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Live updates: Maine Dems to replace Platner in Senate race; Quiet night in Iran

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Maine Democrats on Saturday are poised to announce their nominee to replace Graham Platner in the race to unseat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Former state Sen. Troy Jackson is the likely pick. Platner withdrew his bid earlier this month following allegations of sexual abuse. Meanwhile, President Trump has issued warning after warning to Iran…

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ICE sparks fury for reportedly detaining pastors — then threatening to take their kids

Raw Story

2 hours ago

ICE sparks fury for reportedly detaining pastors — then threatening to take their kids

Faith leaders are calling on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately free a pair of pastors who advocates say were wrongfully detained by ICE agents in Texas on Thursday while traveling to a religious retreat.Pastor Nepthalí Zozaya Saucedo and his wife, pastor Cinthia Saraí Cardona Otero, were detained by federal immigration enforcers after arriving at McAllen International Airport.According to the couple and their church leaders, the longtime pastors at the Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel Assemblies of God congregation in Edinburg, Texas were on their way to a marriage retreat in North Carolina organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association when they were detained and taken to a US Border Patrol processing center in McAllen.At a Friday press conference hosted by leaders from the Assemblies of God and the Latino Christian National Network, LCN board member Sandy Ovalle said that the couple has valid R-1 religious worker visas.“We are calling for their immediate release, the protection of their due process rights, and an urgent oversight into ICE’s conduct,” Ovalle said. “No one should be pressured to give up their rights under the threat of losing their children.”A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Religion News Service that the pastors are “illegal aliens” who overstayed their visas.Addressing the conference by phone from the detention center, Nepthalí said that the couple was threatened with separation from their US citizen children if they did not sign papers authorizing their “voluntary” deportation.“They spoke with us about separation—to be separated from our children and even as married people,” he said, according to Religion News Service. “They spoke about how much time that we could end up spending here.”Speaking during the press conference, Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel senior pastor Sarai Martinez Luna said, “I think it’s very cruel that somebody that had no status for deportation be pressured to sign a voluntary deportation based on the separation of their children.”Friday’s news conference followed a Wednesday press briefing by faith leaders at the Texas Capitol in Austin to condemn the killings of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán in Florida, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.“This is not of God. This is no peace that we want a part of because let’s be honest, this isn’t a peacekeeping initiative. This is a terror campaign with the mission of traumatizing our neighbors until they self-deport,” said Dan De Leon, senior pastor at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. “We don’t need terror. We need peace.”Elyse Rosenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women and Temple Beth Shalom in Austin said during the press conference that “throughout our history, we have repeatedly seen first-hand the consequences of governments exercising unchecked power on vulnerable populations.”Friday’s event also preceded nationwide vigils in more than 300 communities across the nation on Saturday to demand justice for the dozens of people who have been killed by federal enforcers or died in ICE custody during President Donald Trump’s second term.“We refuse to grieve quietly. We refuse to accept this terror and violence as inevitable," Crystal Cron, executive director of Presente! Maine, said ahead of the vigils. “Johan Sebastián should still be here with his wife and daughter—and instead, his name joins a growing list of people killed by an institution that treats our communities as disposable.”“This is bigger than one shooting,” Cron added. “We will not stop fighting until there is justice for the Durán Guerrero family and a total dismantling of this lawless, criminal agency that took him from them.”

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Dems get renewed hope of ending GOP senator’s near-30-year career

