Heritage’s James Carafano, CEI’s Wayne Crews, Breitbart’s Charlie Spiering, Communism Memorial Foundation’s Marion Smith and Washington Post’s Fenit Nirappil joined WMAL on Tuesday!
Mornings on the Mall
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese
Executive Producer: Heather Hunter
5am – A/B/C Felons from D.C. could be able to vote from prison under proposed bill. (Washington Post/By Fenit Nirappil) — A group of D.C. lawmakers wants to make the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction to restore voting rights to felons while they’re still incarcerated. Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large), with a majority of the 13-member body, plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to repeal language in a 1955 law that disenfranchises D.C. residents upon felony convictions. Every state except Maine and Vermont has stripped voting rights from prisoners. “Unfortunately in the District and across the country, incarcerated people make up a sizable population of residents,” White said. “They don’t lose their citizenship when they are incarcerated, so they shouldn’t lose their right to vote.” The District is among jurisdictions with the fewest restrictions regarding felons and voting. Felons in the District and 14 states automatically regain their voting rights when they are released from prison, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Elections officials visit the D.C. jail to help residents who are awaiting trial cast absentee ballots. White’s bill would thrust the District into the vanguard of the felon enfranchisement movement. Bills to eliminate lifetime voting bans for felons and to restore voting rights to those on parole or probation have won bipartisan support in statehouses and at the ballot box. But allowing people to vote while serving time remains controversial. The issue briefly flared up in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) backed prisoner voting during a recent CNN town hall. The rest of the field has been cool to the idea, although some suggested allowing nonviolent offenders to vote. President Trump and others have blasted prisoner voting, suggesting that Democrats would restore the vote to the Boston Marathon bomber and others serving sentences for heinous crimes. White said he’s bracing for similar arguments against his bill. “The Constitution makes no statement directly or indirectly that the right to vote is somehow contingent on behavior,” White said. “It is a very slippery slope when we start to decide who does and does not have the fundamental rights of democracy based on what we see as the level of crime they commit, nor do I believe that any of these extreme examples of who should not vote would tip an election.” Six of 13 D.C. Council members have agreed to co-introduce White’s bill: Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) and David Grosso (I-At Large).
5am – D IMMIGRATION NEWS:
- SCOTUS DENIES ADMIN REQUEST TO FAST TRACK DACA SUIT. (Fox News) — The Trump administration is appealing a lower court ruling allowing the DACA program for young undocumented immigrants to continue. The administration wants the program to end, but four lower appeals courts had blocked it with nationwide injunctions. The Justice Department last year asked the high court to intervene and take up the issue now on an expedited basis.
- NEW CITIZENS HIT 5 YEAR HIGH. (Fox News) — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services set a five-year high in 2018 for the number of people who took the oath of citizenship – despite heated criticism from Democrats about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
- BANGLADESHIS CROSSING THE BORDER. (Daily Caller) — Over 150 Bangladeshis identifying as minors and determined to be adults were transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody between October and March 8. A number of Bangladeshis in ICE custody and claiming to be minors were found to have passports and birth certificates with contradictory information, including their birth dates.
- AFRICAN MIGRANTS CROSSING ILLEGALLY. (Townhall) –U.S. Border Patrol apprehended a large group of 116 illegal immigrants in the Del Rio Sector on Thursday who hailed from Cameroon, Congo, and Angola. The group was caught on video wading across the Rio Grande River attempting to illegally enter the U.S.
- BORDER PATROL RESCUES 2 HANDICAPPED MIGRANTS. (Daily Caller) — Border Patrol rescued two handicapped migrants — a double amputee and a paraplegic — after they were deliberately thrown into the Rio Grande River by smugglers.
- OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING AT BORDER. (Fox News) — An “officer-involved shooting” occurred at about 7:30 p.m. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after the driver of a white pick-up truck attempting to enter the United States failed to stop for an inspection, a CBP spokesperson confirmed to Fox News. It was unclear if there were injuries. Northbound vehicle and pedestrian lanes at the port of entry were shut down for approximately 30 minutes due to the incident. San Diego police officers were brought in to aide Customs and Border Protection agents.
