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Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Saudi Gazette
Trump calls to prosecute Beyoncé based on a nonexistent $11 million payment
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump over the weekend called for the prosecution of music superstar Beyoncé – based on something that did not actually happen. Trump claimed in a social media post that Beyoncé broke the law by supposedly getting paid $11 million for her endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during an October 2024 event in Houston. But there is simply no basis for Trump's claim that Beyoncé received an $11 million payment related to the Harris campaign, let alone for the endorsement in particular. Federal campaign spending records show a $165,000 payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé's production company, which the campaign listed as a 'campaign event production' expense. A Harris campaign spokesperson told Deadline last year that they didn't pay celebrity endorsers, but were required by law to cover the costs connected to their appearances. Regardless of the merits of this particular $165,000 expenditure, it's far from an $11 million one. Nobody has ever produced any evidence for the claim of an eight-figure endorsement payment to Beyoncé since the claim that it was '$10 million' began spreading last year among Trump supporters on social media. Fact-check websites and PolitiFact looked into the '$10 million' claim during the campaign and did not find any basis for it. The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request late Saturday for any evidence of Trump's $11 million figure. When Trump previously invoked the baseless figure, during an interview in February, he described his source in the vaguest of terms: 'Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million.' A Harris spokesperson referred CNN on Saturday to a November social media post by Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, who called the claim of a $10 million payment a 'lie' and noted it was taken down by Instagram as 'False Information.' 'When In Fact: Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris's (sic) Rally in Houston,' Knowles wrote. A spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact in November that the claim about a $10 million payment is 'beyond ridiculous.' Trump revived the false claim in a social media post published after midnight early Sunday morning in Scotland, where he is visiting. He wrote that he is looking at 'the fact' that Democrats 'admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT.' Democratic officials actually reject the claim of an $11 million payment. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for any evidence of a Democratic admission of such a payment. Trump went on to criticize other payments from the Harris campaign to organizations connected to prominent endorsers. He asserted without evidence that these payments were inaccurately described in spending records. And he wrongly asserted that it is 'TOTALLY ILLEGAL' to pay for political endorsements, though no federal law forbids endorsement payments. Trump concluded: 'Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.' Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of political opponents. His Saturday post about Harris and celebrity endorsements was an escalation from a post in May, when he said he would call for a 'major investigation' on the subject but did not explicitly mention prosecutions. — CNN
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
I Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the Middle Class
Taxes can get you thinking about fairness. For instance, when I'm calculating deductions on my salary and watching a decent chunk go to Uncle Sam, I can't help but wonder: What if the ultra-wealthy paid the same percentage of their income in taxes that regular people do? Find Out: Read Next: So I decided to ask ChatGPT a simple question: 'What would happen if billionaires paid taxes at the same rate as the middle class?' The AI's response was more nuanced than I expected — and revealed some surprising truths about how our tax system really works. First, ChatGPT corrected a common misconception I had. Based on actual data from PolitiFact and ProPublica investigations, the 25 wealthiest Americans currently pay an average federal income tax rate of 16% under existing law. Meanwhile, households earning $50,000-$100,000 (where most teachers, firefighters and other middle-class workers fall) typically pay an effective tax rate between 0% and 15%. So contrary to what I'd heard, billionaires don't actually pay less than teachers under current tax law. But here's where it gets interesting. Learn More: ChatGPT explained that the issue isn't necessarily the tax rates themselves, but how different types of income get taxed. This is where the system becomes genuinely unfair. 'Billionaires benefit from tax strategies that lower their effective tax burden compared to what ordinary income earners face on wages,' the AI explained. 'The current system taxes work more than wealth.' Here's what that means in practice: When I get my salary, taxes come out immediately. When a billionaire's stock portfolio increases in value by millions, they don't pay taxes on that growth until (or unless) they sell those stocks. ChatGPT broke down something called the 'buy-borrow-die' strategy that wealthy people use to minimize taxes. It sounds like financial wizardry because, honestly, it kind of is. Here's how it works: Billionaires borrow money against their stock holdings (which isn't taxed), live off those loans and then pass their assets to heirs largely tax-free when they die. Meanwhile, regular people like me can't defer taxes on our paychecks or borrow against our retirement accounts without major penalties. The AI used ProPublica data to illustrate this: 'The top 25 billionaires saw their wealth grow by $401 billion from 2014-2018, but paid just $13.6 billion in federal income taxes — an effective rate of 3.4% on wealth growth.' That 3.4% figure is what really stung. While they're paying their legal tax obligations on realized income, their actual wealth is growing at a rate that's taxed far below what middle-class workers pay on their salaries. ChatGPT ran the numbers on what would happen if billionaires paid taxes at the same rate middle-class families do — around 15%-22%. Using the ProPublica data, if those top 25 billionaires had been taxed at a 20% rate on their wealth growth, they would have paid around $80 billion instead of $13.6 billion. 