Latest Stories By Yacob Reyes

Showing 1-12 of 39 items
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, September 2020

Indictment of a president was unprecedented before Trump in the U.S., but not other countries

After former President Donald Trump was indicted March 30, some Republican leaders decried the development as indicative of an unstable government. “I watch it happen all the time in the Third World and in developing countries,” U.S. Sen Marco Rubio said on “Fox & Friends” on April 3. “They use prosecutors to go after candidates.” […]
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Was Silicon Valley Bank demise caused by Trump easing regulation, ‘woke’ efforts, or something else?

The spectacular implosion of Silicon Valley Bank, a top lender to technology companies and startups until a few days ago, has prompted finger-pointing from the political left and right about why it happened and who is at fault.  Silicon Valley Bank, now the second-largest bank to collapse in U.S. history and the largest since the […]
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Ron DeSantis smiling at crowd on Feb. 15, 2023

Fact-checking Ron DeSantis’ book: What ‘The Courage to Be Free’ glosses over about his record

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new book is as much a memoir as it is a map of his political ideology. An anecdote about playing Little League baseball is tied to his support of Taiwan. He spends more ink detailing his public battle with Walt Disney World than his wedding at the Magic Kingdom.  DeSantis, regarded […]
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What does the ‘1870’ pin mean at the State of the Union?

The death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis, Tennessee, police officers loomed over this year’s State of the Union address. His parents, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, watched the speech with other guests of first lady Jill Biden. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats wore black buttons with “1870” written on […]
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DeSantis in Las Vegas for AP Black history story 11-19-2022

‘Indoctrination’? Banning Black history? Unraveling competing claims about rejected Florida AP class

Amid the furor over Florida’s rejection of a new high school Advanced Placement course on Black studies, three talking points emerged from both sides of the political aisle. One, from Gov. Ron DeSantis and his education department, which called several lessons deficient in “educational value and historical accuracy.” Two, from Democrats from the West Coast […]
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Jan. 6 committee last hearing Dec. 19, 2022

What we know about the Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referrals

In a historic move by a congressional committee against a former president, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted Dec. 19 to refer four criminal charges against Donald Trump to the Justice Department. The charges against Trump, unanimously approved by the nine-member committee,  were inciting or assisting […]
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Griner on Aug. 4, 2022

What we know about Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, why Joe Biden traded him to free Brittney Griner

Minutes after President Joe Biden announced that WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner had been released from a Russian prison, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., criticized the deal Biden made to win her freedom. “Always good to see an American that’s unjustly detained that’s coming home,” Lankford said Dec. 8 on Newsmax. “The problem with this is […]
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Warnock 2022 victory party

What Raphael Warnock’s win means for Democrats’ Senate advantage

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock managed to fend off his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, and reclaim his Senate seat in Georgia’s runoff election.  Now, Senate Democrats will have a 51-49 edge in the chamber, rather than an evenly split chamber needing  Vice President Kamala Harris’ votes to break ties. What does this mean in practical terms? […]
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Dr. Ladapo speaking before bill signing in Brandon 11-18-2021

Florida leaders misrepresented research before ban on gender-affirming care

Behind Florida’s decision to block clinical services for transgender adolescents is a talking point — repeated by the state’s governor and top medical authorities — that most cases of gender incongruence fade over time. The Florida Board of Medicine voted Nov. 4 to approve a rule that barred physicians from performing surgical procedures on minors […]
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Trump says he left Biden a perfect economy, but the facts say otherwise

As he announced another run for the White House, former President Donald Trump promised a “golden age” for Americans while exaggerating his record in office. He glossed over key facts as he spoke about his coronavirus response, the economy, border security and more. “Together, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world,” […]
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Ask PolitiFact: What would speed up election results?

This question has been bouncing around the internet: If Florida can count ballots in a matter of hours, why does it take days for less populous states to do the same? Local election officials in some states were still counting ballots days after Nov. 8. The margins in prominent statewide races were too close to […]
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Miami-Dade vote-by-mail ballot box on Nov. 8, 2022

Why does the Justice Department monitor polling sites?

Justice Department election monitors traveled to voting sites in 24 states on Election Day to watch for violations of federal voting laws.  Florida did not welcome them. State officials blocked federal lawyers from going inside polling sites in three south Florida counties. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed, said their […]
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Showing 1-12 of 39 items