To be clear, McConnell is not legally obligated to support “whoever the nominee ultimately is.” He’s simply decided to do that—despite Trump’s attacks on his wife and his “disgraceful dereliction of duty” on January 6—because he’s a power-hungry ghoul with no spine. (It also would not have broken any federal codes for him to simply say, “Yes, I think it’s time for the party to move away from Donald Trump.” But even that he apparently couldn’t bring himself to do.) It’s hardly surprising—though nevertheless completely absurd—that McConnell will fully be on Team Trump should the former guy clinch the nomination. Especially seeing as just weeks after Trump had attempted to burn democracy to the ground, McConnell said the same thing.
Of course, this was before Trump went after his wife. But apparently there is literally nothing the ex-president could do to lose the minority leader’s support. Break into his house? Spray-paint obscenities on his driveway? Go after his “chins”? The sky is clearly the limit here.
You’ll never believe it but Mike Pence thinks we “need to” ban abortion pills now
At some point in the extremely near future, a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump could issue a ruling that will effectively ban the abortion pill nationwide. That would obviously be a devastating blow to pregnant people across America—but one person who’s apparently thrilled by the prospect? Former vice president and potential 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence.
In audio obtained by Jezebel, Pence can be heard telling someone during a book-signing event in Houston on Monday that abortion pills have got to go. Asked “Are you thinking about what to do about abortion pills? Would you like to ban those?” Pence responds: “To me, it’s…I’m pro-life, and I think that’s a real issue and it’s really dangerous. Really dangerous.” Pressed further, he says the US “can” ban abortion pills, “And we need to. We need to. My daughter’s written a lot about it, she writes for the Daily Wire…Look up Charlotte Pence Bond, she’s done a lot of really important writing on that topic.” (Charlotte Pence Bond is the producer of a series of antiabortion videos, which accuse health providers of misleading women about the abortion pill; one of them actually uses the word “sinners.”)
Obviously, it’s in no way surprising that the former vice president thinks we “need to” ban abortion pills. As a congressman from Indiana, he attempted to defund Planned Parenthood. He also sponsored and introduced “personhood” bills and one that would have limited rape exceptions to cases of “forcible” rape, a basically prehistoric definition that the federal government no longer recognizes. As governor of the Indiana, he signed, per Politico, “one of the nation’s toughest abortion laws, which would have banned abortions, even in early pregnancy, based on the diagnosis of a fetal disability.” (A federal judge ultimately blocked that law from going into effect.) In 2017, he became the highest-ranking government official at the time to speak at the March for Life (until Trump showed up in 2020). After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, he said, “We must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.” In other words, we “must not rest” until abortion is banned in every state in the country.
And clearly, we’re getting there: Thirteen states have banned abortion outright, with the procedure restricted in numerous others.
As for the abortion pill, a lawsuit filed before an antiabortion Trump judge—Matthew Kacsmaryk—which seeks to revoke the FDA’s two-decade-old approval of mifepristone (the medication taken in conjunction with misoprostol in order to terminate pregnancies), may make Pence’s hopes and dreams re: medicated abortions come true. While legal experts have said the suit would have been immediately thrown out if it were being judged purely on the legal merits, the group behind it will actually get its day in court, thanks to Judge Kacsmaryk. Prior to receiving his federal appointment, Kacsmaryk served as the deputy general counsel for First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian litigation outfit currently suing CVS on behalf of a nurse practitioner who doesn’t want to prescribe abortion pills. He also wrote an op-ed against abortion, same-sex marriage, sex outside of marriage, birth control, and no-fault divorce (yes). And it’s important to also note that he wrote an opinion, as a judge, attacking the right to contraception. So it seems pretty clear how he’s going to come down here…but he should definitely feel free to surprise everyone.
Gavin Newsom discusses ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle’s transformation from first lady of San Fransisco to MAGA main squeeze
One of the great mysteries of the modern universe is how Kimberly Guilfoyle went from being married to California governor Gavin Newsom—who was the mayor of San Fransisco when they were together—to being engaged to Donald Trump Jr. and stumping for none other than Mr. MAGA himself. Asked about this inexplicable 180 in a recent interview on CNN’s The Axe Files With David Axelrod podcast, her ex offered some thoughts, like that she appears to have been brainwashed by the right.
Per HuffPost:
“She was a different person,” Newsom said of the Guilfoyle he was married to from 2001 to 2006. Guilfoyle was working as a prosecutor in San Francisco when they tied the knot. Newsom suggested Guilfoyle’s ambition and pride influenced how she responded to the environment at Fox News, where she worked from 2006 to 2018. “She’s whip smart, and she fell prey, I think, to the culture at Fox in a deep way,” he said. “She would disagree with that assessment. She’d perhaps suggest she found the light.”
Asked if he’d been invited to Guilfoyle’s wedding to Donald Trump Jr., he quipped, “Well, I’m very busy.”
Probably for the best!
Marjorie Taylor Greene sees Trump’s “wind turbines cause cancer” and raises him a “and don’t forget about the whales, boss”
