A woman who spent time in jail for her actions on January 6 has condemned Donald Trump for granting pardons in a shock admission.
Donald Trump was sworn back into office on January 20 and took steps to issue pardons to over 1,500 criminals involved in the Capitol Riots.
However, one woman refused this pardon and has criticized this move from Trump.
Despite criticism from opponents and allies alike, the president defended the move to pardon those convicted.
In a news conference on Tuesday at the White House, he said: “These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously.
“It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.”
After being sworn in as president Trump pardoned over 1,500 people for January 6 (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Pamela Hemphill, 71, served 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to her role in the 2021 riots.
On social media she was dubbed the ‘MAGA Granny’ and has since spoken out following the news of the pardons.
Hemphill explained that her reasoning for refusing her pardon was straightforward and she opposed the pardoning of all the January 6 rioters, not just her own.
She said: “We were wrong that day. We broke the law – there should be no pardons.”
She also added that in accepting a pardon would be ‘insult the Capitol police officers, the rule of law, and, of course, our nation.’
She went as far to accuse Trump of attempting to rewrite history regarding what happened that day.
She continued: “I pleaded guilty because I was guilty.
“Accepting a pardon would only contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative.”
When quizzed by a journalist on whether violent criminals who took part in the riots should be pardoned, Trump had a rather lackluster and unfocussed answer.
Daniel Joseph ‘DJ’ Rodriguez attacked officer Michael Fanone with a stun gun to his neck, with Rodriguez pleading guilty to felony conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, tampering with documents or proceedings and inflicting bodily injury on officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon.
The ‘MAGA granny’ has condemned the idea of anyone being pardoned (KTVB)
He was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for his crimes.
During a press briefing at the White House, a reporter asked Trump: “You would agree it’s never acceptable to assault a police officer?”
In a clip of the press conference shared online by Forbes, the president responds: “Sure.”
The journalist continues: “So then if I can, among those you pardon, DJ Rodriguez he drove a stun gun into the neck of a DC police officer who was abducted by the mob that day.
“He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes – why does he deserve a pardon?”
Trump’s first response saw him state: “Well, I don’t know, was it a pardon? Because we’re looking at commutes and we’re looking at pardons.”
When the reporter informed Trump he had pardoned Rodriguez, he added: “OK, well, we’ll take a look at everything but I can say this, murderers today are not even charged, you have murderers that aren’t charged all over.”
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Featured Image Credit: KTVB / Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics
Elon Musk was spotted giving an enthusiastic thumbs up during Donald Trump’s inaugural speech, which massively contrasted Barron Trump’s reaction.
People tuning into Donald Trump‘s inaugural speech were left gasping for air with laughter after the cameras showed Elon Musk and Barron Trump during the speech.
As Trump commented on America‘s goal of putting a person on Mars, Musk is seen giving a super enthusiastic thumbs up, while stood next to Barron Trump and applauding.
Barron on the other hand, looked pretty unfazed by the whole thing and doesn’t so much as give a smile. Take a look:
As you can imagine the clip of the moment has already started spreading on social media with many delighted by the night and day difference between the two men.
One user commented: “Barron Trump looked like he feared being the first person sent to Mars.”
While another wrote: “Barron Trump giving zero f**ks about Mars while standing next to Elon Muck.”
A third wrote: “Tuned into the Trump inauguration speech for literally less than a minute and was just in time to get this screen shot of Barron Trump looking like he wants to k*ll himself being stuck next to Elon Musk.”
With another adding: “I’m gonna assume Baron Trump is Not a fan of Elon Musk by what I just saw on cam lol.”
The only acceptable face to make when Mars is mentioned (YouTube/AFP)
Now, it does make sense why Musk would be spotted applauding and beaming ear to ear based on what Trump said.
The now sworn-in-president said: “We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”
This is something Musk has publicly spoken about for years and a man on Mars is one of the goals he wishes to see achieved in his lifetime – despite the planet recently being deemed as ‘unsafe for humans to live’ by experts.
