Politics
Trump resurrects Biden's 'devastating' 1994 crime bill as he courts Black Detroit voters: ‘Super predators'
Former President Trump courted Black voters in Detroit Saturday, when he raised President Biden’s authorship of the 1994 crime bill, which remains a sore point after three decades.
Headlining a roundtable discussion at the predominantly Black 180 Church as his campaign was announcing the launch of a Black voter coalition, Trump noted that rising crime rates hurt his audience’s community the most.
“Look, the crime is most rampant right here and in African American communities,” Trump said Saturday in Detroit. “More people see me, and they say, ‘Sir, we want protection. We want police to protect us. We don’t want to get robbed and mugged and beat up or killed because we want to walk across the street to buy a loaf of bread.’”
Trump took aim at Biden and the Biden-Harris campaign during his remarks, recalling how Biden, as a senator in 1994, authored the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which Biden has since called a “mistake.”
BIDEN CALLS SUPPORTING 1994 CRIME BILL A ‘MISTAKE’ DURING ABC TOWN HALL
Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign event Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Detroit, as Itasha Dotson and Carlos Chambers listen. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
“Biden wrote the devastating 1994 crime bill, talking about ‘super predators.’ That was Biden. You know, he walks around now talking about the Black vote. He’s the king of the ‘super predators,’” Trump said during the event.
Biden authored the Senate’s version of the bill when he served as a senator from Delaware. Signed into law by President Clinton, the bill has been blamed for mass incarceration that disproportionately affected the Black community.
BIDEN’S SENATE RECORD, ADVOCACY OF 1994 CRIME BILL WILL BE USED AGAINST HIM, EX-SANDERS STAFFER SAYS
Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, is presented with a birthday cookie after participating in a community roundtable at the 180 Church in Detroit June 15, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
The bill’s passage came on the heels of the crack cocaine epidemic that throttled Black communities in the 1980s and early 1990s.
BIDEN, IN 1992, TOUTED CRIME BILL DOES ‘EVERYTHING BUT HANG PEOPLE FOR JAYWALKING’
Biden had a long history of authoring legislation viewed at the time as tough on crime but now seen as controversial and contributing to the spike in America’s incarceration rates.
As the consumption of crack cocaine spiraled in the 1980s, for example, Biden co-sponsored another bill that soon became controversial, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. That legislation, which was signed into law by President Reagan, established harsher sentencing penalties for possession of crack cocaine than the drug’s powder form. Crack cocaine and cocaine have a similar chemical makeup, but Black Americans disproportionately used crack cocaine compared to their White counterparts, leading to an outcry that the bill unfairly targeted Black Americans.
President Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Biden has since distanced himself from the 1986 and 1994 legislation, saying of the 1986 drug bill that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” The Washington Post reported in 2019. He added ahead of the 2020 election that the 1994 crime bill was a “mistake” due to its effect on the Black community.
DETROIT PASTOR WELCOMES TRUMP REACHING OUT TO BLACK VOTERS, SAYS BIDEN ‘HAS FORGOTTEN WHY HE’S IN OFFICE’
Trump in his comments suggested Biden referred to criminals in the 1990s as “super predators.” Biden did refer to criminals in that era as “predators” who were “beyond the pale,” but the specific phrase “super predators” was not used by Biden.
Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, arrives to participate in a community roundtable at the 180 Church in Detroit June 15, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Instead, first lady Hillary Clinton used the phrase in 1996 while speaking favorably of the legislation signed into law by her husband in 1994 and has since apologized for the phrase.
”Just as in a previous generation, we had an organized effort against the mob. We need to take these people on,” she said at the time. “They are often connected to big drug cartels; they are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called super predators. No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”
NEW POLL REVEALS DEMS ARE LOSING SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT FROM THESE 2 KEY DEMOGRAPHICS: ‘ESPECIALLY CONCERNING’
Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign event at 180 Church Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Amid Clinton’s failed bid for the White House against Trump in 2016, a Black Lives Matter activist confronted her about the phrase, prompting the former secretary of state to walk back the comment.
“Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today,” Clinton told The Washington Post in 2016.
