Rev. Al Sharpton: ‘It means everything' for Donald Trump to have leverage over New York City mayor
Former SDNY U.S. Attorney Mimi Rocah, New York Times investigative reporter Mike Schmidt, 'Politics Nation' anchor Rev. Al Sharpton, and MSNBC legal analyst Kristy Greenberg join Nicolle Wallace – and Rev. Al Sharpton is asked what it means to Donald Trump - in the arc of his career and history with the city of New York - to have leverage over New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rain Forces Trump to Rush 79th Birthday Parade Past Empty Bleachers
President Donald Trump's birthday tank parade, which is costing taxpayers an estimated $45 million, was a relatively lackluster affair—especially considering the hefty price tag. The parade was forced to start early, with events kicking off approximately 30 minutes earlier than planned, in an attempt to beat the storms forecast for Saturday evening. While only light rain fell on the parade, the drizzly forecast could have been one reason why so many people stayed home, resulting in a muted crowd for Trump's big, beautiful birthday extravaganza. While television cameras at the event were largely trained on the soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and other military vehicles as they made their way down Constitution Avenue, footage posted to social media shows empty bleachers, sparse crowds, and near-silence owing to the lack of speakers along the parade route. A New York Times reporter in attendance said of the crowds, 'The energy level at the military parade here is a bit desultory. The crowds are calm and light, a bit sapped after waiting in the oppressive D.C. humidity for hours to make it to this point.' The energy onstage didn't appear to be much better, with commenters on social media highlighting footage of Secretary of State Marco Rubio yawning and seemingly having a difficult time 'hiding his boredom.' Others, including an Irish newspaper, noted that Melania Trump, in attendance alongside her husband, looked like she was falling asleep at several points, as cameras caught her with her eyes closed and appearing to doze off. It wasn't just Trump's supporters who failed to show up in mass numbers for his birthday parade; several of his own family members were not in attendance, including daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. Those who were in attendance included Vice President JD Vance, his wife and their two children, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, UFC CEO Dana White, and Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, as well as several senior military officials. UFC was one of the sponsors of the parade, alongside Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, Oracle, a software company, and Lockheed Martin. We learned this as their names were shouted out by the parade emcee as the parade progressed. The parade came late in the day, following more than 2,000 "No Kings' protests around the country planned to coincide with Trump's birthday. Hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. participated in these protests. While attendee numbers are hard to estimate, the New York City Police Department estimated a crowd of roughly 50,000, while an estimated 80,000 protestors marched in Philadelphia. Protestors were also present at the parade; The New York Times reported that a group had gathered in a spot near the parade zone, with people bearing signs that read, 'Stop fascists now!' and 'Army, do your job - 86 47.' Trump's parade, planned to coincide with his birthday but ostensibly designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, drew significant criticism in the weeks leading up to the event as a result of the massive cost to taxpayers and concerns from D.C. officials over the potential damage the tanks might do to city streets.
New York Post
15 hours ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Democrats with Trump Derangement Syndrome are undercutting Israel
One way to look at the first six months of Donald Trump's second term is that the wily president has managed to trick Democrats into fighting common sense and adopting bizarre and unpopular positions. Consider how he lured them into wildly protecting waste, fraud and abuse in the budget simply by having a plan to cut it. Then the president, by keeping a campaign promise, fooled his opponents into engaging in violent riots and trying to block his deportations of illegal immigrants, including those who had committed serious crimes here. And now comes Trump trick No. 3, which is unfolding before our eyes. Because the president's support for Israel is ironclad in its war with Iran, those infected by Trump Derangement Syndrome are reflexively pulling away from the Jewish nation. Already there are signs that Dems and their media handmaidens are moving toward condemning Israel for daring to protect itself from Iranian aggression. The left's budding resistance is camouflaged in squishy, both-sidesism mush. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries began by saying that 'Iran should never be allowed to become nuclear capable,' but quickly called for 'a reduction in hostilities.' 'I'm hopeful that cooler heads will prevail in the Middle East and the situation is de-escalated,' Jeffries told MSNBC. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the doofus Dems thought was veep-ready, addressed the initial Israeli strike by bemoaning that America is no longer a 'neutral arbitrator' and added: 'Who is the voice in the world that can negotiate some type of agreement and hold the moral authority? It might be the Chinese.' His fellow Minnesotan, Rep. Ilhan Omar, chimed in with her usual antisemitic dog-whistles. 'Israel knows America will do whatever they want and feels confident about their ability to get into war and have the American government back them up,' she posted. She also insisted Americans should be ready to 'either see their tax dollars being spent on weapons supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran.' Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy plowed similar ground when he bizarrely insisted Israel's attack 'was clearly intended to scuttle the Trump Administration's negotiations with Iran, and risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America.' Amid all the crazy talk on the left, there are a few voices of sanity. One is Sen. John Fetterman, with the Pennsylvania Dem telling Jewish Insider he was shocked by his party pals' views. 'It was just astonishing to see colleagues criticizing these things. It's like, do you think you can negotiate with that regime? Do you think you want to run that scenario and allow them to acquire 1,000 pounds of weapons-grade uranium?' 