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Terry McAuliffe May Use His Alligator Wrestling Skills Against Trump In 2020
Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) teased his intentions about jumping into the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary by using Twitter to go after President Donald Trump.
In a series of strange tweets, McAuliffe posted a meme of a crab on top of an alligator, which is supposed to represent Trump, for some reason. This would also imply that the crab represents McAuliffe, which is also interesting.
On Wednesday, McAuliffe, a man who will do anything for money, also told attendees at the North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU) conference an amusing story about his alligator wrestling skills and how that would play into his 2020 bid for the White House.
“[Out] of all the candidates running, how many have actually wrestled a 280-pound, eight-foot alligator for a political contribution for $15,000?” he said. “If I can wrestle an alligator, I can sure as hell wrestle Donald Trump, boy, and that would be worth it. And you’d pay money to watch that debate.”
McAuliffe also posted a picture of himself on Twitter from 1980 in which he wrestled an alligator in exchange for a contribution to President Jimmy Carter’s campaign, which is juxtaposed with a picture of Trump.
McAuliffe’s comments about wrestling President Trump are not the first time he has spoken in an aggressive fashion about the commander in chief.
In January of last year, McAuliffe fantasized with fellow liberal Chris Matthews during an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball” when Matthews asked the outgoing governor about what he would do if President Trump ever “got in his space.”
McAuliffe replied, “You would have to pick him up off the floor,” adding, “That would be the last time Donald Trump ever did that.”
Recently, McAuliffe told conservative radio host John Fredericks that he is “very close” to making his decision on whether or not he will run for president. If his pre-campaign teasers are any evidence of what he will do in the next 19 months, McAuliffe is set to campaign weird, quickly.
McAuliffe Says He Now Supports Virginia’s Controversial Late-Term Abortion Bill
Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) has now flip-flopped his position on a highly controversial late-term abortion bill that was sponsored by a majority of Democrats during this year’s General Assembly session. McAuliffe called the legislation a “common sense bill” after distancing himself from it just one month ago.
H.B. 2491, introduced by Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Springfield), would repeal restrictions on third trimester abortions, allowing abortion doctors to self-certify the necessity of late-term procedures, eliminate informed consent requirements, repeal abortion clinic health and safety standards, permit late-term abortions to be performed in outpatient clinics, remove ultrasound requirements, and eliminate Virginia’s 24-hour waiting period.
During her presentation of the bill in a House subcommittee, Delegate Tran said third trimester abortions would face substantially fewer restrictions.
“How late in the third trimester could a physician perform an abortion if he indicated it would impair the mental health of the woman,” subcommittee Chairman Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) asked.
“Through the third trimester,” Tran responded. “The third trimester goes all the way up to forty weeks.”
Delegate Tran also clarified that abortion procedures would be allowed up until the end of a woman’s pregnancy.
“I don’t think we have a limit in the bill,” she added.
In response to a question from House Majority Leader Gilbert, Tran also suggested that partial-birth abortions would be subject to the bill’s repeal of existing restrictions on the procedure.
“Where it’s obvious that a woman is about to give birth, that she has physical signs that she is about to give birth, would that still be a point at which she could request an abortion if she was so certified?” Gilbert asked.
“She’s dilating,” he continued. “I’m asking if your bill allows that.”
“My bill would allow that, yes,” Tran affirmed.
Upon further questioning, Delegate Tran explicitly addressed the hypothetical case of aborting a healthy infant, one week before the mother’s due date, on grounds of mental health.
“I certainly could have said a week from her due date and that would have been the same answer, correct?” Gilbert continued.
“That it’s allowed in the bill? Yes,” Tran said.
54 percent – a majority – of Democratic lawmakers sponsored Delegate Tran’s late-term abortion bill, in addition to Governor Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (D), and Attorney General Mark Herring (D).
Just days after the bill garnered nationwide attention, McAuliffe appeared on CNN stating that he would “absolutely not” support it when asked by host Jake Tapper.
“Where we come from, it’s ‘life of the mother’ in the last trimester,” said McAuliffe.
“I do not support that legislation, nor does Ralph [Northam],” he continued, falsely stating that Governor Northam did not support Tran’s “Repeal Act.”
However, the former governor backtracked on his views during a Monday interview on the “John Fredericks Show.”
McAuliffe explained that the bill was not completely focused on expanding abortion access throughout an entire pregnancy, but rather that it sought to change the Virginia requirement stating that women must get the approval of three doctors before pursuing a late-term abortion.
“This is very important. This is when stuff gets caught up in the political grinder,” McAuliffe said in reference to the outrage that ensued after Delegate Tran presented the bill and Governor Northam supported it the following day, also alluding to the support of infanticide.
During a morning address on WTOP’s “Ask The Governor” after the controversial bill was presented, Northam commented on the situation by saying the widespread reaction to the bill was “blown out of proportion.”
“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” the governor responded when asked about the legislation. Upon further questioning, he described a potential scenario if the bill were to be passed by the state legislature.
“The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam added, implying that the physician and mother would discuss whether the newly-born child should either live or die.
