MSNBC made the decision to pull its flagship morning program "Morning Joe" from airing on Monday in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a report by CNN.

Viewers tuning in to watch the typically anti-Trump program, hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, were instead greeted with continued NBC News special reporting on Saturday's attempt on Trump's life. An MSNBC spokesperson stated that "Morning Joe" would resume its regular broadcast on Tuesday. CNN reported that a person familiar with the decision said it was made partly due to concerns that one of the show's many guests over its four-hour broadcast "might make an inappropriate comment on live television that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole."

The decision to remove the show from the airwaves was reportedly made by Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, in consultation with MSNBC president Rashida Jones and the show's co-hosts. The move by MSNBC to keep "Morning Joe" off the air surprised political observers, with some conservatives arguing that it demonstrated a lack of trust in one of the network's most high-profile shows to sensitively cover a fraught situation. "The fact that Morning Joe's own network can't trust its flagship brand not to spew reckless and inflammatory crap during breaking news tells you all you need to know about the credibility of the MSNBC line-up," a veteran Republican consultant told Fox News Digital.

The decision also drew criticism from some liberal voices. Jeff Jarvis, a liberal journalist, expressed his frustration on X, saying, "What the f---, MSNBC? You preempted your excellent weekend programming… and now you've silenced [Morning Joe] in favor of your anodyne streaming news cos-play called Now? This is when we need the analysis and conversation these shows bring us (yes, with controversy; that is how public discourse works through it: with discussion). It is shocking that NBC/Comcast do not understand their own company's programs and raison d'etre."

Scarborough and Brzezinski have a complex history with Trump. Initially supportive of his political chances in 2015 and 2016, they became some of his harshest critics after he assumed the presidency. The show has been known for its strong anti-Trump rhetoric in recent years, with hosts and guests frequently portraying Trump as an authoritarian threat to the nation.

The assassination attempt on Trump occurred during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The former president was wounded in the ear by a would-be assassin's bullet. The shooter killed one attendee and critically wounded two others before being killed by law enforcement.

Both Republicans and Democrats have called for Americans to lower the temperature and unite in the wake of the attempted assassination. Trump is expected to accept the 2024 Republican nomination for president this week in Milwaukee. MSNBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision to pull "Morning Joe" from its Monday lineup.

"Given the gravity and complexity of this unfolding story, NBC News, NBC News NOW and MSNBC have remained in rolling breaking news coverage since Saturday evening," a spokesperson for NBCUniversal News Group said in a statement to CNN. "As we continue to cover this story into the week, the networks will continue to cross simulcast, alternating between NBC News, NBC News NOW and 'MSNBC Reports,' so there is one news feed covering this developing situation."

The post Following Trump shooting, MSNBC flagship show Morning Joe taken off air Monday appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The rising star in the GOP presidential primaries, Vivek Ramaswamy told Israel Hayom in an interview on Monday that he was against using US military force against Iran. He stated that this would be tantamount to taking part in a war "we don't belong in." He also made it clear that he was vehemently against letting Iran have nuclear capabilities and that its missiles threaten the US directly, although he insisted that Israel would be alone in using force against Iran.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

"One of the most important areas for partnership, and this is in the interest of both the US and Israel, is making sure together, that Iran never ever, ever becomes nuclear-equipped. If you look at the kinds of missiles that Iran is working on now, they don't need those missiles to hit Israel.

Video: Vivek Ramaswamy speaks with Israel Hayom / Credit: Brandon Goodyear

They need those missiles to hit the United States. And so, this is out of self-interest in the United States that I take that strong posture."

Q: So, will you use military force to stop Iran? The only time they stopped nuclear development was during the George W. Bush administration because they were afraid he would attack them.

"We will not stop Israel from defending itself to the fullest capacity. And we remain supportive of Israel, because they are our friend. I think it's really important that the US not put our own men and women on the line in a war with Iran, when in fact, there's no reason for us to be in that kind of war now, and I don't think that's good for the United States, and I don't think that's good for Israel. But what we do need to do is to make sure that Israel is strong so that Iran isn't emboldened.

