Transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney of Bud Light infamy released a music video this week, prancing around in skimpy outfits and co-opting “girlhood” from actual women.
Cringe Warning:
The song provides a glimpse into the mind of Mulvaney and what he thinks it’s like being a girl, singing, “Monday, can’t get out of bed. Tuesday morning, pick up meds.” Dylan is obviously on meds. “Wednesday retail therapy. Cash or credit, I say yes. Thursday had a walk of shame. Didn’t even know his name. Weekends are for kissing friends. Friday night I’ll overspend…”
So, take prescription pills, have sex with random people, spend money and be proud of that behavior?
The bizarre music video was blasted online.
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Conservative radio host Dana Loesch wrote, “Dylan Mulvaney is playing to a stereotype to mock women. Women do not see themselves like this.”
Dylan Mulvaney is playing to a stereotype to mock women. Women do not see themselves like this. pic.twitter.com/8LGXpVZAVS
The craziest part of Dylan Mulvaney’s new music video is even after hormones and surgery, he still looks like a total dude. Just an unhealthy one wearing girl clothes.
Dylan Mulvaney doesn't fantasize about being a woman, he fantasizes about being a girl. Femininity is a fetish he uses to gain fame. pic.twitter.com/MwRnyfhAxs
I'm sorry, but Dylan Mulvaney's song sucks and it's basically a caricature of women, and I would say they think a female influencer is because most women aren't even like that. Been a woman all my life, and No. It's demeaning, honestly.
— Geeky Sparkles Skywalker (@desert_starr_57) March 15, 2024
According to Dylan Mulvaney and his new song, "girlhood" consists of: – Not being able to get out of bed – Popping prescription pills – Retail therapy – Doing the "walk of shame" – Not remembering who you hook up with – Overspending – Flirting for drinks – Listening to the… pic.twitter.com/o0gT0X9riq
Dylan Mulvaney is a fully intact gay man pretending to be a girl, not a woman, as he pushes 30 years of age. All of that being said his new song is terrible, especially since they feminized his voice. Well, I fixed that… pic.twitter.com/TlHCX2r2sd
Dr. Darlington Orji, Special Adviser to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, revealed late Friday that the governor has continued and completed several key projects abandoned by his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
Orji made the revelation while responding to accusations by the Rivers All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Tony Okocha, that Fubara’s administration lacked vision and was not consolidating on Wike’s achievements.
According to the special adviser, far from being visionless, Fubara has prioritised completing critical infrastructure projects initiated but left unfinished by the previous administration.
“Government is a continuity and the governor has continued with the projects that were not completed by his predecessor,” Orji stated.
He listed some of the abandoned Wike projects that have now been completed by Fubara to include the 19.1 kilometer Oyigbo-Okoloma (Afam) road in Oyigbo LGA, the 8.1 kilometer Abua-Omoku-Iyak-Ighom-Elok road in Abua-Odual LGA, and the Egbeda Internal road in Emohua LGA.
The Commissioner for Information, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, corroborated Orji’s claims, providing more details on Wike’s uncompleted projects that Fubara has now delivered.
These include the Government Comprehensive Secondary Schools in Borikiri, Eneka, Emohua and Okehi; the 10.3 kilometer Indorama-Agbonchia-Ogale-Ebubu-East/West link road; the University of Port Harcourt Convocation Auditorium; the Mgbuodohia internal roads in Obio Akpor; and the Gbene-nu/Ohoro road in Tai LGA.
Johnson added that Fubara had also completed the Dental Maxillofacial, Ear, Nose, Throat & Ophthalmology Hospital at Garrison junction, as well as the Kelsey Harrison Hospital renovation in Mile 2, Diobu.
Both aides were adamant that contrary to Okocha’s claims, Fubara was firmly focused on development and delivering quality projects and services to Rivers people.
They insisted that completing the abandoned projects of his predecessor, in addition to initiating new ones like the Port Harcourt Ring Road, was evidence of the governor’s vision and commitment.
Orji said, “The governor has ensured that construction of roads and bridges are ongoing in Alesha road in Eleme.
“When you go to Bori internal roads, you will see the signature of the governor which shows that he is focused and not ready to be distracted.
“I thank God that Okocha agreed that the governor is carrying out the ring road project; the ring road is one of the signature project of the governor.
“Governor Fubara is focused and he believes in the feelings of the people, that is why he directed that the Local Government workers should be promoted and paid the 30 percent minimum wage.
“The governor is generally accepted by the people because he is doing what the people want.
“We can see the rehabilitation of the Psychiatric Hospital ordered by the governor, and the reopening of the employment project at the Ignatius Aguru University and other programmes done by his administration,” Orji said.
According to him, Okocha may have deliberately decided not to see or appreciate the effort of the governor.
