Tag: Donald Trump

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Poll: Majority Of Americans Disapprove Of Trump Executive Orders

From Gallup:

Between 36% and 42% of Americans approve of suspending the Syrian refugee program, temporarily halting entry into the U.S. for most people from seven Muslim-majority countries, and ordering the construction of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. These approval scores are slightly below Trump’s overall job approval rating of 43%.

Although there are some differences in approval of Trump’s orders, Americans’ reactions to them — and their overall evaluation of Trump as president at this point — are broadly similar. The executive orders receive majority disapproval, ranging from 55% who oppose the immigration restriction to 60% who oppose building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Fifty-two percent disapprove of Trump’s overall job performance.

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White House: No Plans To Issue ‘Religious Freedom’ Executive Order “At This Time”

Dominic Holden, award-winning journalist for Buzzfeed, reports today that the White House has issued a statement regarding the newly leaked draft of a “religious freedom”/anti-LGBT executive order.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Deputy Press Secretary, had this reply when asked about the EO:

“We still have no plans to take any action on this topic at this time.”

 Please note the last three words – “at this time.”

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Trump Does Comedy Routine At National Prayer Breakfast

President Donald Trump, attending the National Prayer Breakfast, broke into a stand up comedy routine criticizing Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger became Trump’s replacement on the reality TV show, The Apprentice, after Trump decided to run for president.

At the time, the Trumpster only had praise for Schwarzenegger, tweeting: “Congrats to my friend @Schwarzenegger who is doing next season’s Celebrity Apprentice. He’ll be great & will raise lots of $ for charity.”

However, the ratings for the new season of the show have dropped, much to the delight of Trump’s ego.

At the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, Trump mentioned Arnold and the show:

“The ratings went right down the tubes. It’s been a total disaster. And Mark [Burnett] will never, ever bet against Trump again, and I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings.”

Daniel Ketchell, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger, issued this response: “Arnold is praying that President Trump can start improving his own approval ratings, which were the worst in history for an incoming president, by taking his job seriously and working inclusively.”

Arnold posted this response a short time later:

“Hey Donald, I have a great idea. Why don’t we switch jobs?” Schwarzenegger said. “You take over TV since you’re such an expert on ratings and I take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again.”

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Draft Executive Order Outlines White House Plan To Legalize LGBT Discrimination

The Nation has obtained of a leaked copy of a draft executive order that would realize the fears of the LGBTQ community by legalizing discrimination.

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.”

The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act.

Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that “believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.”

The breadth of the draft order, which legal experts described as “sweeping” and “staggering,” may exceed the authority of the executive branch if enacted. It also, by extending some of its protections to one particular set of religious beliefs, would risk violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

“This executive order would appear to require agencies to provide extensive exemptions from a staggering number of federal laws—without regard to whether such laws substantially burden religious exercise,” said Marty Lederman, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and an expert on church-state separation and religious freedom.

With this language, you have to wonder if Catholics might be able to legally discriminate against divorced people?

Advocacy groups react:

See photo copies of the draft below via The Nation (click images to enlarge):

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One In Four Americans Believe Trump’s Claims Of Widespread Voter Fraud

The latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll indicates that 25% of Americans – one in four voters – believe President Trump’s claim that 3-5 million votes were cast illegally in November’s presidential contest. A plurality (44%) do not believe his assertions.

However, if the election was subject to voter fraud, more voters (35%) believe Trump would have benefited from the impropriety than Hillary Clinton (30%).

The Trump White House has indicated that an investigation into voter fraud would be forthcoming, even though there is little to no evidence to support the idea of widespread issues with the nation’s electoral system.

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White House Announces LGBT Executive Order Will Remain Intact

The White House issued this statement last night in regards to rumors that the Trump administration was circulating an executive order draft which would repeal President Obama’s LGBT protections.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2017

President Donald J. Trump Will Continue to Enforce Executive Order Protecting the Rights of the LGBTQ Community in the Workplace

President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community. President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The President is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBTQ community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression. The executive order signed in 2014, which protects employees from anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination while working for federal contractors, will remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump.

