Month: May 2024

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has offered to debate Donald Trump at the Libertarian Party convention later this month.

Both Kennedy and Trump are scheduled to speak at the convention this month after the Libertarian Party invited all presidential candidates to their convention to discuss issues around freedom and limited government. Joe Biden declined their invitation.

In a post on the X platform, Kennedy began his pitch by citing polling data between the two candidates and baiting Trump with accusations that he had failed on various issues such as COVID.

I’m grateful to you for calling attention to the rigged polling methodologies that biased DNC-influenced media have used against you. We have this concern too, and I’m happy to show you the deceptive methodologies used by DNC-allied pollsters who pretend that I’m in single digits. You have correctly characterized these as “fake polls.”

This is why we did our own poll with Zogby — the largest and most accurate poll of this election cycle. We had Zogby ask about head-to-head matchups. (1) You versus President Biden. (2) Me versus President Biden. (3) Me versus you. The results? You beat President Biden handily. I crush him as well, by even more. And against each other, I beat you in a nail-biter. In a three-way, you are ahead but I’m coming up strong.

Two new polls (CNN and Quinnipiac) have me above the 15% debate threshold. Another (Activote) has me at 26% among young voters. And you and I are tied among America’s 70 million Independents. I’m also drawing a lot of voters from your former supporters. They are upset that you blew up the deficit, shut down their businesses during Covid, and filled your administration with swamp creatures.

Then came the offer itself:

We’re both going to be speaking at the upcoming Libertarian convention on May 24 and 25. It’s perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.

You yourself have said you’re not afraid to debate me as long as my poll numbers are decent. Well, they are. In fact, I’m the only presidential candidate in history who has polled ahead of both major party candidates in head-to-head races.

So let’s meet at the Libertarian convention and show the American public that at least two of the major candidates aren’t afraid to debate each other. I asked the convention organizers and they are game for us to use our time there to bring the American people the debate they deserve!

Dear President Trump,

I’m grateful to you for calling attention to the rigged polling methodologies that biased DNC-influenced media have used against you. We have this concern too, and I’m happy to show you the deceptive methodologies used by DNC-allied pollsters who pretend…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 7, 2024

 

Trump has yet to respond to the offer and it is unclear whether sees debating Kennedy as a good use of his time or a smart campaign tactic.

Last month, Trump described him as a “radical left lunatic” who is “far more liberal than anyone running as a Democrat,” as well as Green Party candidate Jill Stein and far-left independent candidate Cornel West.

The post RFK Jr. Offers to Debate Trump at Libertarian Party Convention, Attacks His Record on COVID and Draining ‘The Swamp Creatures’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Donald Trump is reportedly planning to send covert “assassination squads” into Mexico as soon as he takes office in order to take out Mexican drug cartel leaders wreaking havoc on America.

According to a report from Rolling Stone, Trump is mulling the idea if he returns to the White House next year as part of an effort to strike “fear into the hearts” of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords:

The former president has not presented specific details in public about these plans — for example, how many U.S. troops he’d be willing to send into sovereign Mexican territory. But, the three sources tell Rolling Stone, in conversations with close MAGA allies, including at least one Republican lawmaker, Trump has privately endorsed the idea of covertly deploying — with or without the Mexican government’s consent — special-ops units that would be tasked with, among other missions, assassinating the leaders and top enforcers of Mexico’s powerful and most notorious drug cartels. In some of these discussions, Trump has insisted that the U.S. military has “tougher killers than they do” and pondered why these assassination missions haven’t been done before, arguing that eliminating the heads of cartels would go a long way toward hobbling their operations and striking fear into the hearts of “the kingpins.”

…

During some of these conversations, Trump has likened these proposals to the 2019 military raid that he ordered that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, insisting that the U.S. should approach drug cartel leadership in the same manner. One of the sources, who discussed the issue with Trump earlier this year, recalls the ex-president saying that the U.S. government should have a “kill list of drug lords,” as this source describes Trump’s ideas, of the most powerful and infamous cartel figures that American special forces would be assigned to kill or capture in a potential second Trump administration.

Trump has made no secret of his plans to deal with Mexico’s drug cartels should he get a second term in office. Since Joe Biden seized power in January 2021, drug cartels have expanded their operations across the United States by taking advantage of the open border, flooding the country with fentanyl and a host of other deadly substances.

Last April, Trump indicated that he would be willing to use military force, with or without Mexico’s consent, in order to deal with the drug cartels. The comments drew condemnation from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who described them as an “offense to the people of Mexico.”