He added, “Let it be on record that the governor is not funding the thanksgiving that Okocha described as a jamboree, rather people are happy, thanking God for the victory at the courts; it is worth thanking God for.
“This is the reason the opposition parties have continued to align themselves with the governor for his good works.
“Yes, criticism is part of governance, but it should be in good faith. What we are seeing is criticism meant to undermine all the good development that the governor has brought to the people,” Orji added.
On his part, the information commissioner said Okocha had lost touch with happenings in the state. “We are rebuilding the entire state and the revival fire is sweeping through the entire 23 LGAs, not by making noise.”
The commissioner also identified some of the projects initiated by Fubara’s administration outside those started by Wike to include the 50.15km Port Harcourt Dual carriage Ring Road, the Elelenwo Internal Roads in Obio Akpor LGA, ongoing Omuakali-Eberi Road, Omuma LGA, ongoing 10 kilometer Aleto-Ebubu-Eteo road (old Port Harcourt-Bori Road) in Eleme LGA and ongoing Igbu-Ehuda Internal Roads in Ahoada-East.
“Fubara also initiated the ongoing Bori City Internal Roads in Khana Local Government, ongoing Emohua-Ogbakiri Road in Emohua LGA and the ongoing 6.5 kilometers Woji-Aleto-Alesa-Refinery link road with 200 meters bridge,” Johnson added.
RIVERS: Fubara Reveals Projects Abandoned By Wike is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Recent social media posts claimed that migrants can use an app to get free flights to the U.S.
“Let’s see what is actually doing better under Biden?” the caption on a March 7 Instagram post says. The caption then lists several things, including, “300,000 illegal immigrants were able to use a simple app to get a free flight to our country along with the millions that were allowed to enter at our southern border!”
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Entrepreneur Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump amplified similar claims in a social media post on X and a speech, respectively.
The claims appear to be based on a March 4 report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates for reduced immigration and opposes a Biden administration parole program for migrants from certain countries.
The report says that the parole flights are creating security vulnerabilities at airports. But it doesn’t say migrants are receiving “free flights.”
The report’s author, Todd Bensman, said in a published follow-up statement that “re-reportings incorrectly said the government itself was ‘flying’ immigrants in, as though taxpayers were picking up the tab. As far as I know, that’s not true, nor have I ever reported anything other than that the program requires the migrants to pick up the tab.”
Bensman’s report says 320,000 people arrived in the U.S. through December 2023 through the parole program, which allows certain immigrants from four countries to live and work in the U.S. for up to two years. Official Customs and Border Protection data says that 327,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived in the U.S. from January 2023 through December 2023.
The Instagram post’s claim is wrong, though, saying that they used a “simple app to get a free flight” to the U.S.
Applicants complete a process that requires a security and background check, a U.S. sponsor and does not involve an app. People granted parole status through this program have temporary legal status in the U.S. They also do not receive free flights to the country; rather, they buy their own plane tickets, Nicole Hallet, a University of Chicago Law School professor, told PolitiFact.
And an app called CBP One is not used to apply for or receive parole. Program participants use the app to access information about their cases, get travel authorization and to complete a travel pre-screening to verify their identities.
People in the parole program came in the U.S. legally
In January 2023, the U.S. began accepting 30,000 people each month, collectively, from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, through a parole program. It lets people legally enter, live and work in the U.S. for two years. To qualify, migrants need a U.S. sponsor.
Although people paroled in are authorized to be in the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security has the discretion to terminate their parole if they violate U.S. laws. People who overstay a parole period also can be deported.
Through Jan. 31, 2024, more than 357,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole. Haiti had the most program participants, with 138,000 people arriving from that country, followed by 86,000 Venezuelans, 74,000 Cubans and 58,000 Nicaraguans. The U.S. grants parole based on “significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian reasons.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, posted March 11 on X that people who enter the U.S. through the parole program “are not ‘illegal aliens.’ They enter legally and have official permission to be here.” He was responding to a March 11 X post from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who called the program’s participants “illegal aliens.”
Texas Republican officials sued the Biden administration claiming that the federal initiative is illegal. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit without ruling.
Our ruling
An Instagram post said that “300,000 illegal immigrants were able to use a simple app to get a free flight to our country.”
A Biden administration parole program allowed 327,000 migrants to legally enter the U.S. from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela from January 2023 through December 2023. They came in legally and are temporarily authorized to be in the country.
The app they use to track their case is not used to apply for or receive parole. Applying for the program requires a U.S. sponsor and background and security checks.
Once approved for the parole program, participants must pay for their own flights to the U.S.
We rate this claim False.
PolitiFact Staff Writer Maria Ramirez Uribe contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES — After scrimmaging at UCLA’s Mo Ostin Center on Friday afternoon, Steph Curry shared a hoop with Chris Paul for shooting progressions.
