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Post by Admin on May 18, 2021 5:34:52 GMT
Former President Trump’s diet and age could prove to be pivotal factors determining whether he runs in 2024, Rev. Franklin Graham told Axios on HBO.
The president of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and an early supporter to the former president, told the outlet he’s unsure if Trump’s health will permit another campaign.
"I think for him, everything will depend on his health at that time. If he still has energy and strength like he does. I don't," Graham said.
"You know the guy does not eat well, you know, and it's amazing the energy that he has," Graham added.
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Graham praised Trump’s term of office following the former president’s November election loss to President Biden. Graham posted in a statement on Facebook in December that he was “grateful to God” for Trump’s four years.
"He gave us a president who protected our religious liberties; grateful for a president who defended the lives of the unborn, standing publicly against abortion and the bloody smear it has made on our nation; grateful for a president who nominated conservative judges to the Supreme Court and to our federal courts,” Graham wrote.
“President Trump will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our nation, bringing peace and prosperity to millions here in the U.S. and around the world,” Graham added.
Still, the former president’s reported weight loss might pave the way for another campaign, Graham told Axios.
"He's lost weight, fifteen pounds, Maybe. So he might be in good health and in good shape. I don't know."
Graham additionally addressed vaccine hesitancy, saying he wants “people to know that COVID-19 can kill you.”
“But we have a vaccine out there that could possibly save your life. And if you wait, it could be too late.”
The former president, who has yet to formally announce whether he will seek another term, will be 78 years old in 2024.
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Post by Admin on Jun 15, 2021 22:49:17 GMT
Almost five months after leaving office, major publishing houses still are wary of publishing a book by former President Donald Trump, even though a post-White House memoir would almost assuredly be a best-seller. Their reluctance is driven by several factors, though the underlying fear is that whatever Trump would write wouldn’t be truthful. “It would be too hard to get a book that was factually accurate, actually,” said one major figure in the book publishing industry, explaining their reluctance to publish Trump. “That would be the problem. If he can’t even admit that he lost the election, then how do you publish that?” It’s unheard of for a former U.S. president to struggle to score a major book deal after leaving office. And the absence of Trump’s own words from the literary world is made even more pronounced by the fact that several of his top aides and former Cabinet officials are writing books of their own. Former Vice President Mike Pence scored a seven-figure deal for two books with Simon & Schuster — a decision that sparked some employees of the company, well-known Simon & Schuster authors, and others to circulate a petition accusing the storied book house of promoting bigotry. There have been rumors and a report that Trump is privately angry over Pence’s book deal. But his spokesperson Jason Miller insisted that he was “fine with it” and had “no issues.” Trump has insisted that he has suitors for a book too. In a statement last Friday, he said he had received two offers “from the most unlikely of publishers” but turned them down because he did “not want to do such a deal right now.” Trump didn’t reveal who the two publishers were. But in a statement on Monday afternoon to POLITICO, he insisted that “two of the biggest and most prestigious publishing houses have made very substantial offers which I have rejected.” “That doesn’t mean I won’t accept them sometime in the future, as I have started writing the book,” the statement read. “If my book will be the biggest of them all, and with 39 books written or being written about me, does anybody really believe that they are above making a lot of money? Some of the biggest sleezebags [sic] on earth run these companies.” “No morals, no nothing, just the bottom line,” he added. “And they sure wouldn’t admit it before the fact. But after the fact, they will stand by and say, ‘Let’s go.’”
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Post by Admin on Jun 24, 2021 6:23:45 GMT
Former President Trump said during a meeting that he hoped the COVID-19 pandemic "takes out" his former national security adviser-turned-critic John Bolton, according to soon-to-be published book.
This account comes from "Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History," written by Washington Post reporters Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta about Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Axios reports.
"Trump had tried to joke about the virus for months, sometimes even mocking people who had become ill. ... At one meeting several months [before Trump got sick], NEC director Larry Kudlow had stifled a cough. The room had frozen. ... Trump had waved his hands in front of his face, as if to jokingly ward off any flying virus particles, and then cracked a smile. 'I was just kidding,' he'd said. 'Larry will never get COVID. He will defeat it with his optimism,'" an excerpt from the book obtained by the news outlet reads.
"'John Bolton,' he had said ... 'Hopefully COVID takes out John,'" Trump said, according to the book.
When reached for comment by Axios, Bolton said: "Fooled me — I thought he was relying on his lawyers."
In 2019, a year after leaving the Trump administration, Bolton published his own book, "The Room Where It Happened," in which he alleged that Trump had attempted to use U.S. foreign policy maneuvers to secure his victory in the 2020 presidential campaign.
The Trump administration had attempted to block the publication of Bolton's book. A federal judge later shot the lawsuit down, though he wrote in his ruling that Bolton had "likely published classified materials" and "exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability."
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Post by Admin on Jun 24, 2021 20:23:46 GMT
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told members of Congress on Wednesday that there is concern in the department regarding conspiracy theories that former President Trump will be reinstated in August, Politico reports.
Sources familiar with the exchange said top DHS counterterrorism official John Cohen shared these concerns while speaking in a members only briefing with the House Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) reportedly asked Cohen how DHS is monitoring the spread of disinformation and conspiracy as well as how they fuel violence, specifically pointing to the Trump reinstatement conspiracy theory that has become popular among QAnon followers.
According to Politico's sources, Cohen said that DHS had not found anything linking violence to the conspiracy theory that Trump will be reinstated, though he did say the department was following online discussions in extremist communities.
Cohen said that DHS was highly concerned about the conspiracy theory, however, as it fuels the narrative that the election was rigged, which could in turn spark violence among extremists.
The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment.
A Hill-HarrisX poll released last week found that 30 percent of Republican voters believe Trump will be reinstated in August, though there is no legal or constitutional maneuver that could feasibly return the former U.S. president to office in the midst of President Biden's own term.
Trump himself has reportedly told acquaintances that he expects to be reinstated in August.
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Post by Admin on Oct 18, 2021 4:33:21 GMT
Smerconish: Why Trump can beat Biden in 2024
Michael Smerconish asks if Democrats should worry less about Trump stealing the 2024 election and more about him actually winning. Biden's approval ratings have ebbed as his presidency faces many big issues including the Delta variant, roadblocks to his congressional agenda, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and inflation.
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