Trump headlines Turning Point event with Tucker and GOP allies – latest – The Independent

For the past two years, Ray Epps has been living a surreal nightmare, one born out of the same conspiracy theory universe that launched a riot in the halls of Congress, hundreds of criminal investigations, and a blockbuster defamation lawsuit against one of the most influential cable networks in the country.

The man in the middle of the right-wing conspiracy theory surrounding January 6 has accused Tucker Carlson of amplifying a “fantastical” story that has destroyed his family and his business, accusations that echo an historic $787m settlement between Fox and Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the network of spreading defamatory statements about the company in the election’s aftermath.

“It certainly is possible for us to prove a pattern of disregard for the truth,” attorney Michael Teter tells The Independent.

“I believe that this case is ripe for punitive damages, not just because of the willfulness on the part of lying about Ray and the egregious lies but also because there’s a past conduct here of disregard for the truth,” he says.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump booster among Republican candidates vying for the 2024 Republican nomination, painted an apocalyptic vision of the state of the contry in his remarks to a lackluster crowd at the Turning Point Action Conference in Florida on Saturday.

The 37-year-old far-right figure blamed “wokeism, transgenderinism and climatism” for the “poison” that fills what he characterized as a void in American society.

“At a time in our national history, when the things that used to fill our void, faith, patriotism, hard work, family, these things have disappeared, and that leaves a black hold in its wake,” he said.

His remarks largely echoed other speakers at the conference and statements from other far-right pundits who deny the accelerating climate crisis and scapegoat trans people for what he believes is American decline.

Ramaswamy also invented a baseless narrative about the January 6 attack, which he did not blame on bogus conspiracy theories or the actions of people who refused to accept the outcome of a democratic election.

“The truth is this: January 6 was the result of a pervasive culture of censorship across this country,” he said. “When you tell people they can’t scream, that’s when they start tearing things down.”

The speaking lineup at Turning Point USA’s Turning Point Action conference in Palm Beach, Florida wasted no time targeting transgender rights in their laundry list of grievances to rally attendees and tee up 2024 campaigns.

Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who unsuccessfully ran for chair of the Republican National Committee, opened the speaking lineup with a series of inflammatory claims about trans people and their families.

Ms Dhillon claimed that schools are “inflicting powerful psychological indoctrination on vulnerable children” and compared doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare to Nazis.

She called transition healthcare the “Mengele-like experimentation on America’s children”.

Republican US Rep Byron Donalds also falsely claimed that the “radical left” wants to “drive a wedge” between parents and children” by affirming childrens’ genders.

Tucker Carlson returns to the political stage at the Tuning Point Action conference one day after a evangelical-hosted Republican presidential showcase for the former Fox News pundit, who spoke with several Republican candidates who are not Donald Trump.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the event, as Carlson pressed the candidates with a line of questioning that questioned whether Ukraine was the aggressor and adopted a position that appeared to stand alongside Putin’s.

He will return to the stage this evening just before Trump delivers headlining remarks at the far-right Turning Point USA-hosted conference.

More from his Friday event from Josh Marcus and Ariana Baio:

Anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project has blasted Senator Tommy Tuberville for blocking Senate confirmations of all senior military officers to protest a Defense Department policy that pays for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care.

Thanks to the senator, the US Marine Corps is without a leader for the first time in 150 years. In a new ad by the group, the Lincoln Project says the Marines’ proud legacy is being tarnished by Mr Tuberville, labelling him a “domestic enemy and a “traitor”.

President Joe Biden on Thursday hit out at Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s monthslong effort to block the upper chamber from advancing hundreds of promotions for military officers and nominations for key positions in the US armed services, calling the Republican lawmaker’s position “ridiculous” and a threat to national security.

A Republican lawmaker has a bizarre new label for Hunter Biden – glitter.

Speaking at a House Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, Rep Wesley Hunt compared President Joe Biden’s son to the sparkly stuff.

“Hunter Biden to me, is like glitter. He is on everything and you cannot get rid of him,” he fumed.

The top election official in New Mexico is among several statest officials who have talked with federal prosecutors as part of the special counsel’s probe into the 2020 election.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver spoke with prosecutors at some point over the last few months, as Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith investigates Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn election results in states that he lost.

Prosecutors have subpoenaed election officials several states and correspondence with Trump-linked officials.

A former White House aide to President Donald Trump who became a prominent congressional witness against him and his allies in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol has a book deal. Cassidy Hutchinson‘s “Enough” will be released Sept. 26 by Simon & Schuster.

“With ‘Enough,’ she provides a riveting account of her extraordinary experiences as an idealistic young woman thrust into the middle of a national crisis,” according to the publisher’s announcement.

After an anaemic showing in the midterms, Republicans have virtually no cushion in their quest to retain control of the House, which was made all the more complicated by a surprise U.S. Supreme Court decision last month that will likely bring two new safely Democratic districts. Democrats need to pick up just five seats to control the House.