The Friday Filibuster: The one-stop-shop for everything you need to know about this week in politics.
Closing Numbers:
16: The number of people shot in Chicago over an 11-hour period.
6.4: Trump’s lead over Cruz in Iowa.
10: The number of years ago this week that Al Gore said the world would end because of climate change.
$105.6M: The amount the RNC raised in 2015, breaking a record for a non-election year.
36%: The percentage of Democrats who say Hillary Clinton is trustworthy.
18%: Where Jeb stands in a recently released New Hampshire poll, placing him second behind Trump.
$4M: The amount the Labor Dept will use in taxpayer money to remove pronouns from regulations to ‘avoid the gender binary.’
50%: Only half of non-Trump Republican primary voters would vote for Trump if he became the Republican presidential nominee.
87%: The percentage of ‘On the Record with Greta Van Susteren’ voters who said they would not watch Thursday’s debate.
Endorsements:
President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr., endorsed Trump.
Gov. Rick Perry endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz.
Dana Loesch endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz.
HRC Happenings:
Though not exactly an apology, Hillary did say this week that she regretted using her personal email for classified information…but only because it caused ‘uproar’ and ‘commotion.’ She insisted it wasn’t an error in judgment. It’s not surprising, then, that she also placed blame for the scandal on ‘Republicans and their allies’ … despite the fact that a report in the New York Post shows Clinton’s top aides may have deliberately copied and pasted classified onto her private, unsecure server….likely for convenience. Even though she continues to deny that she had classified information on her personal server, the State Dept. announced on Friday that 22 emails will not be released because they are top secret. Despite all this, is there enough evidence to indict the former secretary of state?
In other Hillary news this week, Chuck Todd criticized her failed foreign policy, calling the Middle East a mess. A millennial Bernie supporter told Hillary Clinton at a Democratic forum that him and his friends don’t think she’s very honest…to which Hillary laughed. Also not helpful for the Democratic frontrunner was the president saying in an interview that she was 'rusty', while praising Sanders' fearless passion. And finally, a terrifying thought: Hillary said she’d be open to appointing a ‘Justice Obama.’
Pro-Life News:
Last week thousands of people took to the streets of Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life even in the face of the impending blizzard. Sadly, not long after it was over, pro-life hero David Daleiden, the direct of the Center for Medical Progress—the group that exposed Planned Parenthood’s sale of fetal body parts—was “indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs.” There are still many other voices standing up for the unborn, however, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who schooled moderator Bret Baier at Thursday’s debate over the importance of defunding Planned Parenthood. Pro-Life leaders, meanwhile, are urging Iowans to support anyone but the ‘unacceptable’ Donald Trump.
The Fox News Debate
Lots of drama heading into this week’s debate, with Donald Trump refusing to attend the Fox debate and thousands signing a petition asking Megyn Kelly not to host it. In the end Trump held his own event for veterans, but strangely, after receiving an honor ring from the charity he immediately removed it. Meanwhile, at the undercard debate Rick Santorum complained about the media never putting his name on election polls. He also slammed Trump even though he planned to attend his fundraising (with Huckabee) after he was done debating. Carly Fiorina had a good performance, and made headlines with her comment that Hillary is more qualified for the ‘big house’ than the White House. At the next ABC News GOP debate on Feb. 6, there will be no undercard debate.
During the main event, Ted Cruz kicked it off by channeling Trump, declaring that he’s a manic and others on stage were fat, stupid, and ugly. After that, the substantive debate kicked off. Megyn Kelly grilled Marco Rubio on amnesty, even though the senator performed well throughout. Cruz, for the most part, held his ground. Here’s a look at each candidate’s best answer.
In other news:
In a victory for Second Amendment advocates, Virginia Gov. McAuliffe will restore reciprocity agreements for concealed carry holders.
Europe is being invaded by jihadi terrorist ‘refugees.’ Meanwhile in Cologne, carnival organizers are reminding refugees not to rape women.
And West Virginia becoming a right-to-work state is pretty much assured.
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