Family of First Person Killed by State Abortion Ban Speaks Out at Harris Town Hall

The family of the first known person to have died due to a post-Roe abortion ban spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday night, alongside Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris and famed television host Oprah Winfrey during a town hall event.

They shared the story about their daughter, Amber Nicole Thurman, whose 2022 death was entirely preventable.

Georgia's extreme ban on abortion allows exceptions to save a pregnant person's life, but such exceptions are rarely carried out due to the vagueness of the law failing to stipulate what constitutes a life-saving event (this is a regularly occurring problem throughout the U.S. where such bans are in place). Thurman waited 20 hours before receiving treatment -- had she been treated earlier, it's believed she would have lived.

Said Thurman's mother at the event:

Initially, I did not want the public to know my pain. I wanted to go through in silence, but I realized that it was selfish. I want you to know, Amber was not a statistic, she was loved by a family, a strong family.

It's unclear how many people have died because of such bans that right-wing states have instituted since the dismantling of Roe. While another death is known, such statistics aren't regularly posted, and the number who have perished because of these bans is believed to be much, much higher.

These abortion bans would not have been possible were it not for Donald Trump appointing three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court during his tenure in the White House. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, seen by many legal experts as extremely dubious legal reasoning, is directly responsible for Thurman's death, and for the deaths of others, not to mention the detrimental health outcomes many more have experienced.

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Trump Said the Crowd at the Debate Cheered for Him. There Wasn't a Crowd There.

Image via Public Domain

Donald Trump claimed on Fox News last night that he received overwhelming support from the audience during his debate with Kamala Harris last week, saying the crowd "went absolutely crazy" when ABC News moderators fact-checked him over blatantly false assertions he made.

However, the debate had no audience present — it only included Trump, Harris, the moderators, and the TV crew. So what in the hell is Trump talking about?

Critics are questioning whether this, along with other recent statements he's made, suggests a decline in Trump's mental sharpness and if there should be more conversation about his fitness to serve as president, similar to the concerns raised about Joe Biden earlier this year.

From The New Republic:

Speaking in Long Island on Wednesday, Donald Trump was as bombastic and boastful as ever—but also slurred his words on several occasions.

Trump stumbled over words like “migrants” and “Russia” and had trouble stringing sentences together.

And from Salon, which quotes MSNBC's Chris Hayes's views:

MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes argued that the Republican candidate's remark validated concerns about his age and mental capacity.

"Trump talking about 'the audience' at the debate (where there famously was no audience) is more delusional and unsettling than any moment of Joe Biden misspeaking all year and it’s not close," Hayes wrote on social media.

Kamala Harris Sees Small "Bump" in Polls One Week Out From Debate

Image via WhiteHouse.gov/Public Domain

Polling data is showing a small "bump" in the polls for Kamala Harris just over a week after her debate with Donald Trump.

The Democratic candidate for president leads Trump by an average of 3.1 points, on average, according to the aggregate polling site FiveThirtyEight. That's a jump of more than half a point from September 10, the night of the debate.

That sounds like a minimal increase, but it's based on a pool of polls all put together. A better indication of the "bump" can be seen by observing changes in specific polls.

The Economist/YouGov survey that was taken before the debate showed the two candidates were tied at that time, at 45 percent support for each among registered voters. In their most recent poll, Harris has a 4-point lead, attaining 49 percent support to Trump's 45 percent.

Similarly, a Morning Consult poll from before the debate had Harris ahead by 3 points. A week out from the debate, that lead has doubled, expanding to 6 points, per the organization's latest polling.

The momentum is clearly on Harris's side, and early observations about her winning the debate appear to have been true, given the expansion of her national lead. Whether she can hold onto it, from here until November, and whether it will translate to an Electoral College win, has yet to be seen.

Vance Makes Hypocritical Demand for Dems to Stop Saying Trump Is Fascist (Psst...He Is)

J.D. Vance whined this week that Democrats use the word "fascist" too much to describe Trump.

Trump, of course, has used the word on multiple occasions to describe and deride Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, I don't think I've ever heard Harris use the word once against Trump, even though it is a correct descriptor for his views.

A search of Rev.com, an online transcription service that keeps up-to-date with the presidential candidates' speeches, finds no transcripts of Harris uttering the word during this past year. Conversely, it shows multiple times that Trump has used the word against her just this past week. 

Vance's complaints are hypocritical. Yes, there are plenty on the left that call Trump a fascist -- that's because Trump IS one (how else would you describe a guy who pushes false xenophobic lines of attacks, who wants to be a dictator, has called for the termination of the Constitution, isn't ruling out creating "camps" for certain people, etc.?). But if Vance wants to remonstrate against Dems for doing so, he should probably tell his boss to knock it off, too.

