Author who duped Greg Abbott with fake Garth Brooks story calls him ‘one of the dumbest people in the country’
Greg Abbott has been branded “one of the dumbest people in the country” by the author of a satirical story about country music star Garth Brooks that was reshared by the Texas governor. Christopher Blair runs the parody website The Dunning-Kruger-Times, which posted the story that Mr Brooks had been booed off the stage at the 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree last month after calling his conservative fans “a**holes.” The entire story was made-up - but Mr Abbott didn’t seem to notice. “When I saw [Mr Abbott’s repost], I was besides myself with joy,” Mr Blair told The Guardian. “He’s one of the dumbest people in the country.” “As soon as I wrote the headline, I said to myself that it might be a little bit much,” Mr Blair said. “But it wasn’t.” The Texas governor had tweeted a link to the story on 25 June with the caption: “Garth Brooks Booed Off Stage at 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree. Go woke. Go broke.” “Garth called his conservative fans. ‘a**holes’ Good job Texas,” he added. His tweet seemed to refer to a question-and-answer session with the country singer last month in which he said his new bar in Nashville planned to “serve every brand of beer,” shutting down the idea that it wouldn’t serve Bud Light, following the conservative-led boycott of the beer brand. “Our thing is this: If you come into this house, love one another,” Mr Brooks said. “If you’re an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway to go.” The governor has since deleted his tweet, but reactions to the tweet are still up. Democratic Texas Congressman Greg Casar tweeted: “Gov Abbott just accidentally posted a satire article because he wants to hate on queer Texans and Garth Brooks so bad.” “The Texas Country Jamboree doesn’t exist. Hambriston, Texas is not real. And the Governor is not fit to tweet, much less govern,” he explained. Read More Greg Abbott mocked after falling for hoax story about Garth Brooks being booed off stage Garth Brooks commended for not bowing to anti-LGBT trolls and refusing to boycott Bud Light First Amendment group sues Texas Governor and others over the state's TikTok ban on official devices Wembymania set to hit Las Vegas, as Spurs rookie 'can't wait' for his NBA debut at Summer League Joe Manchin fuels speculation around third-party 2024 run with No Labels event George Santos repays himself $85K raised from lackluster reelection fundraising
2023-07-17 22:51
Joe Manchin fuels speculation around third-party 2024 run with No Labels event
Sen Joe Manchin is continuing to feed speculation about his political future by appearing at an event with No Labels as he weighs whether to make a third-party run for president. The West Virginia Democrat will appear at the event on Monday night in New Hampshire, which holds one of the first presidential nominating contests and is a crucial swing state in the general election. No Labels, a centrist organisation, has pushed for a third-party candidate for president. But some Democrats have feared that a No Labels-backed candidacy would siphon votes away from President Joe Biden and enable former president Donald Trump to win another term as president. In May, the organisation said it opposed Mr Trump’s candidacy. “We don’t believe there is any “equivalency” between President Biden and former President Trump, who is a uniquely divisive force in our politics and who sought to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election,” the statement written by co-chairmen former senator Joe Lieberman and Benjamin Chavis said. “But we reject the notion that No Labels’ 2024 presidential insurance project would inevitably help former President Trump’s electoral prospects if he were the Republican nominee.” Mr Manchin, a conservative Democrat, has not yet indicated whether he would stage a third-party run for president or seek another term in the Senate. Were he to run in 2024, he would be seeking another term with a Republican at the top of the presidential ticket. In 2020, Mr Trump won every county in West Virginia. Throughout the first two years of Mr Biden’s presidency when Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate, Mr Manchin served as the swing vote in a 50-50 Senate. His opposition to Build Back Better, Democrats’ proposed social spending bill, ultimately killed the legislation. Last year, he and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer resurrected talks that led to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. But since then, Mr Manchin has criticised the Biden administration’s implementation of the law. West Virginia Gov Jim Justice, a former friend of Mr Manchin, announced his candidacy to challenge the incumbent. He is heavily favoured to face Mr Manchin, himself a former governor, in the general election. Mr Manchin has said he will decide his political future by the end of the year. Despite his indecision, he raised $424,485.52 in the most recent fundraising quarter from March to July and he has more than $10.7m in cash on hand. Read More Arizona Democrats file complaint against No Labels over donor secrecy Biden’s economy pitch: Campaign like Reagan while refuting Reagan’s policies
2023-07-17 22:51
Ford Cuts Price on Electric Version of F-150 Truck by Up to 17%
Ford Motor Co. is slashing prices on the electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup by as much
2023-07-17 22:22
Americorps recovers record $84 million in tax breaks for low-income taxpayers
AmeriCorps recovered a record $84 million in overlooked deductions, credits and tax breaks for low-income Americans in the 2023 tax season, the federal agency announced Friday.
2023-07-17 20:51
Chelsea lay out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang demands as Marseille hold talks
Chelsea have set their demands in talks with Marseille over striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
2023-07-17 20:48
NI man one of two dead in Sligo rally crash
Daire Maguire, from County Fermanagh, and Gene McDonald, from County Cavan, died on Sunday.
2023-07-17 20:47
Russia Pulls the Plug on Ukraine Grain Export Agreement
Russia ended the Ukraine grain-export deal nearly a year into the agreement, heightening uncertainty over global food supplies
2023-07-17 19:49
UBS Is Sole Successor to Credit Suisse’s CDS, Panel Rules
The panel which oversees the credit-default swap market has ruled that UBS Group AG will become the reference
2023-07-17 18:52
EU woos Latam, Caribbean at summit in pivot from Russia, China
By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union pledged more investment for Latin America and the Caribbean at a summit
2023-07-17 18:49
Jude Bellingham names two Real Madrid teammates helping him learn Spanish
Jude Bellingham names the two Real Madrid players helping him to learn Spanish and opens up on the quality of veteran midfielder Toni Kroos.
2023-07-17 18:29
Trump news – live: Trump considers two of his Republican 2024 rivals as running mate
Donald Trump is considering his Republican 2024 rivals as potential running mates should he win the GOP nomination. The former president told Fox News on Sunday that his running mate could “possibly” be among those in the 2024 field saying there are “some very talented people” in the race. He said that Vivek Ramaswamy has “done a very good job” and Senator Tim Scott is a “very good guy” but stopped short of saying who he would pick if the time came. Over the weekend, Mr Trump headlined the first of a two-day conference hosted by right-wing political activist group Turning Point USA alongside far-right lawmakers, candidates and pundits, including Tucker Carlson and Matt Gaetz. In his rambling Saturday night address condemned investigations and criminal indictments against him while telling Ron DeSantis to “get home to Florida,” accusing his rival for the Republican nomination for president of neglecting the governor’s office. The campaign for Mr DeSantis, meanwhile, reported raising more than $20m in the first six weeks of his campaign, but roughly a dozen staffers were recently fired in a shakeup as his polling numbers trail the former president’s. Read More Donald Trump brands US a ‘third-world hellhole’ run by ‘perverts’ and ‘thugs’ Ron DeSantis campaign fires staff as Florida governor trails Trump in the polls Fundraising takeaways: Trump and DeSantis in their own tier as Pence and other Republicans struggle RFK Jr revives antisemitic conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jewish people
2023-07-17 17:54
EU’s Influence Push in Latin America Dented by Ukraine Wrangling
Leaders of the European Union are seeking to reboot relations with Latin America in a competition for influence
2023-07-17 17:20
