In his State of the State Address, Governor Brian Kemp touted progress in his first term, and laid out next steps that include increased education, incentives for law enforcement and healthcare professionals, and targeted Medicaid expansion through the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program. “Over the last four years our greatest…
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Pro-life activists expect Georgia Republicans to file two bills granting equal rights to the unborn; the bills would impact exceptions currently in place under Georgia’s heartbeat law that bans abortions after six weeks.
Georgia Right to Life (GRL) Executive Director Zemmie Fleck said the heartbeat bill grants some rights, mostly to the mother, including counting the unborn in the census. It includes exceptions for certain circumstances surrounding conception or health.
“This would actually say all of those children who are classified in the rape and incest category or the fetal anomaly category, or the life of the mother category, those children also — they have equal protection of their life, and they have the equal recognition that they are persons to be treated just like a born person,” she said.
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Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) has reintroduced legislation to block funding and forbid agencies from implementing President Joe Biden’s Executive Orders 14076 and 14079. The two orders, issued in 2022, required the Department of Health and Human Services to research and advance access to reproductive healthcare services. “As tens of thousands of proud pro-life Americans attend the March for Life in our nation’s capital today, I’m proud to stand for the sanctity of life by reintroducing legislation to block and defund President Biden’s pro-abortion executive orders,” Clyde said in a January 20 press release announcing the “Protect the UNBORN (Undo the Negligent Biden Orders Right Now) Act.”
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Georgia state and Atlanta officials criticized a violent protest in the city on Saturday; Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that some business’ windows were broken and a police car was set on fire, but said that no citizens or officers were injured.
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Eleven men have been sentenced after a scheme to obtain $3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans; Atlanta man Rodericque Thompson recruited nine business owners to obtain $300,000 loans with fraudulent applications according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
“The CARES Act and the PPP designated funds to aid struggling businesses during a pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a press release. “American businesses needed these funds to keep their companies and employees afloat during a national emergency and world-wide pandemic. These defendants took advantage of that program to obtain money to which they were not lawfully entitled. We will continue investigating and prosecuting those who attempt to steal these critical funds.”
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Attorney General Chris Carr touted the work done by his new Gang Prosecution Unit launched in July; since then, the unit has indicted 50 alleged gang members across 13 counties, he told legislators on Wednesday.
The Georgia gang investigators estimate that 60 percent of violent crimes are gang-related, so this unit’s creation is perfectly timed to be a force multiplier in this fight,” Carr said in a presentation to the money committees. “With the new unit, we’ve been working hand-in-hand with local, state, and federal law enforcement to ensure that violent criminals are aggressively prosecuted and put behind bars.”
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Governor Brian Kemp presented his budget to state legislators by Zoom on Tuesday; Kemp explained that he was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I just want to apologize for not being there in person, that had been my intention,” Kemp said. “But this is just a great opportunity for me to be out here to share Georgia’s success story with people from around the world, because I believe they can certainly learn a thing or two from us.”
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In an after-action report on the 2022 elections in Georgia, Greater Georgia Chairwoman Kelly Loeffler argued that Georgia is still a red state, but that Democratic spending from outside the state is the reason for losses in the federal elections. “Republicans won every statewide office and held both the State House and Senate. Georgia isn’t just a red state – it is a red state despite the challenges posed by the Left’s massive national funding, organization on the ground, and growing demographic advantages,” Loeffler, a former U.S. senator, wrote in the report.
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Georgia will have four Republicans in three of the most powerful House of Representatives committees: Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) has been picked for the Appropriations Committee, and Representative Rick Allen (R-GA-12) has been selected for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) already serves on that committee, and Representative Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) already serves on the Ways and Means Committee.
Committees decide the fate of legislation in Congress and hold hearings. The appointments of Clyde and Allen to the committees give them more personal power and opportunities to advance their careers, but the positions also give them the ability to more directly influence major legislation on behalf of their districts.
