The Liberal Conservative

Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Package

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schemer (D-NY)

On March 6, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package after the Democrats kept the roll call vote open for 11 hours and 50 minutes. The final quorum ended with 50 yeas from all 50 Democratic senators and 49 nays composed of solely Republican senators. The final quorum ended with 50-49 rather than the 50-50, in which the Vice President Kamala Harris was going to cast the tie-breaking vote, as Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) was absent due to a family funeral in Alaska. Vice President Kamala Harris voted in affirmative as she casted the tie-breaking vote on March 4 in order to allow the debate in the Senate for the COVID relief bill (American Rescue Plan). The coronavirus relief package includes one time payment of $1400 stimulus checks for each individual with less than $100,000 and joint filers making up to $150,000 receiving one time payment of $2,800. Each child will also be entitled to $1,400 in addition to the payments received by the parents. Unemployment benefits will stretch up to September 6 with $300 a week payment. It also includes $20 billion for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, $50 billion for testing and tracing, $350 billion in local government relief, and $170 billion for reopening schools. President Joe Biden congratulated and applauded Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schemer (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the Vice President Kamala Harris while giving his remark in the afternoon. President Biden calmed the American people, “Help is on the way,” and, “Look, the American people strongly support the bill. That is the key here. And that is going to seep through, including for our Republican friends.” Overwhelming support of 79% by the general public on the coronavirus relief package, with roughly 90% of Democrats in support and 60% of Republicans in support, the coronavirus relief package is in high demand according to the Pew Research Center. Even though the relief package has been passed by the Senate after intense deliberation, the components within the relief bill has been altered by the Senate from the one passed by the House as the moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and others worked to tweak several elements. The alterations to the bill are the decrease from $400 to $300 for the unemployment benefits, and the elimination of the highly contested $15 minimum wage. This $15 minimum wage was first introduced by the House Democrats with the support of President Joe Biden, however with the low popularity of the bill in the Senate Democrats, the $15 minimum wage has been tweaked out of the House proposed bill on Saturday. Even with the Democratic party’s infighting on the coronavirus relief bill, the Republicans flat out refused to support the bill with 0 Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress voting for the coronavirus relief bill. Notably Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) came out in opposition to the relief bill citing that illegal aliens in the United States should not receive this stimulus checks and that his amendment would prevent it. However, Senator Cruz was immediately rebutted by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) where he attributed that the system is same just as it was under the December stimulus check back in 2020 where illegal aliens didn’t receive stimulus checks as they do not possess social security numbers. Now, this revised bill will be sent back down to the House of Representatives for another vote to be then sent out to the White House for the President’s signature.

Biden Administration’s First Missile Strikes

WorldPop (populated areas)
New York Times

On February 25th, 2021, US President Joe Biden authorized missile strikes on compounds of Iran-backed militia groups in Syria. This is the first missile strike under the new Biden administration since his inauguration back in January 6th, 2021. U.S. missile strikes come as a form of retaliation against the militia groups who are said and identified as the militants behind the February 15 rocket attack in Northern Iraq which left one civilian dead and numerous U.S. and coalition troops wounded. President Joe Biden on Friday justified and further warned Iran for their action of supporting militia groups that threaten U.S. interests or personnel. President Biden responded to a question by a reporter on the meaning behind the airstrikes, “You can’t act with impunity. Be careful.” Biden administration officials further justified and defended their missile strikes on facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed Militia groups as legal and appropriate. White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday explained that President Biden took the action to airstrike pursuant to his Article Two authority (constitutional) to defend U.S. personnel under the domestic law. She further told reporters, “The targets were chosen to correspond to the recent attacks on facilities and to deter the risk of additional attacks over the coming weeks.” While the White House justifies their airstrike against militia group in Syria, several Democratic Senators and members of the House of Representatives came out to denounce the attack and stated that they will hold the Biden administration to the same standards they held for any previous presidents. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) came out against President Biden’s airstrikes on Friday, “Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances.” House. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) further criticized the airstrike, “There is absolutely no justification for a president to authorize a military strike that is not in self-defense against an imminent threat without congressional authorization.” Another member of the House of Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN) added a comment “Great question” on the White House press secretary Jen Saki’s tweet from 2017 where she questions the legality of the strike in Syria. On the contrary to the criticism by ranking Democratic members of Congress, Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma agreed with the White House’s decision as, “The correct, proportionate response to protect American lives.” The decision for an airstrike on Iran-backed Militia group in Syria came from the recommendations of US Defense Secretary Loyd Austin who told reporters, “We’re confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes (on Feb. 15).” He further went on to praise the men and women who conducted the strike as performing “very professional manner.” Syria’s foreign ministry condemns the U.S. airstrikes as cowardly, while the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the lack of time beforehand for the warnings to the airstrikes in Syria. Back in the United States, Pentagon chief spokesperson John Kirby commented that the Congress was notified before the strikes, and that the airstrikes are justifiable as it was “a defensive strike” to destroy weapons stored in facilities which were going to be used for attacks against Iraq. At this moment in time, reports vary in the number of casualties generated by seven missiles launched by two Air Force F-15E aircraft that destroyed nine facilities and damaged two.

