Latest news with #PeterWelch
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘An Astonishing Double-Cross': Top Dem Rips Trump for ‘Lying' to Voters Over Iran Strikes
A top Democrat has slammed the White House for reneging on last year's campaign promise not to drive the United States deeper into foreign wars. 'This is an astonishing double cross by Donald Trump to his supporters and to his pledge to Americans,' Vermont Senator Peter Welch told MSNBC after the president's bombing campaign against three separate nuclear facilities in Iran. Saturday's attacks on nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan represent one of the most significant U.S. offensives against Iran since the Islamic Republic's founding in 1979. The historic assault has served to drag the White House firmly into the mounting Israel-Iran conflict, now the fifth active U.S. military engagement in the region after the war in Gaza and the Yemeni, Somali and Syrian civil wars. The president's decision to order the strikes represents a screeching U-turn on pledges made during his campaign last year, when he spoke repeatedly of the need to put an end to 'forever wars' overseas by taking on 'warmongers and America-last globalists.' 'This was Trump at his most impulsive,' Welch told MSNBC on Sunday. '[He] lied to the American people and to his voters promising he would not get us in[to] yet another Middle East war.' The Vermont senator noted Trump had disregarded intelligence as to Iran's nuclear capabilities from his own officials, who determined the Islamic Republic did not appear to have resumed its nuclear weapons program, suspended in 2003, and that even if it had, it would take at least three years for the country to develop the capacity for a nuclear strike. That intel had already been preemptively undercut by Israel's military offensive against Iran last week, launched off the back of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims the extremist Islamist state had passed 'the point of no return' in its nuclear ambitions and was as little as 'months' away from building a nuclear weapon. 'Netanyahu sabotaged the negotiations [with Iran] and Trump willingly acceded to the Netanyahu agenda, which is also about regime change in Iran,' Welch added during his Saturday MSNBC appearance. 'In my view the last thing we need is a war, another war in the Middle East, and I'm one of the many in Congress that are going to be demanding that we vote on this,' he went on.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats are at odds over response as Trump announces the US has entered Israel-Iran war
After nearly two years of stark divisions over the war in Gaza and support for Israel, Democrats seemed to remain at odds over policy toward Iran. Progressives demanded unified opposition before President Donald Trump announced U.S. strikes against Tehran's nuclear program but party leaders were treading more cautiously. U.S. leaders of all stripes have found common ground for two decades on the position that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. The longtime U.S. foe has supported groups that have killed Americans across the Mideast and threatened to destroy Israel. But Trump's announcement Saturday that the U.S. had struck three nuclear sites could become the Democratic Party's latest schism, just as it was sharply dividing Trump's isolationist 'Make America Great Again' base from more hawkish conservatives. Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, noted that in January, Trump suggested the U.S. could 'measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.' 'Today, against his own words, the president sent bombers into Iran,' Martin said in a statement. 'Americans overwhelmingly do not want to go to war. Americans do not want to risk the safety of our troops abroad.' Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said the U.S. entering the war in Iran 'does not make America more secure.' 'This bombing was an act of war that risks retaliation by the Iranian regime,' Welch said in a statement. While progressives in the lead-up to the military action had staked out clear opposition to Trump's potential intervention, the party leadership played the safer ground of insisting on a role for Congress before any use of force. Martin's statement took a similar tact, stating, "Americans do not want a president who bypasses our constitution and pulls us towards war without Congressional approval. Donald Trump needs to bring his case to Congress immediately.' Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine called Trump's actions, 'Horrible judgement" and said he'd 'push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.' Many prominent Democrats with 2028 presidential aspirations had been silent on the Israel-Iran war, even before Trump's announcement — underscoring how politically tricky the issue can be for the party. 'They are sort of hedging their bets,' said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who served under Democratic President Barack Obama and is now a strategist on foreign policy. 