Catch-and-shoots from the corner, one-handed push shots, 1-on-1 combinations against light defense from the top of the key, one-dribble pull-ups and stepbacks. Without any extra brace or wrap on his sprained right ankle, Curry did it all.
Curry, who missed the past three games with a right ankle sprain that he suffered against the Bulls, is expected to play against the Lakers on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. The team won’t make an official determination until shortly before game time, but all signs point to Curry returning to the lineup for a pivotal game.
“That’s the plan, everything goes well with practice today and rehab tonight on it,” Curry said. “Been working hard all week, trying to get back as soon as possible.”
The news isn’t surprising, as Curry participated in a full practice with Santa Cruz on Thursday before he rejoined Golden State for the last game of this four-game trip. Had he not been ready to play, it’s unlikely the team would have flown Curry to Los Angeles.
“Steph looks good,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He scrimmaged the last couple of days in the Bay, we obviously brought him here to play tomorrow. That being said, we’ll wait to see how he feels tomorrow before we make the determination. But I expect him to play.”
Asked how his ankle held up during practice, Curry joked that it’s “still attached to my body.” Curry’s no stranger to ankle injuries, so he was able to attack his recovery with familiarity. He spent a few days off the court to reduce swelling before building strength back up. There are only 17 games left in the season, so Curry had to refrain from rushing back until it was clear there wasn’t a risk of aggravating the injury.
The Warriors are 1-4 this season without Curry, excluding the loss to Chicago, which he left late with the ankle sprain. In 59 games this year, Curry is averaging 26.9 points, 4.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
“He’s the greatest shooter ever, so he’s responsible for a lot of our spacing,” Kerr said. A lot of the actions that we run, they’re not as effective as they are when we have him on the floor.”
Saturday night’s matchup with the Lakers has major implications for Golden State. They’re currently the 10th seed, a game behind Los Angeles. In the NBA’s current play-in format, the ninth seed hosts the tenth seed in a do-or-die game, with the winner then visiting the loser of the 7-8 game for a chance to earn a full playoff series.
“Steph is Steph,” Kerr said. “We need him. This is a big game tomorrow — they’re all big, but particularly the ones against the teams ahead of us and teams that we’re on the heels of. I’m thrilled to get Steph back. We’ve got a whole team tomorrow. Hopefully we can stay whole for the remainder of the season.”
Without Curry, the Warriors have lost momentum in the standings and face what Brandin Podziemski tabbed a “daunting” climb.
But Golden State did have it rolling before their recent slide. The Warriors went 11-3 in the month of February, coalescing around a revamped starting lineup anchored by Draymond Green playing center. Brandin Podziemski replaced Klay Thompson in the starting lineup and his fellow rookie, Trayce Jackson-Davis, took on Kevon Looney’s backup big role.
The cluttered play-in round features five teams separated by four games. There’s still a chance for the Warriors to make a push, but it’ll require a significant winning streak and at least one team ahead of them to fall apart.
Curry’s return should shuffle everyone back into place with a month left in the regular season. To go on the run they need to advance to a more advantageous play-in position, they’ll need Curry to remain healthy and effective.
“I told the guys today there’s still almost a quarter of the season left,” Kerr said. “A lot can happen. Now’s our time to really make some hay.”
Hit-aheads
— Russell Westbrook, the Clippers guard who’s recovering from a left hand fracture, walked into the UCLA facility as the Warriors wrapped up their practice Friday. He got a warm welcome from Golden State’s stars, particularly Chris Paul. It’s safe to say Westbrook has an open invite to the gym; the court is named Russell Westbrook Court, after all.
–The Warriors made a conscious decision to remove Klay Thompson from the starting lineup before the All-Star break rather than afterward, Kerr said. Making the move earlier gave Thompson more time to mentally process it. Scoring 35 points in his first game coming off the bench couldn’t have hurt his embracing of the new role.
“I think the All-Star break was good for Klay,” Kerr said. “He came off the bench right before the break, then had four or five days to kind of think about things. I’ve noticed that since then, he’s much more at peace with himself. And I don’t think it was necessarily my talk. It’s really about Klay and finding that peace inside himself to where you sort of accept what’s happened with the injuries.
“You accept Father Time is creeping in. I think he was fighting that, frankly, early in the season. He was fighting everything. I think he was resenting the fact he had those two major injuries, desperately trying to hang onto the Hall of Fame player that he is, but without the acceptance and awareness. You’ve got to adapt. I think he’s been phenomenal since the break. He’s coming in with great energy, he’s encouraging the young guys. He just seems much more at peace with himself.”
Thompson has scored at least 20 points in six of the 13 games since moving to the bench.
