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Youngkin performs 2024 litmus test on abortion in urging Virginia Republicans to support 15-week restriction
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is conducting a 2024 litmus test on abortion by urging state Republicans to support a 15-week ban ahead of next month’s legislative elections.
The governor is helping GOP candidates running in Virginia’s Nov. 7 elections for all 140 seats in the General Assembly potentially align themselves with a 15-week limit on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the pregnant women as a “reasonable” and “common” approach, The Washington Post reported.
A $1.4 million ad blitz funded by Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia group promoted the policy, saying, “Here’s the truth: There is no ban.”
Next month’s election in Virginia is the only major race in the country ahead of the 2024 presidential and congressional elections, so Youngkin’s strategy is viewed a critical test for national Republicans who have struggled on a common pro-life message since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
GLENN YOUNGKIN PRESSED ON 2024 PLANS AS SPECULATION SWIRLS
Though Democrats running for Virginia’s General Assembly out-raised Republicans in September, Youngkin has drawn from his national fundraising – which has seen surges amid the governor’s own flirtation with a potential presidential run – to throw support behind helping the state GOP maintain control of the House of Delegates and flip the Democratic-controlled Senate, the Post reported.
If he succeeds, it will give him more leeway to push a conservative agenda not only including limits on abortions but also tax cuts, stricter criminal justice laws and more lenient environmental restrictions.
In the 2022 elections, national Republicans were caught flat-footed on the abortion issue, while Democrats successfully rallied support in many races after the Dobbs ruling.
“There was no Republican response, none, and the results were tough in the ’22 midterms,” Zack Roday, a spokesman for Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, told the Post. “Republicans didn’t talk about where they were. They didn’t swat back the misstatements, the sometimes outright lies.”
Taking a beating by some pro-life groups, GOP presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump said it could be detrimental for the Republican Party in 2024 if they don’t reach a consensus on abortion, describing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ support of a 6-week abortion ban as a “terrible thing.”
Youngkin’s strategy, which seeks to provide a roadmap for how to tackle abortion on the state and federal level, could prove risky to his own national prospects, as not many Republican candidates running in his state have embraced the 15-week restriction ahead of November. The media tracking firm AdImpact found that abortion is mentioned in 42% of ads aired by Democratic House and Senate candidates in Virginia through Oct. 17, compared to just 3% of those aired by Republicans.
YOUNGKIN DISMISSES SPECULATION OF 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN, SAYS HE’S FOCUSED ON VIRGINIA’S ELECTIONS
Virginia Democrats in turn have flooded ad dollars into arguing Youngkin’s strategy equates to a “ban.”
“I hope they keep it up,” Democratic Party of Virginia chairwoman Susan Swecker told the Post of Youngkin’s ad campaign. “We’re the only Southern state that doesn’t ban abortion and [protecting access] is something that resonates across the commonwealth in all social, economic and diverse communities.”
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Kevin McCarthy floats plan returning him to Speakership with Jordan at right hand: report
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has floated an idea that would see him return to the speakership, but this time with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, serving as assistant speaker, according to NBC News.
McCarthy declined to confirm the Hail Mary proposal when asked by Fox News’ Chad Pergram on Wednesday. The reported pitch comes as Republicans have failed to fill the speaker’s chair for nearly a month, with three consecutive nominees being struck down by in-fighting.
It is unclear whether the latest nominee, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., stands a better chance than those who came before him. The first nominee, Rep. Steve Scalise, was brought down by allies of Jordan. Scalise and McCarthy’s allies then crippled Jordan’s nomination in turn. Finally, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., faced an all-out assault by former President Donald Trump, who opposed his nomination.
It is also unclear whether a co-speakership position is even possible, however, and one GOP lawmaker told NBC that the McCarthy-Jordan idea had only come about because, “We’re desperate.”
WHY JORDAN COULDN’T GRAB THE SPEAKER GAVEL AFTER THREE FAILED BALLOTS
Proponents of the deal likened it to the relationship that had existed between Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as speaker and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., as assistant speaker from 2021-2023, the outlet reported.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE TO REMOVE JIM JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE
When Pergram asked McCarthy about the potential arrangement late Tuesday, the Republican declined to confirm it and said only that “Republicans are talking.”
