Politics
REPORT: Joe Biden ‘Had to Choose’ Harris Because of the BLM Riots, But He Actually Wanted THIS Governor


Joe Biden personally wanted Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as his 2020 running mate, but ultimately went with Kamala Harris because of the Black Lives Matter riots, according to a new profile published in The Atlantic.
The revelation comes from an in-depth piece on Whitmer as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, which details the behind-the-scenes dynamics of Biden’s vice-presidential vetting process.
Whitmer had risen to national prominence in 2020 for her aggressive and authoritarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic and her public clashes with President Donald Trump.
By summer 2020, Whitmer was actively being vetted for the VP spot.
Whitmer was the first finalist to meet with Biden in person in Delaware in August 2020.
Insiders said she got along well with Biden and was prepared to accept the position if offered.
A former senior staffer for Whitmer told The Atlantic, “The moment called for a black running mate,” explaining the intense pressure on Biden following the nationwide riots after the death of George Floyd.
The Atlantic reports:
All of this attention seemed like it might add up to something, and by summer 2020, Whitmer was being vetted for vice president. She wasn’t sure about it at first, people familiar with her thinking at the time told me; she struggled to imagine herself as a creature of Washington, D.C. She got along well with Biden, though, and by the time he asked her to fly to Delaware for an in-person chat, she was ready to say yes. Biden didn’t ask. The moment called for a Black running mate, the former senior staffer for Whitmer told me, so he had to choose Kamala Harris. “But I think he wanted it to be Whitmer,” this person said. Asked to confirm, a former adviser to both Biden and Harris said that the assessment carried “some weight.”
A former adviser to both Biden and Harris added that the claim Biden “wanted it to be Whitmer” carries “some weight.”
Whitmer herself confirmed in a December 2020 interview with Detroit’s FOX 2 that she would have accepted the role if Biden had asked.
“If Joe Biden had called and said, ‘I need you to be my partner and be my running mate,’ I would have said yes. This election was that important,” she stated.
Whitmer later claimed she felt a “sigh of relief” that the call never came, as she preferred to remain governor of Michigan.
Biden had publicly pledged to select a woman as his running mate. Whitmer was seen as a strong ideological and geographic fit. However, multiple outlets at the time reported that black Democratic leaders and activists urged Biden to choose a black woman, with some warning that picking Whitmer could cost him support in key states like Michigan.
Whitmer went on to campaign vigorously for the Biden-Harris ticket and continued supporting Biden through his 2024 reelection bid until he withdrew.
The post REPORT: Joe Biden ‘Had to Choose’ Harris Because of the BLM Riots, But He Actually Wanted THIS Governor appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Politics
Supreme Court Justices Alito and Thomas Not Planning to Retire This Year


Conservative Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are not planning to retire this year amid speculation that Trump could appoint at least one more justice to the high court.
Fox News reported that Alito, a George W. Bush nominee, is not expected to step down from the bench.
CBS News later reported that Clarence Thomas is not planning on retiring this year either.
President Trump’s interview with Maria Bartiromo sparked chatter about the justices.
Trump told Bartiromo that he is prepared to name replacements.
“It could be two, could be three, could be one. I don’t know — I’m prepared to do it, but when you mention Alito, he is a great justice,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo this week.
President Trump reveals he’s ready to name replacements for SAMUEL ALITO and CLARENCE THOMAS if the two conservative Supreme Court justices retire
“It could be two, could be three, could be one. I don't know — I'm prepared to do it." pic.twitter.com/011gUHmHRw
— James A Stamulis (@stamulis_james) April 16, 2026
Fox News reported:
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is not expected to step down this term and has already hired all four law clerks for the upcoming annual term despite speculation the high court justice was weighing retirement, multiple sources said.
Alito “is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term,” a source told Fox News Digital. Two other sources told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term, which lasts until the Supreme Court’s new year kicks off in October.
Justices tend to hire their clerks two to three years in advance, although that process is not necessarily indicative of a justice’s retirement plans.
The revelation that Alito is reportedly not planning to step down comes after President Donald Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo he is “prepared” to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices if vacancies arise. Trump added he has a shortlist of nominees in mind, though he did not mention any names.
The post Supreme Court Justices Alito and Thomas Not Planning to Retire This Year appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Politics
Iran Has ‘Agreed to Everything,’ Trump Says

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran has “agreed to everything” and will work with the United States to remove its enriched uranium.
The president told CBS News in a phone interview that the removal operation will not involve U.S. troops on the ground.
“No. No troops,” he said. “We’ll go down and get it with them, and then we’ll take it. We’ll be getting it together because by that time, we’ll have an agreement and there’s no need for fighting when there’s an agreement. Nice right? That’s better. We would have done it the other way if we had to.”
The other way would have involved troops going in and seizing the material.
“Our people, together with the Iranians, are going to work together to go get it. And then we’ll take it to the United States,” he said of the enriched uranium.
BREAKING: President Trump tells CBS News Iran has “agreed to everything,” including the removal of enriched uranium. https://t.co/eac5lIcNUD
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 17, 2026
Axios had previously reported that several proposals were in discussion, with one being the possibility of the uranium being moved to a third-party country.
Iran had sought an agreement allowing them to “down-blend” their enriched uranium.
“A top priority for the Trump administration is ensuring Iran can’t access the stockpile of nearly 2,000kg of enriched uranium buried in its underground nuclear facilities, in particular the 450kg enriched to 60% purity,” Axios explained.
FOX NEWS ALERT: Peter Doocy reports President Trump just told CBS News the Iranian regime has AGREED to allow U.S. personnel to enter Iran to collect and extract leftover uranium.
“This explained why it is he’s so confident a deal is about to be closed with the Iranians.”… pic.twitter.com/hvhw2KluLW
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) April 17, 2026
Most commercial nuclear power plants use 3 to 5 percent enriched uranium, and 90 percent is often the threshold associated with nuclear weapons, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Before the outbreak of the war, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that in March, Iranian negotiators boasted to him that they had enough enriched uranium to build 11 nuclear weapons.
The Iranian negotiators apparently said “they had the inalienable right to enrich all their nuclear fuel that they possessed,” Witkoff said.
“We, of course, responded that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks,” he added.
“In that first meeting, both the Iranian negotiators said to us, directly, with no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60 percent, and they’re aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs, and that was the beginning of their negotiating stance,” Witkoff recounted.
He explained that 60 percent enriched uranium can be brought to weapons grade in roughly one week in a nuclear facility.
Witkoff noted, “They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz initiated on Monday was costing Iran up to $435 million a day, including $276 million in lost exports.
The blockade, coupled with weeks of air strikes from the U.S. and Israel, which devastated Iran’s steel and petrochemical facilities, has the country’s economy on the brink of collapse.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Iran Has ‘Agreed to Everything,’ Trump Says appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Politics
Alec Baldwin to Face Civil Trial in Fatal ‘Rust’ Shooting


A judge ordered Alec Baldwin to face a civil trial over negligence after he fatally shot a producer on the set of ‘Rust.’
Baldwin shot and killed 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins and injured 48-year-old Joel Souza on the movie set of ‘Rust’ in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October 2021.
Serge Svetnoy, a lighting technician who was almost hit with a bullet while on the set of Rust filed a lawsuit and claimed he suffered emotional distress.
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge on Friday allowed the lawsuit to move forward.
Alec Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.
NBC News reported:
A judge ruled on Friday that a civil case against actor Alec Baldwin over alleged negligence on the “Rust” set in 2021 can proceed to trial this fall.
Serge Svetnoy, a gaffer on “Rust,” first filed a lawsuit in November 2021, alleging that he narrowly missed being hit while on set that day. He claimed that cost-cutting and corner-cutting measures on the Western meant that Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and other producers “were consciously aware of the wrongfulness and harmfulness of their conduct.”
He alleges that he suffered from emotional distress due to negligence on the part of Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter allowed Svetnoy’s claims for punitive damages, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress to move forward.
In a case filed by Santa Fe prosecutors, Alec Baldwin was previously charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.
In July 2024 Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice which means prosecutors cannot refile the case.
Alec Baldwin’s defense team accused state prosecutors of concealing evidence. In a stunning move, the judge dismissed the charges in the middle of the trial!
The post Alec Baldwin to Face Civil Trial in Fatal ‘Rust’ Shooting appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
-
Politics7 months agoSEND IN THE TROOPS! At Least 5 Dead, 10 Wounded So Far in Chicago Weekend Shootings
-
Business7 months ago
How I Paid Off My Mortgage 10 Years Early On A Teacher’s Salary
-
Politics7 months agoBlack Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle
-
Tech7 months agoGet a lifetime subscription to the “ChatGPT for investors” for under $60
-
Tech7 months agoReview: The Dreame H15 Pro CarpetFlex is the first wet/dry vacuum I liked
-
Business8 months ago
25 Low-Effort Side Hustles You Can Start This Weekend
-
Tech8 months agoHow much does the Roborock Saros Z70 cost? And does it ever go on sale?
-
Business8 months ago
9 Ways to Command a Six-Figure Salary Without a Bachelor’s

FOX NEWS ALERT: Peter Doocy reports President Trump just told CBS News the Iranian regime has AGREED to allow U.S. personnel to enter Iran to collect and extract leftover uranium.