President Trump is scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, two cities grieving after separate mass shootings killed at least 31 people over the weekend.
The visits are a “terrific opportunity to congratulate” local police and law enforcement, Trump told reporters as he left the White House.
The president’s visits, however, have created an atmosphere of angst, with some residents and lawmakers in both cities condemning Trump’s refusal to support stricter gun control measures and his divisive leadership.
“His rhetoric has been painful for many in our community and I think the people should stand up and say they’re not happy, if they’re not happy that he is coming,” Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, a Democrat, told reporters on Tuesday.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a gunman killed nine people, including his younger sister, in an entertainment district of the western Ohio city.
The mood is also unnerved in El Paso, where at least 22 people were killed on Saturday by a white supremacist terrorist at a Walmart. In a racist manifesto believed to be from the suspect, which mirrored rhetoric used by Trump when speaking about immigrants, the shooter said he was specifically targeting Hispanics to stop their "invasion of Texas."
“I think my rhetoric brings people together,” Trump said on Wednesday in response to a question about the gunman parroting his language, adding that he is concerned about hate groups, “whether it’s white supremacy or any other kind of supremacy."
The Republican Mayor of El Paso, Dee Margo, said on Tuesday that he did not want Trump's visit to become political, but that he would "challenge any harmful and inaccurate statements" made about the city. Margo publically challenged the president after a February rally in El Paso where Trump said that murders committed by undocumented immigrants plagued the city.
Democratic state Rep. César Blanco, who represents El Paso in Austin, told Cheddar earlier this week that Trump’s “hateful anti-Latino, anti-immigrant” rhetoric created the fraught atmosphere at the border that led to the Walmart shooting.
“Everybody has it in their power to be a force to bring people together, and everybody has it in their power to be a force to bring people apart. That is up to the president of the United States,” Whaley added on Tuesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
A new bill in Congress shows just how bipartisan cannabis really is. Rep. David Joyce, a Republican from Ohio, teamed up with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a cannabis expungement bill. Cheddar cannabis reporter Chloe Aiello spoke with the congressman about the legislation.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus have lined up to support the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act introduced by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif. 41st District). The representative joined Cheddar to discuss how instituting a four-day workweek in the United States can be beneficial for both employees with the need of a work-life balance and employers looking both to retain talent amid a labor shortage and improve efficiency in their workforces. "We live in a different time than 90 years ago when we established a 40-hour workweek," he said. "We've had a lot of technological changes, the American worker is exponentially more productive than previous generations, so it's time to reexamine Americans and the way in which they relate to work."
