Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden's 2024 reelection bid

Sanders indicated that he would still work to hold the Biden administration accountable for its decisions and encourage its support for progressive causes.

Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday formally endorsed President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection bid, shortly after Biden declared his campaign.

Biden officially declared his 2024 campaign on Tuesday, posting a video in which he warned that Republicans sought to strip Americans of their basic rights and freedoms.

Sanders was the second-place finisher during the 2020 Democratic Primary and also ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. In opting to forgo a third bid, Sanders said he was committed to preventing the return of former President Donald Trump to the White House.

"The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia," he told the Associated Press. "So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected."

Sanders indicated that he would still work to hold the Biden administration accountable for its decisions and encourage its support for progressive causes.

"My job… I think the progressive movement’s job, is to make certain that he stands up and fights for the working class of this country and does not take anything for granted," he maintained.

Sanders did not discount the possibility of Biden facing competitive primary challengers, but said that, ultimately, "I think Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and author Marianne Williamson have announced their bids for the Democratic nomination.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/bernie-sanders-endorses-joe-bidens-2024-reelection-bid

Proud Boys blame Capitol riot on Trump

On trial for sedition, Enrique Tarrio and his men have argued that the former president’s words instigated the riot

Lawyers for Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and his associates argued on Tuesday that the organization is being prosecuted as a “scapegoat” for former president Donald Trump, who they claimed was solely responsible for instigating the January 6 2021 riot on Capitol Hill.

“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your amazing and beautiful city,” Tarrio’s lawyer, Nayib Hassan, told jurors during closing arguments at a federal court in Washington, DC.

“It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power,” Hassan continued.

Tarrio and fellow Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, are on trial for seditious conspiracy, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. While the US Department of Justice has charged more than 1,000 people for participating in the riot, only a handful have been charged with sedition, among them four members of the Oath Keepers militia, who were convicted of the offense in January.

Tarrio was not present at the riot, having been arrested two days earlier for burning a stolen Black Lives Matter flag. Prosecutors argued, however, that he helped orchestrate the riot from a hotel in Baltimore, citing text messages between Tarrio and some of his top lieutenants.

Some of Trump’s supporters argue that the riot was instigated by law-enforcement, dubbing the day’s events a “fedsurrection.” According to Pezzola’s lawyer, US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) had 19 informants among the protesters, while Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department had 13 on site. The FBI had eight agents among the Proud Boys, the lawyer argued in a court filing earlier this month.

Tarrio himself was a documented FBI informant since 2012, and helped the agency make cases against over a dozen people before the January 6th riot.

Biggs’ lawyer, Norm Pattis, also shifted blame for the riot onto Trump. “The leader of the free world sold this narrative, and many members of the Proud Boys believed it,” Pattis told jurors. “People believe their president.”

The riot interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s win, as crowds of Trump’s supporters occupied the halls of the US Capitol. Some walked around peacefully, escorted by police, while others caused property damage and fought with officers. Four Trump supporters died that day, two died of natural causes and one of an accidental overdose, while Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was shot by a Capitol Police officer near the entrance to the House chamber.

Trump, who earlier that day told his supporters to “fight like hell,” but also to do so “peacefully and patriotically,” has denied playing any role in fomenting the riot.

https://www.rt.com/news/575335-proud-boys-trump-capitol/

RFK Jr. Responds To DNC’s Plans To Skip Primary Debates: 'The System Is Indeed Rigged'

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) decision to forgo primary debates would serve as confirmation to American voters that the nation’s elections are “rigged,” according to Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“Debates and town halls are part of the democratic process,” Kennedy told The Epoch Times’ Jan Jekielek on April 24. “We’re living in a time when there’s a lot of Americans who believe our democracy is broken. And I think both political parties have to bend over backwards to start restoring faith in democracy and electional integrity.

“Americans think the entire system is rigged against them,” he added. “And if the DNC goes through with this—its plan to not have debate—I think that will serve as … an unfortunate confirmation to a lot of Americans that the system is indeed rigged.”

‘Undemocratic’

Kennedy’s comments came amid rumors that Biden may formally announce his 2024 presidential campaign this week, given that April 25 marks the anniversary of the date he entered the 2020 presidential race in 2019.

Although Biden has been candid about his intention to run for reelection, speculation as to when a formal announcement might come has been mounting for months. And with two other Democrats—Kennedy and author Marianne Williamson—now in the race, questions about debates have begun to crop up as well.

However, according to a Washington Post report, the Democratic Party has “no plans to sponsor primary debates,” even with multiple candidates vying for the party’s nomination.

While declining to speculate on why the party would have made that decision, Kennedy stressed that such a move would defy democracy itself.

“You need to let the public decide who they want for leadership, rather than party commissars like they did in the Soviet Union or in China,” he asserted.

Kennedy is not the only Democrat to decry the DNC’s plans. Williamson weighed in on the matter as well.

“The DNC ‘plans no primary debates,’” she said in a tweet. “As though there simply ARE no other candidates … no other ideas we should discuss about ways to win in 2024, or other ideas we should discuss about ways to repair the country. Too many people are too smart to accept this.”

Likewise, progressive activist Nina Turner, a former surrogate for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, slammed the decision as “undemocratic,” holding that it “robs the voters of choice.”

“No one who feels confident in their record and/or ideas would hesitate to stand on them,” she wrote on Twitter. “The DNC should hold debates. This is supposed to be a democratic process.”

The DNC did not respond to an inquiry from The Epoch Times.

Backing Biden

At its winter meeting in February, the DNC unanimously expressed its “full and complete support” for Biden’s reelection, just weeks after news broke that he was under federal investigation over his handling of classified documents.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rfk-jr-responds-dncs-plans-skip-primary-debates-system-indeed-rigged

>>18752544

Says MSM