TRUMP ENLISTS PROMINENT BLACK REPUBLICANS TO APPEAL TO THEIR PEERS: ‘FISHING WHERE THE FISH ARE’
Trump’s pitch to Black voters in Detroit comes as polling indicates Trump is gaining popularity among the voting bloc. Last month on CNN, a data analyst appeared stunned as the network explained Trump’s support among Black voters more than doubled to 22% compared to 2020, while Biden saw a 12% drop. Overall, Biden still holds a strong lead over Trump among Black voters.
President Biden speaking in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Biden won Michigan by three points in the 2020 election, but recent New York Times polling conducted in six battleground states last month found Trump leading in a handful of key states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. The poll, published last month, found Biden holds more favorability in one battleground state — Wisconsin.
BIDEN CAMPAIGN ‘RATTLED’ AS PRESIDENT ‘HEMORRHAGES VOTES’ IN BLACK COMMUNITY TO TRUMP, SAYS REP. HUNT
Following the roundtable discussion, the Biden-Harris campaign hit back that the 45th president’s audience at the church was “noticeably empty and white” and that his “eleventh hour” outreach to Black voters “isn’t fooling anyone.”
Guests pray at the close of a roundtable discussion with community leaders and former President Trump, a presidential candidate, at the 180 Church June 15, 2024, in Detroit. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Donald Trump thinks the fact that he has ‘many Black friends’ excuses an entire lifetime of denigrating and disrespecting Black Americans, but Black voters know better — and Trump’s eleventh hour attempt at Black ‘outreach’ isn’t fooling anyone,” Biden-Harris 2024 Director of Black Media Jasmine Harris said in a press release.
“Black voters haven’t forgotten that this man entered public life calling for the death penalty for the innocent Central Park 5 and entered political life spreading racist conspiracy theories about Barack Obama. We haven’t forgotten that Black unemployment and uninsured rates skyrocketed when Trump was in the White House. And we sure haven’t forgotten Trump repeatedly cozying up to white supremacists and demonizing Black communities to his political benefit — because that’s exactly what he’ll do if he wins a second term. Black voters sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House in 2020, and they’re ready to make Donald Trump a two-time loser in 2024.”
Former President Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat in Palm Beach, Fla., May 4, 2024 (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
Trump’s newly-formed Black coalition, Black Americans for Trump, was launched just days ahead of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end to slavery in the U.S. and is celebrated June 19 each year.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN SETS UP SHOP IN BLUE PHILADELPHIA IN FIGHT FOR KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE
“Never has it been more clear that Joe Biden’s reckless reversal of President Trump’s America First policies is the very reason why Black communities have been utterly decimated under his Administration with sky-high grocery and gas prices, untenable housing costs, an invasion of illegal migrants and rampant violent crime,” Team Trump Senior Advisor Lynne Patton said in a statement in the campaign’s press release.
“On day one, Donald Trump will reinstate all his proven policies on immigration, law and order, energy and the economy and put Black America First.”
The Detroit skyline May 12, 2020 (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Trump was joined by Black leaders and supporters during the roundtable discussion Saturday, including former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Republican Michigan Rep. John James and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig.
The pastor of 180 Church, Lorenzo Sewell, joined “Fox & Friends First” Friday ahead of the roundtable, lauding Trump’s visit as one that “means so much” to the community.
“Sometimes we forget about the Black vote. Sometimes we forget about the power of what it means to vote for those who are in office and, in urban America, our voice matters. That’s why it means so much to us that the former president will come and value our voice,” Sewell said.
Politics
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
Mike Kennedy on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District to replace outgoing Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, becoming the immediate favorite to win the seat in November.
Kennedy beat fellow Republicans JR Bird, John Dougall, Case Lawrence and Stewart Peay in a packed primary pool for the district. Curtis is vacating his seat to run for U.S. Senate to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney.
Kennedy, a state senator, had won the party’s nomination for the seat in April but faced challenges from other candidates who gathered signatures to be on the ballot. Peay had won the endorsement of Romney, who is also Peay’s wife’s uncle. Kennedy had won the endorsement of Sen. Mike Lee, who said he was needed to “fight against the Uniparty and help get this country back on track.”