5am – E CONTEMPT VOTES:
- House Dems set contempt vote against Barr and McGahn. (Politico) — The move comes as a growing number of Democrats want to impeach the president. The House will vote next week to hold Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress for defying congressional subpoenas, according to multiple Democratic sources. The resolution would clear the way for the House Judiciary Committee to take Barr and McGahn to court to enforce their subpoenas and are a crucial step for Democrats seeking to accelerate their obstruction of justice investigation against President Donald Trump. “This Administration’s systematic refusal to provide Congress with answers and cooperate with Congressional subpoenas is the biggest cover-up in American history, and Congress has a responsibility to provide oversight on behalf of the American people,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement. Barr has failed to comply with a subpoena for special counsel Robert Mueller’s fully unredacted report and underlying evidence; McGahn balked at a subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
- HOUSE DEM HEARINGS: The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a series of hearings on the Mueller report, beginning next week with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean. (CNN)The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a series of hearings on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, beginning next week with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, a key witness during Watergate, as the question of Mueller himself testifying still looms. The committee announced that Dean, a CNN contributor, and other experts would testify next week, and additional hearings would be held as part of an effort to highlight the findings of the Mueller report as Democrats grapple with whether to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. When Mueller made a statement on his report last week, he said he did not wish to testify before Congress, but House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has said he still wants the special counsel to appear.
- Senator John Cornyn @JohnCornyn: Calling a convicted felon as the first witness?: House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is planning hearings on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report , beginning with an appearance by John Dean, former White House counsel under President Richard Nixon.
- CENSUS CONTEMPT VOTE: The House Oversight Committee announced they will vote to hold both AG Barr + Commerce Secretary Ross in contempt of Congress re the cmte’s investigation into the citizenship Q added to the 2020 Census
- House Dems to hold Barr, Ross in contempt over census question. Cummings said he would consider postponing the contempt votes if Barr and Ross turn over the requested documents by Thursday, June 6. House Democrats are moving to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena seeking information about efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. “Unfortunately, your actions are part of a pattern,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Oversight and Reform, wrote to Barr and Ross in separate letters Monday. “The Trump administration has been engaged in one of the most unprecedented cover-ups since Watergate, extending from the White House to multiple federal agencies and departments of the government and across numerous investigations.” Cummings said he would consider postponing the contempt votes, which have not yet been scheduled, if Barr and Ross turned over the requested documents by Thursday. The committee first authorized the subpoena in April as part of its probe into the origins of the administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the next census. Democrats have argued the move would result in an under-count of people who live in areas with high immigrant populations in a bid to boost Republicans’ political prospects. Last week, it was revealed that the citizenship question was added at the urging of Thomas Hofeller, a now-deceased GOP gerrymandering guru who argued that adding such a question to the census could benefit Republicans electorally by triggering the redrawing of certain congressional districts. The Trump administration had said that adding a citizenship question would allow it to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.
6am – A INTERVIEW – James Carafano – vice president of foreign and defense policy studies, The Heritage Foundation
- Protests expected as Trump meets with May during second day in Britain. President Trump meets with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May Tuesday as the two talk with corporate executives from the United States and United Kingdom, before an afternoon news conference on the second day of Trump’s state visit. The leaders’ top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to take effect once the U.K. leaves the European Union. “Big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles. Already starting to talk,” Trump tweeted Monday. Still, after Monday’s day of pageantry and a war of words with London’s mayor, Trump could be greeted by tens of thousands of protesters as part of a “Carnival of Resistance.”
