--:-- John Bickley: The mugshot seen around the world has sparked a flood of campaign donations for former President Trump.
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--:-- John Bickley: We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows that I've never had such support.
--:-- John Bickley: How is Trump's arrest for his fourth indictment already impacting the 2024 race? I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. Georgia Howe is off this morning.
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--:-- John Bickley: It's Monday, August 28th, and this is Morning Wire. President Biden is calling on Congress to fund a new COVID vaccine amid an uptick in cases. Are more mandates and school closures coming?
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--:-- John Bickley: And the DOJ is taking aim at SpaceX, suing them for alleged hiring discrimination. We can't be having the government now force a free market enterprise like SpaceX to start hiring people that haven't stood in line like everybody else.
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--:-- John Bickley: What legal standing does the DOJ have and is this a case of political targeting? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: What might be the most famous mugshot of all time was taken last week as former President Donald Trump surrendered to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia.
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--:-- John Bickley: The image of a scowling Trump eyes locked on the camera became an instant internet sensation, setting off memes, t-shirt sales, and fundraising by the Trump campaign.
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--:-- John Bickley: Democrats also got into the action trying to raise money on Trump's arrest and the mugshot.
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--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the post-mugshot race for president is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Good morning, John.
--:-- John Bickley: So Dave, first, just how much did the arrest in this instantly iconic mugshot rake in for Trump?
--:-- David Marcus: Good morning, and a lot. There are reports that he's raised in excess of $7 million since turning himself in and appearing for his close-up.
--:-- John Bickley: Compare that to the $1 million Ron DeSantis raised after his debate performance, which was considered a very big number.
--:-- David Marcus: Trump raised seven times that.
--:-- John Bickley: And this has been a pattern when he's indicted. The campaign sees these windfalls from, frankly, angry supporters who believe their preferred candidate is getting railroaded by the courts.
--:-- David Marcus: Many of these donors not only want Trump to win the race, they're also okay with the fact that some of the money could be used in his criminal defense.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. There's been some controversy about just that.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, Joe Biden also used the arrest to put out a donor pitch.
--:-- John Bickley: What in general has the reaction been from Democrats to this first ever mugshot of a former commander in chief?
--:-- David Marcus: Biden tweeted out that it was a great day to give to his campaign, quote, apropos of nothing, end quote.
--:-- John Bickley: Clearly a joke about Trump's indictment that day.
--:-- David Marcus: He also, when asked about the mugshot, said Trump was handsome and a wonderful guy.
--:-- John Bickley: This muted reaction from the left was pretty typical, and it makes sense. If they spike the football and do an end zone dance, it makes it look more like there's a political motivation at work.
--:-- David Marcus: There were, however, exceptions.
--:-- John Bickley: Representative Jamal Bowman of New York took to X with a video of himself in front of the mugshot, laughing maniacally for the better part of 30 seconds.
--:-- David Marcus: So at least he wasn't worried too much about these appearances.
--:-- John Bickley: Apparently not.
--:-- David Marcus: Clearly, Democrats are hoping the string of indictments doom Trump, but there have also been some other strategies to take him out of the running.
--:-- John Bickley: One is the idea of using the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from running in several states.
--:-- David Marcus: How serious is that effort at this point?
--:-- John Bickley: So basically the argument here that has been floated by some anti legal scholars is that the 14th Amendment bars anyone from the presidency who is guilty of insurrection or rebellion against the United States unless two-thirds of the Congress grants them amnesty.
--:-- David Marcus: This was intended to keep former Confederates from assuming the office in the aftermath of the Civil War.
--:-- John Bickley: A lawyer in New Hampshire has announced plans to pursue such a case against Trump.
--:-- David Marcus: And there have been rumblings in other states like New Mexico and California.
--:-- John Bickley: But could it really happen?
--:-- David Marcus: I mean, look around at the current insanity of our politics. I'm not prepared to rule anything out.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah.
--:-- David Marcus: But it's unlikely that a conservative Supreme Court would greenlight such a radical interpretation of the language of the amendment without Trump having at least been convicted of something.
--:-- John Bickley: Right.
--:-- David Marcus: How have Trump's Republican primary opponents reacted to the arrest in the mugshot?
--:-- John Bickley: Once again, they're kind of forced to have to talk about Trump.