Raw Story

4 hours ago

Dems get renewed hope of ending GOP senator’s near-30-year career

Maine Democrats on Saturday overwhelmingly nominated Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president and logger by trade, as their party’s nominee to challenge longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins in November’s high-stakes US Senate election.“Well, thank you, Maine,” Jackson, 58, said after securing the votes of 566 of 571 delegates during Saturday’s special Democratic convention at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. “Today we turn the page, today this becomes a general election campaign, and today we win the work of defeating Susan Collins in November.”“For nearly 30 years, Collins has told Maine that she is ‘concerned’,” Jackson said, referring to the 73-year-old incumbent’s go-to word when President Donald Trump and Republicans attack rights and justice. “She was concerned while she rubber-stamped Trump’s Medicaid cuts and gutted our healthcare.”“She’s concerned when she cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy,” he continued. “Concerned when she confirmed justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. And really tragically, she was concerned when she gave [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] billions to terrorize our neighbors and murder people in the streets with no accountability.”“But concern does not lower the costs of groceries or gas,” Jackson said. “Concern does not keep our monitoring wards of rural hospitals like down in Lincoln County open. Concern does not restore all the rights that she’s taken away. Maine does not need another six years of concern. We need someone with courage. We need a fighter, and we need a senator who remembers exactly who sent them to Washington.”“So if you’ve ever been ignored, underestimated, pushed around, or told that you have to wait your turn while the rich cut the line, I’m asking you to stand with us in this campaign,” he continued. “If you believe in your heart that healthcare is a right, stand with us. And if you believe that workers deserve power, stand with us. And if you believe our freedoms are worth defending, stand with us.”“And if you believe that Maine deserves a senator who will fight like hell for working-class people, well, stand with us,” Jackson added. “We have a party to unite, we have a movement to build, and we have a senator to defeat.”Jackson’s improbably rapid rise followed former Democratic nominee Graham Platner’s withdrawal from the race earlier this month amid allegations of sexual assault and abusive behavior. Supporters of Platner’s progressive platform warned at the time that they would not back a replacement candidate who did not share the same pro-worker, anti-war agenda.While Collins spokeswoman Blake Kernen called Jackson a “low-energy version” of Platner, Maine Democrats decided the fifth-generation lumberjack fit the bill.“The working class has been left behind and forgotten about,” Shelly Mountain, a former Aroostook County Democratic Committee chairwoman and Jackson delegate at the convention, told NBC News. “He is definitely working class and always—has always—been a champion for the working class.”Progressive politicians, advocacy groups, and labor organizations cheered Jackson’s nomination, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) saying that “he’s ready to fight for working people and flip this seat.”International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) president Brian Bryant said Saturday that “Troy Jackson knows firsthand what it means to work hard for a living and fight for a better future for working families.”“Throughout his career, he has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with union members and working people, never backing down from a challenge when workers’ rights were on the line,” he added. “He represents the strength of a people-powered movement focused on fairness, opportunity, and economic justice. Troy has our full support as he heads to the general election.”

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Breitbart News

6 hours ago

Exclusive—Jenny Beth Martin: Senator Murkowski, Let’s Get You to ‘Yes’ on the SAVE America Act

Senator Lisa Murkowski’s concerns about the SAVE America Act are legitimate, and they can be fixed with amendments rather than a no vote. The post Exclusive—Jenny Beth Martin: Senator Murkowski, Let’s Get You to ‘Yes’ on the SAVE America Act appeared first on Breitbart.

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Body language expert exposes Trump's signs of 'anger and embarrassment' on live TV

Alternet.org

7 hours ago

Body language expert exposes Trump's signs of 'anger and embarrassment' on live TV