Alexei Navalny: Putin’s Enemy No. 1

Alexei Navalny is a Kremlin critic who dugs out corruption and uncovers the inner workings of the Russian government. He is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most renown opposition as Alexei Navalny is the leader of the “Россия Будущего” (Russia of the Future Party) and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation which was formed to investigate and expose corruption in Russian government’s top officials including President Putin. Alexei Navalny uses a wide ranging social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Russian social network platform VK to spread his findings on Russian corruptions. As of now, Alexei Navalny and his team have claimed to uncover the Black Sea palace built for President Vladimir Putin through corruption of his wealthy Oligarchs. Alexei Navlany provided detailed connection and evidence of the vast wealth held by the former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev through a network of charitable foundations. They also claimed to have exposed the plan of Russian agent in poisoning Alexei Navalny which also provided conversation between Alexei Navalny masking as a Russian operative and a Russian agent conducting the assassination of Alexei Navalny. This Anti-Corruption Foundation headed by Alexei Navalny not only exposes the corruption of President Putin, but his inner circle and powerful Russian government officials. In 2020, Alexei Navalny once again was the headline news all around the world as he collapsed in a plane which was headed from a city of Tomsk in Russia to Moscow. The plane immediately reroutes for an emergency landing to a city of Omsk after Alexei Navalny went in and out of consciousness after 30 minutes into the air. He was then rushed into a hospital where he received blood tests which turned out just fine, even though he clearly showed signs of poison in his system. The doctors in Omsk hospital put him in a ventilator and provide intensive care, but the hospital becomes unsafe as a result of multiple Russian government officials coming in and out of the hospital. At this moment, Berlin-based NGO the Cinema for Peace Foundation provides a charter plane to take Alexei Navalny out of Russia into German hospital. This act of kindness turned out as a lifesaver for Alexei Navalny as he was identified to be poisoned after the same tests were run in Berlin which he was conducted in Omsk. This revelation on the poison which turned out to be Novichok, a Russian poison created and widely used under the Soviet government, sparked worldwide attention to Russia. After waking up from a medically induced coma in Berlin, Alexei Navalny got back to work and revealed the Russian plan to poison him. Soon after exposing his assassination plan by the Russian agent, on January 17th 2021, he set his destination back to Russia where he was greeted by his supporters and police, where he got detained and arrested on the same day. He then went on a trial and received a sentencing of 2 years and 8 months after being found guilty of disobeying his probation over his 2014 money laundering case. While Alexei Navalny was under arrest, thousands of Alexei Navalny’s supporters turned up to the streets and protested his arrest as world leaders across the globe including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized and demanded the immediate release of Alexei Navalny and his supporters. While behind the glass-enclosed holding cell in a court in Moscow, Alexei Navalny made a heart gesture to his wife. Soon after his first trial, Alexei Navalny made an appeal to his sentencing where he received 45 days reduction from the original 2 years and 8 months sentencing. As his farewell message, Alexei Navalny proclaimed, “I want Russia to be free but that’s not enough in itself.”