--:-- David Marcus: The latter point is exactly right. They've reacted basically the same way they did to the previous three indictments, expressing outrage at what they see as politically motivated prosecutions, while also trying to avoid too much sympathy that could help Trump, who, after all, they're running against.
--:-- John Bickley: I think candidates like DeSantis or Nikki Haley would like to gently suggest that maybe all this drama isn't worth the trouble, but it's hard because they absolutely cannot be seen to agree with the prosecution.
--:-- David Marcus: Finally, just how historic and iconic could this image become?
--:-- John Bickley: Some have suggested it could become one of the most famous photos of all time.
--:-- David Marcus: It could. But its significance, of course, depends on what winds up happening to Trump.
--:-- John Bickley: If he wins a second term, then yes, it could become an historic image of overcoming.
--:-- David Marcus: If he loses or winds up convicted, it could be famous as the moment of his fall from grace.
--:-- John Bickley: These are the future secrets, Dave, and they are guarded very tightly.
--:-- David Marcus: There's got to be a way to unlock them, right?
--:-- John Bickley: I love you to have you find it.
--:-- David Marcus: And we'll keep an eye on the polls in the coming days. That's going to be really intriguing.
--:-- John Bickley: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: President Joe Biden said Friday that he wants Congress to approve more funding for a new COVID vaccine.
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--:-- John Bickley: Variants spreading in some parts of the country have led to mask requirements and canceled classes already.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the renewed COVID vaccine push and what the response has been so far.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, John.
--:-- John Bickley: So can you tell us more about this latest vaccine campaign?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hey, John. The White House plans to ask Congress to fund research and production of a new vaccine.
--:-- John Bickley: This new shot is supposed to protect against some of the latest COVID variants that we're seeing spread more and more around the U.S.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's what Biden said. I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.
--:-- John Bickley: Tentatively, not decided finally yet, tentatively, it is recommended that, that could be recommended that everybody get it, no matter what they got before.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Biden didn't go so far as saying he would push to mandate this new vaccine, but he did say health officials are likely to recommend it for use by everyone.
--:-- John Bickley: Morning Wire spoke to Dr. Human Hamadi, the co-founder of Levation Pharma, about more taxpayer funds for COVID vaccine research.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's what he said. When we look at the rate or the very low rate of vaccine uptake and booster uptake by the population compared to when the vaccines first came out in December of 2020 and later it looks like the companies are worried they may not be able to recoup their investments and therefore are asking for taxpayer cash I think that totally wrong
--:-- John Bickley: So about the uptick in COVID cases being cited to drive this vaccine push, what do we know about these new COVID strains?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, there appear to be more than half a dozen new strains circulating, with the most recent popping up in the U.S.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's what former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said last week about those.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Certainly at this point, it doesn't appear more pathogenic, so it doesn't appear to be more dangerous, but it may be more transmissible than the strains that are circulating now.
--:-- John Bickley: And in that case, it could overtake them.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's too early to know.
--:-- John Bickley: Gottlieb said about 10,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Compared to last year around this time, there were about 40,000 people hospitalized, so a pretty significant drop.
--:-- John Bickley: And I should note that treatments and therapeutics for COVID have improved since then, along with our understanding of the virus.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's how Dr. Hamadi recommended we approach the new variants.
--:-- John Bickley: We should never make any decisions until we have all the data available, until there's absolute proof that this is going to impact society, and until we know who exactly needs to be protected.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And once we do that, we should give people the opportunity to make a decision for themselves.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, we've seen some COVID restrictions start to come back.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Lionsgate studios in Hollywood is bringing back mask mandates.
--:-- John Bickley: We've also seen some schools across Texas and Kentucky cancel classes or move to remote classes.
--:-- Tim Pierce: What should Americans expect going forward?
--:-- John Bickley: The odds that we see the kinds of lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 are extremely unlikely, but we will probably continue to see the sporadic use of these COVID restrictions based on outbreaks and, of course, based on who's calling the shots.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Since 2020, different places have approached COVID very differently.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, just compare California to Florida and the difference is pretty dramatic.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for joining us, Tim.
--:-- John Bickley: My pleasure.
--:-- John Bickley: The Department of Justice is suing SpaceX for hiring discrimination, saying it prioritized U.S. citizens over refugees and asylum seekers.
