Scott Bessent tapped for Treasury secretary and Russ Vought picked for budget role
President-elect Trump nominated Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury Department secretary once he returns to the White House in January.
In a statement on Friday, Trump highlighted Bessent’s expertise.
“I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States,” he said. “Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream.”
Trump said that Bessent will assist in achieving the “Golden Age for the United States,” saying that he will focus on improving the economy and preserving the dollar.
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World,” he said. “Unlike in past Administrations, we will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.”
HOW TRUMP’S SECOND WHITE HOUSE TERM COULD IMPACT THE ECONOMY
Trump also named Russ Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget late Friday.
In a statement, Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) President and CEO Lindsey Johnson congratulated Bessent on the nomination.
“As an experienced and accomplished businessman, we applaud Mr. Bessent’s recent comments in which he has called for a surge in small business optimism, a smart deregulatory banking agenda, and support for Main Street,” Johnson said.
“If confirmed, we look forward to working with Mr. Bessent to advocate for sound financial regulatory policy that enable banks to better support consumers, small businesses, and the economy at large.”
Bessent, the founder and CEO of global macro investment firm Key Square Group, was a key economic policy adviser and fundraiser for the Trump campaign.
He has been an advocate for economic policies like lower taxes, spending restraint and deregulation that have long made up the core of the Republican Party’s platform, and has also been supportive of Trump’s use of tariffs in trade negotiations.
At an event hosted by the Manhattan Institute earlier this year, Bessent suggested that Trump should pursue a three-point plan of targeting 3% economic growth, reducing the deficit to 3% of U.S. gross domestic product and to boost domestic energy production by 3 million barrels of oil a day.
He has also been supportive of Trump’s plan to reduce regulations on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Bessent has also argued that mass deportations of illegal immigrants would be less costly than the status quo given the cost of crime and fentanyl deaths.
Bessent previously taught at Yale University. He worked at Soros Fund Management (SFM) from 1991 to 2005, starting as a partner and eventually leading the firm’s London office. After starting his own venture and working at another firm, he returned to SFM from 2011 to 2015 as chief investment officer, before he left to found his investment firm, Key Square Group.
Key Square is focused on macro investing, which is a strategy that leverages geopolitical and macroeconomic information to guide its approach to investing in various markets.
CATHIE WOOD PREDICTS TRUMP POLICIES WILL ‘TURBOCHARGE’ US ECONOMY MORE THAN REAGAN REVOLUTION
The role of treasury secretary carries a great deal of significance for conducting the president’s economic agenda.
Treasury secretaries often lead negotiations with Congress over tax and spending matters and play a role in dealing with foreign governments and financial institutions, as well as handling the operations of the Treasury Department and sub-agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
During Trump’s first term as president, Steven Mnuchin served as treasury secretary for the duration of the four-year term after he was confirmed by the Senate on a 53-47 vote a few weeks after Inauguration Day.
US STOCKS SAW BIGGEST INFLOW SINCE JUNE ON DAY OF TRUMP’S ELECTION WIN: BANK OF AMERICA
Bessent will also have to go through the Senate confirmation process, which will be made easier by a 53-seat Republican majority after GOP candidates flipped four seats in this election.
The Senate Finance Committee will be responsible for holding a confirmation hearing on Bessent’s nomination and advancing it to the floor for a confirmation vote.
Senate committees often hold confirmation hearings for nominees of an incoming presidential administration ahead of Inauguration Day, which creates the opportunity for those nominees to be confirmed the day the new president takes office or shortly thereafter.
Vought served OMB director during Trump’s first term. He also served as deputy OMB director and acting director.
“He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term – We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The OMB director’s office develops the president’s proposed budget, and is charged with executing the president’s agenda across the federal government. Vought is a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and a close Trump ally.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
“Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies,” Trump wrote. “Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People.”
Vought will help restore “fiscal sanity” and will help usher “new levels of Prosperity and Ingenuity,” Trump said.
Trump selects former White House aide as Housing and Urban Development secretary
President-elect Trump nominated former NFL player Scott Turner as the secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Turner, who is chair of the Center for Education Opportunity, previously served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC).
“Scott is an NFL Veteran, who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” Trump said in a Friday statement.
GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?
“Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development,” he added. “Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment!”