Trump Impeachment 2.0

The U.S. Senate votes to acquit former U.S. President Donald Trump by a vote of 57 guilty to 43 not guilty, short of the 2/3s majority needed to convict, during the fifth day of the impeachment trial of the former president on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2021. U.S. Senate TV/Handout via Reuters EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO COMMERCIAL SALES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

On February 13, 2021, Former President Donald J. Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial. Under the cosponsors of 218 Democrats in the House of Representatives, then 45th President Donald J. Trump was impeached for the second time for “inciting” the US Capitol riot which occurred on January 6th, 2021. After the impeachment in the House of Representatives with 232 in favor and 197 against, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the Articles of Impeachment will be delivered on January 25th to the Senate floor. Then the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) agreed to the proposal from the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to hold the impeachment trial on February 9th after Mitch McConnell refused to hold the impeachment in the Senate as long as President Trump was in office. Midway through the preparation period for the impeachment trial, Donald J. Trump’s lead lawyers quit the team and left Donald Trump to build a new defense team with a week left until the trial. Following the two weeks of preparation for both the House impeachment managers and the former president’s defense team, the first night of the impeachment trial began with the debate on the constitutionality of the proceeding. After the debate between the House impeachment managers and the defense team, a vote turned out as 56 to 44 with the proceeding deemed constitutional. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the lead House impeachment manager provided footage of the rioters forcefully entering the US Capitol, and ransacking the Senate chamber and the offices of Democratic lawmakers. On the second day of the impeachment trial, the House impeachment managers showcased never before seen footage of the evacuations of both the House and the Senate lawmakers. Those footages revealed that the Former Vice President, then Vice President Mike Pence being ushered out of the Senate Chamber into safety, Officer Eugene Goodman directing and saving Republican Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) from the mobs, and the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) running for safety from the nearby mobs with his security detail blocking the doorway. On the third day of the impeachment trial, the House impeachment managers pointed out the lack of remorse by the former president and the former president’s remark leading to his supporters protesting and entering the Michigan Capitol with weapons. On the fourth day of the impeachment trial, the defense team argued that Former President Donald Trump’s remark of “Stop the Steal” had no effect on the insurrection on January 6th and that it was a simple uttered word protected under the First Amendment. The defense team also provided the jurors with a video of various Democratic lawmakers uttering the word “fight.” Fox News presenter Chris Wallace when asked about the video made a remark, “It was ludicrous and counterproductive.” He made a reference to shouting fire in a crowded theatre is different to simply shouting fire 100 times, and stated that Former President Trump’s remarks were not the same as Democratic lawmakers stating “fight.” Finally on February 13, 2021, the Senate voted 55-45 for an additional witness with the House impeachment managers adding Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler’s statement on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Former President Donald Trump’s conversation during the Capitol riot in the record. However, the House impeachment managers abandoned their plan for extra witnesses and held a vote to either convict or acquit the Former President Donald J. Trump from high crimes and misdemeanors of “Inciting” the US Capitol riot. The vote ended with 57 voting for guilty and 43 voting for not guilty with 7 Republican Senators joining the 50 Democratic Senators. As 34 votes were needed to acquit the former president, the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump concluded with the acquittal of the former president from “Inciting” the US Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021. The second impeachment of the Former President Donald J. Trump is the most bipartisan conviction in the Senate, however, the Department of Justice could still pursue criminal charges against the former president.

Military Coup in Myanmar

Min Aung Hlaing (left) Aung San Suu Kyi (right)

On Monday, February 1st, 2021, the military-owned Myawaddy TV announced that the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military) seized the control of the Myanmar government. This coup d’état was enacted by the commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, who became one of the most wanted men on the planet as a result of his brutal crackdowns on the Rohingya minority which drove them out in search of safety. The Tatmadaw has also detained Myanmar’s democratically elected de facto leader of the nation, Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) under house arrests or imprisonments. After the 2010 general election in Myanmar, the military junta was resolved and democratically elected officials were installed. The democratically elected government took on a power-share agreement with the Tatmadaw after the end of military junta, however, the military held a strong influence in shaping the country’s future. After the coup and the seize of power by the Tatmadaw, streets were filled with protesters. Around the world, citizens of Myanmar also protested in front of foreign ministries of each country they resided and major world leaders from around the world expressed their concern and solidarity with the people of Myanmar. Notably, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the United States Joe Biden, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, the President of France Emanuel Macron and many more condemned the coup by the military of Myanmar. On November 8th, 2020, Myanmar held an election which turned out to be a massive landslide victory by the NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi capturing 396 out of 476 seats in the combined lower and upper houses of Myanmar Parliament. This massive victory came under fire by the Tatmadaw which called the democratically and securely managed election rigged without providing any substantial evidence. Under the 2008 military-drafted constitution, the military holds 25% of the seat in government and the right to appoint key ministerial positions. However, as the DNL won over 80% of the seats in government, it created this conflict between the Tatmadaw and democratically elected politicians. Days leading up to the coup d’état, Major General Zaw Min Tun declined to rule out the possibility of a coup when he was asked by a reporter. As we now know, the Tatmadaw took action against the rightful government and enacted a coup. After the hostile takeover, the country of Myanmar experienced numerous internet service shutdowns which fueled the fire of protesters but also provided more chaos and uncertainty for the citizens. The military has also banned several news outlets and replaced them with military-owned tv networks. Now under stratocracy, commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing declared a state of emergency which lasts for 12 months and now the promising light of democracy in Myanmar has crumbled like the previous military coup in 1962 back when Myanmar was called Burma. The military leaders have not ruled out a possibility of another election, however, when this new election will be held is not clear at this moment in time.