If the plan were to come to fruition, however, Johnson’s nomination would have to deflate first. Johnson received 128 votes in the final round of voting at an internal GOP meeting on Tuesday with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., getting 29.
McCarthy also got 43 votes in the same round, sources told Fox News Digital.
HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE KEVIN MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER IN HISTORIC FIRST
The night began with five speaker candidates making their pitches to the conference before voting began. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., was the first candidate knocked out of the running, followed by Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, in the second round of voting.
Emmer won multiple rounds of voting earlier in the day to become the party’s nominee before being forced to drop his bid in the face of staunch opposition from within the conference, as well as from Trump.
Fox News’ Elizibeth Elkind and Houston Keene contributed to this report.
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‘Could be tremendously significant’: Meadows granted immunity according to ABC News
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G.O.P. Nominates Mike Johnson for Speaker After Spurning Emmer
Another Day of G.O.P. Chaos Winds Up With Speaker Nominee No. 4
Gaetz, who ousted McCarthy, weighs in on Republicans selecting Mike Johnson as newest House speaker nominee
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the effort to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has joined in a chorus of Republicans supporting the new House speaker nominee, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
After Republicans spent most of Tuesday behind closed doors selecting Johnson as the new GOP speaker candidate, Gaetz praised him as a “good godly man who’s going to advance Republicans.” The Florida Republican also told a group of reporters that his colleague is the “best possible candidate” as the GOP looks to finally elect a speaker after McCarthy was voted out of the position three weeks ago.
One issue in particular that attracted conference members to Johnson was his support for single subject appropriations bills, or spending bills that fund one department or initiative at a time rather than a spending package that can force members to support some spending levels they would be uncomfortable with otherwise supporting, Gaetz said.
“He talks about single subject spending bills being the organizing principle in the House of Representatives. That is what I’ve been fighting for since January,” Gaetz said of Johnson. “It is the reason Kevin McCarthy was vacated and despite the swamps, best efforts, we got a good godly man who’s going to advance Republicans.”
REPUBLICANS EXUDE OPTIMISM AS FOURTH SPEAKER CANDIDATE HEADS TO THE HOUSE FLOOR
A majority of Republicans backed Johnson, who received 128 votes in the final round of votes, with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., getting 29, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital. Other candidates, including McCarthy, received votes.
Johnson said he was “honored” to have the support of his colleagues and exhibit “servant leadership” in Congress.
“We’re going to serve the people of this country. We’re going to restore their faith in this Congress, in this institution of government,” Johnson said.
He added, “We’re going to govern well. We’re going to do what’s right by the people, and believe people are going to reward that next year.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., won multiple rounds of voting earlier in the day to become the party’s nominee but ultimately withdrew his candidacy in the face of staunch opposition from within the conference, as well as former President Trump.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Gaetz said there were efforts within the committee to try and prevent Johnson from winning the nomination, but his supporters ultimately succeeded in getting him across the finish line.
HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE KEVIN MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER IN HISTORIC FIRST
“Well, Kevin McCarthy did everything we could to scuttle Mike Johnson without announcing his candidacy, and he had, like, 40 people vote to try to create a balance against anybody getting to 217 but we scoped him out,” Gaetz said. “We have votes for Mike Johnson across the board. And from some of these conservative members of our conference to some of our freight liners. There was enthusiastic support for this transformation.”
The Floridian said he had “nothing bad to say about those other candidates” but that the consensus process — which “sometimes it takes a little longer” — ultimately “demands consensus.”
“This process clearly demanded consensus, and it led to the best possible candidate,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz’s praise for Johnson echoes that of some of his Republican colleagues, who are hopeful this latest nominee — the fourth after Rep. Steve Scalise, R.-La., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Emmer — will become the next House speaker.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE TO REMOVE JIM JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE
Scalise released a statement Tuesday calling Johnson “honest, hardworking, and principled.”
“He is a great man and will make a great speaker. I look forward to continuing to work with my good friend to get this country back on track and deliver results for American families who deserve better from Washington,” Scalise said.
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Fox News Digital, “All the different factions came together, and we’re confident that the members who weren’t here will recognize the unity that we have [and] importance of the mission ahead.”
Rep. Russell Fry, R-SC, told Fox News that he felt “great” with Johnson as the nominee.