- James Carafano: Believe it or not, THIS will be Trump’s number one job when he goes to London. (Fox News) — This trip is not for the pomp and circumstance. There are substantive items on the president’s agenda — items that could significantly affect the future of the transatlantic community. Topping the list is, of course, is Brexit. Trump is famously pro-Brexit, and by the time Trump lands in London, the Conservative party will be well on its way to picking a new leader — one who will be committed to leading the U.K. out of the European Union. Right now, the deadline for Brexit is October. Expect the new leader to commit to that. Don’t be surprised if, in the end, the government rejects the EU’s last-offered conditions for leaving and opts for the so-called “hard Brexit” — i.e., just up and leaves. Trump’s No. 1 job is to deliver the message, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” Britain will thrive after Brexit, and post-Brexit Britain’s “special relationship” with the U.S. will be as special as ever. To assure the Brits that this will be the case, Trump should reaffirm his unshakable commitment to speedily conclude a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement as soon as Britain is free of the EU while signaling to Congress his desire to pass enabling legislation as quickly as possible. Job No. 2 should be to start revitalizing what has made the U.S.-U.K. relationship so special: our joint commitment to transatlantic security that spanned two world wars, a Cold War, and lots of messy stuff in between and after. Trump and the new conservative leadership in London will need to work as a team. The NATO summit coming up in London at the end of the year will mark the alliance’s 70th anniversary. The U.S. and Britain must work in tandem, pressing others in the alliance to better prepare for future challenges and sustain the momentum for NATO enlargement.
6am – B NRA responds to Gillibrand put-down by posting her 2008 letter praising gun-rights group. (Fox News) — One day after Kirsten Gillibrand slammed the National Rifle Association (NRA) as the “worst organization in this country,” the group on Monday posted an effusive letter it received from Gillibrand in 2008 in which she praised “the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights” and said she hoped to work with it “for many years in Congress.” At a fiery Fox News town hall in Dubuque, Iowa Sunday, Gillibrand charged that the NRA cares “more about their profits than the American people” and “lies” for the sake of profit. But the NRA has countered that Gillibrand, whose campaign has attracted at most 1 percent support in national and early voting state polls, was a cynical political opportunist trying to gin up support for her candidacy. “Gillibrand called us the worst org in the country, but when she represented NY20, she wrote us: ‘I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years,’” the NRA wrote on Twitter. “Now that she’s looking to crack 1%, she’ll say anything.” Gillibrand, according to the NRA, sent the letter to NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox on Sept. 19, 2008, when she was a member of Congress representing a rural district in upstate New York. The ILA, or Institute for Legislative Action, is the lobbying arm of the NRA. “I want to be very clear that I always have and always will believe that the correct interpretation of the 2nd amendment [sic] is that it applies to an individual’s right to carry guns, and does not apply generally to the National Guard or a group of individuals in a State,” Gillibrand wrote to Cox, following what she described as a meeting with him the previous August. Gillibrand, in the letter, went on to reject a slew of gun control measures, saying she was “adamantly opposed” to the idea “outright banning firearms for cosmetic features, bullets of an [sic] random size, or banning magazines from holding an arbitrary number of cartridges.” Those limitations, she said, were “random” and intended solely to “limit[] gun ownership or usage.” Gillibrand concluded: “I appreciate the work that the NRA does to protect gun owners rights, and I look forward to working with you for many years.”
6am – C Drinking coffee, even 25 cups a day, not bad for your heart, new study says. (Fox News) — Coffee lovers rejoice! A new study published Monday states that coffee isn’t as bad for the human heart as previously thought. Researchers with the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London said they debunked previous studies that claimed drinking coffee — even up to 25 cups a day — would stiffen arteries. “Despite the huge popularity of coffee worldwide, different reports could put people off from enjoying it. Whilst we can’t prove a causal link in this study, our research indicates coffee isn’t as bad for the arteries as previous studies would suggest,” Dr. Kenneth Fung, who led the data analysis for the research, said. Analyzing more than 8,000 people in the United Kingdom, the study divided people into three groups depending on their coffee consumption. Fung said that while the study did include people who drank up to 25 cups per day, the average amount of coffee participants drank was five cups per day.
6am – D INTERVIEW – WAYNE CREWS – Competitive Enterprise Institute Vice President, also directs our Center for Technology and Innovation Policy.
