Trump Poised to Bend Even More as he A$$-Kisses Putin and Xi After Routing at Home

We'll hear it again from the 80-year-old Great White Trash Senile American Moron: Putin and Xi are his best friends, he knows them well, they've been buddies for a long time, whatever they tell him will be the truth, and he, therefore, will increase the magnitude of his bending and a$$kissing when he meets them later this week. 

He, in fact, badly needs them. He's on the run at home, what with the American people giving him and his MAGA empire of corruption and mismanagement the boot at the midterms a fortnight ago. He'll be begging Putin and Xi to make deals, ANY DEALS, so he can come back home bragging that only he, in all of recorded history, can make such stupendous deals with his alter ego dictators.

======================================================


Trump heads to Asia with hopes of shifting the momentum after midterm setbacks hurt him at home
MICHELLE L. PRICE and JOSH BOAK
Updated Sun, November 15, 2026


President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump heads to Asia this week, hoping to make some big attention-grabbing moves on the world stage after his party suffered deep losses in the midterm elections, diminishing his standing at home.

The Republican president is using the international trip to try to shift momentum, and he is poised to make a splash with a historic three-way meeting with Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia to talk about their nuclear stockpiles. Trump has long boasted about leveraging his relationships with the leaders of two of America's biggest global adversaries, though he has failed so far to achieve major breakthroughs with them.

He first heads to the Philippines to meet on Tuesday with Southeast Asian leaders who look to the United States for help countering Beijing's aggression in the region. Trump will then go to China on Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. There, he will have his third face-to-face meeting this year with Xi and see Putin, too.

A year ago, Trump used a similar Asia trip to agree on a trade truce with China and secure investment pledges from Japan and South Korea. This time, Trump is going with his party no longer in control of Congress as of January and with attention beginning to turn to a crop of presidential hopefuls who aim to replace him in 2028.

"I think he, like other presidents, has figured out that in a moment where things are really hard domestically: Get on an airplane and go international," said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state in Democratic President Joe Biden's administration and chairman of The Asia Group, a consultancy.

It's a pattern followed by some of Trump's predecessors.

Democratic President Barack Obama flew to Beijing days after his party lost the Senate in 2014 to negotiate carbon emission targets with Xi. Republican President George W. Bush went to APEC in Vietnam after the GOP lost control of Congress in 2006, though the Iraq War hung over his travels.

The White House said Trump will sign a trade deal with Thailand in Manila as well as a host of commercial deals and will be the "guest of honor" at a leaders' dinner. In Shenzhen, he will focus on trade issues before the meeting with Xi and Putin.
Trump's troubles are likely to follow him

Trump is leaving as airlines struggled to get passengers onto flights after a nationwide ground stop on Friday led to thousands of flight cancellations. Trump and his officials have blamed their predecessors, a contractor and Congress for the problems.

Trump is about to be bogged down at home in ways that may curb what he can do overseas.

His tariffs and war with Iran proved to be poisonous with voters. Going forward, Trump's ability to threaten import taxes or military assaults — two of his major foreign policy tools — will be limited by Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill in the new year.

Just last week, in a newfound vulnerability, his push to boost artificial intelligence was complicated when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned after admitting to an affair with an alleged Chinese government agent. Beijing has said it was not involved.

Huang had traveled with Trump on Air Force One during his May trip to China, and he and his wife were at the head table when Trump hosted Xi in Washington for a state dinner in September.

Trump has argued that America needs to preserve its leadership on AI and warned of dire consequences if China wins that competition. But Trump does not plan to confront Xi on the issue, said administration officials who insisted on anonymity as a condition for previewing the president's plans on a call with reporters.

The officials said they do not think the Nvidia situation will loom over the trip. Even though the administration is discussing ways to close loopholes and further prevent Chinese businesses from using advanced chips made by Nvidia and other U.S. companies, the officials said they do not expect the restrictions to cause retaliation by Beijing.

Trump will be accompanied by Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX and Tesla, who is the world's wealthiest man and a frequent adviser to the president. Musk spent at least $445 million to try to help Republicans keep control of Congress, and Democrats are keen to investigate his ties to the administration.
Trump's actions abroad face new scrutiny at home

Trump may find it easier to be in the company of foreign leaders than his own crumbling coalition at home. But his words and actions at the summits are now more likely to draw scrutiny in committee hearings when he returns to Washington.

"We're going to have a very close eye on it," said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Meeks and other leading Democrats on the committee have already called on the administration to provide more information about its approval of advanced AI chip exports after the Nvidia disclosures.

Democrats also will be pushing for a much tougher approach to Putin and Xi, leaders they view as authoritarian strongmen.

"It seems as though when Xi or Putin comes to America, he rolls out the red carpet for them — but other American allies come, he has not rolled out the red carpet for them," Meeks said.

Democrats want the administration to impose tougher sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine and have called for the administration to fulfill an arms agreement with Taiwan, which China has sought to block.

Trump has suggested he wants to talk to Xi and Putin about nuclear weapons, an area that China has been reluctant to engage on in the past. China has a much smaller stockpile than the U.S. and Russia, giving it less incentive to agree to restraints.

Wars in Iran and Ukraine will also hang over the talks

The visit comes as Trump is at a crossroads over the war with Iran, which is widely blamed for his political support cratering at home. It's also a source of economic instability in Asia as jet fuel and diesel costs have soared. Trump has tried to play down the chances he will order major strikes against Iran to be resumed, though he also has said he does not see the need for talks.

Democrats are likely to scrutinize whether the president confronts Xi and Putin over reports that China and Russia have aided Tehran, something Trump has previously dismissed.

Trump recently has played up chances for a settlement to Russia's war in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not been invited to the talks in China, drawing outrage from Democrats and some Russia hawks in his own party. Administration officials said Trump is not expected to talk about Ukraine with Putin at the meeting.

The sheer number of issues hanging over Trump threatens to overshadow some important issues for the other regional leaders he'll talk to — namely the strength of U.S. support for countering China's influence in the Asia Pacific. In Manila, Trump is expected to participate in talks with the leaders of the Quad, a group of nations including the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan. It will be the first meeting of the Quad leaders since Trump returned to the White House last year.
___
Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Cool Hooded Dude, AIPAC Golden Boy, Fetterman Loves Zionist Israel More than the US

Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Moron who is one-third-Democrat, two-turds Republican, is paid handsomely by AIPAC to say he loves settler Israel's genocide of the indigenous Palestinians. So much so that he may move to a Zionist settlement on stolen Palestinian land there after he is kicked out of the Senate in 2028. 
=========================================================

John Fetterman signals breaking point with Democrats over Van Hollen
Hannah Parry
Sat, November 14, 2026 

Senator John Fetterman has signaled that he could reach a breaking point with the Democratic Party if Senator Chris Van Hollen is elected to Senate majority leader.

