Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says indefensible and incredibly stupid things. And she’s the new soul of the Republican Party.
Did springtime come early?
In recent days, there have been signs that the Republican Party’s support for Donald Trump—frozen rock-solid in time since 2016—may be thawing.
Mike Pence, the former vice president, said “Trump is wrong” for suggesting that he (Pence) could have unilaterally overturned the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Jan. 6 a “violent insurrection.” Both men lived to tell the tale.
What is more, polling suggests that Pence isn’t just on the right side of history, he’s on the correct side of the GOP. This glimmer of hope suggests Trump’s cult-like hold on the Republican electorate may be eroding, as voters (who still like Pence) indicate that they want to move forward (not backward).
However, this silver lining has more than a touch of gray. To truly read today’s GOP, you must balance positive developments with competing evidence. For example: Don’t tell the “Gazpacho” police, but the most important endorsement in today’s Republican Party—second only to Donald Trump—is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
That is the claim that was made by four top Republican strategists who spoke to The Daily Beast last week. “If you can’t get Donald Trump, you are going to want to have MTG in your back pocket,” an influential veteran GOP operative told Daily Beast reportersAsawin Suebsaeng and Sam Brodey. Not surprisingly, Greene’s spokesperson Nick Dyer concurred, saying the congresswoman has “become one of the most popular Republicans nationwide.”
Not too shabby for someone who has been kicked off of Twitter and her congressional committees. But for those who are hoping the GOP will come to its senses, it’s even more concerning when you put it in context.
While Greene, the QAnon queen, is the hot ticket if you want to win a GOP primary, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are persona non grata in the party, having been censured by the RNC for serving on the Jan. 6 Committee.
That’s right. When given a choice between decent conservatives (who are brave enough to put their political careers on the line) and a woman who floated the conspiracy theory that a California wildfire was the result of Jewish space lasers, the Republican faithful are shouting, “Give us Barabbas!”
But you don’t have to take the word of veteran GOP operatives, or even yours truly. Just look at who the really desperate Republican primary candidates are turning to.
So where did Vance immediately turn to in his hour of need? You guessed it.
“I am so honored to have Marjorie’s support,” Vance told The Hill. “I’ve gotten to know her over the last year, and she’s precisely the type of leader we need in our party: genuine, honest, and courageous. Unfortunately, there are too few like her, and so long as that’s the case, Republicans may win an election from time to time, but we’ll never do the difficult work of truly taking our country back from the leftwing mob and the woke corporations.”
This development is both sad and telling.
As The Bulwark’s Mona Charen wrote last year, “Vance is an extremely bright and insightful man who could have been a fresh voice for a fundamentally conservative view of the world.” This is a guy from a tough background who joined the Marines, went to Yale Law School, became a business success in Silicon Valley, and authored a best-selling memoir. And here he is, lavishing Marjorie Taylor Greene with praise and acting desperate for her support.
And he’s not alone. According to Daily Beast reporters Suebsaeng and Brodey, “at least seven GOP candidates have landed that coveted nod from the freshman Georgia congresswoman, from the loudly pro-Trump Rep. Mo Brooks, running for U.S. Senate in Alabama, to the conservative personality Robby Starbuck, running for U.S. House in Tennessee.”
It has been observed that Republican politicians aren’t really afraid of Trump; they are afraid of his supporters. When you consider that these same supporters incentivize politicians to seek out Greene’s endorsement, this assessment sadly rings true. Even if Trump disappeared from the political scene tomorrow, the larger problem to contend with is the grassroots base he inherited and helped attract.
In the past, Greene has been criticized by popular conservatives, including Ben Shapiro, Erick Erickson, and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, with Shapiro calling her comparison of COVID safety measures to the Holocaust “nutso” and “demented nonsense.” This criticism hasn’t stopped her meteoric rise. Suebsaeng and Brodey also note that Greene has raised over $7 million since joining Congress last January, “making her one of the most prolific fundraisers in the entire House.” This is now a movement where the inmates run the asylum.
It’s tempting to dismiss Greene as a fringe character who is a mere mainstream obsession. But all evidence, including her status as the most sought-after Republican endorser (next to Trump), says otherwise.
She’s the heart and soul of the base now. It’s a sad state of affairs.
France’s Macron flies to meet Putin in risky bid to avert war France’s President Emmanuel Macron headed to Russia on Monday with one aim on his mind: Receiving assurances from Moscow that it will start to de-escalate tensions on the Ukrainian border.