"This is, you know, an ayatollah in Iran who would rather Israel not exist, let's just call that truth out for what it is. And so, Israel needs to be in a strong position to defend itself. And the United States will be at Israel's back. But I think that that's a very different thing from automatically sleepwalking ourselves into war. I'm an anti-war president. And the way I'm going to do it is by deterring war, be it ending the war in Ukraine and deterring China. These are important elements of why I think it's important to be strong, but in a way that doesn't accidentally walk us into wars that we don't belong in."

Ramaswamy's open rejection of a US strike on Iran sets him apart from the last three presidents. Both parties have said – implicitly and explicitly – that if needed, the US might have to resort to force against Iran and is prepared to put all options on the table.  

During the interview, he spoke about how he had visited Israel many times when he promoted his businesses. He believes the US has a lot to learn from Israel, and he thinks America should back Israel. 

"What I believe is that our relationship between the US and Israel should be a true friendship. Not a transactional relationship, but a true friendship. And by the end of my first term in office, I'm confident that our relationship with Israel will be stronger than it has ever been. What does that mean? I'm going to lead the way diplomatically, to take the Abraham Accords to the next level.

"Forget the Oslo Accords, forget the quiet legitimization of the Palestinian Authority. Joe Biden even continues the quiet legitimization of the PA...the reality is Biden is legitimizing what Mahmoud Abbas was in the 18th year of a four-year term, this is pathetic. I think we need a US president who stands with a spine to say, 'Israel as it exists as our friend, and we're not going to embrace this antisemitic foreign policy trope that we have to hold Israel hostage over the Palestinian question.' We're not going to do that. We're going to go further in integrating Israel, diplomatically leading the way into, let's just say the economic infrastructure, the security infrastructure of the Middle East; let's get Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Indonesia, into that pact. That helps Israel stand stronger. That's what good friends do they help each other stand more strongly."

Q: What was your impression of Israel when you visited? 

"I have a major business partner actually for my first business that's in Israel. They're they're good friends and allies of Roivant, the firm that I founded. Every time I go to Israel, I learn something new. And I think that's what our US relationship with Israel should look like, too. When I think about my role as the US president, I want to learn from our friend, that's what good friends do more than you may. Well, speaking out in my capacity as the next US president, I think that Israel has great border policies, we should want those in this country. Israel has a strong national identity through a culture of civic service.

"I think it's a beautiful thing that brings people of different ethnicities, even within Israel together in common cause that's something we could use in this country is civic duty and actual revival of national identity. That's something that we're missing in this country. I think Israel's missile defense, Israel is tough on crime policies from a policy perspective. It's also an innovative culture, where people don't say, 'I'm not an expert in that, so I'm not going to do it.' No, they say, 'You know what, I'm going to figure it out myself. And if something needs to be done, I'm going to be an entrepreneur and fix it.' That's an important part of the American spirit for most of our history. I see a lot of that in Israel. today. I'd like to bring more of that back alive here in the United States of America."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 'It's important not to put our men and women on the line in a war with Iran' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday expressed hope US President-elect Joe Biden could help "restore confidence" between Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to finally reach peace between the two sides.

Speaking on Thursday with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an American think tank, Rivlin began by stressing the importance of the US-Israel relationship, regardless of partisan politics.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

"We know that the friendship between Americans and Israelis goes beyond politics," Rivlin said.

In what his first long-form interview since Biden's defeat of incumbent President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election, Rivlin announced he had extended an invitation to the president-elect to visit Israel.

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rivlin said that "from time to time we have differences of opinion, also with the American administration, on the real understanding of the meaning of two states for two peoples.

"We have to find a way in order to understand – we are not doomed to live together, it is our destiny, we are destined to live together," Rivlin said.