'The beasts of the Democratic Party's constituencies right now are so hostile to Israel's war in Gaza that it's really difficult to come out looking like one would corroborate an unauthorized war that supports Israel without blowback.' Progressive Democrats also are using Trump's ideas and words Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., had called Trump's consideration of an attack 'a defining moment for our party.' Khanna had introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that called on the Republican president to 'terminate' the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless 'explicitly authorized' by a declaration of war from Congress. Khanna used Trump's own campaign arguments of putting American interests first when the congressman spoke to Theo Von, a comedian who has been supportive of the president and is popular in the so-called 'manosphere" of male Trump supporters. 'That's going to cost this country a lot of money that should be being spent here at home,' said Khanna, who is said to be among the many Democrats eyeing the party's 2028 primary. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, had pointed to Trump's stated goal during his inaugural speech of being known as 'a peacemaker and a unifier.' "Supporting Netanyahu's war against Iran would be a catastrophic mistake,' Sanders said about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sanders reintroduced legislation prohibiting the use of federal money for force against Iran, insisted that U.S. military intervention would be unwise and illegal and accused Israel of striking unprovoked. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signed on to a similar bill from Sanders in 2020, but so far was holding off this time. Some believed the party should stake out a clear anti-war stance. 'The leaders of the Democratic Party need to step up and loudly oppose war with Iran and demand a vote in Congress,' said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama aide, on X. Mainstream Democrats are cautious, while critical The staunch support from the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for Israel's war against Hamas loomed over the party's White House ticket in 2024, even with the criticism of Israel's handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump exploited the divisions to make inroads with Arab American voters and Orthodox Jews on his way back to the White House. Today, the Israel-Iran war is the latest test for a party struggling to repair its coalition before next year's midterm elections and the quick-to-follow kickoff to the 2028 presidential race. The party will look to bridge the divide between an activist base that is skeptical of foreign interventions and already critical of U.S. support for Israel and more traditional Democrats and independents who make up a sizable, if not always vocal, voting bloc. In a statement after Israel's first strikes on Iran, Schumer said Israel has a right to defend itself and 'the United States' commitment to Israel's security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran's response.' Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said 'the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment." Other Democrats have condemned Israel's strikes and accused Netanyahu of sabotaging nuclear talks with Iran. They are reminding the public that Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions negotiated during the Obama administration. 'Trump created the problem,' Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on X. The progressives' pushback A Pearson Institute/Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from September 2024 found that about half of Democrats said the U.S. was being 'too supportive' of Israel and about 4 in 10 said their level of support was 'about right.' Democrats were more likely than independents and Republicans to say the Israeli government had 'a lot' of responsibility for the continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas. About 6 in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans felt Iran was an adversary with whom the U.S. was in conflict. ___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Linley Sanders, Will Weissert and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report Adriana Gomez Licon And Thomas Beaumont, The Associated Press
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats are at odds over response as Trump announces the US has entered Israel-Iran war
After nearly two years of stark divisions over the war in Gaza and support for Israel, Democrats seemed to remain at odds over policy toward Iran. Progressives demanded unified opposition before President Donald Trump announced U.S. strikes against Tehran's nuclear program but party leaders were treading more cautiously. U.S. leaders of all stripes have found common ground for two decades on the position that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. The longtime U.S. foe has supported groups that have killed Americans across the Mideast and threatened to destroy Israel. But Trump's announcement Saturday that the U.S. had struck three nuclear sites could become the Democratic Party's latest schism, just as it was sharply dividing Trump's isolationist 'Make America Great Again' base from more hawkish conservatives. Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, noted that in January, Trump suggested the U.S. could 'measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.' 'Today, against his own words, the president sent bombers into Iran,' Martin said in a statement. 'Americans overwhelmingly do not want to go to war. Americans do not want to risk the safety of our troops abroad.' Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said the U.S. entering the war in Iran 'does not make America more secure.' 'This bombing was an act of war that risks retaliation by the Iranian regime,' Welch said in a statement. While progressives in the lead-up to the military action had staked out clear opposition to Trump's potential intervention, the party leadership played the safer ground of insisting on a role for Congress before any use of force. Martin's statement took a similar tact, stating, "Americans do not want a president who bypasses our constitution and pulls us towards war without Congressional approval. Donald Trump needs to bring his case to Congress immediately.' Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine called Trump's actions, 'Horrible judgement" and said he'd 'push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.' Many prominent Democrats with 2028 presidential aspirations had been silent on the Israel-Iran war, even before Trump's announcement — underscoring how politically tricky the issue can be for the party. 'They are sort of hedging their bets,' said Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state who served under Democratic President Barack Obama and is now a strategist on foreign policy. 'The beasts of the Democratic Party's constituencies right now are so hostile to Israel's war in Gaza that it's really difficult to come out looking like one would corroborate an unauthorized war that supports Israel without blowback.' Progressive Democrats also are using Trump's ideas and words Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., had called Trump's consideration of an attack 'a defining moment for our party.' Khanna had introduced legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that called on the Republican president to 'terminate' the use of U.S. armed forces against Iran unless 'explicitly authorized' by a declaration of war from Congress. Khanna used Trump's own campaign arguments of putting American interests first when the congressman spoke to Theo Von, a comedian who has been supportive of the president and is popular in the so-called 'manosphere" of male Trump supporters. 'That's going to cost this country a lot of money that should be being spent here at home,' said Khanna, who is said to be among the many Democrats eyeing the party's 2028 primary. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, had pointed to Trump's stated goal during his inaugural speech of being known as 'a peacemaker and a unifier.' "Supporting Netanyahu's war against Iran would be a catastrophic mistake,' Sanders said about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sanders reintroduced legislation prohibiting the use of federal money for force against Iran, insisted that U.S. military intervention would be unwise and illegal and accused Israel of striking unprovoked. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York signed on to a similar bill from Sanders in 2020, but so far was holding off this time. Some believed the party should stake out a clear anti-war stance. 'The leaders of the Democratic Party need to step up and loudly oppose war with Iran and demand a vote in Congress,' said Tommy Vietor, a former Obama aide, on X. Mainstream Democrats are cautious, while critical The staunch support from the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for Israel's war against Hamas loomed over the party's White House ticket in 2024, even with the criticism of Israel's handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump exploited the divisions to make inroads with Arab American voters and Orthodox Jews on his way back to the White House. Today, the Israel-Iran war is the latest test for a party struggling to repair its coalition before next year's midterm elections and the quick-to-follow kickoff to the 2028 presidential race. The party will look to bridge the divide between an activist base that is skeptical of foreign interventions and already critical of U.S. support for Israel and more traditional Democrats and independents who make up a sizable, if not always vocal, voting bloc. In a statement after Israel's first strikes on Iran, Schumer said Israel has a right to defend itself and 'the United States' commitment to Israel's security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran's response.' Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said 'the U.S. must continue to stand with Israel, as it has for decades, at this dangerous moment." Other Democrats have condemned Israel's strikes and accused Netanyahu of sabotaging nuclear talks with Iran. They are reminding the public that Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions negotiated during the Obama administration. 'Trump created the problem,' Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on X. The progressives' pushback A Pearson Institute/Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from September 2024 found that about half of Democrats said the U.S. was being 'too supportive' of Israel and about 4 in 10 said their level of support was 'about right.' Democrats were more likely than independents and Republicans to say the Israeli government had 'a lot' of responsibility for the continuation of the war between Israel and Hamas. About 6 in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans felt Iran was an adversary with whom the U.S. was in conflict. ___ Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Linley Sanders, Will Weissert and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report Adriana Gomez Licon And Thomas Beaumont, The Associated Press