Trump’s incendiary Texas speech may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say The disgraced ex-president's incendiary call at a Texas rally for his backers to ready massive protests against "radical, vicious, racist prosecutors" could constitute obstruction of justice or other crimes and backfire legally on Trump, say former federal prosecutors.
I needed to take some time to process the former president’s statements from last weekend. There is no sugarcoating it: his words show just how much our democracy remains at risk. And how big of a fight we have ahead of us.
First, Donald Trump spread his usual conspiracy theories, disinformation, and pure bile at a political rally. Attacking me personally, again, but that was the least of it. Here’s what really mattered — he, blatantly, dangled pardons for those who attacked the Capitol.
Then, later in the weekend, he issued a statement that he had expected Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election. “Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the election!” Trump made it clear again that he knew he lost and was intent on overturning the results. His only regret about the violent attack on the Capitol appears to be that it did not succeed.
And it’s never been more apparent: We’re not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.
It can be said that Trump is saying the quiet part out loud. And that’s true. But he’s never hidden his intentions. Not during the 2016 election. Not during his impeachments. And certainly not now. We ignore him at our peril.
Donald Trump is likely to run for election in 2024, and I fear that our democracy could not take a second Trump presidency. Especially when it barely survived the first. And since then, those who follow him have become even less tethered to reality.
They believe our democracy is a sham. They think our elections are rigged – but only if their side loses. And they believe every word Trump utters. It’s dangerous.
This is the nightmare that will become reality if the GOP wins this November. Because Trump will take that as a green light to run again. We must do everything possible to ensure the GOP does not overtake our razor-thin Blue Majority. If they do, we could see Trump’s goal of overturning an election become reality.
I don’t say this lightly, but our democracy hinges on the results of the election this November as much as it will in November of 2024.
Anything you can contribute — anything meaningful to you — can make a big difference. Thanks for being a part of our fight.
The fallout at CNN should be a wakeup call for everyone in media. Trust is hard to win and very easy to lose
Media outlets are supposed to report the news not become it. On Wednesday CNN found itself coming afoul of that rule when Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned from his position as network president amid lurid circumstances. In a memo sent to colleagues, Zucker explained he was stepping down after failing to disclose a “consensual relationship” with a close colleague. While Zucker didn’t name the colleague directly, Allison Gollust, CNN’s executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, has confirmed her involvement in a memo to employees.
Hang on a minute. Is a powerful man really resigning from a big job because he had a consensual relationship with a colleague? That’s not the usual way of things; many men have been accused of far worse transgressions and still managed to cling to power. Well here’s some context: Gollust happens to be the former communications director for disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. And Zucker’s relationship with Gollust came up during an internal investigation into former anchor Chris Cuomo, who was fired from CNN in December after using his job to help his brother, Andrew, combat sexual harassment allegations (leading some commentators to dub CNN the “Cuomo Nepotism Network”.)
Zucker stood by Chris Cuomo for months when his conflict-of-interest scandal first hit but eventually fired him a few days after the anchor was accused of sexual misconduct by a junior colleague at another network. Like his brother, it seems Chris holds a grudge. Two sources told Politico that it was Cuomo’s legal team, which is still negotiating his exit from the network, who flagged the relationship between Zucker and Gollust. A reporter from media startup Puck News has also claimed that CNN received a letter from Cuomo’s lawyers asking for all communications between Zucker, Gollust and Cuomo to be preserved.
While Zucker may not be having a very good week, Donald Trump (whose views on CNN are common knowledge) is having a ball. “Jeff Zucker, a world-class sleazebag who has headed ratings and real-news-challenged CNN for far too long, has been terminated for numerous reasons, but predominantly because CNN has lost its way with viewers,” Trump wrote in a statement.
I hate to say it, but Trump has a point. You don’t have to be a cynic to reckon that CNN’s dismal ratings may factor into Zucker’s sudden departure: CNN had record ratings during the Trump years but has seen viewership plummet recently. The Cuomo scandal certainly hasn’t helped the network’s credibility: during the early days of the pandemic Chris Cuomo repeatedly interviewed his brother on air and it was largely treated like hilarious banter instead of a clear conflict of interest. And that’s hardly been the only embarrassment the network has suffered: last year Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s chief legal analyst exposed himself on a Zoom call with colleagues. While the New Yorker fired Toobin from his staff writer position, CNN gave him a little tap on the wrist and put him back on the air.
