Mets outfielder garnering trade interest

The trade deadline is less than two weeks away, and the Mets could look to deal some of their players if they feel they’ll be out of playoff contention.

 

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Nearly half of US voters would consider a third-party presidential candidate in 2024, new poll finds

Nearly half of U.S. voters would consider a third-party presidential candidate in 2024, according to a new poll continuing to show former President Trump and President Biden as front-runners among Republican and Democratic voters, respectively. 

“With neither President Biden nor former President Trump knocking it out of the park on favorability, almost half of the country would consider another option,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement. “No specific name for the candidate, no specific designation for the party, but it is a vivid indication that for many voters, the status quo is a no-go.” 

More than a dozen candidates are seeking their party’s presidential nomination, and voters are evenly split about voting for a third-party candidate, with 47% saying they would consider voting for a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election and 47% say they would not consider it, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Wednesday. 

The poll reported responses from 2,056 adults 18 years of age and older with a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. The survey includes 1,809 self-identified registered voters with a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.3 percentage points, 727 Republican or Republican leaning voters with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.6 percentage points and 763 Democratic or Democratic leaning voters with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.6 percentage points.

SENATORS WEIGH IN ON WHO BENEFITS MOST IF MANCHIN LAUNCHES THIRD-PARTY CAMPAIGN

Independents answered more than 2 to 1 (64 – 30%) that they would consider voting for a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election, while most Democrats (61 – 35%) and Republicans (57 – 38%) responding that they would not consider it.

The race for the Republican presidential nomination is largely unchanged from a June 14 Quinnipiac University poll. Trump received 54% support among Republican and Republican leaning voters followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 25% support.

ANDERSON COOPER CLASHES WITH LEFT-WING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CORNEL WEST OVER UKRAINE WAR: ‘OUT OF YOUR MIND’

Quinnipiac said the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is also largely unchanged from a month ago. Biden received 71% support among Democratic and Democratic leaning voters. In second, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is expected to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government Thursday regarding censorship and free speech, received 14% support in the poll released Wednesday. 

Less than 16 months out from the election, the bipartisan group No Labels is looking for a potential “unity” ticket for 2024, though Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has not announced whether he is seeking re-election in the Senate or whether he will pursue a White House bid. Author Cornel West is considered a long shot Green Party candidate, posing some threat to Biden. 

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As RFK Jr. gains more traction in the race, some Democrats supporting Biden have speculated whether he will switch to the third-party bid for the White House, but Kennedy has insisted he is a Democrat through and through, pointing to his family’s political dynasty. 

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DeSantis’ state Board of Education approves new rules for teaching African American history

Elementary and middle school students aren’t required to learn about African American history past Reconstruction, critics say.

     

 

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Complete Paralysis: Just 1% Of US Homes Have Changed Hands In 2023, The Lowest On Record

Complete Paralysis: Just 1% Of US Homes Have Changed Hands In 2023, The Lowest On Record

While the US housing market has remained surprisingly resilient price-wise in the face of 7% mortgage rates, which the Fed has pushed to near-Volcker levels precisely in hopes of accelerating the disinflationary wave by crushing housing, that single most valuable asset of the US middle class, the reality why prices have not collapsed is that the bid-ask spread for any home currently for sale has ballooned to levels where the market is effectively frozen as there is simply no possibility for the bid and ask to meet somewhere “in the middle” of the range (those who are hoping to buy are already tapped out before being asked to pay even more, while sellers are already wealthy and absent a liquidity crunch see no reason to sell a home at what they view as firesale prices).

Overnight, real-estate brokerage Redfin calculated just how widespread said paralysis is: it found that just 14 of every 1,000 U.S. homes changed hands during the first six months of 2023. That’s down from 19 of every 1,000 during the same period of 2019 and the lowest turnover rate in at least a decade, since Redfin’s records started. That means prospective homebuyers have 28% fewer homes to choose from than they did before the pandemic upended the U.S. housing market.

Redfin uses turnover as a measure of housing availability; it indicates how often homes change hands in a given area.  This analysis includes overall for-sale housing turnover and breakdowns based on neighborhood type and home type.

The pre-pandemic turnover rate noted above (roughly 20 of every 1,000 sellable homes change hands in the first half of a year) is fairly typical for the modern housing market, but a more active market would have a rate closer to 40 or 50 of every 1,000.