- Facebook, Google and other tech giants to face antitrust investigation by House lawmakers. House lawmakers plan a sweeping review of Facebook, Google and other technology giants to determine if they’ve become so large and powerful that they stifle competition and harm consumers, marking a new, unprecedented antitrust threat for an industry that’s increasingly under siege by Congress, the White House and 2020 presidential candidates. The probe, announced Monday by Rep. David Cicilline (R.I.), the leader of the House’s top anti-trust subcommittee, is expected to be far reaching and comes at a moment when Democrats and Republicans find themselves in rare alignment on the idea that the tech industry has been too unregulated for too long. The sentiment spurred a sharp sell-off in tech stocks to start the week.
- WAYNE CREWS: Will Antitrust End Trump’s Deregulatory Push? Revelations that antitrust enforcers have conspired to divide jurisdiction and initiate antitrust investigations into Google and Apple (the U.S. Department of Justice) and Amazon and Facebook (the Federal Trade Commission) could well cement the end of Donald Trump claiming the mantle of a deregulatory president. Today’s technology companies are not anticompetitive, as antitrust boosters claim. They are the end result of intense competitive processes.
6am – E Pastor tells congregation why he prayed for Trump. (Politico) — The pastor of a Northern Virginia church where President Donald Trump made an unscheduled visit over the weekend has explained why he publicly prayed for the president, acknowledging to his congregation that “some within our church … are hurt that I made this decision.” “Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we didn’t see coming, and we’re faced with a decision in a moment when we don’t have the liberty of deliberation, so we do our best to glorify God,” Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church said Sunday evening in a statement to church members titled “Prayer for the President.” “Today, I found myself in one of those situations.” Hours earlier, Trump’s motorcade made an unannounced detour to the church while returning to the White House from Trump National Golf Club in nearby Sterling, Va. “President Donald J. Trump is visiting McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA, to visit with the Pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach,” Judd Deere, a spokesman for the White House, said in a statement on Sunday, referring to the mass shooting at a municipal complex that left 13 people dead, including the gunman. Platt explained in the statement to his congregation that he had been caught off guard. “At the end of my sermon at the 1:00 worship gathering, I stepped to the side for what I thought would be a couple of moments in quiet reflection as we prepared to take the Lord’s Supper,” he said. “But I was immediately called backstage and told that the President of the United States was on his way to the church, would be there in a matter of minutes, and would like for us to pray for him.” Platt, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, also explained that he prayed for the president because 1 Timothy 2:1-6 urges, in part, that Christians pray “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
6am – F Judge orders Paul Manafort to be transferred to New York City’s notorious Rikers Island. (Fox News) — Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was sentenced earlier this year to four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, will be transferred later this week from a minimum security facility in Pennsylvania to New York City’s Rikers Island, a source close to Manafort told Fox News. Rikers Island is the famous jail in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport. It has been the temporary home of some of the most high-profile violent criminals in the city, including David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam; and Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon. “He’s not a mob boss,” the source close to Manafort said. A New York State judge ordered the transfer at the request of New York City District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. He will be held in solitary confinement for his own protection, the source said. The move is expected to happen as early as Thursday. Vance, a Democrat, said in March that a New York grand jury charged Manafort with 16 counts including residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and other charges. He said at the time that “no one is beyond the law in New York.” Manafort cannot be pardoned by President Trump for state crimes.
7am – A INTERVIEW – Charlie Spiering – White House correspondent for Breitbart – report on Trump’s UK trip day 1 and preview day 2
- DAY 1: Trump begins UK visit meeting Queen, sparring with London mayor. President Trump mixed high-level diplomacy with schoolyard taunts as he kicked off his overseas visit meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and later touring Westminster Abbey — while sparring on the side with one of his biggest British critics, London Mayor Sadiq Khan. The London itinerary is part of a packed overseas agenda that includes a state dinner at the palace and D-Day commemoration ceremonies.
