Square, Capitol Hill, Disneyland, and South Beach, Florida did not see any comparable traffic increase at that time.
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This trend isn’t just exclusive to theΒ RepublicanΒ convention, either, according to the same Vice article. Grindr saw a reported 148% increase in traffic around Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena during the week of the 2016 DNC.
They want to claim the democrats are the violent ones, the democrats are the ones with gang thugs that threaten everyone.Β They claim the democrats are the ones using dangerous violence rhetoric.Β They ignore everything they say and do.Β Hugs.Β Scottie
βWe are in a battle between GOOD and EVIL. The Democrats are the party of pedophiles, murdering the innocent unborn, violence, and bloody, meaningless, endless wars. They want to lock up their political opponents, and terrorize innocent Americans who would tell the truth about it. The Democrat party is flat out evil, and yesterday they tried to murder President Trump.β β Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, posting yesterday to X.
This morning, Speaker Mike Johnson called on politicians to βturn the rhetoric down."
βWeβre all Americans, and we have to treat one another with dignity and respect.β
Don’t blame US for YOUR violence. Trump was shot at by one of your own, with a military assault rifle that was made readily available to him by your own party’s stance on the 2nd amendment. And stop calling us pedophiles you shrieking bag of pus.
i know this first hand when they tried removing my children, around 2006, because our lifestyle a danger to them. That is exactly what we the papers said. Not that they were harmed in and way, but two women in a relationship was a danger. We managed to fight those charges, but a few years earlier, a mother lost custody to her children, because her mother thought her lifestyle was a unhealthy.
It’s obvious a fucking projection of people like herself. THOSE HATER SPEECH 100% filled with harmful lies from MTG is enough to incite the country to turn into herself. She is the culprit of violence like assassination.
They will not accept defeat.Β Listen to them talk at the republican convention.Β The talk like they are a super majority.Β Hulk Hogan even gave a speech saying what are all you criminals, child abusers, … a bunch of insulting terms they use for democrats, what you going to do when tRump and maga troops come after you.Β Β Threats of violence.Β They used phrases like everyone wanted tRump, everyone agrees with republicans, the country wants a return to Christianity, they said things like our country, we need to take back our country. Hogan said all real Americans will be called tRumpiets.Β The rest of us that don’t want tRump are not Americans, we don’t love the USA.Β Β Every thing to make it seem that there is no way they can lose because there are so many of them and so little of everyone else.Β I hate it.Β The democrats need to project confidence instead we are eating our own candidate.Β How can we win if we can not stick together and show we know we are going to win.Β Hugs.Β Scottie
Mr. Trumpβs allies have followed a two-pronged approach: restricting voting for partisan advantage ahead of Election Day and short-circuiting the process of ratifying the winner afterward, if Mr. Trump loses. The latter strategy involves an ambitious β and legally dubious β attempt to reimagine decades of settled law dictating how results are officially certified in the weeks before the transfer of power.
The legal campaign, which has come into focus as Republicans prepare to nominate Mr. Trump at their convention next week, has been quietly playing out in courts, statehouses and county boards for months, and is concentrated in critical battlegrounds.
The effort involves a sprawling network of groups and includes some people that worked to overturn the results in 2020 β a campaign that led to federal and state criminal charges against Mr. Trump and several of his associates.
In the movie “Recount” Tom Wilkerson, playing lead counsel James Baker for Team Bush, said, “This is a street fight, boys.” It’s high time Democrats recognize that’s the way Rethugs always play and fight back accordingly, unlike Team Gore.