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Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Ronna McDaniel To Step Down as RNC Chairwoman

National Review: Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, will step down from her position on March 8, she announced Monday morning. Her decision, first reported by the New York Times, comes two weeks after former president Donald Trump endorsed North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley to lead the RNC alongside his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and senior campaign advisor Chris LaCivita. In her statement, McDaniel said she would step aside “to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing,” noting the practice is rooted in historical precedent (National Review). Spencer Brown: The RNC’s co-chairman Drew McKissick also announced his resignation on Monday, saying “I’m honored to have had the privilege to serve as RNC Co-Chair for this past year, as well as to have worked with so many grassroots leaders to help make our party successful” and that he would be stepping down “effective upon the election of my successor at the upcoming Spring Training in Houston” (Townhall).

Koch Network Strips Funding for Nikki Haley’s Campaign

CNBC: Americans for Prosperity Action, the network backed by billionaire Charles Koch, is pausing its financial support of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign a day after she lost to former President Donald Trump in her home-state primary in South Carolina. AFP Action said it still endorses Haley for president but now its support will only come in the form of words — not cash (CNBC). Fox News: With his win Saturday in the first-in-the South contest, Trump has now swept every primary or caucus on the GOP early-season calendar that awards delegates. His performances have left little maneuvering room for Haley, his former U.N. ambassador. Still, Haley insists she is sticking around even with the growing pressure to abandon her candidacy and let Trump focus entirely on Democratic President Joe Biden, in a 2020 rematch (Fox News).

Sweden Officially Joins NATO

National Review: Sweden cleared the final obstacle to NATO admission on Monday, as Hungary voted to ratify the Nordic country’s bid after nearly two years of negotiation. Sweden will be the 32nd country to join NATO, discarding its historic position of military neutrality (National Review). Estonia PM Kaja Kallas: All NATO members have ratified Sweden’s accession – an important day for the security of the Nordic-Baltic region and the Alliance. Sweden joining NATO also sends a signal to Russia: attempts to blackmail NATO away from its neighborhood have failed (X).

Biden Announces Visit to Southern Border

Katie Pavlich: The White House announced Monday President Joe Biden will make a last minute trip to the U.S. southern border with Mexico Thursday as the illegal immigration crisis continues to rage. The visit to Brownsville, Texas will mark Biden’s second time to the area over his 40-year political career. Last year he paid a visit to El Paso where federal government detention centers were cleaned out before his arrival (Townhall). RNC Research: Biden will allegedly visit the southern border on Thursday — for the second time in his entire life. His first visit was, in a local reporter’s words, “a dog and pony show” that didn’t “get to the heart of the issue” (X).

Colorado Legislature Looks to Mandate Educators To Address Trans Students by Their Chosen Pronouns, Names

Fox News: The Colorado state legislature advanced a bill on Friday aimed at mandating K-12 schools statewide to implement policies requiring educators to address transgender students by their preferred name in all school settings – including in records and documents – independent of parental approval or a formal legal name change. The bill will need one more round of voting before advancing to the Senate floor. House Bill 1039 — a bill largely backed by the progressive group Colorado Youth Advisory Council — would also impact charter schools and mandates that educators use students’ non-legal names in all school-related functions, including extracurricular activities, rosters, attendance lists, yearbooks and student ID cards (Fox News). Townhall: This month, a couple in Indiana asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene after their child, who is “transgender,” was taken from their home by the state when they refused to use his chosen name and pronouns (Townhall).

Hezbollah Launches 60 Rockets Into Israel After IDF Kills Two Terrorists Deep Within Lebanon

Fox News: Israel launched airstrikes Monday deep into Lebanon, killing at least two people, prompting the terror group to responded by firing 60 rockets towards the Jewish state. The Israeli attack came in response after Iran-backed Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone hours earlier. Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, its deepest attack into the territory of its northern neighbor. Hezbollah responded by firing 60 Katyusha rockets at an Israeli army headquarters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, near Syria (Fox News). Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah has said that it will cease attacking Israel the moment a ceasefire is reached with Hamas that would prevent Israel from launching new military activities within Gaza (Jerusalem Post).

Houthi Terrorists Target Underwater Communication Cables Connecting Europe and Asia

I24News: Four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti were struck out of commission in the recent months, said Israeli news outlet Globes. Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis are widely considered to have damaged the cables believed to belong to the AAE-1, Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and TGN systems. The knock-out marks serious disruption in communications between Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, the immediate harm will be felt by the Gulf states and India (i24News). Mark Dubowitz: More evidence that the Biden administration’s whack-a-mole strategy of trying to counter Iran-backed proxy attacks is failing (X).

MSNBC’s Joy Reid Records Race-Fueled Rant About America Having More Children

Washington Examiner: MSNBC’s Joy Reid blasted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in a viral video invoking illegal immigration and slavery while asking why the United States needs more children. “The United States has a population of north of 327 million people, why do we need more kids?” Reid asked. “Your party, Sen. Tuberville, is the one screaming that 10 million immigrants — I don’t even know if that number makes any sense cause it doesn’t — have streamed into the country since Joe Biden has been president.” The MSNBC host then invoked slavery in an attempt to bolster her argument. After accusing Tuberville of appearing to want to bring back a black slave class, Reid attacked the senator for his race (Washington Examiner). Charlie Kirk: But there is an upside. Reid is hateful enough that she will say what others keep quiet about: That the people who demand you accept every immigrant on planet Earth hate the idea of Americans having their own children. Leftism is an ideology of hatred: Of civilization, of babies, and of America (X).

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Case Banning Bump Stocks on Firearms

ABC: To gun enthusiasts, Jeremiah Cottle is an American hero and entrepreneurial success story. To his critics, the decorated Air Force veteran, father of four and inventor of the bump stock accessory is a promoter of mass death. This week, the fate of the device and Cottle’s multimillion-dollar business hang in the balance at the U.S. Supreme Court, which is weighing whether the government can ban bump stocks as “machine guns” under federal law. “A machine gun is a mechanical definition by law, and it doesn’t meet that definition,” Cottle argued (ABC). Bearing Arms: For years the ATF approved bump stocks for sale, but after the Route 91 festival shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, the agency reversed course and banned the product, declaring that its prior determinations did “not reflect the best interpretation of the term ‘machinegun’ (Bearing Arms).

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Former New York Times Reporter Discusses His Time in the Woke Machine

Spencer Brown: In terms of the woke inmates running the asylum, the New York Times has been a notable example of what goes wrong when far-leftist orthodoxy takes over once-reputable institutions. Now, thanks to former NYT opinions staffer Adam Rubenstein — who edited Sen. Tom Cotton’s op-ed responding to leftist BLM riots during the “mostly peaceful” summer of 2020 — we have a new anecdote that shows the HR culture at the Times is even more absurd than a satire writer could concoct and another inside account on the insane reaction to publishing Cotton’s quite mainstream opinion on the riots destroying American cities and livelihoods. In an essay for The Atlantic, Rubenstein explains how he realized — almost straight out of the gate after being hired at the Times in 2019 — things were not going in a sane direction (Townhall). Adam Rubenstein: I took notes (X). Guy Benson: genuinely beyond satire (X).