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--:-- John Bickley: But Elon Musk says the U.S. government repeatedly told him that arms trafficking laws require him to only hire American citizens.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with more.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, what's the basis for this federal lawsuit?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, essentially, it's that SpaceX illegally discriminated against refugees, but it's a little more complicated than that because, of course, this company is SpaceX and it makes rockets, spacecraft, satellite communications, and that puts it in the area of defense.
--:-- Megan Basham: It has contracts with the Pentagon, for instance.
--:-- John Bickley: So yeah, certainly different security regulations apply, and that seems to be the sticking point.
--:-- Megan Basham: So this lawsuit filed last Thursday says that asylees and refugees had, and I'm quoting here, virtually no chance of being fairly considered for a job at SpaceX.
--:-- John Bickley: And it says that the company's hiring practices harmed them in routine, widespread, and longstanding fashion.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, Musk said on Twitter, or X as it's known now, that SpaceX was repeatedly told that it would be a violation of international arms trafficking law and also a criminal offense to hire anyone who wasn't a permanent U.S. resident.
--:-- John Bickley: He said in a post, we couldn't even hire Canadian citizens.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that actually goes along with what Musk said in a speech a few years ago when he was asked about only hiring Americans.
--:-- John Bickley: He said they have no choice in the matter because rockets are considered advanced weapons technology.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he added that even a normal work visa isn sufficient unless you get special permission from the Secretary of Defense.
--:-- John Bickley: And in fact, at that time, Musk said that he disagreed with the policy because there are so many talented people all around the world that we would love to have work at our company.
--:-- Megan Basham: But unless they can somehow get a green card, we are legally prevented from hiring anyone.
--:-- John Bickley: So the DOJ says that Musk is wrong about all of this, and they're actually pointing to statements like that as proof that SpaceX illegally discriminated against refugees.
--:-- Megan Basham: To Musk's point, I think the basis for this suit is surprising a lot of people.
--:-- John Bickley: I think most people assume there'd be nothing legally wrong with prioritizing American citizens over, say, green card holders.
--:-- Megan Basham: So that's not the case?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, that is a big question that's sparking a huge legal debate around this because you're hearing a lot of experts saying that, yeah, you are allowed to prioritize U.S. citizens.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the Biden administration is ostensibly doing this under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
--:-- John Bickley: And that bars employers from discriminating on the basis of age, race, gender, religion, sex.
--:-- Megan Basham: We all know these things.
--:-- John Bickley: The question is whether it applies to immigration status.
--:-- Megan Basham: Attorney Brian Claypool told Fox News that it doesn't.
--:-- John Bickley: There's nothing in Title VII that protects a worker with an immigration status, like a refugee or someone under asylum.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Elon Musk needs to change his legal strategy.
--:-- John Bickley: His legal strategy should be that the DOJ, through Biden, is trying to legislate a new law.
--:-- Megan Basham: They're trying to expand Title VII to now cover somebody who has an immigration status issue.
--:-- John Bickley: So this is flat-out fiction by the DOJ.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, other experts, though, say that the stipulation that you can't discriminate against national origin means that it's not just legal immigrants who are U.S. citizens, but also those asylum seekers as well.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, if Musk was saying that back in 2016 quite openly, obviously his perception was he was correct about the legal requirements.
--:-- Megan Basham: By that, I mean, it wasn't a hidden thing.
--:-- John Bickley: Why is the DOJ bringing this lawsuit now?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, that's been a large focus of the analysis here, because you are hearing quite a number of pundits out there saying that this looks like the DOJ is targeting Elon Musk out of retribution.
--:-- John Bickley: And Musk has been pretty openly critical of the Biden administration's speech policing on social media, like his own platform.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he recently said he plans to vote Republican in the next election.
--:-- John Bickley: So the timing of this is certainly raising a lot of eyebrows.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays on court.
--:-- John Bickley: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: Another story we're tracking this week.
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--:-- John Bickley: Florida officials say a shooting that left three black people dead at a Dollar General in Jacksonville on Saturday was racially motivated.
--:-- John Bickley: The shooter, a 21-year-old white male, reportedly sent writings detailing his hatred of black people to authorities, and one of the guns he used had Nazi swastikas drawn on it.
--:-- John Bickley: After targeting three people, he turned the gun on himself.
--:-- John Bickley: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis condemned the, quote, scumbag and coward in a video statement Saturday.
--:-- John Bickley: This shooting, based on the manifesto that they've discovered from the scumbag that did this, was racially motivated.
--:-- John Bickley: We send our condolences to the victims and their families.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