“Mike Johnson was the consensus pick, he’s a great guy, he’s well trusted,” he said. “And I think overwhelmingly tonight the conference is ready to stand behind him on the floor tomorrow, and he is going to lead us over the next year and a half as we continue our work as the House Republican majority. “
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., agreed, saying Republicans “are unified.”
“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Diaz-Balart said when asked about supporting Johnson. “I think we are, we are unified. I think we are confident and we’re unified. You know, democracy is sometimes sloppy. “
A vote for Johnson’s speakership is expected on Wednesday afternoon, however, both Scalise and Emmer dropped their candidacy before receiving a full floor vote.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, has remained the speaker pro tempore, overseeing only minimal House protocols, since McCarthy’s exit.
Fox News’ Kelly Phares, Elizabeth Elkind and Houston Keene contributed to this report.
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Michigan GOP state Rep. slams Dem leadership as House refuses to hold vote on resolution condemning Hamas
EXCLUSIVE: Michigan state Republicans are putting pressure on Democrat leadership in the state House of Representatives for refusing to hold a vote on a bipartisan resolution to condemn Hamas terrorists’ “horrific” attack against Israel.
House Resolution 146 has more than 50 co-sponsors, including six Democrats, but House leadership will not hold a vote on the resolution to support Israel in the wake of the deadly terror attack from Hamas, as Democrats in the Chamber appear divided when it comes to the stance they are taking on the war in the Middle East.
GOP Rep. Bill G. Schuette, who sponsored the resolution, spoke to Fox News Digital about the uphill battle House lawmakers are facing to even vote on the proposal, which, if adopted, would condemn the violence perpetrated by Hamas, call for the release of hostages held by the terror group and support Israel’s right to self-defense.
“I witnessed those absolutely horrific events that occurred in Israel earlier this month. You watch videos, or you see photos from the events. The killing of children, the slaughter of the elderly, American civilians died. It turns your stomach, and it’s hard to watch,” Schuette said. “So in response, I worked with some of my colleagues to draft a resolution that pretty simply, one, condemns the horrific acts of violence committed by the terrorist group Hamas, two, calls for the release of those hostages in captivity, and three, reaffirms our state’s support for Israel.”
TWO AMERICAN HOSTAGES RELEASED FROM GAZA, FOX NEWS IS TOLD
“I thought it would be non-controversial,” he said of the resolution. “It’s condemning the horrible acts of violence that we saw. We got more than 50 co-sponsors. We had six Democrats sign on as co-sponsors. We’ve approved over 120 resolutions in our chamber this year alone, including things like recognizing National Tennis Month. I thought this would just glide through. Sadly, that was not the case.”
More than 6,400 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the terrorist group. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.
Hamas has more than 220 hostages amid the conflict with Israeli forces. The terrorist organization has released four hostages in the last week, including two Americans, as Israel prepares for a potential ground invasion in Gaza. The Israeli forces have said additional hostage releases could delay the ground invasion.
Schuette emphasized that his resolution is important because he believes words and leadership matter and he stressed the need for Michigan’s state government to “speak authoritatively to condemn evil and condemn violence when we see it.”
“This was the largest mass killing of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust,” he said. “And if our Chamber cannot condemn such violence, if our Chamber cannot call out that evil when we see it, we really have no moral right to stand on it at all.”
The Michigan Senate adopted a similar bipartisan resolution to condemn Hamas’ acts of terrorism.
The proposed House resolution comes after Michigan House Democrats appeared to take different positions on the violence in Israel, with some releasing statements after the initial attack strongly condemning Hamas’ attack and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself while others mourned the loss of life on both sides and criticized what they described as the Israeli government’s decades of oppression against the Palestinian people.
House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash told reporters after the attack that “any conversation around what is happening in Israel and Palestine that makes no acknowledgment of the 70-plus-year occupation and the mistreatment of the Palestinian people is disrespectful to the issue.” He said doing otherwise is a “disservice to the complexity and the humanity of the people that live in that region.”
Aiyash said Republicans who say they stand against hate and violence cannot take the moral high ground since many lawmakers in their caucus voted against bills earlier this year to expand the state’s definition of hate crimes and impose penalties against people who cause acts of destruction against religious buildings and cemeteries.
