Marco Rubio Bans Visas for Officials Who Censor Americans – Such as Marco Rubio and Trump?

After nearly two and half centuries, the American Constitution remains one of the most revered documents of independence and liberty ever written and adopted as the legal foundation of a democratic republic. It defines the basic governing principles for a free society that is truly made of, by, and for the people.

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Donald Trump, Censorship

That said, if there is one thing for which Donald Trump has distinguished himself throughout his occupation of the White House, it is his fervent aversion to the Constitution and especially its prohibitions on abridging freedom of the press and free speech. He has literally taken control over the once independently managed White House Press briefings in order to transform it into a pro-Trump puppet show of pure propaganda.

SEE THIS: Trump Declares Himself King of the White House Press Corps, Will Now Decide Who Can Question Him

On Wednesday Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, accelerated the autocratic aspirations of the Trump regime by issuing a new decree aimed at foreign government officials and other diplomats seeking to visit the United States. Rubio tweeted that…

“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights.

“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”

Paging Mr Orwell, Mr George Orwell. Please come to the White courtesy phone.

digby (@digby56.bsky.social) 2025-05-28T18:15:01.190Z

Rubio’s policy specifically references foreign nations and/or persons engaging in the moderation of social media in order to mitigate hate speech, disinformation, and efforts to incite violence. It’s the sort of responsible moderation that was practiced in the U.S. until Trump coerced American tech platforms to discontinue it so that Trump and his cult followers could rabble-rouse uninterrupted.

However, the flaming hypocrisy of Rubio’s decree is impossible to ignore. The Trump administration is the most censorious regime to assume power in America since the 1950’s blacklisting and McCarthyism. Trump has been persecuting Harvard University and other academic institutions who refused to kiss his… let’s say ring. He has been pressuring law firms (not always successfully) to kneel down before him, and even pledge the support of hundreds of millions of dollars in free representation for his MAGA agenda.

Perhaps worst of all, Trump has been threatening the media with billion dollar lawsuits and revocation of broadcast licenses unless they kowtow to him and his fixation on getting the press to lavish him with unflinching adoration.

What’s more, Trump has installed himself as the chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; he has banned the Associated Press from presidential media avails; he appointed Kari Lake to head the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which manages Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Television Martí, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Voice of America (VOA). And Lake has already made some preposterous decisions…

FOR INSTANCE: Trump Flunky Kari Lake Taps MAGA Propaganda Network, OAN, to Be the Voice of Voice of America

On the same day that Rubio issued his decree, Trump’s Re-education Secretary, Linda McMahon, told CNBC that universities must be “in sync” with the Trump administration in order to receive government grants. That will prohibit funding for life-saving research on cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other devastating illnesses.

Trump's Re-education Secretary, Linda McMahon, says that universities must be "in sync with the administration."In other words, they must abandon academic freedom and submit to their government overlords. Because that's what cult leader Trump demands.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-05-28T15:41:30.011Z

If Rubio’s decree were to be fairly enforced, Trump and most of his Cabinet would be unable to get visas to enter the U.S. Their blatant and shameless acts of censorship would fail to meet Rubio’s criteria. So while Rubio and Trump are whining about what they imagine to be censorship by foreigners, they are the worst practitioners of it. Now, if we could only get them to self-deport.

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WTHF? When Asked ‘Don’t You Need to Uphold the Constitution,’ Trump Replies ‘I Don’t Know.’

Donald Trump seems to be doing his best to affirm that he intends to become America’s first dictator. He is furiously dismantling every cherished institution of the nation from justice to academia to journalism, and even religion. There are no principles or values that he won’t stomp on in pursuit of his own exaltation.

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Donald Trump, Constitution

Included among the pillars of American principles that Trump is eager to plunder is the nation’s Constitution itself. Not that he has any idea what it says or what it means. To Trump it is an archaic document that is only there for him to exploit if possible, or discard when necessary.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Justice Dept Threatens Journalists as ‘Treasonous’ for Not Disclosing Sources of Leaks

Trump confirmed his distaste for the Constitution in an interview with Kristen Welker on Meet the Press this weekend. During a portion of the interview that dealt with Trump’s unlawful deportation agenda, Welker sought to get his views on the legal aspects of rounding up allegedly undocumented persons and shipping them off to foreign gulags without any justification or legal recourse.