“I also have a very good relationship with the president of Mexico,” Trump said at the time. “He’s a socialist but he also happens to be a gentleman. You can’t have everything, right? But he’s a great person. Certainly, I would deal with him. This is an invasion of our country — this isn’t just people walking over… We will stop it and we will stop it immediately.”

The post REPORT: Trump Planning to Send Covert ‘Assassination Squads’ to Mexico to Take Out Cartel Leaders appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Americosis: A Nation’s Dysfunction Observed from Public Transit by Sam Forster (2024, Sutherland House), 129 pages.

Public transit has always asked its patrons to assume undefined risks. In exchange for a few dollars, the transit authority offers that you can get from the general area of your origin to the general area of your destination along with others who have the same goal. 

There’s the rub. Marketing materials for public transit rarely feature their patrons, and for good reason. The promoters tend to favor a driver standing with a sense of authority at the step of a bus or a train conductor glancing through his window. The patrons offer something less predictable: a mix of those who are in a hurry and those who are decidedly not in a hurry, a reserved majority and an extroverted minority, a quiet consensus to give peace a chance interrupted by someone who’s still thinking that one over.

The experience generally works out as a net positive on the individual level. Though the risk is a small price, some are unwilling to pay it. Sam Forster was willing, and he has compiled his observations in a helpful little book called Americosis. A blend of cultural analysis, data collection, and bright journalistic color, Forster offers a delicate treatment of coarse content. 

The author, a Canadian, travels south to get a sense of the environment surrounding the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. The situation he describes is nothing short of disorder. As drug use and mental instability pervade, normal customers are relegated to a position of inferiority. Loud ramblings overcome the otherwise universal hope for quiet, a standard to which most riders have resigned themselves.

To illustrate the point, Forster recalls a bus ride during which the passenger behind him warned, “DIS MUH’FUCKA GON’ GET IT…dis muh’fucka really gon’ get it!” For the veteran rider, these pronouncements have become unsurprising; the regular exposure has worn down his capacity for fear. 

But for the uninitiated, such a threat could portend a serious problem. Despite an elevated heart rate, sweaty palms, and a heightened sensitivity to all that’s around him, the amateur tries to get a sense of the accuser’s intentions and does all he can to distinguish himself from the accused. 

The man, Forster says, smelled of weed and liquor; in one hand “was a revolver that was being casually twirled around his index finger like a set of car keys.” For the better part of half an hour, Forster says he watched the man in the reflection of his phone until the bus reached the next stop.

Though half an hour is on the long end for the average distance between stops, Forster’s experience points to the center of public-transit angst: you can only get off at the next stop. When the door closes, your presence is required until it opens back up. What happens in between is anybody’s guess, but that’s for you to find out. 

Lest riders think these concerns are imaginary, DART confirms they are real. Forster identifies the advertising on DART buses and trains as an historical marker for what would otherwise be a psychological bother. “Assaulting a DART employee is a felony,” one sign advises. “Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” For the normal rider, this informal legal counsel reminds them that, presumably, one of DART’s drivers or conductors has been assaulted in the past and that the only thing stopping a criminal from doing the same to themselves is the threat of a criminal charge. 

The author’s observations indicate a culture of poverty and desperation on Dallas’s public transit system, then turn to a critique of personal automobiles as the norm for transportation. His frustration with the current state of public transit is couched in a greater appreciation for the idea of public transit. In theory, this idea of public transit should elevate social life; it’s one remaining cultural structure that involves strangers taking part in a goal that’s common yet distinguishable among individuals. 

Car culture, Forster laments, will remain so long as public transit retains its reputation as being unsafe and the car retains its reputation as a representation of success; women have a greater interest in the former and men in the latter, he says, though both groups have an interest in both factors in their own ways. Though his critiques of the car as the norm for transportation are compelling, they are unlikely to be received well by an American audience. The car is too ingrained in our culture. 

Despite his romantic description of the park outside of his Montreal apartment and his prescription, one of the few in the book, for universal basic income as a cure for what he calls “the great economic absurdity of America: the fetishization of employment and the demonization of unemployment,” Forster offers a clear picture of a dim reality. Americosis should not be read as a blueprint for revived urban policy or a formula for enjoying public transit as it was meant to be, but as good journalism from a dejected transit system. Some of it sounded familiar; I read most of it on the train.

The post America’s Public Transit Nightmare appeared first on The American Conservative.