'Extrapolate that across approximately 1,000 billionaires?' the AI asked. 'You're talking hundreds of billions in added revenue annually.' The AI outlined several ways this massive revenue increase could transform government services: Healthcare: We could expand Medicare and Medicaid, potentially moving toward universal coverage. Education: Fund universal pre-K or make community college free for everyone. Infrastructure and climate: Invest seriously in clean energy projects and fix our crumbling roads and bridges. Debt reduction: Actually pay down the national debt instead of adding to it every year. ChatGPT noted that this extra revenue could 'stabilize the economy by boosting the spending power of everyday Americans.' Basically, reducing inequality in a way that helps everyone, not just those at the bottom. The most eye-opening part was learning that the problem isn't necessarily that billionaires are breaking the law or even paying lower rates on their taxable income. The issue is that our entire tax system is designed around taxing work rather than wealth. 'Middle-class families can't defer taxes on wages or borrow against stocks tax-free,' ChatGPT pointed out. This creates a fundamental unfairness where people who work for their money get taxed immediately, while people whose money grows through investments can delay or even avoid those taxes entirely. After diving into ChatGPT's analysis, I realized the conversation about billionaire taxes is more complicated than simple rate comparisons. Under current law, wealthy Americans do pay their required taxes. But the system allows their wealth to grow in ways that are largely untaxed, while regular workers pay taxes on every dollar they earn. The AI concluded that if we could successfully tax billionaires more like middle-class workers, the results would mean hundreds of billions in additional revenue annually and potentially better funding for health, education and climate programs. What's more, it could have the power to reduce inequality and improve public trust in the tax system. Maybe the real question isn't whether billionaires should pay more taxes, but whether our entire approach to taxing work versus wealth makes sense in an economy where most billionaires' fortunes come from asset appreciation rather than traditional income. As ChatGPT put it: 'The U.S. could significantly reshape its fiscal and social landscape' — if we can figure out how to make it work in practice. More From GOBankingRates Mark Cuban Warns of 'Red Rural Recession' -- 4 States That Could Get Hit Hard How Far $750K Plus Social Security Goes in Retirement in Every US Region 4 Housing Markets That Have Plummeted in Value Over the Past 5 Years This article originally appeared on I Asked ChatGPT What Would Happen If Billionaires Paid Taxes at the Same Rate as the Middle Class Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Why Trump's ‘Mamdani the Commie' tag will stick — despite the media's cover operation
Zohran Mamdani wants to have his cake — freshly baked at his local government-run grocery store — and eat it, too. The 33-year-old son of a Columbia professor and an acclaimed filmmaker has made the transition from unknown state assemblyman to New York City mayoral frontrunner by riding a wave of enthusiasm for his unapologetic, far-left agenda. But now that he has to close the deal in a general election, he's desperately trying to soften his stances. Advertisement After Mamdani's triumph last week, President Donald Trump marveled 'It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line' — then deemed the political wunderkind a '100% Communist Lunatic.' Mamdani objected to the label during a Sunday morning interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, to whom he insisted he is merely 'fighting' for 'working people.' 'When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democrat socialist,' he added. Advertisement And as a matter of course, the pseudoscientific professional fact-checking industry erected to assist the Democratic Party swung into motion to back him up. 'Accusing Democrats of being communists or communist sympathizers is a frequent misleading attack line by some Republicans. It is a red scare tactic that has existed in US politics for decades,' asserted PolitiFact under the headline 'Zohran Mamdani is favored to win NYC mayoral primary. Claims he's a communist are False.' Rolling Stone slobbered over Mamdani's interview with Welker, lauding him for having confronted 'Trump's misinformation.' Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-owned propaganda factory with a strong interest in Mamdani's success given his virulently anti-Israel views, reprinted PolitiFact's thinly veiled contribution to his campaign. Advertisement Unfortunately for Mamdani and his media allies, there aren't enough semantic tricks in existence to make up for his own damning words. PolitiFact insists that 'Mamdani's platform is not akin to communism, a system of government which calls for government takeover of private property and control of industry.' But in 2020, Mamdani rebuked the Democratic Party for stating that 'the Biden-Harris administration is committed to rebuilding an economy that welcomes everyone as full participants.' He pushed back in response: 'If we want everyone to be full participants in the economy, we need worker ownership of the means of production.' Advertisement In a 2021 address to the Young Democratic Socialists of America that he doubtless now wishes he could erase, Mamdani took off the mask completely — and identified his ''end goal' as 'seizing the means of production.' In other words, he hopes to see the tools and resources used to produce goods and services in America forcibly reallocated to the working class. Just like the Bolsheviks did back in 1917, or the Cubans in 1959. Are we to be impressed that he's not openly calling for the mass murder sanctioned by Lenin or Castro? Is that the supposed distinction between communism and Mamdani's brand of 'democratic socialism'? 