Author: Common Dreams

Republican Senator Ron Johnson, facing a tough reelection contest in November, said during a recent meeting with constituents that he opposes a bill to codify same-sex marriage rights into federal law as the Senate Democratic leadership plans to hold a vote in the coming weeks, warning the protections are under threat from the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. Speaking at a Common Sense Citizens of Washington County meeting last week, Johnson said his comment in July signaling that he saw “no reason to oppose” the Respect for Marriage Act was issued just to get reporters to stop pressing him. “I...

Ex-President Donald Trump was accused of inciting domestic terrorism following a September 3 rally speech, in which he called President Joe Biden an “enemy of the state” while threatening a “backlash the likes of which nobody has ever seen.” The statements came in response to the federal investigation into his possession of classified documents. Making his first public appearance since the FBI’s August 8 raid on his Florida resort home, Trump addressed supporters at a “Save America” rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he stumped for Republican gubernatorial candidate and “Big Lie” supporter Doug Mastriano and U.S. Senate hopeful and...

Ex-President Donald Trump said on September 1 that if reelected in 2024, he would “look very, very favorably” at full pardons for the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol last year. In an interview with right-wing radio host Wendy Bell, Trump claimed he is “financially supporting” some of the people who took part in the Capitol attack, adding that “they were in my office actually two days ago, so they’re very much in my mind.” “You get some of these judges who are so nasty and so angry and so mean,” the former president said. “I will tell you:...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas faced fresh calls to step down on September 1 after new reporting revealed that his wife’s involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election was broader than previously known, extending to the battleground state of Wisconsin as well as Arizona. Emails obtained by The Washington Post and the organization Documented show that Ginni Thomas, a longtime far-right activist with close ties to the conservative dark money network, “messaged two Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin: state Sen. Kathy Bernier, then chair of the Senate elections committee, and state Representative Gary Tauchen,” the newspaper reported....

The campaign of Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, who is running to unseat U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, declared on August 16 that the Republican incumbent “is bought and paid for by Big Pharma.” That charge came in response to Johnson’s comments on August 15 about Medicare negotiating the cost of certain prescription drugs, which is included in the Inflation Reduction Act that U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law on August 16. Appearing on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” Johnson told the Fox News host that “when you start punishing the pharmaceutical industry, you’re gonna have less innovation; you’re gonna...