The Daily Signal - Trump Responds to Biden SOTU, Unemployment Ticks Up, DOJ Takes Tips on Hate From SPLC | March 8

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Brian Gottstein, and this is the Daily Signal top news for Friday, March 8th. Here are today's headlines. President Biden gave his third State of the Union addressed Thursday night, and he spent an unusual amount of time attacking Republicans in general and his likely Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. During the 67-minute speech, the president made numerous claims, and the Daily Signal fact-checked many of those claims to assess whether they were truthful and accurate. For example, Biden twice took credit for cutting the federal deficit.

Starting point is 00:00:48 He said that he already cut the deficit by over $1 trillion and signed a bipartisan budget deal that will cut another trillion dollars over the next decade. However, the federal budget deficit is set to increase every year for the next decade, says David Ditch, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the government will spend more on interest payments in 2024 on the accumulated debt than on national defense. Biden also claimed that a recently failed border bill included what he called the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen. In reality, if the bill had passed, more than 1.8 million

Starting point is 00:01:32 illegal aliens a year would have been permitted to enter the United States. The bill also would have allowed the policy of catch and release to not only continue, but be incorporated in to law. Former President Donald Trump shared his live play-by-play reactions to President Biden's State of the Union address on true social Thursday night. As Biden began his address by warning about Russian President Vladimir Putin's designs on Ukraine, Trump said that Putin only invaded Ukraine because he has no respect for Biden and that it wouldn't have happened under the Trump administration.

Starting point is 00:02:07 When Biden mentioned his handling of COVID-19, saying that the vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer, Trump responded, you're welcome, Joe, nine-month approval time versus 12 years that it would have taken you. Trump also commented on Biden taking credit for a good economy, stating that inflation under Biden is killing America. He then shared a graphic that stated that all 50 states have set new record high gas prices under Biden. Trump observed Biden's demeanor during the speech, saying, the anger and shouting isn't helpful to bringing our country back together.

Starting point is 00:02:46 In the official Republican response to the State of the Union address, Senator Katie Britt from Alabama highlighted the Biden administration's failings in its handling of the southern border. The senator declared that Biden didn't just create the border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days in office. Biden signed executive orders that stopped several. of the Trump administration's initiatives that were meant to curb illegal immigration. They included stopping the building of a border wall at the southern border,

Starting point is 00:03:19 and allowing illegal immigrants to enter the United States while applying for asylum, rather than having them wait in other countries for the years that it actually takes to find out if they'll get asylum. Britt further criticized Biden's border policies for the increase of fentanyl poisons in the United States. The drug is predominantly smuggled across the southern border. order. CNBC is reporting that U.S. job creation topped expectations in February with job growth totaling 275,000 new jobs for the month. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate rose from a monthly 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent. In addition, average hourly earnings, watched closely as an indication of inflation, showed a slightly less than expected increase for the month, and a

Starting point is 00:04:09 deceleration from a year ago. Wages were up 4.3% from a year ago, but rose just 0.1% in February over January, which was below estimates. Former President Donald Trump paid nearly $92 million in bond to a New York federal court today, Fox News reported. A jury recently found him liable for defamation and awarded over $83 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll, who had accused him of raping and sexually assaulting her several decades ago. A jury had earlier found Trump liable for battery against Carol after a New York law extended the statute of limitations in sexual assault cases. Trump had to post the $92 million because the New York State rules require him to post

Starting point is 00:04:56 110% of a possible judgment if he wants to appeal his case. And Trump does intend to appeal the decision. On Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Trump to pay the damages by Monday. If the former president wins his appeal, of course, he gets his money back. Some of our listeners may remember that the Southern Poverty Law Center caused a stir last year by adding parental rights groups like Moms for Liberty to its hate map, which the SPLC first developed to track Ku Klux Klan chapters and racist skinheads. Now the hate map includes immigration reform groups, pro-family organizations, parental rights, nonprofits, and more. And in one case, the

Starting point is 00:05:39 SPLC cited a direct quote from the catechism of the Catholic Church as evidence of hate. The Daily Signals, Tyler O'Neill, reported that the Heritage Foundation's oversight project recently unearthed documents showing the SPLC staff reached out to the Justice Department's hate crimes division to brief it on its analysis of these so-called hate groups. SPLC President Margaret Huang bragged that the Biden administration reached out to the group for advice on its strategy to comment. combat, quote, domestic terrorism. The SPLC fired its co-founder in a sexual harassment and racial discrimination scandal back in 2019. Amid that scandal, a former employee came forward calling

Starting point is 00:06:22 the SPLC's hate accusations, quote, a highly profitable scam. Despite these and many other scandals, the Biden administration has developed close ties with the SPLC. Biden nominated an SPLC attorney to a top federal judgeship, and SPLC leaders. and staff have visited the Biden White House at least 11 times. Expect more from the Daily Signal as this story develops. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed,

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The Daily Signal - Trump Responds to Biden SOTU, Unemployment Ticks Up, DOJ Takes Tips on Hate From SPLC | March 8

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