Welker: Your Secretary of State [Marco Rubio] says that everyone who is here – citizens and noncitizens – deserves due process. Do you agree?
Trump: I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.
Welker: Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.
Trump: I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or two million or three million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth. Some of the worst, most dangerous people on Earth. And I was elected to get them the hell out of here. And the courts are holding me from doing it.
Welker: “But even given those numbers that you’re talking about, don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?
Trump: I don’t know

Perhaps one of the most honest responses that Trump has ever given to a question is “I don’t know.” However, in this case, it is also one of the most disturbing. The president of the United States ought to know whether what he is doing is legal and constitutional. But Trump is admitting that he doesn’t know that the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution plainly says that “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” That’s “person,” not citizen.

Instead, Trump attempts to cower behind some unnamed flank of lawyers, but does not even bother to say whether or not they agree with him or the Constitution about due process. Then he suggests that due process – and thus the Constitution – can be ignored if there are too many people seeking its protection. And of course, because there has been no due process, Trump doesn’t know whether any of the people he is deporting are criminals or dangerous, or even in the U.S. illegally.

Worst of all is that Trump was asked directly if he needs to “uphold the Constitution” and replies that he “doesn’t know” about that either. He literally pledged an oath to do so when he was inaugurated. How is this not a five alarm warning that Trump is determined to discard the Constitution and declare himself King of America?

MORE HERE: Trump Marks His First 100 Days By Glorifying Why Most Americans See Him as ‘A Dangerous Dictator’

Given Trump’s responses, what’s to stop him from arresting a couple thousand journalists and then saying that there are too many of them to hold hearings to ascertain whether or not their First Amendment rights were violated. So it’s off to El Salvador for you. And he could do the same with lawyers, or teachers, or civil rights activists, or members of Congress, or anyone who triggers Trump’s ire. And yes, that means you.

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Trump’s Justice Dept Threatens Journalists as ‘Treasonous’ for Not Disclosing Sources of Leaks

The authoritarian aspirations of Donald Trump have hardly been kept hidden. To the contrary, he brags about it, even celebrates it, on a daily basis. His brazen attacks on everything from universities, to law firms, to independent federal agencies that he is expressly prohibited from interacting with, are naked attempts to unlawfully expand and abuse his position as president.

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Donald Trump, Censorship

Among the institutions that Trump regularly persecutes is the one profession that is explicitly protected in the Constitution by name: Freedom of the Press. For many years Trump has maligned the media in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” But more recently he has taken to filing ludicrous lawsuits and banishing those who are insufficiently worshipful from presidential events.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Press Secretary Takes Questions From a Russian Funded MAGA Podcaster in the WH Press Room

Trump’s most recent assault on the free press comes on the heels of its abhorrent attack on the judiciary with the arrest of a judge in Wisconsin on phony charges that she helped an undocumented immigrate evade apprehension by Trump’s ICE goons. This escalation of the Trump regime’s demolishing of the Constitution has infuriated even conservatives worried about Trump’s overreaching into totalitarian tactics.

However, if you thought that it couldn’t get any worse, you don’t know Trump. On Friday, Trump assigned his lickspittle Attorney Genuflect, Pam Bondi, to issue an official Justice Department memo aimed at threatening journalists with legal consequences – including arrest and potentially much worse – for merely doing their job.

Journalists have long been shielded from these sort of government threats by the First Amendment of the Constitution, along with Justice Department policy to refrain from imposing pressure on them to disclose their sources or other work product. But now Trump and Bondi are exacerbating their bullying by rescinding a Biden administration policy that prohibited such oppressive conduct.

What follows are a couple of the most harrowing portions of the Bondi memo, wherein she advocates for “the use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media.” As reported by Ken Dilanian, NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent…

“I have concluded that it is necessary to rescind Merrick Garland’s policies precluding the Department of Justice from seeking records and compelling testimony from members of the news media in order to identify and punish the source of improper leaks.”

Translation: Bondi is permitting Trump’s Justice Department to demand that journalists give up their confidential sources, including personal communications (texts, phone records, emails, etc.), under threat of subpoena, incarceration, and criminal prosecution if they refuse to comply. That is flagrantly unconstitutional. What’s more, it would hamper the ability of reporters to gather information from government sources who would be too afraid to talk if they knew the reporters could be coerced into revealing their identity. And leaks are not “improper” unless they include classified data. The memo continued…

“This Justice Department will not tolerate unauthorized disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies, victimize government agencies, and cause harm to the American people. ‘Where a Government employee improperly discloses sensitive information for the purposes of personal enrichment and undermining our foreign policy, national security, and Government effectiveness— all ultimately designed to sow chaos and distrust in Government- this conduct could properly be characterized as treasonous.'”