Fetterman, who has repeatedly clashed with members of his own party over Israel, suggested that Van Hollen's potential leadership appointment would be troubling because of his criticism of the Israeli government.

Asked by Kayleigh McEnany during a Fox News interview on Saturday whether Van Hollen becoming majority leader would represent a red line that could prompt him to leave the Democratic Party, Fetterman responded: "Yeah, absolutely, it would be troubling if my caucus elects someone like Van Hollen, that has really made his name being very…hostile to Israel."

Van Hollen has become one of the Senate's more outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and its military campaign in Gaza. In November 2024, he supported resolutions seeking to block certain U.S. sales of offensive weapons to Israel, arguing that American military assistance should not amount to a "blank check" for the Israeli government. He stressed that he continued to support Israel's right to defend itself and the transfer of defensive systems such as Iron Dome but called for offensive weapons deliveries to be paused until Netanyahu's government complied with U.S. laws and humanitarian requirements.

Van Hollen has since gone further in his criticism. He joined efforts in March to block nearly $659 million in proposed offensive weapons sales to Israel. Most recently, he led a group of senators urging congressional leaders to remove provisions from the 2027 defense bill that would mandate expanded U.S.-Israel military and intelligence cooperation.

Fetterman's comments come as Van Hollen prepares to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the party's top Senate leadership position following Democrats' sweeping victories in the midterm elections.

The Pennsylvania senator has previously warned that he would consider leaving the Democratic Party if it became "the anti-Israel party." He also questioned why Democrats were directing so much criticism toward Israel rather than Iran and militant groups including Hezbollah and Hamas.

Newsweek has reached out to Fetterman and Van Hollen for comment via email on Saturday.


Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania [One-Third-Democrat, Two-Turds Republican], speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2026. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Van Hollen Challenges Schumer

Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Schumer for the Senate leadership position, arguing that Democrats needed a change in direction following the election.

"In this election, Americans called on us to unrig an economy rigged against working people & fueled by political corruption," Van Hollen of Maryland wrote in a post on X. "To deliver, we need new leadership. This isn't about any one person–it's about answering that call."

Van Hollen had secured public commitments from progressive Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as incoming senators Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota.

Other progressive Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and incoming senators Troy Jackson of Maine and Juliana Stratton of Illinois, were also seen as potential supporters. Several other Democrats, including Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, simply indicated they would not support Schumer.

Schumer, however, has reportedly expressed confidence that he has sufficient support to secure the leadership position.

Van Hollen has acknowledged that he is the underdog but argues that Democrats need to address public dissatisfaction with Washington.

"Let me be clear, I'm the underdog in this race," Van Hollen said during a press conference at the What's Next conference in Denver. He said that the majority leader has "lots of powers of incumbency to try to make deals or agreements with people," describing that as "part of the problem with the process."

Van Hollen said his decision to run was motivated by the need to close what he called the "trust deficit" between voters and political leaders.

"I don't think you can close the trust deficit by simply returning to the status quo or business as usual. That's why I decided to run for the Senate majority leader position," he said.

Democrats currently hold 55 Senate seats following their victories in the midterm elections, giving the party control of the chamber.

The leadership contest could expose divisions within the caucus over its future direction, including disagreements over foreign policy and the party's approach to Israel.
Fetterman's Growing Divide With Democrats

Fetterman has increasingly found himself at odds with Democratic colleagues over the Middle East, immigration and government spending. He has been one of Israel's most vocal supporters in the Senate, opposing Democratic efforts to restrict or block certain weapons sales to the country.

He was also the only Senate Democrat to oppose a motion on a resolution restricting President Donald Trump's war powers over Iran.

On immigration, Fetterman has called for stronger border security and opposed Democratic proposals to restrict Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including efforts to prohibit agents from wearing masks.

Last year, he also broke with most of his Democratic colleagues by supporting Republican-sponsored legislation to reopen the federal government, despite opposition from Democrats seeking additional concessions over healthcare spending and Affordable Care Act subsidies.

His positions have attracted praise from Republicans, including Trump, who has previously said he would like to see Fetterman join the GOP.

However, Fetterman has pushed back against suggestions that he is preparing to leave the Democratic Party. In a May opinion piece for The Washington Post, he described himself as a "terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats."

His latest comments suggest that his support for Israel remains a significant dividing line between him and sections of his party.

Fetterman's political future has also attracted attention in prediction markets, with traders giving him a significant chance of becoming the Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania in 2028.

According to Kalshi, Fetterman had a 23 percent implied chance of securing the GOP nomination as of 1 p.m. ET on November 14, placing him second among potential contenders, narrowly behind Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick at 32 percent.

Representative Dan Meuser was given a 16 percent chance, while Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday had 6.5 percent.

A separate Kalshi market gave Fetterman just a 3 percent chance of becoming the Democratic Senate nominee in Pennsylvania in 2028.

Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Hannah Parry and Anthony Murray.

"Too immature, too Inexperienced" to Lead the Military, Drunkard Hegseth Must Go

Hegseth’s Ex-Spokesperson Rips Defense Secretary for ‘Damaging’ Trump: He Must Resign Immediately
Sean James
Sun, November 15, 2026 


Hegseth’s Ex-Spokesperson Rips Defense Secretary for ‘Damaging’ Trump: He Must Resign Immediately

Former chief Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot went off on his old boss Pete Hegseth during a Saturday appearance on MS NOW, arguing the Defense Secretary is so "unfit" for the job that he never should have accepted it in the first place.

Now he must do the honorable thing and resign, Ullyot claimed. He said it's the right thing to do if Hegseth is truly "loyal" to President Donald Trump like he is, since Hegseth is too immature and too "inexperienced" to lead the military.

"[Hegseth] could've run the presidential physical fitness council, like Arnold Schwarzenegger did, that would've been a perfect fit," Ullyot quipped. "But to run the department of defense is a very serious job, and he didn't take a serious approach."

He continued, "You'd get off the stage if you were truly loyal to President Donald Trump. I'm saying that loyalty would require him — if he really does think that he's serving the president well — well, you'd serve the president best if you got off the stage."

Ullyot claimed during his highly-critical and wordy interview with Antonia Hylton that Hegseth lacked the military background, management experience, and temperament necessary for the role.

He claimed Hegseth — who was deployed three times while serving as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army National Guard — was a "Fox News fire-breather" who "relishes" confronting journalists, not someone who should be defense secretary.

"[Hegseth] is very much damaging the president's brand, no question about it, and the Republican brand," he continued.