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Georgia’s December 2022 tax revenues hit $3.21 billion, up $224.9 million and 7.5 percent higher than the same month in 2021 despite decreases in fuel tax and personal income tax revenues.
The report also marks the first six months of Fiscal Year 2023.
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Governor Brian Kemp announced his budget proposal on Friday, highlighting $250 income tax rebates, one-time discounts on homeowner property tax, and spending on education, economic development, improving healthcare access, and a $2,000 cost-of-living increase for state employees.
“Despite national economic headwinds caused by 40-year high inflation, Georgia’s economy remains a leader nationwide. As we look ahead to the upcoming fiscal year, we expect the state’s economy to be well positioned to withstand any further national economic slowing,” he said in a letter to lawmakers.
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During their inaugural speeches, Governor Brian Kemp and newly-elected Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones painted a picture of Republican successes in Georgia but called for further tax relief, investment in schools and health care, and tough-on-crime policies. “Last year on the campaign trail, no matter where we went, hard-working Georgians told…
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Governor Brian Kemp announced that solar panel manufacturer Qcells will invest $2.5 billion to build two new factories in Georgia, a significant expansion after the company opened the largest solar panel factory in the western hemisphere in Dalton in 2019.
“I am honored to announce the growth of Qcells in Georgia for a second time in less than a year,” Kemp said in a press release.
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Governor Brian Kemp allowed Georgia’s moratorium on state gas and diesel taxes to expire on Tuesday night, after first introducing the moratorium in May and renewing it six times since then.
In 2022, Georgia’s gas tax was 29.1 cents and the diesel tax at 32.6 cents, but that’s going up on Wednesday to 31.2 cents and 35 cents, respectively. As of January 10, before the taxes took effect, Georgia’s average gas price was $2.808, below the national average of $3.270, according to AAA Gas Prices.
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The Georgia House of Representatives elected former Majority Leader Senator Jon Burns (R-Newington) to be Speaker of the House in its first day of session. Burns replaces Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones (R-Milton), who became Georgia’s first woman Speaker of the House after late Speaker David Ralston died November 2022. Jones was re-elected to be Speaker Pro-Tempore on Monday.
“This is, admittedly, a very bittersweet moment,” Burns said in a speech after he took the dais. “Just a matter of weeks before today, I never would have imagined standing for this office. The passing of Speaker David Ralston has left a hole in the heart of this House.”
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia announced the final sentence in its Operation Stranded Bandit which saw 34 defendants sentenced to up to 292 months for involvement in meth trafficking from Mexico to Savannah through Atlanta.
“Our law enforcement partners built Operation Stranded Bandit on the foundation of prior investigations dismantling a network of drug traffickers operating inside and outside prisons to bring large quantities of methamphetamine to coastal Georgia,” U.S. Attorney David Estes said in a Thursday press release. “Getting gun-carrying drug traffickers off our streets, particularly those with gang affiliations, is a vital part of protecting our communities from violent crime.”
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Georgia GOP (GAGOP) District 9 Chairwoman Rebecca Yardley announced her campaign to chair the Georgia Republican Party; current Chairman David Shafer hasn’t yet decided if he will run, but Yardley will likely face him or one of his allies in the June convention.
“Our Party deserves a chairman who is fully focused on taking the steps required to win Georgia elections. I’ve witnessed firsthand the incredible work done on the county and district levels. Now it’s time to have our top leadership at the state match the same energy, concentration, and drive shown by our local members daily,” Yardley said in a Thursday press release.
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Governor Brian Kemp announced $234 million in 29 grants for broadband expansion using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds; the money will go to 12 internet service providers in 28 counties and will be matched with other funds for a total $455 million to support 76,000 locations.
“Georgia is again leading the nation in identifying where the digital divide is the deepest and acting on that knowledge to improve service for hardworking people all the way from Seminole County to Gordon County and beyond,” Kemp said in a Wednesday press release.
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Sheree Ralston took 45.02 percent of the House District (HD) 7 special election vote on Tuesday night, followed by Johnny Chastain with 39.28 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. That sets the two candidates up for a runoff.
That’s a bad result for Kemp-endorsed Sheree Ralston since Chastain is likely to pick up votes from conservative supporters who backed the other three candidates on Tuesday, according to Atlanta Tea-Party President Debbie Dooley.
That’s a bad result for Kemp-endorsed Ralston, since Chastain is likely to pick up votes from conservative supporters who backed the other three candidates on Tuesday, according to Atlanta Tea-Party President Debbie Dooley.
House District 7 voters will choose between five Republicans in Tuesday’s special election to fill the seat left vacant by late Speaker David Ralston; the leading candidates include Ralston’s widow, Kemp-endorsed Sheree Ralston, and radio host Brian Pritchard, who is running further to the right.
Ralston has also announced endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce, and has emphasized her work on mental health, while Pritchard is emphasizing his grassroots appeal and resistance to Kemp and establishment Republicans.
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Governor Brian Kemp has set a January 31 special election for House District 119 to replace Representative-elect Danny Rampey. Kemp called for the election in a New Year’s Eve order; the election date coincides with special elections in Senate District 11 and House District 172.
Rampey was elected in the November General Election, where he ran unopposed after defeating Marcus Ray with 82.7 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. But Rampey hadn’t yet taken office when he was arrested in December, facing allegations that he stole narcotics at a retirement complex that he managed, according to the AP. The Athens Banner-Herald reported that Rampey faces 19 felony counts, including burglary and drug possession.
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The John Lewis Tribute Task Force announced Thursday that Jamaican sculptor Basil Watson would create a sculpture to honor the late Democratic congressman; the sculpture of the civil rights leader will stand outside the historic Decatur courthouse where a Confederate monument once stood.
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Augusta University Health System (AUHS) announced Tuesday the signing of a letter of intent to join Wellstar Health System. The potential deal would join the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), the state’s only public medical school, with one of the largest safety net hospital operators in Georgia.
“This is good news for the Augusta region and for health care across our state. It means more doctors and medical service providers, more options for health care, and greater innovation in this field are coming to Georgia communities,” Governor Brian Kemp tweeted after the AUHS announcement.
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The state of Georgia has signed on to a $3.1 billion national agreement with Walmart amid allegations that the retailer didn’t properly monitor opioids dispensing at its pharmacies; Georgia is expected to get $28 million in the deal, according to an announcement from Attorney General Chris Carr.
“The opioid epidemic has destroyed lives, families, and communities all across our state and nation,” Carr said in the release.
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Governor Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency ahead of an “Arctic blast” expected to hit Georgia beginning Thursday. Although snow is possible in parts of the state, in a press conference Wednesday Kemp and administration officials focused on black ice, downed power lines, and unusual cold.
“We also need to warn everyone that windchills will be near zero or in the negative digits by midday on Friday. Temperatures as we know it likely won’t reach 40 degrees across Georgia until Monday afternoon,” Kemp said. “Communities across the state are about to experience temperatures they haven’t experienced in a decade or more.”
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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) are trading blows in the media after Raffensperger’s Sunday Wall Street Journal op-ed “Raphael Warnock, Election Denier.”
“I have to spend a lot of time shooting down false claims about our elections in Georgia. Usually they come from losers. But sometimes even victorious candidates make false claims about our elections,” Raffensperger wrote, placing Warnock alongside Stacy Abrams and former President Donald Trump.
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Most of Georgia’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including both Democratic senators, five out of six Democratic representatives, and five out of the eight Republican representatives. After the bill passed out of the Senate on Thursday, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said the bill included his own legislation to help veterans access their service records, and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) touted the inclusion of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which includes $75 million in water infrastructure spending for rural and economically disadvantaged regions in Georgia.
“I’m so glad we were able to get this year’s NDAA over the finish line with tremendous bipartisan support. Georgia notched notable wins in this year’s defense package, including bolstering Georgia’s military bases, ensuring our state is a crucial component to our nation’s national defense for years to come and securing more affordable military housing for servicemembers and their families,” Warnock said in a press release.
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Attorney General Chris Carr has signed on to a letter asking Google and Apple to change TikTok age ratings to reflect content on the platform. The TikTok app is rated 12+ in Apple’s app store, and “T” for teen in Google’s app store.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp banned TikTok, WeChat, and Telegram on state-issued devices in a memo sent to state agency heads on Thursday.
“The TikTok software platform has the capability to track and store its users’ highly detailed public and non-public personal information, and the Chinese government is able to access this information under national security laws that require Chinese companies to assist in intelligence work through data sharing and other means. This requirement has already resulted in the CCP [Communist Party of China] influencing TikTok’s content and censorship algorithms to further its own political interests and poses an ongoing threat to the data of all users,” Kemp explained in the memo obtained by 11AliveNews reporter Nick Wooten.
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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wants the General Assembly to end or reform general election runoffs, suggesting a lower threshold for candidates to win outright and instant runoff using ranked-choice voting that wouldn’t require voters to return to the polls.
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The Dekalb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to require surveillance cameras in unincorporated parts of the county, effective June 30, 2023.
“We know that the gas stations and convenience stores in general have seen an increase in violent crimes and gun murders and gun violence. This new ordinance ensures that anyone who perpetrates a violent crime on site will be documented with a high-definition quality audio visual equipment, and then also, hopefully, the ability to tie in to the overall system that the police department uses in real time,” Commissioner Ted Terry said.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into efforts to interfere with certifying the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, or to interfere with the lawful transfer of power.
The subpoena, obtained by The Washington Post, orders Raffensperger to produce any communications dating June 2020 through January 20, 2021, with former President Donald Trump, his campaign, and allies including some lawyers. Similar subpoenas were sent to officials in other 2020 battleground states, according to The Post.
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Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) and SK On have selected a site for a new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant in Bartow County. The project is expected to create 3,500 jobs with an investment of $4-5 billion, one of the largest economic development projects in Georgia history, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“Hyundai Motor Group and SK On are valued partners and key players in our state’s ever-growing automotive industry,” Governor Brian Kemp said in a Thursday press release. “Since day one, my administration has been focused on bringing jobs and opportunity to communities across the state that may have been overlooked in the past. SK and HMG share this goal, and we’re proud they are choosing to invest even further in this number one state for business.”
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Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) after Herschel Walker lost the Georgia Senate runoff. Shafer said the NRSC didn’t provide enough support, according to an internal Republican National Committee (RNC) email chain obtained by Politico.
“Tuesday was a tough day in Georgia. Herschel was massively outspent, maybe 3 to 1 in a four week period of time and still held his own,” Shafer said in an email sent the day after the election.
“We used our RNC transfer dollars for the ground game and were forced to raise money from entirely within the state for our critically important mail program. Two weeks out, we were $2.5 million short when I sent what was for me an embarrassing email begging the other state parties for help,” he said.
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Former Pickens County School Superintendent Carlton Wilson and his wife pleaded guilty to racketeering and theft charges; Carlton Wilson also plead guilty to six additional theft charges, according to Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office prosecuted the case.
“Carlton and Cindy Wilson stole thousands of dollars from hardworking Georgians, and now they are facing the consequences of their illegal actions,” Carr said in a press release. “This is a complex case that spans several years and involves multiple acts of theft, including the unlawful collection of taxpayer funds. This conviction is a major victory for all those who fell victim to the couple’s fraudulent and deceptive tactics, and we are proud to have worked with our local partners to put a stop to their criminal schemes.”
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Georgians cast 3.5 million ballots in the Senate runoff, including 1.9 million early and absentee ballots and 1.6 million votes on Election Day. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said more election day votes were cast in the runoff than on election day in the general election.
That should have equaled a win for Herschel Walker, according to Republican estimates on Monday that suggested turnout of just one million election day votes would be enough for him to cancel Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) early vote lead. Instead, Warnock won 1.8 million total votes and Walker 1.7 million — 51.37 percent to 48.63 percent, according to unofficial results.
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Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is projected to win by multiple media outlets; at press time, Warnock led Herschel Walker 50.81 percent to 49.19 percent with 95.6 percent of counties and precincts reporting. However, that margin is expected to widen with many of the Atlanta-area counties only partially reporting results and rural counties having largely complete their reporting.
In Georgia, a candidate can request a recount if the race margin is less than or equal to 0.5 percent, according to a state website. In a short speech after the race was called, Walker acknowledged the results and thanked his supporters, telling them to never stop dreaming and believing in America.
“There’s no excuses in life, and I’m not going to make any excuses now, because we put up one heck of a fight. And that’s what we got to do, because this is much bigger than Herschel Walker,” he said.
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Strong turnout in Republican areas at the end of early voting in the Senate runoff in Georgia is giving conservatives hope that Herschel Walker can close a 200,000 vote gap Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is estimated to hold. For Walker to win, Election-Day turnout, expected to favor the Republican, needs to hit at least one million votes.
On the day of the November 2022 General Election, about 1.5 million voters turned out, according to Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia branch of the nonpartisan Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“Obviously, you know, it’d be a miracle to get that same 1.5 million out, so you’re probably not going to do that. So the magic number in order to make up the margin that can be ascertained for Raphael Warnock, it’s got to be at least a million voters to come out” Parnell said, noting that would give Walker and Warnock even chances.
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Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) wants a federal investigation in Arizona where Kari Lake is disputing results of the gubernatorial election against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, whose office reports preliminary results that Hobbs has won 50.3 percent to 49.6 percent. Greene’s call was also a reaction to a post of emails showing that Hobbs’ office reported misinformation tweets to Twitter on January 7, 2021.
“The SOS of AZ and Gov candidate, Katie Hobbs, used the power of the AZ SOS to collude w/ Twitter to unconstitutionally violate 1st Amendment rights of Americans for her own political gain. This is communism and Hobbs can not be governor. I’m calling for a Federal investigation,” Greene tweeted Sunday morning.
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Three new polls released in the final days of early voting show Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) a little ahead of Herschel Walker, although Walker is within the margin of error in two of the three polls.
Emerson College found Warnock ahead, 49 percent to 47 percent, with 4 percent undecided out of 888 very likely voters and those who already voted. That poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error and was conducted November 28 through 30 on behalf of The Hill. SurveyUSA found Warnock at 50 percent to Walker’s 46 percent and 4 percent undecided out of 1,214 likely voters. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error and was conducted November 26 through 30 on behalf of WXIA-TV. Both polls were published Thursday.
On Friday, CNN published the results of a SSRS poll finding Warnock at 52 percent and Walker at 48 percent among 1,184 likely voters, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. That poll was conducted from November 25 through 29.
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Outgoing Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (R) told CNN on Wednesday that he couldn’t bring himself to vote for either Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) or Herschel Walker.
“I showed up to vote this morning. I was one of those folks who got in line and spent about an hour waiting. And you know, it was the most disappointing ballot I’ve ever stared at my entire life since I started voting. You know, I had two candidates that I just couldn’t find anything that made sense for me to put my vote behind and so I walked out of that ballot box, showing up to vote, but not voting for either one of them,” Duncan said.
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Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) continues to out-raise and out-spend Republican Herschel Walker in the race for Senate, having $29.7 million cash on hand against Walker’s $9.8 million by a November 16 report.
Outside spending is also playing a big role: Open Secrets reports about $60 million in spending for both candidates in the runoff alone, and on Wednesday, pro-Warnock group Georgia Honor announced a $5.83 million ad buy featuring an attack ad aimed at Walker, according to NBC. The same day, another pro-Warnock group Majority Forward announced $11 million in spending on a massive door-knocking operation ahead of the December 6 vote, according to The Washington Post.
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A “Mega MAGA Georgia Bus Tour” to boost Republican turnout in the runoff election between Herschel Walker and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a continuation of GOP efforts to get supporters to embrace early voting. The tour has nine scheduled stops beginning Tuesday morning on the outskirts of Atlanta before heading north, and organizers confirmed that Walker will attend some stops, although specific details are still pending.
The tour comes after the same organizers supported Trump-endorsed former Senator David Perdue in his efforts to primary Governor Brian Kemp, who easily defeated Perdue. That’s left some antipathy in the Georgia GOP at a time when the party can’t afford to lose either moderates or MAGA voters. Kemp has appeared at rallies for Walker, and both are supporting Walker while maintaining distance from each other. Fredericks sees the tour as a chance for party unity.
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Georgia voters are turning out in high numbers for early voting in the runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Herschel Walker. 181,711 voters turned out over the weekend, including 166,325 early-in-person voters according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office updated early Monday morning.
The election started last week in some counties that opted into earlier voting including Saturday, but all counties were required to begin early voting by Monday. Twitter pundits noted that many rural counties didn’t embrace the earlier start of voting, an apparent strategic blunder for Republicans who are trying to shift GOP voter culture to embrace early voting, placing Walker behind in the turnout battle. But Georgia Republicans expect their voters to make up for that with turnout going forward, reporting strong rural turnout on Monday.
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Automotive parts manufacturer Hyundai Mobis plans a $926 million Electric Vehicle (EV) Power Electric system plant in Bryan County; the plant will supply systems to Hyundai factories in Bryan County and in Alabama, and to the Kia Georgia plant in West Point.
“Hyundai Mobis’ investment project in Bryan County reflects an acceleration in the development of the EV supply chain in Georgia’s auto industry,” Hyundai Mobis Electric Powertrain Business Unit Vice President H. S. Oh said in a press release. “We’re going to be a major production player in the EV market, and that’s going to trigger more growth within the sector. Mobis is looking forward to providing high-quality work opportunities to the growing local workforce.”
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The Georgia Supreme Court has allowed the state’s six-week abortion ban to remain in effect, issuing a Wednesday order staying a lower court order blocking the ban while the state appeals the injunction against the ban.
The law was originally passed in 2019, effective beginning January 2020. But pro-choice organizations sued, and courts blocked the law from taking effect pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
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Georgia Republicans are pushing their supporters to embrace early voting in the December 6 runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Herschel Walker. Early voting began Wednesday in DeKalb County, and some other counties will have early voting on Saturday after a Georgia Supreme Court decision, but all counties must offer early voting beginning November 28.
“If you are a conservative you should VOTE EARLY IN PERSON in Georgia. Don’t trust the Election Day madness. Learn from Maricopa and vote early and securely,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted Tuesday.
“Absolutely right,” Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer responded.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin will attend a meet and greet in Kansas Thursday with gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Derek Schmidt, stop in Texas Friday for an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival, and then headline an event for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on September 27. Republican governors campaigning for other Republicans are a normal feature of an election year with a number of high-profile races, but Youngkin’s national appearances have also raised questions about Youngkin’s aspirations for higher office, which Youngkin himself has largely brushed off.
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Charlottesville, Virginia – The City of Charlottesville removed two famous Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on Saturday. Workers began removing Lee shortly after 7 a.m. to a moderately sized crowd, but more people arrived later in the morning to see Jackson lifted off his pedestal and driven to storage. In a special meeting afterwards, the city council also approved removing Charlottesville’s Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea statue; workers removed that statue after the meeting.
“Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain,” Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker said in a speech before the monuments came down, according to The Associated Press.
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Steve Bannon’s “War Room: Pandemic” has become the focal point for Republicans eager to show their pro-Trump bona-fides, according to NBC News, which says politicians are using the podcast as a “kind of proxy primary.”
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