Translation: Bondi is improperly assuming the role of policing the media’s disclosures of presidential activities. That is not remotely within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department. And it is especially improper if the intent is to avoid what it regards as “undermining” the president’s policies. The public has a right to know what the president is up to, whether the president or the Justice Department likes it or not.

Even worse, Bondi is overtly threatening journalists with the capitol crime of treason. She is actually advocating for the execution of a reporter who might tell the truth about some malfeasance by the president. Which the public also has a right to know about.

For the record, that portion of Bondi’s memo was lifted verbatim from Trump’s prior executive order instructing the Justice Department to conduct a punitive investigation of Miles Taylor, the former Chief of Staff to Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, whose only crime was writing an honest book about Trump’s scandalous first term in office.

Trump’s fondness for threatening to execute his political foes is well documented. He has made a habit of calling his critics “treasonous.” Some of those he has targeted in the past include, Barack Obama, Liz Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, James Comey, Adam Schiff, the New York Times, and Google.

Now Trump has had his Attorney General codify his bloodlust so that he can begin to carry out his campaign of vengeance. This must not be allowed to proceed. And since his Justice Department cannot be relied on to do the right thing, it is left to Congress to find the courage to impeach him before he gets away with any more of his monarchal madness.

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The Committee to Protect Journalists Releases a Frightening Advisory for US Bound Reporters

The long-running, seething animosity that Donald Trump has for the free press continues to be on full display with each new day’s attack on the media that fails to sufficiently worship him. And it isn’t just an attack on the reporters than he singles out for his infantile insults, it’s an attack on the Constitution and the keystone American principles of freedom of speech.

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Donald Trump, Constitution

Despite his addiction to demanding from the media the constant attention that he craves, Trump can’t stop lambasting them when they accurately report on his recurrent foibles and flagrant crimes. His assault on the media regularly descends to wholly unconstitutional threats to shut down the outlets that he disapproves of and even to arrest and incarcerate reporters who offend him by doing nothing more than telling the truth.

SEE THIS: Trump at the ‘Justice’ Department: CNN, MSNBC, and Other Media are Illegal and ‘It Has to Stop’

Among the consequences of Trump’s perverse and un-America behavior is the recent advisory from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), warning reporters about the risks they now face should they consider traveling to the United States. The advisory states that…

“Foreign nationals whose countries do not meet U.S. vetting standards may be barred entry. Journalists will not be exempt and should anticipate potential restrictions or questioning when traveling to or from the United States.” […]

“Increased border control, inconsistent enforcement, and broad discretionary authority among border agents suggest an unpredictable environment which warrants proactive preparation.”

The CPJ cited some of the potential risks that journalists should be prepared for, such as “prolonged questioning at U.S. borders,” “device searches,” and “citizenship status and denied entry.” They warned of possible detention and provided an extensive checklist of measures to take prior to and during any U.S. visit. They suggested using burner phones and other devices that have been stripped of information that the reporter wouldn’t want border authorities to have access to.

If these sound like precautions that a reporter might have to take when entering a totalitarian state, that is not coincidental. According to Reporters Without Borders

“Press freedom in the U.S. has fallen significantly in the past year, […] Once considered a bastion for free expression, the U.S. is now on par with developing countries that have few resources or protections dedicated to journalism.”

Testifying before Congress in February, Craig Aaron, President and Co-CEO of Free Press Action, enumerated the attacks on the free press by Trump and his administration that “is using the power of the government to shake down the media and quash dissent.” Including…

  • Trump’s FCC chairman (and Project 2025 co-author), Brendan Carr’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses because he doesn’t like the viewpoints he sees on TV.
  • Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News for $20 billion because he didn’t like how 60 Minutes chose to edit an interview with Kamala Harris.
  • Disney/ABC, Meta, maybe now CBS — paying tens of millions of dollars to settle specious lawsuits. They appear to be paying off the president to shield themselves from reprisal or gain regulatory favors.
  • All the billionaire owners of these companies line up on the dais at the president’s inauguration clutching million-dollar checks to show their loyalty.

It is undeniable that, under the Trump regime, America has fallen to new lows with regard to its First Amendment protections of the free press. And that is by design of the aspiring authoritarian currently occupying the White House. Trump is taking his cues from his idols Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Viktor Orbán.