"We can say two states for two people, one state for all the people, federation, confederation, we can do a lot – but first of all we have to build confidence."

In a phone call earlier this week, Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the Democratic president-elect on his election victory.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Biden agreed to meet with Israeli leaders "in the near future to discuss the many issues at stake, and reiterated the need to continue to strengthen the strong alliance between the United States and Israel."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Rivlin urges Biden to 'restore confidence' in Israeli-Palestinian peace process appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"In the Middle East, when Iran threatened, the president approved a strike that killed Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani, the man responsible for the murder and maiming of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Christians across the Middle East," he said on day two of the convention.

  Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Soleimani, general of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was targeted in a US airstrike on Jan. 3 at Baghdad International Airport.

"You will all recall that when the president took office, radical Islamic terrorists had beheaded Americans and ISIS-controlled a territory the size of Great Britain," said Pompeo. "Today, because of the president's determination and leadership, the ISIS caliphate is wiped out, its evil leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, and our brave soldiers are on their way home."

Al-Baghdadi was killed by US forces in northwest Syria in October 2019.

Pompeo also said, "The president exited the US from the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran and squeezed the Ayatollah, Hezbollah, and Hamas."

And, he noted from the rooftop of the King David Hotel, "the president moved the US embassy to this very city of God, Jerusalem, the rightful capital of the Jewish homeland." The United States moved the embassy in May 2018, five months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Finally, he noted the recent normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, brokered by the United States and announced on Aug. 13.

Pompeo's speech after a day of meeting with top Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, came with an immediate backlash.

Democrats, including Jewish ones, slammed him for breaking protocol and using his official position for a Republican campaign event, even though the US State Department said it was made in a "private capacity" and that no taxpayer money was used.

Critics also pointed to exploiting Israel as a "wedge" issue and for politicizing what should, at least in theory, be a matter of bipartisan consensus.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the speech "highly unusual."

In a letter to Pompeo's deputy, Stephen Biegun, he has requested a list of expenditures from Pompeo's Middle East trip, including "receipts demonstrating that any expenses incurred by the State Department were reimbursed" by the Republican National Committee.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Pompeo touts Trump's pro-Israel accomplishments appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

For several weeks, Tara Reade, a former staff assistant in Biden Senate office, has claimed that in 1993 Biden sexually assaulted her in the Capitol complex when she worked as his staffer. 

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Biden adamantly denied the allegations on Friday: "No, it is not true. I'm saying unequivocally it never, never happened and it didn't. It never happened."

Biden told MSNBC that he had no objection to the National Archives being searched with respect to Reade's allegations, but maintained that he was against opening the personal files he has provided to the University of Delaware, due to the "confidential" nature of the notes on the conversations he had with former President Barack Obama.

In its editorial, the Times' stressed that "as is so often the case in such situations, it is all but impossible to be certain of the truth. But the stakes are too high to let the matter fester – or leave it to be investigated by and adjudicated in the media. Mr. Biden is seeking the nation's highest office." 

They concluded by saying that "even if certainty isn't possible in this matter, the American people deserve at least the confidence that he, and the Democratic Party, have made every effort to bring the truth to light."

The post New York Times calls on DNC to investigate claims against Biden appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The possibility the pandemic could last into the fall, or flare again as millions of voters are set to choose the nation's next president, has state and local officials scrambling for alternatives to help keep voters safe.

The most-discussed proposals are to make mail-in voting available to all eligible voters nationwide and to expand early in-person voting to limit the crowds on Election Day.

But election officials say those changes will be costly and complex in a country where traditional voting remains ingrained. About six of every 10 ballots were cast in person on Election Day in 2016, Census data shows.

Democrats fell far short in their effort to include at least $2 billion to help virus-proof the November elections as part of a $2.2-trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that was passed by the US House on Friday. The package devotes $400 million to bolster vote by mail and early voting, expand facilities and hire more poll workers.

