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The Afro-American, February 25, 2017 - March 3, 2017
NATION & WORLD
Black Caucus Dismayed by Trump’s Invite to April Ryan By The Associated Press
(AP Photo/Zach Gibson)
In this Jan. 5 photo, House Assistant Minority Leaser James Clyburn of S.C speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington.
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Members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed bafflement and dismay Feb. 16 after President Donald Trump asked a Black reporter to set up a meeting with them. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said there is “an element of disrespect” in Trump’s comment to journalist April Ryan, asking her whether she was friends with CBC members and could convene a get-together. “He’s not going to ask any other reporter to do that for any other group, so why did he do that to her? I think that was pretty instructive to me,” said Clyburn, a veteran lawmaker and member of the House Democratic leadership. When asked whether Trump was implying that all Black people know each other, Clyburn said, “I don’t know what his implications were but that’s my interpretation.” The chairman of the CBC, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., issued a statement late Thursday saying the White House reached out to schedule a meeting with the 49-member organization and discussions were underway about a possible date. Ryan is a longtime White House reporter and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks. She asked Trump at his East Room press conference on Feb. 16 whether he planned to include the CBC “in your conversations with your urban agenda, your inner-city agenda.” The president responded by asking Ryan whether the CBC are “friends of yours” and remarking, “I tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting?” Ryan herself responded over Twitter: “I am a journalist not a convener! But thank you for answering my questions.” And the CBC noted over Twitter that the group sent Trump a letter in January outlining areas where they could work together, “but you never wrote us back. Sad!” The organization later issued a statement saying they were in talks with the White House about a possible meeting. Richmond’s statement said it was remarkable that Trump had not responded to their letter. “President Trump has been in office for almost a month and the Congressional Black Caucus – which at a historic 49 members is almost a fourth of the House Democratic Caucus and represents millions of African-Americans – did not hear from the White House until we introduced ourselves on Twitter after the White House press conference today.” Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio said: “We have a rich history, we have some almost 50 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. We’re not new. What a president should say is, yes, it’s already on my agenda to talk to them.” Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., called Trump’s remarks another “abuse of protocol.” “Donald Trump knows how to call Cedric Richmond, our chair, and that is what he should do. And then we’ll (the CBC) sit together and see if it’s in our interest” to meet with Trump, Ellison said. Trump specifically mentioned a meeting with Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and said the lawmaker canceled because it would be bad for him politically. Cummings, in response, said, “I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today.”
FACT CHECK: Trump’s Lame Attempt at Blaming Obama By The Associated Press
President Donald Trump on Feb. 16 made a messy case that he “inherited a mess” from his predecessor. Economic stats and territorial losses of Islamic State insurgents don’t support his (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) assertions about the In this photo taken Jan. 18, President problems handed to Barack Obama speaks during his final him on those fronts. presidential news conference, in the A look at some briefing room of the White House in of his claims from Washington. the Feb. 16 news conference and how they compare with the facts: TRUMP: “To be honest I inherited a mess. It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess.” THE FACTS: A mess is in the eye of the beholder. But by almost every economic measure, President Barack Obama inherited a far worse situation when he became president in 2009 than he left for Trump. He had to deal with the worst downturn since the Depression. Unemployment was spiking, the stock market crashing, the auto industry failing and millions of Americans risked losing their homes to foreclosure when Obama took the oath of office. None of those statistics is as dire for Trump. Unemployment is 4.8 percent, compared with a peak of 10 percent during Obama’s first year as president. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was cratering until March 2009, only to rebound roughly 200 percent over the rest of Obama’s term— gains that have continued under Trump on the promise of tax and regulatory cuts. When Trump assumed office last month, a greater percentage of the country had health insurance, incomes were rising and the country was adding jobs. The Trump administration has noted that a smaller proportion of the population