In his interview on the “John Fredericks Show,” McAuliffe doubled down in his support for the abortion bill, explaining that disputing bills like Delegate Tran’s will hurt the Commonwealth’s attractiveness to women in positions of power.
“Any time you get in these discussions, it’s not helpful,” he said, adding that “this was a common-sense bill.”
Terry McAuliffe Misleads Public Over His K-12 Education Funding While Governor
The former Virginia governor and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate may want to consider inflation when boasting about budgets.
Former Gov. McAuliffe Quiets Calls For Resignations In Virginia’s Executive Branch
As all three political leaders of Virginia’s Democrat-led executive branch have dealt with racial and sexual scandals over the past two weeks, it seems that not only Attorney General Mark Herring (D), but also Governor Ralph Northam (D) may get off scot-free for appearing in racist photos. After a week of rapprochement of protests in front of the Executive Mansion in downtown Richmond and universal calls from his own party for his resignation, former Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) is also backing down his charge for Northam to leave office.
McAuliffe, a presumed 2020 Democratic presidential contender, appeared on CBS‘s “Face the Nation” to speak about the controversies in the Commonwealth, meanwhile peddling his new book “Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism,” which is about how “Virginia and the country continue to deal with racism.”
While hitting off the segment with his new book, McAuliffe did not say a word about resignations, seemingly accepting Northam’s extraordinarily vague plan to redeem his image and his governorship with a “focus on race and equity.”
“I think he’s made a decision he’s going to stay in,” McAuliffe said of Northam, who was his own lieutenant governor while he was in charge of the Commonwealth until January 2018. McAuliffe added, “but the way that Ralph survives and brings Virginia back together, he’s got to lean in on these very important issues.”
Nevertheless, as Northam launches his “listening tour” throughout the Commonwealth to learn more about “race, history, and white privilege,” and other obvious things he apparently never knew, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax (D) is also dealing with a deepening sexual assault scandal that has his staffers jumping ship and his part-time law firm employer suspending him.
Currently, Fairfax is battling back against two accusers, one who said he sexually assaulted her in 2004, and one who said he raped her while in college in 2000.
Dr. Vanessa Tyson, a Scripps College professor, has alleged that Fairfax sexually assaulted her at the 2004 Boston Democratic National Convention. In her statement published by the New York Times, Dr. Tyson said she came forward after the news of Fairfax’s likely elevation to the top political position in Virginia as the governor is embroiled in racial controversy, because it “flooded” her with “painful memories, bringing back feelings of grief, shame, and anger that stemmed from an incident with Mr. Fairfax.”
Meredith Wilson, a student at Duke University in 2000, while Fairfax also attended the North Carolina college, came forth days later with allegations that she was raped by Fairfax in a “premeditated and aggressive” fashion.
Fairfax has called the accusations “false and unsubstantiated,” a “totally fabricated story,” and “demonstrably false.” The lieutenant governor has also accused staffers of embattled Governor Northam for leaking the sexual assault allegations and engaging in a “vicious and coordinated smear campaign” to derail his pathway to the governor’s office.
When news of the second sexual assault allegation broke, McAuliffe wasted no time in calling for Fairfax’s “immediate” resignation on Twitter.
“The allegations against Justin Fairfax are serious and credible. It is clear to me that he can no longer effectively serve the people of Virginia as Lieutenant Governor. I call for his immediate resignation,” he said.
However, McAuliffe is now quieting his own requests and demanding an investigation into the allegations.
Commenting on the situation, McAuliffe said, “Very serious allegations have been made. They need to be investigated…So we will go through that process.”
Showing a willingness to investigate the alleged crimes, Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) has said any inquiry must be bipartisan and “very deliberate.” However, House Democrats have blocked any probe by the General Assembly from moving forward, scuttling last week’s impeachment push by Delegate Patrick Hope (D-Arlington).
Regardless, McAuliffe’s remarks on Sunday suggest that Democratic leaders are coming around to accepting the scandalous status quo in Richmond. It could be that the party faithful have realized that a Republican would be in line for the governorship if all three in the executive branch resigned, or that, considering they came out and denounced Northam, Fairfax, and Herring, they feel they can remain in a position of moral high ground on issues of race, gender, and social justice.
Despite the situation looking more and more like a political double standard, Virginia’s top-three elected Democrats may end up holding on to their positions for the time being. Whether any of the three can go on to win higher offices still remains to be seen.
The other lurking question facing Virginia Democrats is whether the tainted triumvirate hurts the party as it looks to take control of both houses of the General Assembly in November’s elections, following its 15-seat gain in the House of Delegates in 2017. With a one-member majority in both the House and Senate, the longer the scandals roll on, the more dissatisfied the Democratic base could become, losing excitement at the ballot box.
Politifact Rates Kathy Tran’s Late Term Abortion Claim ‘False’
Politifact rated Kathy Tran’s abortion bill claim as false, finding that her measure allowing abortions through 40 weeks did substantially change the standard under which the procedures are allowed in Virginia.