"Congress failed to include sufficient, urgently needed funds in the stimulus to help states run elections in a time of pandemic," said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. "This could wreak havoc in November."

Republicans opposed to spending big on balloting changes viewed it as an attempt by Democrats to impose a one-size-fits-all solution on states. Democrats said the price tag reflected the enormity of the task of safeguarding the vote during a pandemic.

Benjamin Hovland, chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission, which provides resources and information to election officials nationwide, said the change requires planning – and time is running out.

"You can't just flip a switch and vote by mail, this is a very involved process," Hovland said. "A lot of what is possible in November will be determined now."

Some officials in both parties still worry they could lose out in a nationwide vote-by-mail system.

Democrats fear it could disenfranchise minorities and low-income voters who tend to move more frequently or lack reliable access to mail service. Republicans cite concerns about voter fraud, and they worry that older voters confused by a new voting system and rural residents with slow mail delivery could be left out.

Fears about the outbreak, which has now infected more than 85,000 Americans and killed over 1,200, have started to affect Americans' intentions to vote. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken March 18-24, 63% of adults questioned said they were "completely certain" to vote in November. But that figure dropped to 56% when the respondents were asked to project their behavior if coronavirus were still a factor on Election Day.

"If nothing changes by November, there will be a lot of voters who are disenfranchised," said Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director for good-government watchdog Common Cause.

The health crisis has already upended the Democratic race to pick a challenger to face incumbent Republican President Donald Trump.

Three states scheduled to proceed with their April 4 Democratic nominating contests – Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska – have scrapped in-person voting entirely and will only permit voting by mail. Ohio and at least eight other states pushed their primaries back to May or June.

Postponement looks unlikely for the November presidential election, which is set by law and would require action by Congress to move.

"The election is going to happen in November, so we have to put the procedures in place now to make sure it happens safely and fairly," said Jonathan Diaz, legal counsel for voting rights at the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center.

Introducing a vote-by-mail system in new locales will require election officials to pay for new paper ballots and thick security envelopes, and to buy expensive new machines to sort and tabulate them.

But one of the biggest challenges will be familiarizing people with a new way of voting in a very short time, said Tina Barton, the city clerk and chief elections official in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

"It's going to take a massive education campaign not only to train all your clerks on a new process but also to educate voters," Barton said.

The Brennan Center estimated the cost of ensuring vote-by-mail was available for all voters could be up to $1.4 billion, with postage alone costing $600 million.

Currently, every state allows some voters to cast ballots sent through the mail. Five states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington – conduct elections entirely by mail.

The post Coronavirus emerges as major threat to US election process appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"I think that if you vote for a Democrat you are very, very disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people," Trump told reporters as he left the White House.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The Republican president drew outrage on Tuesday from Democratic presidential candidates and US Jewish groups after accusing American Jews who vote for Democrats of "great disloyalty."

Critics said that Trump's comments echoed an anti-Semitic trope accusing American Jews of dual loyalties to the United States and Israel.

Trump initially responded on Twitter on Wednesday by quoting a conservative columnist as saying that American Jews "don't know what they're doing." The Republican president thanked the commentator, Wayne Allyn Root, who likened Trump to the "King of Israel" and said that Israelis "love him like he is the second coming of God."

The comments about Israel followed Trump's attacks on a group of first-term Democrats in Congress, US Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who were denied entry to Israel last week. (Tlaib was granted entry for a humanitarian visit, but chose not to accept it.)

"Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone where they're defending these two people over the state of Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," Trump said on Tuesday, without specifying what or who they were being disloyal to.

Those remarks sparked a swift backlash.

"My message to Trump: I am a proud Jewish person and I have no concerns about voting Democratic," Senator Bernie Sanders, a leader in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and an independent, wrote in a Twitter post late on Tuesday.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner to challenge Trump in November 2020, called the president's comments "insulting and inexcusable" and urged him to stop dividing Americans.