- DAY 2: Protests expected as Trump meets with May during second day in Britain. President Trump meets with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May Tuesday as the two talk with corporate executives from the United States and United Kingdom, before an afternoon news conference on the second day of Trump’s state visit. The leaders’ top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to take effect once the U.K. leaves the European Union. “Big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles. Already starting to talk,” Trump tweeted Monday. Still, after Monday’s day of pageantry and a war of words with London’s mayor, Trump could be greeted by tens of thousands of protesters as part of a “Carnival of Resistance.”
7am – B CLARENCE THOMAS RETIREMENT RUMORS
- Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday brushed off rumors he would retire from the Supreme Court this summer, saying he has “no idea” where such talk originated.
- NY TIMES: At the Supreme Court, Justice Thomas Scoffs at Retirement Rumors. WASHINGTON — In rare public remarks, Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday dismissed what he called “this rumor that I was retiring.” “I have no idea where this stuff comes from,” he said. Justice Thomas, in a relaxed and reflective mood, was interviewed by David Rubenstein, a financier and philanthropist, in the Supreme Court’s courtroom as part of a series of lectures sponsored by the Supreme Court Historical Society. “I really don’t have a lot of stress,” Justice Thomas said cheerfully. “I cause stress.” He also expressed frustration with what he said was intellectual stereotyping. “People who will get very upset if someone said all blacks look alike are really comfortable saying all blacks ought to think alike,” Justice Thomas said. “If you said that blacks should not be allowed to go a library, you’d be against that,” he said. “If you said that blacks couldn’t read certain books in the library, you would say that’s wrong.” “But now we are so comfortable saying that blacks can’t hold some of the ideas in some of the books in the library,” Justice Thomas said. “That’s absurd.”
7am – C Top North Korean official reappears days after purge report. (ABC News) — A senior North Korean official who had been reported to be sentenced to hard labor over the failed nuclear summit with Washington was shown in state media on Monday enjoying a concert near leader Kim Jong Un. North Korean publications on Monday showed Kim Yong Chol sitting five seats away from a clapping Kim Jong Un in the same row along with other top officials during a musical performance by the wives of Korean People’s Army officers. A report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency named Kim Yong Chol among the attendees of the event, which it said “impressively represented the ideological and mental features of KPA officers’ wives, who make every moment of their life honorable with ardent yearning for the leader.” Kim Yong Chol has been North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator and the counterpart of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo since Kim Jong Un entered nuclear talks with the U.S. early last year. He traveled to Washington and met President Donald Trump twice before Kim’s two summits with Trump.
7am – D INTERVIEW – Marion Smith – Executive Director of Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation on Tiananmen 30th Anniversary on Tuesday and their big rally tomorrow on Capitol Hill to commemorate the anniversary
- The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), a DC-based international human rights organization, will hold a rally at the U.S. Capitol to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the ongoing human rights violations in China. It’s expected to be big. Speakers will include witnesses of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, activists, and policymakers, including VOC Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). The rally will also feature the premiere exhibit of the Tiananmen Mothers Portraits. VOC’s work has focused on calling out China’s human rights violations. In June 2016, computer hackers supporting China’s Communist government shut down VOC’s website during an international online meeting highlighting the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Beijing. In December 2016, when the Miss World pageant – largely sponsored by Chinese companies, silenced Chinese beauty Queen Anastasia Lin, a critic of China, at a U.S. competition, VOC sponsored the premiere of her film and stood by her side. In July 2016, VOC released its annual Captive Nations Report on North Korea in which they rebuked China for failing to curb North Korean aggression. Just last month, Marion authored this oped in the Washington Post: Buying stock in these Chinese companies makes you complicit in terror on Uighurs.
- RALLY AT U.S. CAPITOL TO COMMEMORATE TIANANMEN SQUARE AND CONDEMN ONGOING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHINA: More than twenty human-rights organizations will gather to highlight the past and present suppression of the Chinese people by Beijing’s authoritarian regime. WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 4 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, during which the Chinese Communist Party massacred thousands of innocent student protestors. The People’s Republic of China to this day, censors any mention of the Massacre and refuses to acknowledge it even happened. The regime that ordered those murders is still the same one currently reigning in Beijing, and its human rights abuses continue to this day. On June 4 at the U.S. Capitol, The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) along with more than 20 other human rights organizations will hold a rally to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and to highlight the continued oppression of the Chinese people by the Chinese Communist Party. Speakers will include witnesses of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, activists, and policymakers, including VOC Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). To register, please visit the rally’s Eventbrite website. The rally will also feature the premiere exhibit of the Tiananmen Mothers Portraits.