‘SQUAD’ MEMBER FACES OUSTER FROM CONGRESS AS NEW YORK, COLORADO AND UTAH HOLD PRIMARIES ON TUESDAY
From left, JR Bird, John Dougall, Mike Kennedy, Case Lawrence and Stewart Peay, candidates in the Republican primary for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, take part in a debate at the Eccles Broadcast Center in Salt Lake City on June 12, 2024. (Spenser Heaps/Deseret News via AP/Pool)
Bird, a mayor, emphasized his experience of running a small town as well as the importance of the energy sector and agriculture, according to the Deseret News.
Dougall, the state auditor, had run as an anti-MAGA candidate and had slammed some GOP legislation, including what he saw as an overly aggressive bill that tasks him with enforcing a ban on transgender-identifying individuals using restrooms that are inconsistent with their sex.
WATCH: THIS HOUSE PRIMARY IS MOST EXPENSIVE IN CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY
He has also been deeply critical of former President Trump. On Tuesday on X, he also questioned the “cavalier manner” of any official who swears to uphold the Constitution “then endorses Trump following January 6th.” He has advertised himself as “mainstream, not MAGA.”
At a debate this month, candidates split on the question of military funding to Ukraine as well as whether the federal government should explicitly ban abortion. Peay, Dougall and Case Lawrence – a trampoline park entrepreneur – had called on Congress to keep sending weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off the ongoing Russian invasion.
Bird and Kennedy disagreed, arguing that it was not beneficial to the U.S. to keep funding the Ukrainians, with the two calling for stronger sanctions and the seizure of Russian assets.
HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE PRIMARY CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Sen. Mitt Romney (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kennedy will go on to face Democrat Glenn Wright in the November election, but the Republican is favored to win comfortably in a district that has voted Republican since 1997.
CLICK HERE TO GET FOX NEWS APP
Elsewhere in the state, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, a major GOP Trump critic, held off a primary challenge from Phil Lyman, another 2020 election denier who easily won the state party convention.
The Associated Press and Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
California news publishers and Big Tech companies appear to be inching toward compromise on a controversial bill that would require Google and huge social media platforms to pay news outlets for the articles they distribute.
After stalling last year, Assembly Bill 886 cleared a critical hurdle Tuesday when it passed the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Several lawmakers described the legislation as a work in progress aimed at solving a critical problem: The news business is shrinking as technology changes the way people consume information.
“I do believe the marketplace is the best mechanism to regulate industry,” Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), the committee chairman, said during a hearing on the bill.
However, he said, the demise of journalism harms democracy: “Thus, we have an obligation to find a way to support reasonable, credible journalism.”
The legislation, known as the “California Journalism Preservation Act,” would require digital platforms to pay news outlets a fee when they sell advertising alongside news content. It calls for creating a fund that the tech firms pay into, with the money being distributed to news outlets based on the number of journalists they employ. Publishers would have to use 70% of the money they receive to pay journalists in California.
Umberg noted that the bill does not specify an amount for the fund. He said it would be “a very elegant solution” for the parties involved to agree on what amount that should be.
Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) described talks as being “closer and closer to the place where we could actually land some kind of deal.”
In Canada, Google is paying $74 million annually into a fund for the news industry under a law similar to the one proposed in California.
Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s vice president of global news partnerships, testified against the California proposal during a hearing in which news executives from across the state lined up to express support for the bill, while tech industry lobbyists lined up in opposition. The bill is sponsored by the California News Publishers Assn., of which the Los Angeles Times is a member.
“The bill would … break the fundamental and foundational principles of the open internet, forcing platforms to pay publishers for sending valuable free traffic to them,” Zaidi said.
“It puts the full burden of support on one or two companies, while shielding many other large platforms who also link to news from California publishers.”
He said Google had shared a proposal for a different way to support journalism “through targeted programs” that would be funded by more companies than just the very largest platforms. The current version of the bill would apply only to Google and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
“We hope this can serve as a basis for a workable path forward together,” Zaidi said. “We remain committed to being here and constructively working towards an outcome.”
The bill’s author, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), said she is “aggressively trying to engage” with companies that oppose the bill in the hopes that the sparring sides can reach an agreement that will allow the news industry to thrive.
“At the end of the day, I want the best solution to the problem,” Wicks said.
She closed the hearing by talking about the role journalism has played in exposing problems that lawmakers wind up addressing in the Capitol, such as crafting new laws to extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits after The Times’ investigation revealed a pattern of allegations against former USC gynecologist George Tyndall.