As Redfin adds, the wild pandemic-era housing market has intensified an existing shortage of homes for sale and led to this year’s low turnover rate. In 2018, Freddie Mac estimated that about 2.5 million more homes needed to be built to meet demand, with the shortfall mainly due to a lack of construction of single-family homes. The homebuying boom of late 2020 and 2021, driven by record-low mortgage rates, remote work and a surge in investor purchases, depleted already low inventory levels. Finally, 2022’s soaring mortgage rates–average rates nearly doubled from January to June–exacerbated the shortage by handcuffing homeowners to their comparatively low rates. Some homeowners have opted to renovate their current home, and some are buying another home but hanging onto their first one and renting it out to either a longterm tenant or short-term vacationers. Now, the supply of homes for sale is at a record low.

“The quick increase in mortgage rates created an uphill battle for many Americans who want to buy a home by locking up inventory and making the homes that do hit the market too expensive. The typical home is selling for about 40% more than before the pandemic,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “Mortgage rates dropping closer to 5% would make the biggest dent in the affordability crisis by freeing up some inventory and bringing monthly payments down. But there are a few other things that would boost turnover and help make homes more affordable. Building more housing is imperative, and federal and local governments can help by reforming zoning and making the building process easier. Financial incentives, like reducing transfer taxes for home sellers and subsidizing major moves with tax breaks, would also add to supply.”

Suburbs hardest hit

House hunters searching for large homes in the suburbs have seen the biggest drop in their options. Just about 16 of every 1,000 four-bedroom-plus suburban single-family homes sold in the first half of this year, down from 24 of every 1,000 that sold in the same period in 2019. That means buyers of that home type have 33% fewer houses to choose from.

The turnover rate has dropped for every size home in every type of neighborhood over the last four years (though buyers will have an easier time finding something for sale in certain metro areas, as outlined below). That trend can be seen in the chart above, which displays the national post-pandemic housing turnover rate on the left and the pre-pandemic rate on the right. The length of the line between the two dots indicates how much turnover declined from 2019 to 2023, with the biggest declines at the top.

The turnover rate of large single-family suburban homes has shrunk most because that type of home exploded in popularity during the pandemic. Remote workers flocked to the suburbs, untethered from the office, and purchased large properties with space for adults to work from home and children to attend school from home.

“New listings normally hit the market on Thursdays, and I have buyers who are excitedly checking their Redfin app Thursday mornings, only to find nothing new,” said Phoenix Redfin Premier agent Heather Mahmood-Corley. “That goes for buyers in every price range in every type of neighborhood, but what people want most are those move-in ready, mid-sized homes in neighborhoods with highly rated schools. Those are hardest to find because for people to buy one, someone needs to sell one. That’s not happening, because so many of those homeowners have low mortgage rates.”

The turnover rate of condos and townhomes didn’t shrink as much as that of single-family homes during the pandemic, though condo and townhouse buyers are still about 20% less likely to find that type of home than they were in 2019.

Supply of that home type wasn’t depleted as much because there wasn’t as much demand for them during the pandemic. In fact, many remote workers were selling condos and townhouses in favor of single-family homes with more space.

Modestly sized single-family homes in the city are hardest to find: Just 11 of every 1,000 two- and three-bedroom urban houses sold in the first half of this year

Smaller houses in the city have the lowest turnover rate of all the home types in this analysis.  Roughly 11 of every 1,000 two- and three-bedroom single-family homes in urban neighborhoods sold in the first six months of 2023, compared to 14 of every 1,000 during the same period in 2019.

Two- to three-bedroom homes in suburban neighborhoods are essentially tied with their urban counterparts for the lowest turnover rate, with 11 of every 1,000 changing hands this year. That’s down from 16 of every 1,000 in 2019.

Modestly sized single-family homes in all kinds of neighborhoods have long been hard for buyers to find. That’s because builders don’t make many of them anymore, and homeowners tend to hold onto the ones that exist.

Today’s homebuilders tend to focus on the kind of home that’s in demand and profitable: Larger single-family homes, which don’t cost much more to build than smaller ones but sell for more money, and condos and townhouses, which cost less to build. And people who own those starter-type homes often turn them into rental properties rather than selling when they move up to bigger houses.  Homeowners can often cover their mortgage and then some when renting out this type of home, especially in desirable neighborhoods; that income paired with the home’s value increasing over time incentivizes keeping rather than selling.