There are lots of brilliant, hard-working, journalists at CNN. However, Zucker has a storied history in reality TV (he green-lit The Apprentice during his time at NBC) and, under his stewardship, CNN has treated politics like entertainment. There have been several instances where the most basic journalistic principles have gone out of the window because “good TV” was more important. In 2016, for example, CNN hired Corey Lewandowski to be a political commentator shortly after he’d been fired as Trump’s campaign manager. They hired Lewandowski to talk about politics when the man was still collecting severance pay from Trump and had signed a contract prohibiting him from disparaging Trump. And it gets worse: in 2019, after being accused of sexual assault and boasting that he has “no obligation to be honest with the media”, CNN invited him back on air. Trust in media has declined dramatically and the media can’t just blame that on people like Trump shouting “fake news”. There is a revolving door between high-profile jobs in cable news and big jobs in government: the idea that journalists and politicians are part of an overlapping “elite” with aligned interests isn’t entirely misplaced. Take Zucker’s public “feud” with Trump, for example. Rather than being sworn enemies, the two have always had a symbiotic relationship. Back in 2016 Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, secretly recorded conversations between the two in which Zucker can be heard lavishing praise on Trump, who he refers to as “the boss”. “I have all these proposals for [Trump],” Zucker says at one point in the tapes. “Like, I want to do a weekly show with him and all this stuff.”
Now that Zucker and Trump are both out of jobs, perhaps they’ll finally put that weekly show together. In the meantime the fallout at CNN should be a wakeup call for everyone in media. Trust is hard to win and very easy to lose.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, seen here in November, said on Friday that former President Donald Trump is 'wrong' that Pence could have changed the results of the 2020 presidential election. (photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Former Vice President Mike Pence called out former President Donald Trump on Friday, saying Trump is "wrong" to say that Pence had the authority to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election when Congress gathered to certify Joe Biden's victory on Jan. 6, 2021.
Speaking at a gathering of the conservative Federalist Society in Florida, Pence said, "President Trump is wrong: I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president."
Trump has continued to refuse the election's outcome — that he lost to Biden — and this week he inaccurately insisted again that Pence "could have overturned the election" when Pence presided over the counting of electoral ballots at the Capitol. A pro-Trump mob overran the building that day, with some rioters shouting, "Hang Mike Pence."
Pence called Jan. 6, 2021, "a dark day" in Washington. "Whatever the future holds, I know we did our duty that day," Pence said, adding, "I believe the time has come to focus on the future."
"Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election," Pence said, adding that Vice President Harris "will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024."
"The truth is there's more at stake than our party or political fortunes," Pence added. "Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won't just lose elections. We'll lose our country."
Pence's speech came on the same day that the Republican National Committee adopted a resolution censuring two House Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for taking part in a bipartisan committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in which four people were killed.
The resolution says that the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot is going after people for engaging in "legitimate political discourse." RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel later tried to clarify that language, insisting it was not referring to the violence of the day.
Trump has floated the idea of giving pardons to those convicted of taking part in the violence should he be reelected president in 2024.
Andre Locke, father of Amir Locke, addresses the media at a news conference regarding the death of Locke, who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police's SWAT team, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., February 4, 2022. (photo: Tim Evans/reuters)
Mayor Jacob Frey said the moratorium immediately stops warrants in which police do not announce themselves, and said he and police leadership will work with national experts to review and revise department policy on no-knock warrants.
“No matter what information comes to light, it won’t change the fact that Amir Locke’s life was cut short,” Frey said in a statement.
Locke’s parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells, described him Friday as respectful, including to police, and said some of their relatives work in law enforcement. Wells said the couple coached their son on how to act and do “what they needed to do whenever they encountered police officers” because of the danger to “unarmed Black males.”
“My son was executed on 2/2 of 22,” Wells said. “And now his dreams have been destroyed.”
The parents spoke at a news conference organized by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who said Locke’s family was “just flabbergasted at the fact that Amir was killed in this way” and disgusted at how the Wednesday morning raid was conducted. They said he was law-abiding, with no criminal record, and had a permit to carry a gun.
“They didn’t even give him a chance,” Crump said, adding that it was shocking that Minneapolis police had not learned from the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed in a botched raid at her home in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020, leading to calls for an end to no-knock warrants nationwide.
Police said Locke pointed a loaded gun “in the direction of officers.” An incident report said he had two wounds in the chest and one in the right wrist.
The killing prompted outrage in Minneapolis, where prominent activists confronted the mayor and interim police chief at a news conference Thursday. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney, called the city’s release of information “the anatomy of a cover-up.”