Schuette told Fox News Digital that Aiyash’s comments were “disrespectful” to Americans who either lost loved ones or were held in captivity, and called it an “embarrassment for our state to not condemn the horrific killing of children, elderly and civilians in Israel.”
Democratic leadership assigned the resolution to the House Government Operations Committee, where legislation often never moves forward. Schuette said lawmakers supporting the resolution are working on discharging it from the Committee and bringing it to the House Floor for a vote. Several motions to discharge the resolution from the Committee have already been brought, but each have been denied.
“I was proud to get a number of Democrats to sign on and co-sponsor, some of whom thanked me for working on this resolution,” Schuette said. “Unfortunately, the leadership of our Chamber, the Democrat leadership, doesn’t want to bring forward this resolution because they say the situation over there is complicated. It’s not complicated to condemn acts of terror. It is not complicated to call for the release of Americans who are held hostage. It is not complicated, and it’s not controversial, and it’s a moral failing of our Chamber.”
The Republican lawmaker said he believes some members of House Democrat leadership subscribe to the “same far-left progressive agenda” as U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who said shortly after Hamas’ attack that if the U.S. continues to provide billions in funding to support Israel’s “apartheid” government, this “heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
Tlaib also continues to doubt the Israeli and U.S. governments findings that an airstrike last week at a hospital in Gaza was the result of a misfired rocket launched from Gaza by the Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that was targeting Israel. The congresswoman further attempted to discredit the findings, which also determined the explosion was mostly in the parking lot of the hospital and that the death toll is estimated to be much lower than the several hundred Hamas first alleged, because she says the Israeli and U.S. governments have a well documented history of misleading the public about war crimes.
“I would like it if Congresswoman Tlaib would not spread misinformation, and would actually acknowledge some of the horrific violence that we’ve seen committed by Hamas against American citizens and against civilians,” Schuette said.
Some members of House Democrat leadership are “not willing to stand with Israel and stand against terrorism,” he said.
Last week, House Republicans held a press conference again calling for a vote on the bipartisan resolution. But House Democrat leadership continues to dismiss the resolution.
The Republican caucus, Schuette tells Fox News Digital, will continue to speak up authoritatively and stand with Israel amid its ongoing war against Hamas. He said the plan was to send the resolution to the Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
Since the attack on Oct. 7, the Biden administration has defended Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism and has asked Congress for $106 billion in emergency funding that combines aid to Israel and Ukraine for its against Russia while also allocating money for U.S. border security.
“It’s important in moments like this that we stand with our allies, and we stand with our friends. After 9/11 after we were brutally attacked, Israel stood with the United States,” Schuette said. “So after Israel suffers a horrific terrorist attack, we should stand with our ally Israel.”
The Biden administration has also been working with international partners to supply civilians of Gaza with humanitarian aid and help U.S. citizens evacuate the region to escape the violence. Egypt, Israel and the United Nations facilitated a 20-truck convoy carrying humanitarian assistance that was delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing last week.
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New report unmasks true costs of electric vehicle mandates: ‘Remain more expensive’
FIRST ON FOX: A sweeping first-of-its-kind analysis published by think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) concludes that electric vehicles (EV) would cost tens of thousands of dollars more if not for generous taxpayer-funded incentives.
According to the TPPF report — authored by energy experts Jason Isaac, Brent Bennett and Syd Lucas — the average model year 2021 EV would cost approximately $48,698 more to own over a 10-year period without the staggering $22 billion in taxpayer-funded handouts that the government provides to electric car manufacturers and owners. The analysis factors in federal fuel efficiency programs, electric grid strain, and direct state and federal subsidies.
“It is not an overstatement to say that the federal government is subsidizing EVs to a greater degree than even wind and solar electricity generation and embarking on an unprecedented endeavor to remake the entire American auto industry,” the report states. “Despite these massive incentives, EVs are receiving a tepid response from the majority of Americans who cannot shoulder their higher cost.”
“It’s time for federal and state governments to stop driving the American auto industry off an economic cliff and allow markets to drive further improvements in cost and efficiency,” it continues.
BEIJING-BACKED GREEN ENERGY FIRM IS EXPANDING IN US, POSING SERIOUS NATIONAL SECURITY RISK: REPORT
The report determined that, thanks to a special multiplier that has existed for more than two decades, EVs receive roughly seven times more credits under federal fuel efficiency programs than they provide in actual fuel economy benefits. That figure, the total regulatory credits from federal and state fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions standards, amounts to an average of $27,881 per vehicle for EV makers.
