International
Former Clinton adviser calls for investigation of ABC debate between Trump, Harris
From LifeSiteNews
By Stephen Kokx
Mark Penn, chairman of the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll, believes there is a likely chance that ABC colluded with the Harris campaign.
A former adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton is calling for an investigation into the recently concluded presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
During an appearance on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast, Mark Penn said he believes there is a likely chance that ABC colluded with the Harris campaign.
Describing the debate as a “staged wrestling match,” Penn commented that he thinks ABC “should do a full internal investigation, hire an outside law firm. I don’t know how much of this was planned in advance.”
Penn, chairman of the Harvard CAPS Harris Poll, previously worked at Microsoft and founded a prominent polling firm that has helped many high-profile public officials, including former president Bill Clinton. In recent years, he has grown close to Trump, even advising him on his impeachment in 2019.
Penn remarked on X that the “referees” of the debate were unfair and that had the moderators overseen the first debate between Trump and Joe Biden, Biden might still be in the race, as they were clearly in favor of Harris.
There can be no fair game or debate no matter what the score when the referees put their fingers on the scale.
What ABC did in poorly fact checking one side while letting the other side repeat serial falsehoods meant that one side had to do its own defense.
It robs all sides…
— Mark Penn (@Mark_Penn) September 11, 2024
He further told Solomon that the “suspicion here is really quite high, and I think a review of all their internal texts and emails really should be done by an independent party to find out to what extent they were planning on, in effect, you know, fact-checking just one candidate and in effect, rigging the outcome of this debate. I think the situation demands nothing less than that.”
Since the debate, the Trump campaign has pointed out that moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis repeatedly “fact-checked” Trump but did not do so even one time with Harris. Some have also noted that Davis belongs to the same sorority as Harris and that the failure to disclose that detail was unprofessional in the least, if not a blatant conflict of interests.
Debate conflict of interest with ABC moderator Linsey Davis CONFIRMED. She is a sorority sister of Kamala Harris, and even confirmed it on a live broadcast 3 1/2 years ago. pic.twitter.com/eoJihVpZp1
— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) September 12, 2024
While Trump and his surrogates have claimed victory in the debate, not all conservatives agree with that assessment. Former Congressman Trey Gowdy told Fox News that Trump should fire the people who prepared him for the debate, which he called the “land of missed opportunities.” Fox pundit Brit Hume likewise said Trump had a “bad night” getting baited repeatedly by Harris.
Polls seem to suggest that Harris has gained several points in the last 72 hours, with betting markets now being less optimistic about a Trump victory in November. At the same time, forecaster Nate Silver gives Trump at a 60% chance of winning the Electoral College.
Unconfirmed reports on social media suggested that a possible ABC “whistleblower” may be on the verge of coming forward with evidence that the outlet fed Harris the questions ahead of time. LifeSite has found no reliable evidence of that being true as of the publication of this story. What LifeSite can confirm is that in 2016, former Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile leaked questions to the Clinton campaign that were going to be asked at a CNN town hall.
Trump recently announced that he will not participate in another debate before this year’s elections on Tuesday, November 5. Democrats currently hold a narrow edge in the U.S. Senate with 47 members plus four independents who caucus with them for a total of 51 in comparison to 49 Republicans. The House of Representatives is run Republicans, who have 220 members to 211 Democrats.
International
Elon Musk, JD Vance, others to appear at Trump’s return rally in Butler, PA, on Saturday
From LifeSiteNews
By Stephen Kokx
Donald Trump is holding a rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the same location where he was nearly assassinated three months ago, with allies including Elon Musk set to join him.
Saturday afternoon at 5 pm (EST), Donald Trump will hold a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the same location he nearly lost his life at just three short months ago.
“I’m going back to Butler because I feel I have an obligation to go back to Butler. We never finished what we were supposed to do,” Trump told NewsNation earlier this week.
Trump will be joined by a literal army of his closest political allies, including running mate JD Vance, son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara Trump — co-chair of the Republican National Committee — and Elon Musk, who shared news of his planned attendance on X.
I will be there to support! https://t.co/nokR0g3dn1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
Also scheduled to appear is the family of slain firefighter Corey Comperatore, a dozen Pennsylvania sheriffs, multiple congressmen, and many persons who also attended Trump’s last rally at the Butler Farm Show Inc. location on July 13.
Although the Secret Service urged Trump to not hold events outside following the assassination attempt, the former president announced on TRUTH Social just days later that he would not be doing so and that he would be returning to Butler. Some commentators accused the agency’s request of being a form of election interference intended to suppress enthusiasm for Trump.
Security is expected to be extremely tight at the rally. The monumental breakdown in coordination between local police and federal agents that allowed a 20-year-old shooter to fire multiple rounds at Trump’s head while he was on stage has still not been fully clarified, prompting speculation that the effort was an “inside job” carried out by intelligence agencies to replace Trump as the GOP’s nominee with a more pro-war candidate.
After the July shooting, scores of political commentators and religious figures attributed Trump’s survival to God’s protection. Trump himself said as much in his GOP nominee acceptance speech just five days later. “I’m not supposed to be here tonight … I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God,” he said.