Gov. Tim Walz called Locke’s death “a tragedy” and said it showed the need for further examination of no-knock warrants.
Frey’s office said DeRay McKesson, a prominent activist, and Peter Kraska, a professor at the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, will work with the police department on possible changes to policy. Frey’s office said both men helped shape Breonna’s Law in Louisville and have spearheaded changes to unannounced entry policies nationwide.
His office said that under the moratorium, a no-knock warrant can only be used if there is an imminent threat of harm, and even then the warrant must be approved by the chief.
Body camera video released by police Thursday evening shows an officer using a key to unlock the door of a downtown apartment and enter, followed by at least four officers in uniform and protective vests, time-stamped at about 6:48 a.m.
After they open the door, they repeatedly shout, “Police, search warrant!” They also shout “Hands!” and “Get on the ground!” The video shows an officer kick a sectional sofa, and Locke, who was wrapped in a comforter on the sofa, begins to move, holding a pistol. Three shots are heard, and the video ends.
The city also released a still from the video showing Locke holding the gun, his trigger finger along the side of the barrel. Otherwise, all that can be seen of Locke is the top of his head.
Levy Armstrong posted a link to the video on social media “for those who can stomach the murderous conduct of the Minneapolis Police Department.” She added: “The mother in me is furious and sick to my stomach. Amir never had a chance to survive that encounter with police.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he asked Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to help review the case for possible charges. Ellison’s office led prosecutions of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd’s killing and of former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter in the shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright.
“Amir Locke’s life mattered,” Ellison said in a statement, promising a fair and thorough review “guided by the values of accountability and transparency.”
A gun-rights group highlighted the timing of the raid, saying it appeared from the video that Locke was awakened by a confusing array of commands from officers pointing lights and guns at him.
“Mr. Locke did what many of us might do in the same confusing circumstances, he reached for a legal means of self-defense while he sought to understand what was happening,” said Rob Doar, a spokesman for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.
Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman said during a news conference Thursday that Locke wasn’t named in the warrants. She said it wasn’t clear how or whether Locke was connected to St. Paul’s homicide investigation. A spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department said he could not comment because the homicide investigation was ongoing.
The search warrants that led the SWAT team to enter the apartment were filed under seal and will not be made public immediately.
Frey said the video “raises about as many questions as it does answers” and that the city was pursuing answers “as quickly as possible and in transparent fashion” through investigations including one by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Huffman said the officer, Mark Hanneman, was in a difficult position.
“The still shot shows the image of the firearm in the subject’s hands, at the best possible moment when the lighting was fully on him. That’s the moment when the officer had to make a split-second decision to assess the circumstances and to determine whether he felt like there was an articulable threat, that the threat was of imminent harm, great bodily harm or death, and that he needed to take action right then to protect himself and his partners,” she said.
Hanneman was hired in 2015. Records released by the city showed three complaints, all closed without discipline, but gave no details. Data on the website of the citizen group Communities United Against Police Brutality showed a fourth complaint, in 2018, that remains open. No details were given.
The shooting came as three former Minneapolis officers are on trial in St. Paul on charges that they violated George Floyd’s civil rights. Floyd was among several Black men to die in confrontations with Minneapolis police in recent years, and his death spurred widespread protests and drive to remake the department. The Department of Justice is currently investigating the Minneapolis Police Department to see if it has a pattern or practice of civil rights violations.
Walz on Friday authorized the National Guard to provide public safety assistance if needed. His order said it was in response to the city of St. Paul’s request for aid during the trial in that city, but said Guard members would also be ready to serve in Minneapolis if needed due to Locke’s death.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's attorneys are seeking to show that the congressman was simply confused, rather than lying to government agents. (photo: Justin Wan/Lincoln Journal Star)
The defense wants prosecutors to have to play Fortenberry's entire statement to the FBI, not just the parts in which he is accused of lying.
In a blizzard of pretrial briefs Friday, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s attorneys are seeking to have the congressman’s full statement to the FBI played for jurors — both to show the repetitive questioning of government agents and the idea that Fortenberry was simply confused, rather than lying to agents.
Attorneys for the embattled Fortenberry, 60, also want to call an expert to testify to the fallibility of memory, especially in older adults. And his defense team wants to delve into the purported political leanings of the lead prosecutor.
Prosecutors fired back against all of those motions ahead of a hearing scheduled for Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. of Los Angeles. They said Fortenberry’s memory expert would offer nothing more than common-sense observations that people already know about recall.
