Cross-Examination

• Trump wins Iowa, goes to court: Fresh off his big primary victory in Iowa on Monday, Donald Trump was in court in New York Tuesday for jury selection in a case over defamation damages from the civil case he lost to writer E. Jean Carroll. She accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s and then defaming her publicly for making the accusation. Despite losing the first defamation case last May, which cost him $5 million, Trump has continued to plead his innocence, alleging on Monday that the case was a “giant election interference scam” and that he “had no idea who this woman was.” According to Carroll’s lawyer, Trump has continued to make defamatory statements against her and only “very significant” damages would “make him stop,” so Carroll is seeking another $10 million. In other news about Trump’s legal troubles, the DC Circuit Court ruled against X in its appeal of a previous ruling that granted special prosecutor Jack Smith access to Trump’s previous Twitter account. This gives Smith the freedom to look into Trump’s Twitter account without alerting Trump to what data he is looking at. The Court did not address the question of executive privilege. Trump then headed off to a campaign event in New Hampshire. His whole year will be alternating between campaign stops and court appearances.

• Leftmedia censors Trump: After Donald Trump was declared the winner of the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, MSNBC decided not to air his victory speech. Why? Well, as the Leftmedia outlet’s talkinghead Rachel Maddow obtusely explained, “We and other news organizations have generally stopped giving an unfiltered, live platform to remarks by former President Trump,” and that’s because “There is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.” Poppycock. MisinformationNBC is what the Leftmedia organization has become infamous for. The truth is that MSNBC and other Leftmedia outlets are not news organizations but rather are Democrat propaganda outfits. They exist to promote leftist talking points and Democrat politicians. MSNBC denying Trump airtime only serves to underscore this reality, which is why conservatives don’t watch the cable station. The Leftmedia hopes that not giving Trump airtime will diminish his support, but that ship sailed long ago.

• DEI doesn’t DIE, it just gets rebranded: Wokeness is more akin to a religion than an academic ideology. Those who believe in its Marxist tenets are loathe to give them up. A case in point is Georgia Tech University. In the face of Georgia’s recent law banning the use of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” standards for hiring in the state’s university system, Tech President Angel Cabrera announced that the school would instead be “weaving these programs into the fabric of the Institute.” In other words, DEI will continue to be promulgated throughout the school’s curriculum even though there will be no official Office of DEI at the school. And Georgia Tech isn’t the only school refusing to give up DEI, as Kennesaw State University near Atlanta will hold onto its DEI division. President Kathy Schwaig announced that KSU will simply rebrand its DEI office as the Division of Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership Development, and Inclusive Excellence. As Kennesaw professor of finance David Bray observed: “We’re giving the same person more power. It’s the same woke, toxic ideology.”

• Majority of Americans oppose using preferred pronouns in schools: A recent report from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty found that a majority of Americans (58%) are opposed to policies in schools that require students and faculty to refer to someone by their preferred pronouns. These latest results show a significant reversal in public opinion, as Becket’s 2021 survey found that 54% of Americans believed schools should require preferred pronoun usage. What explains this reversal? Well, according to Becket, the change in opinion is most pronounced in the ages between 25 and 44, or the prime age when people have school-age children. In other words, parents have been directly confronted by this gender-bending ideology impacting their children and are increasingly opposed to it.

• Good News: Federal judge upholds parental rights: Two teachers who are Christians were reinstated to their positions in California’s Chino Valley School District by a federal judge. Judge Robert Benitez found that the school district had violated the 14th Amendment with its policy to hide a student’s gender identity change from parents. Teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West had sued the California Board of Education, arguing that the district’s policy violated their religious beliefs because it directed them to lie to parents about their children. In his ruling, Benitez wrote that the district’s policy “harms plaintiffs who are compelled to violate the parent’s rights by forcing plaintiffs to conceal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students.” Meanwhile, the state is challenging the school district’s decision in July to reverse course and require schools to notify parents or guardians when their child expresses gender confusion.

Headlines

• Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ends his 2024 campaign after sixth-place finish in Iowa caucuses (AP)

• Republican presidential primary battle moves on to New Hampshire (Fox News)

• ABC News cancels New Hampshire GOP primary debate (PM)

• Lloyd Austin’s secret ambulance request revealed in 911 call (Daily Beast)

• Department of Justice acknowledges Hunter Biden laptop content is legitimate for first time (Daily Caller)

• Prosecutors in Hunter Biden gun case dismiss political persecution argument in scathing filing (National Review)

• Biden admin to re-designate Houthis as terrorist organization after removing them from list (Daily Wire)

• Gas giant Shell pulls tankers from Red Sea passage amid Houthi rocket attacks (National Review)

• “We’ve got a bunch of dead robots out here”: Chicago stations are full of EVs that wouldn’t charge in the subzero temps (Not the Bee)

• The eye-popping interest payment spike on our national debt (Daily Wire)

• Seven ridiculous examples of government waste in 2023 (FEE)

• Policy: Electric vehicle mandates are coming, but are EVs even practical in cold-weather states? (Daily Signal)

• Humor: Trump promises Vivek an administration position running the White House 7-Eleven (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.