"Can't they take their Twitter accounts away, too?" McCarthy was heard saying on a call, likely referring to how former President Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter after the riot.
During his show on Tuesday, Carlson criticized McCarthy for what the lawmaker said on the call.
"Kevin McCarthy of California told his close friend, Liz Cheney, that he hoped the social media companies would censor more conservative Republicans in the Congress," Carlson said, adding that Trump had been "silenced by those companies" during his presidency.
Carlson noted McCarthy had also expressed a desire to have "tech oligarchs" take more steps to "force disobedient lawmakers off the internet."
Commenting on McCarthy's suggestion to remove some parties from Twitter, Carlson said: "Those are the tape-recorded words of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a man who in private turns out sounds like an MSNBC contributor."
The Fox News host also warned that McCarthy or "one of his highly liberal allies" would likely become Speaker of the House if conservatives didn't "get their act together right away."
"And that would mean we will have a Republican Congress led by a puppet of the Democratic Party," Carlson added.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/wlLNm26
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
Then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters outside the White House on October 26, 2020.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File
Multiple officials texted Mark Meadows on Jan. 6, a House committee investigation showed.
Many asked Meadows to fix the ongoing situation at the Capitol, with some begging Trump to condemn the riots.
Insider compiled a list of texts sent to Meadows during the insurrection.
Republican lawmakers, Trump officials, and Fox News hosts took to their phones on the day of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, frantically messaging then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in hopes of getting the situation under control — all according to text records provided by Meadows himself.
Meadows turned over thousands of texts to the US House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn't the way to solve anything
Mark we don't think these attackers are our people. We think they are Antifa. Dressed like Trump supporters.
Jared Kushner (to Mark Meadows, Jason Miller, and Dan Scavino)
Why don't we post on his Facebook page since he isn't locked out there…
Can he make a statement?... Ask people to leave the Capitol
Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days. He can't mention the election again. Ever. I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I'm not sure what is left to do or say, and I don't like not knowing if it's truly understood. Ideas?
There's an armed standoff at the house chamber door
We're all helpless
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Georgia
It's really bad up here on the hill.
They have breached the Capitol.
Thanks. This doesn't help our cause.
Mick Mulvaney, former White House Chief of Staff for President Trump
Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?
Rep. William Timmons, South Carolina
The president needs to stop this ASAP
Jason Miller, Chief Trump Spokesperson for Trump 2016 campaign (to Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino)
Call me crazy, but ideas for two tweets from POTUS: 1) Bad apples, likely ANTIFA or other crazed leftists, infiltrated today's peaceful protest over the fraudulent vote count. Violence is never acceptable! MAGA supporters embrace our police and the rule of law and should leave the Capitol now! 2) The fake news media who encouraged this summer's violent and radical riots are now trying to blame peaceful and innocent MAGA supporters for violent actions. This isn't who we are! Our people should head home and let the criminals suffer the consequences!
Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas
Cap Police told me last night they'd been warned that today there'd be a lot of Antifa dressed in red Trump shirts & hats & would likely get violent. Good that Trump denounces violence but could add & well demand justice for those who became violent & well get to the bottom of what group they're with.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/zKDM0fx
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
The value of Elon Musk's personal stake in Tesla plunged by $40 billion since April 4, Bloomberg reported.
Chesnot/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Tesla lost $126 billion in value after its CEO, Elon Musk, clinched a deal to buy Twitter.
Investors fear that Musk may sell some of his Tesla stock to fund his Twitter takeover.
Musk's personal stake in Tesla has fallen by $40 billion in value this month.
Tesla's stock plummeted more than 12% on Tuesday, losing around $126 billion in value a day after Elon Musk, the electric carmaker's CEO, struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
The company's market capitalization is now $906 billion, down from more than $1 trillion on Monday.
According to multiple media outlets, the pressure on Tesla's stock largely stems from concerns over how Musk is financing his Twitter takeover. The billionaire has obtained a $12.5 billion loan secured against his Tesla shares — he owns a 17% stake in the EV company — and another $13 billion borrowed from Wall Street.
Musk has agreed to pay the remaining $21 billion but hasn't said how he'll dig up the funds, fuelling investor concerns that he may sell off a significant portion of his Tesla stock to cover the cost.
The value of Musk's stake in Tesla had plunged by $40 billion since April 4, when he initially disclosed that he had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, Bloomberg reported. Since then, Tesla's stock dipped several times before Tuesday's sell-off, resulting in a total 23% drop — or $275 billion — in the EV maker's share value this month.
Fears that the billionaire will unload some of his stock for the takeover are "causing a bear festival in the name," Wedbush analyst David Ives told Bloomberg.
Tesla even forewarned earlier this year that its stock price would suffer if Musk sold its shares as collateral. "If Elon Musk were forced to sell shares of our common stock that he has pledged to secure certain personal loan obligations, such sales could cause our stock price to decline," the company said in its latest annual filing.