Despite the hopes of Musk, experts have also been clear of the many difficulties that starting a civilization on Mars could expect.
Last year David Kipping, the Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy at Columbia University, spoke to Valuetainment and explained how some people have their doubts regarding Musk’s plans to put civilizations on the red planet.
He said: “Yeah, some of my colleague’s kind of think it’s ridiculous and think it’s just totally crazy that we’ll ever do this.”
Humanity getting to mars has long been a dream (Getty Stock Image)
However he did note that he had no issue with Musk putting his money into projects that could lead to Mars’ colonization.
He continued: “I get the philosophy. The philosophy is, as long as we’re all on planet Earth we’re at risk because all it takes is one giant meteor or one nuclear war or whatever cataclysm you want, and we’re all gone.
“So, if your objective is to preserve the species then it totally makes sense that you would want to have a second base and whether that base be on the moon or Mars, I don’t really have a strong opinion.”
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Featured Image Credit: ABC News Live
Topics: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Politics, US News, Barron Trump
In case you missed it, there have been a handful of awkward moments during the President’s inauguration.
On Monday (January 20), Donald Trump took his oath to office for the second time and became the 47th President of the United States.
In less than 24 hours, he’s has already signed off on some arguably controversial executive orders, including a pardon for the January 6 rioters, a halt on the TikTok ban, a policy that declares there are ‘only two genders’, restoring capital punishment, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.
Trump has made several changes already (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Indeed, the States is about to go through some drastic changes with Trump at the helm, but that’s not all people are talking about.
Eagle-eyed viewers have been nitpicking the highs and lows of the inauguration ceremony – and there were certainly some cringe and questionable moments worth highlighting.
So, here are just eight of those awkward moments.
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden sit silently
A moment of silence for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images)
In his inauguration address, Trump couldn’t resist firing some digs at the opposition.
While he announced the ‘golden age of America begins right now’, he turned to slam his predecessor’s government for falling short of managing ‘a simple crisis at home’.
But there was no applause or celebration from either the former President, Joe Biden, and Vice President, Kamala Harris, who instead were spotted sitting silently.
Billionaires bag best seats
The tech billionaires dominated the front row (Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)
Tech gurus and some of the world’s wealthiest men were given VIP seats to the ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with fiancee Lauren Sánchez, and SpaceX and Tesla founder, Elon Musk, all rubbed shoulders on the prestigious inaugural platform before most of Trump’s predicted Cabinet officials.
And let’s not forget Musk’s weird personal moments during the day’s events, from his strange ‘thumbs up’ next to a less-than-impressed Barron Trump to making an alleged ‘Nazi salute’, twice, when overcome with emotion about the prospect of sending a man to Mars.
The failed kiss
A touching moment between the First Lady, Melania Trump, and the President fell flat when Trump failed to land a kiss on his wife‘s cheek.
A body language expert revealed that while it appeared Trump was gunning for a lip-to-lip kiss, Melania turned her face away for a cheek kiss, so the pair rather awkwardly ‘settled for an air kiss’.
Viewers have since pointed out the smooch perhaps failed to land due to Melania’s incredibly huge hat, which another pointed out was a strange choice by the First Lady whose face was barely visible under the fedora.
Obama booed
Barack Obama didn’t enter to a particularly warm reception when the former POTUS arrived.
Coming in solo without his wife, Michelle, Obama was met with ‘resounding boos’, NBC News reporters remarked. Awks.
However, he wasn’t the only one – the Clintons and Mike Pence were also met with boos.
Senator sports shorts
The Senator apparently opts for comfort a lot of the time (Kevin Lamarque – Pool/Getty Images)
Amid a sea of smart blue and black business attire with most of America’s statesmen and stateswomen suited and booted for the occasion, there was apparently just one who didn’t get the memo.