–Curry’s signature shoe line, Curry Brand, made its first Name Image and Likeness deal with an NCAA athlete, signing South Carolina freshman Milaysia Fulwiley. Curry is the only active NBA player signing pro and college players to his brand.
“Milaysia is an unbelievable talent, obviously she’s the most outstanding player in the SEC Tournament, first freshman to do it in (school history),” Curry said. “She’s been a Curry Camp alum, and obviously South Carolina is an Under Armour school. And just to have that connection through and through, bring her into the Curry Brand family is exciting. She’s got a big journey ahead with the tournament coming up. She’s one of a kind, and her story’s just getting started.”
The history between Curry and Fulwiley makes the deal feel natural. That’s not always the case in the new, wild world of NIL. Take Stanford star Cameron Brink, for example. She’s in the Bay Area, her parents are both longtime Nike employees, and is family friends with Curry. Yet instead of Nike or Under Armour, Brink became the first female athlete to sign with New Balance. Go figure.
Canadian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot (C), US composer and pianist Kris Bowers (R) and Porche Brinker accept the award for Best Documentary Short Film for “The Last Repair Shop” onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) via Getty Images)
by Joseph Williams
It was a quintessential Hollywood feel-good story. A short documentary spotlighting a small group of technicians selflessly fixing 80,000 instruments for student musicians in Los Angeles’ underfunded public schools won an Oscar at the Academy Awards.
“’The Last Repair Shop’ is about the heroes in our schools who often go unsung, unthanked, and unseen,” Kris Bowers, the documentary’s co-director, said in his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony Sunday night. “Tonight, you are sung, you are thanked, and you are seen.”
Yet when it comes to music programs in public education across the country, however, data show the big picture is far more complex.
While more than 90% of U.S. public school students have access to music education in school, even in the face of district budget cuts, some 3.6 million don’t, according to a major national survey. Those children, according to the survey, are more likely to attend a majority-Black or majority-Latino school, and most of the students at that school are likely to qualify for free or reduced lunch.
At the same time, a recent study found a significant lack of diversity among music educators, an issue that could keep Black and brown children away from the music room.
Amanda Karhuse, an assistant executive director for the National Association for Music Education, believes the Oscar win for “The Last Repair Shop” could help insert music education into the national conversation about equity and public-school funding in public schools. Schools, she said, must see music education as something for all students — an integral part of a student’s education that boosts academic performance and well-being.
“In Kris Bowers’ acceptance speech, he speaks about how music education isn’t about creating incredible musicians, but incredible humans,” Karhuse says. “When fully funded and supported, music education is a space for all students to develop a sense of self within a community. It is a bridge between school, the community, and the world at large.”
In a nondescript warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain over 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of the recording capital of the world. Watch “The Last Repair Shop,” directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers.
But much like in other areas of education, funding is rarely equal — and exact data is hard to come by.
According to a 2022 survey by the nonprofit Arts Education Project, the U.S. has made significant progress in restoring music education to classrooms after years of budget cuts and declining investment. But while 92% of public school students have access to music education, 3.6 million students “do not have that same opportunity,” according to the survey.
Moreover, “a disproportionate number of public-school students without access to music and arts education are concentrated in schools in major urban communities; have the highest percentage of students eligible for free/reduced price meals; and are either majority Black, Hispanic, or Native American,” according to the survey. “In addition, many of these students without music and arts education attend public charter schools.”
Karhuse said the federal government provides Title I funds for those schools that could be used “to support a well-rounded education that includes music education,” but it doesn’t always make it to the band room.
“Our survey results show that very few schools are using Title I funds for this purpose — usually because the resources are allocated for other activities or because districts lack awareness that the funds can be used for music education,” she says.
In focusing on Los Angeles public schools, “The Last Repair Shop” inadvertently underscored that disparity: it is the last school district in the country to provide instruments, free of charge, to any child who wants to play. And the documentary is expected to kick-start a $15 million fundraising campaign to upgrade instruments and expand the repair program.
But instruments aren’t the only factor in music education, Karhuse said. Poor urban schools, she said, “have a lack of resources and certified music educators.”
“Nearly 93 percent of all music educators are white,” according to a January 2024 report on the state of music educators by the National Federation of State High School Associations. “The lack of diversity creates challenges for students who do not see themselves” leading or participating in music classes.
Ultimately, Karhuse says, school and public officials must steer more money towards music education programs in general, instruct schools how to use Title I funds, and do more to integrate music education into curricula that’s available to all students.
“Music education creates environments that foster community and collaboration among our students,” she says. “These spaces are also the last stronghold of safe spaces for students who may otherwise never attend or engage in school. Our students deserve safe spaces for them to learn, to be challenged and succeed.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has postponed his State of the State address, the governor’s office confirmed to The Hill Friday night.
