Diplomatic and military tensions continue to rise in wake of Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Fallout continued Friday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan as China announced it is canceling dialogue with the United States on military talks and climate change.

The Chinese foreign ministry said Friday that working meetings with the U.S. Department of Defense and China-U.S. Maritime Military Security Consultation Mechanism have been canceled as a result of Pelosi’s visit.

The ministry said it will also no longer be cooperating with the U.S. on climate change talks, drug control, repatriation of illegal immigrants, criminal investigations and combating transnational crimes.

These were seen as the remaining guardrails to a fraught U.S.-China relationship, but Beijing has long said that the only guardrail that matters is the “One China” principle — that the U.S. recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China.

The action raises questions on the potential impact for global climate benchmarks, as China and the U.S. are the world’s top climate polluters. Just last year, the U.S. and China issued a joint pledge to take “enhanced climate actions” to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement of limiting warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.

The White House “summoned” China’s ambassador Qin Gang over China’s provocative actions overnight, spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement.

“We made clear to the Ambassador that Beijing’s actions are of concern to Taiwan, to us, and to our partners around the world,” Kirby said.

Kirby also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the One China policy, as has Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Pelosi and members of a congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday despite warnings not to from mainland China. Pelosi, the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan in decades, said the trip — which also includes stops in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia — is about “advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

In response, China has also ramped up military drills and imposed new trade restrictions on Taiwan.

Kirby confirmed on Thursday that China launched an estimated 11 ballistic missiles towards Taiwan, impacting areas to the northeast, the east and southeast of the island.

“We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and in the region,” Kirby said, calling China’s response an overreaction to Pelosi’s visit.

The U.S. expects these actions to continue over the coming days, Kirby said, noting the U.S. is “prepared” for what Beijing decides to do.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense released new numbers on Friday stating China’s deployed 68 fighter jets, 13 warships to the areas and waters around Taiwan. Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-Wen said the nation remains on high alert.

Kirby said Thursday The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and its strike group would remain in the “general area to monitor the situation” and would actually “conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.”

Blinken on Friday called China’s response a “serious overreaction.”

“The fact is, the speaker’s visit was peaceful,” the secretary of state said in between meetings at the ongoing Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in Cambodia. “There is no justification to this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response.”

Pelosi herself commented on China’s reaction to the trip during a press conference Friday alongside the rest of the congressional delegation, stating Beijing was “probably using our visit as an excuse” for their missile strikes.

“Our friendship with Taiwan is a strong one,” she said. “It is bipartisan in the House and the Senate, overwhelming support for peace and the status quo in Taiwan.”

Republicans in Congress this week have applauded Pelosi’s trip, with more than half the GOP caucus in the Senate signing onto a statement backing her decision to go to Taiwan.

Pelosi has also been sanctioned by China, which means that neither she nor her family will be able to visit Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.

ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Lauren Minore and Joe Simonette contributed to this report.

Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout off to sluggish start with just 7,000 doses in arms

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Following its emergency authorization last month, just 7,300 doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Americans across the country, newly updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals.

According to John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, the sluggish start may be, in part, due to the fact that the vaccines were not immediately made available after authorization, and thus, there could be some reporting delays

The total Novavax doses represent just a fraction of the shots put into arms each day, though the overall number of vaccines administered has plummeted in recent months.

In addition, the vaccine has not been widely available, with just 385 sites initially offering the Novavax vaccine out of the more than 53,000 locations with COVID-19 vaccines, Brownstein said. However, in recent days, that number has jumped to 986 sites, which Brownstein suggested may help boost uptake.

“A mix of lower access, limited promotion and a slowing of the vaccination campaign means that Novavax has not been of high priority for remaining unvaccinated Americans,” Brownstein said. “As supply increases, we could see increased access but it’s unlikely to make a real dent.”

In July, the Biden administration secured 3.2 million doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, in hopes that some unvaccinated Americans would get the shot.

A number of health experts had expressed their hope that some of the individuals, who are still hesitant to be vaccinated, would be more inclined to get the Novavax vaccine, because it is based on a more traditional protein-based technology, one already used for the flu vaccine and other shots, while Pfizer and Moderna vaccine platforms tapped a new genetic technology — with messenger RNA — to produce their vaccines.

“A more traditional delivery route has to be seen as incentive to convince those that have yet to roll up their sleeves,” Brownstein explained.