Retail Investors Crush Hedge Funds

With a reported 1,700% increase in the GameStop stock(GME) since the start of the year as a result of the Reddit community r/wallstreetbets’s GameStop rally, hedge funds who have been shorting the stock have lost approximately $19 billion according to financial data service Ortex. GameStop is an American video game retailer founded in 1984 which had a market valuation of $1.2 billion at the beginning of 2021. r/wallstreetbets is a subreddit from Reddit where people are able to discuss the topic of stocks. The community of the r/wallstreetbets which as of now (January 31, 2021) has 6.7 million followers rallied long on GME in order to short squeeze hedge funds such as Citron Research and Melvin Capital. Retail investor is also known as an individual investor, which is a non-professional investor who buys and sells securities or funds that contain a basket of securities such as mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) according to the definition from Investopedia. These retail investors bought the GameStop stocks and it caused such a rally that the price soared 1,700% in less than a month into 2021. These retail investors originally invested in GME in order to fight back against the hedge funds and institutions which shorted the GME. In turn of an event, retail investors from across the nation and the world jumped in to the opportunity and bought up the majority of the available stocks in GME and short squeezed the hedge funds and resulted in a massive loss of $19 billion for the hedge funds. Short squeeze is when the stock rises in price causing the traders who were betting on that the stock would fall in price to purchase the stock to mitigate their losses. This purchasing of stocks results in the rise in the stock prices which causes further losses on the part of the short sellers. Now at the time of writing this (January 31, 2021), GME sits at $325 a share after 67.87% increase from the closing price the day before the market closed on January 29th before the weekend when the market closed. Major online brokerage firm Robinhood has been under scrutiny by the general public for their actions in limiting the available purchase of GME on their app. This action caused a massive uproar against the Robinhood and pundits are attacking the brokerage firm of market manipulation and illegal actions. Hedge Funds are working to mitigate their losses by shorting the GME while retail investors on r/wallstreetbets are messaging one another to “HODL” the stock which is another term used to describe holding the stock rather than selling them. Just like the GameStop stock, other stocks such as the AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc(AMC), Nokia Oyj(NOK), and BlackBerry Ltd(BB) also had a surge as a result of this r/wallstreetbets stock rally. A cryptocurrency called Dogecoin which started out as a joke back in 2013 also had a surge of more than 1000% as a result of the r/wallstreetbets community since the beginning of 2021. However, these actions of increasing the stock prices are being called pump and dump schemes by many investors and pundits, and the posts on r/wallstreetbets are currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC).

50-50 Senate: The Tie Breaker

JOSHUA ROBERTS / GETTY / KATIE MARTIN / THE ATLANTIC

After Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Rafael Warnock were declared victors of the Georgia Senate runoffs against the Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the Senate was now at 50-50. These two Georgia elections were a spotlight across the country and around the globe as all focus for the future of the United States lied on whether the Democrats or the Republicans held the Senate. As we know by now, the Georgia runoff election ended up with two Democratic senators coming out as victors against Republican incumbents. This gave both the House, the Senate, and the White House on the hands of the Democrat. These Georgia Senate races set cost records with $470 million between Jon Ossoff and David Perdue, and $363 million between Rev. Rafael Warnock and Kelly Loeffler. These two races are the two highest Senate election campaign spending with outside organizations spending about half of them. Outside groups from around the country can spend as much as they like on advertisements as there is no limit on the capacity resulting from the Supreme Court case of Citizens United v Federal Election Commission as long as they do not coordinate with campaigns. After the ruling, the election spending was now protected as a form of free speech which ballooned the spending to unforeseen figures. In total, over $830 million have been spent on the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff elections. This paved the way for the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schemer to assume the role as the Senate Majority Leader which led to Mitch McConnell to assume the role as the Senate Minority Leader after over 5 years as the Senate Majority Leader. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was reelected as the Speaker of the House and now for the first time since 2010, both chambers of the Congress are held by the Democrats. The House is divided with 211 seats for the Republicans and a narrow margin of lead of 221 seats for the Democrats. However, the Senate is divided with 50 seats for the Republicans and 50 seats for the Democrats. Some may ask, “How come the Democrats control the Senate with even numbers on both sides?” The answer to this is the tie breaker, aka the President of the Senate. The Vice President of the United States assumes the role as the tie breaker when the votes on the Senate floor is divided 50-50. As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected as the President and the Vice President, tie breaking vote will most likely go for the Democrats when the vote on the Senate floor is divided into 50-50. As a result of Democrats in the White House, 5O Democrats in the Senate, and Democratic majority in the House, it is now up to the Democrats to bring back home the promises they made to the public and the world.

First Day: Biden Administration Executive Actions

On January 20th, 2021, Joseph R. Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America by Chief Justice John Roberts. The inauguration consisted of 3 previous presidents and Vice President Mike Pence except the 45th president Donald J. Trump. Right after President Biden arrived in the White House, President Biden acted on a total of 17 executive actions. These executive actions include topics such as census, coronavirus, economy, environment, ethics, equity, immigrations, and regulations. President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, halted the process of U.S. leaving the World Health Organization, ended the travel ban placed by the Trump administration on seven mostly-Muslim countries, ended the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, and mandated the mask wearing on federal buildings and lands, and in airplanes and busses that cross state lines. The rejoining of the Paris Climate Accord was long awaited, as the environment is one of the key talking points and an issue on the global scale. As President Trump decided to leave the WHO in the middle of a pandemic, halting the process allows the U.S. to remain and resume their role as the world leader in fighting back against the invisible enemy. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the President remarked, “I am honored to announce that the United States will remain a member of the World Health Organization.” President Biden also repealed the travel ban placed on seven mostly-Muslim countries including Yemen, Nigeria, and Sudan. This comes after the controversial executive action taken by President Trump in January 2020 which was upheld by the Supreme Court. The phrase “Build the Wall” is no longer a reality as President Biden halted the construction of any additional walls on the Southern Border which had replaced over 400 miles of existing walls. President Biden is ending the emergency declaration which the Trump Administration was using to fund the Southern Border, and now, the contact situation is being discussed as there is approximately 200 miles more walls to be built. President Biden has also extended the eviction and foreclosure bans which extents the relief up through March. This action will protect renters and homeowners from being evicted as a result of not being able to pay their rent or loans. However, only the federally-backed mortgages will see relief. Keystone XL pipeline is a controversial pipeline which carries crude oil from Canada into the middle of the U.S. with much environmental impact. The second leg of the project of building a pipeline which connects Alberta, Canada with Nebraska, U.S. has been going on under the Trump Administration after President Trump reversed the Obama Administration’s veto of the project. Now, the Keystone XL pipeline has come full circle and once again has been canceled. Wearing a mask, a controversial topic to many, has been mandated by President Biden on all federal buildings and lands alongside transportations for travels across state lines on airplanes and busses. President Biden said afterwards, “It’s not a political statement, it’s a patriotic act.” While the Democratic lawmakers advise their constituents to wear a mask in public and in buildings, many Republican colleagues fought back on the idea that masks are useless or that not wearing a mask is a patriotic act contrary to the view held by President Biden. With over 4,000 deaths resulting from Covid-19 on January 20th, the Biden Administration faces problems resulting from Covid-19 and the works of his previous administration. President Biden has further signed a total of 30 executive orders and actions on his first three days and it seems the number will further climb up.

Legacy of President Donald J. Trump

On January 20th 2017, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. Under President Trump, US economy saw greater increase compared to his predecessor President Barack H. Obama, stable decline in unemployment rate, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ reaching their record highs, tax cuts through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, repealing regulations, replacing over 400 miles of border with new walls, and a huge upscale in military spending. However, all these achievements have been sidelined as a result of COVID-19 pandemic which struck America hard resulting in the economy, market, and unemployment rate to all crumble. President Trump’s response to the COVID-19 has been both criticized by his own experts, media, and foreign dignitaries. President Trump’s “ban” of all entries from China resulted in a catastrophic failure as relatives and others residing in the US could still enter America or simply travel from Europe. As previously stated, American economy suffered a great loss which saw the GDP to fall 32.9% in an annualized rate, over 30 million Americans receiving an unemployment check, and unemployment skyrocketing to 14.7% in April of 2020. Now, all these losses have been moderately erased as GDP grew back 33.1% in an annualized rate and unemployment rate declined to 6.7%. President Trump’s success before the pandemic has been all wiped out, however, President Trump still succeeded at limiting the number of both legal and illegal immigration, spending over $2.2 trillion in defense funds, and S&P 500 reaching over $3,800 and NASDAQ reaching over $13,200 in 2021. President Trump also held the first ever meeting in the United Nations to stop religious persecution and defend religious freedom around the world. From the point of view of his fellow Republicans and his supporters, he may be regarded as “The Best President,” however Democrats mostly view President Trump’s accomplishments from a pessimistic viewpoint regarding his failures in COVID-19 response, his two impeachments, the “insurrection” on January 6th, and attack on the Black Lives Matter protests. From the point of history, the biggest story of this Trump administration is not the increase in military spending or replacing the walls, it is going to be the stain such as his impeachments and January 6th. President Trump is viewed as a strong ally to conservatism and against the Chinese Communist Party by the look of his tariffs against China in 2018 and the China-United States Trade War, however, economists raise concerns that these actions in reality led to decrease in factory jobs in America. These tariffs had almost no impact on China as they used the rerouting tactics to relocate their factories to other Asian nations or products which would be outside of the tariffs set by the United States. These would be considered non-Chinese goods and would be outside of the remedies of the tariffs set by President Trump. The China-United States Trade War saw almost no benefits for the United States and even his “strong” stance against China would seem to be dubious as President Trump’s legacy. In conclusion, the legacy of President Donald J. Trump seems to be his economic boom and the two impeachments to his name.

Voter Fraud Conspiracies

Right after November 3rd presidential election, President Donald Trump announced his victory over Vice President Joe Biden even though the election hasn’t been called either by the media or the election officials in each state. After days of counting ballots by the state of Michigan, commonwealth of Pennsylvania, state of Wisconsin, state of Georgia, state of Arizona, and state of Nevada, all the states presented their result and confirmed the victory of Joseph R. Biden of the state of Delaware and Kamala D. Harris of the state of California with 306 electoral college ballots. Vice President Biden and Senator Harris won over 270 electoral college votes necessary for the victory, with Donald J. Trump from the state of Florida and Mike Pence from the state of Indiana taking home 232 electoral college ballots. However, even after the victory, Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists have been denying the result of the election by stating numerous voter fraud conspiracies. There conspiracy theorists have also been stating that December 20th will change the result, that January 6th will somehow change the result to President Trump’s lead, and that January 20th will result in the inauguration of President Trump rather than the President-Elect Biden. Couple of those voter fraud conspiracies are related to Dominion Voting System, dead people voting, President Trump’s votes being dumped, Republican poll watcher not being able to monitor the counting of the ballots, and mail-in ballots having mismatched signatures. These conspiracies have been all debunked, however conspiracy theorists are determined that there were mass voter frauds and that President Trump is still their president. These conspiracies have been also perpetuated by the President Trump himself, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and his team. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph William Louis Giuliani has claimed voter fraud in public and on media all while he claimed that these voter fraud lawsuits are not about voter fraud and Democrats stealing the election. As Pennsylvania Federal Judge asked Rudy Giuliani whether this case was on widespread voter fraud or not, Rudy Giuliani responded to the judge, “This is not a fraud case.” In another lawsuit in Pennsylvania Montgomery County, another Trump lawyer Jonathan S. Goldstein responded to the judge who asked whether he is alleging fraud in which Goldstein responded, “Your honor, accusing people of fraud is a pretty big step,” and continued, “And it is rare that I call somebody a liar, and I am not calling the Board of the [Democratic National Committee] or anybody else involved in this a liar. Everybody is coming to this with good faith.” Out of 62 lawsuits filed either by the GOP or Trump’s personal attorneys, they won a single case in Pennsylvania and lost 61 cases. This alone should signify that there was no nationwide voter fraud or any stealing by the Biden Harris campaign or the Democratic National Committee, however conspiracy theorists still continue to blame President-Election Joe Biden and the DNC of their “fraud.” As a result of these mindless conspiracies, the integrity of the American election has been diminished with 38% of Americans lacking confidence in the fairness of the 2020 presidential election according to the survey conducted by the Northeastern University, Harvard University/Harvard Medical School, Rutgers University, and Northwestern University.