Further, the analysis calculated the socialized cost of EV charging stations’ strain on the U.S. electric grid amounts to an average of $11,833 per EV over 10 years. Such costs are shouldered by utility ratepayers and taxpayers, many of whom may not own an EV.
HOUSE CCP PANEL PROBES BIDEN ADMIN OVER CHINESE GREEN ENERGY PROJECT ON US SOIL
And, finally, state governments and the federal government provide an average of $8,984 per EV over 10 years in direct taxpayer-funded subsidies.
“The stark reality for proponents of EVs and for the dreamers in the federal government, who are using fuel economy regulations to force manufacturers to produce ever more EVs, is that the true cost of an EV is in no way close to a comparable [internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV)],” the report concludes.
“Without increased and sustained government favors, EVs will remain more expensive than ICEVs for many years to come,” it states. “Hence why, even with these subsidies, EVs have been challenging for dealers to sell and why basic economic realities indicate that the Biden administration’s dream of achieving 100% EVs by 2040 will never become a reality.”
The TPPF report, meanwhile, comes as lawmakers at the federal and state level continue to take aim at traditional gas-powered vehicles while boosting EVs. President Biden has set a goal of ensuring 50% of all car sales are zero-emissions by 2030 and his administration has pursued rigorous restrictions on gas-powered vehicles.
In December 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized rules, which targeted heavy-duty trucks, that it said at the time were the “strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut smog- and soot-forming emissions” from such vehicles. The new standards went into effect on March 27 and will be implemented for new trucks sold after 2027.
Then, in April, the EPA proposed the most aggressive federal tailpipe emissions rules on light- and medium-duty emissions ever crafted. If finalized and implemented, 67% of new sedan, crossover, SUV and light truck purchases, up to 50% of bus and garbage truck purchases, 35% of short-haul freight tractor purchases, and 25% of long-haul freight tractor purchases could be electric by 2032, the White House projected.
Months later, in July, the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued its most aggressive fuel economy standards ever, an action critics say would increase consumer costs.
And last year, the EPA also reinstated California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to implement its own emission standards and electric vehicle sales mandates, allowing other states to also adopt California’s rules. The state then approved regulations that mandated all car purchases in the state — which leads the country in annual car sales — be electric by 2035.
“The Biden administration and leftist states such as California have pushed for widespread electrification in less than 20 years through government subsidies and coercive regulations, but the price you see in the lot is not the true cost of an electric vehicle,” Isaac, one of the TPPF report’s authors, told Fox News Digital.
“Electric vehicle owners have been the beneficiaries of regulatory credits, subsidies, and socialized infrastructure costs totaling nearly 50 thousand dollars per EV,” he said. “These costs are borne by gasoline vehicle owners, taxpayers, and utility ratepayers, who are all paying a hefty price for someone else’s EV.”
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Reagan’s Grenada response has lessons for Biden, but Israel-Gaza threat is more complicated: expert
As President Biden faces the most difficult international crisis of his administration, he might take some inspiration from his predecessor President Ronald Reagan, who 40 years ago today put boots on the ground on the Caribbean island of Grenada to save American lives — even though an expert noted key differences between the two situations.
The growing crisis in the small island nation of Grenada, a former British territory off the coast of Venezuela, occurred after a group of Caribbean nations appealed for U.S. help in what they feared would be a region-defining incident following interference from communist Cuba and other Soviet–influenced actors.
“It was a case that was made for potential Cuban and other actors being stationed in the Caribbean and holding threats against the United States,” Peter Metzger, the former military aide to President Reagan during his first administration, told Fox News Digital. “To that end, President Reagan invited Prime Minister Eugenia Charles from Dominica to come and listen to briefings as the neighbors knew it needed to know what was going on.”
BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘BIGGEST CONCERN’ IS IRAN, OTHER ACTORS WIDENING ISRAEL WAR, PENTAGON SAYS
Reagan ultimately decided on Oct. 25, 1983 — just two days after the Beirut terrorist bombing that killed 241 Americans — that the U.S. would lead a coalition of six Caribbean nations into Grenada. The president cited concerns for roughly 600 American medical students on the island — with the Iran hostage crisis of the Carter administration fresh in his mind, the call was made to go in and bring the Americans to safety.