In November, Musk sold off $5 billion of his Tesla stock due to expiring stock options and a $10 billion tax bill that he was facing, Insider's Tim Levin previously reported.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/t4IU5Gr
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
from /r/Technology https://ift.tt/lDvbIOX
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
Others consider his headline-making lies a danger to their community and the country.
Voters in Kevin McCarthy's hometown of Bakersfield, a Republican stronghold in the largely liberal state of California, have polarized opinions about their congressional representative.
The House Minority Leader is embroiled in controversy for leaked audio revealing he privately criticized former President Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol while publicly supporting him, then lied about it.
While some residents of his home district view recent headlines as signs of his political prowess, others view him as a danger to their community and the country.
"My personal observation is that he does not cut corners or seek special consideration. His word can be believed, his performance can be relied on, and he treats other people with both friendship and respect," Dr. Mohsen Attaran, professor of management at California State University, Bakersfield, told Insider. "He's at the same time an ambitious and compassionate individual."
Attaran, who taught McCarthy in the late 1980s and early 1990s in undergraduate and graduate classes, said that McCarthy's public support of former President Trump appears to be a political decision meant to keep him in office so he can continue working toward the goals of the Republican party platform.
A platform, he said, that mirrors the community values of Bakersfield.
Underdog Challengers
Other residents of the region, including challenger Ben Dewell, see McCarthy's behavior as an existential threat to the community.
"I almost feel like if I didn't run now that I might participate in some kind of civil war to come," Dewell, a candidate running against McCarthy in the upcoming primary, told Insider: "Unfortunately, the rancor between people and their politics is so divisive right now."
Prominent signage endorsing Kevin McCarthy is visible on streets throughout his hometown of Bakersfield.
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Dewell, a meteorologist living on a fixed income, said he was inspired to run for Congress following McCarthy's behavior after Jan. 6.
"I thought about what McCarthy had done by turning around in his disgust for Trump. At the time, he was saying 'yeah, this has to stop.' We heard all that on January 6 and January 7," Dewell said. "But he went to Mar-a-Lago and that picture of him smiling with Trump, to me, is violating his oath of office. And I was just thinking 'I just can't let that pass.'"
Dewell acknowledged the challenges facing his candidacy running as a Democrat in the conservative region with limited name recognition and fundraising. So far, he has registered $101 in campaign donations with the Federal Election Commission, compared to McCarthy's $17,752,094.
Other candidates face similar odds against McCarthy, who is campaigning for his 9th term and is a likely candidate for Speaker of the House should Republicans win enough seats in the midterms. The primary Democratic challenger for the district, Marisa Wood, has raised just over $553,000 in campaign contributions.
Wood's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment for this story.
James "Deviant" Davis poses with original campaign artwork next to his van which he, until recently, lived in.
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
James "Deviant" Davis, a Republicanchallenger, has not raised any donations toward his run for Congress and, until recently, lived out of his vehicle after what he described as a campaign of persecution against him that originated with a former business associate. His platform includes resetting all currency standards, clearing all debt in a "debt jubilee," and shrinking the government.
Politics, he said, is all a scheme.
"It's a Ponzi scheme, you know, and the Ponzi scheme collapsed. And it collapsed twice now that I know of underneath Kevin McCarthy's watch," Davis told Insider.
Davis met with Insider outside Sequoia Sandwich Co. in downtown Bakersfield, sporting dark fingernail polish with green designs in binary code which read "1001011010," which he said translates to "666." During the hourlong interview, he spoke of being arrested multiple times for what he called baseless accusations, theorized that all civilians are subject to mind control by MK Ultra, and said Donald Trump might be part of a league of actors controlling the world.
McCarthy's congressional office did not return Insider's requests for an interview for this article.
Local Legacy?
Whether McCarthy is active in his Bakersfield community depends on who you ask.
Attaran, his former professor, told Insider he hosted the congressman in a guest lecture series several years ago and that his wife tells him she often sees McCarthy posting photos of himself at local events on Instagram.
The local firehouse prominently features a memorial to Rep. McCarthy's father, Owen McCarthy, who served as a firefighter and assistant fire chief for the community his whole career. But a spokesperson for the department said that in the 20 years he'd worked there, the only time the representative visited was during the dedication of the memorial in 2012.
A memorial for Rep. McCarthy's father, Owen McCarthy, is prominently displayed at the Bakersfield Fire Department, where he served as assistant fire chief.
Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Unknown Midterm Impact
McCarthy's popularity also appears to be waning with voters compared to his early terms. In his first election in 2006, McCarthy won with 71% of the vote. He ran uncontested in 2008 and 2010. Since then, the margin of his wins has slowly shrunken each election. McCarthy won 62% of the vote during the last voting cycle in 2020.
In April polling by Politico, McCarthy's overall approval rating was 22% nationwide. 40% of registered voters had an unfavorable opinion, while 38% said they either had no strong feelings or hadn't heard of the representative.
It's so far unclear what, if any, impact McCarthy's recorded comments about Donald Trump and Rep. Matt Gaetz will have on local voters. Trump has signaled he is "on very good terms" with McCarthy since finding out about the recorded call, alluding to McCarthy's strong public support in the days since.