And, they said, insisting that prosecutors play all of Fortenberry’s statements to federal agents — instead of just the operative portions in which they say he lied — invades the U.S. government’s right to present its case how it wants.
Prosecutors also blanched at the defense’s suggestions that lead prosecutor Mack Jenkins may have had political reasons to go after Fortenberry. Prosecutors say such an assertion is nonsense — arguing that Fortenberry is an obscure congressman from Nebraska and noting that the campaign donor in question donated to Democrats and Republicans alike.
The congressman is set to go to trial later this year — no date has been set, although attorneys are looking at mid-March — on charges that he lied to authorities about his knowledge of the source of conduit contributions to his campaign.
The indictment has resulted in Fortenberry, a Republican, now facing multiple GOP challengers, including State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln is running on the Democratic side, as is Jazari Kual of Lincoln.
Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraska’s 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies — two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in “conduit” political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser.
The money originated with Gilbert Chagoury, a Paris-based Nigerian, who purportedly directed the donations to Fortenberry because of a shared interest in protecting Christians from persecution in the Middle East. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns.
One of the charges grew out of a July 2019 interview in Washington in which Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in Los Angeles, asked some of the questions posed to Fortenberry.
Prosecutors allege that Fortenberry lied during that interview, and an earlier interview at his Lincoln home, about the origin of the $30,000. They claim that Fortenberry had been informed that the money “probably” came from Chagoury during a 2018 phone call from the organizer of the California fundraiser, who by then was cooperating with the FBI.
Fortenberry and his lawyers, meanwhile, have maintained that the congressman was “set up” by the FBI and that he couldn’t recall details of the 2018 call.
In turn, Fortenberry’s defense team on Friday asked the judge to require the prosecution to play in full Fortenberry’s statement to agents.
“This includes Fortenberry’s statements about the startling timing and manner in which (FBI) Special Agent (Todd) Carter approached him at his home on a Saturday night” and subjected Fortenberry to “confusing and repetitive questions.” The defense said Fortenberry repeatedly explained that he “did not have a clear recollection of the events.”
“You’re forcing my memory,” Fortenberry said at one point.
The defense is also seeking to keep out testimony from two key witnesses for the prosecution. A campaign consultant, Alexandra Kendrick, “relayed to Fortenberry” that the 2016 fundraiser “had the potential for illegal campaign contributions ‘because of the donors’ cultural background,’” according to prosecutors.
The defense also wants to keep out testimony from Toufic Baaklini, a Fortenberry friend and one of the people alleged to have passed the billionaire Chagoury’s money to the Los Angeles donors to Fortenberry.
Fortenberry’s defense team downplayed the congressman’s relationship with Baaklini.
“No member of Congress would plausibly commit a felony to help a mere acquaintance or even a somewhat loosely connected friend,” defense attorney John Littrell wrote.
Prosecutors said Baaklini is central to the case to show that Fortenberry wasn’t confused but was in fact concerned about the source of donations at the fundraiser. They say Baaklini is expected to testify that “approximately one week after the 2016 campaign fundraiser, Fortenberry asked Baaklini if there was anything wrong with the fundraiser because” most of the donations came from members of one family.
The defense also wants to call a professor to testify as to possible reasons Fortenberry told the FBI that he couldn’t recall whether he was told the source of the campaign money. The expert will testify that “memory fidelity and accuracy tend to decline” as we get older.
“Without the benefit of ... expert testimony, jurors may assume that ... Fortenberry must have lied to the government,” Littrell wrote.
The defense also wants to argue that Jenkins, the lead prosecutor, was “resolved to punish” Fortenberry because he thought that Fortenberry had lied to him.
That led to this argument from the defense: “Although Jenkins’ bias against Republicans is explicit, his bias against Congressman Fortenberry may not be. Jenkins may not even be aware of it ... Jenkins has a strong reputation for integrity and may well have believed that every decision he made in this case was driven by an impartial search for the truth. But jurors would be entitled to conclude that Jenkins’ actual or implicit bias influenced his decision-making in this case.”
Prosecutors called that argument absurd. They noted that Chagoury gave to both Republicans and Democrats and said Fortenberry is “not a prominent politician in (California) or otherwise widely known outside of his district.”
“While defendant tries hard to proclaim this case is infected by politics, it is he who keeps injecting it,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant and his counsel continuously seek to charge his case with politics, make defendant’s political affiliation the focus, and otherwise attack the motives of the prosecution team — none of which are relevant to any legal or factual defense.”
