Oliver Willis

Dropping Iraq from the Muslim ban is more evidence its goal is naked political gain

Iraq is one of the major fronts in the ongoing battle against ISIS, yet Donald Trump has determined it unnecessary to include the country in the latest iteration of his Muslim ban, which he’s decreed will not take effect until March 16th. Trump’s own top leadership team — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James […]

By Oliver Willis - March 06, 2017

BIPARTISAN EXPERT: Trump’s chaos makes us more vulnerable to “major terrorist attack”

Donald Trump claims that he was left a mess by his predecessor and is in control of a “fine-tuned machine” remaking the government in his own image. But the reality is a deadly proposition for American citizens. There was already a huge gap between open federal positions and the amount of nominations Trump has made, […]

By Oliver Willis - February 20, 2017

Trump goes off script to smear American troops: “We don’t fight to win”

Trump’s comments came on Monday morning as he discussed his upcoming budget, which seeks to increase defense spending by a reported $54 billion, while cutting domestic programs and spending (as his congressional allies work to rip health care from millions). TRUMP: We have to start winning wars again. I have to say, when I was […]

By Oliver Willis - February 27, 2017

Trump ripped this woman away from her family, now her kids will face him down as he addresses Congress

Angel and Jaqueline Garcia de Rayos, the teenage children of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, will be the guests of Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) on February 28 as Donald Trump makes his address to Congress. Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos was detained and deported earlier in February after making an immigration check-in in […]

By Oliver Willis - February 27, 2017

UPDATED: Trump immigration officials refuse to meet with Hispanic Caucus for 30 days straight

UPDATE: It has now been 30 days since the Congressional Hispanic Caucus formally requested a meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Homan, as the Trump administration has ratcheted up immigration restrictions and deportations. The agency has still not set a time to meet with the members of Congress, preventing them from […]

By Oliver Willis - March 04, 2017

“Presidential moment”: Trump lied to grieving widow about her Navy SEAL husband’s death

One of the most remarked-upon moments during his address to a joint session of Congress occurred when Donald Trump singled out Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed during the counterterror operation in Yemen hastily ordered by Trump five days into his presidency. But contrary to the claims of […]

By Oliver Willis - March 01, 2017

More Nixon than Obama — Trump purges dissent from White House

Craig Deare, who was serving as the senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, reportedly criticized Donald Trump during a roundtable discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center. According to a Politico report, Deare spoke about the outsize influence of white nationalist Steve Bannon over affairs in the White House (including preventing national security aides from speaking […]

By Oliver Willis - February 20, 2017

Trump used Black college presidents for Black History Month photo op, lied about school funding plan

Before a meeting between Donald Trump and officials from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Trump administration promoted a news story touting the claim that Trump “seeks to outdo Obama in backing black colleges.” The White House claimed that they were set to roll out a plan detailing how the federal government would continue to support these […]

By Oliver Willis - March 04, 2017

American carnage: GOP admits “not everybody is going to have healthcare”

Politico reports that the draft legislation leaked to them of the GOP’s plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act “would take down the foundation of Obamacare,” including the individual mandate that has funded insurance coverage for millions, and subsidies for poor people. Republicans are already on the record affirming many of the principles […]

By Oliver Willis - February 25, 2017

While Pence slammed Clinton, he used insecure private email for security matters — and was hacked

While he served as Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence used a private AOL email account to conduct state business, including the discussion of sensitive homeland security issues. The Indianapolis Star reports, “Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response […]

By Oliver Willis - March 03, 2017

Every outlet WH banned from press briefing is chasing stories on Trump’s Russia ties

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer took what several White House reporters who have covered both parties described as unprecedented action by banning several major outlets from a press briefing. The briefing was designed to push back on reporting indicating that the Trump administration has been colluding with the FBI to squash stories on contacts […]

By Oliver Willis - February 24, 2017

GOP congressman: Town hall protests are scaring party away from Obamacare repeal

Speaking to a local talk radio show in Alabama, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said that boisterous town hall meetings are having an effect on Republicans in Congress, noting: “There are a, in my opinion, a significant number of congressmen who are being impacted by these kinds of protests and their spine is a little bit […]

By Oliver Willis - February 24, 2017

Deportation targets in Trump’s America: Domestic abuse victim, brain tumor patient, DREAMers

The people targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids since the beginning of the year are mothers, fathers, people without criminal records, people with severe illnesses or injuries, people brought to America as children, and local business owners. They are not the criminal gang members and rapists and drug dealers Donald Trump and his […]

By Oliver Willis - March 02, 2017

Trump tanks first speech to Congress

Reviews are in, and they aren’t good. Critics point to out how Trump failed to provide any details of his plans, while engaging in more fearmongering and outright lies (like taking credit for jobs he didn’t create). Oh hey, Trump finally got around to condemning hate crimes (after, ya know, suggesting TODAY that Jewish folks were calling […]

By Oliver Willis - February 28, 2017

Investigation Hypocrisy: Republicans freaked out at Lynch-Clinton meeting, silent on FBI-Trump collusion

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus met with the FBI and attempted to get top officials at the agency — Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe — to refute media reports about contacts between the Donald Trump campaign team and Russian intelligence officials. The Associated Press described Priebus’ actions as “unusual contact with […]

By Oliver Willis - February 24, 2017

Secret plan to destroy Obamacare: Rand Paul physically barred from viewing the legislation

So far, the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been a disaster, and the latest stunt from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and his fellow House Republicans is an utter farce. Ryan and the House leadership have placed the draft legislation in a sealed room in the basement of the U.S. […]

By Oliver Willis - March 02, 2017

“Face to face, man to man.” Trump’s “alpha male” terrorism adviser loses it

Sebastian Gorka currently serves as Deputy Assistant to Donald Trump, advising him on terrorism issues, and is also a member of the national security advisor staff. Previously, Gorka was perhaps best known as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who wrote for Steve Bannon’s Breitbart News. Apparently distressed by a series of critical tweets from terrorism expert […]

By Oliver Willis - February 23, 2017

Military mom calls out Trump after his hiring freeze hurt her child

Days after being sworn in, Donald Trump enacted a hiring freeze in the federal government. At the time, outlets like The Military Times reported that the decision could cause unintended consequences and disruption in the armed services. As usual, Trump did not listen. Now we are learning that these decisions, made to make a splash […]

By Oliver Willis - February 22, 2017

Trump just said he wants more nukes. We already have enough to end life on Earth.