Turner, a graduate of the University of Illinois, played cornerback for the Washington Redskins before winning a state house race in Texas. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
During Trump’s first term, Turner served as the executive director of the WHORC — aimed at helping the country’s “distressed communities across America,” according to its website.
“Scott is the Founder & CEO of his Family’s Foundation, Community Engagement & Opportunity Council (CEOC), working to revitalize communities across America through Sports, Mentorship, and Economic Opportunity,” he said. “He is also on the Board of the American Cornerstone Institute, and an Associate Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church.”
“Scott will work alongside me to Make America Great Again for EVERY American,” Trump said. “Congratulations to Scott, his wonderful wife, Robin, and his son, Solomon!”
On X, Turner thanked Trump, saying he was “humbled” by the nomination, and former HUD chief, Dr. Ben Carson, whom he called a mentor.
“Few people are as compassionate and gracious as he is, and I am aware that I have big shoes to fill,” Turner wrote. “The forgotten men and women of this great country over the past four years will be honored in the Trump administration.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We have an important mission ahead,” he added. “To God be the glory. Let’s get to work!”
Trump says his choice for CDC director ‘understands American family values’
President-elect Trump announced that former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., is his pick as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“In addition to being a Medical Doctor for 40 years, and an Army Veteran, Dave has been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues, and served on the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, working for Accountability on HHS and CDC Policy and Budgeting,” Trump said in the Friday evening announcement.
“Dave also served in a leading role in Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearings, addressing issues within HHS and CDC. Dave has successfully worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos,” Trump said.
PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ANNOUNCES PAM BONDI AS HIS NEW PICK FOR US ATTORNEY GENERAL
Weldon, 71, served in the House, where he represented Florida, from 1995-2009. He did not seek reelection in 2008.
The CDC is charged with providing information and scientific expertise in preventing and controlling a range of diseases, as well as managing disease outbreaks. The CDC director reports to the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic and critic of the CDC, for the role of HHS secretary. Trump said that Weldon will play a key part in “Making America Healthy Again,” saying that he will work on correcting “past errors.”
“Americans have lost trust in the CDC and in our Federal Health Authorities, who have engaged in censorship, data manipulation, and misinformation,” he said.
“Given the current Chronic Health Crisis in our Country, the CDC must step up and correct past errors to focus on the Prevention of Disease. The current Health of Americans is critical, and CDC will play a big role in helping to ensure Americans have the tools and resources they need to understand the underlying causes of diseases, and the solutions to cure these diseases,” Trump added.
GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR?
Trump said that Weldon “understands American Family Values.”
“As a father of two and a husband of 45 years, Dave understands American Family Values, and views Health as one of utmost importance,” he said. “Dave will prioritize Transparency, Competence, and High Standards at CDC. Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose, and will work to end the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and Make America Healthy Again!”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
If confirmed, Weldon would replace Dr. Mandy Cohen, an internal medicine physician and former chief of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
FOX News Media kicks off holidays with ‘All-American Christmas Tree Lighting’
FOX News Media lit its “All-American Christmas Tree” in FOX Square outside the network’s world headquarters in New York City Friday, officially kicking off the holiday season.
The 50-foot tree was decorated with 18,000 ornaments and 340,000 warm white, true white and red lights with a brightly-lit dove sitting on top.
“The Five” co-hosts Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Harold Ford Jr. and Tyrus led Friday’s holiday special and were joined by Fox News chief religion correspondent Lauren Green, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Rev. Jacques DeGraff to offer prayers and a message about the meaning of Christmas as well as Rabbi Steven Burg, who provided a video message from Jerusalem in Israel and spoke about the significance of Hanukkah and the Jewish people’s fight for freedom. The Rev. Franklin Graham also provided a special Christmas message to viewers.
FOX NEWS DIGITAL CRUSHES CNN, NY TIMES, OTHER MAJOR NEWS BRANDS IN KEY METRICS DURING OCTOBER
Multi-platinum artist Gavin DeGraw made a special appearance, performing classic Christmas tunes throughout the show, including “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Merry Christmas to You,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “White Christmas” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
The Chapel Choir of High Point University also performed “Silent Night.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, High Point University has raised over $30,000 and donated water, blankets and other goods to their neighboring towns affected by the storm in Western North Carolina.