"The Jewish people don't need to prove their loyalty to you, @realDonaldTrump – or to anyone else," said Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke, a former US congressman from Texas who has called Trump a racist over his immigration rhetoric.

American Jews lean Democratic. Roughly 70% of American Jews have typically supported Democratic candidates in recent US presidential elections.

J Street, a liberal lobbying group based in Washington, was among the many US Jewish organizations that expressed outrage or alarm at Trump's comments.

"It is dangerous and shameful for President Trump to attack the large majority of the American Jewish community as unintelligent and 'disloyal,'" the group said on Tuesday.

Said Anti-Defamation League leader Jonathan Greenblatt, "It's unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be 'disloyal' to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews."

The Republican Jewish Coalition sided with Trump, saying, "President Trump is right, it shows a great deal of disloyalty to oneself to defend a party that protects/emboldens people that hate you for your religion."

Trump is popular in Israel. He delighted many Israelis, by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, moving the US Embassy there, withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has close ties with the Trump administration, declined to comment on his remarks.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wrote on Twitter that he had spoken with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top elected Democrat, about strong US-Israel relations, which he said were "not dependent on the links with either party."

Trump has for weeks been attacking Tlaib and Omar, accusing them of hostility to Israel and anti-Semitism. He repeated his attacks on Tlaib on Wednesday, accusing her on Twitter of wanting to cut off aid to Israel, a US ally that has long enjoyed bipartisan support.

In February, Omar, who along with Tlaib supports a boycott of Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians, said US Jews have divided loyalties. She apologized for those remarks after being widely condemned by many in her own party.

Most Democrats disagree with Tlaib and Omar's views on Israel, but Trump's attacks on them have rallied support for the two within their party.

The post Trump clarifies 'disloyalty' statement, accuses Democrats of hurting Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"There are very legitimate Israeli security concerns," said the 37-year-old in response to a question from JNS following his speech at the annual Iowa State Fair on "The Des Moines Register Soapbox," where candidates for president and other offices give an allotted 20-minute speech. "That being said, I would have, in that situation, had this be part of a negotiated discussion. The really upsetting thing about what was done with the Golan Heights was that it was an intervention in Israeli domestic politics."

                                           Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

"In other words, the president used US foreign policy to put a thumb on the scale for right-wing allies within Israeli domestic politics. This is totally the wrong basis for our policy. So we can talk about the future of any of the hot-button issues in the Middle East," continued Buttigieg. "The bottom line is when I am the president we will do it not based on US politics and not based on Israeli politics but based on what is best for the security of the Israeli-Palestinian [future]."

Regarding whether, if elected, he would undo the president's move, Buttigieg responded, "I'm not going to make any declarations now about the future of that status other than to say that on my watch it would not have come about as part of the intervention of Israeli [politics]."

The Republican Jewish Coalition immediately challenged the mayor for his response.

"Top tier 2020 Democrat contender apparently wants Syria to have the Golan Heights, supports a foreign policy strategy that denies reality," tweeted the organization.

However, Buttigieg did not say nor seemed to imply that Syria should have the Golan Heights, which many say is a geographic and strategic asset for the State of Israel.

Buttigieg has pledged, if elected, to keep the US Embassy in Israel in Jerusalem, where it was relocated from Tel Aviv in May 2018, but re-enter the United States into the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew, also in May 2018, reimposing sanctions lifted under it and enacting new financial penalties against the regime.

In June, along with criticizing the US withdrawal from the Iran deal, Buttigieg warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against fulfilling his campaign promise to annex parts of Judea and Samaria.

"If Prime Minister Netanyahu makes good on his threat to annex West Bank settlements, he should know that a President Buttigieg would take steps to ensure that American taxpayers won't help foot the bill," he declared.

While on the soapbox, Buttigieg called for gun-control measures, and also tackled immigration and the economy.

The Iowa Caucus will be held on Feb. 3, 2020.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

The post Buttigieg calls US recognition of Golan 'interference' in Israeli politics appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.