Blue Governors Resist Trump & RFK for HHS | 11.15.24
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Several Democrat governors are vowing to resist Donald Trump's agenda. I'm going to do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants, the residents of our state. What policies are they planning to thwart? And will the resistance hold up this time around? I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, November 15th, and this is Morning Wire.

RFK Jr. gets a cabinet nod and controversy continues to swirl around some of Trump's picks. What's the truth behind the headlines? And companies are paying out millions in legal settlements for terminating employees over COVID vaccine mandates. I filed that complaint against my city is because my city was being very stubborn and not acknowledging any wrong in what they did. In fact, they doubled down. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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Two blue state governors have created a new organization meant to resist the incoming Trump administration's agenda. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. Hey, Amanda. So let's get into this new resistance initiative. Who exactly is behind it? What's the goal here?

Hey, John. So this new organization is called Governors Safeguarding Democracy. It's being led by two very outspoken Trump critics, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Colorado Governor Jared Polis. Basically, they want others to join so they can all share ideas and potentially join legal efforts together to fight the duly elected president. Hmm.

Pritzker said in a press conference that this group will fend off increasing threats of autocracy and fortify institutions of democracy. He and Polis have indicated that the key issues they're focused on are abortion, shielding illegal immigrants from deportation, efforts to beef up election integrity, and fighting efforts to allow prayer back in public schools.

Here's Pritzker during a press conference announcing the initiative. To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, you come for my people, you come through me. And it's not just Illinois and Colorado announcing plans to resist Trump. Other blue state officials have rushed to make similar declarations.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom called a special legislative session before Trump takes office to, quote, safeguard California values and fundamental rights.

And in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul has announced the Empire State Freedom Initiative, which she says will address, quote, any policy and regulatory threats that may emerge from a Trump administration. And then there's Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, an ardent anti-Trumper. She's vowed to use, quote, every tool in the toolbox to fight Trump on deporting illegals.

If the Trump administration requests it, would the Massachusetts state police assist in mass deportations? No, absolutely not. Notably, her sanctuary state has seen a large number of sexual assaults by illegal immigrants.

All right. So several Democrat governors and AGs preemptively announcing these efforts. What has the Trump administration said about some of these issues that these officials have highlighted? OK, well, let's take abortion, for example. This issue now rests with the states since Roe v. Wade was overturned. And Trump has said repeatedly that he wants it to stay that way and he will not sign a federal abortion ban. So it's hard to see what they'll be resisting in that case.

Now, with something like immigration, it's a different story. Trump has said he will deport illegals, starting with criminals. And Tom Homan, who's been named the incoming border czar, has made it very clear that this will be carried out even in so-called sanctuary states like Illinois or Colorado. Here's Homan on that. I've seen some of these Democratic governors say they're going to stand in the way and they're going to make a hard force. Well, a suggestion, if you're not going to help us, get the hell out of the way, but we're going to do it. We're going to do the job without you or with you.

We could also see a fight over trans issues. Trump has promised to outlaw medical and surgical sex change treatments on minors, and he said he won't allow boys or men to compete against females in sports. It's also worth pointing out that Trump just won the 2024 election decisively, both the Electoral College and the popular vote, with big gains in pretty much every demographic.

So the resistance this time around is going to be different. Polis was asked about that on, of all places, MSNBC. Here's how he responded. President-elect Trump won the election. We're going to work with him and his administration however we can for our state. And we look forward to that relationship. At the same time, I think it's very important that we double down on defending our small d democratic institutions.

It's also noteworthy that Pritzker has made it a point to emphasize that his state will cooperate with the feds for illegals who commit violent crimes in the U.S. So not the most proactive approach, but still a big change from 2016 rhetoric when the talking point from the left was basically all illegal immigrants are necessary and good. So some moderation there, but a lot of this seems to fly in the face of the will of the people here. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome.

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Every Black Rifle purchase gives back to those who serve our nation. Your support makes it possible for Black Rifle Coffee Company to help provide funding, training, and equipment to our nation's military and first responders. Head to their site now for 20% off your purchase with code Daily Wire. Ten days after his landslide victory, Donald Trump continues to roll out new appointments for his cabinet, some of whom have sparked controversy in Washington.

Here with the latest is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Hey Cabot, so a contentious few days as Donald Trump fills out his cabinet. What can you tell us? Yeah, the election might be over, but a whole new political battle is now taking place with each new cabinet selection. And that fight really came to a fever pitch last night when President-elect Trump announced that he's nominating former Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy has long called for dangerous chemicals and additives to be removed from our food and water supply. He's been an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical industry, pushing for more research into the long-term side effects of vaccines, especially those given to newborns. According to Trump, he will, quote, ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, and pharmaceutical products and food additives, and, quote, make America healthy again.

Now, at the moment, we have no real way of knowing whether his career as a Democratic activist will help him win some votes from across the aisle. But his confirmation process is going to provide fireworks in the coming weeks. We know that much. It's going to be fascinating to watch. Now, that's not the only nominee sparking controversy. As we noted yesterday, Trump's pick of Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general has really set off a firestorm. Tell us about that. So there's no question Gaetz is among the most controversial figures in Congress. Right.