Ullyot's criticism comes 18 months after he resigned from the Pentagon, shortly after taking the spokesperson role at the start of Trump's second term.

Soon after, he skewered Hegseth in a story for Politico, writing the defense secretary was ordering "strange and baffling" purges, spreading "easily debunked falsehoods" to the press, and causing severe "dysfunction."

The Trump loyalist has kept his anti-Hegseth takes flowing this year with a new book titled The President Deserves Better, in which he rips Hegseth and other administration officials.

While promoting his book on Saturday night, Ullyot said it's clear to him that Hegseth must quit, if reports are true he was the top "cheerleader" for the Iran war.

"JD Vance himself the Iran War was the reason the Republicans took that drubbing," he said. "Well, who's at the helm of that war? Who's responsible for getting our munitions stockpiles, and giving the best advice to the president, and essentially running that [war]? Well it's a guy named Pete Hegseth, and he's never done anything like that. He's somebody who should have taken himself out."

Budget-Slashed FAA's Ground Stop Proves Trump's "Made American Aviation Great Again" (MAAAAAGA)

No regulations. No rules. Just let Darwinian capitalism run human affairs and all will be great by natural selection. Don't worry about the chaos and the laws of the jungle. Don't worry about those who can't make it; they're lazy and weak. You, on the other hand, can convince yourself that you are a strong warrior-survivor with a gun by your side. That is what "real White American men" and occasionally "real manly White American women" are all about. You don't need anyone managing the affairs of the country; it all sorts itself by itself, with lots of collateral damages on the way, but that is how God wants it to be. Ideally, you don't need your fellow humans; you can go live in a cabin a-la-Theodore-Kaszynski in the middle of the woods and be left alone ... O MAGA.

... except when you need a doctor or need to fly across the country. That is when things get pleasantly ugly, with Trump-appointed morons like Duffy and RFK Jr in charge whose budgets have been slashed and the money diverted to worship the Great American Moron of All Times by building ballrooms and triumphal arches to his honor. The government has been pruned and slashed by the Crown Moron Elon Musk, so it's OK, for example, that we have a measles epidemic growing by the day or that millions of sub-human Americans with high melanin indices in their skin are getting sick because of cuts to Medicaid or that the country's aviation industry has ground to a halt. That is how God's own Darwinian capitalism operates without the need for human laws. O MAGA.

Meanwhile, the Dear Great American Moron Leader Donald J. Trump, whom we must love and fear at the same time (like his fellows God, Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin), doesn't use public transportation to fly: He's got his own $400 million personal Boeing. He also has restored DC's Golf courses to their glory so he can hit the links and continue ruining the country and make it great.

Oh and it's official: The US has joined the list of shithole countries by losing its "Measles-free" status, thanks to the Dear Leader Donald J. Trump's benevolent love for his people and his appointed Not-a Real-Doctor charlatan genius Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Like North Koreans do every minute of their lives, the American people should be thanking the Great Moron Dear Leader all the time and expressing gratitude for his love and care.

=====================================================

White House Claims Trump Is Getting ‘Constant Updates’ on FAA Ground Stop — Despite Not Commenting One Time
Jennifer Bowers Bahney
Sun, November 15, 2026



The White House claims President Donald Trump is receiving "constant updates" on the rare Federal Aviation Administration ground stop situation, even though he hasn't commented for reporters or on Truth Social.

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all flights Friday, which lasted for about four hours. Repercussions could still be felt Saturday, as thousands of stranded passengers scrambled to rebook their flights and questioned whether flying was safe. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the problem on faulty communications equipment and a lack of funding from Congress.

CNN's Brian Todd reported from the White House on Trump's odd silence:

It's been a somewhat bizarre and certainly uncharacteristic silence from the president yesterday and today on all of this. He has not spoken out publicly yesterday or today. He has not posted anything on Truth Social yesterday or today about the entire situation. We are told by a White House official that the president is receiving constant updates about the air traffic situation in the United States, but he certainly has not come out publicly and said anything or posted anything on it. We're not expected to hear from the president again this evening.

Todd added that an anonymous source told CNN that "President Trump has been corresponding with Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt several times over the past few months about legislation to modernize air traffic control centers, control towers, airport terminals, and other infrastructure."

The president is also "working with the senator to ask for $30 billion in additional funding from Congress," Todd said.

Trump spent Saturday posting about a variety of other subjects, from "Gavin Newscum" [sic] to his legal woes over the East Patonmac [sic] Park golf course renovation.

The golf course post, that included dozens of photographs, read in its entirety:

Trash Island is currently the Worst Golf Course anywhere in the World, but the Department of the Interior is going to make it into the Best Golf Course anywhere in the World. Unfortunately, Judge Ana Reyes doesn't want us to quickly and inexpensively fix up the Course which is, also, very dangerous — The Fairways are far too close together. When you walk down the corridors of Trash Island, you don't hear the sound of the running Potomac, all you hear is the sound of people screaming, "FORE!"

In any event, we're making progress, and hopefully the Judge will agree that the Dignity, Beauty, and Importance of Washington, D.C., will be greatly enhanced by this soon to be beautiful Project. Trash Island, after years of laughter and scorn, will evolve into something very special, something which the Judge will be able to take great pride in seeing! All over the World it will be acclaimed as being the Best Golf Course anywhere, attracting the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup, with all of the Economic Development that will bring. Very importantly, also, is that anyone living in the D.C. area will be given a 50% discount on any and all Rates charged.

The Department of the Interior has done a magnificent job of cleaning, fixing, renovating, and rebuilding 83 Fountains, Monuments, and Statues throughout our beautiful Capital. Even the Reflecting Pool, which hasn't worked properly since its building in 1922, is open, beautiful, and working as it was always expected to do. Perhaps most importantly, Crime in Washington, D.C., is down 91%, A RECORD, and the People are happy and safe again! The Department of the Interior's Golf Project will greatly enhance everything else that has already taken place in the last two year period. Everyone is proud and grateful again! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

During a Saturday news conference with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford apologized to the "American traveling public" for the nationwide chaos. He said he expected airlines to return to "full schedule integrity" on Sunday, after another 4,000 to 5,000 flights would be canceled on Saturday.

Others were less optimistic, though. Former FAA senior executive Mike McCormick told Fox News he expects it to take "at least 48 hours" for air travel to return to normal.

=====================================================

Trump Hides Out Amid Crisis to Rage Over Golf Course
Erkki Forster
Sat, November 14, 2026


Evan Vucci/REUTERS

President Donald Trump has thrown a fit on Truth Social over his golf course vanity project as he remains holed up amid the fallout from a nationwide air traffic fiasco.