Image credits: Vance image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr; Harris image via DoD/Public Domain; Trump image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Harris Calls First Abortion Ban-Related Death "Consequence" of Trump's Actions

Vice President Kamala Harris is blaming news of the first post-Roe death of a person being denied abortion care squarely on Donald Trump.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

In 2016, Trump pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices that would overturn Roe v. Wade -- and that's exactly what happened in 2022. Now, people who have been denied abortion care and harmed by state bans are sharing their stories, urging people to not let Trump have another chance at the presidency, lest he restrict the procedure further at the urging of his far-right backers.

However, Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia resident was similarly denied abortion care because her state had a complete ban in place, cannot tell her story because it resulted in her death in 2022. Hers is the first documented case of an abortion ban causing someone to die.

At least one other death has been recorded, but it's likely that many more have occurred and haven't yet been reported on.

In a statement on Tuesday, Harris said Trump deserved the blame. From The Guardian:

“These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s actions,” Harris said in a statement.

...

“This young mother should be alive, raising her son, and pursuing her dream of attending nursing school,” said Harris, who has made abortion rights a prominent feature of her presidential campaign. “This is exactly what we feared when Roe was struck down.”

 

Trump Flip-Flops on More Debates With Harris -- He Calls It QUITS After Disaster on Tuesday

Image of Trump via Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Flip Flop image via Open ClickArt

Dubiously claiming victory in his debate with Kamala Harris earlier this week, Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account that there will be no further debates between them in this election cycle.

Trump weirdly likened his performance at their first meeting to that of a champion boxer delivering a knockout punch. However, reliable polls (unlike the unscientific ones he's promoting) suggest that Harris fared much better in voters' minds than he had.

Trump's meandering on the issues and his ego got the best of him, and he was (rightly) fact-checked by moderators for promoting false and dangerous conspiracy theories during the event.

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign is pushing for another debate between the two.

From Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon:

Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump. ... Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?

This is a big flip-flop from Trump, who had previously said he was open to debating "anytime, any place" when Joe Biden was the presumptive candidate for Democrats, and as recently as this month, Trump expressed interest in multiple debates with Harris, too. His change in heart on the matter appears to be wholly about him doing so poorly against her on Tuesday night -- no one, not even Donald Trump himself, can feasibly believe he "won" that debate.

Ohio City Receives Bomb Threats After False Xenophobic Attacks From Trump at Debate

It's really not surprising, but still infuriating, that Donald Trump's promotion of a well-debunked, xenophobic conspiracy theory relating to legal immigrants from Haiti in Springfield, Ohio -- alleging, falsely and without any evidence of any kind, that these individuals are stealing pets and eating them -- has resulted in threats of violence to the community. 

 From NBC affiliate station WDTN:

The Springfield Police Division confirmed to 2 NEWS that the building was evacuated due to an unspecified threat.

And from CBS affiliate WBNS:

City officials said they received a bomb threat via email at 8:24 a.m. The building was evacuated as a precautionary measure and local and regional law enforcement agencies responded.

"Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents. We are working to address this situation as swiftly as possible," the city said in a statement.

During the debate between Trump and Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Trump pushed the false and unfounded claims against immigrants in Springfield.

"They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there," Trump said.

When corrected by debate moderators about the outlandish statement, Trump said it was true because he had seen it on television.

The claims are entirely baseless. They are false. And they are racist. 

National Archives/Public Domain

Harris Leads Trump, Baldwin Ahead of Hovde, in Latest Wisconsin Poll

The latest Marquette University Law School poll shows Democrats expanding their leads in races for this fall's general election.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) leads Eric Hovde (R) by 5 points among likely voters. When "leaners" are included, that lead is maintained, with 52 percent saying they'd back Baldwin and 47 percent preferring Hovde.

In the presidential race, Harris is also leading Trump by 5 points among likely voters. With "leaners" included, the Harris edge falls by a single point, with her leading Trump 52 percent to 48 percent.

The poll was conducted before the presidential debate between Harris and Trump on Tuesday night.

Wisconsin is still considered a "swing" state, even if these numbers hold true to November. Remember, polls are just a snapshot in time -- they tell us how an electorate feels at a certain date before the election. Meaning, it's still important to vote on or before Election Day, as the only "poll" that matters is the final vote tally.

See more results of the Marquette Law School poll by clicking here.

