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Republicans Secure Special Election Victory in Biden-Won District in New Hampshire

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A Republican defeated a Democrat in a New Hampshire House special election Tuesday in Merrimack, a town President Joe Biden carried by six points in the 2020 presidential race.

In the state’s first special election since the 2020 cycle, Town Councilor Bill Boyd beat out former state Rep. Wendy Thomas by eight percent, strengthening Republicans’ majority in the 400-seat House, 213–186.

“The turnout was huge by special election standards, reflecting the enthusiasm on both sides,” local outlet WMUR observed. The seat became vacant after the death of state Rep. Dick Hinch, a Republican who had just been elected speaker of the House before he died in December.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) said in a press release after Boyd’s win that Democrats had perceived the race as a “bellwether” for the upcoming 2021 and 2022 elections.

The RSLC reported that in a Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) fundraising email in April, the latter group had written of the race, “This is an early chance for Democrats to get a head start and lay the groundwork for victory in one of the hardest-fought swing states of the 2022 midterms.” The DLCC poured $30,000 into electing Thomas, while the RSLC reported spending $10,000 on Boyd.

WMUR noted the race was “believed to be the most expensive special election in state history.” An estimated $100,000 was spent on the election, per the Union Leader.

The win is especially noteworthy for Republicans as it also defies results of the higher-profile down-ballot races in Merrimack in which incumbent First Congressional District Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) edged out Republican Matt Mowers and incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) defeated Republican Corky Messner.

Mowers issued a congratulatory statement after Boyd’s victory, saying, “Bill has dedicated his life to service on behalf of the residents of Merrimack and he will continue that dedication by working tirelessly on their behalf in Concord.”

In a testament to the national attention the small-scale election received, Mowers noted in the statement that he had hosted fundraisers with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), raising more than $15,000 for the New Hampshire GOP’s special election efforts.

In a Twitter thread that also pointed to a Republican special election win on Tuesday in Connecticut, the RSLC wrote, “The RSLC continues to build on its 2020 momentum in New England!” The group added, “State Republicans continue to run strong candidates with the right policies, and the RSLC continues to make smarter investments than its counterparts”:

The wins indeed represent a continuation of Republican state-level successes in the otherwise deeply blue Northeast region of the country.

In the Granite State in particular, both chambers of the legislature flipped to Republicans in 2020.

The Senate inverted from a 14-10 Democrat majority to a 14-10 Republican majority, the 400-seat House went red after gaining 56 seats, and the party also took control of the powerful Executive Council, 4-1. The Executive Council, unique to New Hampshire, appoints government officials, controls the release of money from Treasury, and can make pardons.

Write to Ashley Oliver at [email protected].

Neo-Conservatives, Foreign Policy Establishment Push to Keep U.S. Military Involvement in Afghan War Going

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Neo-conservatives and foreign policy establishment figures unsurprisingly blasted the Biden Administration for its plans to continue the Trump administration’s drawdown of American forces from Afghanistan, and they issued dire warnings if President Joe Biden were to go through with it.

House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) released a statement Tuesday that said the decision “abandons our global leadership position, and plays into our adversaries’ hands.”

“President Biden’s decision hands the Taliban and al Qaeda a propaganda victory, abandons our global leadership position, and plays into our adversaries’ hands,” said Cheney, a critic of former President Donald Trump and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Cheney — along with House Democrat Rep. Jason Crow (CO) — fought to prevent the Trump Administration from drawing down U.S. forces from Afghanistan, sponsoring legislation to make a drawdown more difficult.

Max Boot, a Never Trumper and champion of the 2003 Iraq War, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post that warned of a fall-of-Saigon scenario. “If Biden pulls out as planned in September absent a binding peace settlement, he will be consigning them to the same fate as our abandoned South Vietnamese allies. The fall of Kabul could be as ugly as the fall of Saigon,” he wrote.

He also warned of a “massive civil war” if U.S. troops leave, despite Afghanistan being involved in a civil war at least since 2001, if not since 1979. According to the Brown University’s Watson Institute, about 157,000 have been killed in the war since 2001, including more than 43,000 civilians. The war has cost the U.S. more than an estimated $2.2 trillion, according to the Institute.

Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who served as CIA director and commander of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, also slammed the decision. “Ending U.S. involvement in an endless war doesn’t end the endless war. It just ends our involvement. And I fear that this war is going to get worse,” he said at a recent event, according to Defense One.

A number of Republican senators also criticized the decision. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) echoed Cheney, calling the decision an “abdication” of American leadership, in a Senate floor speech Tuesday:

New reporting suggests the Biden administration plans to turn tail and abandon the fight in Afghanistan. Precipitously withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a grave mistake. It is a retreat in the face of an enemy that has not yet been vanquished, an abdication of American leadership.

Leaders in both parties, including me, offered criticism when the prior administration floated the concept of a reckless withdrawal from Syria and  Afghanistan. Those same voices in both parties should be equally concerned about the Biden administration’s announcement today.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the Senate’s leading hawks, called the decision “a disaster in the making” and “dumber than dirt.”

“A full withdrawal from Afghanistan is dumber than dirt and devilishly dangerous. President Biden will have, in essence, cancelled an insurance policy against another 9/11,” he said in a statement, pushing for a residual counterterrorism force as an “insurance policy.”

At least one Republican issued a statement in support of Biden’s decision — libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY):

It’s great when we can find places to agree. I’m grateful President Biden is keeping President Trump’s plan to leave Afghanistan, even with a delay until fall. The time to bring our troops home is now or as soon as possible. Enough endless wars.

Democrats refrained from criticizing Biden’s decision, with only those in support of it issuing statements, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY), Dick Durbin (IL), Chris Coons (DE), Christopher Murphy (CT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Coons criticized former President Donald Trump for trying to negotiate a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan almost two years ago exactly.

“I agree that we should not fully withdraw from Afghanistan until we’ve got with conditions on the ground that would prevent it from becoming once again a haven for terrorists who might attack us as happened on 9/11,” he said on CBS News’ Face the Nation on April 9, 2019.

Although it seemed unclear whether Biden would adopt Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, he ended up doing so after a few months of deliberation.

A Biden senior administration official said Tuesday the withdrawal would be completed by September 11, 2021 — the 20th anniversary of the war. Trump negotiated a May 1 withdrawal with the Taliban, but Biden officials suggested in recent weeks that deadline would not be met largely due to logistical reasons.

There are approximately 3,500 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. At the height of the war, which began in late 2001, there were more than 100,000 U.S. troops in the country.

U.S. troops first went into Afghanistan after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden planned and masterminded the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks from a safe haven in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S. forces succeeded in quickly toppling the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan that granted bin Laden safe haven. However, as then-President George W. Bush turned the U.S.’s attention to the Iraq War, the Taliban regained strength and mounted an insurgency that has lasted over the last 20 years.

In an effort to end the war with a victory, the Obama administration ordered a troop surge to Afghanistan in 2009, but simultaneously announced a withdrawal by 2011 — which many experts argued undercut the surge by incentivizing the Taliban to wait the U.S. out. Obama ended up reversing his decision, leaving office in 2016 with 8,600 troops in the country.

Trump temporarily bumped up the number to 14,600, but by the end of his term, left office with approximately 3,500 in the country and a peace agreement with the Taliban to withdraw the remaining forces by May 1.

Experts from Defense Priorities who support ending the war pushed back against criticism that withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan meant that the U.S. was abdicating its global leadership role.

“The opposite is true. It just increases our global commitment to our security and that of our allies,” said Retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, senior fellow and military expert. Davis added:

Most people around the world recognize we should have been out Afghanistan a long time ago. They’re scratching their heads and wondering why would we continue year after year in a failing process that has no prospect of success…[Now] we’re going to be able to pay more attention to other things around the world.

Will Ruger, Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador of Afghanistan, said:

The goal of American foreign policy is not leadership…it’s to secure [U.S.] vital interests. You don’t aim towards leadership, you aim towards making us safer, providing for the conditions of our prosperity, and protecting our liberal democratic system at home.