When it comes to international media reporting about India, the 44-day general election process has been taking center stage as the incumbent Narendra Modi seeks a third term as prime minister. The self-declared Hindutva leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been unashamed in pushing for his nation to “return” to its Hindu roots; only a few months ago during the inauguration of a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ram, he declared, “today our Lord Ram has arrived; he has been waiting for centuries.” 

The nationally televised comment came against the backdrop of 12 of the 28 states in India having anti-conversion laws that criminalize people who change their religious beliefs, at least half of which have only been enacted during Modi’s administration, and increasing attacks on non-Hindu religious minorities that the government has remained silent to.  

Yet India’s ever-fractured religious freedom landscape holds another painful story that has not received the global attention that it demands. From May 3 to 6, the northeastern Indian state of Manipur commemorated one year since a shocking onslaught of violence resulted in hundreds of people being murdered, hundreds of places of worship being destroyed, and tens of thousands of people losing their homes and livelihoods. Although multiple factors underpinned the violence, including longstanding ethnic and tribal tensions and disagreements over ancestral lands, the targeted attacks on Christians cannot be ignored. 

Last year, after a peaceful political march quickly escalated and turned deadly between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo peoples, the police had no option but to use tear gas shells to attempt to control the rioters. The Manipur government issued a shoot-at-sight order and deployed thousands of army personnel on the ground as the number of killings, injuries, and burning buildings down increased. The number of internally displaced people who are residing in around 320 relief camps still numbers nearly 60,000. 

Witness testimonial evidence presented to a group of government ministers in the International Religious Freedom of Belief Alliance group indicated a specific and intentional focus behind the violence. It was perpetrated largely by people associated with such extremist Hindu groups as the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, who targeted both Kuki and Meitei Christians. Their deliberate actions resulted in hundreds of churches belonging to both the Meitei and Kuki peoples being burned to the ground, pastors being forced to convert away from Christianity and renounce their faith, homes of Christians being marked for vandalism or looting, public executions, beheadings, and gang rapes.  

Yet the Indian government has had a woefully insufficient response to what has now become a humanitarian disaster, potentially verging on a civil war; it has failed to de-escalate the continuing pockets of violence within Manipur. A year on, we still see Meitei milia personnel looting weapons to inflict damage, killing citizens, and setting off an intentional bomb blast in a Kuki region which damaged yet another church. 

Last year, Modi was silent for 70 days before feeling the pressure to make a public statement about the chaos, only after the Supreme Court had shamed the government by calling its response “lethargic.” Now, with the elections as his main priority, Modi continues to “turn a blind eye” to the region. 

Thankfully, the international community is speaking out against the undeniable religious persecution factor to the crisis. The European Union and experts from the United Nations have drawn attention to the religious component of the violence, and country politicians have started to respond too. Last month, the UK foreign secretary spoke out against the “clear religious part” to the strife in India, emphasizing the need for religious tolerance in the country. 

In the U.S., despite India having been excluded from USCIRF’s Country of Particular Concern list this year, some members of the U.S. Senate have nonetheless not been afraid to condemn the violators of religious freedom and show support for the victims of persecution. In a bipartisan resolution led by Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, James Lankford Oklahoma, Tim Kaine or Virginia, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, the text called upon the U.S. to “leverage all diplomatic and sanctions tools available to the United States Government to hold religious freedom violators accountable for their actions,” and it specifically included the violations in India within its list of countries where the regimes are cracking down on Christians and other religious minorities. 

All eyes are on what happens next. If Modi’s BJP wins the election, then the days look darker for religious freedom and protection of the most vulnerable. As for Manipur and the thousands of people whose livelihoods have been unalterably destroyed as they continue to battle sickness, instability, lack of places to worship, and loss of earnings in the relief camps, the international community should do more to affirm that they are not forgotten. 

The post India Is Becoming More Hostile to Christians appeared first on The American Conservative.

Weeks before the former President Donald Trump is scheduled to accept the Republican presidential nomination for the third time, he will speak to the Libertarian National Convention, a move that has been described as a “bit of a head-scratcher.”

Naturally, many Libertarians are not happy about it. Some party members are allergic to anything that might increase their relevance or even the general knowledge that Libertarians exist. But it is also fair to say that Trump has moved his own party in a marginally less small-l libertarian direction, and his election in 2016 elevated conservative thinkers who would like to move it in a radically less libertarian direction. 

Libertarians with and without capitalization are correct to question how much their preferred moniker applies to a GOP that mostly continues to lavish funds on the welfare-warfare state despite $1 trillion deficits.