Dozens from the FOX News Media family and their loved ones were also in attendance, including Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer, Sandra Smith, Brian Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones, Kayleigh McEnany, Janice Dean, Jessica Tarlov, Rachel Campus-Duffy, Todd Piro, Carly Shimkus, Larry Kudlow, Liz Claman, Brian Brenberg, Cheryl Casone, Nick Kosir, Rosanna Scotto, David Webb, Eric Shawn, Griff Jenkins, Kennedy, and Jimmy Faila with additional video messages from Laura Ingraham and Trey Yingst.
FOX News “elves” Steve Doocy, Shannon Bream, Will Cain, Carly Shimkus and Jimmy Faila spread the holiday cheer by delivering Christmas trees to nursing homes across the country.
FOX News Media once again partnered with the First Responders Children’s Foundation (1STRCF), which provides financial support to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty, as well as families enduring significant financial hardships due to tragic circumstances. Families aided by the foundation were in attendance.
FOX NEWS DIGITAL CRUSHES CNN, NY TIMES, OTHER MAJOR NEWS BRANDS IN KEY METRICS DURING OCTOBER
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Federal judge pushes back on parents calling trans athlete ‘a boy’ in legal battle over protest
New Hampshire Judge Steven McAuliffe presided over a case involving parents in the state who wore pro-girl armbands at a high school girls soccer game that included a transgender athlete. During the case, McAuliffe pushed back on the parents for repeatedly referring to the athlete as a boy.
“You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl,” McAuliffe said during the hearing.
McAuliffe’s federal judicial service dates back to 1992, when he was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush. On Thursday, McAuliffe heard arguments in a case in which plaintiffs Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow School District after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters’ soccer game in September.
THE PRONOUN POLICE HAVE ARRIVED AND ARE COMING FOR YOU NEXT
The wristbands said “XX” in reference to the natural female chromosomes. The “XX” logo has become an unspoken symbol of the ongoing legal and political battle against transgender inclusion in girls and women’s sports across the country. Many consider it a women’s rights phenomenon.
The no-trespass orders have since expired, but McAuliffe is deciding whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to wear the wristbands and carry signs at upcoming school events, including basketball games, swim meets and a music concert, while the case proceeds.
They wore the wristbands because another federal judge in New Hampshire, Landya McCafferty, who was appointed to her seat by President Obama in 2013, ruled two transgender athletes would be allowed to play on high school girls soccer teams, overruling a state law in place to prevent that from happening.
Fifteen-year-old Parker Tirrell, a transgender athlete, was allowed to compete for Plymouth Regional High School. In a lawsuit filed by Fellers and Foote, they alleged they were told by school officials to remove the armbands or they would have to leave the game.
TRANS VOLLEYBALL PLAYER LEGAL HEARING OPENED WITH LONG AND HEATED DEBATE OVER WHAT PRONOUNS TO USE
Both of the fathers say the intention of the armband was not to protest Tirrell, but to support their own daughters in a game that featured a biological male.
McAuliffe questioned the notion that the wristbands were in support of their own daughters.
“Sometimes the message you think you’re sending might not be the message that is being sent,” he said.
McAuliffe asked Foote whether it occurred to him that a transgender person might interpret the pink XX wristbands as an attempt to invalidate their existence.
“If he’s a trans female, pink might be a color he likes,” Foote responded.
Transgender inclusion in girls’ and women’s sports emerged as a mainstream political issue in the last few years. Instances of athletes discovered to be male and then legally protected to continue playing have emerged in rapid succession since the start of the Biden administration.
This includes instances like those involving Tirrell in New Hampshire and others in Virginia and California. At the college level, a situation at San Jose State University involving a transgender volleyball player has prompted multiple lawsuits and a media firestorm. It became a talking point of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign before his recent election win.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump and even his wife, Melania, who has admitted to disagreeing with Republicans on issues of LGBT rights, each announced they are opposed to letting biological males compete in girls and women’s sports. Trump advocated for a blanket ban during a Fox News town hall event on the campaign trail.
Multiple states filed lawsuits and enacted their own laws to address the issue after the Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions,” in April.
The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
The Supreme Court then voted 5-4 in August to reject an emergency request by the Biden administration to enforce portions of that new rule after more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states.