The operation, which proved successful, led to stability in Grenada and free elections. The day the U.S. invasion started now stands as a national holiday in Grenada — “Thanksgiving Day” — which commemorates the freeing of several political prisoners who went on to form the newly-elected post-invasion government.
The execution of the invasion, known as Operation: Urgent Fury, faced criticism for its execution from some quarters, which a review from the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called flawed and used as the basis to overhaul its joint operations procedures. Roughly 20 U.S. troops died with more than 100 injured in the operation, while Grenada and Cuba lost 60 troops, according to reports.
Most importantly, the Pentagon’s review stressed the president’s “anxious” desire to avoid “a similar experience” to the Iran hostage crisis.
CHINA FORCIBLY REPATRIATES HUNDREDS OF ESCAPED NORTH KOREANS, US AMBASSADOR WARNS
“A number of other forces were threatening U.S. citizens on the ground in a mass and potentially a mass hostage situation, and the president wanted to prevent that,” Metzger said, calling it one of the “overriding considerations” in the crisis.
Metzger, who accompanied Reagan in many briefings, including those in the run-up to the invasion, recalled that the president “decided it was worth using U.S. forces to defeat” a growing pro-Marxist regime in the country, which would have created ties with Cuba and other sympathetic governments.
Cuba had built a runaway in the country, allowing for the arrival of “aircraft capable of interdicting U.S. air and sea routes to Europe and the Middle East.”
Henry Nau, who worked on international economic affairs as part of Reagan’s National Security Council (NSC) from 1981 to 1983, told Fox News Digital that through examination of the former president’s letters, it was clear even before he occupied the Oval Office that international issues weighed heavily on the Gipper’s mind, but that once in the role, he would often say he wanted his team to “keep the world off my desk” so he could focus on domestic issues.
FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGE SPEAKS OUT ABOUT TERRIFYING HAMAS CAPTURE, DESCRIBES ‘SPIDERWEB’ OF TUNNELS
“He was interested in that early period in trying to get a different message across to the allies,” he said, highlighting concerns that the U.S. was “no longer as dominant as it was” in the immediate post-war period.
“He was eager to nurture that message and send that message” that the U.S. needed to “step up,” according to Nau, adding that Reagan had “this desire to try to shore up both the domestic situation in America and also to focus on this hemisphere as sort of the foundation of our relationships with the allies in both Europe and Asia.”
“Reagan has that nationalist kind of foundation to him, but then the idea that we can — if we’re going to be successful — we’re going to have a policy in the Western Hemisphere that reinforces us,” he said, noting that the U.S. only has direct rivals across “two big oceans.”
The balance of regional interests and concerns for Americans overseas echoes the crisis before President Biden, who is working to free American hostages in the possession of Hamas terrorists after a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,400 Israelis and led to the kidnapping of over 220 people.
OBAMA SAYS ANY ISRAELI MILITARY STRATEGY THAT IGNORES HUMAN COSTS ‘COULD ULTIMATELY BACKFIRE’
Biden has faced similar pressure to act and retrieve the hostages, but in an effort to keep the situation from spiraling out into a broad regional conflict he has stressed diplomatic negotiations: The U.S. and European Union have remained in negotiations with Hamas through Qatar and Egypt to secure the release of dozens of hostages, which has led to delays in Israel’s military response to the devastating attack.
Metzger stressed that the “use of force by the United States, in any case, is a very, very serious event” and the president must learn “important lessons” from cases such as Grenada, but he argued that Urgent Fury was a “fairly straightforward” operation and distinct from what the U.S. faces today.
“What we’re seeing now is a massive military buildup in the eastern [Mediterranean], in the area around the Red Sea, which is far different than it was for Grenada,” Metzger said. “Grenada was a limited objective operation for an island nation — so fairly straightforward in terms of planning.”
“As a private citizen, I believe that every effort diplomatically and politically is being tried before we — excuse the metaphor — pull the trigger… not literally, but before we commit people on the ground forces,” he added. “I’m quite sure all over the world there are discussions going on behind the scenes to ensure that every means possible is exhausted before we take any military action.”
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