Fox News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
BROADCAST BIAS: How networks buried a bombshell Senate hearing on Biden's mental fitness
The legacy media cover congressional hearings based on their usual standard of newsworthiness. This is it: If they are run by Democrats and are meant to propel them to political power, they are presented as the most urgent, sober, and nonpartisan news of the day. But hearings run by Republicans to drive home a Republican argument? They often won't see the light of a TV studio. On June 18, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to investigate former President Joe Biden's ability to serve in office toward the end of his presidency. After his disastrous debate performance, the Democrats forced him out of the presidential race, but left him in office despite his seeming incapacity. This, somehow, was purely partisan, and not something most Americans viewed with grave concern. The Democrats mostly boycotted Wednesday's hearing. At the top, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, proclaimed, "I will note that few of my Democratic colleagues are here today. Thank you to Senator Welch from Vermont for being here, leaving us with no other option than to take the boycotting of this hearing as an admission of guilt for their role in this crisis." Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., showed up only briefly to dismiss the hearing as a "political adventure." The broadcast networks all skipped it. Their "news judgment" is clearly closely aligned with Democrat objectives. Democrats boycotted in the hopes that people would conclude that if this isn't a bipartisan hearing, how can it be newsworthy? Consider the House Special Committee on the January 6 attack, or in short, the Pelosi-Picked Panel. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shredded the usual procedure by not allowing the Republicans to put their own choices on the committee. Instead, she selected Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to be Potemkin Republicans. They never strayed from Pelosi's narrative over several years of wildly over-publicized hearings that were uniformly granted live coverage, in daytime and prime time. On Wednesday, the media certainly didn't want to hear what the Republican witnesses said about their pathetic performance. Former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer called out the media for their remarkable lack of curiosity about Biden's failures: "The left and their friends in the media love to throw around terms like threats to democracy, and constitutional crisis... If we don't have confidence in the leader of the free world making decisions, that truly is the definition of a constitutional crisis." On the night of the hearing, "NBC Nightly News" led with a not-guilty verdict for Karen Read, on retrial in Massachusetts for allegedly killing her police officer boyfriend. That report went on for five minutes. ABC's "World News Tonight" also gave it nearly five minutes after leading with Trump and Iran. Both networks also obsessed for two hours over Karen Read on "20/20" and "Dateline NBC" in prime time. "True crime" sells. The taxpayer-funded "PBS News Hour" offered eight sorrowful minutes on the Supreme Court allowing Tennessee's ban on so-called "gender-affirming care" for children. On "CBS Evening News Plus," they turned to reporter Manuel Bojorquez to question Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to appoint Marva Johnson, as the new president of Florida A&M University, the state's only HBCU. He touted "a groundswell of students and alumni of the historically black college opposed to her selection." Groundswell? The CBS station in Tallahassee reported "at least 10" protesters. National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" doesn't consider Republicans much, except to condemn them. They offered a five-minute story on the sad state of corporate race-hustling. Co-host Mary Louise Kelly announced: "Chief diversity officer was once corporate America's hottest job. Now DEI is under attack, leaving the people with careers in diversity, equity and inclusion out in the cold." Several of these broadcast networks addressed the reality of Biden's cognitive decline during the book-promotion tour of CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson. For his part, Tapper didn't address this on his show "The Lead" on Wednesday, where you would naturally tune in to check on what he did. But he did ask a neutral question about the hearing with Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt in the 2pm hour on Wednesday as CNN focused intently on Israel and Iran. The legacy media skipping over Republican-led hearings and whatever news they uncover underscores why Americans look to conservative media for covering what liberals want to bury. As Sean Spicer said at the hearing, "We've seen what the legacy media did, but that's why the growth of independent media is so healthy for our democracy." Democrats and their broadcast-news allies frame scandal hearings they like as another Watergate, Iran-Contra, January 6 – marking "history" as tilting against those unethical Republicans. They prefer that the American people never remember Republicans held a hearing on anything. So when journalists boast they offer "the first draft of history," everyone should know they're being served a partisan pupu platter.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jay Peak GM Calls Impact of Canadian Tariffs "Catastrophic"