He sort of prides himself on being a rabble-rouser, taking on the Republican establishment, and

Remember, he all but single-handedly brought down the speakership of Kevin McCarthy last year and has routinely stifled Republican legislation that he says is not conservative enough. Gates has also been at the center of a House ethics probe investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Now, that combination of political and personal controversy has made him quite a few enemies on both sides of the aisle.

Detractors say he does not have the experience to serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer and that his checkered past should disqualify him from the post. But there is no question he's got plenty of supporters, most notably the GOP base and obviously Donald Trump.

Yeah, what does it tell us that he was nominated? Well, the Trump camp was not pleased with a number of cabinet members during his first term. This go-around Trump has made clear that he wants a cabinet full of people fully committed to enacting his agenda, which includes draining the swamp, or in other words, taking on the entrenched bureaucracy of Washington. DOJ has been targeting Donald Trump and his supporters for the last four years, and

And by putting Gates, one of his most loyal supporters, in charge, Trump is clearly sending a message here. So the big question, will he get confirmed? Well, he certainly faces an uphill battle. Moderate Republicans like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have already signaled they may vote no. That means just two more GOP detractors could doom his confirmation. But Senate Republicans will be under immense pressure from the GOP base, and they're going

And more importantly, Donald Trump to vote yes. We've already heard from a number of Republicans who say they might not be a fan of Gates, but will vote to confirm him because the American people elected Donald Trump on the promise of shaking up the status quo. There's also pressure from within the chamber itself. For example, here is Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville with a message to his colleagues on Fox.

Now for his part, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance posted on X, quote,

The main issue with Matt Gaetz is that he used his office to prosecute his political opponents and authorized federal agents to harass parents who were peacefully protesting at school board meetings. Oh, wait, that's actually Merrick Garland, the current attorney general. Touche. Kevin, thanks for reporting. Anytime. A jury just awarded $12 million in damages to a woman who was fired for refusing to get vaccinated for COVID. She's the latest in a slew of complainants winning major COVID suits.

Joining us now to discuss the COVID blowback is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. So Megan, first off, $12 million to a woman who was fired over the COVID vaccine. That's a massive settlement. What do we know about that case? Yeah, so this case occurred in Michigan, and it involved an IT specialist with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lisa Domski. She'd worked for the company for 38 years, and according to her attorney at

the time that the pandemic hit, she was already working 75% remotely, and so she just shifted to 100% remote as part of her company's COVID measures. Yet it still would not give her a religious exemption to its COVID vaccine mandate, despite the fact that she's a devout Catholic and had actually asked them to contact her priest so he could detail some of her objections. Instead, Blue Cross fired her, and she then sued for religious discrimination.

Well, jury not only awarded Domsky that $12 million in punitive damages that you just mentioned, they also ordered Blue Cross to pay her $315,000 in back pay and over $1.3 million in front pay. So I think you could say really sending a message there.

And this is just the latest in a string of legal wins for people who've been suing over COVID mandates and lockdowns. So where else are we seeing this? Well, in 2022, Liberty Council settled a similar class action suit on behalf of more than 500 current and former health care workers in Chicago. And again, the claim was that they were denied religious exemptions. And then another big religious liberty win was Gabe Wrench.

So in 2020, he was arrested in Moscow, Idaho, for participating in an outdoor psalm sing with his church. So in essence, it was a peaceful religious protest against a local mandate for masks and social distancing, that kind of thing.

Well, his charges were dismissed in 2021, but he then sued the city for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights and was ultimately awarded $300,000. And he told me he felt that he had to sue because it was clear that his local government had not learned any lessons from COVID.

They actually voted to continue that health emergency order in January 2021, the same month I won my criminal complaint. So my city's been very wicked about this. And so the only way to hold them accountable is actually to sue them. And I think more Christians need to be thinking about how can you hold your city accountable like this.

And again, these are just a handful of representative examples. Even in really liberal places like San Francisco, juries are siding with those complainants. Just a couple of weeks ago, six transit workers who were denied religious vaccine exemptions were awarded $10 million. So what that suggests to me is that in a lot of these COVID cases that are still pending, we could see some similar fallout.

And in fact, Wrench says he hopes to see more people of faith suing the government over COVID in order to ensure that that kind of abuse of authority doesn't ever happen again.

If Christians don't push back on these situations, the tyranny is just going to grow. And so it's really important that Christians figure this out and push hard for these kind of lawsuits. I'd like to see more of these lawsuits happen. So a lot of pent-up frustration over how COVID was handled. And that's also translated, too, into some political wins. Tell us about that. Yeah, it has. So a Texas House seat just went to a woman who was actually jailed for keeping her salon open.

In 2020, a Dallas County judge sentenced Shelly Luther to seven days in jail for refusing to obey lockdown orders and shut down her hair salon. Now, she said she'd shut down for a month, but then she couldn't afford to feed her kids and she had to open back up.

Well, she just ran for state legislature as a Republican and won around 75 percent of the vote in her district. So you have to say an overwhelming victory. Well, I think the political blowback over the covid mandates is going to reverberate for a very long time. Megan, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.