A man holds a rainbow flag after taking part in the Pride Run in Shanghai in June 2017. Shanghai Pride shut down abruptly in 2020 and has not returned since. (photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Last year's Tokyo Olympics are destined to be remembered for many reasons. They took place amid a state of emergency in the Japanese capital -- declared as the city was dealing with a surge in coronavirus cases -- and events were staged with little to no spectators to cheer athletes on.
Of the 11,000 Olympians competing in Tokyo, at least 186 identified as LGBTQ, according to the SB Nation blog Outsports -- a groundbreaking moment in the history of the representation of marginalized sexualities and gender identities in the sporting world.
Outsports reports that the Beijing Games will have a record number of out athletes for the Winter Games at 35 -- yet, it looks like those Olympians may be performing in the shadow of growing challenges faced by sexual minorities and their supporters in China.
Although the nation removed homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders in 2001, the LGBTQ community in China continues to face official harassment and same-sex marriage remains illegal across the country.
In recent years, the Chinese government has accelerated its pressure on LGBTQ+ rights and spaces. In 2017, Chinese authorities banned online video platforms from sharing content that contained the depiction of "abnormal sexual behaviors" -- which, according to those authorities, included same-sex relationships.
In July 2021, WeChat -- a popular messaging app in the country -- shut down more than a dozen of LGBTQ+ accounts run by university students and sparked widespread concern over the censorship of gender and sexual minorities. The year before, Shanghai Pride -- China's longest-running Pride event usually attended by thousands of LGBTQ+ people from across the nation -- abruptly canceled all their scheduled activities due to mounting pressure from local authorities, according to a source with knowledge of the situation that spoke to CNN at the time.
The organizers posted an open letter online titled "The End of the Rainbow" and said they would also be taking a break from scheduling all future events. They gave no reason for the Pride cancellation in the letter but a person not associated with Shanghai Pride -- but with knowledge of the situation -- told CNN at the time that the all-volunteer team had been facing mounting pressure from local authorities, to the point of where it was disrupting their day jobs and normal lives.
CNN spoke to one LGBTQ+ community leader in Beijing about the climate on this topic right now. CNN agreed to refer to him only as "AJ" due to the sensitivity of the topic and his fear of negative repercussions. AJ said that it is "becoming more and more challenging for Chinese LGBTQ+ non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to run projects."
He added that many LGBTQ+ organizations are "on the brink of closing as funds run dry" in an increasingly censored environment.
He also said that the capital's local LGBTQ+ community will be sad not to be able to watch in person as see Olympians compete in the Beijing Games in person due to the current Covid-19 restrictions in place in the city -- "especially out LGBTQ+ athletes."
On January 17, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced tickets for the Games would not go on sale for international visitors or the general public, citing Covid-19 concerns. Instead, it decided groups of spectators would need to be invited to fill the stands -- Olympic venues will be split between spectators from inside Beijing's "closed loop" system and those outside of it, according to Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee, Yang Shu'an.
Those outside of the "closed loop" -- which is made up of Games-related personnel -- will include international people residing in mainland China, diplomatic personnel, marketing partners, winter sports enthusiasts, residents and local students.
In China's sporting world, athletes who openly identify as LGBTQ+ as part of their public image are few and far between.
In June 2021, Li Ying -- a prominent footballer for the Chinese women's national team -- posted photos of herself and her girlfriend to mark their anniversary on the social media platform Weibo. Chinese media commentators noted it as a turning point for LGBTQ athletes in public life. But Li's account was flooded with homophobic abuse after going viral and the post was later deleted without explanation.
As the attention of the international sporting community turns to Beijing while the Winter Olympics unfold, the censorship placed on the city's LGBTQ+ population citizens and the glaring lack of out LGBTQ+ athletes representing China is thrust under a global spotlight.
According to former pro snowboarder Simona Meiler, clampdowns on LGBTQ+ liberties and censorship such as those that exist in China are contrary to the core principles of the Olympic Charter.
"The Charter is supposed to uphold the rights of all and to discourage discrimination," Meiler -- who identifies as gay -- told CNN Sport. "But when the host nations of the Games violate human rights -- whether in their treatment of LGBTQ+ people or other minorities -- that goes against everything that the Charter stands for."
Indeed, the Charter states that the philosophy of Olympism "seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example, social responsibility and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."
Further, the Charter's rules also make it explicitly clear that the "enjoyment of the rights and freedoms" in the Olympic Movement shall "be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion," among other characteristics.