All that throat-clearing out of the way, it is really not much of a head-scratcher as to why Trump would want to address the Libertarians. Third parties and independent candidacies are going to matter more this year than four years ago. Trump would like to ensure that this fact benefits him at least as much as it did in 2016.

Despite their best efforts at self-sabotage, the Libertarian Party is markedly better than other third parties at getting on state ballots. It has also done a better job at getting votes these past few election cycles.The LP presidential ticket received 1,247,923 votes in 2012, 4,489,233 of them in 2016, and 1,865,535 in 2020.

Keep an eye on that last number. Gary Johnson was the presidential nominee in the first two elections. The former Republican governor of New Mexico was the most senior elected official and arguably the biggest name to ever top the Libertarian ticket. While that honor is somewhat like being the tallest building in Topeka (or Santa Fe), it might explain why the party was able to break its raw vote record twice and achieve its highest percentage of the popular vote ever in 2016.

But even with the relatively obscure Jo Jorgensen as the 2020 nominee, Libertarians were once again able easily to exceed the million-vote threshold, get its second-highest number of raw votes ever, and finish third nationally. (My most viral post on X was about Jorgensen getting bitten by a bat, back in its pre-Musk iteration as Twitter.) That suggests the LP’s post-Johnson breakthrough might have some staying power.

Johnson didn’t get as much blame for Trump’s election as the Green Party’s Jill Stein, though he did receive some. But not only did he win more votes overall; he probably took more from Republicans, leaving his impact more ambiguous than Stein’s. (I voted for Johnson that year too, abortion misgivings aside, though I probably wouldn’t have if I had known Trump had apologized to Pat Buchanan for things said during their short-lived fight for the 2000 Reform Party nomination.)

Which brings us to another reason Trump is wise to speak to the Libertarians: the rise of the Mises Caucus, which includes the sort of paleolibertarians who supported Buchanan’s presidential bids, especially in the 1992 and 1996 Republican primaries. Some of their votes are potentially gettable for Trump. And is Trump really less libertarian and more of a statist than Mike Gravel?

If your politics can be advanced through a major party like the GOP, they probably should be. Ron Paul accomplished more through his two Republican presidential campaigns, during which he did not get particularly close to the nomination, than he did winning the Libertarian Party nod in 1988. 

Pat Robertson’s 1988 GOP campaign, for which some Ron Paul 2008 and 2012 lieutenants worked, similarly boosted the organized Christian Right without the 700 Club host having much of a shot past the Iowa caucuses. 

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. making his own overtures to the Libertarian Party, Trump should want to compete for anti-establishment and right-libertarian votes. This is an election that could be decided by tens of thousands of votes in six or seven states. It was not long ago that the Libertarian Party was blamed for Republicans losing some close Senate races.

The only “head-scratcher” is why the Libertarian Party would want Trump to dominate the headlines coming out of their convention, during which they will presumably nominate their own presidential candidate. Some past Republican presidential candidates could probably tell the LP aspirants about Trump’s ability to suck up all the oxygen in a room.

The post Trump’s Libertarian Convention Speech a ‘Head-Scratcher’—for the Libertarians appeared first on The American Conservative.

A TPUSA Frontlines reporter was violently attacked by far-left Antifa militants in Seattle on Tuesday afternoon.

Antifa called in reinforcements to disrupt TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk’s “Prove Me Wrong” tabling event at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Charlie Kirk held a Q&A session before the main event which was sold out.

WATCH:

With tons of security, Antifa called in reinforcements. So far, none of the efforts have disrupted the TPUSA Charlie Kirk Q&A. The main event is this evening at 5:30pm. Tickets are already sold out. @FrontlinesTPUSA @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/rh4LFeg1vr

— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 7, 2024

TPUSA Frontlines reporter Jonathan Choe and his security were violently attacked by Antifa militants.

The security guard was left bloodied. Police arrived on the scene.

The Antifa militants were near the pro-Hamas encampment on campus.

WATCH:

BREAKING: FRONTLINES reporter @choeshow and his security were attacked by members of ANTIFA near the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Washington.

Cops were called to the scene and are now investigating.

We’ve reached out to the school for comment, but so far no… pic.twitter.com/egJOtFVYt0

— FRONTLINES (@FrontlinesTPUSA) May 8, 2024

Jonathan Choe said he filed multiple police reports.

“An Antifa mob and their soy boyfriends tried to corner me and my crew. They always send the skinniest dudes or the most overweight activists in my direction,” Jonathan Choe said.