During the most recent election cycle, multiple Democrats, including Texas Rep. Collin Allred backtracked on past support for transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
That trend continued after the election when Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton spoke out against his party’s stance and actions in enabling transgender inclusion in multiple interviews, inciting fierce backlash and even a massive pro-transgender rally outside his office.
Now, multiple judges like McAuliffe across the country are presiding over cases about the eligibility of transgender athletes in sports.
Daniel Penny’s defense rests with mic-drop moment in subway chokehold trial
NEW YORK – The defense has rested its case in Daniel Penny’s New York City manslaughter trial – after the final witness took the stand and revealed that Jordan Neely had an open bench warrant at the time of his death.
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student, grabbed the 30-year-old Neely in the middle of a schizophrenic, drug-fueled outburst on a subway car that witnesses said included death threats and had them fearing for their lives. Although Neely still had a pulse when Penny let go, he later died.
Brian Kemef, who works for the court clerk’s office, revealed that a warrant was issued for Neely on Feb. 23, 2023 – just weeks before his death in May of that year. Fox News Digital has previously reported Neely was a repeat offender whose violent history included other subway assaults.
DANIEL PENNY DEFENSE CALLS FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST TO WITNESS STAND: ‘THE CHOKEHOLD DID NOT CAUSE THE DEATH’
Speaking without the jury present, Judge Maxwell Wiley separately flagged that he’d like to schedule a charging conference for Monday.
Penny did not take the stand, and his lawyers told reporters outside the courthouse that he didn’t have to after jurors got to see video of his NYPD interrogation.
Neely, who had health issues including schizophrenia and sickle cell trait and was a chronic abuser of synthetic marijuana, died due to exertion from the struggle and not because he’d been choked out, defense lawyers Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser argued.
“The jury did get to hear from our client,” Kenniff told reporters outside the courthouse. “And they got to hear from him not only in the immediate aftermath of this incident, but a couple of hours later, before there were lawyers involved on either side. And he had an opportunity to explain himself and explain what he did, why he acted, how he acted, what he perceived. And so much of it is consistent with not only the evidence in the case, but the testimony in the case.”
The trial began Friday with a second day of testimony from Dr. Satish Chundru, a Texas forensic pathologist working for Penny’s defense.
Contrary to the official autopsy report conducted by Dr. Cynthia Harris of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, Chundru testified that he does not believe a chokehold caused Neely’s death.
Jordan Neely’s open bench warrant:
During a grueling cross-examination, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran grilled Dr. Chundru on the connection between sickle cell trait and death in other cases, prompting repeated objections from the defense.
At one point, Judge Maxwell Wiley cut her off and said “we’re not doing that.” But the questioning continued through more objections before the court went to recess.
Before jurors returned, the defense argued that Yoran improperly brought up the term “homicide,” a misstep that happened earlier in the trial as well.
Wiley said he did not want to strike the back-and-forth. When the jury returned, he told them that “homicide” means something different to a medical examiner than it does to a lawyer or a jury and asked them not to weigh the witness’ use of that word when weighing facts of the case.
It was the second time that the word “homicide” came up controversially and prompted the defense to raise an objection. Earlier this week, Wiley ordered the first comment stricken, when Dr. Harris mentioned that “all homicide reports” were reviewed by another doctor in the city medical examiner’s office.
Not all homicides are criminal, and the defense argued that the prosecution’s repeated espousal of the word could confuse the jury.
The defense asked the court to note for the record that they have had several conversations, and the DA’s office agreed that bringing up testimony from forensic pathologists regarding death as a “homicide” would be misleading to the jury.
The first time, it came from Dr. Harris. The second, the defense said Yoran said the word as part of her questioning. She denied it. The judge said he would review the transcript later and issue additional jury instructions if necessary.
While Penny’s team has maintained that his actions were justified, that’s not their only line of defense, according to Louis Gelormino, a New York City defense attorney who is closely following the case.
“One of the other defenses is, ‘Well, I didn’t kill him. My actions weren’t the cause of death,'” he told Fox News Digital Friday. “So yes, it doesn’t make a difference if it was justifiable. But if his actions weren’t justifiable, the jury could also say, ‘Hey, [his] actions didn’t kill him. He died because of the other things going on in his body.’ And that’s why that’s relevant.”
