| Thursday, August 12, 2021  Welcome to Morning Wire, Daily Wire’s newsletter bringing you an in-depth look at the day’s top headlines based on our newest podcast, Morning Wire. This email series is only for Daily Wire members, but we’re giving you a sneak peek! Get the Morning Wire newsletter in your inbox 6 days a week by grabbing a 30-day trial of our Reader’s Pass membership for just 99¢ with code MORNINGWIRE. Protests Erupt In Europe Over Vaccine Passports, Courts Rule Against Texas Democrats, Gavin Newsom Recall Election Nears  1. Protests Erupt In Europe Over Vaccine Passports The Topline: As vaccine mandates spread across the United States, mass protests have erupted in France and Italy as vaccine passports have been implemented across Europe.
Quote Of The Day: "Freedom only exists if the freedom of everyone is protected… it’s worth nothing if by exercising our freedom we contaminate our brother, neighbour, friend, parents, or someone we have come across at an event. Then freedom becomes irresponsibility.” — President of France Emmanuel Macron French ‘Health Pass’ After nearly a month of protests across France, the French government is now mandating a digital “Pass Sanitaire,” which means “health pass” in English. The three ways to obtain a pass are to get vaccinated, test negative for COVID-19, or be in recovery from COVID-19.
As of Monday, French citizens are required by law to show their vaccine pass if they want to eat at a restaurant, drink in a bar, go to a theater, and travel on long distance trains — among other things.
Starting in September, French employers will be required by law to make sure all contractors have a vaccine passport before they are allowed to work.  STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Contributor via Getty Images Protesters Take To The Streets Hundreds of thousands of protesters hit the streets across France last week, with banners saying, “I am not a QR code” and “I am not anti-vaccine, just pro-choice.”
One common theme of these protests has been a rejection of the mandatory aspect of the COVID-19 vaccines, not the vaccines themselves. Italian Protests Protests also broke out in Italy against the country’s “Green Pass,” another vaccine passport which is required for teachers, university staff, and university students. It’s also required for entry to museums, sports venues, theaters, and indoor dining. Are ‘Vaccine Passports’ Coming To The U.S.? As of now, restrictions based on vaccination status vary from state to state.
In Florida, the state government has openly rejected the idea of vaccine passports, signing a law banning them in May. “The vaccine passport is a terrible idea. We are definitely not going to require anything from the state’s perspective, that is totally off the table... it’s not something that we’re going to support here in any way in Florida,” Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said earlier this year.
That ban is currently being challenged in Florida as a district judge recently allowed a cruise ship company to demand proof of vaccination for travelers before boarding. Under the Florida law, the company could have triggered a penalty of $5,000 per passenger.
Florida isn’t the only state to have outlawed vaccine passports. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, and North Dakota have all passed similar bans of their own.
Meanwhile, in other states, such as New York, vaccine passports are increasingly being implemented. New York introduced their own digital vaccine passport program called the Excelsior Pass, and some venues have used this pass to verify vaccination status.
Daily Wire members get this newsletter delivered to your inbox daily. If you like what you see, sign up for a 99¢ 30-day trial of a Reader's Pass today — just use code MORNINGWIRE at checkout.  Tamir Kalifa / Getty Images 2. Courts Rule Against Texas Democrats The Topline: Texas Democratic House members who fled the state to prevent a vote on election integrity bills were dealt a severe blow this week from the Texas Supreme Court, clearing the way for arrest warrants to be issued for those unwilling to return to work. How Did We Get Here? In mid-July, more than 50 Democratic Texas state lawmakers chartered a plane to Washington, D.C. in order to deny the state legislature a quorum and block a vote on bills during a special session called by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX).
Without those Democrats present, Republicans in Texas couldn’t vote on an election integrity bill or a bill that would ban biological males from competing in women’s sports. Democrats File Lawsuit Last week, Governor Abbott called for “an extraordinary session” of the state legislature to vote on various bills, including the election integrity bill that led to Democrats leaving the state.
In response, the Democrats filed a lawsuit claiming Governor Abbott and the Texas State House Speaker have tried to threaten and intimidate them and deny them the right to speak publicly, freely assemble, and more. They also claim Abbott and other Republicans have caused them to suffer “much anxiety and distress” as well as “discomfort and embarrassment.”
Experts say their lawsuit is unlikely to be successful due to the fact that they’ll have to prove that Abbott and Republicans have denied them their rights. Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Democrats Democratic lawmakers had petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to restore funding to the state legislature, which would restore their paychecks. The Texas Supreme Court denied the petition, saying that Democrats weren’t asking the court to resolve an issue between two coequal branches of government, but to settle a dispute among members of the same branch. The court noted that Democrats left the state, preventing the House from restoring funding.
The court also said Governor Abbott can order the arrest of the Democrats if they don’t show up to vote. This paved the way for Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan to sign 52 arrest warrants for the absent lawmakers.  Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images 3. Gavin Newsom Recall Election Nears The Topline: California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, is leading in the polls ahead of his recall election, but new polling shows the race could be tighter than expected. The Numbers A poll from Survey USA and the San Diego Union Tribune was conducted last week and shows Newsom’s support declining — with 51% wanting to recall the governor and 40% wanting to keep him in office. A previous poll from May had only 36% in favor of the recall.
Another poll by Emerson College and Nexstar Media showed support for the governor’s recall at 46%, which is up from 43% in the previous poll from July 20th. However, 48% said they opposed the recall and want Newsom to stay in office.
Key Point: 6% of likely voters were undecided. In a previous poll a few weeks ago, undecideds were at 9% — an apparent sign that voters could be making up their minds on the issue. The Recall Election The election will be on September 14.
There will be two parts to the ballot:
The first question only needs a simple majority vote, but the winner of the second question is the candidate with the most votes, so there’s no limit on how many candidates can jump into the race. Right now, there will be more than 40 people on the ballot.
Remember: California is allowing mail-in ballots for every registered voter and turnout will be a major factor with such a close race. Why Recall Newsom? In the Emerson poll, voters said the number one issue in California today is not COVID-19, but homelessness.
Spencer Kimball, Director of Emerson College Polling, said, “this poll suggests that the tightening of the race could be attributed to people's increased concern on crime.”  RHONA WISE/AFP via Getty Images Daily Wire members get this newsletter delivered to your inbox daily. If you like what you see, sign up for a 30-day trial of a Reader's Pass today for just 99¢ — all you have to do is use code MORNINGWIRE at checkout.  Internet Access For Cuban Protesters Florida Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott added an amendment to the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget resolution that would provide internet access for anti-communism protesters in Cuba. The amendment would create a “Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund” to be used to “build up and deploy existing technology on the island.” Cyber Theft In one of the largest thefts in history, cyber hackers recently stole more than $600 million in cryptocurrencies. The attack targeted PolyNetwork, which allows the trading of tokens across different blockchains. Tens of thousands of people were reportedly impacted by the incident. Government Review Into Tucker Carlson Allegations The National Security Agency’s (NSA) Inspector General announced this week that it will be conducting a review into allegations that “the NSA improperly targeted the communications of a member of the U.S. news media.” While it did not mention Tucker Carlson by name, reports say that Carlson is part of the review. Earlier this year, Carlson alleged that a “whistleblower within the U.S. government” told his show that the NSA was spying on him. Morning Wire is a daily email newsletter available exclusively for Daily Wire members. Become a member here to start receiving Morning Wire in your inbox. Did you like this newsletter?
 
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