Yet Meiler thinks the measures taken by the Chinese authorities to censor LGBTQ+ voices in the country could undermine the values of Olympism laid out by the IOC.
In hosting the Games in a nation that fosters an unwelcoming environment for LGBTQ+ people, the Olympic Charter's "respect for universal fundamental ethical principles" is called into question, Meiler suggests.
"IOC may have rules in place designed to protect the rights of marginalized people, such as the Charter," Meiler said. "But I rarely see the IOC actually enforce its own rules."
In a statement to CNN Sport, the IOC said that its remit "is to ensure that there is no discrimination at the Olympic Games and that all athletes can compete and live together under one roof in the Olympic Village whatever their backgrounds or beliefs are and free from fear and any form of discrimination."
The IOC also told CNN Sport that "by carrying out this vital mission, the Olympic Games showcase how the world could be if the world would be free from any prejudice."
"At the same time, the IOC has neither the mandate nor the capability to change the laws or the political system of a sovereign country," the statement said. "This must rightfully remain the legitimate role of governments and respective intergovernmental organizations."
China, meanwhile, has repeatedly condemned actions they characterize as attempts to politicize sports.
Just last week, 243 human rights groups and non-governmental organizations called for action against China's "atrocity crimes and other grave human rights violations," urging governments to join a diplomatic boycott of the Games and for athletes and sponsors "not to legitimize government abuses."
Australia, the UK, and Canada are among nations that joined a US-led diplomatic boycott of the Games. India also announced a last minute diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics on February 3.
CNN has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the concerns of LGBTQ+ citizens in the country and LGBTQ+ athletes but has not yet received a response.
But after several countries, including the United States, announced a diplomatic boycott of the Games in response to alleged genocide in China's northwestern Xinjiang region -- allegations China denies -- China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "no one would care whether they come or not," adding, "the Winter Olympic Games is not a stage for political posturing."
Meiler herself has first-hand experience of attending a Winter Olympics held in a country that makes it difficult for LGBTQ+ individuals to live in peace and without fear of censorship or violence.
She attended the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia -- a nation Human Rights Watch accused at the time of failing to protect LGBTQ+ people, to have "effectively legalized discrimination" against them, and to have "cast them as second-class citizens."
At the time, President Vladimir Putin said Russia's priority was "a healthy traditional family and a healthy nation."
When speaking about Sochi and the upcoming Beijing Games, Meiler points out that the honor of hosting the Olympics or other prestigious sporting events allows nations to deflect from serious questions about accusations of alleged wrongdoing. She notes that being awarded the right to hold the Olympic Games can provide positive PR for countries that may otherwise be negatively perceived because of the allegations they're facing.
"These nations -- accused of human rights abuses -- want to present the best possible image they can to the rest of the world," Meiler said. "So, when they bid to host the Olympics and other competitions and when they then get to hold them, they make sure that they put forward an upstanding version of themselves."
Protest and pride
Meiler pointed to the recent case of the Qatar Grand Prix in November as she considered what athletes themselves can do to show support to marginalized communities when nations accused of serious human rights violations are chosen to host global sporting events.
"When it comes to the question of what athletes can do as they compete in tournaments held in nations that are hostile towards LGBTQ+ people, for example, I think others could look to the Lewis Hamilton approach," she told CNN Sport.
Meiler is referring to celebrated driver and 7 time world champion Hamilton's decision to wear a helmet that featured the Pride Progress flag -- a more inclusive version of the traditional rainbow flag associated with LGBTQ+ Pride -- and included the words "We Stand Together" during a practice race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
"With the platform that athletes have, on a stage as big as the Winter Games, they have a real opportunity to raise awareness of the issues affecting the place they're competing in and beyond," Meiler said. "For me, personally, it was never an option for me to not be out -- I knew that even if I reached one or two LGBTQ+ people by being an out and open athlete, it was important."
Whether or not athletes choose to take the Hamilton approach in Beijing is yet to be seen. But what has apparently been made clear is that any competitor making a protest at the Games, for any reason, may face condemnation for doing so.
At a press briefing on January 19, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson was asked for comment on the reports that a member of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee had warned that "foreign athletes may face punishment for any speech that violates Chinese law" during the Winter Games.
Zhao Lijian -- the spokesperson -- said: "As I understand, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has published a statement on the ban on political protests, which asks Olympic athletes not to protest at any Olympic venues or podiums by taking a knee or in other forms. We hope certain media would not take things out of context and maliciously hype them up to attack and discredit China."
Yet, Zhao also added that he wanted to "reiterate that China welcomes all athletes to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, and will ensure the safety and convenience of all Olympians."
If Olympians are indeed prevented from demonstrating against policies that make life harder for LGBTQ+ people in China, there are other ways to highlight such issues, Meiler suggests.
"The best thing that I could do with my platform is to be myself and to have another woman waiting for me at the finish line," Meiler said. "Just showing that we exist, at competitions all over the world, is a big part of the fight for LGBTQ+ recognition."
Upholding the Olympic values
In 2014, Eric Radford -- a Canadian pair ice skater -- came out at the height of his career.
Earlier that same year, the Winter Games were held in Sochi as Russia continued to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights following the introduction of legislation that outlawed the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations around minors" and effectively banned children and young people from learning about LGBTQ+ lives and relationships.
Russia's Justice Ministry denied that the law was discriminatory, according to state media reporting at the time.
Radford -- who competed in those Olympics -- told CNN Sport that when the IOC is deciding on where to host the Winter Games, "a nation's attitude towards LGBTQ+ rights should absolutely be taken into consideration."
He acknowledged the complicated nature of choosing where such a major event in the global sporting calendar should be held, but maintained that a nation's stance on human rights, including LGBTQ+ freedoms, should always be of the utmost importance when searching for a new host.
"Perhaps one way to avoid holding the Olympic Games in a place that is hostile towards LGBTQ+ people and marginalized communities would be to decide on a select group of cities in countries that have been fully vetted for their record on human rights and their treatment of LGBTQ+ citizens and rotate between them every four years," Radford said.
The decorated skater -- echoing Meiler -- also insisted that the IOC is responsible for ensuring that its words on encouraging tolerance and stamping out inequality are put into effective action, particularly at the Beijing Games.
"It's the IOC's job to uphold what the Olympics represent -- such as the value of inclusion and the idea that Olympism is open to all," Radford said. "I think what the IOC really needs to do is be vocal in its support of LGBTQ+ athletes and the wider community."
He added: "It's one thing [for the IOC] to say that it doesn't accept discrimination, but it has to do more than that. It has to go further. For example, the IOC could share the stories of LGBTQ+ athletes across its social media to try and reach people in places where there isn't much exposure to LGBTQ+ lives."
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, skier Gus Kenworthy's kiss with his then-boyfriend Matthew Wilkas served as a historic moment in LGBTQ+ visibility in sports while figure skater Adam Rippon used the Olympic platform to criticize former US Vice President Mike Pence's stance on LGBTQ+ rights.
With this year's Games now underway, the world will soon find out if the Beijing Winter Olympics do have a chilling effect on LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms in global sports.
Lyrics, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | Working Class Hero. Written by John Lennon. Produced by Yoko Ono and Phil Spector. From the 1970 album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
As soon as you're born they make you feel small By giving you no time instead of it all Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years Then they expect you to pick a career When you can't really function you're so full of fear A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV And you think you're so clever and classless and free But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they're telling you still But first you must learn how to smile as you kill If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be A working class hero is something to be If you want to be a hero well just follow me If you want to be a hero well just follow me
Endangered coho salmon spotted returning to spawning grounds after well-timed precipitation
The heavy rains that soaked California late last year were welcomed by farmers, urban planners – and endangered coho salmon.
“We’ve seen fish in places that they haven’t been for almost 25 years,” said Preston Brown, the director of watershed conservation for the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (Spawn).
California received more precipitation from October to December than in the previous 12 months, according to the National Weather Service.
The abundance of rain and snow arrived in time for the November-to-January spawning season in the resource-rich Tomales Bay watershed north of San Francisco, enabling some fish to reach tributaries to the Lagunitas Creek, at least 13 miles inland in Marin County.
Some fish have been spotted a mile upstream from where the San Geronimo Creek had been dammed until little more than a year ago, experts say.
The rain could easily be a mere pause in the state’s epic, 20-year drought, which has complicated efforts by water officials to keep fish, farms and growing cities supplied. Experts say the state needs several wet years in a row to replenish reservoirs.
In the meantime, the fish are benefiting, laying eggs in nests where babies will hatch and spend most of their juvenile life. They will then swim out to the ocean as adults, later returning to the same area to spawn.
“They like these really tiny small streams, and that’s where their survival is the highest,” said Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, the parent group to Spawn. “If we give the fish a fighting chance at survival, they will come back.”