is working or looking for jobs. But even this measure began to turn around toward the end of the Obama era. TRUMP: “ISIS has spread like cancer, another mess I inherited.” THE FACTS: The Islamic State group began to lose ground before Trump took office, not just in Iraq and Syria but also in Libya. The gradual military progress achieved in Iraq during Obama’s final two years has pushed IS to the point of collapse in Mosul, its main Iraqi stronghold. It remains a potent danger beyond its shrunken territory, encouraging adherents to stage acts of terrorism. The analogy with cancer is an echo of Obama’s last defense secretary, Ash Carter, who repeatedly cast Obama’s counter-IS campaign as an effort to reverse the extremists’ “metastasis” beyond the “parent tumor” in Iraq and Syria. TRUMP: “I see stories of chaos. Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can’t get my Cabinet approved. THE FACTS: Did he just say a “fine-tuned machine”? Trump’s first month has been consumed by a series of missteps and firestorms, and produced far less significant legislation than Obama enacted during his first month. Republican-led congressional committees will investigate the Trump team’s relations with Russians before he took office and the flood of leaks that altogether forced out his national security adviser in record time. His pick for labor secretary withdrew because he didn’t have enough Republican support. By many measures, the administration is in near paralysis in its earliest days, leaving allies unsettled and many in Congress anxious about what Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., called the “constant disruption.” To many Republicans — never mind Democrats — the “fine-tuned machine” seems in danger of its wheels coming off. In his first month, Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus package into law, as well as a law expanding health care for children and the Lilly Ledbetter bill on equal pay for women. Trump has vigorously produced executive orders, which don’t require congressional approval and typically have narrow effect. The one with far-reaching consequences — banning entry by refugees and by visitors from seven countries — has been blocked by courts. Trump’s biggest initiatives, such as tax cuts and a replacement for Obama’s health care law, have not emerged. On Feb. 16 he was signing into law a rollback of Obama-era regulations on mining near streams. Congress has sent him little else. TRUMP, bragging again about his Electoral College vote total: “We got 306 because people came out and voted like they’ve never seen before, so that’s the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.” THE FACTS: Not even close. In the seven previous elections, the winner of five of those contests won a larger Electoral College majority than Trump. They were George H.W. Bush in 1988, Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996; and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. When a reporter pointed out that Trump was overstating his winning margin, the president said: “Well, I don’t know, I was given that information.” He then called it “a very substantial victory.” Trump actually ended up with 304 electoral votes because of the defection of two electors in December, but he had won enough states in November to get to 306. TRUMP, saying the appeals court that blocked his selective travel ban “has been overturned at a record number.” THE FACTS: Other appeals courts have seen their decisions overturned at a higher rate than the San Franciscobased 9th Circuit that froze his action on immigration. In the most recent full term, the Supreme Court reversed 8 of the 11 cases from the 9th Circuit. But the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit went 0 for 3 — that is, the Supreme Court reversed all three cases it heard from that circuit. And over the past five years, five federal appeals courts were reversed at a higher rate than the 9th Circuit. The 9th Circuit is by far the largest of the 13 federal courts of appeals. In raw numbers, more cases are heard and reversed from the 9th Circuit year in and year out. But as a percentage of cases the Supreme Court hears, the liberal-leaning circuit fares somewhat better, according to statistical compilations by Scotusblog. Most cases decided by appeals courts aren’t appealed to the Supreme Court, and the high court only accepts a small percentage of those for review. But the very act of the Supreme Court’s agreeing to hear a case means the odds are it will be overturned; the court reverses about two-thirds of the cases it hears.
James Earl Jones, Donald Glover Cast in ‘Lion King’ Remake By The Associated Press
James Earl Jones and Donald Glover are lending their voices to Disney’s upcoming remake of “The Lion King.” Director Jon Favreau announced the casting of the two men as voice actors. Glover, star and creator of television’s (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) “Atlanta,” will portray In this Jan. 8 photo, Donald Glover the adult Simba. Jones poses in the press room with the reprises the role of award for best performance by an Simba’s father, Mufasa, actor in a television series – musical which he voiced in the or comedy for “Atlanta” at the 74th 1994 animated film. annual Golden Globe Awards at Favreau is making a the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly CGI created live-action Hills, Calif. version of the movie, similar to Disney’s remake of “The Jungle Book,” which he also directed. No release date has been publicly set for the new movie. A similar process is being used for “Beauty and the Beast,” which debuts next month. Favreau has directed “Iron Man,” ”Iron Man 2” and is again producing the next two “Avengers” films.