The bill now advances to the Senate Appropriations Committee. It will go to Gov. Gavin Newsom if it clears both houses of the Legislature by Aug. 31.
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail.
FACE OFF: Don’t miss the Fox News Simulcast of the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Stay in the know for more updates here.
What’s happening…
-Calls for Biden to fire official for past anti-Israel tweets
-Trump urges drug test for Biden
-Whistleblower who exposed NPR bias finds new job
What can he say?
Judge Juan Merchan has partially lifted the gag order he imposed against former President Trump – weeks after the jury found him guilty on all counts.
Trump and his legal team have been fighting the gag order since it was imposed upon him at the start of the trial, but had ramped up their efforts when it concluded last month. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee’s legal team had argued the gag order should be lifted before the June 27 presidential debate.
Merchan’s gag order barred Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.
Merchan on Tuesday partially lifted the gag order because the trial has concluded.
Trump is now able to speak about protected witnesses and jurors.
Trump is still blocked from commenting about individual prosecutors, court staff and their family members. That portion of the gag order will remain in effect until Trump’s sentencing on July 11.
Judge Juan Merchan imposed over Donald Trump (AP)
White House
‘JUST HORRIFYING’: Watchdog group calls for Biden to fire WH official for past anti-Israel tweets …Read more
Capitol Hill
‘OBSCENE’: House GOP lawmaker rips State Dept ahead of vote on U.S. dollars going to Taliban …Read more
U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks to the crowd while he campaigns in the Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., June 22, 2024. REUTERS/Joy Malone (REUTERS/Joy Malone)
Tales from the Campaign Trail
‘THEATER OF CONFLICT’: Democrat challenger slams Bowman tirade, says profanity-laced rally jeopardizes party ‘unity’ …Read more
JUST SAY ‘NO’: Trump urges drug test for Biden, says he’ll do same screening …Read more
EPIC CLASH: How to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast on the Fox News Channel …Read more
‘SUGARCOATING’ CONTROVERSY: California city keeps charged ballot language for non-citizen voting measure …Read more
CALL TO THE BULLPEN: Obama again serving as Joe’s closer ahead of 2024 Trump rematch …Read more
Trials and Tribulations
DAY 3: US v Trump: The afternoon public hearing ended with no decision from Judge Cannon Read more
Across America
NO ABORTIONS FOR MINORS: Tennessee sued over law banning adults from helping minors get abortions without parental consent …Read more
MOVING ON: Whistleblower finds new gig after exposing alleged liberal bias at NPR …Read more
NEW YORK PAYS PRICE FOR NAIVETY: Cuomo scorches Dems for migrant crisis: ‘We’re finding out, 200,000 people later, you needed a plan’ …Read more
GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: This blue city that ‘Defund Police’ supporters call home has over 1,000 unsolved homicides …Read more
KENYAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: Kenyan police depart for Haiti to tackle rampant gang violence …Read more
ALL MUST SERVE: Israel’s Supreme Court rules ultra-Orthodox men must serve in military in unanimous decision …Read more
HUGE POPULATION: Houston area, an immigration hot spot, reeling from murder of Jocelyn Nungaray …Read more
Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
L.A. businessman, former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso endorses DA Gascón’s opponent
Living with PFAS in Metro Detroit
Bill Maher sounds alarm on immigration chaos: It'll get Dems 'f—ed on Election Day'
''Everything Is Mega Cheap'': Entrepreneur Shares Perks Of Living In Bengaluru Over San Francisco
2025 NCAA Tournament Projections Has Miami As An Eighth Seed; First Alert: June 25, 2024
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
France elections: Germans prepare for seismic change in EU politics
Iowa floodwaters breach levees as even more rain dumps onto parts of the Midwest
Fox News Politics: Trump Ungagged…Kinda
A right to drink? Inside the debate to protect US workers against the heat
-
News1 week agoIt's easy to believe young voters could back Trump at young conservative conference
-
World1 week agoSwiss summit demands 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine
-
World1 week agoProtesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
News1 week agoA fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
-
World1 week agoAl-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoShort Film Review: Willow and Wu (2024) by Kathy Meng
-
News1 week agoMass shooting at Rochester Hills splash pad: Everything we know
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoMovie Review: Top 5 Movies to Watch This Father's Day June 16, 2024 –