- WHO: Amnesty International USA, Bitter Winter, Campaign for Uyghurs, ChinaAid, Citizen Power Initiatives for China, Dialogue China, East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Humanitarian China, International Campaign for Tibet, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, Keep Taiwan Free, Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, Students for a Free Tibet, The Chen Guangcheng Foundation, The Church of Almighty God, Tibet Action Institute, Uyghur Human Rights Project, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, World Uyghur Congress
- WHAT: Rally to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and to highlight the continued suppression of the Chinese people by the Chinese government
- WHERE: U.S. Capitol West Lawn, 1st Street SW & 1st Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
- WHEN: Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 1:30–3:00pm EDT
7am – E WOKE BUSINESSES:
- Sephora Is Making Its Employees Attend A Diversity Workshop After SZA Said She Was Racially Profiled. (Buzzfeed) — The workshops are part of the beauty company’s new ‘We Belong to Something Beautiful’ campaign. On June 5, Sephora will close more than 400 of its US stores to host a series of inclusion workshops for its employees after SZA said she was racially profiled in a store. Back in April, the Grammy-nominated singer said an employee in a Calabasas, California, Sephora store “called security to make sure [she] wasn’t stealing.”: They additionally added, “Hi, SZA. We’re sorry to hear about your experience at our Calabasas store and appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We want to let you know we take complaints like this very seriously and are actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately.” Rihanna, founder of Fenty Beauty, also sent SZA a Fenty Beauty gift card so she could “buy [her] Fenty Beauty in peace,” which Sza posted on her IG story. Sephora then announced on May 23 that it would provide inclusivity workshops for its stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices. The initiative is part of the brand’s new tagline, “We Belong to Something Beautiful.” “This store closure is part of a long journey in our aspiration to create a more inclusive beauty community and workplace,” Sephora told BuzzFeed. “This has included forming employee resource groups, building Social Impact and philanthropic programs, and hosting inclusive mindset training for all supervisors.”
- Target goes full speed LGBTQ with ‘Love my dads’ shirts for kiddies. (Washington Times) — Target, the object of long-running Christian group boycott — because of its opening of bathrooms and dressing rooms to those of both sexes — has now found a new way to bolster its prestige with the LGBTQ movement: The retailer is selling “Love my dads” and “Love my moms” shirts. And donating $100,000 to the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network. Gotta get those LGBTQ dollars, right? Let the boycotts begin anew, say members of the American Family Association. “Target’s website has several pages dedicated to products that promote the LGBT lifestyle, many of which are specifically designed for children,” said AFA’s president, Tim Wildmon, in a written statement. T-shirts like ones with the rainbow flag, alongside the word “pride,” he said. And for the adults, the retailer has hats and bandanas, a jumpsuit and more, AFA reported. For instance? For instance: A “Pride Adult Gender Inclusive Iridescent Five Panel Hat.” Or a “Pride Striped Bisexual Flag Bandana.” “Or a “Pride Striped Gender Inclusive Jumpsuit.” Whatever that is. Wildmon also said the $100,000 that Target’s giving to GLSEN will bolster that group’s efforts to create “gay” clubs in public schools around the country. As such, AFA is calling on the traditional family-minded to call corporate, to sign the #BoycottTarget pledge or to flood the retailer’s Facebook page with criticisms and concerns. On the one hand, Target is a private enterprise and America is a capitalistic country. The retail giant can sell as it pleases.