Newsom’s address was originally scheduled to be delivered on Monday. A new date for the speech has not been provided.
His office is coordinating with the legislature to nail a new date for the governor’s address, per an email to The Hill.
The postponement of the address comes as his push to overhaul how California treats disorders related to mental health is still active, even with Proposition 1 having a slim lead. Newsom is making a last-minute effort to correct rejected ballots, notes Politico.
“This ballot initiative is SO CLOSE that your commitment to volunteer could mean the difference between people getting off the streets and into the treatment they need… or not,” reads a Friday email from Campaign for Democracy, Newsom’s federal PAC, obtained by Politico. “Truly. It is that close.”
Newsom, a two-term leader of the state, is facing another recall, after defeating a 2021 attempt. He also has to wrangle with a record $68 billion budget deficit, which has made buying goods in the state and hiring workers by businesses harder.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Man was one of seven most-wanted men in Colombia, and was reportedly second in charge of ‘Los Satanas’ gang accused of killing butcher in Bogota.
A gang leader wanted in Colombia on murder charges was arrested in Central Texas this week attempting to seek asylum.
Federal and local authorities apprehended Venezuelan national Aberdiss Pirela in New Braunfels on Tuesday, according to Homeland Securities Investigations, charging him with drug trafficking and extortion.
Pirela, one of the seven most-wanted men in Colombia, was reportedly second in charge of the “Los Satanas” gang, which was accused of killing a butcher in the capital city of Bogota last week.
Pirela was reportedly wanted in connection with four homicides and was also one of Interpol’s top 10 most wanted.
In addition to the several murders, he was also wanted on warrants out of Bogota, Colombia for extortion and drug trafficking.
He was released to Border Patrol to be processed federally.
It’s unclear when and how he entered the US, and how long he was in New Braunfels. 2/
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Despite being in the United States, Bogota police said Pirela kept in “constant contact” with the gang’s hitman coordinator, who according to The Daily Mail “allegedly had a role in the March 7 butcher shop attack.”
The Mail reports Pirela fled Venezuela to Colombia then managed to travel to the United States via the Darien Gap in Panama.
Ultimately, Colombian police said they learned Pirela was headed to the United States after other gang members posted a selfie on Facebook on Jan. 1 disclosing their location in Mexico.
After Pirela crossed the border on Jan 2, he requested the US grant him political asylum on Jan. 7 and was released into the country.
“Investigators would learn on January 27 that he and his associates were operating Los Satanás gang activities from a shelter in Texas and instructing gang members in Bogotá,” the Mail reports.
The investigation was aided by FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, who contacted Colombian police to inform them Pirela was in the country.
After searching a listed address in Denver, police “were able to track him down in Texas and arrested him while he was walking on a street Tuesday,” the Mail writes.
Bogota Metropolitan Police commander, general José Gualdrón, warned that fugitives wanted for committing heinous crimes would be hunted down and found.
“There will be no territory where these criminals can hide. We will capture them and bring them to justice,” Gualdrón said. “Our priority: ensuring the safety and tranquility of the people of Bogotá.”
The incident is a stark illustration of how the Biden regime’s porous open border is allowing criminals to freely cross into the country and endanger the lives of Americans.
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…You Can’t Suppress Investigation, Party Slams APC
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has added a fresh layer to the budget padding allegation against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, challenging him to submit himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation into the matter and an alleged looting of N108 billion belonging to the people of Akwa Ibom State as well as the N86 billion belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria when he was a Minister of Niger Delta.
Akpabio was governor of Akwa Ibom State for eight years and was Niger Delta minister during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP in a statement on Friday by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, said Akpabio must come clean of those allegations insisting that he must step aside to allow for investigation.
The party also slammed the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akpabio’s party, having defected from the PDP, declaring that the party cannot stop an investigation into the allegation which has rattled the country since a Bauchi Senator, Abdul Ningi, revealed what many Nigeria have described as unprecedented corruption.
Ningi had alleged on several news platforms that N3.7trn was discovered in the 2024 budget to be without line items.
His allegation was debated during plenary in the past week and led to his suspension for three months.
Amid calls for full investigation into the allegation and for Akpabio to step down especially from the PDP, the APC said the call for Akpabio to “step aside over the matter of an unsubstantiated allegation of budget padding by the Senate is nothing short of crass buffoonery.”
But the PDP has replied to the ruling party’s statement stating that the party is attempting to suppress the demand for an open investigation into what it called “improper insertion of N3.7 trillion for non-existing projects in the 2024 budget.”
The PDP asserted that “from the incoherent, knee-jerk and dismissive statement issued by the APC leadership in the Senate on Thursday, March 14, 2024, it is clear that it is jittery that an open and detailed investigation into the allegation will further expose the perpetrators and how money was allegedly shared among APC lawmakers.