For McCarthy's proponents, Trump's support indicates the congressman is in line with the party and likely to win the upcoming midterm election.
"I think Kevin, the main idea is, he supports the Republican party platform, and he is trying to help his community, his constituency, and I think he is doing an excellent job of both. Now whether he supports Trump or not, this is something that as a politician, you try to make a decision on how to win. You know, supporting your party platform, and I think he is doing an excellent job of that," Professor Attaran said of his former pupil.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he is going to be elected this time around because of his political roots," Attaran added. "His roots are very strong in the community, because of his demeanor, because of his help, because of his paying attention to details and supporting the community any which way but loose."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/6ep1Nrd
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
A worker walks past part of a gas pipeline at a compressor station in Amur region, Russia, November 29, 2019.
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Russia is escalating a conflict over gas and turning off the tap on supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
Supplies to both countries are now slated to end on April 27, after they refused to pay in rubles.
Russia gave an ultimatum in March that "unfriendly" nations must pay for energy supplies in rubles.
Russia said it would turn off its gas supplies to both Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after both countries refused to pay for energy supplies in rubles.
Poland's national gas firm, PGNiG, said in a statement that it was notified by Russian energy corporation Gazprom on April 26 that deliveries of gas supplies running through the Yamal pipeline would be wholly suspended unless payment came in rubles.
"The companies are monitoring the situation and are prepared for various scenarios," wrote PGNiG in its statement, adding that it was working to find alternative gas suppliers and that its fuel reserves are sufficiently stocked-up.
According to CNBC, Poland receives around 9 billion cubic meters of Russian gas via the Yamal pipeline every year.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the press on Tuesday, before the announcement, that the Kremlin may "punish Poland" for opposing its invasion of Ukraine, per Bloomberg. The cutting-off of supplies also coincides with further sanctions from Poland on Russian oligarchs and organizations — including Gazprom.
Meanwhile, Poland's environment and climate minister tweeted on Tuesday that Polish citizens should not expect an interruption to its energy supplies.
"Poland has the necessary gas reserves and sources of supply that protect our security - we have been effectively independent from Russia for years," Moskwa tweeted. "Our warehouses are 76% full. There will be no shortage of gas in Polish homes."
Gazprom also notified Bulgaria's energy ministry that its energy supplies would be cut off. According to CNN, its energy ministry said that the Bulgarians were not rationing gas in response to Russia's move, and have taken steps to find other sources of natural gas.
Bulgaria's energy ministry added that it had "fully fulfilled its obligations and has made all payments required under this contract in a timely manner, diligently and in accordance with its provisions."
NPR reported, however, that Bulgaria does rely on Russia for 90% of its gas resources.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/JAFds90
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
President Donald Trump (R) speaks as he joined by House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (L) in the Rose Garden of the White House on January 4, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Leaked audio captured House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's private comments about his GOP colleagues over the Capitol riot.
NYT reporters Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin obtained the audio in reporting for a forthcoming book.
In one call, McCarthy ruminated if a GOP lawmaker could be banned from Twitter over a now-deleted tweet about the Jan. 6 attack.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wondered aloud if some GOP lawmakers could be banned from social media over controversial posts like former President Donald Trump, according to a report by The New York Times.
In audio recordings obtained by Times reporters Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin, the House Minority Leader was heard expressing concern over the comments of his GOP colleagues inciting violence in the wake of the Capitol riot.
McCarthy reportedly called out some of the aforementioned lawmakers by name, including GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mo Brooks. (Brooks delivered a speech at a rally preceding the Capitol siege.)
On a call with Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and other GOP leaders, McCarthy discussed other GOP lawmakers who had made concerning remarks regarding the Capitol siege, including Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Louie Gohmert of Texas, and Barry Moore of Alabama, according to The Times.
At one point of the call, a now-deleted tweet by Moore was read, in which the Alabama lawmaker commented on the shooting death of pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt.
"I Understand (sic) it was a black police officer that shot the white female veteran," he tweeted the weekend following the January 6 attack. "You know that doesn't fit the narrative."
After the comment was read on the call, McCarthy said in response: "Can't they take their Twitter accounts away, too?" alluding to Trump's ban from the social media platform in early January 2021.
McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
The release of this audio follows the reporting of a slew of other statements he has reportedly said behind closed doors, including one where he privately blamed Trump for the Capitol riot to his colleagues, according to leaked audio previously obtained by The Times. Before the tapes were released, the House GOP leader denied making the statements.
"I've had it with this guy," McCarthy said of Trump during a phone call with House Republicans, according to reporters Burns and Martin. "What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it."
Democrats tore into McCarthy for defending Trump publicly and denouncing him privately, calling McCarthy "feckless, spineless" and a "liar."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/DfUNHxi
via IFTTT https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smartgadgets- https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/smart_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/modern_gadgets https://href.li/?https://bit.ly/kitchen_toods