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 Then again, Mamdani doesn't appear to recognize that distinction when he's not trying to dodge the political traps he's set for himself. After all, he celebrated the anniversary of the Russian Revolution — which gave way to the establishment of the Soviet Union — with approving tweets in both 2023 and 2024. Advertisement And in 2020, he previewed his own mayoral run by posting that the Big Apple needed a mayor like 21-year-old Arya Rajendran, a member of the Communist Party of India, adding a link to a hammer-and-sickle-bearing party account that dubbed her 'comrade.' As if that wasn't enough to make 'Mamdani the Commie' stick, consider: According to Marxist theory, socialism is just a stepping stone on the way to communism. 'Communist society passes through two phases of development: the lower phase known as socialism, and the higher phase known as communism,' explains an archived textbook from the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences. 'Socialism and communism are two stages of maturity of the new communist form of society.' Advertisement So Mamdani's touting of socialism — even in its supposedly kinder, gentler, democratic form — isn't some kind of rebuttal to the communist charge. It's an admission to it. Democrats in politics and the press know that should he prevail in November, Mamdani will almost automatically become a power player as their party's freshest new face. Advertisement The ascendant, energetic, historically illiterate Democratic base is fully on board with those city-owned grocery stores, still more price controls on rent, free transit and childcare, and a minimum wage of $30 an hour. But the general electorate recognizes Mamdani's agenda as a Great Leap Backward into an amoral, statist society. Mamdani and his Pravda-esque friends in the Fourth Estate want to make that leap while denying ever having left their feet. Isaac Schorr is a staff writer at Mediaite.
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
JONATHAN TURLEY: Why NYC's Zohran Mamdani looks more and more like a hardcore Marxist
Zohran Mamdani was officially certified as the winner of the June 24 New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday. He defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on his way to a victory that is still sending shockwaves through the Democratic Party establishment and beyond. Now, the debate rages over who Mamdani really is. Is he antisemitic or just pro-Palestinian? Is he anti-ICE or just pro-immigrant? However, one thing seems to be increasingly clear. Mamdani is a serious Marxist and that should concern anyone in New York City. Recently, PolitiFact declared that it was "false" that Zohran Mamdani is a "communist." This was in response to President Donald Trump's calling him a "100% Communist Lunatic" on Truth Social. However, while we can quibble over whether the term "communist" is supported by past statements, it appears that Mamdani is likely a Marxist. PolitiFact characterized the use of the label by Trump and others as a "red scare tactic that has existed in U.S. politics for decades." For those who are center-right in American politics, it may have seemed a tad ironic since conservatives and libertarians are routinely called "fascists" and the left has engaged in McCarthy-like tactics to blacklist and question the loyalty those with opposing views. That is rarely the subject of "fact checks." I have repeatedly discussed the biased and sometimes false conclusions of PolitiFact (here, here, and here). On this occasion, PolitiFact may have once again been too quick on the trigger to denounce Trump and conservatives over the characterizations of Mamdani's political and economic views. First, I have not joined those who have called Mamdani a "communist" as opposed to a "socialist" because these terms are interpreted in wildly different ways. For example, despite being a great critic of Mamdani and his views, I have not seen Mamdani advocating for single-party control over the political system or the complete centralization of the economy under government control. However, it appears that Mamdani may be a Marxist, based on recently revealed comments he has made. In one speech before the Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, Mamdani even states matter-of-factly how one of the goals is to "seize the means of production" in America. "Right now, if we're talking about the cancellation of student debt, if we're talking about Medicare for all, you know, these are issues which have the groundswell of popular support across this country. But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it's BDS or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment." That does not sound like soft socialism, but fairly hardcore Marxism. It also contradicts PolitiFact's statement that "Mamdani's platform is not akin to communism, a system of government which calls for government takeover of private property and control of industry." To his credit, Mamdani is not denying that he opposes capitalism and wants to eliminate all billionaires. (He is not clear where millionaires might face their own cutoff for excessive wealth). Mamdani is the perfect product of the extreme American left. He emerged from the Hollywood and academic environs where extreme views are all the rage. He is the son of Professor Mahmood Mamdani, a far-left professor, and Mira Nair, a liberal Indian-American filmmaker. His father teaches "post-colonial" subjects at Columbia University and is presently the director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Uganda. Mamdani is the prototype of what some of us have been writing about regarding the radicalization of higher education, particularly at America's elite colleges and universities. He graduated in 2014 from the elite Bowdoin College with a bachelor's degree in African studies. These schools are now largely devoid of conservative faculty members. Scholars generally run from the left to the far left. Polls show increasing support among young people for socialism and even communism. Notably, Mamdani received significant support in the primary from wealthy