In an interview with Reuters, Donald Trump said he wants to increase America’s nuclear arsenal so that it can be “top of the pack,” because it has fallen behind Russia in its atomic weapons capacity. Trump said, “I am the first one that would like to see everybody — nobody have nukes, but we’re never going […]

By Oliver Willis - February 23, 2017

“Boy, that is just not good”: Trump offers insight on “really bad” slavery In America

Donald Trump recently visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., accompanied by Alveda King, niece of civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr. (and something of a right-wing pundit herself). According to King, when Trump saw a stone auction block where slaves would stand before they were sold as […]

By Oliver Willis - February 22, 2017

Gabby Giffords to GOP: If I could go to town halls after getting shot, you can show up for voters

Former Arizona Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords issued a powerful statement, and a challenge to Republican officials who are trying to avoid their angry and frustrated constituents: Town halls and countless constituent meetings were a hallmark of my tenure in Congress. It’s how I was able to serve the people of southern Arizona. I believed that […]

By Oliver Willis - February 23, 2017

Sessions tries to straighten story: Didn’t “discuss any political campaign” with Russians

A new major report in the Washington Post reveals that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, the same Russian official with whom disgraced former National Security adviser Michael Flynn also met. During Sessions’ confirmation hearings, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) asked whether Sessions had spoken to the […]

By Oliver Willis - March 02, 2017

Inauguration singer to Trump: My trans sister deserves equal rights

On Wednesday, the Trump administration rescinded guidelines that had been put in place by President Obama which instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. Echoing arguments made a generation ago by segregationists, White House spokesman Sean Spicer claimed that decisions about these protections are a “states’ rights issue.” […]

By Oliver Willis - February 23, 2017

A dad wants to know why his Navy SEAL son died, Trump responds by lying and blaming the military

Donald Trump and his team have insisted that a botched Navy SEAL raid in Yemen yielded significant intelligence which will help to prevent future terrorist attacks, and have made this claim as part of a campaign to deflect calls for an independent investigation into what went wrong. But senior officials who have seen inside information say that no […]

By Oliver Willis - February 28, 2017

Anne Frank Center: “Trump quacks, walks, and talks like an anti-Semite. That makes him an anti-Semite.”

Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, made his case on Donald Trump’s anti-Semitism crystal clear. On MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Goldstein explained, “Trump quacks, walks, and talks like an anti-Semite. That makes him an anti-Semite.” He went on to cite the compelling evidence for his claim, including […]

By Oliver Willis - February 22, 2017

America misses Obama: Majority of voters no longer believe Trump cares about them

In Quinnipiac’s November 22 poll, 45 percent of people who responded said that Donald Trump does not care about average Americans. In that the same pollster’s February 22 poll, the percentage is now 53 percent, an increase of 8 percent. Overall, the poll now shows only 38 percent of people approving of his presidency, which […]

By Oliver Willis - February 23, 2017

Oliver Willis

Senior Reporter

Dropping Iraq from the Muslim ban is more evidence its goal is naked political gain

BIPARTISAN EXPERT: Trump’s chaos makes us more vulnerable to “major terrorist attack”

Trump goes off script to smear American troops: “We don’t fight to win”

Trump ripped this woman away from her family, now her kids will face him down as he addresses Congress

UPDATED: Trump immigration officials refuse to meet with Hispanic Caucus for 30 days straight

“Presidential moment”: Trump lied to grieving widow about her Navy SEAL husband’s death

More Nixon than Obama — Trump purges dissent from White House

Trump used Black college presidents for Black History Month photo op, lied about school funding plan

American carnage: GOP admits “not everybody is going to have healthcare”

While Pence slammed Clinton, he used insecure private email for security matters — and was hacked

Every outlet WH banned from press briefing is chasing stories on Trump’s Russia ties

GOP congressman: Town hall protests are scaring party away from Obamacare repeal

Deportation targets in Trump’s America: Domestic abuse victim, brain tumor patient, DREAMers

Trump tanks first speech to Congress

Investigation Hypocrisy: Republicans freaked out at Lynch-Clinton meeting, silent on FBI-Trump collusion

Secret plan to destroy Obamacare: Rand Paul physically barred from viewing the legislation

“Face to face, man to man.” Trump’s “alpha male” terrorism adviser loses it

Military mom calls out Trump after his hiring freeze hurt her child

Trump just said he wants more nukes. We already have enough to end life on Earth.

“Boy, that is just not good”: Trump offers insight on “really bad” slavery In America

Gabby Giffords to GOP: If I could go to town halls after getting shot, you can show up for voters

Sessions tries to straighten story: Didn’t “discuss any political campaign” with Russians

Inauguration singer to Trump: My trans sister deserves equal rights

A dad wants to know why his Navy SEAL son died, Trump responds by lying and blaming the military

Anne Frank Center: “Trump quacks, walks, and talks like an anti-Semite. That makes him an anti-Semite.”

America misses Obama: Majority of voters no longer believe Trump cares about them