Image via Dori/Wikimedia

Trump Uses Fake "Poll" to Weasel Out Second Debate With Harris

Harris image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Trump image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

After his considerably disastrous debate performance against Kamala Harris on Tuesday night, Donald Trump shared a number of posts on his Truth Social page claiming he was the winner.

These posts cited supposed "polls" that were taken after the event. But they weren't really polls -- they were surveys by right-wing websites that ask regular readers (not a random sample) to weigh in on who they thought won.

It'd be like a Chicago Bears Fans website asking readers who the greatest QB of week 1 was -- even though Caleb Williams did absolutely nothing to help his team win on Sunday, that fan site would still get a result of him being the greatest, due to who is voting or even knows that the "poll" exists.

Likewise, Trump used a fake poll to say that, since he did so great in the debate, a "rematch" against Harris was a dumb idea. But by all accounts (even Fox Frickin' News), Trump performed terribly, and Harris gave a master class on how to rile him while still discussing the issues that matter.

From Truth Social:

In the World of Boxing or UFC, when a Fighter gets beaten or knocked out, they get up and scream, “I DEMAND A REMATCH, I DEMAND A REMATCH!” Well, it’s no different with a Debate. She was beaten badly last night. Every Poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8, so why would I do a Rematch?

The poll Trump is specifically citing appears to be a Newsmax one, which, you guessed it, was highly skewed because most Newsmax viewers are huge Trump supporters.

Real snap polls showed Harris won the debate, by the way, although you don't really need polling data to see that.  

The bottom line here? Trump is scared to debate Harris again, and he's grasping at straws like these to try to hide how afraid he is.

It's Pretty Obvious That Kamala Harris Won the Debate. A Snap Poll Confirms It.

A "snap" (or flash) poll from CNN after last night's debate between Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris and GOP candidate Donald Trump shows that, by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, Harris was the victor.

The network surveyed 605 registered voters both before and after the debate aired last night. Their favorability rating of Harris went up by 6 points after watching her, according to the poll.

If those results translate to even a small sliver of the electorate, it will be fantastic news for Harris, as the race as of right now between her and Trump, both nationally and among swing states within the Electoral College, was neck-and-neck before the debate. Even a fraction of voters basing their decision in November on this debate will help propel her to a win. 

That said, there are still about two months until the election and anything can happen between now and then...

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Purportedly "Pro-Life" States With Anti-Abortion Laws Aren't Pro-Life After All, Study Shows

A study published last week by Northwestern Medicine reveals that states with the strictest abortion restrictions tend to leave behind the very people they claim to protect. 

These states have lower participation in state-funded assistance programs, are less likely to adopt family-supportive policies, more often restrict access to other reproductive health services, and are less likely to permit pharmacists to prescribe birth control, according to the study's findings.

"Proponents of abortion restrictions, who identify as ‘pro-life,’ assert that these policies are essential to protect children, women and families," senior author Lynn Yee said. "It would seem in these states that the abortion-opponent, ‘pro-life’ attitude not only begins at conception but ends there as well."

The lack of services in these abortion-restrictive states hurts families, including children, with lower rates of state funding for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. 

Read more at Northwestern Medicine.

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Vance Basically Says He Would Have Helped Trump Overturn 2020 Election

J.D. Vance announced on Tuesday — the day before Trump is set to debate Kamala Harris — that he would have "allowed" states to submit new electors for the Electoral College in 2020, rather than accept the presidential election results as they actually came into Congress.

The statement is essentially Vance stating he would have played along with Trump's then-plan to overturn the results of the election, which he legitimately lost — a move that Trump's former VP, Mike Pence, rightly refused to do.

Said Vance, to Politico:

I would have asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors and let the country have the debate about what actually matters and what kind of an election that we had.

The country had a debate about it. It was the election.

And Trump lost. End of story.

So if Trump loses again, his VP running mate, this time, will try to help him upend democracy in the U.S. Just thought you all deserved that heads up...

Vance image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Trump image via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia

The Media Needs to Stop "Sanewashing" Donald Trump — and Start Reporting on His Madness

We really need to talk about the media's "sanewashing" of Trump more.

What is sanewashing? It's the practice of news organizations taking a wild rant from Trump — loaded with conspiracy theories, personal attacks against others, name-calling, and other childish behaviors (and, not to mention, signs of mental decline) — and reporting on it in a way that ignores all of those problems, and just focuses on some parts of his statements, resulting in making him seem more reasonable.

Parker Malloy at The New Republic explains it REALLY well, and her column is worth a full read, but here are some highlights: 

As Trump’s statements grow increasingly unhinged in his old age, major news outlets continue to reframe his words, presenting a dangerously misleading picture to the public.