However, early indicators suggest that the authorization has yet to substantially move the needle with the most hesitant Americans.

Even so, health experts previously told ABC News that no matter how widespread the use of Novavax’s vaccine is, it will still save lives.

Nationally, there are still more than 26 million American adults who remain completely unvaccinated.

There has not been a significant bump in the number of people receiving a first COVID-19 dose since November 2021. Since then, the average number has steadily fallen to around 50,000 first shots, administered across all eligible age groups, each day.

Suspect arrested for allegedly setting Planned Parenthood clinic on fire in Kalamazoo

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(KALAMAZOO, Mich.) — Federal prosecutors have charged a 25-year-old man for allegedly setting a Michigan Planned Parenthood clinic on fire.

Joshua Brereton allegedly set fire to the Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo on July 31 around 4 p.m., when the clinic was closed and no patients were inside, according to authorities.

Officials said the suspect breached the fence outside the clinic then used a fuel to ignite bushes surrounding the building before lighting a fireplace starter log that he threw onto the building’s roof.

Investigators found evidence that Brereton purchased torch fuel and a Duraflame starter log from a nearby Walmart, as well as a baseball cap that he apparently wore during the arson attack.

According to investigators, Brereton posted to his personal YouTube channel before the incident, where he spoke about abortion policy in a video and called abortion “genocide.”

In the same video, officials said Brereton told viewers to “step out of your comfort zone” and lend a hand in the fight.

If convicted, Brereton faces up to 20 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. It is currently unclear if Brereton has an attorney.

After the fire last week, Planned Parenthood of Michigan said its alarm systems appeared to have worked properly and it thanked firefighters for their quick response.

“As always, our top priority is the health and safety of our patients and staff, and we are grateful that no one was hurt,” Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, said in a statement to ABC News. “We remain committed to serving our patients — no matter what.”

According to officials, the fire was extinguished in less than ten minutes and only resulted in minimal damage to the exterior of the clinic. The clinic was able to open at 1 p.m. the next day, according to the clinic’s website.

“Yesterday I saw the destruction at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo with my own eyes. This is a heinous and reprehensible act and I am hopeful that law enforcement will bring the person responsible to justice,” Michigan state Sen. Sean McCann tweeted Aug. 1.

The fire was set just one day before a Michigan judge ruled to temporarily block the state’s 1931 abortion ban. The block came just hours after a different judge ruled to allow the state to prosecute based on the law.

“This lack of legal clarity — that took place within the span of a workday — is yet another textbook example of why the Michigan Supreme Court must take up my lawsuit against the 1931 extreme abortion ban as soon as possible,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that day.

Ten miners remain trapped underground in flooded tunnel for nearly two days in Mexico

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Ten miners remain trapped underground in a flooded tunnel in northern Mexico on Friday after first becoming trapped nearly two days ago.

Mexican officials said the incident was reported around 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday, when miners allegedly encountered a tunnel filled with water that then flooded the Sabinas mine.

There were 15 miners inside when the flooding began, but rescuers were able to extract five of them on Wednesday, according to officials.

The remaining miners are trapped between two 200-foot deep mine shafts, with half of the area flooded with water, authorities said.

Laura Velazquez, Mexico’s national coordinator of civil protection, said on Thursday that authorities are now working to pump water out of the flooded areas of the mine.

“We have not slept, we are working day and night, uninterrupted,” Velazquez said at a briefing Thursday.

Velazquez said officials are strategically using the pumps to extract the greatest amount of water and gain access to the miners inside as soon as possible.

No one has had contact with the 10 miners who remain trapped since Wednesday.

Six special force divers arrived from the National Guard on Thursday morning, but officials had not given updates on their mission as of Friday morning.

Gov. Miguel Riquelme of Coahuila and Zaragoza state visited the Sabinas mine, located about 75 miles southeast of the Texas border, on Thursday.

Riquelme tweeted that work was being done through three wells to extract water using eight specialized pumps. Seventeen additional pumping teams with more resources were being called in, he added.

Riquelme said 150 people were working on the rescue, with officials from the Mexican Office of National Defense, the National Guard and expert rescuers from the Carboniferous region adding to the effort.

“The rescue work at the Agujita coal mine continues without rest, #Sabinas,” Riquelme tweeted on Thursday evening.

This is the third mining incident in Sabinas since 2006; 65 people were killed that year in a mining blast, followed by another 14 miners that were trapped and confirmed dead after a different explosion in 2011.