Homebuyers have the smallest pool of options in the Bay Area: Just 6 of every 1,000 San Jose homes have turned over to a new owner this year

Northern California has the lowest turnover rate in the U.S. Just six of every 1,000 homes in San Jose changed hands in the first half of 2023, the lowest rate of the 50 most populous U.S. metros. It’s followed closely by Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Anaheim, all places where about eight of every 1,000 homes turned over to a new owner.

The pandemic exacerbated the supply shortage throughout California, with the turnover rate dropping by at least 30% in each of those metros from 2019 to 2023.

Zooming in on large, suburban single-family homes, California still has the lowest turnover rate. Six of every 1,000 homes of that type have sold this year in San Jose (-40% since 2019), the lowest rate in the nation. Next come Oakland (7 of every 1,000; -43%), San Diego (8 of every 1,000; -51%), Sacramento (9 of every 1,000; -41%) and Anaheim (9 of every 1,000; -41%).

Homebuyers have the biggest pool of options in Newark, NJ and Nashville, where more than 23 of every 1,000 homes have changed hands this year

Newark, NJ has the highest turnover rate in the U.S., with 24 of every 1,000 homes changing hands during the first six months this year. It’s followed closely by Nashville, TN (23 of every 1,000) and Austin, TX (22 of every 1,000). Nashville and Austin are also two of the three metros (along with Fort Worth, TX) with the highest turnover for large suburban, single-family homes.

Newark buyers still have far fewer homes to choose from than they did before the pandemic, with a 42% drop in turnover since 2019. Only New Brunswick, NJ (-49%) and San Diego (-46%) had bigger declines. Zooming in on large suburban houses, New Brunswick (-55%), Chicago (-54%) and New York (-52%) had the biggest drops in turnover.

But Nashville and Austin are both among the five metros with the smallest declines in turnover since 2019, posting drops of just 10% and 14%, respectively. When it comes to large suburban houses, Nashville and Austin have the second and third smallest declines. That’s partly due to robust new construction in Nashville and Austin: Inventory of single-family homes for sale in both metros is made up of more than 30% newly built homes, compared to 22% nationwide.

Only Milwaukee and Columbus, OH, which both saw overall turnover drop by about 8% from 2019 to 2023, had smaller declines in turnover than Nashville. Indianapolis, IN comes in fourth, with a 14% decline. Milwaukee, Columbus and Indianapolis have relatively stable turnover because they didn’t experience huge homebuying demand swings throughout the pandemic.

More in the full Redfin report.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/20/2023 – 10:35

 

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Miami mom tried to hire hit man to kill 3-year-old son through parody website: police

A teen Florida mom was arrested Tuesday after allegedly trying to use a parody website to hire a hit man to kill her toddler son.

Jazmin Paez, 18, is accused of contacting the fake website rentahitman.com and requesting the murder of her 3-year-old before Thursday. 

She allegedly sent the website detailed instructions, including pictures of the boy and the exact location of where he would be, according to court documents reported by NBC 6 Miami.

Miami-Dade police said Paez filled out an online form explaining she wanted a hit man “to get something done once and for all.” She allegedly requested that her son “be taken away, far, far, far away and possibly killed but ASAP.” 

TENNESSEE WOMAN TRIES TO HIRE HITMAN TO KILL WIFE OF MAN SHE MET ON MATCH.COM: PROSECUTORS

She allegedly gave the website a false name for herself and listed her desired code/safe word as “Put me in coach,” the arrest report stated, according to WPLG. 

The specific details of Paez’s request set off alarm bells for website owner Robert Innes. He told NBC 6 that his website receives hundreds of similar solicitations each day, but that this one looked too real.

“The ability to research names and addresses and verify the intended target lived in a particular address. That to me is a red flag. If that information is corroborated, to me that is something that needs to be looked at and that’s why I referred it,” Innes said. 

Innes said at first the Miami-Dade Police Department didn’t believe him. He told NBC 6 he was repeatedly referred to CrimeStoppers, and that he was given a cease-and-desist letter and told to stop contacting the tip line. 

MASSACHUSETTS MAN PLOTTED $10K MURDER-FOR-HIRE SCHEME TO KILL WIFE, PROSECUTORS SAY

“They were not interested. They sent me an email saying if I contacted one more time they were going to send a cease-and-desist letter,” Innes said.

However, a detective was eventually assigned to the case. Investigtors reached out to Paez pretending to be the hit man and she allegedly agreed to pay them $3,000 to kill her son.

Paez was arrested Tuesday and faces charges of soliciting murder and unlawful use of a communications device. She is currently being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on $15,000 bond, detention center records show. 

Her son is safe and is staying with relatives, NBC 6 reported. Records show the Florida Department of Children and Families was notified of the case. 

MASSACHUSETTS MAN PLOTTED $10K MURDER-FOR-HIRE SCHEME TO KILL WIFE, PROSECUTORS SAY

Innes said he created the rent-a-hitman site as a project for a cybersecurity company, but over the years several people have been busted who didn’t realize it’s a joke. In April, an Air National Guardsman was arrested for allegedly applying for a job as a hit man on the website, NBC 6 reported. 

In 2021, a Michigan woman admitted to using the site to request a hit man kill her ex-husband for $5,000, and the New York Post reported that since 2018, at least 120 bloodthirsty people across the Empire State have attempted to rent a hit man on the fake site. 

Fox News reached out to the Miami-Dade Police Department and rentahitman.com for additional information. 

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Pat Boone says Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ controversy rooted in ‘moral sickness’

Gospel legend Pat Boone said the country music genre is becoming “sick” after a barrage of attempts to cancel Jason Aldean for filming the music video for an anti-riot song.

 

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Hunter Biden adviser lashes out at former GOP colleagues over whistleblowers hearing: ‘I am ashamed’

Former Virginia Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman, who has worked alongside Hunter Biden’s legal team to conduct digital forensics on the infamous laptop, lashed out at his former GOP colleagues amid testimony given to the House Oversight Committee by IRS whistleblowers on Wednesday.

“As a former Republican member of Congress and intelligence officer, today I am ashamed,” Riggleman, who now identifies as an independent, wrote in a tweet. “I am ashamed of my former colleagues and their abhorrent behavior during the Oversight Committee hearing.”

“We have to be better than this,” added Riggleman.

The comments from Riggleman — a former senior technical adviser to the Jan.6 committee — came as an IRS whistleblower testified before Congress on Wednesday and claimed that Hunter Biden and his companies raked in over $17 million from foreign sources over several years, beginning while his father was vice president.

HUNTER’S LAWYERS TEAM UP WITH JAN 6 COMMITTEE INVESTIGATOR TO DISCREDIT LAPTOP

The House Oversight Committee interviewed two IRS whistleblowers alleging political misconduct throughout the Hunter Biden investigation: special agent Joseph Ziegler, whose identity was revealed during the hearing, and his IRS supervisor Gary Shapley, who previously blew the whistle on alleged political influence surrounding prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal probe into the president’s son.

Ziegler told Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., that Hunter Biden, his family members and business associates received over $17 million due to business dealings in China, Ukraine and Romania.

Those deals included multimillion-dollar payments to Biden family-linked companies from 2014 to 2019, including $7.3 million from Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Riggleman reportedly aided President Biden’s son since late 2022, analyzing whether any of the data on the lost laptop was fabricated — as Hunter Biden faces intensifying investigations from House Republicans.

“When I took this job, I wasn’t pro-Hunter or anti-Hunter. I am pro-data and facts,” Riggleman wrote at the time. “Forensics make clear that considerable information linked to Hunter Biden is questionable.”

“What ‘data’ is being used? A laptop and data saying it’s a laptop are two different things,” Riggleman said in a separate post, apparently attempting to question the validity of the Hunter Biden laptop. Data from the hard drive of the laptop has been verified by multiple news outlets, and an IRS whistleblower recently revealed that federal investigators knew in December 2019 that the laptop was “not manipulated in any way” and contained “reliable evidence.”

BIDEN FAMILY, HUNTER ASSOCIATES RAKED IN OVER $17M FROM FOREIGN SOURCES, IRS WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES

Individuals close to Hunter Biden’s legal team reportedly told CBS News that Riggleman was also feeding first son information on the investigation methods of House Republicans.

Kevin Morris, a Malibu-based lawyer working with Hunter Biden, said Riggleman is “an invaluable resource” to the first son’s legal team.

“Denver has been assisting us with data analysis since late last year,” Morris told CBS News. “He is an invaluable resource, and we have made tremendous strides in untangling the massive amount of corruption and disinformation involved in this story. There will be much more coming to the public.”

Riggleman’s comments on Wednesday drew immediate backlash from several social media users, many of whom pointed out that his position on the issue appears to be a partisan one.

“As a former Republican member of Congress AND A PAID ADVISER FOR HUNTER BIDEN,” Brent Scher, executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon, wrote in a tweet.

“Hunter committed federal crimes including sex trafficking and writing off the cost of prostitutes as business expenses. The Democrats, the DOJ, and the FBI are covering for him, and you’re ashamed of the Republican members of the committee,” Michael Rectenwald, an author and Hillsdale College distinguished fellow, questioned in a tweet to Riggleman.

“It seems you are the only one expressing shame,” another user wrote in response to Riggleman.

Riggleman, a former Air Force officer and NSA contractor, represented Virginia’s 5th Congressional District in the House from 2019 to 2021.

Fox News’ Jessica Chasmar and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

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What is pickleball? Sport has rapidly increased in popularity with courts popping up around country

Pickleball has brought together those young and old to share the court in a game full of fun.

Even though pickleball was invented quite some time ago, it really picked up in popularity over the last few years.

If you have been thinking about getting into the growing sport, here is everything you need to know about its history, how to play and where you can get involved.

PICKLEBALL TAKING AMERICAN SPORTS WORLD BY STORM

Pickleball is a game that is somewhat of a mashup between tennis, badminton and ping-pong. The game was invented in 1965 by three dads looking for something to do.

Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum were looking for something to do on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Washington, and started searching the house for supplies.

They ended up with some random equipment, which ended up being the birth of pickleball.

THE AMERICAN WHO INVENTED GAME OF PICKLEBALL: HERE’S HIS STORY

Over the past few years, pickleball has become the “fastest growing sport.” There are a lot of elements of pickleball that have allowed it to become increasingly popular. One of the main things is the wide age group of people that it brings in. It is a popular game among seniors, but kids, teens and young adults have also shown interest and have become more involved over the years.

The concept of the game itself is pretty easy to pick up on, and even though it is fast-paced, exciting and provides good exercise, it is not as difficult or as much of a strain on the body as tennis, making it appealing to more people.

Playing pickleball is a very social event that brings together communities, and it is an addictive game to play. Once people start, they often come back for more.

Another reason pickleball is popular is because of how affordable it is to play. Getting involved in sports is often an extremely expensive feat with all the equipment that is needed to play. All you need to play pickleball is a paddle, a ball and a court to play on.

DR NICOLE SAPHIER: THIS IS WHO SHOULD BE PLAYING PICKLEBALL 

Overall, pickleball is an easy sport to pick up for kids and adults. The game can be played inside or outside and as singles or doubles.

To start the game, the two teams need to decide who is going to serve first. A classic method for this is flipping a coin or playing rock, paper, scissors.

After the serving team is decided, the player on the right side of the court will serve the ball. The ball can be served underhand or off a bounce. Either way, the ball must be served cross-court. Another serving rule is that the ball must be hit over the kitchen line, (the first horizontal line on the opposite side of the court), which is also known as the non-volley zone.

When the rally begins, there is a two-bounce rule. This means that off the serve and on the return, the ball must bounce on the court one time before it is hit by a player. After this, for the rest of the rally, the ball can be hit off a bounce or in the air.

DREW BREES REVEALS WHY HE LOVES PICKLEBALL: ‘SUCH A GREAT GAME’

The rally continues until there’s a double bounce, the ball is hit out of bounds or the ball is hit into the net. If the ball is out on your side of the net, make sure to yell “out” loudly.

One other rule to keep in mind during a rally is that you cannot hit the ball while your feet are in the kitchen, the zones on each side of the net. Make sure to keep your feet out of the kitchen when you are hitting the ball and also don’t let your momentum from hitting the ball carry you into the kitchen. You can, however, hit the ball in the kitchen as long as your feet remain outside the line.

The only slightly confusing element of pickleball for some is the scoring of the game. The biggest thing to remember when it comes to scoring is that you can only score a point when you win a rally and are the serving team. If you win a rally, but you are not the serving team, you do not win a point.

When the serving team gets a point, the two servers will switch sides and serve across the other diagonal. If you lose a rally as the serving team, everyone will stay where they are and the serve goes to the next player. If the serve moves to the other side of the court, the player on the right side has the first serve.

TOM BRADY REVEALS WHO HE THINKS WOULD MAKE A GOOD PICKLEBALL TEAMMATE

This is how doubles works anyway, which is the more popular way to play. In singles, the serve depends on the score. For even scores, you serve from the right side, and for odd scores, you serve on the left side.

When you are about to serve, make sure you clearly yell out the score of the game first. For doubles, the score is going to contain three numbers. The first number is the serving team’s score, the second number is the receiving team’s score and the third number is the service turn. For singles, you’ll just say the serving and receiving team’s scores.

The game of pickleball is played to 11 points, but the winning team must win by two.

After a game as concluded, make sure to show good sportsmanship by paddle tapping the players of the other team.

Luckily, since there is such a high interest level in pickleball, courts are being built in a lot more locations.

If you’re looking for a casual place to play with family or friends, a local community center may be a good place to start.

If you are looking for a more competitive atmosphere to play in, look for tournaments and leagues available to join near you.

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Is Ex-Mets outfielder (who loves West Coast) on verge of big payday?

Michael Conforto has made the San Francisco Giants look smart after they pivoted to him last offseason when their agreement with Carlos Correa crumbled over an issue with his physical.

 

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Democrats try to censor, remove RFK, Jr. at hearing on censorship

House Democrats on Thursday tried unsuccessfully to remove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from a hearing on federal government censorship, after claiming he was in violation of House rules aimed at preventing defamatory or degrading testimony.

That effort and others by Democrats to silence him at the hearing prompted RFK, Jr. to say, “This is an attempt to censor a censorship hearing.”

RFK, Jr., who is running for president against President Biden, was invited by Republicans to testify at a hearing at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. But after his opening remarks, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., moved to take the hearing into executive session to discuss RFK, Jr.’s alleged violation of a House rule aimed at banning testimony that defames or degrades others.

RFK JR HAS ‘NO BUSINESS’ TESTIFYING IN CONGRESS ON GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP, DEMOCRATS SAY

Wasserman Schultz said the witness made “despicable” antisemitic and anti-Asian comments in the last few days, referring to his comment that COVID may have been “ethnically targeted” because those who are most immune to COVID appear to be Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. RFK, Jr. later said he was not accusing anyone of deliberately engineering COVID to spare certain ethnic populations.

Wasserman Schultz’s move to halt the hearing and go to executive session was voted down 10-8 thanks to the Republican majority in the committee. Some Democrats made comments like “no to hate speech” as they voted against the GOP push to kill Wasserman Schultz’s motion.

Democrats also tried to limit RFK, Jr.’s remarks right from the start by noting that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who chairs the subcommittee, planned to give him 10 minutes to speak. Stacey Plaskett, the Democrat delegate from the Virgin Islands, asked why he should get 10 minutes when witnesses usually get 5 minutes.

RFK JR SHRUGS OFF BIDEN FAMILY CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS: WON’T BE A ‘SMEAR TIP TO MY CAMPAIGN’

When Jordan said the committee often lets lawmakers and former lawmakers speak for a longer time, Plaskett said, “He’s neither.”

Jordan acquiesced to giving him 5 minutes on the clock, and said to Plaskett, “If you want to cut him off and censor him some more, you’re welcome to do it.”

“Oh, that’s not my job,” Plaskett said. “That’s your job. Why don’t you threaten the witness so that they do not want to be a witness.”

RFK, Jr. used his opening remarks to lament the Democrats’ efforts to censor his speech, and broader efforts to censor his run for the White House. He said his speech announcing his candidacy was censored five minutes into his speech by YouTube.

“Censorship is antithetical to our party,” he said. “It was appalling to my father, to my uncle, to FDR, to Harry Truman, to Thomas Jefferson as the chairman referred to. It is the basis for Democracy.”

ROBERT F KENNEDY JR PRESS DINNER DEVOLVES INTO ‘SCREAMING AND POLEMIC FARTING’: NY POST

“The First Amendment was not written for easy speech,” he added. “It was written for the speech that nobody likes you for.”

He noted recent emails that show the Biden administration tried to censor his comments about vaccines, just three days into the start of that administration.

“They had to invent a new word called ‘malinformation’ to censor people like me,” he said. “Malinformation is information that is true, but it is inconvenient to the government, that they don’t want people to hear.”

“My uncle Edward Kennedy has more legislation with his name on it than any senator in United States history,” he said. “Why is that? Because he was able to reach across the aisle, because he didn’t deal in the insults, because he didn’t try to censor people.”

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