The 80-year-old president has not been seen publicly since the FAA abruptly grounded every flight in the country Friday afternoon, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and "reasons of safety."

Although the ground stop was lifted more than four hours after it began Friday evening, travelers across the U.S. remain stranded as delays and cancellations spilled into Saturday.

Yet Trump has neither appeared in public nor made any public remarks about the nationwide crisis, which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has since traced back to botched work on an "upgrade" to telecom systems at a remote location.

Even on Truth Social, where he routinely offers running commentary on the latest developments, Trump has said nothing about the flight crisis.

In fact, the president has not made a public appearance since Wednesday. A video interview with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith on Thursday provided the latest sighting of the president, though it was conducted privately within the White House.

Over 5,200 flights were canceled on Saturday, after 9,200 cancellations on Friday. / Paola Chiomante/REUTERS

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast's questions about the president's whereabouts and why he has not publicly commented on the ground stop.

Trump has, however, flooded Truth Social with long screeds about other matters, including a 319-word rant about his stalled plans to raze D.C.'s East Potomac Park and turn it into a championship-level golf course.

Calling the park "Trash Island," the president raged over District Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, who has launched an investigation into whether the government's lawyers lied about the administration's plans for the park.

Trump has posted about everything but the ground stop on Truth Social during the nationwide crisis, including a screed about tax breaks to revitalize Hollywood just two hours after flights were grounded. / Donald Trump/Truth Social

"Unfortunately, Judge Ana Reyes doesn't want us to quickly and inexpensively fix up the Course which is, also, very dangerous — The Fairways are far too close together," he wrote on Truth Social.

"When you walk down the corridors of Trash Island, you don't hear the sound of the running Potomac, all you hear is the sound of people screaming, 'FORE!' In any event, we're making progress, and hopefully the Judge will agree that the Dignity, Beauty, and Importance of Washington, D.C., will be greatly enhanced by this soon to be beautiful Project," he continued. "Trash Island, after years of laughter and scorn, will evolve into something very special, something which the Judge will be able to take great pride in seeing!"

Reyes has been weighing a request to block the administration's planned closure of the public course and is expected to hand down her decision on Saturday.

Trump then turned to a lengthy celebration of his own accomplishments in Washington, highlighting renovations to "Fountains, Monuments, and Statues throughout our beautiful Capital."

"Everyone is proud and grateful again!" he claimed.
=====================================================


RFK Jr. Draws Scrutiny Online After U.S. Loses Measles-Free Status
Pocharapon Neammanee
Updated Sat, November 14, 2026

Lawmakers lashed out at Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. lost its measles-elimination status after 26 years, criticizing his leadership.

"This didn't have to happen," Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) wrote on X Saturday. "We have a safe, effective vaccine that has protected generations of Americans. We know how to prevent measles. Instead, President Trump put Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a notorious anti-vaxxer, in charge of our public health agencies."

The U.S. was initially recognized to have eliminated the preventable disease in 2000. However, following multiple widespread cases across the U.S, sources told the Wall Street Journal that the Pan American Health Organization, an agency within the World Health Organization, had revoked the country's elimination status.

A source close to the decision process also confirmed with CNN on Friday that the health organization revoked the U.S.' measles elimination status. Researchers with direct knowledge of the decision also confirmed the status change to KFF Health News.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to HuffPost when asked for confirmation of the reported status change and comment.

However, CDC director Erica Schwartz told Reuters in an interview published on Tuesday that if the U.S. loses its measles elimination status, "we're going to be doing the same exact thing that we've been doing today, which is working with the states."

The Pan American Health Organization's reported decision would also mean the U.S joins Canada, Spain and the UK in losing the status.

In the wake of the Journal's report, several lawmakers and health professionals have come out to fully blast the health secretary, a longtime anti-vaccine activist who boasts about the Trump administration's overhaul of public health.

One of those lawmakers was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who scolded RFK Jr. by calling the news "Shameful."

The Crime and Lie of Trump's Killing of Fishermen at Sea Under Guise of Fighting Drugs

I keep thinking that Trump's first two years have done immeasurable damage to the creepy Republican party as the midterms showed. He's now got two more years to do even more damage and destroy any chances by a Republican at becoming president in 2028. Marco Rubio, JD Vance and pathetic MAGA consorts: You will have to say bad things about your Dear Leader as you campaign, and he will attack you for denigrating his "achievement failures", so be prepared to walk the fine line of continuing to adulate him out of fear as you try to create a distance from his stench. Only a tightrope walker can do stuff like this. You are too dumb and weak to manage it, given that you completely let Trump pee on you all this time. My advice is you should take a ten year hiatus from politics until the Great Moron is out of the picture and the American people have had a chance to forget...and maybe forgive.

The lawsuit below does indicate that the US under Trump has become a lawless, violent and dangerous nation. In his stupid mind, Trump thinks that the world now "respects" the US because he turned it into an outlaw. 

[See the second posting below about Trump's going completely wacko during his next two years]

===================================================

Ecuadorian fishermen who survived US boat strikes sue Trump administration
Richard Luscombe
Sat, November 14, 2026


Fishermen return to the port of San Mateo, Ecuador, after a day at sea, transporting their catch to shore in June 2026.Photograph: Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

More than a dozen Ecuadorian fishermen are suing the US government after they survived a military drone attack in the Pacific ocean earlier this year that sank their boat and left two of them with serious burns from the explosions.

The 17 March attack on the La Negra Francesca Duarte II was part of the Trump administration's Operation Southern Spear campaign, announced in November 2025 ostensibly to counter "narco-terrorists" it said operated in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The Washington office on Latin America (Wola) said as many as 250 people have been killed by the US military in subsequent attacks. The group considers the actions extrajudicial executions because the government has provided no proof that the victims were engaged in trafficking.

In the lawsuit seen by the Guardian, to be filed in US district court for the western district of Pennsylvania on Monday, the 16 fishermen insist they had no connection with the drug trade and were illegally targeted by the crew of an unidentified US military vessel about 385 nautical miles from the port of Manta as they returned from a two-week fishing trip.

Two armed drones, the filing states, exploded on their boat, setting it ablaze and destroying it completely, and two of the crew "were themselves set on fire and burned on their legs, arms and back".

The men say they jumped overboard and into small emergency boats that they rowed towards the vessel, pursued by a surveillance drone. They were greeted by US military personnel in camouflage uniforms who, they said, restrained them with zip ties and placed plastic hoods over their heads.