Officials have not yet begun investigating this new incident’s cause.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing on Thursday that investigations will have to come later.

“Those responsible — the permits, the inspections, everything, all of that — we are leaving until after. We already have the basic information. But let’s not talk about that now, let’s look to save the miners,” he said.

The specific mine shaft where 10 workers are now trapped only began operations in January 2022, the secretary of Labor and Social Welfare said in a statement. However, the agency said there has been “no history of complaints of any type of anomaly.”

Two dead, two in critical condition after lightning strike near White House

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Two Wisconsin residents have died following a lightning strike near the White House on Thursday night, police confirmed to ABC News Friday.

Police said 76-year-old James Mueller and 75-year-old Donna Meuller, both from Janesville, Wisconsin, died after being injured in the strike in Lafayette Park in front of the White House.

Thursday night, D.C. Fire and EMS said it had responded and was treating four patients that were found in “the vicinity of a tree.”

It said the two men and two women were transported to area hospitals with “life-threatening injuries.”

Officials said it’s still unclear what the adults were doing prior to the lightning strike, if they knew each other and why they were in the park.

Uniformed U.S. Park Police officers and members of the Secret Service were also on the scene and immediately rendered aid to the victims, an EMS official said during a news conference.

The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area Thursday evening.

ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.

Resounding abortion rights vote in Kansas may reshuffle midterm environment

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Tuesday night’s lopsided result in the Kansas abortion referendum — which saw the anti-abortion measure defeated some 59-41 in a traditionally red state — has Democrats and Republicans wondering if the post-Roe fight over the social issue marks a sea change in the midterm landscape or a less dramatic shift in an environment that still favors the GOP.

The proposed amendment, which gave voters a direct choice over whether or not to strip the state constitution’s abortion protections, marked the first tangible answer to the question of how June’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade will influence the electorate.

Turnout in the summertime primary spiked to nearly the same level of the 2018 midterm general election. And with an approximately 18-point win for abortion access advocates in one of the nation’s conservative bastions, debate is underway among many over whether that victory could ripple outward.

Democrats who spoke with ABC News insist they have a new lease on life after being pummeled by President Joe Biden’s low approval rating, historic inflation, high gas prices, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and more.

Republicans, meanwhile, insist the wind is still at their backs — though even some GOP operatives acknowledge the Kansas results indicate that their gains could be curtailed as the party largely embraces a strict anti-abortion agenda.

“If I were a Republican House or Senate candidate or a Republican strategist, I would be panicking right now,” said Democratic strategist Jon Reinish. “Voters are furious, and voters are mobilized. Looking at [Tuesday’s] extremely definitive results, I think that this scrambles a lot of conventional wisdom and calculations on the whole midterm landscape this November.”

Had the amendment passed, it would have offered the GOP-controlled state legislature a path to restricting or banning abortion, continuing a pattern seen in other conservative areas of the country. Kansas law currently allows most abortions to take place up to 22 weeks in a pregnancy.

However, Tuesday night’s results marked a comprehensive win for abortion rights supporters in a state former President Donald Trump won by nearly 15 points just two years ago and where registered Republicans outpace registered Democrats by hundreds of thousands.

In a sign of intense enthusiasm on the issue, the vote against the amendment significantly outran President Joe Biden’s showing in Kansas in 2020.

Abortion access supporters won in Shawnee County, home of Topeka, by a 66-34 margin Tuesday. Biden won the county by only 3 points in 2020.

The same trend followed in Kansas’ rural expanses. In Hamilton County, for example, abortion opponents only defeated the amendment by about 12 points, whereas Trump beat Biden in the county in 2020 by 65 points.

Democratic operatives cited that as persuasive evidence of an argument they’ve made since before Roe’s demise: Abortion has the power to supercharge turnout in a midterm cycle that was previously expected to be characterized by a depressed Democratic base, given Biden’s unpopularity and economic headwinds.

“When voters know that abortion is on the ballot, they show up and they send a resounding message,” said Democratic pollster Molly Murphy. “Republicans are on the wrong side of that message, and as voters learn what Republicans’ priorities are if they take power, it is incredibly encouraging to see the way voters will respond.”

“Voters understand the difference between the parties on abortion, and they are increasingly seeing Republicans take steps to ban it,” Murphy said, “which can help create a real choice between the two parties.”

Leading Democrats seized on the results Wednesday.