George Washington University adjunct lecturer and Defense Priorities Policy Director Ben Friedman said, “Really I think these are just arguments made as a last ditch attempt to extend wars that people are afraid will end.”

Marine veteran Gil Barndollar added: “I don’t think we’re inspiring any admiration or even respect from most of our allies and partners by continuing a fruitless and intractable war in Afghanistan.”

Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on Twitter or on Facebook. 

VIDEO: Baylor Refuses Jeep After Dealer’s ‘Out of the Hood' Comment

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WACO, Texas — Baylor and coach Scott Drew have refused to accept a vehicle wrapped with the school’s national championship logo after an insensitive remark made by the dealership’s general manager when discussing it during a live TV interview.

The customized Jeep Wrangler was driven in the team’s championship parade through downtown Waco on Tuesday night, and was then going to be given to the school for Drew to use for the next year.

When talking about the vehicle with KWTX-TV before the parade started, Ted Teague, GM of the Allen Samuels dealership in Waco, said Drew could enjoy the Jeep and “use it to recruit, pull some people out of the hood.” Based on his own changed facial expression as the reporter started to ask another question, Teague knew immediately that the remark was inappropriate. He apologized on Wednesday.

Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades and Drew said in a joint statement Wednesday that they had spoken to Teague about what he said.

“His remarks do not align with our institutional values or the culture of our athletic programs. We can confirm we are not accepting the Jeep driven in the parade on Tuesday. As a department, we are committed to recruiting a diverse group of student-athletes, coaches, and staff, all of whom are valued members of our community,” the statement read.

The dealership had provided women’s coach Kim Mulkey a Corvette to use for a year after the Lady Bears won national championships in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The men won their first national title with an 86-70 win over previously undefeated Gonzaga on April 5.

Teague issued a statement of apology on Wednesday, asking for forgiveness and the opportunity to seek redemption. He said he misspoke in using the word “hood.”

“As the word came out of my mouth, I instantly knew it was the absolute wrong word,” Teague said in his statement. “I know that I disrespected a countless number of people within our amazing Waco community, and beyond. I am deeply disappointed and saddened by my actions and offer each of you my most sincere apologies.”

Cotton: Biden Admin Says Same Things about American Racism that China, USSR Used to Say

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On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Primetime,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) reacted to U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s statements about racism being a part of America’s founding documents by saying that under the Biden administration, our own diplomats are saying the same things about America that we used to hear Chinese or Soviet officials say about the U.S.

Cotton said, “Amazing. Yeah, you used to listen to Communist Chinese or Communist Soviets call Americans racists at the United Nations. In the Biden administration, you hear that from our own ambassador. That’s disgraceful.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

BLM Protesters Attack Media near Brooklyn Center Police Building

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BLM protesters attacked news media during the fourth night of demonstrations outside the Blanchard Center Police Department headquarters on Wednesday night. A CNN news crew member fell to the ground after being struck in the head by a thrown water bottle.

A video tweeted by Washington Examiner reporter Nic Rowan shows a member of a CNN news crew being attacked by protesters. Someone off-camera throws a water bottle striking the CNN worker in the head. He stumbles to the ground for a few seconds as people mocked him.

“A bottle of water knocked you out?” a protester yelled while laughing at the man.

“Get the f**k out of here,” someone else yelled in a video showing the crowd chasing the CNN news crew away from the police building.

Fox News national correspondent Lauren Blanchard tweeted that the crowd was becoming more hostile. She said a group was targeting media, including Fox News, demanding to see credentials and then telling them to leave.

Hundreds of people gathered late Wednesday afternoon outside the Brooklyn Center police headquarters. National Guardsmen and State police moved in to protect the building during the fourth night of protest following the shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by police on Sunday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions arrested former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kimberly Potter on charges of Manslaughter II. The former officer was processed and released after she posted a $100,000 bond. If convicted on the charge, she could face anywhere from probation to 10 years in state prison.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.