7. Beto O’Rourke coming to Alabama
- Former U.S. Representative (D-TX) Beto O’Rourke, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, will be in Montgomery Friday at the Goat Haus Biergarten at 7 p.m. to speak and take questions.
- O’Rourke will also be in Birmingham on Saturday to speak at the Alabama Democratic Conference. He will be the fifth Democratic candidate to visit Alabama this year.
6. Sorry, Trump is going to keep his social media accounts
- U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has made it a campaign issue to advocate for the removal of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts, but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said, “I don’t think we want private companies censoring politicians in the news.”
- Zuckerberg added that he thinks people should decide for themselves “what is credible and what they want to believe, who they want to vote for.”
5. We aren’t going to the Moon or Mars anytime soon
- President Donald Trump has prioritized the space program in multiple ways during his presidency, but his plan to land on the Moon by 2024 looks unlikely after a House committee failed to fund the mission.
- The fact that NASA could not put a final price tag on the mission is what appeared to ultimately doom the program. It means that there will not be a Moon landing during Trump’s presidency.
4. It’s 22 million, not 11 million, illegal aliens
- It seems like we have been talking about 11 million illegal aliens in America for over a decade, but a recent study at MIT shows that number is severely understated and is at 22 million.
- Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, cited the number as part of a discussion about illegal immigrants and allowing a portion of them to stay in the country and work.
3. Less than 50% approve of Doug Jones
- The Morning Consult released a poll recently that showed U.S. Senator Doug Jones’ approval rating is only at 41% and his disapproval rating is at 36%.
- The poll also released a list of the most popular senators across the country, and Jones’ approval rating was the sixth lowest out of the Democrats and 18th lowest among all senators.
2. Cease-fire agreement reached
- During Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Turkey, he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo helped Turkey and the Kurds in Syria negotiate a 120-hour cease-fire agreement, and President Donald Trump declared this “a great day for civilization.”
- Trump is crediting his “tough love” decision to remove U.S. troops from Northern Syria as the factor that gave this deal the final push. Pence said during the press conference announcing the deal, “We think the agreement today first ends the violence, which is what President Trump sent us here to do.”
1. Democrats might have their quid pro quo, Mulvaney says “nah”
- Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said that in an attempt to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, President Donald Trump froze about $400 million in security aid.
- Mulvaney said, “We do that all the time with foreign policy,” adding he told people to “Get over it.” He’s maintained that he didn’t admit to any quid pro quo, and that the money was only being held due to concerns about a lack of support.
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