“The voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the rights and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians,” Biden said in remarks before his interagency task force meeting on reproductive health care.

“The people of Kansas spoke yesterday, and they spoke loud and clear. They said this is not a partisan issue,” Vice President Kamala Harris added in her own remarks. “The women of America should not be the subject of partisan debate or perspective.”

It’s still unclear, though, how much voter enthusiasm on that one issue will translate to Democratic support.

Biden’s approval ratings have been stuck in the 30s, weakened in part by dissatisfaction among his base that key campaign promises are mired in the narrowly divided Congress, stymied by legal and administrative uncertainty or blocked by the courts.

ABC News polls and other surveys have also shown that economic issues remain top of mind for voters in a cycle that won’t feature many more single-issue referendums like the one in Kansas.

On top of those dynamics, some Republican strategists and pollsters cautioned against extrapolating the results of a unique abortion referendum onto the more typical midterm races this fall.

“A difficult-to-pass constitutional amendment ballot issue in a state does not erase two years of mismanagement, higher costs and incredible dysfunction in Washington,” said GOP pollster Robert Blizzard. “For those on the left and in the media breathlessly trying to change the political headwinds facing the Democratic Party, they should be reminded the midterm elections will not be an up-or-down [vote] on codifying abortion but instead a referendum on Biden, the economy and dysfunction in D.C.”

On top of that, the timing of Tuesday’s referendum could offer advice to Republicans running this November on how to message on abortion to avoid the significant backlash seen in Kansas.

Democrats have been pouncing on some states’ efforts to outright ban abortion, even in instances of rape and incest — proposals some Republicans said should be avoided.

“This result does not mean pro-choice candidates are going to win in a rout this November. Other issues are still far more important, and candidates are a bundle of issues. The key for Republican candidates is to back away from a total ban and get in line with public opinion, including conservative opinion, that favors time limits and exceptions for the mother’s health,” said one GOP strategist.

Still, Republicans conceded they may have to temper their expectations for the fall.

Last year’s election results in Virginia, where now-Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won by 2 points in a state Biden took by 10 points in 2020, had the GOP boasting that even congressional districts Biden won by 10 points were no longer safe.

But with such a potent and prominent issue giving Democrats late momentum, operatives now say Republicans’ target lists may face a crunch even as their chances of flipping the House remain strong.

“There’s no doubt overturning Roe has given Democrats some momentum,” said one GOP strategist working on midterm races. “It seems the front-line races this fall won’t be as far down as a lot of folks had hoped. I think realistically we’re back to where D+5 districts are the front-line battles this fall.”

Arrest made after four people found dead in reports of explosion, fires at Nebraska homes

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Alfredo Alonso Avila / EyeEm / Getty Images

(LAUREL, Neb.) — Foul play is suspected after four people were found dead at multiple homes in a small Nebraska town Thursday morning following reports of an explosion and fires, authorities said.

A suspect is in custody, Nebraska State Patrol announced Friday morning. More details on the suspect and arrest are forthcoming.

Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Col. John Bolduc said during a press briefing Thursday afternoon that state and local authorities were “investigating multiple crime scenes” in Laurel, in northeastern Nebraska.

Authorities first responded to a home shortly after 3 a.m. after a 911 caller reported an explosion at the residence, Bolduc said. There was a fire at the home, he said.

Once inside, responding officers and deputies found one person dead, he said.

While at the first home, a fire was reported at a second home three blocks away, Bolduc said. Three people were found dead inside that home, he said.

Bolduc said foul play is suspected in the four deaths, and that responders at the second home worked to preserve any evidence while putting out the fire.

A Nebraska State Patrol statement after the fires were suppressed said “gunfire is suspected to have played a part” in both homes.

Authorities were searching for a silver sedan in connection with the investigation, Bolduc said Thursday. The car was initially reported leaving Laurel shortly after the second fire was reported, and the male driver may have picked up a passenger before leaving the town, he said. The later Nebraska State Patrol statement indicated the car may have left the town later than initially reported.

Fire investigators believe accelerants may have been used in both fires at the homes, said Bolduc, noting that the suspect or suspects may have burn injuries.

Authorities are working with local residents and businesses to obtain any relevant security camera footage as part of their investigation.

The identities of the victims will be released pending family notification, and a cause of death will be determined following an autopsy, Bolduc said.

It is too early in the investigation to determine any connection between the victims, or if this can be characterized as a domestic incident, Bolduc said.