Trump’s wife Melania, who recently came out in support of a women’s right to an abortion, also described his surviving two assassination attempts as “miracles.” She has also blamed Democrats and liberal media outlets that have labeled him as a “threat to democracy” for why the shootings took place.
On August 8, the state of Pennsylvania published several X posts informing residents that it is likely there won’t be a clear winner on election night.
“Pennsylvanians won’t always know the final results of all races on election night. Any changes in results that occur as counties continue to count ballots are not evidence that an election is ‘rigged’,” said the state, which has faced criticism over election irregularities in recent years.
Without Pennsylvania’s 19 Electoral College votes, Trump would have to win Republican-leaning states like North Carolina and Georgia and pick up Arizona and Nevada, both of which he lost to Joe Biden in 2020. And even then, he would only be at 268. He would still have to win a typically Democratic state like New Hampshire (4 Electoral College votes), Wisconsin (10), or Michigan (15), to surpass the 270 threshold. But with Pennsylvania in his column, all Trump has to do is retain North Carolina and Georgia and he will receive the necessary 270 votes.
International
Multiple women’s college volleyball teams forfeit matches rather than face male opponent
From LifeSiteNews
Southern Utah, Boise State, and Wyoming universities forfeited women’s volleyball matches against San José State over the inclusion of a male on the female team, sparking Christian non-profit Concerned Women for America to launch a lawsuit against San José State.
Both Southern Utah University (SUU) and Boise State University’s (BSU) female volleyball teams made the decision to refuse competing against a team with a male-born player.
San José State University’s (SJSU) Blaire Fleming (born Brayden Fleming) is the 6’1 biological male competing on the SJSU female volleyball team – the individual various outlets have attributed to the school’s undefeated winning streak. However, after reassessing their initial decision, the University of Wyoming (UW) has added itself to the list of schools demanding fairness and safety in women’s sports.
When UW first learned of the transgender-identifying opponent, they first decided to move forward with their October 5 game. But not long after BSU chose to forfeit, “It appears [UW] … had a change-of-heart,” wrote OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske in response to the team announcing they would, in fact, not compete.
SUU was the first school to opt out of play against SJSU in a preseason matchup and BSU was the first to cancel conference play. Both teams did not explicitly state their reason for forfeiting, and UW also kept their public statement vague. They shared in a statement from Tuesday:
After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San Jose State University. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming.
But as Zaksheske added, “While Wyoming is the latest school to cancel a match against San Jose State, don’t be surprised if more schools follow suit.”
It turns out SJSU chose to initially hide the fact that Fleming is a biological male – from both his own teammates and other competitors. This reality, alongside an increasing number of colleges refusing to compete, has not merely sparked controversy, but action as well.
The conservative Christian non-profit Concerned Women for America (CWA) has filed a complaint against SJSU. “We want to protect the integrity of women’s sports but also the safety of these female athletes,” said Macy Petty, a CWA legislative assistant and a NCAA volleyball athlete.
According to Petty, the issue is rooted in the fact that “many of these schools were unaware that there was a male athlete on” the female team. “We just want to make sure that these schools know exactly what is going on in this athletic program because the NCAA and SJSU had not previously given them the decency to even let them know what was happening.”
Ultimately, Petty pointed out, “There’s no informed consent for the schools or for the female athletes here. They’re totally blindsided when they walk up to the court and they see that there’s a male athlete on the other side.” As Fox News reported, CWA’s “federal civil rights complaint [alleged] female discrimination and [argued] that the California university allowed a male athlete to hold a female roster spot as well as a female athletic scholarship.”
In a comment to The Washington Stand, Doreen Denny, CWA senior advisor, stated, “What is happening in NCAA women’s volleyball is a game changer.” As she went on to say, this is the first time we’re seeing “NCAA member institutions … taking a stand against the NCAA’s trans athlete policy that directly discriminates against female athletes and are upholding the integrity of women’s sports.”
CWA CEO Penny Nance also praised UW’s decision in a statement, emphasizing her gratitude that the university “has taken seriously the issues of unfairness and discrimination against female athletes when males compete in women’s sports.” She added, “No NCAA member institution should have to be making this choice.”
In addition to CWA’s complaint, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines has filed a lawsuit against SJSU. Included as a plaintiff in this lawsuit is Brooke Slusser, a player on the SJSU volleyball team. The document reads:
Due to the NCAA’s Transgender Eligibility Policies which permit Fleming to play on the SJSU women’s volleyball team and which led to SJSU recruiting Fleming, giving Fleming a scholarship, and allowing Fleming to be in positions to violate Brooke’s right to bodily privacy, Brooke has suffered physical and emotional injuries, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress, mental anguish and suffering.
In comments shared with OutKick, Slusser said, “It’s crazy to say, but it was an easy decision for me to join because it’s something I truly believe in.… This is something that so many people do care about. It’s just that so many people are scared to talk about it.”
“While these schools have not given a full explanation for their decisions to forfeit matches against San Jose State University,” concluded Denny, “their actions are speaking louder than words.”
This article is reprinted with permission from the Family Research Council, publishers of The Washington Stand at washingtonstand.com.
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