Earlier this week, the United States Senate convened a forum amongst the Senate Financial Committee, and others, on the impacts of tariffs and the current administration's trade war on business, manufacturing, farming, and the tourism industry. Vermont Senator Peter Welch, who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee welcomed General Manager Steve Wright of Vermont's Jay Peak to the forum to speak on the economic impacts and cultural harm as a result of the administration's new policies. Wright's opening statement provided a stark look into how the ski area and its local economy, which sits just south of the Canadian border, has already seen dramatic impacts of the tariffs imposed by the administration. Wright cited that the ski area itself is a $70M business that's been around for 60 years, and was once even owned by a Canadian company. The towns that are closest to the ski area, Newport and Jay, are home to less than 5,000 and 550 full-time residents respectively. On any given busy day at the ski resort, the population of Jay, VT can increase to more than 10,000 people, 50% of whom are Canadian visitors traveling from towns like Toronto, Montreal, and several of the eastern townships. Due to both a close proximity and relationship with the neighboring country, Wright noted policies that had been put in place many years prior at the resort that allowed Canadians to use the Canadian dollar on products like lift tickets, entry to the water park, for golf rounds. Depending on the current status of the dollar and Canadian dollar, that's meant that a discount of around 20-35% at any given time. "Our french fries come with American gravy and Canadian cheese curds and the resort consumes equal parts Budweiser and Molson," said Wright, in a lighthearted emphasis of his to watch the full speech below. Keep reading for to keep up with the best stories and photos in skiing? Subscribe to the new Powder To The People newsletter for weekly updates. Wright continued by saying that Jay Peak and the state of Vermont are forecasting a 'potentially catastrophic amount of trouble' as it pertained to Canadians citizens unwillingness to visit the state for the 'indeterminate future.' He also touched on the increased costs of bringing in necessary operating equipment for the resort as a result of the tariffs. Located within Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, Jay Peak is the state's chief supplier of state and local taxes as well as more than 1,500 employment opportunities for Vermont's workforce, not to mention the most snow in eastern North America over the past winter, stated Wright. Despite these metrics, the ski area has already seen a massive decrease in Canadian visitorship. The 2026 fiscal year season pass sales has already seen a reduction of 35% by Canadian passholders. Wright recalled personally calling more than 150 Canadian households over the past two weeks. "They cite the Presidential Administration's flagrant disrespect of Canadian independence and not only a challenge to Canadian sovereignty but their own identity and they feel the need to respond," said Wright, summarizing the common sentiments of these phone calls. One family told him they were not sure when they'd return to Jay Peak, if ever. Beyond just Jay Peak, the 50,000 yearly Canadian visitors inject $150M into Vermont's economy annually, a number that has already seen suffering as a result of the tariffs. Wright closes his statement by noting the optimism required to work in the ski industry, one that is based largely on remote locations, fickle weather, and a lack of affordable housing. "The very last thing we need added to our plates is the President's anti-Canadian being driven by this administration that is neither grounded in logic nor supported by facts. It is my hope that ultimately cooler and more logical heads will prevail, but we have not seen much in the way of cool, and logic appears to be roughly five months out the proverbial window," said Wright. Jay Peak is not the only voice in the ski and outdoor industry to speak out about the affects of these tariffs. Earlier this week, women's ski and mountain bike brand, Wild Rye, opened to public investors as a way to bridge the financial gap needed to move product production out of China, as a result of the tariffs. On May 5th, Black Diamond reported a 15-25% raise in prices as a result of the tariffs. Many more brands and ski areas have waited in hesitation to see how these tariffs will continue to impact an already precarious industry following the COVID pandemic and in the face of climate change. Vermont skiers and ski areas are no strangers to standing up to this administration. Wright's statement further exemplifies that just because an office in the ski industry might look a little different than one in the White House, it's doesn't mean they aren't prepared to suit up and fight Peak GM Calls Impact of Canadian Tariffs "Catastrophic" first appeared on Powder on Jun 12, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