Cedar County Sheriff Larry Koranda said Thursday the community of 1,000 is shaken by what happened.

“Everybody knows everybody in this small community,” he said.

US economy adds 528,000 jobs, far outpacing expectations

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. hiring saw a dramatic increase in July, as the economy added 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

The report defied expectations of a hiring slowdown as the Federal Reserve carries out a fight against inflation that aims to slash demand by cooling the economy but risks tipping the country into a recession.

Evidence of a softening labor market had mounted this week amid layoffs at high-profile companies like Walmart and Robinhood, as well as a government report that showed a steep decline in job openings in June.

The 528,000 jobs added in July marks a significant uptick from 372,000 jobs added in June. Moreover, the figures signals an improvement from the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.

The overall robust hiring in recent months defies typical conditions for a recession, Daniel Zhao, a senior economist at the career site Glassdoor, told ABC News prior to the data release.

“It would be very unusual to have a recession when we’re still adding several hundred thousand jobs a month,” he said.

While a faster pace of hiring may cheer some economists and everyday Americans, the signal of strengthening labor demand may put more pressure on the Fed to sustain its aggressive interest rate hikes. At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.

Despite a series of borrowing cost increases meant to slash prices, inflation has not only persisted but worsened. Data released last month showed that prices jumped a staggering 9.1% in June, which amounts to the highest inflation rate in more than four decades.

Alarmingly, the price increases have coincided with shrinking economic output. Gross domestic product dropped at an annualized rate of 0.9% in the second quarter after falling 1.6% in the previous quarter.

The recent trend qualifies for the shorthand definition of a recession consisting of two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. But the formal designation of a recession depends on a wider range of metrics weighed by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

So far this year, the tight labor market has offered up a strong corner of the economy. But employment data indicated softening on Tuesday, when a report released by the government showed that job openings fell steeply in June to their lowest level in nine months. The 10.7 million job vacancies reported in June, however, remains an elevated figure.

Meanwhile, a slew of major companies in recent days have announced job cuts or hiring slowdowns. Walmart laid off nearly 200 corporate employees on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. A day before, Robinhood announced plans to cut 23% of its staff. Tech giants Apple, Amazon and Google-parent company Alphabet have recently announced they will slow hiring.

Kari Lake projected winner of Arizona governor Republican primary

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — ABC News can report that Kari Lake, a former longtime news anchor in Phoenix who left her career in media last year and received former President Donald Trump’s backing, is projected to win the Republican primary in Arizona’s race for governor, after suggesting foul play in an election she already claimed victory in.

“Though the results took longer than they should have, Arizonans who have been forgotten by the establishment just delivered a political earthquake,” Lake said in a statement after her win was officially projected. “This is more than an election — it is a beautiful movement by so many people across our beautiful state to finally put Arizona First.”

Lake defeats Karrin Taylor Robson, a wealthy real estate developer and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, who was backed by Trump’s, now estranged, Vice President Mike Pence and Arizona’s current term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey. Trump and Pence traveled to Arizona on the same day last month to stump for the competing candidates, with Pence warning against “those who want to make this election about the past.”

Taylor Robson spent more than $15 million of her own money on the race, but it was Lake’s “ultra-MAGA” and “America First” stance, coupled with her repetition of Trump’s “Big Lie,” that ultimately prevailed, after a campaign season filled with attack ads from all angles, which Democratic nominee for governor Katie Hobbs described as a “primary race to the bottom.”

Hobbs released a statement following the projection calling Lake “dangerous for Arizona” and calling the November general election “a choice between sanity and chaos.”

“Throughout her campaign, Lake has counted Nazi sympathizers and far-right extremists as part of her coalition,” she said. “We know where she stands on the issues that matter most, vowing to ban abortion and reproductive health care, putting cameras in our children’s classrooms, and wasting taxpayer money relitigating the 2020 election and manipulating future elections if she doesn’t like the results.”

Despite a handful of hypocrisy scandals, with Pence swiping her as a “convert” to the GOP who donated to Barack Obama, Lake acknowledged her past support for Democratic causes on the campaign trail, but now takes a far-right stance on social issues. She opposes abortion and transgender rights and made election integrity and border security top campaign issues, saying she would declare an invasion at the southern border on day one as governor.

Entering the general election season, Lake has already said that she would not change her tone but continue to talk about the widely disproven conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, even as some Republicans are concerned that if Trump’s candidates don’t moderate their message for the general electorate, it will be harder to win in Arizona in November.