and young college-educated voters. To put it simply, it is cool to be socialist among generations who did not witness the economic failures of socialist systems in the 20th Century in countries like Great Britain and France. They did not witness former communist countries turning to capitalism to rescue their failing economies. Mamdani's victory in the Democratic primary was fueled by promises of free buses, free healthcare, free daycare, as well as city-run grocery stores. He even promised to "make Halal eight bucks again." It is true that most countries, including the United States, have long embraced social welfare systems. It is also true that some programs once denounced as socialism are now considered mainstream. However, Mamdani's categorical opposition to capitalism and his references to seizing control of the means of production suggest more extreme Marxist views. Mamdani has tried to downplay fears over his views after his victory, stating: "When we talk about my politics, you know, I call myself a Democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. [Martin Luther] King from decades ago, who said, 'Call it democracy, call it Democratic-Socialism, there has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.'" It is hard to "call it Democratic-Socialism" when you are talking about seizing control of the means of production and opposing capitalism. It suggests that his vision of a "greater distribution of wealth" is far more radical than anything Dr. King was referencing. Mamdani would not be the first child from an affluent, privileged background to embrace Marxism. In my forthcoming book, "Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution," (Simon & Schuster, Feb.3, 2026) I examine how revolutionaries, from the French Revolution to contemporary movements, have often come from the elite or privileged classes. I discuss the current radicalization in the U.S. in exploring the future of American democracy in the 21st Century. There is a full-court press to dismiss questions about Mamdani's philosophical views by many in the legacy media and academia. After all, as Mamdani noted that on "issues that we firmly believe in [like] the end goal of seizing the means of production... we do not have the same level of support at this very moment." That support is growing by maintaining a cocoon of ambiguity. There is a good-faith debate about whether the existing record supports the claim that Mamdani is a communist. However, there is ample reason to suggest that he is a Marxist. That should be a matter of significant concern, particularly as the possible head of government in the world's greatest financial center. Marx once said in frustration that "if anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist." Perhaps, but New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has all the makings of a hardcore Marxist.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
PolitiFact declares Zohran Mamdani is not a communist in fact-check of Trump
The fact-checking website PolitiFact defended Democratic New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani from President Donald Trump's claims he was a "communist" last week, saying the rejoinder was false. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, effectively clinched the Democratic nomination for the 2025 mayoral race in New York last week in an upset over establishment favorite Andrew Cuomo and other candidates. Trump lashed out at Mamdani on Truth Social, calling him a "100% Communist Lunatic," adding, "We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous." PolitiFact, after quoting other conservative and Republican figures also labeling the far-left candidate a communist, decried what it called a "red scare tactic that has existed in U.S. politics for decades" in a post on Thursday. "New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's platform proposes free buses and day care, rent control and city-owned grocery stores to make city living more affordable," PolitiFact wrote. "Mamdani's platform is not akin to communism, a system of government which calls for government takeover of private property and control of industry." Mamdani's Political Earthquake Rocks Democrats, Dividing Party On Path Forward It went on to quote several experts who said Mamdani's appeal lay in his efforts to combat affordability problems in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the country. Read On The Fox News App "Mamdani is NOT a communist," wrote Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University professor of international studies, in an email to PolitiFact. "Communism involves a centrally planned economy, with no market forces. Prices and quantities are set by a central government authority. There is no democratic political competition, and instead a single party rules the country. He is not calling for any of this." "Many western democracies — from France to Canada — have policies such as free or heavily subsidized child care and public transit," Oxana Shevel, a Tufts University associate professor of comparative politics," told PolitiFact. "Under a communist agenda, the government would own everything and entirely control prices, not only rent control or operating some supermarkets. And under communism, there are no political parties other than the communist party," the fact-check argued. Dem Socialist's Nyc Primary Upset Signals 'Generational' Shift In Democratic Party, Strategists Say It concluded the claim by Trump was "false." Notably, it fell short of being declared "Pants on Fire," the notorious designation the fact-checking website has for political and media claims it deems so outlandish that calling it "False" doesn't adequately condemn it. Examples of Trump's remarks that earned the designation including suggesting Ukraine had "started" the war with Russia and claiming Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia had "MS-13" tattooed on his knuckles. Trump has been fact-checked by PolitiFact more than 1,000 times. His declarations have been deemed "False" or "Pants on Fire" 57% of the time. The White House and Mamdani's campaign didn't immediately respond to requests for article source: PolitiFact declares Zohran Mamdani is not a communist in fact-check of Trump