In an interview in June, the boat's captain, Hernán Flores, described the moments after the boat he commanded for about 20 years was set alight. "Some guys looked for an extinguisher, but the fire was already spreading," he said. "So some of our crew leapt into the water."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified financial compensation for the attack, and for their subsequent "kidnapping and torture" that they say occurred when they were taken to a detention center in El Salvador and imprisoned for several weeks.

"They go out fishing, they don't come home for a month, they're like in a migrant detention center in El Salvador, and as we know those centers are not so nice," said Dan Kovalik, a Pittsburgh-based attorney who is filing the lawsuit on behalf of the men.

"So there's a lot of trauma there. It was catastrophic for them. They are home now, but they are struggling financially, and the two guys who were hurt bad are still dealing with that."

Kovalik said the loss of the fishing vessel meant none of the plaintiffs had been able to work or support their families, and they were angry that, until their lawsuit, there was no recourse against the US authorities for what happened to them.

"They would also like the US to stop these boat strikes. That's another goal of all this, and I think the US public and the media have been, honestly, not outraged enough about these strikes."

The lawsuit states that the "manifestly unlawful" attack on the fishermen came soon after Ecuadorian authorities inspected the boat for themselves and determined it was not carrying drugs, nor its crew affiliated with any cartels.

It said the attack was illegal because, as with other strikes during Operation Southern Spear, it was conducted without congressional authority.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges, "the wanton, willful and outrageous attacks upon, and kidnapping and torture of, plaintiffs at sea constitute torts under general admiralty and maritime law.

"There is no actual armed conflict that could justify the use of military force against the boats, nor was there one on March 17 when the attack took place. The US's campaign of bombings against defenseless vessels and individuals violates long-standing and well-accepted international law."

A spokesperson for the department of defense said in a statement on Friday: "As a matter of policy, the department does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation."

In June, after details of the attack on the La Negra Francesca Duarte II first emerged, the Pentagon and US Coast Guard denied participating in operations involving Ecuadorian fishing vessels.

"We have no knowledge of, nor were Department of War forces involved in, the incidents described in those reports," a spokesperson for US Southern Command (Southcom) said in a statement.

"US forces conduct operations under established legal authorities and hold its forces to the highest standards of professionalism, safety, and compliance with US and international law."

Kovalik said he expected the government to contest the lawsuit, filed in a Pennsylvania district he said had "experience in admiralty cases".

But he said it would help shine a light on the policies and actions of the Trump administration at a time when the Democratic party was about to take over control of Congress and launch its own investigations.

"Some of the Democrats that we met with are very interested in doing hearings on these boat strikes," he said.

"We hope this case will encourage the Democrats when they get sworn in in January to start some hearings. I think it will have that impact."

The fishermen's lawsuit will join previously filed, similar litigation against the Trump administration. In January, the families of Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, Trinidadian fishermen killed in a US military strike in the Caribbean three months previously, filed a first-of-its-kind suit in Massachusetts.

The American Civil Liberties Union is among advocacy groups demanding an end to what it calls "a terrifying, lawless killing campaign at sea".

====================================================

Will Trump’s lame duck presidency push him further beyond constraints of the law?
David Smith in Washington
Sat, November 14, 2026


Donald Trump speaks as lights are reflected off a bulletproof screen during a campaign rally at Pitt-Greenville Airport in Greenville, North Carolina, on 20 October 2026.Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters

It was just before 3am when Donald Trump entered a crowded Manhattan ballroom, greeted by chants of "USA! USA" and theme music from the Hollywood film Air Force One. On stage, two red "Make America great again" (Maga) caps were mounted in glass cases like holy relics.

That was the scene 10 years ago this week when Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, stunned the world by beating Hillary Clinton to the White House. A decade later an unlikely president is serving an unlikely second term. But in the wake of a humiliating vote of no confidence in last week's midterm elections, he now enters an endgame wracked with uncertainty.

"Trump is about to get even weirder and, sadly, more dangerous," tweeted Clinton, who has been a wry commentator on the Trump years, predicting that the president will deflect blame, become more unhinged, demand even greater loyalty from Republicans and potentially launch fresh attacks on Iran.

Political obituary writers have been swift to describe him as a lame duck, defanged lion or cornered animal in the wake of the midterms. Democrats' 13 percentage point victory was the second biggest of any midterm election since 1942, and the party conquered the Republican bastions of Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

The causes of the Republican rout were plain: an eight month war in Iran that sent fuel prices soaring, persistent cost of living pressures and a backlash against masked immigration raids that turned deadly in Minneapolis.

The 80-year-old president's response has swung wildly between conciliation, aggression and farce. He told the CBS network's 60 Minutes program that his deportation push was "too tough" while declaring that no amnesty would occur and appointing immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff.

He publicly invited the job of White House press secretary to "violent fighter and warrior" Dana White of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), brought him into the briefing room to play out the scenario, then insisted it had all been a joke. He threw his weight behind the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who survived an impeachment resolution brought by a maverick Republican in Congress.

All the while he has retreated into architectural vanity projects, including a White House ballroom and triumphal arch in Washington, and increasingly wayward rhetoric that included ruminations about men's posteriors, speeches punctuated by strange guttural sounds and a lengthy social media post about comedian Bill Maher.

Miles Taylor, founder of Defiance.org, a non-profit aimed at countering government corruption and abuses of power, agrees with Clinton's analysis about the finale of the Trump show. He said: "It will certainly be weirder because Donald Trump was always going to end the administration with the bottom of the barrel appointees.

"Like any wannabe autocrat, you end up in the figurative bunker at the end of the regime with the most hardcore loyalists, which tend to be the people who are willing to contort themselves into whatever shape the leader wants. These are the people who have no scruples and are willing to carry out the president's most extreme edicts and, in some cases, are the ones who have been goading him for almost a decade to do the most extreme things."

Miller is the prime example. He has championed expansive presidential power, branded the Democratic party a "domestic extremist organisation", advocated suspending habeas corpus to speed deportations and asserted that the US has a right to Venezuela's oil and Greenland's territory. He supplanted Susie Wiles, whose more measured approach had been seen as a potential restraint on Trump's darkest impulses.

Taylor, a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term, said: "In my experience with Stephen, he was a guy that was all too willing to walk up to the line of the law and then leap over it and dare the courts to rein us in. That was literally the type of thing he said to me on multiple occasions.

"One of my biggest fears about this next two years is: will Donald Trump cause the ultimate constitutional crisis by defying judicial orders, including from the supreme court, if he doesn't get his way? I see it as very possible because he's got a team around him that might be willing to make the case of why that would be justified."

There is another way for an embattled president to seek a place in history: foreign policy. Presidents approaching the end of their time in office have often turned to diplomacy and international affairs as a means of burnishing their legacy. After Democrats suffered heavy losses in the 2014 midterms, Barack Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba, secured a nuclear agreement with Iran and helped broker the Paris climate agreement.