The party said the “statement further confirms the presence of an APC budget cabal in the Senate and that the Senator Akpabio-led APC leadership is insensitive and does not care about the welfare of the Nigerian people.
“It is highly provocative that at this time when Nigerians are passing through severe economic hardship, the APC leadership in the Senate is busy defending and frustrating investigation into allegations of massive manipulation and looting of resources meant for the wellbeing of the citizens.”
The party emphasised the need for the Akpabio-led APC leadership in the Senate “to know that no amount of threats, harassment, suspension of whistleblowers and attempts to blackmail the opposition through diversionary press statements and sponsored articles in a section of the media can suppress the demand for an open investigation into the alleged budget padding which is already in the public domain.”
The party stressed that it and Nigerians in general are however “not deterred by attacks by the APC leadership in the Senate which is a clear case of corruption fighting back in the face of public scrutiny.”
More importantly, the former ruling party argued that “the failure by the Akpabio-led APC leadership to allow for investigation into the budget padding allegation constitutes a huge smear on the image of the Senate and destroys its rectitude and integrity to perform its Constitutional duty to investigate and oversight other public institutions; a situation that spells doom to our Constitutional democracy if not immediately checked.
“If Senator Akpabio has nothing to fear, he should immediately recall Senator Abdul Ningi and allow for an open and detailed investigation into the allegation of discrete insertion of N3.7 trillion into the 2024 budget.
“Our Party, standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians, insists that Senator Akpabio should step aside and allow for a credible investigation, as he cannot be a judge in this matter.”
The PDP also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restore the integrity of the 2024 budget by immediately ordering an open investigation into the alleged insertion as well as a holistic review of the budget.
Furthermore, the PDP said it “stands by its demand that Senator Akpabio should report at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation into the alleged looting of N108 billion belonging to the people of Akwa Ibom State and the N86 billion alleged contract scam under his watch as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs respectively.”
‘Submit Yourself For EFCC Investigation Of N3.7trn Budget Padding, N194bn Stolen From Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State’ – PDP Tells Akpabio is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., argued on live television about who owns TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd. Their heated exchange came a day after the U.S. House passed a bipartisan bill that could lead to the popular app being banned in the U.S.
The bill would require ByteDance, a China-based company, to sell TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, to a non-Chinese owner within six months or face a U.S. ban. The Senate would also need to approve the bill for it to move forward, though its fate there is uncertain. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
During the March 14 exchange with Paul, Kilmeade said, “Who owns that company? ByteDance? ByteDance is owned by China.”
“No, it’s not,” Paul replied. “See that’s a lie. … You’re defaming the company.”
Paul said three times during the interview that 60% of ByteDance is owned by international investors, 20% is owned by its Chinese co-founders and 20% is owned by employees, including 7,000 Americans.
“It’s a complicated ownership, but it’s not owned by the government,” Paul said.
Kilmeade then asked who owns the TikTok app’s algorithm.”TikTok owns their own algorithm and it’s not in China,” Paul responded.
“Who owns TikTok?” Kilmeade countered. “ByteDance. And who owns ByteDance? The Chinese government.”
“No they don’t. See, you just told a lie, Brian,” Paul responded.
Watch the exchange between Kilmeade and Paul above. (YouTube)
According to TikTok, Paul is correct. An expert on China told PolitiFact that it’s hard to independently verify.
Kilmeade did not respond to a request for comment sent to a Fox News spokesperson.
PolitiFact has a partnership with TikTok to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content.
Information about TikTok’s ownership comes from the company itself
A TikTok spokesperson, in an email to PolitiFact, confirmed Paul’s numbers about its ownership structure. TikTok also uses the same figures that Paul cited on its webpages about its ownership.
The Associated Press reported that ByteDance is based in Beijing, but registered in the Cayman Islands. TikTok has global headquarters in Los Angeles and Singapore and offices around the world, including in New York City, but TikTok says ByteDance does not have a single global headquarters.
Kenton Thibaut, a senior resident China fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said that because ByteDance is a privately owned company, what is known about its ownership structure comes from the company itself.
“Its ownership is not possible to verify,” Thibaut said. “It has, however, had to provide disclosures in the past.”
She said ByteDance has provided disclosures to Washington, D.C., courts; to funders; and in Chinese government documents. Tibaut said those disclosures show that 60% of TikTok is owned by global investors, as TikTok told PolitiFact and Paul told Kilmeade.
The TikTok spokesperson also told PolitiFact that ByteDance’s five-person board of directors includes three Americans: Arthur Dantchik, co-founder of trading company Susquehanna International Group; William Ford, CEO of investing company General Atlantic; and Philippe Laffont, founder of hedge fund company Coatue Management.
