Trump’s false New Orleans fearmongering

In the wake of the devastating terrorist attack in New Orleans, President-elect Donald Trump and far too many Republicans wasted no time using the tragedy to inaccurately and outrageously connect the attack to border security and migrants. On Wednesday morning, an erroneous Fox News report stated the suspect’s truck had been observed crossing the U.S.-Mexico border just days previously, implying that border security failures were to blame for the attack. From there, the floodgates opened.

According to Media Matters, within minutes of the report, Trump blamed the terrorist attack on “criminals coming in” to the United States. Predictably, others followed suit: Vice President-elect JD Vance retweeted Trump’s post, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene declared “New Orleans terrorist attacker is said to have come across the border in Eagle Pass TWO DAYS AGO!!! Shut the border down!!!” House Speaker Mike Johnson joined “Fox & Friends” to blame the attack on Biden’s “wide-open border,” as did Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan.

Here’s the truth: The New Orleans attacker was a U.S. citizen, born in the United States, and an Army veteran. Fox News retracted its report hours later, clarifying that the truck had crossed the border months ago, driven by a totally different person. (We now know the owner of the truck rented it out online via the app Turo.) Yet Johnson and others continued to echo this claim on Fox well after the network corrected itself. And GOP Rep. Mike Waltz is still exploiting this tragedy to push for confirmations of Trump’s national security picks — including himself — “on day one.”

This focus on the border is a distraction from the real questions that need to be asked. What radicalized a U.S. citizen to commit such a horrific crime? Trump will be president in just 16 days, and this week highlights his dangerous habit of prioritizing political narratives over actual threats.

A story you should be following: New Senate committee assignments

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced the Democratic committee assignments for the 119th Congress, setting the stage for what could be some of the most high-stakes and dramatic confirmation hearings in recent memory. These committees will vet Trump’s controversial selections, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth.

So far, Republicans have mostly deliberated behind closed doors. But they won’t have that luxury in the coming weeks, and a number of Hill insiders I have spoken with acknowledge the hearings will “not be pretty” for some Trump picks.

Hegseth will have to answer hours of questions from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Mark Kelly and freshman Sen. Elissa Slotkin. All of them, I imagine, will be very prepared to question Hegseth over his alleged sexual misconduct and past opposition to women serving in combat roles.

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‘Total lack of vetting’: Breaking down Trump’s cabinet picks December 16, 2024 / 03:30

Then there’s Kennedy, who will have to testify in front of both the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. That means he’ll have to face Warren as well as Sens. Bernie Sanders and Sheldon Whitehouse, to name a few. The same is true for Patel, who will face Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and freshman Sen. Adam Schiff from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

And last, but not least, Gabbard will have to answer to Kelly and Gillibrand as well as Sen. Angus King as she attempts to distance herself from her previous defenses of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

DNC leadership vote update: 28 days to go

With less than one month to go until Democratic National Committee delegates vote in new leadership on Feb. 1, Schumer has announced his endorsement of Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler.

Schumer is the highest-profile Democrat to weigh in publicly on the race. In a statement, Schumer called Wikler a “tenacious organizer,” “proven fundraiser” and “sharp communicator” with “proven results” in the 2024 election. In 2024, Wikler led efforts to hold Wisconsin’s Democratic Senate seat while flipping 14 state legislative seats — despite Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential loss in the state.

Wikler’s main competition is fellow state party chair Ken Martin of Minnesota, who is a current DNC vice chair. Martin emerged as an early front-runner, with endorsements from 100 of the 448 DNC members.

Other candidates for the position include former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, New York state Sen. James Skoufis and Nate Snyder, a former Homeland Security Department official.