There goes the neighborhood. Massive battle royale at the UW Quad Tuesday afternoon. An Antifa mob and their soy boyfriends tried to corner me and my crew. They always send the skinniest dudes or the most overweight activists in my direction.
Thank you @schwaarzy for capturing… https://t.co/b7895SnpAD

— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 8, 2024

Antifa goons roamed around on the outskirts of the event to intimidate conservatives.

HAPPENING NOW: Charlie Kirk TPUSA event is officially sold out at the University of Washington in Seattle. Unfortunately, people are being turned away. Thankfully these Antifa goons did not get inside. They are roaming on the outskirts of the HUB and are clearly here to… pic.twitter.com/Nb8ZWBZtMJ

— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 8, 2024

The post TPUSA Frontlines Reporter Violently Attacked by Antifa Militants at Charlie Kirk Event at University of Washington in Seattle (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The vast majority of college students in the United States have absolutely no interest in the anti-Israel protests on campus, according to new polling.

These students do care about political issues, but this is not one of them. They also want the protesters to be held accountable for all the trouble and damage they have caused.

The people behind these protests represent a tiny minority of college students, yet they are constantly issuing demands and eating up tons of attention by being the loudest and most annoying people on campuses.

Axios reported:

Exclusive poll: Most college students shrug at nationwide protests

College protests against Israel’s war in Gaza are dominating headlines. But only a sliver of students are participating or view it as a top issue, according to a new Generation Lab survey shared exclusively with Axios.

Why it matters: The poll hints that the war — and the accompanying protests — might not hurt President Biden’s election prospects among young voters as much as previously thought.

By the numbers: Only a small minority (8%) of college students have participated in either side of the protests, the survey of 1,250 college students found.

Students ranked the conflict in the Middle East as the least important issue facing them out of nine options.
It landed behind health care reform, racial justice and civil rights, economic fairness and opportunity, education funding and access, and climate change.

This is one of the most important findings in the poll:

Zoom in: A large majority (81%) of students support holding protesters accountable, agreeing with the notion that those who destroyed property or vandalized or illegally occupied buildings should be held responsible by their university, per the survey.

So that’s the majority of college students. And yet, who are these colleges bending over backwards to please? The protesters.

These colleges need to grow a spine and start firing and expelling people.

The post Poll Finds Massive Majority of College Students Not Interested in Anti-Israel Protests – Want Protesters Held Accountable for Disruptions and Damages appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Kim Gardner, a former St. Louis prosecutor who was backed by George Soros, is missing. The list of allegations against Gardner is long.

Authorities are trying to find her because of the ongoing investigation and also to serve her subpoenas, but she has vanished.

Unless something has happened to her, she must be in hiding. How else can her disappearance be explained?

From the Associated Press:

Auditors can’t locate former St. Louis circuit attorney to complete state audit

A state examination of the office that handles criminal prosecutions in St. Louis is being delayed because auditors can’t find former Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said Monday.

Fitzpatrick said in a news release that auditors have tried for several months to contact Gardner, including trying to serve her with a subpoena. Her whereabouts remain unknown, he said.

“This is a pattern of behavior with Kim Gardner, who hasn’t shown a willingness to be transparent or accountable,” Fitzpatrick, a Republican, said in a news release. “Without question, she knows our audit is ongoing and that we want to speak with her about her time in office, but she has made no effort to comply with our requests or respond to our inquiries.”

Gardner, a Democrat first elected in 2016 to become the city’s first Black circuit attorney, resigned in May 2023. She was part of a movement of progressive prosecutors who sought diversion to mental health treatment or drug abuse treatment for low-level crimes, pledged to hold police more accountable, and sought to free inmates who were wrongfully convicted.

Where could she be?

Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said former the St. Louis circuit attorney is dodging subpoenas, ignoring calls and refusing to answer questions for an audit of her former office. https://t.co/EbvpEKbmD4

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) May 8, 2024

Missouri Auditor says he has not been able to find the disgraced George Soros backed circuit attorney for the Shitty of Saint Louis Kim Gardner. Is it possible that justice has been served? Let’s hope that’s the case. https://t.co/T3V8Xb6Ola

— ChrisGraves133 (@CGraves133) May 7, 2024

This is a perfect reminder that every single Soros-backed prosecutor should be removed from office. They are the cause of so many problems in the country right now.

The post REPORT: St. Louis Authorities Can’t Find Soros-Backed Prosecutor Kim Gardner Who’s Accused of Misusing Taxpayer Funds and Rights Abuses appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Joe Biden’s illegal immigration crisis is creating serious financial hardships for American citizens in the form of higher mortgage rates, according to the Federal Reserve chairman of Minnesota.