In a March 11 letter, TikTok Vice President of Public Policy Michael Beckerman wrote to Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., in response to a letter from the lawmakers, who said the Chinese government controlled ByteDance. Both Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi serve on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
“TikTok is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government,” Beckerman wrote. “The ultimate parent company of TikTok Inc. is ByteDance Ltd., a privately-owned holding company established in the Cayman Islands. ByteDance Ltd. is majority owned by investors around the world, and the rest of the shares are owned by the founding team and employees around the world.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, ByteDance agreed in 2021 to allow the Chinese government to take a 1% ownership stake known as a “golden share” at one of its China-based subsidiaries, Beijing Douyin Information Service Co., which runs Douyin, an app available in China that’s similar to TikTok. (TikTok is not available in mainland China.) China is increasingly taking “golden shares” at China-based companies, giving the government board seats, voting power and a say in business decisions, the Journal reported.
Thibaut also said that the government-owned China Internet Investment Fund has a 1% share in Douyin, and China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission has a board member on Douyin. That has raised suspicions ByteDance would allow China to have influence over the company’s operations, but we don’t know a lot about how or if the Chinese Communist Party uses its share to control company decisions, Thibaut said.
TikTok called the Chinese government’s 1% share in Douyin a “common arrangement” under Chinese law. It has no bearing on ByteDance’s global operations, including TikTok, it said.
Could China influence TikTok if it doesn’t have ownership?
Some legislators and U.S. officials have raised concerns that Chinese national security laws could require ByteDance to turn over TikTok data about American users to the Chinese government.
President Joe Biden in December 2022 signed a law barring federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices, with limited exceptions. States, local governments and universities have instituted similar TikTok bans on devices they own.
There have been previous issues, such as when ByteDance employees accessed data of Forbes journalists in 2022 and used it to track their movements. There was no evidence that China’s government compelled ByteDance employees to access the data to discover who was leaking information to the press about ByteDance’s links to China, Forbes reported.
In March 11 testimony before a Senate committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray said TikTok’s “parent company is for all intents and purposes beholden to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked if because ByteDance owns TikTok’s algorithm, regardless of where TikTok’s user data is stored, the Chinese government could ask ByteDance for the U.S. user data used to make the algorithm work, to which Wray said, “That’s my understanding.”
Exchange between Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and FBI Director Christopher Wray about TikTok. (CBS News, YouTube)
Thibaut said “we cannot know” whether the Chinese government could force ByteDance to provide it with U.S. TikTok user data.
In a February report about TikTok, Thibaut and two colleagues wrote that “if ByteDance or TikTok executives were to refuse an order directing them to allow Chinese intelligence agencies to use TikTok for ‘national intelligence efforts,’ these executives would likely face punishment.”
TikTok denies that China could force ByteDance to turn over U.S. user data. Beckerman’s letter addressed some of those concerns, saying that since January 2023, new U.S. TikTok data has been stored in the Oracle Cloud in the U.S. and controlled by TikTok’s U.S. subsidiary, U.S. Data Security. Only the Data Security team employees can access U.S. user data, it said. There are limited exceptions for legal and compliance reasons, which does not include adhering to China’s national security law, it said.
The company’s U.S. data-storing plan is known as Project Texas and began in 2022 as a way to assure U.S. users their data was secure.
In March 2023 testimony before a House committee, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who is a native of Singapore, told legislators, “ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country” and that under the Project Texas structure, there is no way for China’s government to compel access to U.S. users’ data.
Our ruling
Kilmeade said that the Chinese government “owns” TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd.
Information on ByteDance, a privately owned company, comes from TikTok and is difficult to independently verify. TikTok said 60% of ByteDance is owned by global investors, including U.S.-based investors, 20% by its Chinese co-founders and 20% by its employees, including thousands in the U.S. The company’s vice president has attested to that structure in a letter to Congress.
An expert also told us that TikTok has included the same global investor ownership percentage in disclosures to Washington, D.C., courts; funders; and in Chinese government documents.
China holds a 1% ownership stake in one of ByteDance’s China-based subsidiaries, Beijing Douyin Information Service Co., which runs an app in China similar to TikTok.
Although many U.S. officials are concerned that China could exert influence over ByteDance, and thus over TikTok, available evidence does not support the claim that ByteDance is owned by the Chinese government. Kilmeade also offered no evidence to support his statement.
In the absence of evidence supporting the claim, we rate it False.
PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Para leer en español, vea esta traducción de Google Translate.
Quick Take
The Ku Klux Klan caused a divisive Democratic National Convention in 1924 but failed to nominate its preferred candidate. A social media post shows a photo of a Klan march to falsely claim it depicts Democratic delegates at the convention in New York. But the photo is from a Klan funeral march later that year in Wisconsin.
Full Story
Democrats and Republicans have criticized each other for years with claims about ties to or support for the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups, as we’ve previously written.
Historians say the Klan — which was founded after the Civil War and had a resurgence in the 1920s — has sought to achieve power through both parties. The organization ignited a particularly divisive Democratic National Convention in July 1924 in New York City, when the Klan-backed candidate failed to capture the party’s nomination.
A century later, amid another election season, a social media post mislabels an archival photo to misleadingly portray the participants at that Democratic convention.
An Instagram post on March 13 shows a march of Ku Klux Klan members in their white hoods and robes, with text that claims it is an “AUTHENTIC PHOTO OF THE 1924 NATIONAL DEMOCRAT CONVENTION.” The text on the photo also says, “MAKE SENSE NOW?”
The post has received more than 9,200 likes. One commenter wrote, in part: “The Democrats have NEVER voted in the history of America to make life easier for blacks. Only the Republicans have done that.”
But Linda Gordon, a history professor at New York University, told us in an email that the image in the Instagram post “is not a photo of the [D]emocratic convention” of 1924.
Rather, the photo is from the archive of the Wisconsin Historical Society and actually shows Klan members in December 1924, in Madison, Wisconsin, said Gordon, the author of “The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition.”
The Wisconsin archive describes the photo as “Ku Klux Klan (KKK) wearing iconic masks and white robes parading down King Street to Schroeder Funeral Home for the funeral of Police officer Herbert Dreger.”
Reuters debunked similar posts in 2020 and noted that the false description of the photo has circulated on social media since 2015.
Gordon told Reuters that the Klan’s efforts to influence politics in the 1920s was “pretty much equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.”
‘A Powerful Force’ in Both Parties
Felix Harcourt, associate professor of history at Austin College in Texas, told us in an email that the Klan was “a powerful force” in the Democratic Party in the 1920s and at the 1924 convention, where there was also strong opposition to the Klan.
“The Klan lobbied furiously to prevent the party from endorsing a platform plank that would condemn the group by name. The organization’s leaders played an influential role in denying Al Smith, the Catholic governor of New York, the Democratic nomination during the contested convention,” said Harcourt, whose research focuses on the Klan’s political power.
The effort to include a platform statement condemning the Klan at the Democratic convention failed. But the Klan’s preferred candidate, William G. McAdoo, did not capture the nomination, which went to John C. Davis on the 103rd ballot.
“At the same time, the Klan was highly opportunistic, with little partisan attachment beyond what served the organization and its bigoted goals,” Harcourt said. “So, the Klan wasn’t just a powerful force in the Democratic Party — it was a powerful force in politics more broadly. It was lobbying Democratic leaders at their 1924 convention. It was also lobbying leaders during the Republican convention in 1924, albeit in a less visible way since the nomination wasn’t really contested and there was no similar effort to put forward a plank denouncing the Klan by name.”
“Eventually, almost everyone running in the presidential election that year denounced the Klan by name, with the exception of Calvin Coolidge, who farmed the responsibility out to his vice presidential nominee, Charles Dawes. And the Klan’s national leadership in turn backed (in a limited way) Coolidge,” Harcourt said.
Coolidge, the Republican incumbent, won reelection in 1924.
“The Klan’s national leadership then very vocally and actively backed Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Al Smith in 1928,” Harcourt said. Hoover easily defeated Smith.
In recent years, Harcourt also said, “that opportunism — of the Klan and of the broad panoply of white nationalist groups that have come to largely replace the Klan — has often remained in place. The most prominent example, of course, is David Duke, who has run for office as both a Democrat and a Republican and who has endorsed both Democratic and Republican politicians.”
Sources
Britannica. “United States presidential election of 1924.” Accessed 15 Mar 2024.
Farley, Robert. “Trump Has Condemned White Supremacists.” FactCheck.org. 11 Feb 2020.
Fichera, Angelo. “Anti-Biden Ad Misleads on Race Claims.” FactCheck.org. 23 Jul 2020.
Fichera, Angelo. “Image Altered to Show KKK Members with Trump Sign.” 3 Mar 2020.
Gordon, Linda. Professor emerita of history, New York University. Email to FactCheck.org. 14 Mar 2024.
Gordon, Linda. “The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition.” W.W. Norton. October 2017.
Hamilton, David. “Herbert Hoover: Campaigns and Elections.” University of Virginia, Miller Center. Accessed 15 Mar 2024.
Harcourt, Felix. Associate professor of history, Austin College. Email to FactCheck.org. 14 Mar 2024.
National Geographic. “The Ku Klux Klan.” education.nationalgeographic.org. Accessed 15 Mar 2024.
Pietrusza, David. “The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.” Bill of Rights Institute. Accessed 15 Mar 2024.