8am – A/B/C Dodgeball Is A Tool Of Oppression, Researchers Say. (Daily Caller) — A team of Canadian researchers are set to lecture teachers about the moral dangers of dodgeball, a sport they say teaches kids to single out and violently dominate weaker students. Dodgeball is a tool of “oppression” and “miseducative,” the researchers say in the abstract of a paper cited by the National Post, which they will present in Vancouver at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, a summit for thousands of academics happening in early June. The “hidden curriculum” it teaches students is out of step with the larger curriculum, they argue. “As we consider the potential of physical education to empower students by engaging them in critical and democratic practices, we conclude that the hidden curriculum is antithetical to this project, even when it reflects the choices of the strongest and most agile students,” the abstract reads. The researchers add that dodgeball “reinforces the five faces of oppression” as defined by the late University of Chicago theorist Iris Marion Young. Those are marginalization, powerlessness, helplessness of those perceived as weaker, exploitation and cultural domination, according to the abstract. The story in the National Post is part of a larger series on the most interesting research to be presented at the conference. “Despite the fact that many physical educators understand their vital role in helping students develop robust, equal, productive relationships and critical awareness, their practices on the ground do not always reflect this agenda,” they write. “We suggest that this tension becomes sharply visible in the common practice of allowing students to play dodgeball. An informal reader poll by the Vancouver Sun suggests Canadians might not be receptive to the idea of ridding schools of the sport. More than 86 percent of respondents to the online poll at the bottom of a report on the paper said schools should not outlaw dodgeball.
8am – D INTERVIEW – Fenit Nirappil – reporter covering D.C. government and politics for The Washington Post
- Felons from D.C. could be able to vote from prison under proposed bill. (Washington Post/By Fenit Nirappil) — A group of D.C. lawmakers wants to make the nation’s capital the first jurisdiction to restore voting rights to felons while they’re still incarcerated. Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large), with a majority of the 13-member body, plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to repeal language in a 1955 law that disenfranchises D.C. residents upon felony convictions. Every state except Maine and Vermont has stripped voting rights from prisoners. “Unfortunately in the District and across the country, incarcerated people make up a sizable population of residents,” White said. “They don’t lose their citizenship when they are incarcerated, so they shouldn’t lose their right to vote.” The District is among jurisdictions with the fewest restrictions regarding felons and voting. Felons in the District and 14 states automatically regain their voting rights when they are released from prison, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Elections officials visit the D.C. jail to help residents who are awaiting trial cast absentee ballots.
8am – E PRESIDENT TRUMP’S UK TRIP:
- DAY 2: TUESDAY, JUNE 4: Protests expected as Trump meets with May during second day in Britain. President Trump meets with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May Tuesday as the two talk with corporate executives from the United States and United Kingdom, before an afternoon news conference on the second day of Trump’s state visit. The leaders’ top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to take effect once the U.K. leaves the European Union. “Big Trade Deal is possible once U.K. gets rid of the shackles. Already starting to talk,” Trump tweeted Monday. Still, after Monday’s day of pageantry and a war of words with London’s mayor, Trump could be greeted by tens of thousands of protesters as part of a “Carnival of Resistance.”
- On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May will host a business breakfast attended by the Duke of York at St James’s Palace.
- Business leaders understood to be attending include Barclays CEO Jes Staley, GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Emma Walmsley, BAE Systems chairman Sir Roger Carr and the National Grid’s John Pettigrew.
- Mr Trump will then visit Downing Street for talks with Theresa May, followed by a joint press conference.
- In the evening, the Trumps will host a dinner at the residence of the US ambassador in Regent’s Park attended by Charles and Camilla on behalf of the Queen.
- DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5: The trip will culminate on the third day, with Mr Trump, the Queen and Prince Charles attending the national commemorative event in Portsmouth for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Following the D-Day event, Mr Trump will travel to his hotel and golf resort in Doonbeg, in the Republic of Ireland. He will hold a meeting with Irish premier Leo Varadkar at Shannon Airport. A visiting leader will sometimes speak at the Houses of Parliament during a state visit, but Commons Speaker John Bercow said on Tuesday he had not received a request for Mr Trump to do so. The president has suggested he “may” meet Conservative MP Boris Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage during his visit – both of whom he described as “friends” and “good guys”, but nothing has been officially confirmed.