And Trump won’t stop until he he is forced to by those in the media who are not afraid of him, by those in Congress who have the courage to perform their constitutionally mandated duties, and by patriotic Americans who refuse to be oppressed by a wannabe dictator.

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Trump’s New US Attorney Drools All Over Dear Leader While Exhibiting Her Ignorance of the Law

Although it may seem like two years or more, it has only been two months since Donald Trump was inaugurated for the reprise of his occupation of the White House. In that short period of time he has managed to rack up some new and repugnant records for subverting the will of the people and undermining democracy.

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Donald Trump, Woman, Fear

Trump’s efforts to sabotage the workings of the government run the gamut of the right-wing wish lists from shuttering programs that help the poor, to suppressing the free press by banning journalists that fail to sufficiently worship him. Many of his initiatives are already being challenged in court, where he has compiled more injunctions and temporary restraining orders than any president in at least sixty years. Additionally, he assembled what is unquestionably the worst, most unqualified Cabinet in America’s history. And that includes his new U.S. Attorney, Alina Habba.

SEE THIS: Trump Plants His Personal Lawyer, Alina Habba, in New Jersey as US Attorney – to Hide His Crimes?

Upon her appointment to her Justice Department post, Habba immediately set about performing her highest priority duties as defined by the Trump Doctrine: Appearing on Fox News to spread blatant propaganda. To that end, Habba sat for a friendly tongue bathing with Fox’s John Roberts and Sandra Smith, who watched obediently without ever interrupting to challenge her lies.

Habba began by declaring that “We have something called separation of powers for a reason.”
Of course, she has no idea what that reason is, but she probably thought it sounded smart, something that she recently said was easy to fake.” Habba also said that she wants “to understand the rationale of trying to keep criminals in our great nation.” Which no is trying to do. The arguments against Trump’s unconstitutional deportations are that the defendants haven’t been afforded the due process that the Constitution demands. They have not been determined to be criminals. And many have been found to be citizens or legal residents with no criminal record.

However, according to Habba, none of that is necessary because “the decision is president Trump’s.” So she is asserting that Trump reigns supreme over the law of the land, like the totalitarian dictators that he idolizes. Then Habba continues her harangue with some wholly dishonest gaslighting about Trump’s alleged approval…

“What they’re trying to do is stop the president Trump’s agenda because he is skyrocketing right now. He has truly had so much approval. If you look at it, it is over 80% percent of Americans want illegal immigrants out. Trump’s approval rating is at an all-time high of anyone. He had an 80 million person mandate on November 5th and he he is keeping true to his promises. These judges have no business coming in and trying to stop the trump administration from pursuing their agenda, which was the ‘America First’ agenda to keep us safe.”

Habba’s assertion that Trump’s approval is “at an all-time high of anyone,” is just plain bullsh*t. To the contrary, it is the lowest of any president at this point in his term in decades. What’s more, his so-called mandate is one of the narrowest ever, only 1.5%. And as for his “keeping true to his promises,” there is a long list of pledges he made for day one of his reoccupation of the White House that has gone unfulfilled.

MORE HERE: Trump 2.0 Begins with Approval Ratings that Rank Below Every Other President Dating Back to 1953

With regard to Habba’s claim about the public’s position on immigration, the actual polling is more complex than Habba’s ultra-partisan view. Sure, most Americans are not in favor of illegal immigration on principle. But that doesn’t mean that they want all of them rounded up like animals and carted off to medieval prisons in foreign countries that they’ve never been to.

According to a recent Pew poll, only about a third of Americans say that they want all illegal migrants immediately deported. Another 51% say they only favor deportation for those who have committed violent crimes. However, millions of undocumented migrants are working in agriculture and construction and medical care. Their absence would severely harm those industries and the people they are serving.

Finally, Habba says that “judges have no business coming in and trying to stop the trump administration from pursuing their agenda.” And with that statement she is contradicting her opening remarks about separation of powers. Reviewing and ruling on the constitutionality of actions by the executive and legislative branches is precisely what the judiciary is supposed to be doing. But Habba is too ignorant of the law, and too wrapped up in her biases to comprehend that.

Consequently, Habba will continue to serve her time at the Justice Department by appearing on Fox News and other MAGA media, rather than actually overseeing the U.S. Attorney’s office and investigating and indicting criminals. Except of course, for those people that Trump declares to be criminals because they prosecuted, or criticized, or otherwise offended him. The highest priority felonies to Trump are opposing his authority and hurting his feelings.

