Friday, 30 April 2021

Friday News Wrap-Up

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Friday News Wrap-Up

A look at the latest news from around the world, on this beautiful Friday afternoon.

John Aravosis

Apr 30

It’s Friday. I’m visiting mom in Chicago, where it’s going to be a balmy 82F this weekend for Greek Easter. And I figured today might be a good potpourri news day, where I talk about a number of different things in the news.

Horrifying CNN video on the Covid situation in India.

Anderson Cooper 360° @AC360

“This is truly a terrifying and epic crisis,” says @clarissaward, as a deadly coronavirus outbreak ravages India. “It is just staggering, the amount of suffering. People are struggling to breathe. They are literally dying on the streets and there is just no end in sight.”

Matt Gaetz is in real trouble. Florida congressman, and lead Trumper in the House, Matt Gaetz looks to be increasingly in real legal jeopardy. The FBI is investigation Gaetz for possible child sex trafficking. The story got a lot worse for Gaetz last night, when the Daily Beast got a hold of what purports to be a written confession from Gaetz’s “friend” Joel Greenberg, claiming that he and Gaetz paid women, including one who was underage, for sex:

“On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself….
“From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.”

The Daily Beast also got a hold of what purports to be screen grabs of chat conversations between Greenberg and Trump-ally Roger Stone, in which Greenberg offers Stone $250,000 in Bitcoin to secure him a pardon from Trump:

As James Carville said recently, it’s time to hang this guy around the neck of every Republican, nationwide.

Oh Rudy! Rudy Giuliani is hitting the Fox News propaganda circuit to complain about the FBI just raiding his apartment and taking his electronic devices. It’s not entirely clear all that the FBI is after — though they did mention Giuliani having allegedly failed to register as a foreign agent, which is considered a serious crime. MSNBC has put two and two together, and come up with a plausible theory: That corrupt Ukrainian officials offered to help Giuliani dig up dirt on Hunter Biden if Giuliani got Trump to fire our ambassador to that country, which Trump in fact did. That kind of quid pro quo could be legally construed as “working” for a foreign government in an attempt to influence US policy. If Giuliani didn’t register as a foreign agent, which he didn’t, he could be in serious legal jeopardy if the courts agree with this theory. Time will tell, but man this has been a fun week for Trump associates.

Acyn @Acyn

Rudy Giuliani invoked Hunter Biden’s name so many times, he accidentally refers to Tucker as Hunter here

Ted Cruz was caught falling asleep during Biden’s address to Congress:

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

Ted Cruz appears to be dozing off

Trump-loving NY Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik tried to take credit for a Covid program she voted against. Pelosi and Swalwell caught her:

Nancy Pelosi @TeamPelosi

Vote no and take the dough.

Eric Swalwell @ericswalwell

Perhaps you should have voted for it. https://t.co/B0Z0pcZ62E

Just a reminder that Jim Jordan is a nasty man. In his interview, James Carville asked why Democrats weren’t more persistent in holding Jordan publicly accountable for the student sexual abuse scandal at Ohio State. So, let’s do that.

These are some very bad, and crazy poll numbers, showing that nearly 3/4 of all Republicans now believe that Biden didn’t win the election. Trump’s Big Lie has now become mainstream in the cult formerly known as the Republican party. I do not see how this doesn’t end in far more violence than we’ve seen to date. I fear we are going to see Republican-inspired terrorism on the Oklahoma City level, but it’s going to be far more wide-spread than that. It’s really sad, and outrageous what the Republican party has done to our country.

Jim Sciutto @jimsciutto

Two separate realities - one factual, the other based on the “big lie”: CNN POLL CONDUTED BY SSRS Did Biden Legitimately Win Enough Votes for The Presidency? Yes No Democrats 97% 3% Independents 69% 27% Republicans 23% 70%

Other Interesting Stuff

A British Naval dad becomes a Duck Daddy:

John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️‍🌈 @aravosis

Retired British Naval dad becomes Mother of Ducks. Read the thread, and watch the video, it’s wonderful. youtu.be/MUebp8NwVd4

Emma Newman @EmApocalyptic

My Dad lives in an apartment near a canal and a certain duck has taken a liking to his balcony. So much so that she nested there last year and is nesting there again this year. But there are some things you need to know about this situation.

Harrison Ford gets freaked out by a magic trick:

shauna @goldengateblond

the moment Harrison Ford learned the force was real (volume up 🔊)

Remember how Trump said the stock market would CRASH if Joe Biden became president? In fact, the stock market has had its best run since the days of FDR:

The Wall Street Journal @WSJ

The stock market is set to close out President Biden’s first 100 days in office with its best start to a presidential term since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt #100Days #WSJWhatsNow

That’s it for this week. Oh, we did do a podcast yesterday about Biden’s quasi- State of the Union, and we spent a lot of time discussing James Carville’s theories on how Democrats can message better. You can listen to the episode here.

Enjoy the weekend. JOHN