Joe Biden Spox: Some Photos of VP Smelling Women’s Hair ‘Forgeries’

Bill Russo, a spokesperson for former Vice President Joe Biden, responded combatively to the blowback over various photos of the possible 2020 contender interacting awkwardly with women, calling some of the images “smears and forgeries” that have “existed in the dark recesses of the Internet for a while.”

“The Vice President has issued a statement affirming that in all the many years in public life that he has shaken a hand, given or received a hug, or laid his hand on a shoulder to express concern, support; or reassurance, he never intended to cause discomfort,” Russo said in a statement. “He has said that he believes that women who have experience any such discomfort, regardless of intention, should speak and be heard, and that he will be among those who listen.” “But the important conversation about these issues are not advanced, nor are any criticisms of Vice President Biden validated, by the continued misrepresentation of the Carter and Coons moments, or a failure to be vigilant about a cottage industry of lies,” Russo added.

The statement comes after Biden on Sunday defended his interactions with women, saying he doesn’t believe he has ever acted inappropriately. Yet a Nevada politician’s assertion that the former vice president’s kiss on the back of her head made her feel uncomfortable prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign. The episode, recounted by Democrat Lucy Flores, highlighted an aspect of Biden’s behavior that has been publicly known for years: the affectionate whispers, hugs, and shoulder squeezes he has long doled out to women, often on camera and at high-profile public events. In a moment of national reckoning over sexual harassment and the treatment of women by powerful men, some Democrats said Biden’s actions have taken on a new light.

Appearing Sunday on CNN’s The Lead, Flores affirmed the former vice president’s treatment of woman was “disqualifying” as a presidential candidate. “For me this isn’t the only problematic thing, I think his response in the way in which he handled the Anita Hill hearing was completely inappropriate and lacked empathy and frankly lacked accountability, saying he wishes there was something more he could have done,” she told host Jake Tapper. “I think it’s again, a complete lack of accountability. You were the chair, you were the chair of that hearing, and you could have done anything you wanted. In addition to previous anti-abortion positions that he’s taken, etcetera, I find a lot of his background problematic.”

In a statement on Sunday, Biden contended it was never his intention to make women feel discomfort and if he did so, “I will listen respectfully.” The former vice president also said he “may not recall these moments the same way.” “I will fight to build on the work I’ve done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve,” Biden’s statement reads. “I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won.”

Several women who worked for Biden stepped forward over the weekend to vouch for his character. And Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, disputed characterizations of her interactions with Biden during her husband’s swearing-in ceremony. Pictures of the then-vice president whispering in Carter’s ear and placing his hands on her shoulders ricocheted across the internet at the time. “After the swearing in, as Ash was giving remarks, [Biden] leaned in to tell me ‘thank you for letting him do this’ and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering his support,” wrote Carter. “But a still shot taken from a video — misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends — sent out in a snarky tweet — came to be the lasting image of that day.” “I won’t pretend that this will be the last of that picture, but it will be the last of other people speaking for me,” she added.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/01/joe-biden-spox-some-photos-of-vp-smelling-womens-hair-forgeries/

Luis Gutierrez: ‘There Should Be Welcoming Centers All Across America’ for Migrants

Former Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) over the weekend called on mayors of major U.S. cities to open “welcoming centers” for caravan migrants.

Appearing on CNN, Gutierrez, who is now a senior policy adviser for the National Partnership of New Americans (NPNA), urged Democrats leading major U.S. cities like Chicago and Los Angeles to “invite” caravan migrants to stay in their cities, saying he hoped his party “stands up for its principles.” He said America is the “richest, most powerful nation in the world,” and it “should also be the nation with the biggest heart and a nation that has a great tradition of receiving refugees.” “And I would say to the mayor of my own city, Rahm Emanuel, instead of hitting yourself on the chest every day about Jussie Smollett, invite them to come to Chicago,” Gutierrez said. “L.A.—invite them to come. New York. There should be welcoming centers all across America for these refugees, for these asylum seekers to find a home in America. That’s what I believe people should be doing right now.”

Gutierrez also challenged President Donald Trump, who announced this weekend that he will be cutting foreign aid to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, by saying the U.S. should provide more aid and job opportunities to Central American nations so Central Americans can stay in the countries that they love. Gutierrez made his remarks days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan revealed that his agency last Monday “saw the highest total of apprehensions and encounters in over a decade, with 4,000 migrants either apprehended or encountered” a various ports of entry in a single day. Though many migrants seek to enter the U.S. to take advantage of its “catch and release” policies, asylum laws, and judicial backlogs, so many migrants have admitted to reporters that they are fleeing poverty that even establishment media outlets like CBS Evening News had to concede that most of the migrants coming to the United States do not qualify for asylum. A CBS Evening News report in October noted: “Most tell us they are fleeing extreme poverty, but that’s not a condition for asylum or refugee status in the U.S.”