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King Trump: ‘No Judge Can Assume the Duties of the President’ – He’s Right for the Wrong Reasons

Donald Trump has scored an impressive number of firsts in his storied career in politics. Although none of them are achievements that any sane person would aspire to. For instance, he is the first president to be a convicted felon (34 times), the first to be impeached twice, the first to incite an insurrection, the first to embrace dictators like Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler.

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King Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

And that’s just for starters. Another one for the presidential Hall of Shame is Trump’s bombastic hostility toward the government he purports to lead. He relentlessly attacks the institutions that form the foundations of American politics. All three branches of government are the targets of his seething spite and malice. And the Fourth Estate – the Media – is also often in his crosshairs.

SEE THIS: Trump at the ‘Justice’ Department: CNN, MSNBC, and Other Media are Illegal and ‘It Has to Stop’

Lately Trump has been throwing his patented petulant temper tantrums at the judiciary. His recent display of loathing for the legal world is the result of his having been held to account by the checks and balances mandated by the Constitution, which is another foundational pillar of America that he despises. In just the two months since his inauguration he has had dozens of injunctions imposed on him to halt his brazenly unlawful initiatives. Even Fox News has noticed…

Fox News is OUTRAGED that Trump has had many more injunctions against him.There's an easy solution for that. Trump could just stop his unlawful acts and start respecting the law and the Constitution. (Maybe that's not so easy for Trump)

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-03-22T17:21:59.946Z

Naturally, Trump is reacting to this series of setbacks in the only way he knows how – by whining and maligning. So he posted a comment on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, that complained that…

“No District Court Judge, or any Judge, can assume the duties of the President of the United States. Only Crime and Chaos would result. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

In his typically off-kilter manner, Trump has stumbled onto a facsimile of a factual statement. It’s true that no judge “can assume the duties of the President.” But what Trump fails to realize is that, by ruling against him, judges are not assuming presidential duties. They are, in fact, exercising their proper role as stewards of the Constitution. And if Trump would stop violating it so much, he wouldn’t get so many injunctions against him.

Ironically, if we were to humor Trump and his argument about the role of the judiciary, it would be even worse for him. He doesn’t think judges should be permitted to set legal precedents that apply to the president. Therefore, the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump has immunity from crimes is not valid. According To Trump, the Court doesn’t have the authority to issue such a ruling. So therefore, prosecutors can now indict him for any of the multitude of crimes that has already committed.

Trump’s assault on the judiciary is nothing new. He has been on a mission to discredit judges and courts for years. He regularly castigates them as “radical left lunatics” and issues calls for them to be impeached, incarcerate, or worse. Never mind that he has no grounds for such calls, other than that he’s mad at them for not granting him free reign to break any law that he wants.

MORE HERE: Trump is on a Crusade to Intimidate and Impeach Judges Who Dare to Rule Against Dear Leader

Of course, Trump has been propped up by his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News. Media Matters compiled a collection of more than 100 examples of Fox’s buttressing of Trump’s attacks on honorable judges, just within the past two months…

“Fox News personalities and guests made at least 113 individual claims attacking the legitimacy of court rulings against President Donald Trump from January 28, when a federal judge first halted the administration’s freeze of federal aid programs, through March 18. In at least 68 of those claims Fox News personalities and guests attacked judges; in 64, they accused courts of overstepping their constitutional authority; and in 3, they directly advocated for the administration to defy court orders.”

Trump is determined to exert his dominance over the judiciary, as well as the Congress. He would then have control over all three branches of government. Which is what he wants in order to declare himself King of America. He must not be allowed to succeed. And if the demonstrations being held in recent days are any indication, the American people are not about to let him.

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Fox News Host Mangles the Constitution to Justify Denying the Rights of People They Don’t Like

After nearly thirty years of deliberately disseminating ultra right-wing propaganda, Fox News is already regarded by thinking individuals as a cesspool of conservative sewage. It was even found liable for lying in a defamation lawsuit that resulted in a record setting settlement that cost them 3/4 of a billion dollars.

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Fox News, Constitution

Yet the audience that they have conned so completely remains loyal despite their record of documented dishonesty and the repeated disgraces of its perverted personnel (Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, etc.). That devotion to Fox’s deceit has only grown during the years that Donald Trump has taken over the network as its media messiah.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Anti-Press Secretary Talks More to Fox News than to Reporters in the White House

On Wednesday, Fox News took another stab at the dead horse of its credibility. In an episode of “The Faulkner Focus,” it’s host, Harris Faulkner, interviewed Republican Rep. Kat Cammack about the unlawful apprehension and incarceration of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. He was arrested on March 8, and remains in custody despite still not being charged with any crime.

Faulkner started out the grossly biased interview by agreeing with Cammack’s preposterously broad and baseless allegation that campus protestors are terrorists, apparently just because they are protesting. Then Faulkner demonstrates just how ignorant she is about the law and the Constitution:

Faulkner: “Look, free speech, I thought under our laws and Constitution, was for our citizens. Mahmoud Khalil was not a citizen. He was here first on a student visa, and a green card then. He’s not a citizen. We don’t have to promise him anything. We’re a great country. It’s very gracious of us to give him anything. And we can give him a free ride back to wherever he’d like to go.”

Faulkner: "Look, free speech I thought under our laws & Constitution was for our citizens. Mahmoud Khalil was not a citizen… we don't have to promise him anything. We're a great country. It's very gracious of us to give him anything. We can give him a free ride back to wherever he'd like to go."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-03-19T15:42:58.030Z

It’s a sad display of dimwittedness when the host of an alleged “news” network is so pitifully ill-informed about something so familiar as the First Amendment of the Constitution. The Constitution has no citizenship test. It applies to everyone. We are not being “gracious” by recognizing the rights enumerated in the Constitution. We are respecting the law of the land.

For Faulkner’s benefit, what the First Amendment says is that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” There’s no mention of any individual or citizenship status. It is a prohibition on Government behavior.

Khalil is fully entitled to the rights in the Constitution. He would be entitled to those rights whether or not he was a citizen. As it turns out, he is a green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, who happens to be eight months pregnant with a future citizen.

The fact that Faulkner believes that the Constitution “was for our citizens,” is her way of justifying discrimination against people that she doesn’t happen to approve of. She is misinterpreting the law in order to exercise her vile bigotry. And the fact that she can deny Khalil his rights under the assumption of his guilt (a violation of the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments) is evidence of why these rights are so important and need to be preserved.

Don’t expect anyone on Fox News to offer a retraction or correction of Faulkner’s remarks. They are perfectly happy to allow these misrepresentations to persist. It advances their mission – and that of Donald Trump – to oppress those with whom they disagree, and those who have the gall to not be conservative White evangelical Christian Republicans. How dare they?

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PROCLAMATION: Trump’s Pardons Are Hereby Declared Void, Vacant, and of No Future Force or Effect

When Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020, he not only ushered in a new term of rational, thoughtful, progressive, policies, he also provided a respite from the daily insanity that Trump imposed on the nation. Trump’s first term was a non-stop barrage of ignorance, insults, lies, and shameless self-glorification.

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Donald Trump

Now as Trump embarks on his second occupation of the White House, he is returning to the practice of battering the nation with his infantile outbursts and petulant whining. And while it often doesn’t seem possible, each day’s deluge of dumfuckery is worse than the day before.

FOR INSTANCE: Trump at the ‘Justice’ Department: CNN, MSNBC, and Other Media are Illegal and ‘It Has to Stop’

On Monday morning Trump once again outdid himself in his quest for quackery. He posted a comment on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, that purported to revoke the pardons issued by President Biden. Never mind that there is nothing in the Constitution that permits him to do that. Trump long ago abandoned any fealty to the law or America’s founding principles. He raged that

“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” […]

“Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”

There is an abundance of derp in that dopey discharge. Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? To begin with, Trump’s justification for his preposterous position is his assertion that Biden signed his pardons with an autopen. So what? Many other presidents, including Trump, have used the autopen to sign official documents. Trump, however, has no evidence whatsoever for his claim that Biden used it for the pardons.

Furthermore, Trump charged that Biden was cognitively incapable of issuing the pardons and “did not know anything about them.” That’s another unsupported allegation by Trump. In fact, Biden spoke about the pardons publicly and provided a detailed explanation of why they were warranted, saying in part that “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.” Even Trump’s anti-Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, conceded that she couldn’t back up Trump’s claims about Biden’s mental acuity when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins…

WOW! Trump's anti-press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins that she "should find out" if there is any evidence of the blatant lie that Trump told about President Biden.Leavitt doesn't bother to verify any of her Boss's lies.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-03-17T19:05:28.853Z

That said, if any presidential pardons were subject to revocation, it’s Trump’s. The proclamation he issued at the time said that…

“Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I do hereby: … (b) grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021;

“The Attorney General shall administer and effectuate the immediate issuance of certificates of pardon to all individuals described in section (b) above.”