John Fetterman, the senator of Pennsylvania, rocked up wearing grey shorts, sneakers, and a black hoodie which his supporters describe as his ‘trademark outfit’.
The Democrat told ABC News last month that anyone hoping Trump would fail is ‘rooting against the nation’, reports The Independent.
Carrie Underwood performs a cappella
The American Idol winner and country music star was forced to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ when a technical difficulty jeopardized her performance.
Underwood stood in silence for a few seconds while officials attempted to kick the audio into gear until she made the decision to sing without it.
She encouraged the audience to ‘help’ her out with the words, but critics had some mixed opinions on the show.
While some said she pulled the tech glitch off ‘like a champ’ and delivered an angelic performance, others said she sounded ‘pitchy’.
Others also had a giggle at Harris’ supposed unamused face behind her, including Ariana Grande.
Hillary Clinton giggles at Trump speech
And speaking of giggles, the Former First Lady Hillary Clinton couldn’t contain herself during parts of Trump’s speech.
When the President announced he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Hillary put her head down while her shoulders rose in an apparent fit of giggles.
Opera tenor sings the national anthem
Christopher Macchio performed in the Capitol Rotunda (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
Trump seemed to abandon some traditions of President’s past, not only by deciding not to put his hand on the Bible while taking his oath to office, but also by his rather unusual choice of performer.
Instead of Lady Gaga, Beyonce, or some other pop superstar bellowing the anthem, Trump opted for a lesser-known opera tenor, Christopher Macchio.
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Featured Image Credit: Kevin Lamarque – Pool/Getty Images/Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Melania Trump, US News, Politics, Music, Celebrity, Entertainment, Viral
With Donald Trump back in the White House, some social media users have been left curious about why they’re now following the new president and vice president on Instagram.
Now to be clear, this isn’t people who started following Donald Trump and JD Vance and then forgot about it.
Multiple users on Instagram have claimed that they never went to either one of their pages but are now – for some reason – getting updates about them on their feeds.
Some even claimed to have unfollowed the politicians multiple times.
As you can imagine this has sparked a few odd theories but the explanation is pretty straightforward and considerably less exciting.
People have been surprised to find themselves following Donald Trump (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Why am I automatically following Donald Trump and JD Vance on Instagram?
Meta, who owns Instagram, spokesman Andy Stone explained what was going on in hopes of quelling the fears of those affected.
Writing on Threads, he said: “A reminder: the Facebook.com/POTUS and Facebook.com/White… accounts are managed by the White House. They change when the occupant of the White House changes.”
It’s worth noting that this also applies to the first lady and vice president accounts.
So when Trump took office on January 20, the Facebook and Instagram accounts of now-former President Joe Biden were archived.
For example, Biden’s Instagram account is now @potus46archive, while Trump’s official White House account is @potus.
Biden’s account still has its followers but they were also transferred to the new @potus account.
On Facebook, Biden’s archived page is called ‘President Joe Biden Archived’ and has 11 million followers. While Trump’s official page is named ‘President Donald J. Trump’ and also has 11 million followers.
Meta executives explained what has happened (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Facebook’s former director of public policy for global elections, Katie Harbath, said this wasn’t anything particularly new and explained how transfers to new administrations worked in 2016 and 2021.
In her own Thread post, she commented: “Just to back up what Andy is saying, my team set up the first ways of having to do this when Trump won in 2016 and we had to transfer the official accounts that President Obama’s team created when Facebook pages were first created.
“Same was done during the transfer from Trump to Biden. The old ones go to an archived account and the followers remain, but the feed is wiped clean. Most platforms handle it this way.”
Thankfully, if you don’t want to follow Trump or Vance then the process of unfollowing or blocking them remains exactly the same – simply click the three dots for the ‘unfollow’ and ‘block’ options.
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Featured Image Credit: Leon Neal/Getty/Justin Sullivan/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, Instagram, Social Media, Politics
A body language expert has broken down exactly what happened when Melania ‘turned her face’ from Trump as he failed to kiss her during his presidential inauguration.
Speaking inside the US Capitol building for his second inauguration today (January 20), Donald Trump revealed his plans for the future as the 47th president.
Before his grand speech, Trump was seen arriving with his wife and incoming first lady, Melania Trump, for a church service, the tradition which marks the start of the inauguration and the end of office for Joe Biden.
But before entering the chamber, Trump appeared to try and kiss Melania in what could’ve been a touching moment.
However, Melania, donning a huge hat, appeared to snub her husband, instead turning her face for a peck on the cheek.
After watching the moment, body language expert Judi James has shared her thoughts on what Melania’s dodge could be indicating.
Speaking to Paddy Power, James said Trump entered the inauguration event ‘with a slow alpha presence’ with a ‘mouth shrug smile to suggest a sombre, serious approach to the job.’
When he reached for Melania, James said he ‘tenderly’ took her hand ‘in a romantic, hand-linking gesture that would normally be seen at a wedding ceremony’.
The couple didn’t touch lips (Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images)
She continued: “He then leant in to plant a kiss on his wife and for a moment it looked as though he was going for a lip-to-lip kiss.
“Melania leant towards her husband to reciprocate but she also turned her face to instigate a cheek kiss rather than the mouth variety.”
James explained it was a ‘heart-stopping moment’ as it appeared ‘as though their synchronicity might be out of kilter’.
However, Trump apparently ‘settled for an air kiss’.
You can see what happened in the clip below:
Their lips never made contact but they made a small ‘mwa’ with their mouths, James continued, which made the gap between them ‘small enough to provide the appearance of contact’.
The pro concluded that Melania was happy with the interaction, adding: “Melania beamed at her husband for the moment of not just acknowledgment, thanks and recognition but the signal of her being a priority and them being more of a team in the White House.”
Body language experts have also pointed out Melania’s ‘strange’ outfit choice (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The microscopic analysis comes as another body language expert, Darren Stanton, commented on Melania’s unusual choice of dress.
Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, Stanton said she chose a ‘very statement look with the big fedora’, noting that it could’ve been chosen to ‘hide her face if she wants to’ while the navy blue fit was a ‘strange’ decision, considering ‘blue signifies the Democrats’.
Throughout the inauguration, Stanton said the pair also exhibited ‘little to no emotion’ with ‘no holding hands’.
He continued: “[I]t almost looks quite a solemn occasion, if we were to judge by their facial expressions. There’s no eye contact, no smiles, no emotion between the two of them.
“She gives off the sense she doesn’t want to be there, with no micro-expressions of happiness from Melania, it was quite a strange entrance.”
Everything Trump has pledged to do as 47th US president
Delaying the TikTok ban
After TikTok went dark yesterday (January 19), it was bought back after mere hours with a message reading: “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!”
Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to delay the ban saying he wants to ‘make a deal to protect our national security.’
Immigration
In a statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden during his presidential race he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.
“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”
Donald Trump has radical plans for his second term (Bonnie Cash – Pool/Getty Images)
Planning over 100 executive orders
It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House. Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.
“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.
Making hidden government files public
Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.
“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’
In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders, taking to his social media platform Truth Social Trump said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.
“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
January 6 pardons
Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.
In an interview with TIME, Trump said that looking into the cases of the rioters’ will take place in ‘the first nine minutes’ of his time in office.
In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”
Getting rid of birthright citizenship
Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in US. Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.
Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics
Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.
“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.
Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.
Making the US the ‘crypto capital’
Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.
On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.
Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.
Be a ‘dictator’
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year, he referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ when asked if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.
In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1.
“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he continued.
“After that, I’m not a dictator.”
Trump has vowed to be a ‘dictator’ on day one (Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images)
End Green Deals
Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.
The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law.
Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.
“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”
“I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”
Arrange green cards for college graduates
Despite making his stance on migration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.
During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]
“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”
Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’
Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.
Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.
Fire the man who indicted him
Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.
Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’.
“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.