'I can't understand, I can't even begin to understand that,' Fetterman said. Exceptions to the rule In the same vein, Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres scoffed at an article in The Economist that doubts Iran was actually racing toward a nuke. Noting that the mullahs expanded their stockpile of 60% enriched uranium by 50% — a level far beyond any plausible civilian use, Torres writes on X that 'To cast doubt on Iran's nuclear ambitions at this point requires not just skepticism, but a willful suspension of one's functioning cerebral cortex.' Unfortunately, Fetterman and Torres are exceptions. For the vast majority of Dems, including those with press passes, the rule that Trump must be relentlessly resisted is forcing them into a corner that looks and sounds like a political loony bin. It's not a new phenomenon, but the shocking thing is that neither his second election nor the seriousness of America's problems at home and abroad have cured their derangement. Instead of being selective in their opposition to Trump, they are embracing their madness across the board with increasing intensity. Whatever he's for, they instantly and mindlessly are against. The Iran nuke issue is an especially strange example. As Fetterman and Torres note, the criticism of Israel ignores the crucial point: Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, has hidden its enrichment facilities for years and lied to UN inspectors. On its face, that would be troubling enough. But the most egregious element is that Iran has pledged not only to develop a nuke — but to use it on Israel. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters An enemy of the US The quivering Dems presumably are saving their full support of Israel for the day after it gets nuked. Then they'll wail and somehow blame Trump. Fortunately, the Jewish state is not in the mood for suicide and so it struck first, hitting enrichment facilities, degrading weapons systems and taking out the military leadership along with top scientists. The refusal of so many on the left to join Trump and back Israel wholeheartedly is all the more absurd when you remember that Iran pledges that after it destroys Israel, which it calls 'the little satan,' it will go after the US, the 'great satan.' That means Israel is attacking a sworn enemy of America, and displaying why it is one of our best and most important allies. Yet still most Dems can't see the moral imperative and national interest in Israel's action. Nor do they understand how the horrible events of Oct. 7 affect Israeli decisionmakers. That was the deadliest day for Jews since the end of the Holocaust, and it would be unforgivable if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others did nothing to stop Iran's race for nukes. Imagine if one of the ballistic missiles that hit Tel Aviv Saturday was carrying a nuclear warhead. That's the nightmare scenario, and it is reason enough to justify the Israeli strikes. Trump gets that, which is why he and Netanyahu adopted a good cop, bad cop routine. The president sincerely wanted Iran to voluntarily give up its nuclear ambitions and tried to make it happen through two months of direct negotiations. At the same time, he warned repeatedly there would be hell to pay if the Ayatollah said no. How much hell now depends on whether the Supreme Leader faces reality and tries to save himself and his regime by making a deal. If he doesn't, it's entirely possible the US, with its unique 30,000-pound buster bombs, will join Israel in obliterating the nuclear sites. Trump's calibrated, forceful stance is a welcome break with Joe Biden's many missteps after the Hamas attack in 2023. Initially, he was completely in Israel's corner, but, faced with criticism from within his party in an election year, Biden began threatening to withhold munitions unless Israel agreed to limit its responses. He even had Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend Israel's military cabinet meetings to decide which Gaza targets Israel could hit. All the while, Biden, who had lifted some of Trump's oil and banking sanctions on Iran, tried to sweet-talk the regime into another weak nuclear pact. Instead, Iran shifted much of the money to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and kept working on developing the bomb. Thankfully, for both Israel and America, those days of Oval Office weakness are over.
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Fox News Hosts Gushed Over the Parade, With No Protests in Sight
On Fox News, it felt like Thanksgiving Day and Christmas rolled into one. 'You feel the energy here, everyone is so excited,' exulted Lawrence Jones, the 'Fox & Friends' host who served as an emcee of the network's celebratory coverage of President Trump's military parade in Washington on Saturday. 'When the president took the stage, you heard the people say 'U.S.A., U.S.A.!'' Mr. Jones was seated with his co-host, Emily Compagno, on a riser just above Constitution Avenue, as Abrams tanks rolled by and paratroopers swooped down from the sky. An on-screen fireworks graphic twinkled in the background. Their banter resembled the excitable 'Today' show crew on NBC during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Over the course of the three-hour event, which was held to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday — it happened to be Mr. Trump's 79th birthday, too — Fox News did not air footage of the 'No Kings' rallies that were taking place simultaneously in many cities in protest of the administration's policies. For updates, viewers could turn to CNN and MSNBC, which toggled between the parade and Saturday's other significant news events, including rocket attacks in the Middle East and the assassination of a Democratic politician in Minnesota. Clarissa Ward appeared live on CNN for several early-morning dispatches from Tel Aviv, and CNN and MSNBC correspondents reported from the ground in Los Angeles, where some protesters had clashed with law enforcement. Fox News's reporters have extensively covered those story lines over the past few days. But on Saturday evening, the channel devoted its broadcast to pomp and circumstance. One guest, the New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, popped by to praise what she called the parade's 'positive contrast to all the doom and gloom and the protests and the 'Dictator Trump' stuff that we've been seeing in New York and L.A. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