Trump has already placed an emphasis on global affairs since returning to the White House last year. Even as Democrats prepare to rein in the president when they take control of Congress in January, Trump will retain considerable latitude to pursue his ambitions on the world stage, from Iran and Israel to Ukraine and China.

Taylor commented: "What he did in the first two years on the foreign policy front could potentially pale in comparison with what he does in the latter two years and that's saying something because he launched this war in Iran.

"But here are things to look for. Does NATO survive this period? Does the United States actually try to go seize more territory? Both of those are things that Donald Trump has talked about doing and been walked back by advisors on over the course of two terms. I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

"But then there's other areas of the world that might be worried about Trump administration inaction being just as bad or worse than Trump administration offensive action, if the Russians try to seize more territory and if the Chinese take Taiwan. On the world stage I would warn our allies, it's about to get very, very bad. And I would say to our adversaries, this is probably the luckiest two years you're ever going to get."

Despite the historic losses, there is little sign of a Republican revolt against Trump. On Capitol Hill this week the party effectively killed the attempt to impeach Hegseth while also electing Jim Jordan, a pugnacious ally of the president, as its minority leader for the next Congress. Most Republicans who survived the midterm bloodbath are from safe red districts and staunchly pro-Trump. The outcome could be more Maga, not less.

Olivia Wales, a spokeswoman for the White House, said via email: "President Trump will continue to enact his commonsense, America First agenda that has delivered the most secure border ever, the largest working-class tax cut in history, the lowest murder rate since 1900, the sharpest drop in prescription drug prices in more than 60 years, and a stock market that has hit record highs.

"As the President said, he is willing to work with anyone who wants to strengthen our economy, lower costs for American families, protect our national security, and improve the lives of hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue radical-left policies, they are choosing to work against the best interests of the American people."

Some commentators believe that, given Trump's ideological fluidity, a deal with Democrats might be possible.

Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank in Stanford, California, said: "If Trump wants to work with Congress, the question is what do they have in common? If I'm running the Democratic caucuses right now, I might think 70-30 or 80-20 is what I want in terms of a compromise, because the president wants to sign something to show he's still relevant."

Whalen suggests an intriguing parallel: "Is Donald Trump at his heart really that conservative, or will he turn out to be a little bit more of a moderate Democrat? Similar to [former Republican governor]Arnold Schwarzenegger here in California, where he gets chastised, and then in his second term, he's governing very much like a moderate Democrat."

Others suspect that Trump, who has placed a red baseball cap saying "veto" on his desk in the Oval Office, indicating his willingness to block Democratic legislation, intends to go out with all guns blazing. Newt Gingrich, a former House of Representatives speaker, predicts an aggressive counter attack rather than a chastened administration winding down.

"I recommend everybody read Trump's book The Art of the Comeback, which explains what he's like when he's right at the edge of being destroyed, pivots and rebuilds overnight," Gingrich said. "You have to assume that he and Stephen Miller are methodically thinking through the comeback. I suspect the State of the Union [address] will be chock-full of things that the American people want that the Democrats will be taunted about passing."

For Democrats, the uncertainty of whether Trump will offer a fight or flight response poses a conundrum. Speaking at the Center for American Progress thinktank in Washington this week, congressman Jim Himes said: "We just don't know which Donald Trump is going to show up. Is it the dealmaker, or is it the Stephen Miller pugilist? On any given day we're not going to know which president is sitting in the Oval Office."

For Rick Wilson, a veteran political strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, the president has crossed a threshold into volatile decline. "The impulsivity has come not only from his age but from the understanding now that he is an island unto himself," he said.

"He doesn't have that enormous backstop of congressional impunity to work from. That is going to make him do a lot of lashing out and things like we've seen the last few days – going to the podium in the press room and just riffing."

Wilson believes that Trump has reached his "fat Elvis" phase. "He's trying to recapture the old magic. He's trying to get back the old mojo and it just isn't quite there. The crash out of his approval, the loss of his congressional shield wall and the lack of any adult supervision around him now – it's a toxic combination where he's going to feel desperate and angry and crazy."

While Trump grapples with immediate constraints, political gravity is already shifting toward the presidential succession in January 2029. JD Vance, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and Texas senator Ted Cruz were all quick to weigh in with opinions on what went wrong in the midterms. Former state governors Glenn Youngkin and Chris Christie are among other potential contenders.

Can Trump endure sharing the stage in 2028? Wilson foresees a messy spectacle. "He has been the centre of that political gravity for 10 years now. Because he's the devil, he's going to go in and piss on Vance one day and raise him up the next. He'll piss on Marco [Rubio] one day and raise him up the next. He'll try to be the kingmaker."

Textbook Example of White Trash Criminal Moron: Where Else But in Oklahoma?

He is probably one of those "deplorable", Jesus-saved, White Trash Trump voter from the primitive southern states of the US. Never give up. Never surrender. Kill your own mother if you have to.

Too bad Trump will not deport this criminal US-born idiot.

=====================================================

Oklahoma Man Accused of Running Over and Killing His Mother With Her Own Car After Refusing to Return It
Tyler McCarthy
Sat, November 14, 2026 


Tulsa Police Department/Obituary

An Oklahoma man was taken into custody by police after allegedly hitting his mother with her own car when she came to retrieve it from him.

The Tulsa Police Department arrested John Tiffin on Wednesday, November 11, and charged him with obstructing an officer, reckless driving, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree murder, according to court records viewed by the National Enquirer.

Tiffin, 31, is accused of killing his mother, Karen Curthoys, during an October 8 confrontation in his driveway. She had allowed him to borrow her car a few weeks prior with the understanding that he would return it. However, when that didn't happen, Curthoys, 69, and her other son went to Tiffin's home to confront him and retrieve the car.

Police say Curthoys stood in the driveway between the vehicle she arrived in and the one she was trying to recover. Tiffin and his boyfriend were in the borrowed car in the driveway when Tiffin's brother opened the door and a confrontation ensued. At some point, Tiffin allegedly threw the car into reverse and hit the gas, hitting his brother with the open door and pinning his mother between the two cars.

She was taken to the hospital by paramedics but ultimately died from her injuries.

Tulsa Police Department/Facebook

Investigators continued their investigation and ultimately obtained an arrest warrant from a judge. Officers arrived at Tiffin's home and began searching with a K-9 unit. They reportedly called out to him to come out, or the dog would bite him. After getting no answer, the dog found Tiffin in the bedroom holding two knives, allegedly attempting to injure his own neck. Officers got him to drop the knives and took him into custody.

No Surprise with Nvidia: Trump's Universe of Corrupt Sex-addict Billionaire Spies

It never ends with the sleazebucket "president" Trump. Sex, spies, and money. Trump's friend, the billionaire Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, is the prototype of Trump's satellites. Not only do they reap billions often in unethical if not illegal means, they do it with a serving of fornication, treason and dealing with enemies. 

Trump did it all the time, but in his old age of 80, it is safe to remove the fornication element from his formula of illicitly reaping benefits from power. He bends very low when he sees Putin or Xi Jinping or any other autocrat: He is envious of them because American democracy prevents him from cloning their systems.

======================================================



Donald Trump’s Humiliating Sex-Mad CEO Scandal Explodes
William Vaillancourt, The Daily Beast Podcast
Sat, November 14, 2026 



The forced resignation of Trump-friendly billionaire Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang could become a political headache for the president—and an escape hatch for Republicans looking to distance themselves from him.

On The Daily Beast Podcast, host Joanna Coles and executive editor Hugh Dougherty reacted to Huang's exit from the AI chip giant amid reports of extramarital affairs with a suspected Chinese spy and two Nvidia employees.

Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

They also examined what it could all mean for President Donald Trump's inner circle and Washington more broadly. Huang, 63, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, 65, have both agreed to testify before Congress, though only Lutnick has a hearing date scheduled.

"The Democrats have every motivation to go after this," Dougherty said. "It sheds light on, 'Why is everything unaffordable?' Because he's doing business with billionaires, because the whole arc of government is being bent toward the interest of somebody who... was worth $200 billion."

"And for Republicans who just got absolutely shaken by this blue tsunami, they can run away from Trump," he added. "They can say, 'No, no. Do you know what? I'm bipartisan. I'm investigating.'"

Indiana Republican Sen. Jim Banks, for instance, was among those who called for Huang and Lutnick to appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

The Daily Beast

Likewise, Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis stated that while Huang's "gross negligence exposed cracks in our national security," Lutnick's "reported stalling on export controls raises the question of whether the Commerce Department is acting in the best interests of the American people."

"Their interest now is not sucking up to Trump," Dougherty said of the GOP's current posture. "Their interest now is being independent, standing up for the American worker, being in touch with the issues of the people."

The Huang controversy and his ties to the White House are "exactly what the Democrats were talking about," he added. "He doesn't care about you. He cares about billionaires."

As Republican and Democratic lawmakers question Lutnick over the Trump administration's refusal to add Chinese companies ‌to a ⁠U.S. trade blacklist, and whether his department properly managed Nvidia's exports to China, the White House has reportedly considered dismissing him.

Trump, who reportedly urged Huang to fight to stay in his role, has publicly stood by the former CEO, describing his resignation as "sad."

But Trump, 80, has not explained when he first learned of the national security concerns surrounding Huang's reported affair with the suspected spy.

Huang and Trump have been close. The former Nvidia CEO donated $25 million to Trump's ballroom. In September, he joined other tech leaders at the White House, and in May, he accompanied Trump on the president's trip to China.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, SpacexAI Founder and CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia President and CEO Jensen Huang, and CEO of AMD Lisa Su attend a luncheon for tech leaders hosted by US President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 29, 2026. / Jonathan Ernst / REUTERS

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast's request for comment.

Watch Out for GOP Infiltrators into the Democrat Party: Colorado's Laubacher

We don't need more Fettermans, Manchins, Sinemas.... who run as Democrats but vote as MAGA republicans. We don't need Democrats beholden to the den of corruption and undermining of democracy, the Zionist AIPAC.

They are not centrists by any means. At the very least, these are fence sitters who do not have the courage of their convictions. But it is worth contemplating the possibility, indeed the recurring pattern of such Trojan Republicans who deliberately lie by registering and running as Democrats, only to fool their voters and begin a term in Congress voting with Republicans and scuttling the Democrat agenda. 

Why not be honest and transparent? Why don't they register as independent and caucus with republicans? Bernie Sanders is an independent and caucuses with Democrats. 

With the razor edge victory of dubiously "Democrat" Eileen Laubacher over the MAGA moron Lauren Boebert in Colorado, it will be interesting to watch Laubacher's voting pattern and her potential putting sticks in the wheels of the Democrat agenda. 

Why do I raise this issue? Because Laubacher has been a Republican all the her life, but registered and ran as a Democrat on the eve of these midterms late in 2025 when she felt that Trump's catastrophic failure in office will translate into her own defeat if she ran as a Republican. The midterms have proven her right: She won as a Democrat but would have lost as Trump MAGA Republican.

See below why Democrats missed the vote on impeaching Drunken Warrior Pete Hegseth. Surprise? No. They were busy getting bribed by AIPAC to rescue genocidal Israel from accountability.

====================================================

Lauren Boebert loses House seat to Democratic challenger in Colorado
The congresswoman had switched districts in the 2024 election to one that favored Republicans, but it wasn't enough to insulate her from widespread Democratic gains this year.
Dylan Stableford, Mike Bebernes
Updated Fri, November 13, 2026



Lauren Boebert and Eileen Laubacher. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

In what had been considered Colorado's most Republican-leaning congressional district, incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert has been defeated by Democrat Eileen Laubacher.

The Associated Press called the race on Friday afternoon.

Laubacher received 48.8% of the vote (187,488 votes) to Boebert's 47.9% (184,047 votes), with 99% of the vote counted. Douglas Mangeris, a libertarian, received 3.3%, or 12,720 votes, per AP.

Boebert, an outspoken gun rights activist, has served in Congress since 2021 and is considered one of President Trump's staunchest allies on Capitol Hill.

Laubacher is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who was deployed in Afghanistan. She also served on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.

Laubacher's victory adds Colorado's 4th District to the more than 40 Republican-held districts that have flipped to Democrats this midterm cycle, including two others in Colorado.

In an interview with NewsNation on Thursday, Boebert blamed her impending loss on "so many different variables" that plagued Republicans across the country, including gas prices, the war in Iran and Congress's failure to address corruption in the U.S. political system.

She also argued that she and other members of the right wing House Freedom Caucus "weren't heard" when they called for Congress to take action on a variety of issues that voters care about, including government surveillance and "fair elections."

The result is indicative of the remarkable swing toward Democrats that took place in historically safe Republican districts across the country. Boebert, who relocated from Colorado's more-purple 3rd District in 2023, won by more than 11 percentage points the last time she was on the ballot.

Who is Eileen Laubacher?