Note the vague references to who he was pardoning. He doesn’t mention them by name. Which would be difficult because there were more than 1,500 of them. And his specification of “individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” could mean anybody. He doesn’t say. He doesn’t even define the “event that occurred” to which his pardons apply. It could mean a bank robbery that was “at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” Does the bank robber, and everyone who committed any crime at or near the Capitol that day, get a pardon?

Trump went on to threaten the members of the Select Committee on the Investigation of January 6th (Liz Cheney, Bennie Thompson, Adam Kinzinger, etc.) with investigations, despite their having been properly pardoned by Biden. He also accused them, falsely, of having “destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained.” That’s a lie that was debunked long ago.

SEE ALSO: Trump Demands Indictments Be Withdrawn After Fox News Falsely Reports on January 6th Committee

Trump’s belief that he can revoke Biden’s pardons is just more proof of his ignorance of, and disrespect for, the Constitution and the law. It affirms his utter unfitness to serve. And if anyone’s pardons are improper and revocable, it’s Trump’s. So I am hereby declaring them “Void, Vacant, and of No Future Force or Effect.” You’re welcome!

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Trump is on a Crusade to Intimidate and Impeach Judges Who Dare to Rule Against Dear Leader

The risk of America’s constitutional democracy falling into totalitarian tyranny has never been more imminent than during the reign of wannabe dictator Donald Trump as he embarks on his second occupation of the White House. And he hasn’t been the least been hesitant to express and even brag about his nefarious intentions.

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Donald Trump, Constitution

America’s founders deliberately divided the powers of the government into three branches – the executive, the legislative, and the judicial – in order to insure than no one person or party could acquire enough power to rule like the monarchs that they fought a revolution to break away from. Ignoring that objective, Trump promised Sean Hannity of Fox News that he would be a “dictator on day one,” and he reinforced that pledge during his inauguration address.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Inauguration Day Rants Affirm that He is a Wannabe Dictator and a Pathological Liar

Ever since, Trump has been feverishly endeavoring to undermine the founders’ foresight and impose his own aspirations to unchecked autocracy. To a frightening degree, he has succeeded in cowing the Republicans in Congress to serve as his loyal legislative servants. So now he only needs to gain control over the judiciary to complete his tyrannical trifecta. And he’s hard at work to at that.

On Sunday morning, Trump’s anti-press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, visited Fox News again (she is there more often than she is at White House Press Room). She told Fox’s Senior Trump-Fluffer, Maria Bartiromo, about how horribly persecuted her crybaby boss is (video below)…

“He has been facing more resistance than anyone who has run for office in American history. And the mainstream media is part of that, but also, as you mentioned, we have judges in our judicial branch who are acting as activists, not real arbiters of the law. And there has been 15 injunctions in one month of president Trump’s agenda. The Biden White House only faced 13 injunctions in the entirety of his presidency. So clearly there are left wing activists who sit behind a bench who don’t like this president and his policies.”

It is written in the bylaws of the Cult of Trump that every critical reference to him be described as the “most,” or the “worst,” of anything since time began. However, Leavitt actually came close to grasping the reality of Trump’s tribulations with the courts. The reason that Trump has had so many more injunctions than Biden isn’t because of “activist” judges or left wing opposition to his political views or to him personally. It’s because he has been more grossly disrespectful of the law. Many of the rulings against him came from judges appointed by Republicans. And a growing number of conservative legal scholars have spoken out against his fitness for the presidency.

Leavitt went on to gaslight the Fox News audience with assertions of Trump’s fictional fidelity to the law…

“The fact is, everything president Trump is doing is within his executive authority to do it. He is acting within the bounds of the law. All of his actions are constitutional. And our White House, and our entire administration are prepared to fight back against this resistance. Don’t bet against president Trump. I think his epic return to the Oval Office proves that he is going to win against this weaponization of our justice system.”

If everything that Trump is doing is in accordance with his executive authority and the law, the courts would not be ruling against him with such frequency and near unanimity. You don’t get 15 injunctions against you from diverse courtrooms by being faithfully law abiding.

For the record, Trump is the one who is shamelessly engaging in the weaponization of the Justice Department. He has placed fanatical loyalists like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel in charge of the DoJ and the FBI. He has fired dozens of career prosecutors, as well as inspectors general who monitor ethical violations. And he has explicitly declared that he intends to get revenge on those in the legal system – and the media – who he believes wronged him.

