Category: The Midwest

Court Upholds Rule Barring Gender Identity on Kansas Drivers Licenses

Florida Capital Star Staff
Kansas City road

A judge ruled Monday that barring Kansas drivers from identifying as transgender on their licenses did not violate their constitutional rights.

Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in July 2023 after the governor’s office said that the state would continue to issue driver’s licenses reflecting a person’s gender identity despite the Kansas Legislature passing a bill requiring only biological sex on government IDs, according to the Kansas Reflector. Judge Teresa Watson upheld her previous ruling from last year barring the Kansas Department of Revenue from adding options other than a person’s biological sex to driver’s licenses and further stated that the law did not violate transgender individuals’ rights under the state constitution, according to court documents.

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Senator JD Vance Slams President Biden’s Order for the Military to Conduct an ‘Emergency Mission’ in Gaza

Kaitlin Housler

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) slammed the White House’s announcement that President Joe Biden will order the U.S. military to conduct an “emergency mission” to establish a port on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.

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Senator JD Vance Explains How Ukraine Aid Package is a ‘Future Impeachment Trap’ for Trump

Kaitlin Housler

Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) joined Monday’s edition of Steve Bannon’s War Room to discuss the supplemental funding package currently being debated in the Senate and how it could be used as a tool to impeach former President Donald Trump if he were to be elected in November.

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Unmasking DeWine: Ohio Journalist Jack Windsor Dissects Shocking Veto and Its Potential Ripple Effect on 2024 Senate Race

Admin

Ohio journalist and entrepreneur Jack Windsor joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report to discuss the connections and divides behind the shocking decision by Governor Mike DeWine to veto measure that would prohibit genital mutilation of children and transgender males competing in girls’ sports.

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Senators Marco Rubio and JD Vance Send Letter to U.S. Census Bureau About Its Plan of Adding Gender, Sexuality Questions for Those Ages 15 and Up

The Center Square

The U.S. Census Bureau is under fire for embracing progressive ideology around gender and sexuality and pushing for taxpayer dollars to fund it.

U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and JD Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos calling on him to rescind its plan to incorporate a gender identity and sexuality questions to the American Community Survey, which goes to more than 3.5 million Americans each year.

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Second GOP Presidential Debate Was Sloppy, At Times Chaotic, Ultimately Forgettable, Critics Say

M.D. Kittle

Wednesday evening’s chaotic GOP presidential primary debate at times felt more like an episode of “Jersey Shore” than a showcase of the best and brightest minds in conservative politics.

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GOP Presidential Candidates Prepare for Critical Second Debate Without Trump

M.D. Kittle

If Wednesday’s second GOP presidential primary debate proves to be anything like the first, we’re in for a night of political punches and maybe a rhetorical gang fight or two as the candidates look to score points in another Trump-less bout.

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Poll Showing Biden Leading Trump by 6 Points – if Former President Is Convicted – Has DeSantis Backers Written All Over It

M.D. Kittle

A recent poll showing President Joe Biden ahead of Donald Trump in a 2024 rematch if the former president is convicted of the indictments he’s facing was conducted by the pollster working with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ super PAC.

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Kinder, Gentler Iowa Cattle Call of GOP Presidential Hopefuls Sees Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Haley Generate Most Buzz

M.D. Kittle

The latest cattle call of GOP presidential contestants — sans former President Donald Trump — mainly maintained Iowa nice, a departure from last month’s first fiery primary debate and a similar Christian conservative event in July hosted by conservative talk show host lightning rod Tucker Carlson.

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Campaigning Against Kamala: With Biden’s Future a Question Mark, Republican Candidates Raise Red Flags About His No. 2

M.D. Kittle

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis\’ campaign blasted out a warning email on Friday, reminding Iowa voters what so many across the country fear: Vice President Kamala Harris could one day be in charge.

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Ramaswamy Blasts DeSantis ‘Monster PAC’ Following Report of Fake News Dirty Politics

M.D. Kittle

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is blasting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and “Monster PAC” following a report exposing the political action committee\’s campaign in “spreading dirt” and “misstatements” about the poll-rising Ramaswamy.

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Don Jr. Says Christie’s Expected Attacks on Trump at Debate Will Do Him Little Good in Republican Presidential Race

M.D. Kittle

As expected, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took some big swings at GOP presidential front-runner and former president Donald Trump Wednesday night at the first debate of the 2024 primary season.

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Despite Trump’s Absence, Plenty of Fireworks at First Republican Presidential Debate of the 2024 Season

M.D. Kittle

For those who thought a Trump-less GOP presidential primary debate was doomed to be a snooze fest, the two-hour political bar brawl disabused them of that notion.

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Ramaswamy Tops DeSantis in Latest Scott Rasmussen Poll, Trump Expands Frontrunner Position

M.D. Kittle

Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has overtaken Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in another national Republican primary poll.

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Campaign Trail Roundup: GOP Presidential Candidates Make Pitches at Iowa State Fair, DeSantis Booed at Iowa Racetrack

M.D. Kittle

What a wild weekend in Iowa.