Chundru, a former Miami-area medical examiner who now runs a private practice in Texas conducting autopsies in a half-dozen counties, has testified that he did not believe an air choke caused Neely’s unconsciousness and, therefore, did not cause his death.
Rather, he blamed it on “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.”
Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner and leading forensic pathologist, disagreed with Chundru’s testimony.
“Dr. Chundru’s testimony may have been very interesting, but it was wrong,” he told Fox News Digital. “He described what can happen in sickle cell disease, not what happens in sickle cell trait, which Neely had. Eight percent of Black people in this country have sickle trait, which is a benign medical condition that rarely causes any symptoms, let alone death.”
At the autopsy, Harris found significant “sickling” on Neely’s organs, she testified, and lawyers on both sides asked for an explanation. She said the condition did not contribute to Neely’s death, and she blamed it solely on asphyxiation from the chokehold.
“Sickle trait red blood cells do sickle after death, when the body’s oxygen supply disappears and can be seen at autopsy – as with Neely or with anyone with sickle trait dying from any condition,” Baden said. “It’s a post-mortem artifact like rigor mortis. Further, death from sickle disease takes days of sickling to occur; it can’t occur in seconds as happened to Neely.”
DANIEL PENNY TRIAL: SUBWAY MADMAN CLAIMED HE HEARD TUPAC AND DEVIL BEFORE DEADLY CHOKEHOLD, SHRINK SAYS
However, he said, even if the chokehold caused Neely’s death, it is not up to the medical examiner to decide whether that was criminal.
“The individual circumstances are important as to whether the death could [or] should have been avoided, and whether the death should be prosecuted, which is entirely up to the prosecutor,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top charge of manslaughter. He also faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide.
It was not immediately clear whether he would take the stand in his own defense, although some experts have suggested it is likely that he will because it is a self-defense case.
Joe Rogan explains why liberal media organizations are ‘hemorrhaging’ viewers
Podcaster Joe Rogan dunked on left-wing media for losing viewers as many Americans have grown distrustful and wary of their bias.
Rogan spoke on his podcast about a recent op-ed from billionaire Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, headlined, “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media.”
He summarized the piece as “essentially saying that you have to take divergent viewpoints, you have to take a bunch of different perspectives, we can’t just be this left-wing echo chamber, and it’s the reason why the business is faltering.”
Rogan argued that the truth of Bezos’ observations appears to be playing out across the media landscape.
JEFF BEZOS ADDRESSES WASHINGTON POST ENDORSEMENT FIASCO, CITES DISTRUST IN MEDIA LED TO ‘PRINCIPLED DECISION’
“I was just reading something about CNN’s ratings and MSNBC’s ratings post-election – they’ve crashed,” Rogan said on Wednesday’s episode. “All these left-wing kooks on YouTube are hemorrhaging subscribers. Where people go, ‘You guys are out of touch, you’re not accurate, you’re delusional.’ And people are speaking with their subscriptions and they’re speaking with their purchasing of the Washington Post and their purchasing of the New York Times.”
He then recalled how the New York Times published a baffling fact-check this week of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that a popular breakfast cereal contains several artificial ingredients in the United States that are not used in other countries.
“The New York Times just debunked – in the most insane way – debunked RFK Jr’s assertion that the ingredients in Froot Loops are different in Canada than they are in the United States. They fact-checked it, while saying he was accurate, so their fact-check – it’s so dumb when you see the fact – I tweeted it.”
He went on to say, “The fact check is so dumb because the fact check says it’s not correct, they have the same ingredients… except for these harmful chemicals.”
WASHINGTON POST OWNER JEFF BEZOS WANTS MORE CONSERVATIVE OPINION WRITERS AT PAPER: REPORT
He then read the fact-check, adding his own commentary at the end that these are “f—ing dangerous chemicals that are banned in Canada that we’re trying to get rid of in America. So, they’re literally saying he was wrong, but he was right.”
“That made my brain hurt just reading it,” one of Rogan’s guests said.
“That’s the New York f—ing Times,” Rogan exclaimed in disbelief. “This is what the New York Times is doing, so, of course, you’re gonna hemorrhage subscribers, of course. You’re crazy, you’re saying something that’s nuts and also… What is your motivation?”
“If we’re saying that these things have been eliminated in other countries because they’ve been proven to be dangerous – what is your motivation for saying he was wrong?” he wondered.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
After one of his guests said the motivation was money, Rogan asked, “What else could it be?” before listing other possibilities like “ideology.”