MORE HERE: Trump’s Free Press? His FBI Flunky Kash Patel Threatens to ‘Come After the People in the Media’

What’s more, Trump has recruited his MAGA allies to aid and abet his vengeance, including Elon Musk, his co-president and oligarch bro. Musk has been furiously pushing to impeach judges that he says are “evil” and “corrupt.” He tweeted that “We are witnessing an attempted coup of American democracy by radical left activists posing as judges!” And that “The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges.”

UPDATE: Trump is now brazenly defying judicial rulings by continuing to deport migrants without due process, despite a court ruling ordering him to stop. His border “czar,” Tom Homan, told Fox News that “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.” This is open defiance of the rule of law by an administration committed to its neo-fascist ideology.

If Trump and Musk and MAGA can successfully intimidate judges to bend to his will, his domination of this once democratic republic will be complete. He needs to be stopped at the earliest stages of this anti-American coup. Which means that a coalition of the people, their representatives, and the press must act quickly and courageously. This isn’t a game. It’s our future.

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Leavitt: "We have judges in our judicial branch who are acting as activists, not real arbiters of the law … the fact is, everything President Trump is doing is within his executive authority to do it … all of his actions are constitutional."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-03-16T14:41:28.025Z

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What If Trump Gave His State of the (Soviet) Union Speech and No Media Was There to Hear It?

Tuesday, March 4, 2025, is the designated day for Donald Trump to deliver what is referred to as a “Joint Session of Congress Address.” It serves as the first state of the union speech for the first year of a newly elected president. There is sometimes some controversy in the content of such speeches, but the fact that they occur is generally regarded as routine.

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Donald Trump, Mocking Disability

However, controversy stains everything that Trump engages in. It’s by design from the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist who revels in creating chaos and making waves. Consequently, his appearance before Congress tonight is already stirring a tsunami among members of Congress, as well as the people who they purportedly serve. Although there are those who are anxiously anticipating his address…

SEE THIS: Russian TV Host: What Trump Says is ‘So Correct…In Total Alignment With the Way We See Things’

The question of how to deal with a president who has so flagrantly demonstrated his allegiance to America’s enemies is weighing on the members of Congress who would ordinarily be expected to attend the speech. Trump has proven by his words and deeds that he is more aligned with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, than with the values of America and its Constitution.

Trump’s overtly traitorous offenses include halting U.S. aid to Ukraine, advocating that the U.S. quit the U.N. and NATO, pushing for Russia to be readmitted to the G7 assembly of nations, and his conspicuous inability to ever say anything remotely critical of Putin, while repeatedly blasting American leaders in the most vile terms. Could he possibly be more of an asset to Russia?

As a result, the day prior to Trump’s address several members announced that they will not be attending. Others have said that they will attend, but bring with them guests who will highlight Trump’s animosity toward American principles and laws. There are rumors of other types of protests that might occur in the chamber during Trump’s speech.

What hasn’t been mentioned so far is: What will the media do? There are good arguments to be made that the press should not cover Trump’s speech live. After all, why present to American and international audiences the nearly incoherent rants of a notorious enemy of democracy? Why allow a certified Putin stooge to get an extended chunk of primetime television to advance the interests of America’s foes? Why should viewers have to suffer through the infantile insults that he unleashes every time he speaks? And why would a well known pathological liar be permitted to spread flagrant falsehoods unchallenged?

The press could easily record the event and replay any significant parts with a short delay. That would likely reduce the running to about two minutes due to the absence of anything significant in his speech. With the time delay the press would also have ample time to conduct appropriate fact checking. Which could increase the running time if they decided to report on all of Trump’s lies.

Finally, Trump has already demonstrated his hatred for the media that he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” He has barred credible news agencies from covering him, including the Associated Press and Reuters. He has replaced news outlets in the White House Press Briefing Room such as NBC News, the New York Times, and NPR, with the Trump-fluffing propagandists at Newsmax, One America News Network, the New York Post, and Breitbart.

MORE HERE: Trump Declares Himself King of the White House Press Corps, Will Now Decide Who Can Question Him

It is Trump’s obvious intention to suppress the free press, ignoring the Constitution’s First Amendment protections. He seeks to emulate the censorious practices of his heroes, Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un. So why shouldn’t the press exercise its rights to report on him in an appropriate manner that respects their mission to keep the American people informed, and honors their duty to reporting the truth? And the best way to do that is to refrain from all live coverage of Trump, including tonight’s speech before Congress.

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