The presidential candidates who turned out for the Iowa State Fair came close to outnumbering the selections of food on a stick at the Iowa State Fair.

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Iowa Lincoln Dinner Turns Up the Heat on Republican Presidential Race, as Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy Dominate

M.D. Kittle

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa nice converged with Hawkeye heat Friday evening, as the Republican Party of Iowa hosted the largest cattle call to date of the GOP presidential combatants on one of the hottest days of the year.

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After Facing Censorship in Congress, RFK Jr. Plans Roundtable Discussion on Censorship

M.D. Kittle

After Democrats threatened to censor him during last week’s House committee hearing on censorship, Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to hold a “Roundtable on Censorship” next month.

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DeSantis PAC Uses AI-Generated Trump Voice in Iowa Attack Ad

Just the News

A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president is launching a new television ad on Tuesday using an Artificial Intelligence-generated version of Donald Trump’s voice criticizing popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. 

The Never Back Down PAC ad features an AI version of Trump’s voice reading a post he made on Truth Social last week attacking Reynolds.

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Iowa Judge Temporarily Blocks State’s Newly Signed Heartbeat Abortion Ban

Susan Berry, PhD

Unborn babies up to 20 weeks’ gestation are once again able to be aborted in Iowa after a judge temporarily blocked the state’s new Heartbeat Protection Act which Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed into law on Friday.

As the measure was signed into law, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood North Central States, and the Emma Goldman Clinic filed a legal challenge against its enforcement.

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DeSantis and Haley Well Received by Evangelical Christians at Iowa Faith and Leadership Summit

M.D. Kittle

In closing the nationally watched Family Leadership Summit late Friday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the political rhetoric and sounded more fired up than he’s been at some of his previous campaign trips to Iowa.

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Tucker Carlson Grills GOP Candidate Senator Tim Scott on War in Ukraine, Biden’s Cluster Bombs

M.D. Kittle

U.S Senator Tim Scott said there shouldn’t be American military “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. But the South Carolina Republican campaigning for president remains supportive in the U.S., providing the weapons and resources Ukraine needs to push back Russia’s invasion.

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New Morning Consult Poll Shows Trump Dominating, Ramaswamy Rising

M.D. Kittle

Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

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Pence Says Trump and DeSantis Are Wrong on Ukraine and America’s Role as Arsenal of Democracy

M.D. Kittle

Former Vice President Mike Pence says his “former running mate,” among others in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase, are missing the significance of the U.S. coming to the aid of Ukraine.

Pence said he recently paid a call on the war-torn European nation and its president to see firsthand “the results of the extraordinary, unprovoked invasion by Russia” as well as the “tenacity and toughness” of the Ukrainian military.

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Casey DeSantis to Campaign for Her Husband and Presidential Hopeful Florida Governor Ron DeSantis This Week in Iowa

M.D. Kittle

Florida’s first lady is scheduled to launch her “Mamas for DeSantis” effort as she campaigns Thursday in Iowa for her husband and Republican presidential hopeful Governor Ron DeSantis.

Casey DeSantis’ stop is part of a busy Fourth of July holiday week for presidential campaigns in the Hawkeye State, with former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum returning to Iowa, as well. 

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Trump’s Lead Expanding, Ramaswamy Rising in Latest Morning Consult Poll

M.D. Kittle

A new Morning Consult poll shows former President Donald Trump widening the gap against his closest competitors, while former Vice President Mike Pence and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy make some noise among the crowded field of Republican Party presidential hopefuls.

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Professor: Ron DeSantis Is a Racist for His ‘Freaks of Nature’ Basketball Comments

Admin

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis noted in an interview that he preferred baseball over basketball partly because the latter is played by guys who are “just freaks of nature.”

Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network, the 2024 GOP presidential candidate said baseball is a “thinking man’s game” that requires special skill sets, Newsweek reports.

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Ramaswamy: Plea Deal Keeping Hunter Biden out of Prison Is a ‘Joke,’ the ‘Perfect Fig Leaf’

M.D. Kittle

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is blasting a plea deal announced Tuesday that will keep President Joe Biden’s troubled son out of prison on two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes and a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a known drug user.

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GOP Presidential Candidate Ramaswamy Calls for ‘Emancipation of the American Mind from Psychological Slavery Based on Race’

M.D. Kittle

Ohio businessman and Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is marking this Juneteenth with a call for the “emancipation of the American mind from psychological slavery based on race.”

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Don’t Be a ‘Disciple of the Donor Class:’ Ramaswamy Calls on Fellow Presidential Candidates to Commit to Pardoning Trump on Classified Records Charges

M.D. Kittle

Political outsider and GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is calling on all of his 2024 competitors — Republicans and Democrats — to commit to pardoning former President Donald Trump should he be convicted of the federal classified documents charges against him.

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Legal Experts: Politically Motivated, Yes, But Trump Could Be in Trouble with Latest Indictment

M.D. Kittle

While many Americans feel former President Donald Trump is the target of a political witch hunt by the Biden administration and its allies, the latest allegations against the Republican Party’s top presidential candidate are troubling, according to a leading constitutional law expert.

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GOP Presidential Candidate Ramaswamy Files FOIA Request Seeking Biden Communications with Special Prosecutor in Trump Indictment

M.D. Kittle

Ohio entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says his campaign has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to uncover communications between the White House, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Jack Smith, special prosecutor behind the latest indictment of former President Donald Trump.

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North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum Launches Bid for White House, Joining Crowded Field of GOP Contenders

M.D. Kittle

At a Fargo events center packed with family, friends and neighbors, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum stressed his small-town roots, his success in building a multi-billion dollar software business on the Great Plains, governing a growing state, and his vision for an innovative America in announcing his bid for the White House.

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GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Makes the Cut for the GOP Debates

M.D. Kittle

Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has risen in the polls to a top 5 candidate. Now the Ohio businessman and political outsider has secured a spot on the Republican National Committee debate stage.

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In Iowa Presidential Campaign Launch, DeSantis Says Republicans Need to Look Forward, Not Backwards

M.D. Kittle

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came to Iowa Tuesday evening, officially kicking off his run for the White House in the kick-off caucus state.

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Florida Among the Handful of States Enacting New, Sweeping School Choice Legislation

Admin

So far in 2023, six states signed school choice legislation into law, giving millions of families and their children education options, including access to taxpayer-funded vouchers.

Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Utah, South Carolina and Oklahoma all signed legislation into law that makes at least some, if not all students within the states, eligible for taxpayer funded vouchers or a tax credit that can be used on education expenses such as private school tuition, textbooks and transportation. Under the legislation enacted in 2023, millions of students across the country are now able to attend schools outside their designated zip code or apply to receive funding in order to seek a private or a homeschool education.

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DeSantis Enters Presidential Race with ‘Skewed’ Narrative He’s Better Positioned to Beat Biden than Trump

M.D. Kittle

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially launched his presidential campaign Wednesday, ending months of speculation and ratcheting up what promises to be an intense battle for the Republican Party nomination. 

DeSantis enters the race as a top tier candidate, but still lagging far behind frontrunner Donald Trump, according to just about every poll out there. 

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Radical Anti-Life Gender Justice Group Backing Ohio Ballot Initiative Revealed to Be Pushing End to ‘Unethical’ Parental Involvement Laws

Susan Berry, PhD

Tweets by a key leftist organization pushing the Ohio abortion ballot initiative that could end parental involvement in minors’ medical decisions reveal that the goal of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity’s (URGE) is to cut parents out of their children’s lives.

Protect Women Ohio (PWO), a self-described “coalition of concerned family and life leaders, parents, health and medical experts, and faith leaders in Ohio,” posted a thread to Twitter Tuesday showing URGE has been “working to abolish parental consent and notification laws for years.”

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Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and More: News and Notes from the Presidential Campaign Trail

M.D. Kittle

A glitchy start to the Ron DeSantis campaign, Tim Scott fires back at “The View,” Vivek Ramaswamy takes on Target, and Nikki Haley gets a CNN Town Hall.

There’s no rest for the weary on the expanded presidential campaign trail.

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Senators Want to Know Why Former FBI Officials Refused to Cooperate With Durham Investigation

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) want Special Counsel John Durham to explain why former high-level government officials refused to cooperate with his investigation exposing the FBI for its many failures in the bogus Trump-Russia collusion probe. 

Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Johnson, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent Durham a letter Tuesday asking why former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division Peter Strzok declined to fully cooperate.

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DeSantis Softly Jabs at Trump During Iowa Stop, Severe Weather Forces Cancelation of Trump’s Hawkeye State Rally

M.D. Kittle

The clash of the GOP titans didn’t happen after all in the Hawkeye State. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were scheduled to make separate campaign stops in Iowa Saturday.

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Trump, DeSantis Heading to the Hawkeye State – on the Same Day

M.D. Kittle

GOP heavyweights, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are slated to appear at events in Iowa on May 13.

Trump, who declared his run for the White House late last year, is scheduled to be in Des Moines, an unnamed campaign official told the Associated Press.

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GOP Presidential Challenger Vivek Ramaswamy Calls ‘Politically Motivated’ Indictment of Trump ‘Dark Moment in American History’

M.D. Kittle

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is strongly condemning a New York Grand Jury’s indictment of former President Donald Trump, calling it a “dark moment in American history.” Thursday’s indictment follows a years-long investigation of Trump in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels who claims to have had an affair with Trump years ago. The payment was made in advance of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the affair.

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Commentary: Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst Says Time Is Up for TikTok

Florida Capital Star Staff

Make no mistake about it, TikTok is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda machine living rent-free on the devices of 150 million Americans, and it’s putting our national security in jeopardy. This insidious app collects your data, surveils behavior, monitors user habits, and negatively influences our youth with an endless stream of addictive content.

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