BREAKING: Everything is going wrong for Trump today
Good evening, this is Really American. It is Friday, June 12th. Trump is certainly having one of the worst days of his presidency.
Trump’s name is coming off the Kennedy Center tonight as thousands watch live — and the Ohio congresswoman who single-handedly took him to court and won is there to see it happen. A federal judge permanently blocked the slush fund and demanded Blanche sign the death certificate under oath. Trump’s UFC birthday bash on Sunday is facing bugs, heat, storms, a recruitment ad for the military, and a judge who just let the fight proceed anyway. And at the Texas GOP convention today, a live elephant walked onto the convention floor and urinated all over it. The Texas Democratic Party called it the perfect metaphor for the Republican Party. They are not wrong.
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TRUMP’S NAME IS COMING OFF THE KENNEDY CENTER TONIGHT. THOUSANDS ARE WATCHING. THE WOMAN WHO MADE IT HAPPEN IS THERE.
Workers erected scaffolding in front of the Kennedy Center on Friday afternoon as the court-ordered deadline to remove President Trump’s name from the building arrived — and thousands of people tuned into a live stream to watch the moment in real time, while Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the congresswoman who single-handedly filed the lawsuit that made it all possible, was there in person to see it through.
“In an ideal world, would I like to be there? Yes,” Beatty told Washingtonian magazine earlier this week. “This is history. This will be written down in the history of the Kennedy Center, and I think I’d like to see it through and be a part of finishing the story.”
Beatty’s story begins in December, when she called into a Kennedy Center board meeting and was muted mid-objection as Trump’s handpicked loyalists voted to rename the institution after him — a vote they later described as unanimous, despite the fact that Beatty and other ex officio members had been silenced and prevented from voting. She filed suit immediately. A federal judge sided with her on May 29th. The deadline to comply was today.
Trump’s Justice Department lawyers made a last-ditch emergency appeal to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to keep his name on the building Friday afternoon, hours after US District Judge Christopher Cooper denied the Kennedy Center board’s motion to delay the removal. Cooper ruled the board had failed to demonstrate it was likely to win its appeal or that it would suffer irreparable harm if the name came down. The appeals court had not ruled on the emergency motion as of publication.
Meanwhile the Washington National Opera filed suit against the Kennedy Center this week for more than $17 million in donor contributions it says were never returned after the two organizations split in January amid the chaos of Trump’s takeover. Dozens of artists have withdrawn from appearances. The National Symphony Orchestra has not signed long-term contracts. The center’s executive director left. And Trump’s name is coming off the building tonight.
Joyce Beatty was muted on a Zoom call in December. She filed a lawsuit. A judge sided with her. Tonight Trump’s name is coming off the Kennedy Center and she is there to watch. Thousands more are watching online. This is what fighting back looks like.
A FEDERAL JUDGE PERMANENTLY BLOCKED THE SLUSH FUND AND DEMANDED BLANCHE SIGN IT UNDER OATH.
A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked Trump’s $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund and issued a stinging rebuke of the administration’s attempts to claim the fund was dead without actually committing to that in writing — giving the government one week to enter a “clear, unambiguous” declaration signed under oath by both Treasury Secretary Bessent and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that the fund will never be revived.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction at a Virginia federal court hearing Friday, forcefully rejecting the government’s argument that the case was moot. She cited Trump’s own Truth Social posts praising the fund, his Meet the Press interview in which he said the weaponization fund was “a great idea” and he would be “disappointed” if Republicans did not get it approved, and Blanche’s repeated refusal to swear under the penalty of perjury that the administration would not try to resurrect it.
“We don’t have the kind of absolute certainty that this fund wouldn’t rear its head again,” Brinkema said. She said the public interest in the case was “very, very strong” and found there was a real possibility of irreparable harm to American taxpayers and the separation of powers if the fund were allowed to proceed.
A DOJ attorney argued that his word as an officer of the court should be sufficient. Brinkema disagreed. She wants Blanche and Bessent to sign it themselves.
Senators Bill Cassidy and Cory Booker, who filed a brief in the case, called the fund a “threat to our constitutional democracy” and an “improper and unconstitutional transfer of taxpayer dollars, including to those who engaged in a violent insurrection against the United States.”
The judge blocked the fund permanently. She wants Blanche to sign it under oath. Trump called it a great idea on Meet the Press. The IRS immunity Trump gave himself is still in place. The courts keep saying no.
TRUMP’S UFC BIRTHDAY BASH IS FACING BUGS, HEAT, STORMS AND A MILITARY RECRUITMENT AD.
Trump’s White House UFC birthday fight on Sunday is increasingly looking like a spectacle no one fully planned for — with AccuWeather forecasting 91 degree heat, thunderstorms possible late in the afternoon, and an “extreme” bug risk that a University of Maryland entomologist says is a 100 percent certainty, as the administration revealed Friday that the event will also be used to run a military recruitment advertisement.
“This Sunday Night, during the historic Freedom 250 UFC Fight at the White House, The Department of War will debut their first TV Ad, entitled ‘Peace Through Strength,’” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday. “The Warrior Ethos is BACK at the War Department, and we call on our greatest young Americans to join our Great Fighting Force.”
The bug situation is genuinely alarming. AccuWeather’s bug tracker warns of “extreme” insect conditions Sunday, with mosquitoes, stink bugs, roaches, termites, midges, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, winged beetles, night-flying moths, and bats all expected to descend on the South Lawn’s giant illuminated steel structure known as “The Claw.” UFC boss Dana White encountered a “holy s--t” level of gnats during a single visit to the Rose Garden earlier this year.
A lawsuit to block the event was rejected Friday by a judge who found the plaintiffs failed to show how they would be harmed. VIP packages have sold for up to $1.5 million. Paramount, owned by Trump ally David Ellison, is streaming the fights. Trump bought up to $50,000 in TKO stock, UFC’s parent company, in March.
91 degrees. Extreme bug risk. Possible thunderstorms. A military recruitment ad. A corruption lawsuit that failed. Trump’s 80th birthday party is in two days.
A REPUBLICAN ELEPHANT LITERALLY URINATED ALL OVER THE TEXAS GOP CONVENTION FLOOR.
Texas Republicans brought a live elephant onto the convention floor in Houston Friday to celebrate Governor Greg Abbott’s speech — and the elephant, named Page, responded by urinating a large puddle near the press area in what observers immediately and universally described as the perfect metaphor for the modern Republican Party.
The elephant was led through the convention hall wearing a banner reading “UNITY DRIVES VICTORY” and Greg Abbott’s campaign logo, as music blared and attendees applauded. The mood shifted quickly when Page paused mid-walk and relieved itself in front of the press section.
“The perfect metaphor for the Texas Republican Party,” the Texas Democratic Party posted alongside video of the incident.
The Texas GOP was already having a rough day before the elephant arrived. The party had ousted its chair earlier in the day amid bitter intraparty squabbling that has defined a tumultuous primary season — most notably the stunning defeat of incumbent Senator John Cornyn to Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Trump-backed primary runoff last month.
The elephant peed on the floor. The party chair was ousted. John Cornyn lost his Senate seat to Ken Paxton. The banner said Unity Drives Victory. The elephant had other ideas.
HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP TODAY
Trump’s name is coming off the Kennedy Center tonight. The slush fund was permanently blocked and the judge wants Blanche to sign it under oath. Trump’s birthday party is facing bugs, heat, and storms. And a Republican elephant peed all over the Texas GOP convention. These are the stories that matter and Really American is covering them without a billionaire calling the shots.
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I am very happy for the Kennedy family, except RFK Jr of course.
Everyone is saying FU Trump