Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, April 9, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, and today, we’ve got a lineup of stories that are as impactful as they are insightful. From record-breaking fundraisers to the ongoing debate on health and law, let’s unpack the narratives driving today’s headlines.
Trump Fundraiser Secures Historic $50.5 Million for 2024 War Chest
Former President Donald Trump has successfully raised $50.5 million for his 2024 election campaign, almost doubling his opponent’s record-breaking fundraising of $26 million.This fundraising milestone was reached at an event called the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” hosted Saturday night at the lavish $110 million home of hedge fund billionaire John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida.
This event has set a new record as the most successful political fundraiser in U.S. history. High-profile individuals like Robert Bigelow, Howard Lutnick, Robert Mercer, Phil Ruffin, and Steve Wynn served as co-chairs. The dinner was attended by President Trump, his wife Melania, and several influential Republicans.
President Trump, ahead of the fundraiser, reiterated his commitment to “Make America Great Again” and described the upcoming election as the most important ever.
Prior to walking into the fundraiser, President Trump said, “I think it’s going to go down as the most important date in the history of our country, that’s Nov. 5 will be the most important date in the history of our country.”
This significant fundraising event has further bolstered President Trump’s campaign coffers, adding to the previously secured $43 million. Despite facing various legal challenges, President Trump continues to garner strong financial backing from wealthy Republican donors. The funds raised at the Palm Beach event are earmarked for President Trump’s campaign efforts, the Save America PAC, the Republican National Committee, and state GOP parties.
The Biden campaign had earlier raised a record haul of $26 million at a star-studded event with 5,000 people in the Radio City Music Hall in New York on March 28. It was dubbed the biggest political fundraiser in history, featuring former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as multiple music artists and other celebrities.
Looking ahead, the 2024 election cycle is anticipated to be the most expensive in history, with predictions estimating that $10.2 billion will be spent on political advertising. This follows the precedent set by the 2020 election, which was the most costly federal campaign so far, with spending surpassing $6 billion.
Trump Says Abortion Should Be Left to States
Former President Donald Trump said on April 8 that decisions on abortion restrictions should be left to states.President Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social: “My view is now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.”
He added: “Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people.”
President Trump said that Republicans “must follow your hearts on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to save our country.”
The former president also said he supports fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization, or IVF.
President Trump had promised to disclose his stance on “abortion and abortion rights” as a law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy is set to take effect in Florida, his home state. Florida residents will vote in November on a ballot initiative that would allow abortions through roughly 26 weeks of gestation.
When he was president, President Trump supported a 20-week national ban. While campaigning, he has critized six-week bans.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said that President Trump’s position was disappointing.
She said in a statement that unborn children and their mothers “deserve national protections” and that the Dobbs decision “allows both states and Congress to act.”
In its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, a decision made by the Supreme Court earlier that deemed access to abortion a constitutional right.
Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for President Trump’s 2024 campaign, said on Newsmax: “He wants the people to have the say. He wants it to be up to the will of the people.”
Since the Dobbs decision, many Democrat-led states have passed laws enshrining access to abortions while many Republican-led ones have approved legislation banning or severely limiting the procedure.
President Biden has repeatedly said he supports women getting abortions, and opposed the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Most voters and many lawmakers favor allowing abortions early in pregnancy but placing some type of limits on them, according to surveys. Some Democrats are against any limits while some Republicans favor total bans.
A majority of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives this year said they support a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks.
Voters and lawmakers also have differing views on whether there should be exceptions to bans and in which scenarios exceptions should be available. Common exceptions include cases of incest.
President Trump said over the weekend that “Republicans, and all others, must follow their hearts and minds, but remember that, like Ronald Reagan before me, I, and most other Republicans, believe in EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother.”
FDA Takes Down Controversial Ivermectin Posts After Settlement
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed its social media messages that urged people not to use ivermectin to treat COVID-19.The FDA’s posts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn stated: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously y'all. Stop it.”
The doctors sued the FDA in 2022, saying that the posts wrongly interfered with their practice of medicine.