For instance, last week, Trump posted the following to his Truth Social account: 

I have reached an agreement with the Radical Left Democrats for a Debate with Comrade Kamala Harris. It will be Broadcast Live on ABC FAKE NEWS, by far the nastiest and most unfair newscaster in the business, on Tuesday, September 10th, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rules will be the same as the last CNN Debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone except, perhaps, Crooked Joe Biden. The Debate will be “stand up,” and Candidates cannot bring notes, or “cheat sheets.” We have also been given assurance by ABC that this will be a “fair and equitable” Debate, and that neither side will be given the questions in advance (No Donna Brazile!). Harris would not agree to the FoxNews Debate on September 4th, but that date will be held open in case she changes her mind or, Flip Flops, as she has done on every single one of her long held and cherished policy beliefs. A possible third Debate, which would go to NBC FAKE NEWS, has not been agreed to by the Radical Left. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

CNN described that rambling, insult-laden, conspiracy-riddled wall of text—itself a pretty good example of what he spends his time off the campaign trail doing—by writing, “Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he has ‘reached an agreement’ to participate in a September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, noting that ‘the rules will be the same as the last CNN debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone.’”

Does that really capture what Trump posted? 

Malloy goes on to say that the "'sanewashing' of Trump’s statements isn’t just poor journalism; it’s a form of misinformation that poses a threat to democracy."

"By continually reframing Trump’s incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former — and potentially future — president," Malloy adds.

It is especially important to address Trump's mental ability (or rather, inability) to serve as president again, as we saw a different candidate for president, Joe Biden, drop out of the race over similar concerns about his mental status. 

Why was the media willing to report on the flubs and mistakes Biden made while speaking, but won't properly report on Trump's "old man yelling at cloud" persona that clearly shows he's not ready/capable to be president again? It's not only hypocrisy, but it's dangerous, considering what kind of president Trump has promised to be -- a dictator who would be willing to suspend the Constitution in order to get what he wants.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Shameless Ron Johnson Pushes Conspiracy Theory About Trump Assassination Attempt

Without any evidence whatsoever, Ron Johnson, Wisconsin's Republican U.S. Senator, believes that the attempt on Donald Trump's life earlier this year was a government operation.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“To what extent has the federal government been involved in these things?” Johnson said. “We’ll probably never know because there’s a reason you call it the deep state. It’s very deep. It’s very pervasive.”

The comments from the Oshkosh Republican are the latest in a string of fringe theories that the “deep state” was behind the shooting that wounded Trump and killed a rally attendee. There is no evidence the government was involved in the shooting, and the FBI has said the 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, acted alone before he was shot and killed moments after he fired on Trump.

This is deeply irresponsible of the senator. It riles up his base to believe a fake conspiracy, and thus perpetuates the possibility of political violence.

Sen. Ron Johnson should be ashamed of himself. But we already know, the man has no shame.

Hey, remember that time Johnson faked a phone call to avoid answering questions about his involvement in overturning the 2020 presidential election?

DonkeyHotey/Flickr

Dick Cheney Is Voting for Kamala Harris, Not Donald Trump

Dick Cheney, the former vice president who served for two terms under former President George W. Bush, is hardly a person whose opinion should hold much weight these days, given his role in pushing the U.S. into a long and unnecessary war against Iraq, among other problematic parts of his lengthy, far-right political career. 

The guy's a bum, as far as I'm concerned.

But it says something about the current state of the Republican Party when even Cheney — Darth Vader himself — cannot vote for the GOP's current nominee for president, Donald Trump.

Per C-SPAN:

Mark Leibovich, staff writer for The Atlantic: "Dick Cheney, your father...do you know who he will be supporting or who he will be voting for?"

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming): "Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris."

Leibovich: "Wow. Words I never expected to hear."

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

J.D. Vance: School Shootings a "Fact of Life," Tells Americans to "Deal With It"

Days after the first major school shooting of the 2024-25 school year, J.D. Vance, the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, suggested that strengthening security at schools would stop gun violence in them, and rejected gun reform as a means to lower the frequency of such shootings. (Of note: the latest school shooting, where four individuals were killed in Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, had security in the form of a school resource officer who was able to minimize the violence, but importantly, their presence did not deter the shooting, either. In other shootings where SROs were present, they weren't as effective as this latest instance.) Said Vance, per USA Today:

"If these psychos are gonna go after our kids, we've got to be prepared for it. We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in, and we've got to deal with it," Vance said.

Tim Walz, the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, decried Vance's comments as "pathetic." "We can’t quit on our kids — they deserve better," Walz said.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr