Resistance HQ Bulletin 2

11/12/24

… Bluesky reports adding 700,000 new users this week as the mass exodus from Twitter continues. Threads is now up to 318 million users.

… Trump is nominating Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State. Trump has condemned “neo-cons” who have favored US intervention around the globe, claiming that he wants the US to disengage from foreign alliances and conflicts. Rubio has stood for the exact opposite during his entire political career.

… Rubio also called Trump in 2016 a racist, con artist, fraud, grifter, erratic, no substance, old man who wears too much makeup, and hired migrants at his many businesses failures. But that was when he was being honest.

… Trump responded to Rubio at the time by posting on Twitter that he was “a total lightweight who I wouldn’t hire to run one of my smaller companies.” The con artist and the lightweight. Happy together.

… It looks like Mike Johnson is going to get a right-wing challenger for his Speaker position. The Hill is reporting that they have multiple reliable sources that a challenger will be nominated tomorrow against Johnson, but refused to give the name. Johnson said he is “confident” that he will retain the Speakership and the party will remain united. That would be a first.

… Tom Cotton will take over Rubio’s role as Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

… Ron Desantis will now make an appointment to fill out the remainder of Rubio’s term. I predict he will appoint a placeholder who agrees not to run so he can run for the seat himself in 2026. Frontrunners are his loyal Lt. Gov Jeanette Nunez, AG Ashley Moody, former Speaker Jose Oliva, or current Chief of Staff James Uthmeier.

… Anna Paulina Luna called on Desantis to appoint Lara Trump to Rubio’s seat. Axios is reporting that AL Sen. Katie Britt also wants Desantis to appoint Lara. Even Elon Musk’s mother Maye got into the act, arguing that Desantis should appoint the autotuned karaoke recording artist because “the Senate is an old man’s club. We desperately need a smart, young, outspoken woman who will reveal their secrets.” Alrighty then.

… Elon then chimed in that he agreed with mom.

… Ron Desantis is busy jetting around Italy with his entire Cabinet and 85 cronies on the public dime this week to “discuss relations between Florida and Italy.” Nobody knows how to spend taxpayer money and resources on himself and his political causes quite like Desantis. Then had a private concert from Andrea Bocelli today in Florence courtesy of Florida taxpayers.

… Ron Johnson says he is very confident that Desantis will make the right choice on the appointment to Rubio’s seat, but isn’t at all confident in “RINO” Mike DeWine. He says that Trump needs to get involved in pressuring DeWine to appoint a right-winger to fill JD Vance’s seat.

… Rick Scott told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would like to see Desantis choose either Reps. Vern Buchanan, Byron Donalds, Kat Cammack, Cory Mills, Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez or Maria Salazar. Desantis will not choose any of these.

… Trump is also nominating puppy killer Kristi Noem has his DHS Secretary.

… Former AK Gov and right-wing talk show host Mike Huckabee is his nominee for Ambassador to Israel. His daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “There is no one President Trump could have picked with a greater love for the Israeli people.”

… Huckabee in 2017: “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”

… Politico is reporting that the front-runners for Sec of Agriculture are failed Nebraska Gov candidate Charles Herbster and megadonor Sara Frey of Frey Farms. Frey has been dubbed, “America’s Pumpkin Queen” since her company is the biggest seller of pumpkins in the US. Herbster is a cattle farmer who has been accused of sexual assault by 8 different women.

… The Daily Mail claims that multiple sources tell them that Ben Carson is the odds on favorite for HHS Secretary.

… Mediate is reporting that a well placed source says Alina Habba is being seriously considered for Press Secretary: “Alina is camera-ready and tested on day one. But more importantly she’s battle tested after being in the frontlines with POTUS the last four years.” That sounds like either Jason Miller or Steve Cheung as the source.

… Dan Scavino is reportedly joining Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff, but while Miller will be setting the policy agenda, Scavino will be running Trump’s social media accounts. Trump’s former golf caddie has come a long way since he was cleaning Trump’s 7-iron at Bedminster.

… While Trump has promised to abolish the Department of Education, it still needs a Secretary while it exists. Right-wing columnist Josh Hammer wrote an OpEd for Newsweek today making the case for Moms for Liberty Founder Tiffany Justice. He says a strike against her is that she didn’t graduate college, but claims if Dems make that an issue it will make them look “elitist.”

… RFK Jr remains very available, still waiting by the phone for his promised appointment.

… While RFK Jr. still doesn’t have a job, he continues to make bold pronouncements. He claimed in a new interview that on January 21, 600 people will be fired and replaced that day at the National Institutes of Health, and that the entire Child Nutrition Department department at the FDA will be fired. He claims he is collecting resumes and applications online if you want to apply.

… Tommy Tuberville wants Coach Trump to put RFK Jr. in the game: “We’ve had vast problems with autism and things like that, with young kids and what they eat.” - HuffPost

… Susan Collins, up for re-election in Democratic Maine in 2026, was asked by HuffPost to comment on RFK Jr playing a role over public health in the Trump Admin and his plan for mass deportations: “He’s not even sworn in yet as president, we don’t know the specifics of any plan, and it’s far too early for me to comment on it.”

… Collins is going to have a very difficult time supporting Trump’s extremist right-wing agenda while trying to run for re-election in a state that Harris won by 7 points. Especially since Democrats are very focused on her race and will fund it generously. Collins and Tillis in NC are Dems main targets in 2026.

… Mike Pence said today, “I am very encouraged by the early appointments by the president-elect.” That should thrill MAGA, who is already grumbling about Rubio and Waltz.

… Mike Johnson and his House GOP leadership team held a press conference this morning on the steps of the Capitol. The message was essentially that they weren’t able to get anything done the last two years because of the Senate, but now that they control both chambers and the presidency they will pass a sweeping agenda.

… Johnson, gesturing to the Capitol: “We’re going to raise an America First banner above this place … We have a decisive mandate.” He says they plan to “hit the ground running” with no excuses now that they are in complete control of the government.

… Johnson also said that he does not expect to lose any additional members to appointments in the Trump Admin after Stefanik and Waltz. But then a report came out later that NY Rep. Brandon Williams in the front runner for Labor Secretary.

… When asked who he favors in the Senate Majority race, Johnson says he loves all the candidates.

… Current estimates when all votes are counted is that Trump will receive 77.9 million votes to Harris’s 75.7 million votes with less than 250,000 total votes in 3 swing states flipping the election to Harris. But we keep hearing about a sweeping Trump victory and a wholesale rejection of the Democratic Party and its values.

… Elon Musk announced that he will continue to finance and run the America PAC that he set up during the election to help Trump. He said it will focus on helping increase voter registrations for Republicans and help their candidates in the midterm elections in 2026. He also said it will “play a significant role in the primaries.”

… Chris Wallace announced he is walking away from his huge salary at CNN and intends to be an independent journalist with a podcast. Seems to be trending.

… Trump named William McGinley as his WH Counsel. As corporate establishment as they come with lots of big law firm credentials. Served as Cabinet Secretary in last Trump Admin before leaving in 2019. Definitely not the kind of guy right-wing activists were looking for here.

… Former UK PM Boris Johnson said that US Republicans seem to have a “homoerotic fascination” for Vladimir Putin: “Some of these people think he’s an all-around standup guy and they love his manly christianity. It’s complete nonsense. He’sa tyrant, a kleptocrat and a murderer. But there’s no question that some of those people are in (Trump’s) ear and they’re whispering a lot of this absolute nonsense to him.”

… Along those lines, Russian pediatrician Nadezhda Buyanova was just sentenced to 5.5 years for criticizing the war in Ukraine.

… Republican Rep. Mike Lawler signalled that he will be running for Governor of NY in 2026, posting on Twitter: “We’re bleeding manufacturing jobs upstate, having lost hundreds of thousands of them over the last few decades. The only way to change things for the better in our state is by changing governors. We must make that happen in 2026.” He’s running.

… 2028 Presidential contender Andy Beshear wrote an OpEd for the NYT where he explained how he won re-election for Governor of KY as a Democrat by 5 points