The FDA agreed to take down the posts as part of a settlement, but they were still online until recently.
The FDA also deleted a couple of other posts that urged people not to use ivermectin, as it’s “not authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.”
The posts directed people to an FDA webpage titled, “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.” The page itself acknowledged that the FDA has approved ivermectin for some uses but said “taking a drug for an unapproved use can be very dangerous” and “currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19.”
The FDA pointed to a database of clinical trials testing ivermectin against COVID-19; some of the trials showed the drug works against the illness.
The doctors who sued the FDA said this is an important legal win.
The FDA hasn’t alerted its followers on social media that it removed the posts. While the posts and page have been removed, the agency has created a new page about ivermectin and COVID-19, saying that “The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals.”
The page repeats the agency’s previous claim that “currently available clinical trial data do not demonstrate that ivermectin is effective against COVID 19 in humans,” but the link to the database showing mixed results from trials is now missing.
The FDA says the settlement was not an admission of a violation of law or any other wrongdoing, and it repeats that there’s no proof ivermectin works against COVID-19.
Fetterman Tears Into ‘Squatters Rights’ Laws, Soft-on-Crime Policies
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has voiced strong opposition to “squatter’s rights” laws, calling it a case of “just breaking the law.”Squatter’s rights laws allow people illegally occupying another person’s property to claim ownership of it if they are not evicted after a certain amount of time. These laws, known as adverse possession, are in place across all 50 states, but how they’re applied can vary significantly.
Drawing from his time as mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, Mr. Fetterman finds it troubling that someone could potentially take over a property by merely occupying it illegally for a period as short as 30 days.
According to law experts, police can’t help because it’s a civil matter. Under these laws, the only way to remove a squatter claiming ownership is through an eviction lawsuit, which can drag on for months or years because housing courts are severely backlogged at the moment.
Squatter’s rights trace back to the Homestead Act of 1862, which permitted settlers to claim land in the western territories under the agreement they would improve it and live on it for at least five years. Over time, the concept of squatter’s rights has expanded well beyond land claims.
According to Mr. Fetterman, “Squatters have no rights,” and during his time as mayor, he always tried to “push back against that.”
Border Patrol has encountered more than 7.6 million illegal immigrants trying to cross the border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. A law expert claimed that illegal immigrants could further exacerbate the squatter’s rights issue.
Texas Refutes Claims That Millions of Illegal Immigrants Are Registering to Vote
Social media posts claim that there’s been a huge spike in voter registrations without photo IDs in key swing states like Texas, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. These posts claim to use data from the Social Security Administration and say that the Help America Vote Verification system allows people to register to vote using just a Social Security number.An X user posted on the social media platform that there were over 1.2 million such registrations in Texas, 220,731 in Arizona, and 580,513 in Pennsylvania.
Jane Nelson, the Texas Secretary of State and a Republican, has described these online claims as “inaccurate reports.” She said that voter rolls have increased by only 57,711 voters in Texas since the start of 2024.
The state currently has about 17.9 million registered voters, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office said that the state requires a voter to show proof of identity to vote.
Pennsylvania authorities also debunked similar claims, reporting just over 75,000 new registrations instead of the alleged 580,000.
David Becker, founder and executive director of The Center for Election Innovation and Research, told The Associated Press that most states require individuals to register to vote with either their driver’s license number, state ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The statements about voter registration numbers come as illegal immigration has become among the most prominent issues for Americans in the 2024 election race.
A poll released by Monmouth University in late February shows that six in 10 Americans believe that illegal immigration is a “very serious” problem, while another 23 percent believe that it is a “somewhat serious” problem.
Former President Donald Trump said earlier that he believes Democrats want more illegal immigrants to enter the United States “because they want to sign these people up to vote.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also wrote on X that Democrats are “importing voters” by allowing mass immigration into the United States. Last month, he warned that “unvetted illegal immigrants” coming into the United States represent a “national security threat.”
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Finally, we end today’s program with this notable quote:
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt said that when she was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office, making her the longest-serving “first lady” of the United States.
Thanks again for tuning in, and for all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas, and have a spectacular day.