“Left-wing rejection of RFK Jr. because now ‘he’s connected to Trump, which is connected to Nazis,'” he suggested as another reason. “It’s like, you go down this f—ing weird rabbit hole with these people, and you’re like, ‘What are you trying to do? Are you trying to remove all leftover credibility?'”
“Are you trying to eliminate – because you lost so much credibility – are you trying to kill it all? Are you secretly working for the Chinese? Like, what are you doing?” he asked.
Ivy League professor admits ‘yearslong effort to vanquish’ Trump was ‘dismal failure’
Yale University law professor Samuel Moyn admitted on Friday that the legal efforts to stop President-elect Donald Trump over the past several years have failed and only made him stronger.
Moyn made the declaration in a New York Times guest essay, adding that liberals need to shed the strategy of trying to use the law to stop Trump during his second term.
“The yearslong effort to vanquish Donald Trump in court was a dismal failure,” the professor wrote.
The Times published Moyn’s essay on the same day that Judge Juan Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges in New York v. Trump and removed Trump’s sentencing date of Nov. 26 from the calendar.
BRAGG CASE ‘EFFECTIVELY OVER’ IN ‘MAJOR VICTORY,’ TRUMP OFFICIALS SAY
The news of Merchan’s ruling comes just days after Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith filing a motion to vacate all deadlines in his 2020 election interference case against Trump, a move that signals the case could be dropped entirely.
Moyn wrote that the courts failing to end Trump’s political career shows that “our search for political salvation primarily through the law has backfired.”
The professor explained that liberals have put too much focus on the legal system to pursue their agenda. He noted that while there have been some progressive victories in the process, they have not been able to use the law to stop their political opposition.
“While liberals saw breakthroughs afterward for women and L.G.B.T.Q. people, delivering progress more quickly than elections could, they failed to stop the conservative drift of American law,” he stated.
Specifically, Moyn criticized progressives for acting as if their use of the law was a matter of principle and justice, while “ignoring that their movement had mainly treated it as a weapon for legalistic political change.”
He noted that conservatives have been able to use it as a weapon as well, and now Trump has more power than ever.
“Along the way, you claim that the rules are on your side and impose them on your political enemies, and sometimes yourself, because the results are good ones,” the professor stated, adding, “The trouble is that they regularly aren’t. In this election, legalistic tactics contributed to Mr. Trump’s victory, helping to produce the popular majority he had never boasted before.”
“For all of Mr. Trump’s misdeeds, prosecuting them was not worth the cost of restoring him to power.”
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS PENNSYLVANIA PROVISIONAL BALLOT RULING, IN A MAJOR LOSS FOR GOP
He pointed out several examples throughout Trump’s political career of liberals using (what’s been called by some) “lawfare” against him that backfired, including former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into claims Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
“But when Mr. Mueller’s inconclusive report was released in April 2019, it was an embarrassment to liberals. The politics of law had misdirected their focus for years, and in the process convinced millions of Americans that Mr. Trump’s foes were as prone to conspiratorial thinking as his allies,” he said.
Moyn went on to note how all the cases brought against Trump following his first term, including the New York case, Smith’s case, and one brought against him in Georgia, stalled out for various reasons, despite liberals alleging they would prove successful on principle.
“But agonizingly, Mr. Trump revealed how unprepared the law was for his acts. The law is open to interpretation and, even when clear, allows for discretion and selectivity in its enforcement.”
Moyn then described how liberals, driven by self-righteousness, made Trump even more relevant and immune from their attacks.
“Yet many liberals, convinced that their causes were righteous, didn’t register the risks of this legalistic strategy, which included being seen by voters as treating the law as politics by other means. The criminal investigations fueled their target’s dominance of the Republican primary race and breathed new life into his campaign fund-raising,” he wrote.
Moyn added, “The election became something like national jury nullification — after the fact for the New York case, and pre-emptively for the others.”
Because of this dynamic, Moyn declared, “[T]here can be no federal criminal investigations or prosecutions of Mr. Trump while he is in office.” Rather, he advocated for diminishing Trump by political means only, “But there are the midterm elections in two years, and in the meantime a Democratic Party in dire need of reimagining and a public to win over.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP