#TheNewsAgents host. Newsnight, BBC2 Interviews with Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Keir Starmer James Comey , Bill Clinton. Appalling typing.
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Been overwhelmed by all the kindness, messages - and support on here - and I’ve probably missed much of it. A big thank you from us all at #newsnight
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Very much available here
I want @Maitlis to sit down Dominic Cummings for an hour like she did with Prince Andrew.
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What is so striking is how many conservative mps are still talking about what is “ best for the party”. It’s a real give away - that party still seemingly comes before country and constituents and democracy.
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One suspect denies raping Pelicot saying - after explicit video of him exposed - it was his “body not his brain. “. He just got 12 years. For both body And brain.
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Curious that @GaryLineker was free to raise questions about Qatar’s human rights record - with the blessing of the bbc - over the World Cup , but cannot raise questions of human rights in this country if it involves criticism of government policy …
Great to see the freedom of speech champions out in force this morning demanding silence from those with whom they disagree. 👊🏻
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Wine on the walls, vomit, a fight. And cleaners - who weren’t able to see their families - regularly cleaning it all up. But yep, let’s all get on now …
The PM has apologised and is implementing all Sue Gray's recommendations.
Now we need to get on and deliver for the British people - growing our economy to tackle the cost of living, funding the NHS to clear covid backlogs and cutting crime to make our streets safer
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I feel this may be the greatest single clip of TV ever made. Reduces me to tears every time I watch to the end.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day.
In 1938, Sir Nicholas Winton brought Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to safety in the UK.
Fifty years later, That’s Life reunited him with some of those children.
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You have to hand it to these two:
While Trump gets the letter , Zelensky gets the King , ‘ at home ‘ in his own sitting room just 24 hours later. Call it a power move. Call it true friendship. It rocks 🇺🇦 🇬🇧.
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I’m not sure when they suggested to Gary Lineker he step back from #MOTD the bbc realised it might be starting a much much bigger battle. @IanWright0 refusing to present on Saturday. In the name of solidarity
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It’s riveting to watch a man so convinced of the entitlement of his position that he cannot imagine the country surviving without him. Why would anyone put themselves through something so shaming?
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The damaging thing about this whole issue for gov is that Cummings instantly loses any right to tell others they are out of touch / elite / missing the public mood. That’s properly over now. He has become the thing he loathed.
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I’m really embarrassed to say I never saw this coming. When it was blinding obvious this would be the logical next step. Wow.
NEW: Boris Johnson has watered down the ministerial code - allowing ministers to break the rules without resigning - and blocked a bid to give his ethics advisor the power to investigate him…
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/b…
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Bluntly ,the immigration numbers have grown bigger since Brexit not smaller. The reason is not “ marauding criminal gangs “ ( more than 80% whose cases are heard are ultimately granted asylum) but a break down in relations with France and others ..
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Just spoke to a Tory MP who told me “we ( Conservative party) are just a protectionist racket right now - a gang of marauding ambition - not a serious party”.
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So grateful to my friend and excellent colleague @katierazz for stepping in this evening . She did so because I asked for the night off -knowing tonight’s prog would be in the most excellent hands 🖐 #newsnight
Just for the record, Emily @maitlis has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight off - and if I thought she had been, I certainly wouldn’t have agreed to present the show @BBCNewsnight
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Yes, I did used to work in a hairdressers.
No, I didn’t learn to use clippers.
Yes, he did ask me to help with this against all my better instincts
No, we are not currently talking ...
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The intractable truss problem: She cant fire her chancellor because theyre in it together; she cant change her mind - because her strength/ ideology is her USP; she cant call a GE because she'd lose - on current polling - badly enough to put Cons out of power for a decade..
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I remember asking #JudithKerr Kerr if the tiger symbolised the 1960s sexual revolution where normal mores and suburban life became upended by this wild and exotic creature. She told me no, it was about a tiger coming to tea.
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I find it quite frustrating when we’re told “Now is not the time” to ask questions of our politicians. Seems cowardly. Of course it is! -why should we “ wait for the post mortem” when the whole strategy should be about saving lives now ??
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See what has happened here ? Hugh pym asks a simple question of why not enough testing for nhs staff and he gets a long winded reply from Health chief about why testing is important. Which ends with the words “ramp up” . Hugh knows all this. We all know all this.
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A supporter of the Prime Minister has just told @c4news that Boris Johnson was “ ambushed with cake “
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What I am struggling to understand is if all the confusion sown last night was unintended, or part of a larger strategy of deniability: ie “we will give you the chance to make your own choices. Please don’t blame us for what comes next. “
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The problem with the “ it was all a shitshow “ take on the #Debates2020 is that it ignores the real possibility it was a deliberate attempt to undermine democratic process. If you make everyone believe it’s pointless to listen/ vote / count when you are trailing - it’s job done.
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It’s almost ..almost .. like we haven’t actually had enough of experts ….
Sir Patrick Vallance KCB has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology @SciTechgovuk.
ALT Sir Patrick Vallance KCB appointed Minister of State (Minister for Science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
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This intro is brilliant - but the whole piece is so smart and so thoughtful too.
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Liz Truss confirms there will be no windfall tax on energy companies even if they are making 170 billion pounds in excessive profits. #Pmqs
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All keir starmer has to do is repeat “ who voted for this “ to rattle the PM as she knows it wasn’t voted for by either her party , much of her cabinet or the country #pmqs
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Man who claims Donald Trump
Didn’t lose 2020 election tells Europeans they’ve lost their way on democracy …
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John Bolton: the consequences for the US here are terrible .. we’re in danger of losing every alliance we have around the world .. not just NATO
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Nevertheless, it will be a wrench to leave the BBC after 20 phenomenal years. I am so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had there. More than anything I’m grateful to have worked with the most incredible people - many of whom are dear friends. I owe my BBC colleagues everything.
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117 votes against Theresa May was “ a very bad result .. much worse than it looks “ JRM told me the last time Tory MPs went to a vote of confidence ..
“This is a very bad result for the prime minister, 117 votes against her… much worse than she thought” says Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, who insists the result is worse that it looks as an ”overwhelming majority of backbenchers have voted against her”
#newsnight | @Jacob_Rees_Mogg
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Is “2k more tax “
the new
“350 million NHS “bus slogan .
Doesn’t need to be right. Just needs to be repeated .
Have we come so little way since the grubby days of that campaign ??
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This is getting unmanageably big for the bbc now.
As commentators on MOTD, we have decided to step down from tomorrow night’s broadcast. We are comforted that football fans who want to watch their teams should still be able to do so, as management can use World Feed commentary if they wish.
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Not to slag off my brilliant sight hound or anything but a squirrel has literally moved into my house and the dog hasn’t even noticed …
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Taylor swifts endorsement is so calmly rational - she doesn’t need to attack Trump. She just says she’s researched the issues. Abd signs off as a childless cat lady .
And like that the electoral race has exploded.
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There literally aren't enough people left to fill the vacancies... i cant quite comprehend that...
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Breaking: Jurgen Klopp #LFC May refuse to comment to BBC #motd later today in solidarity with #lineker. Likely to offer his message through other broadcasters @TheNewsAgents
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So right. And in such sharp contrast to the many spineless men who legitimised and excused behaviour in Trump they knew was abhorrent.
Props to the brave women who have taken Trump on & won. E Jean Carroll. Stormy Daniels. And all the women who have fought for their reproductive rights at the ballot box.
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Mark Harper transport secretary has just said Tories will stop the “ misuse of 15 minute cities “ …
“what is sinister is the idea of local councils deciding how often you can go to the shops “. It is sinister. It’s also not remotely true… #cpc23
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The Boris-is-a-winner narrative seems to overlook two things. The candidate he stood against in 2019 literally delivered the worst result his own party had seen since 1936. In other words , he could not have faced an easier opponent. Lab 2022 looks v different to Lab 2019.. 2/2
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This could be one of the defining images of the 2024 campaign ..
It's like a Hogarth - "the public listen attentively to the prouncements of his majesty's minister"
(via @EtanSmallman)
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Fuck your clams.
“I've got a message for Johnson: Fuck you! Fuck your clams that austerity's over. Your racist, bullying, sexist attacks on our communities. Your proroguing Parliament. And Fuck your no deal Brexit too.” - @SteveT_Unite gives it back to Boris "Fuck business" Johnson
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Worth considering this could be exactly the end game Boris Johnson had in mind when he endorsed a weak candidate he could see would quickly and irredeemably fail.
Whilst it may look like a shambles from the outside, it might just have been playbook politics…
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US election result viewers praise Emily Maitlis for eviscerating Boris Johnson independent.co.uk/arts-enter…
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Hugely enjoying Liz Truss explaining to an American audience that the Right have been denied power in the UK for far too long. Just wait till they discover what her last job was ..
PoliticsJOE
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Despite the strong “ proud parents of returning gap year son “ vibes we are utterly delighted to be joined by @lewis_goodall for our new (ad) venture @global @dinosofos @jonsopel
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Shout out to @eddiemair who was actually about 3 centuries ahead of everyone else on this…
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Guess what @piersmorgan you can be “not gay” and “absolutely furious” . Who knew ?
I'm not gay, but if I was, I'd be absolutely furious about this FA armband U-turn. Makes an absolute mockery of the whole 'we're going to speak out about human rights in Qatar rather than boycott it' stance.
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Biden is speaking : this is the moment he’s become the de facto president . I think the next fourteen days have just been wiped out.
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That bloke in the Full Monty who loses his job but carries on sitting on the bench in the park every day as he’s scared to tell his wife ...
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Ahhhh you’re right !! I keep forgetting this woman is still an actual Norfolk MP. Imagine if you need help with adult social care - or crime in your neighbourhood - and you get a funny fantasist running round Washington talking about the Deep State ..
Liz Truss to Steve Bannon: “Would you work with Nigel Farage to restructure the Tory party?"
She is, I believe, still a beneficiary of the Tory whip. In a normal party, with a half-decent leader she wouldn’t be for much longer.
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For clarity I do know hull is not hell. It’s rather lovely.
“The former Health Secretary Alan Johnson joins us on the line from Hell.
“Sorry, Hull”
Hilarious! Forget the Prince Andrew interview, this is what you will be remembered for @Maitlis!
#Newsnight
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Labour has tonight called on Rishi Sunak to block Liz Truss’ resignation honours list. 👀
“I…urge you to block these honours. You have the power to do so and any response that talks of ‘convention’ is merely a sign of weak leadership and lack of grip over your own party.
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It’s a very funny line isn’t it. So much easier to say “ lying to the press” than “ lying to the public “ on whose behalf those questions about the shamelessly missing millions were being asked ..
Quite extraordinary listening to Michelle Mone: “all we did was lie to the press.” Yes, and threaten journalists who worked to expose the truth with legal letters, knowing those letters were lies. Thankfully, those journalists didn’t cower under those threats. #bbclaurak
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China has congratulated Joe Biden on his victory. Before trump. That’s where we are. #PresidentialElection2020
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“ help me out here team .. what’s the best way to drive up the youth vote ?”
NEW: Rishi Sunak has pledged *mandatory* National Service for *every 18 year old* if he wins the election
— they will *have to* do either a year-long army placement or one weekend a month volunteering for a year
First ‘bold’ manifesto policy, but it will be highly controversial
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There’s a lot of foreign office “disappointment” this week. Disappointment is when pret runs out of your fave lunchtime sarnie. Not when war is started.
I’ve spoken to my Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu @MFATurkey to express the UK’s disappointment and concern about the military incursion into NE Syria, and call for restraint. The intervention risks greater humanitarian suffering and undermines the focus on countering Daesh
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V useful thread of policy timeline. One thing left off here - on the day the whole of italy went into total lockdown , we were encouraging crowds of 60,000 at Cheltenham races. Why was that not ringing alarm bells ?
The Mail on Sunday has *2 double page splashes* deflecting blame for the coronavirus onto foreigners and stirring up xenophobia.
Target 1: the EU.
Target 2: China.
The reality is, Boris Johnson bungled this crisis very, very badly. He zigged when the rest of the world zagged.
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I have every sympathy with the team of scientists around Trump trying to stay the course for the sake of American lives. But honestly , this reaction is not enough. It just isn’t.
Here is Dr. Birx's reaction when President Trump asks his science advisor to study using UV light on the human body and injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus.
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“I don’t quite understand why we had four weeks of everybody shrugging their shoulders ..” - one of the worlds must respected doctors - David Nott
“I don’t quite understand why… we had four weeks of everybody shrugging their shoulders.”
Famed surgeon Dr David Nott says governments were warned about coronavirus at the end of January and he doesn’t understand “why there seemed to be nobody that picked up this”
#Newsnight
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It is astonishing really what E Jean Carroll was prepared to go through to bring this about. And is utterly to her credit that the sum is off the charts huge - big enough , you’d hope , to be a future deterrent. What a woman.
Jury finds Trump should pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll cnn.com/politics/live-news/t…
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We are now in a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are being “ cancelled “ or where we are being saved from “ sinister” practices that don’t actually exist. That’s called conspiracy … #CPC2023
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Just asked son how his driving lesson went
“ still having a few teething problems with the old zebra crossing “ he says
👀 .
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Could the Prince Andrew interview have happened in this iteration of @BBCNewsnight ? Of course not. Aside from the painstaking prep and lengthy research that demanded from the team, PA came to a flagship brand the bbc was proud of.
It doesn’t feel that way tonight.
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Wow. They are still trying this on - 5 years on from our @bbcnewsnight interview with the then chairman @JamesCleverly
.@maitlis: “This is the Conservative press office pretending to be a fact-check service… you were misleading the public.”
@JamesCleverly: “We were calling out the inaccuracies that were coming out during the debate"
bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50…
#Newsnight | #GE2019 | #ITVDebate
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Upsum of rhetoric so far at #cpc23
Tory MP: No one should have their children eaten by lions. It’s horrifying .
Questioner: but no one is suggesting that ?
Tory Mp: no. But people are concerned. So we must make clear we are the party of anti child eating lions !
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“Brexit” did not save lives through the covid vaccine roll out . Let’s get this totally clear- we could develop and buy the vaccine within the EU.
"He wants the party to come to him and say 'Boris, we’re terribly sorry, please come and stand for the leadership.'”
The News Agents on Boris being "vintage himself" on @LBC with Nick Ferrari, where he claimed Brexit saved lives.
@maitlis | @jonsopel | @lewis_goodall
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Truly I think @PippaCrerar and team should be feeling rather excellent tonight.
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Now imagining Lady Hale slumped happily in the fleabag pose. Fag, martini and ball dress.
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Just come across this extraordinary passage in @mrjamesob bestseller “ How they broke Britain “.
Look at the impact austerity cuts had (- according to economist Fetzer- ) on the actual Brexit vote, in the light of this week’s changes.
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Trump has never hidden what he is :
A huge admirer of Putin , Erdogan, Netanyahu etc - military might and money.
The big question is why we are shocked he’s selling Ukraine out.
He told us he would. He is.
The man himself is totally predictable. It’s just the American 🇺🇸 flag behind him that makes this hard to swallow.
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Just your normal studio handover. Like a throw to the weather really … except ….
It's rare that James O'Brien and Nigel Farage are in the same room.
So when the Reform UK leader was leaving the LBC studios after his phone-in with Nick Ferrari, @mrjamesob delivered a one-of-a-kind handover.
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“Hey team , help me out - any thoughts on how we can push down recruitment of nurses and teachers a bit more.. just spitballing…”
Exclusive: Rishi Sunak is considering requiring future applicants for public sector jobs to have completed National Service
It’s one of the enforcement options that would go to the Royal Commission for consideration if he gets to enact the policy
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Clearly we spent the #taylorswift evening discussing key marginals in #GE2024
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2 months actually... But we remain happy to make the approach - and ever hopeful.
Two nights running govt have refused to put up a spokesperson on @BBCNewsnight. Outrageous for them to not be open to scrutiny and accountable during this crisis @maitlis #COVID
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Don’t understand how @MarcusRashford has time for all this football. Quite extraordinary.
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The Royal Family
Blimey this is damning - Henry Staunton - sacked post office chair - tells @thetimes why he was allegedly told to stall on sub post mmasters’ compensation payments to help Gov “ limp on” to election without financial liability ..
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James Comey @Comey predicted this day when I first interviewed him 7 years ago on @BBCNewsnight - Trump’s attacks on his perceived enemies would result in the arbitrary arrest of US citizens. And ultimately the criminalisation of dissent.
He warned us .
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This meeting has been incredibly clarifying:
Is anyone still confused whose side Trump is on ?
Does anyone still believe Trump
Has a plan ?
Does Europe still think America will come to the rescue of a breached ceasefire?
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Here’s a bloke who thinks he’s changed a woman’s mind…
And a woman who reckons it’s easier to nod along when someone’s mansplaining coz the ballot is secret…
Got stuck at a networking event with a conservative woman that was voting for Kamala.
You? Out of all people? I said why?
Embarrassed she said for women’s rights.
I asked her husband, and he sheepishly said Kamala.
Remaining calm, I took the time to explain the abortion laws and explain it’s not what she has heard.
She said she didn’t know all of this, and will research and change her vote for Trump if I was right.
Husband fist bumped me and whispered thank you.
Winning.
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When Gov sources told the incoming pm that fresh food would only by 3rd highest no-deal priority @ShippersUnbound
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