Laubacher served 34 years in the U.S. Navy, working in a variety of intelligence and command positions, before retiring in 2024. Her father also spent his career in the Navy, reaching the rank of vice admiral. Her grandfather served as a Navy combat diver during World War II. Laubacher spent significant periods of her Navy career abroad, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009 and service in a senior role at the U.S. Embassy in India.

Though she said she had frequently told people in her life that she would "never run for office," Laubacher opted to enter the race for Boebert's seat because she believed residents of Colorado's 4th District deserved "serious and honest representation" in Congress.

Laubacher had reportedly been a Republican throughout much of her life before registering as a Democrat in late 2025. Her decision to switch parties, she said, was driven by her view that the Republican Party had become "nearly unrecognizable" to her.

Laubacher's recent party swap became the subject of a lawsuit during the Democratic primary, with one of the other Democrats in the race attempting to prevent her from qualifying for the ballot. That effort failed, and Laubacher later secured the Democratic nomination.

In terms of policy, Laubacher is firmly within the moderate wing of the Democratic Party. She supports strong immigration enforcement, tax cuts for the middle class and reducing the national debt. She placed a heavy emphasis on affordability throughout her campaign, including calling on President Trump to repeal tariffs that raise consumer prices and end the war with Iran.

Boebert's tenure

First elected to represent Colorado's 3rd District in 2020, Boebert quickly became one of the more vocal and recognizable members of the House Republican caucus. She has been a persistent critic of the "deep state" and was a staunch supporter of Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

During her first year in the House, she introduced separate resolutions to impeach then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over their handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. In 2023, she was one of the key voices behind a leadership battle among House Republicans that was only settled when Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker after 15 roll call votes. Later that year, she mounted a second unsuccessful effort to impeach Biden.

Boebert's personal life drew scrutiny in September 2023 after she and a male companion were escorted out of a stage production of Beetlejuice for allegedly "vaping, singing, [and] causing a disturbance." Though she initially denied acting inappropriately, she later apologized for her behavior, saying that her actions "fell short of my values."

Though Boebert won her first House race by a comfortable margin, she narrowly avoided defeat in her bid for reelection in 2022, defeating her Democratic challenger by just 546 votes. Prior to the 2024 election, Boebert switched her reelection bid to Colorado's 4th District, a region of the state considered "far more favorable to Republicans."

The move proved effective in helping Boebert secure a comfortable victory in 2024. But the redder district was not enough to insulate her from the widespread Democratic gains across the country this year.

=====================================================



Some Democrats who missed Hegseth impeachment vote were reportedly at AIPAC event. Here's what we know
Taija PerryCook
Sat, November 14, 2026 


Jemal Countess and Tom Williams, accessed via Getty Images.

The effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth failed in a 211-204 vote on Nov. 10, which many Democrats blamed on 11 of their fellow party members who were absent from the voting chamber.

Of those 11 Democrats, social media users claimed some of them missed the vote because they were attending an event related to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

The event in question was reportedly hosted by Elect Democrat Women. According to the nonprofit OpenSecrets, the top donor to the Elect Democrat Women-affiliated super PAC, EDW Action Fund, was the United Democracy Project — a super PAC affiliate of AIPAC.

Drop Site News, a nonprofit investigative news outlet, reportedly obtained an RSVP list of the event showing that three of the 11 Democrats who missed the vote were present at the event: Reps. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., and Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo. As of this writing, the reported RSVP list was not publicly available and Drop Site News did not reveal how it sourced the list.

Two of the represenatives, Brownley and Pettersen, reportedly acknowledged attending the Elect Democratic Women event. However, none of them had responded to our requests for comment by the time of publication.

Until we hear directly from the representatives' offices or primary evidence confirming their attendance emerges, we've left this claim unrated.

On Nov. 10, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has been the face of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began in February.

The impeachment effort failed in a 211-204 vote, which many Democrats blamed on 11 of their fellow party members who were absent from the voting chamber.

The 11 absent Democrats were Reps. Julia Brownley, Melanie Stansbury, Brittany Pettersen, Laura Gillen, Nancy Pelosi, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Frederica Wilson, Jonathan Jackson, Steven Horsford and J. Luis Correa.

Social media users claimed some of those 11 missed the vote because they were attending an event related to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group.

The event in question was reportedly hosted by Elect Democrat Women. According to the nonprofit OpenSecrets, the top donor to the Elect Democrat Women-affiliated super PAC, EDW Action Fund, was the United Democracy Project — a super PAC affiliate of AIPAC.

Drop Site News, a nonprofit investigative news outlet, reportedly obtained an RSVP list of the event showing that three of the 11 Democrats who missed the vote were present at the event: Brownley, of California, Stansbury, of New Mexico, and Pettersen, of Colorado. As of this writing, the reported RSVP list was not publicly available and Drop Site News did not reveal how it sourced the list.

Two of the representatives, Brownley and Pettersen, reportedly acknowledged attending the Elect Democratic Women event. However, none of them had responded to our requests for comment by the time of publication. Until we hear directly from the representatives' offices or primary evidence confirming their attendance emerges, we've left this claim unrated.

On Nov. 11, USA Today reporter Zach Schermele posted that Brownley told him she "left last night's Elect Democratic Women event for the Hegseth vote with plenty of time to spare" and that "when the traffic jam made it clear she might not make it in time, she and other lawmakers started texting each other." He reported that Brownley, 74, then got out of her car and started running, missing the vote by "seconds" (archived).

According to Denver NBC affiliate KUSA, Pettersen acknowledged she attended the event, saying in a statement, "Last night, I was late to the floor and there is no excuse for that. I was at an Electing Democratic Women event."

Stansbury posted a video on Nov. 11 apologizing for her absence, saying, "I know I should've been there at that moment." She blamed rush-hour traffic on Independence Avenue for her absence. She did not mention the EDW event, though her comments were flooded with users accusing her of attending it.

Because the reported RSVP list was not publicly available and Drop Site News did not reveal where it sourced the list, we are unable to rate this claim. We can, however, break down Drop Site News' findings and any other publicly available information.

The document Drop Site News reportedly obtained also included a "Run of Show" listing the event's schedule, which read:

Run of Show:

4:30 pm: Event begins.

Mix and mingle

5:00 pm: EDW Chairwoman Lois Frankel to give opening remarks.

Thank everyone for attending, supporting EDW, and our historic wins.

5:10 pm: Acknowledge all new members in attendance and have them answer questions.

5:30 pm: Guests resume mingling.

6:00 pm: Event ends.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., publicly posted the voting schedule on Nov. 10, which indicated the vote on the impeachment articles he introduced would take place at 5:30 p.m. (archived).

According to Drop Site's reporting, the event took place at Goldfinch Social, a venue in Washington, D.C., about 2 miles from the Capitol.