Arizona Republican strategist Barrett Marson, who supported Taylor Robson, told ABC News, “It’ll be up to them [the Trump candidates] to moderate, or to at least start to appeal to the broader audience. I just don’t get telling your voters that there’s fraud in the election that you won and then expect them to continue to come out and vote for you.”

Lake dismissed questions Wednesday on how she could declare victory in an election that she doesn’t have any confidence in and why voters should trust that she won this election fair and square, claiming to have evidence of irregularities but refusing to provide evidence of wrongdoing to the press.

“We’re going with the votes, and we’re going with what the people who really understand what’s happening [in this] this election now,” she said.

A first-time candidate for public office who has said she would not have fulfilled her legal duty to certify it in 2020, Lake said, if elected governor, she would sign legislation to eliminate electronic counting machines and move to “one-day voting” in the state where voting by mail is a popular method. On the night of her election-watch party in Scottsdale, she wielded a wooden sledgehammer she said was intended for electronic voting machines and Hobbs.

With Lake’s win official, Trump sees a slate of winning candidates in Arizona, his most primary wins in any state — and in one that helped deliver the presidency to Joe Biden.

“President Trump went 14-0 in Arizona as the MAGA wave continues to sweep across the nation. America is a nation in decline under Democrat leadership, but President Trump will not stop until America is made great once more through the election of America First fighters,” Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for Trump, said in a statement Wednesday to ABC News.

One strategist told ABC News the wins prove that Arizona, though it has taken on a purple hue in recent years, is “still very much Trump country.”

Taylor Robson told Good Morning America and World News Tonight weekend co-anchor Whit Johnson that Lake priming her supporters for a stolen election — before Lake ultimately won the election herself — should “disqualify” her from the race, as many voters in Arizona are already mistrusting in the election process.

In a statement late Thursday, Taylor Robson said she accepted the results of the election and congratulated Lake on the win.

“This part of my life’s journey has come to an end. Now I need to be with my family and get back to my business,” she said.

“The voters of Arizona have spoken, I accept the results, I trust the process and the people who administer it,” she continued. “I have spent my life supporting Republican candidates and causes and it is my hope that our Republican nominees are successful in November.”

While Trump’s endorsed candidates are dominating the Arizona primary races, it was unclear if the MAGA agenda would show the same success in November.

Eight years before Uvalde, Arredondo was demoted from previous law enforcement position: Report

August 5, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SAN ANTONIO) — Eight years before Uvalde school Police Chief Pete Arredondo led the controversial law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, he was demoted from a high-ranking position at the Webb County Sheriff’s Office, according to reporting by a local news outlet Thursday.

Arredondo “couldn’t get along with people,” Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar told the San Antonio Express-News, according to the report. Cuellar also said that he demoted Arredondo from assistant chief to commander in 2014.

“He just didn’t fit the qualifications or the work that I set out for him,” Cuellar said, according to the report.

Arredondo has come under immense scrutiny for his role in the police response to the May 24 massacre, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. Police waited 77 minutes after arriving at the school to breach the door to the classroom containing the 18-year-old gunman.

A special committee in the Texas legislature issued a report last month that found Arredondo had “failed to perform or to transfer to another person the role of incident commander.”

Arredondo previously told the Texas Tribune that he did not consider himself the on-scene commander during the shooting.

According to documents first reported by the San Antonio Express-News and obtained by ABC News, Arredondo, while working for Webb County, was “reassigned from Assistant Chief to Commander” in October 2014, and that two days earlier, a Webb County employee had written “demotion” on his payroll worksheet.

Arredondo left the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in 2017 and took a role in Laredo as a school district police captain, where he stayed for three years. When he applied for the position in Laredo, Arredondo highlighted his role in a hostage negotiation during his time in Webb County.

Cuellar, the Webb County sheriff who demoted Arredondo in 2014, told the San Antonio Express-News that Arredondo “exaggerated a little bit” his role in the hostage negotiations he mentioned in his application to Laredo.

“It wasn’t him completely. I think he exaggerated a little bit,” Cuellar was quoted telling the newspaper, adding that it was a team effort.

Arredondo was announced as the new police chief of the Uvalde Independent School District in February 2020.

Neither Arredondo or Cuellar, or officials with the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, immediately responded to ABC News’ requests for comment.

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