The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Trump Calls to Defund Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Democrat Rep. Switches Parties, Election Results in Wisconsin and Chicago | April 5

Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Samantha Sherris. I'm Virginia Allen. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Wednesday, April 5th. Here are today's headlines. President Donald Trump has called to defund federal law enforcement agencies just one day after he appeared in New York City for his arraignment hearing. The former president wrote on Truth Social this morning, Republicans in Congress should defund the DOJ and FBI until they come to their senses. The Democrats have told, totally weaponized law enforcement in our country and are viciously using this abuse of power to interfere with their already under siege elections. Our colleague Fred Lucas reports that Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts, including charges of falsifying business forms, violating state campaign finance laws, and conspiracy in connection to paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump spoke at Marlago on Tuesday night after returning from New York.

Starting point is 00:01:10 York. The former president said, I never thought anything like this could ever happen in America. The only crime that I have committed is to fiercely defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. He later said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose grand jury brought the indictment, should be prosecuted or resign for the fake case. A North Carolina State Democrat has switched parties. State Representative Tricia Cotham announced that she is switching to the Republican Party during a press conference this morning. Speaking of the Democratic Party, Cotham said, The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment,

Starting point is 00:01:53 has solutions, and wants to get to work to better our state. Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done. Cotham appeared to be speaking to Democrats when she added, and what happened to the concept of a big tent party? What happened to these ideas that were inclusive, were tolerant, we're so welcoming to everybody? No, you're not.

Starting point is 00:02:20 The Hill reported that her decision to switch parties has major political implications. Republicans came out of the 2020 election cycle winning a supermajority in the state Senate outright, but falling one seat short of a supermajority in the state house. The North Carolina GOP. Chairman Michael Watley said in a statement that this announcement continues to reflect that the Democratic Party is too radical for North Carolina. The values of the Republican Party align with voters and the people of Mecklenburg County should be proud to have her representation in Raleigh.

Starting point is 00:02:56 The Windy City has a new mayor. Brandon Johnson won the mayoral election on Tuesday night. Johnson is replacing Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who lost her bid for re-election last month. Let's take a listen to some of Johnson's victory speech via CBS Chicago. The first thing that I want to say is to the Chicagoans who did not vote for me. Here's what I want you to know. Here's what I want you to know that I care about you. I value you and I want to hear from you.

Starting point is 00:03:37 I want to work with you. and I'll be the mayor for you too. Because this campaign has always been about building a better, stronger, safer Chicago for all the people of Chicago. And when I say all the people, I mean all the people, especially folks, especially folks who have ever been on a payment plan. NBC News reports that Johnson defeated Paul Valles, who is the fourth. former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and who promised to immediately bulk up the Chicago police

Starting point is 00:04:22 ranks to curb a crisis of gun violence. Conservative journalist Andy Noe reacted to the news, tweeting, leftist Brandon Johnson has won the Chicago mayoral election against moderate Democrat Paul Valis. Johnson calls for removing law enforcement from society. During the 2020 riots, he defended looters, saying they were lashing out against racism. Chicago's violent crime has surged over the last few years under Lori Lightfoot. Wisconsin also had an election on Tuesday, but Fort Supreme Court. Milwaukee County Judge Jeanette Pradezaywitz won the contested race and will now sit on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Starting point is 00:05:02 Prada Saywitz was the more liberal among the two candidates and defeated former state Supreme Court justice Dan Kelly. Here's what Pradezawitz had to say in her victory speech via DeVosavis had to say in her victory speech via WISN 12 News. I want to thank all of you for being here this evening to celebrate this wonderful victory. Today's results have been over a year in the making. I've been traveling this entire state for the last year. I could not have done it without the hard work and dedication of all of you right here in this room. Just over a year ago, I got into this race.

Starting point is 00:05:49 I made the decision because I saw that Wisconsinites were ready for common sense and fairness on their Supreme Court. Thank you, Kathy. They were ready to put aside the partisanship and put aside the extremism and to have an impartial court in a court that makes decisions based on the law, not on a political agenda. State Freedom Caucus Network Communications Director Greg Price tweeted in response to the news, saying Wisconsin now has a Supreme Court that is going to strike down voter ID and bring back ballot harvesting before 2024. It was the most important election of the year and conservatives allowed themselves to get heavily outspent and didn't even notice until it was too late. And for our final headline today, the police officer. who responded to the mass shooting that killed three students and three faculty members at the

Starting point is 00:06:57 Covenant School in Nashville spoke out for the first time since the shooting occurred. Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Colazo were responsible for shooting and killing the transgender shooter. Let's take a listen to some of what Engelbert said during Tuesday's press conference via the Tennessean. I don't know the area. I needed to put it in GPS when I arrived. I don't know the layout of the school. Luckily due to the bravery of two staff members, they stayed on scene. They didn't run. And they gave me concise, clear information for me to use to help anyone in danger. Gentleman gave me, like you said, the exact key I needed to enter the building. It was readily apparent.

Starting point is 00:07:52 I was going to be the one to make entry. And I've been given my training. I know my role. And I made entry with the personnel I had, and luckily I had some. I saw there were patrol units, and I asked for people to join me as I had a key. I was unaware of there any other access points of the one I had. As the sergeant said, I did not have to. stimulus at the time. I was intently listening, so we cleared the hallway we had room by room

Starting point is 00:08:27 until we made it into the lobby. Like I said, I don't work with anyone that was there that day, so we had to use plain speak to understand each other's roles what we had to do. Engelbert also said, I couldn't get to it fast enough. I just looked for the nearest staircase, I could find because I could tell it was above my head. Eventually, following the guidance of other officers, I luckily deployed my rifle, kept walking toward the sound of gunfire. There was, like the sergeant said, some smoke in the air. It was very similar to the training we had received. We will include a link to the officer's full remarks in today's show notes. And then I'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to the Daily Signal's top news.

Starting point is 00:09:17 If you haven't had the chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal's Fred Lucas and Jared Stetman are going to be sitting down to discuss the case against former president Donald Trump and what we can learn from history about similar phases. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach even more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks again for joining us today. We hope that you all have a great night. We will be back with you all tomorrow morning,

Starting point is 00:09:56 but just a quick reminder that we are not going to have any shows on Friday in observance of Good Friday. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha O'Sheras. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Trump Calls to Defund Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Democrat Rep. Switches Parties, Election Results in Wisconsin and Chicago | April 5

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