Democrats and the media have spent three years trying to convince average Americans that the illegal immigration crisis is normal and not causing any harm, but it’s simply not true.

This is why this particular issue is causing anger even among liberals in blue cities.

Breitbart News reports:

Federal Reserve Chairman: Migration Boosts Mortgage Rates

President Joe Biden’s migration crisis raises the mortgage rates that burden young couples and families, according to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

“While the long-run effect of increased immigration on inflation is unclear, immigrants nonetheless need a place to live, and their arrival in the U.S. has likely also increased demand for housing,” said Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said on May 7.

In turn, he said, mortgage rates are nudged upwards with higher interest rates, saying, “Perhaps a neutral [interest] rate for the housing market is higher than before the pandemic.”

Kashkari is a member of the Federal Reserve, which is now raising interest rates to reduce the unpopular inflation caused by the federal government’s deficit spending.

But since 2021, Biden’s deputies have also worsened inflation by importing roughly ten million legal, illegal, and quasi-legal migrants.

And of course, Joe Biden is responding to this by doing pretty much everything wrong.

Inflation, gas prices, and mortgage rates are climbing, unemployment just hit the highest level in 2 years, and hardworking Americans are struggling to get by.

Joe Biden’s response?

Force YOU to pay for healthcare for illegals and the student loans of art students. pic.twitter.com/4TkcPISyu0

— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) May 3, 2024

Mortgage rates have SKYROCKETED under Joe Biden & 78% of would-be homebuyers say financial factors are keeping them from being able to purchase a home.

Joe Biden’s economy has made the American dream a fantasy! pic.twitter.com/HWPLt73SR4

— Center for Renewing America (@amrenewctr) May 6, 2024

Is there any wonder why a growing number of Americans want to return to the Trump years?

The post Federal Reserve Official Admits Biden’s Illegal Immigration Crisis is Raising Mortgage Rates for Americans appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Rev. Billy Graham, famed evangelist and minister to presidents, is set to receive a great accolade next week as a 7-foot-tall statue will be dedicated in his honor at the U.S. Capitol, according to reports.

The state of North Carolina approved a measure back in 2015 to replace its statue of former Gov. Charles Aycock in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall with one dedicated to Graham, who was born in the city of Charlotte in the Tar Heel State. But the plans have been stalled for years, The Charlotte Observer reported last year.

Graham died in 2018.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association told Fox News on Monday that the long-awaited statue will finally be placed in the Capitol.

“It’s a rare honor,” the organization said.

The outlet reported the statue will be unveiled on the morning of May 16.

The commanding sculpture was created by North Carolina artist Chas Fagan and portrays Graham gesturing toward an open Bible, according to Fox News.

The bronze was cast at Carolina Bronze Sculpture, a foundry in Seagrove, North Carolina, while the base was made of Salisbury granite cut from a quarry in Rowan County.

The base of the statue contains Bible verses to “highlight Graham’s lifelong commitment to sharing the Gospel,” the association said.

They include John 3:16 (“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”) and John 14:6 (“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me’”), Fox News reported.

The Rev. Franklin Graham celebrated the statue being raised in his famous father’s honor.

“This isn’t just a statue of my father — it represents the One that he surrendered his life to and the message that he preached for more than 80 years, that God loves us and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins,” he told Fox News via email.

“What I appreciate most is that this is an opportunity for everyone in future generations who sees the statue to be reminded of God’s love, grace and forgiveness,” Graham continued.

“This is a great honor and my father would be humbled and grateful,” he added. “At the same time, he would not want the attention on himself but on God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Billy Graham, who died at 99 years of age, dedicated some 80 years of his life to his ministry and preached the Gospel to more than 215 million people across six continents — the most ever reached by a single Christian minister.

He also counseled 12 sitting U.S. presidents, starting with Harry Truman, as well as many world leaders.

“The legacy of Rev. Billy Graham is based on his simple message of forgiveness based on John 3:16,” Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd told Fox News.

“He was the first private citizen from North Carolina to lie in honor in the United States Capitol and his likeness should stand in the U.S. Capitol forever,” Budd said.

Graham has received several honors from the federal government.

In 1996, he and his wife, Ruth, received a Congressional Gold Medal.

When he died in 2018, he became one of only four private citizens to be laid in state at the Capitol.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Billy Graham to Be Permanently Commemorated in US Capitol in ‘Rare Honor’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.