President Donald Trump's reactions at a recent awards ceremony were extremely telling about his true feelings, with one body language expert highlighting all the signs of his "anger and embarrassment" that got caught on live TV.Trump was in attendance during Friday evening's White House Correspondents' Dinner, which was rescheduled after an attempted shooting at the previous attempt to hold the annual event. During the event, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer presented the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability to the team of Wall Street Journal reporters for their story relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his past connections to Trump, which included the bombshell revelations about the sexually suggestive birthday note the president sent to Epstein.Trump previously attempted to sue the outlet, owned by major conservative backer Rupert Murdoch, over the story, leading many to note his awkward and frustrated reactions during the presentation of the award.In a video shared Saturday, Dr. John Paul Garrison, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist with expertise in body language, broke down the segment moment by moment in order to highlight all of the signs pointing to Trump's unease.Early on in the video, Garrison noted Trump's "classic look of disapproval" as Blitzer introduced the award, something he has pointed out in numerous other past examinations of the president's body language.A short time later, as Blitzer is discussing the "thousands of documents" contained in the Epstein files, Trump appeared to look away momentarily."It's because this is too intense. It's too anger-inducing," Garrison explained. "He cannot continue to look at Wolf Blitzer because it's making him mad. So, he looks away to try to get support from someone else. So, right now he's turning to face [White House Press Secretary] Karoline Leavitt."While he was looking away, Garrison noted that Trump then gave a "half smile," which appeared to reveal his "contempt, because contempt is the only emotion that's only on one side of the face." The psychologist suggested that Trump might have been attempting to hide his feelings of contempt with the smile, but it was still unmistakably there. The president then transitioned to a look of "fake confusion.""Now he's trying to appear confused. He's feeling awkward," Garrison explained. "He doesn't know how to react to something like this. So he's facing away. He's looking confused, although not really confused, but trying to feign confusion. So, at this point right here, this is everything he can do to disengage from what's going on right now because he absolutely does not want to have to sit and listen to this."Several more times, Garrison noted how Trump showed looks of disapproval as Blitzer continued to talk. When the address turned to Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, Trump then appeared to show a happy expression over something he felt "pride" about, but Garrison suggested that "he's not actually feeling happy right now, but he's willing to show a fake smile to draw attention to himself."When the reporters were finally brought on-stage, Trump showed various signs of faux-embarrassment and disbelief over the situations, which Garrison said were meant to convey "I can't believe this just happened to me," before he moved on to an expression of "tension.""What we saw was anger and embarrassment, but he tried to cover it by playing to the audience," Garrison concluded.

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Who is Troy Jackson? Maine’s swap-in for Graham Platner in Senate race

New York Post

7 hours ago

Who is Troy Jackson? Maine’s swap-in for Graham Platner in Senate race

Democrats are betting Jackson’s rural roots, labor background and populist message can connect with voters as Republicans say he is a longtime lawmaker with a blustery past.

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Worse Than Graham Platner? Troubling Personal Questions Emerge for Maine’s New Democrat Nominee for Senate – And He May Be Ineligible to Run

The Gateway Pundit

9 hours ago

Worse Than Graham Platner? Troubling Personal Questions Emerge for Maine’s New Democrat Nominee for Senate – And He May Be Ineligible to Run

The Maine Democratic Party may have just nominated a candidate who may be worse than the nominee previously forced out of the race, and there are even questions about whether he's eligible to run. The post Worse Than Graham Platner? Troubling Personal Questions Emerge for Maine’s New Democrat Nominee for Senate – And He May Be Ineligible to Run appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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‘Like Graham Platner but worse’: GOP group vows $42,000,000 campaign against last-minute replacement Democrat

BizPac Review

9 hours ago

‘Like Graham Platner but worse’: GOP group vows $42,000,000 campaign against last-minute replacement Democrat

A Republican group has vowed to spend at least $42 million against the new nominee to be one of Maine’s Democratic senators, Troy Jackson, the Daily Caller […]

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‘No Kings’: Without Statewide Vote, Democrats Anoint Troy Jackson to Replace Graham Platner, Open Convention with Performative ‘Land Acknowledgment’

The Gateway Pundit

10 hours ago

‘No Kings’: Without Statewide Vote, Democrats Anoint Troy Jackson to Replace Graham Platner, Open Convention with Performative ‘Land Acknowledgment’

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Democrat Graham Platner was forced out of the Maine Senate race after he won over 70% of the vote in the state’s Democratic primary amid new allegations of rape. The post ‘No Kings’: Without Statewide Vote, Democrats Anoint Troy Jackson to Replace Graham Platner, Open Convention with Performative ‘Land Acknowledgment’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Live updates: Maine Dems to replace Platner in Senate race; Quiet night in Iran

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Live updates: Maine Dems to replace Platner in Senate race; Quiet night in Iran

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