Tag Archives: 2016 Primary

Election, Politics

Donald Trump Wins Nevada Republican Caucus

Leave a comment

Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed victory in the Nevada Caucus on Tuesday, winning 45.9 percent of the vote and picking up 14 delegates in the state.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took second place with 23.9 percent of the vote earning 7 delegates, followed by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) in third with 21.4 percent of the vote gaining 6 delegates. Ben Carson had a distant fourth place finish with 4.8 per cent of the vote and 1 delegate, followed by Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich in fifth who received 3.6 percent of the vote and also gained one delegate.

[RELATED: GOP Nevada Caucus Results in Accusations of Polling Irregularities, Double Voting]

During his victory speech, Trump applauded a wide variety of voters who he claimed turned out in Nevada to support him. “We won the evangelicals,” he said, according to CNN. “We won with young. With won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.”

Truth In Media’s Rachel Blevins reported on Wednesday that there were claims of “voting irregularities including ballot shortages and double voting” during the Nevada Caucus. While Trump suggested to voters that rival Cruz’s campaign might engage in “dishonest stuff” during the caucus, claims of voting irregularities were directed at volunteers sporting Trump gear. Twitter users shared photos that claimed to show Trump-supporting volunteers hiding ballots and failing to check IDs.

Trump said that he is looking forward to the SEC Primary and that he’s expecting to see his momentum continue. “I think we’re going to do fantastic in the SEC. I think that’s going to be amazing, what you’re looking at. And you look at some states, where already I’m very close in Texas, and you know you have a senator from Texas. I’m leading — and this … will be the following week — but Florida is looking fantastically. Ohio is looking great,” said Trump, according to Business Insider.

“We just got numbers in on Georgia; we’re doing fantastically well. Arkansas. So we’re looking very, very strong.”

For more election coverage, click here.

Follow Annabelle Bamforth on Twitter.

Activism, Civil Liberties, Election, Government Accountability, Politics, US

Evangelist Franklin Graham Leaves GOP Due To Planned Parenthood Funding

Leave a comment

The Republican Party has been abandoned by Evangelist Franklin Graham following last week’s passage of a budget by the Republican-led Congress. Graham called the budget “wasteful” and criticized continued government funding of Planned Parenthood, which he compared to the Nazis.

“Seeing and hearing Planned Parenthood talk nonchalantly about selling baby parts from aborted fetuses with utter disregard for human life is reminiscent of Joseph Mengele and the Nazi concentration camps!” Graham wrote. “That should’ve been all that was needed to turn off the faucet for their funding.”

In previous statements Graham has spoken of not having faith in any of the parties. Rejecting his affiliation with the GOP is a sign of continued discontent with the right and the continuation of a trend among evangelicals supporting non-establishment candidates such as Donald Trump.

Trump has drawn praise from Graham in the past including siding with the GOP frontrunner on issues such as a proposed ban of Muslims in the U.S.

Graham’s criticism of the budget deal centers around the continued funding of Planned Parenthood to the tune of $528 million annually. This accounts for upwards of 40% of the organizations budget and comes mostly by way of Medicaid payments from services rendered to low-income Americans. Planned Parenthood is prohibited from utilizing federal taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions.

The defunding of Planned Parenthood has been a long time priority for social conservatives, an effort that was renewed earlier this year after undercover videos were released by an anti-abortion activist.

The videos appeared to show officials at Planned Parenthood negotiating prices of fetal organs for sale to medical researchers, a practice which could be considered illegal and unethical. The organization has since denied all claims it profited from these sales and announced it would no longer carry on the practice.

Following the 2014 midterm elections, the GOP took control of both the House and Senate. Expectations from some in the party were that funding for Planned Parenthood would be eliminated from the 2016 budget. Some social conservatives in the party threatened a government shutdown if action wasn’t taken against the organization.

An event in November when Robert Lewis Dear, a lone gunman who called himself “a warrior for the babies” and shot and killed three at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood, changed the dynamic for politicians.

The result was funding of Planned Parenthood at previous levels. Graham, the son of well known evangelist Billy Graham, was among many religious conservatives incensed by the lack of action.

“This is an example of why I have resigned from the Republican Party and declared myself Independent. I have no hope in the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or Tea Party to do what is best for America,” said in a Facebook Post last Monday.

Over the course of Billy Graham’s years in the public eye, he withdrew from politics, claiming it took focus away from his evangelism. His son, however, has been more vocal in offering his take on electoral issues and politicians.

With prayer rallies scheduled in advance of the the Iowa caucus, Graham will likely continue his denunciation of the establishment wing of the Republican Party, emphasizing his desire to “challenge Christians to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box.”

FOLLOW MICHAEL LOTFI ON Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.