President Obama’s 2014 executive order was the first ever to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees. The EO was, in part, a response to the GOP-controlled Congress who clearly were never going to pass the dead-on-arrival Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Although this is good news, it does not mean President Trump may attempt to issue additional executive orders which may give some kind of “religious freedom” clause.

Given the past few days chaos over Trump’s immigration EO, plus the fact I believe the sources who reported the draft of a repeal, I tend to believe Trump wasn’t up for more protests.

This is just my gut, but I think the EO draft may have been the brain child of notoriously anti-LGBT Vice President Mike Pence in an attempt to appease social conservatives in the Republican party.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement which read in part, “L.G.B.T.Q. refugees, immigrants, Muslims and women are scared today, and with good reason,” Mr. Griffin said. “Donald Trump has done nothing but undermine equality since he set foot in the White House.”

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Washington Post Confirms Draft Of Trump Executive Order On LGBT Issues

Many LGBTs across the country have feared, since the election of Donald Trump, that our rights and protections could come under fire with a Trump administration.

It appears that our concerns may be born out later this week.

This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dodged a direct question about a possible anti-LGBT executive order: “I’m not gonna get ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue. There’s a lot of executive orders, a lot of things that the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill. But we have nothing on that front right now.”

An hour later, Washington Post reporter Josh Rogin tweeted that there is, indeed, a draft of an executive order addressing LGBT issues.

Watch below (49:14 mark) as Spicer side-steps the question on a possible LGBT executive order:

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Trump Executive Order Targeting LGBTs Could Come This Week

It’s not all that surprising, when you consider that President Trump has promised to sign the so-called First Amendment Defense Act which would legalize anti-LGBT business discrimination nationwide, that sources are saying an executive order allowing discrimination against LGBTs is expected from the Trump White House.

The expectation is that the EO would affect areas of employment, social services, business, and adoption.

From LGBTQ Nation:

From what we’ve heard, the executive order could be far-reaching, and could include: making taxpayer funds available for discrimination against LGBTQ people in social services; allow federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents; eliminate non-discrimination protections in order to make it possible to fire federal employers and contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and allow federal employees to refuse to serve people based on the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth, which would impact a broad range of federal benefits.

The order is expected to come in the packaging of so-called “religious freedom,” which argues that someone’s religious beliefs should be enough to prevent them from having to provide goods and services to members of the LGBTQ community if doing so would conflict with said beliefs.

The Human Rights Campaign‘s JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs, issued a statement which read in part:

“The rumors of an anti-LGBTQ executive action by President Trump are deeply troubling. We already know that he is willing to target and marginalize at-risk communities for his perceived political gain. As the President and his team plan their next steps, we want to make one thing clear: we won’t give one inch when it comes to defending equality, whether it is a full-on frontal assault or an attack under the guise of religion. Mike Pence should know that better than anyone given his track record in Indiana.

“The Human Rights Campaign will stand with those who have already been targeted by this Administration and are prepared to fight tooth and nail against every effort to discriminate.”

When asked about the reports, White House press secretary Sean Spicer refused to answer the question.

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White House: No Apology For Detaining 5 Year Old Due To Immigration Order

Earlier today, White House press secretary defended the detaining of a 5 year old Iranian boy over the weekend due to President Trump’s immigration order by saying, “To assume that just because of someone’s age or gender or whatever that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong.”

Via RawStory:

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Monday that the Trump administration would not apologize for detaining a 5-year-old Iranian boy because it was done to keep the country safe.

Video published by WJLA over the weekend showed the 5-year-old boy being reunited with his mother after he was detained at Washington Dulles International Airport for hours on Saturday.

“The president recognizes that it is his duty and obligation to keep this country safe,” Spicer explained. “And by instituting a process by which we look at these countries over a 90-day period and the process by which the people can come in out of this country to ensure the safety of each and every one of us, I think, is something that makes a heck of a lot of sense.”

“When you look at the 329,000 people [who traveled to the U.S. over the weekend], 109 were inconvenienced for the safety and security of us all,” the Trump spokesman said. “And to make sure that, if they are a 5 year old, that maybe they’re with their parents and they don’t pose a threat.”

“But to assume that just because of someone’s age or gender or whatever that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong.”

Watch below: