Wake Up Right - August 30, 2024

It’s Friday, folks! We’re also headed into Labor Day weekend, so there will be no newsletter on Monday. I think we can all use a politics-free LDW.

And I’ll send you into the weekend with a clip from last night that made me laugh — Trump showing Tulsi Gabbard his dance moves:

  • 🆚 2024 polling average: Trump 46.2%, Harris 48%

  • 💸 Illegal aliens cost taxpayers $150 billion last year

  • 🥩 Anti-inflammatory diet cuts dementia risk by 31%

  • 📈 71% of Dems are enthusiastic about voting, near 2008 high of 79%

Sources: RCP, NY Post, Yahoo News, Gallup

Make America Fertile Again

Former President Donald Trump announced he plans to mandate that infertility treatments like IVF are covered by the government or healthcare providers, quipping, “Because we want more babies!"

The details: Trump announced this new policy proposal during a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, saying:

  • “[U]nder the Trump administration, your government will pay for — or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for — all costs associated with IVF treatment. Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.”

  • Trump also pledged to "allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes."

Let’s talk about IVF treatments: It involves retrieving eggs from the woman, fertilizing them with sperm in a lab, and then transferring the embryo back into the woman's uterus for a potential pregnancy.

  • IVF can cost families tens of thousands of dollars for a single round, and many women require multiple rounds.

Fertility crisis: Some of the most recent research found that 16% of married women experienced some degree of infertility. It is estimated that in 2019, over 8.5 million American women dealt with fertility issues.

The politics: Donald Trump has historically struggled with women voters. A recent Economist poll found Kamala Harris holds a 13-point lead in the demographic. This policy could help Trump narrow that gap.

The flip side: This policy, along with his softer touch approach to abortion, risks alienating some pro-life members of the Republican party. Recently, Live Action founder Lila Rose replied to a story about Trump potentially vetoing a federal abortion ban, saying, "If you don’t stand for pro-life principles, you don’t get pro-life votes."

Lies from Kamala: This policy trumps Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s repeated false claims that Trump wants to ban IVF treatments.

Zoom out: This follows several populist economic policies put forward by Trump, including his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips for service workers (which Kamala Harris plagiarized) and a plan to eliminate taxes on social security benefits for senior citizens.

[Source: Fox News]

Kamala fails her softball CNN interview

In her first interview since being installed to replace Joe Biden, Kamala Harris deflected blame for her failures as Vice President and refused to give direct answers to questions about her policy flip-flops.

Let’s set the table: After nearly 40 days without answering questions from the press, Harris’ first interview with CNN’s Dana Bash has several fundamental flaws:

  • It was only 18 minutes long

  • It was pre-recorded

  • She required a babysitter beside her, Tim Walz

…other than that, it was perfectly credible.

Addressing her flip-flops: Since becoming the nominee, Harris says she no longer supports several far-left policies she once championed — like eliminating private health insurance, banning fracking, supporting the Green New Deal, and decriminalizing illegal immigration.

  • Bash asked her: “How should voters look at some of the changes that you’ve made… And should they feel comfortable and confident that what you’re saying now is gonna be your policy?”

  • Harris repeatedly defaulted to a pre-rehearsed line, “My values have not changed,” while providing a word-salad response that focused on her continued support for the Green New Deal, while not addressing any of the key policy flip-flops she’s made.

  • Bash pushed Harris on fracking, reminding her that she supported banning it in 2020, which she denied.

Harris lied about Biden’s mental fitness: It should not be overlooked that Harris was part of the cover-up of Joe Biden’s mental incapacity up until the day he dropped out.

  • Bash asked her: “You were a staunch defender of President Biden’s capacity to serve another four years… Do you have any regrets about what you told the American people?”

  • Harris replied: “No. Not at all,” before singing Biden’s praises without addressing his mental fitness. She was allowed to do this without pushback.

Why wait? Voters have wondered why many of the promises Harris is making aren’t being implemented now, since she is currently in power as VP.

  • Bash asked her: “The steps that you’re talking about now, why haven’t you done them already?”

  • Harris replied: “First of all, we had to recover as an economy” before touring a reduction in inflation. However, Harris failed to mention that inflation was created by her and Joe Biden’s economic policies.

Tim Walz’ stolen valor: Walz has been widely criticized for falsely giving voters the impression that he served in combat in Iraq.

  • Bash asked him: “You said that you’v carried weapons in war, but you have never deployed actually in a war zone.”

  • Walz replied, “My wife, being an English teacher, tells me my grammar is not always correct,” seemingly suggesting that the lie he had told repeatedly was just him using incorrect grammar.

Donald Trump responded to the interview, posting on Truth Social: “BORING!!!”

[Source: CNN]

📊 In the seven swing states - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, and Nevada - Trump had a 45% to 43% lead over Harris among registered voters. Read more. They buried this deep in the article.

😮 Robert Telles, a Democrat politician in Las Vegas, was convicted of murdering a journalist reporting on bullying, retaliation, and favoritism in exchange for sexual favors in his office. Read more.

👍️ Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) from being taught in K-12 public schools. Read more.

🆘 An illegal alien in New York pled guilty to sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl. Read more.

🤡 Vermont's Department of Health is encouraging parents to refer to their children as "kids" rather than "son" or "daughter" to avoid gendered language. Read more.

🚫 A federal judge ruled the U.S. military cannot bar HIV-positive individuals from enlisting if they've temporarily rendered their viral loads undetectable. Read more.

👟 Sports retailer Footlocker is moving its headquarters out of New York and into Florida. Read more.

🤣 "White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo may have plagiarized multiple scholars, including minority writers, in her 2004 Ph.D. thesis. Read more.

🎥 Jesse Watters’ show asks people in NYC what they think about Kamala. Watch.

🎥 Donald Trump announces his plans to cover women’s fertility treatments. Read more.

🎥 Tulsi Gabbard tells Donald Trump about her personal experience with IVF. Watch.

🎥 Brittany Mahomes, wife of star QB Patrick Mahomes, responds to backlash over her support for Trump. Watch.

🎥 MSNBC host Ari Melber throws a tantrum when Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski quotes his own words. Melber threatens to sue him. Watch.

🎥 Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary slams Kamala Harris for hiding from the press. Watch.

🎥 Pro-Palestine protestors interrupt Kamala. Watch.

🎥 If you know someone who suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome, this might be the right solution. Watch. [LOL, this is a spoof medical commercial shared by RFK’s former running-mate]

🎥 Yesterday, we spoke about the Venezuelan gangs in Colorado. Here’s the video. Watch.

🎥 Watch how one of my favorite hags from The View talks about Nikki Haley's race vs. how she talks about Kamala's. Watch.

🎥 Store owner enlightens her employees on how much she has to pay the government in payroll taxes just to employ them. Watch.