A special education teacher described Monday how his son became "lost" in the MAGA movement and " toxic masculinity " as a result of right-wing message boards. Speaking to The Guardian , the dad told how he didn't get a call this year for Father's Day. He admitted he's a progressive who protested the Iraq war with his son, who was then in a stroller.
"Nick [not his real name] was a sweet kid," the father, who was not named so as not to identify his son, told The Guardian. "He was really quiet. He’s on the upper end of the autism spectrum, so he can have difficulty interpreting social cues.
All he wanted to do was follow whatever the big kids were doing." Read Also: How Barbie sped up the collapse of Trump’s macho-based hate movement "He can’t tolerate cruelty to animals or people who are vulnerable, which feels ironic, given his politics now," his father explained. He said Nick fell in with a crowd of hackers who would rebuild computers.
That's how Nick found the right-wing message boards . The more he emulated the extreme, the more those on the message boards praised him, he said. As someone looking for acceptance, Nick was hooked.
"Nick was 15 or 16 when he said that he liked Trump . I can understand how Trump appealed to a childish sensibility: he’s this clownish figure who does whatever he wants," the dad said. When Nick's parents divorced, Nick went back to Texas and now focuses on what it takes to be "a man," taking cues from his MAGA friends, the dad said.
For example, "men smoke," so now he does. Men shoot guns, so when Nick turned 21, his MAGA friends took him to the gun range, and he bought him his first gun. Now, Nick has a wealthy friend who buys him dinner and who fills his mind with allegations that poor people are "parasites," his dad said.
So,he said, because his parents aren't wealthy, Nick thinks they are just "lazy, stupid hippies." He explained that he finally reconnected with his son, but only via text message. At the very least, the father said, he's able to tell his son that he loves him.
Read the full story here. Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe gave tips on how to make Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas answer allegations about gifts received by rich donors when he joined legal analyst Allison Gill for their weekly"Jack" podcast , in which they give updates on the cases investigating former President Donald Trump . The hosts addressed the recent complaint sent by Sens.
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to the Department of Justice . The pair asked the DOJ to open an official investigation into Thomas over allegations he violated federal ethics and tax laws . In a statement , they mentioned extensive reporting that Thomas accepted millions of dollars in gifts, luxury travel, and other payments from billionaire benefactors like GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, some of whom may have had financial interests before the court , at least indirectly.
"What they need to open an investigation is information that a federal crime has been committed," McCabe said of the FBI's standards. Read Also: Clarence Thomas has a bump-stock death wish for Americans "There's no law or policy that prevents DOJ from doing that. In fact, they are tasked with investigating and prosecuting violations of federal law.
This could easily be that. So, it would fall well within their authority to do it, but it would be very, very, very controversial." Gill noted that if the FBI can investigate a co-equal branch of government like a member of Congress, then it certainly can do so with a member of the Supreme Court as another co-equal branch of government.
He spoke specifically about the case of Wyden and Whitehouse, who brought up questions involving Thomas' taxes. Thomas was accused of getting a loan for the motor coach, which didn't need to be paid back. If the loan "for his luxury motor coach was forgiven, Thomas would owe taxes on the forgiveness of that loan.
And if he did not, that could be a violation of the law," Gill said. "So, the tax case is both good and bad," McCabe said. "It's a little bit tough to work through the hypothetical because of the IRS's investigative jurisdiction, which is actually statutory in nature.
" Gill asked about failing to fill out the financial disclosure forms, which has happened on multiple occasions with Thomas. But McCabe said that likely wouldn't give rise to a violation of federal criminal law. "If it were a general public corruption case, you would need an allegation that a federal justice received the money in return for making a particular judgment or taking an official act on behalf of the person who gave him money," McCabe continued.
"But again, if that information came to you ...
then you would have the information necessary to meet that low threshold of having information that violates federal or criminal law has occurred or will occur." It prompted Gill to question why the two senators would send their request for investigation directly to the Justice Department when it should probably go to the IRS investigators. McCabe said that it is likely political or performative and that the DOJ could simply forward it to the IRS for its investigation.
Listen to the full comments on the podcast here. Iran could launch a "significant" attack on Israel as soon as this week, the White House said Monday, as US President Joe Biden discussed the crisis with European leaders. "We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
"We share the same concerns and expectations that our Israeli counterparts have with respect to potential timing here -- could be this week," added Kirby. Kirby's comments came as the United States is rushing an aircraft carrier strike group and a guided missile submarine to the region in a show of support for Israel. Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah group have vowed to avenge last month's killings of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
Biden called the leaders of France, Germany , Italy and Britain on Monday to discuss the growing tensions, the White House added. The call was "largely for all the leaders to repeat what they have said before in terms of reaffirming Israel's defense" and to "send a strong message that we don't want to see any rise in violence, any attacks by Iran or its proxies." The leaders also called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza , with difficult talks set for Thursday on halting the conflict that started when the Palestinian group attacked Israel on October 7.
The call came shortly after Biden returned to the Oval Office after a long weekend at his beach house in Delaware. Former President Donald Trump's attempts to slow Vice President Kamala Harris ' campaign momentum rely on three political attacks that are all falling apart, MSNBC columnist James Downie wrote Monday. Trump's three political grenades — crime, immigration and inflation — have each exploded in his hands as the U.
S. continues its recovery from the global pandemic that hit the nation under his administration, Downie reports. "Not since the early years of the Great Depression has news cut so uniformly against one party’s case for power," Downie writes.
"Republicans’ 2024 case has three pillars. All three are collapsing." Crime rates fell in 2021 , 2022 and 2023 and recent Justice department data show that trend continuing with a 15 percent drop in violent crime in the first three months of 2024 , according to Downie.
The murder rate in nearly 70 major U.S. cities dropped more than 8 percent since Trump's administration ended, Downie reports.
Immigration became a weak point for conservatives after GOP lawmakers rallied against a bipartisan border bill that gave Republicans nearly everything they wanted but might have hurt Trump's campaign, writes Downie. President Joe Biden circumvented Congress by enacting portions of it via executive action and now the Border Patrol is reporting the lowest number of apprehensions since the fall of 2020, Downie writes. ALSO READ : Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability Inflation remains the most important in the trifecta as polls show economic concerns plague Republican and Democratic voters alike, Downie argues.
Again, the numbers make problems for Trump , Downie writes. "Though polls show voters trust Harris far more than Biden on the issue, the GOP would like to change that," writes Downie. "With each passing month, the case has weakened.
" Downie cites drops in inflation, the consumer price index and mortgage rates, which last week reportedly hit a 15-month low. "As of now, real-world trends won’t save Trump," Downie writes. "Given his tenuous relationship to reality, that’s entirely appropriate.
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