Trump will visit the border town of Calexico, California, on Friday, and he has repeatedly vowed to close the U.S.-Mexico border if Mexico does not do more to impede the migrants who are on their way to America. “Mexico is tough. They can stop them. But they chose not to,” Trump said on Friday. “Now they got to stop them. If they don’t stop them, we’re closing the border. We’ll close it, and we’ll keep it closed for a long time. I’m not playing games.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/01/luis-gutierrez-there-should-be-welcoming-centers-all-across-america-for-migrants/

>>6013707

Just when you thought you would never have to hear his screeching voice again! It didn't work then, not gonna work now!

Dick Cheney lurks behind the scenes as Liz Cheney plots her ambitious climb

Controversial former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was castigated by liberals as the evil genius behind former President George W. Bush, is now a steady, quiet, and influential force behind his daughter Liz Cheney's climb to the highest echelons of GOP politics. A political duo since Dick Cheney, 78, left the West Wing in 2009, their partnership has extended to the House of Representatives, where Liz Cheney, 52, was elected the No. 3 ranking Republican after winning just her second term last year in the at-large seat her father once held. The Wyoming congresswoman’s chief of staff is a longtime Dick Cheney aide, and the former veep is a ubiquitous presence at strategy sessions and at fundraisers for her political operation. “The vice president has been Liz’s top adviser during her brief congressional career,” said Cesar Conda, the elder Cheney’s former chief domestic policy adviser in the White House and now a partner at the Washington lobbying firm Navigators Global. “I can see her dad’s influence.”

Liz Cheney is focused on the job at hand — driving the party’s message on Capitol Hill as House Republican Conference chairwoman and helping the GOP win back the majority. But knowledgeable Republicans say she is not content as the House Republicans’ No. 3 and doesn’t see herself as limited by the pecking order that puts her behind House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. She broke with McCarthy and Scalise on an anti-hate resolution initiated by House Democrats, voting against it in a power move that raised eyebrows among Republicans and was interpreted as a signal that Cheney doesn’t plan to sit idle waiting for a leadership post above her to open before she makes a move. Republicans who know the congresswoman believe her sights are set on House minority leader, speaker — or even national office.

To realize her lofty aspirations, Liz Cheney has moved to establish credibility apart from her father and her prominent name, attempting to become a go-to resource for colleagues seeking messaging and policy expertise. The congresswoman also has assembled a kitchen cabinet of experienced Republican operatives, anchored by her father, whose experience in high-level national politics spans five decades, with stints as White House chief of staff, congressman, defense secretary, and vice president. “She and her dad are very close. She values his advice and counsel,” Jeff Larson, a veteran Republican strategist who advises Liz Cheney, said. “But she is her own person.” The two Cheneys are like-minded on key issues, especially having to do with U.S. foreign policy and national security, co-writing a book on the topic in 2015. Their advocacy for hawkish American global leadership, in the Republican tradition of former President Ronald Reagan, put them at odds with President Trump’s populist noninterventionism.

More than that, as Liz Cheney’s Republican colleagues in the House have discovered, the former vice president and his daughter are similar in temperament and personality. Like her father, the congresswoman is outspoken, with little regard for niceties or protocol. And she prefers pulling the levers of power behind the scenes to public showboating. She is hardworking, accessible, and inquisitive, but not the most gregarious or social of politicians. “She has all the warmth of her father,” chuckled a senior House Republican.

Liz Cheney’s direct, no-nonsense approach to leadership was a hallmark of the former vice president’s interpersonal relations long before the nation got to know him in 2000 as George W. Bush’s wry running mate.

Liz Cheney’s direct, no-nonsense approach to leadership was a hallmark of the former vice president’s interpersonal relations long before the nation got to know him in 2000 as George W. Bush’s wry running mate. “He was cordial and businesslike,” recalled Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, who worked for Dick Cheney on Capitol Hill in the 1980s when he served as House GOP Conference Chairman, the same leadership position his daughter holds. “He was a low-key, no-drama problem solver.”

Liz Cheney originally planned to run for Senate in 2014, announcing she would challenge Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., in the primary. She backed out for undisclosed family reasons and two years later sought the House after the incumbent Republican retired. Supporters believe her decision to enter leadership makes running for Senate less likely, though not a bid for national office. Through a spokesman, Liz Cheney declined to comment for this story.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/dick-cheney-lurks-behind-the-scenes-as-liz-cheney-plots-her-ambitious-climb

>>6013719

Thinking it won't be long before the narrative moves to the children.

>>6013920

Agree, The very thought that she could run against POTUS, (which is what I think this piece is eluding too) is just laughable, she'll be lucky to keep the seat she has once the truth is out in the open.

>>6013986

I wasn't saying Dick…was running, the female version of him his KeK,…I don't think either one of them care about protocol.