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Trump stopped short of declaring he will run for office again, but he set off a huge ovation by hinting at a 2024 run. "Who knows? Who knows? I may even decide to beat them for a third time," Trump said, alluding to his 2016 victory, his disputed loss in 2020, and the next election 2024.Trump also spoke at CPAC about Big Tech. Also from RT:
Trump made it clear that he will seek to remain a powerful force in Republican politics. "I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together... four years ago is far from being over," he said. "This movement is just getting started, and in the end, we will win."
Trump took aim at President Biden, labeling the Democrat's first 30 days in office "the most disastrous first month" of any president in modern history. Continuing his wide-ranging onslaught against the president, he argued that the new administration has quickly taken the country further left than advertised, describing Biden's presidential campaign as "all lies." Trump accused the Democratic Party of being "anti-jobs, anti-family, anti-economy, anti-energy and anti-women and anti-science."
The former president blasted Biden's immigration reforms aimed at dismantling some of his own hard-line policies, calling them "not just illegal," but also "immoral" and "a betrayal of our nation's core values." Among other things, Trump criticized Biden for immediately ending the travel ban that blocked entry for most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea. The Republican also took a swipe at the Biden administration for rejoining the Paris climate accord, arguing that Biden should have negotiated a better deal if he was hellbent on returning to the agreement.
"In one short month, we've gone from America first to America last," Trump charged.
On the issue of school reopenings, Trump accused Biden of caving to pressure from teacher unions, urging the Democratic administration to immediately get them reopened. Accusing Biden of "killing" over 40,000 jobs with the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline, Trump argued that the the US will lose its energy independence under the new administration. "You're going to see costs go like you've never seen them before," he said.
"The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition," Trump said on Sunday at the CPAC in Orlando. "Republicans, conservatives must open our platforms and repeal section 230 liability protections," he added.If only there were a President who would do, while in office, what Trump talks about once he's no longer in office. Too much to ask?
While in the past the public had a chance to hear both sides of the argument before making an informed decision, Big Tech censorship disproportionately targeted conservatives, depriving them of the right to be heard, Trump argued.
"You would win, you would lose... But now there is no debate, because they refuse allow our side to even speak or to be heard."
If the power of Big Tech cannot be curbed at federal level immediately, Trump urged "every state in the union where we have the votes" to "punish Big Tech with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices." He noted that Texas and Florida "are doing this" already.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been championing a bill seeking to rein in tech companies by allowing users to bring a "cause of action" against platforms violating Florida law. The bill, if it becomes law, would bar platforms from rapidly changing their policy and enforcing it selectively against users. Under the law, consumers would have the right to "opt-out" from algorithms that shadow-ban certain information. "As these companies have grown and their influence expanded, Big Tech has come to look more like Big Brother with each passing day," DeSantis said, as he voiced support for the bill in early February.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this month announced that his office was working on a bill to "prevent social media providers like Facebook & Twitter from canceling conservative speech." The bill will reportedly give the state more leverage to regulate social media companies, and allow Texans, yanked off social media platforms over political or religious views, the right to take Twitter and Facebook to court.
Trump made his comments on Silicon Valley giants and the censoring of conservative voices - including his own social media accounts - after calling for reforms to ensure "fair, honest and secure elections." For instance, he said, the US must end mass mail-in voting, require voter identification, verify that each voter is a legal citizen and provide chain-of-custody protection for all ballots.
"All the election-integrity measures in the world will mean nothing if we don't have free speech," he stressed.
"Sooner or later, the cup of patience, including the Syrian government, may be overflowing, and a retaliatory strike will follow, which will accordingly lead to a new round of tension. These attacks must be stopped, they are counterproductive. We hope that the Israeli side will hear our concerns, including concerns about the possible escalation of violence in Syria. "Given the fact that we are talking about an official statement, it is obvious that Russia is extremely unhappy with Israel's actions, especially after strikes were struck in areas where Russian military and civilian Syrian citizens were stationed.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state, county, political subdivision or any other publicly funded organization shall not implement any action that restricts a person's rights or that the Office of the Attorney General or the Legislature by a majority vote determines to be unconstitutional.Federal law always trumps state law, but any federal action that is unconstitutional is not a law at all. HB 1236 raises a series of interesting legal questions.
Comment: See also: Police called to Boris Johnson's home after neighbours hear partner screaming