This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) embarked on a controversial trip to Taiwan, President Joe Biden announced the death of a top terrorist leader, and Washington reacted to an expansive spending proposal unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
In addition, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones learned his fate in a defamation trial brought by the parents of a Sandy Hook victim, and a prominent Indiana congresswoman was killed in a tragic car crash. Here are the quotes of the week.
“We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”
— President Joe Biden announces that the U.S. killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri, one of the masterminds behind 9/11, in a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.
“In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) accelerating aggression, our congressional delegation’s visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom.”
— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) defends her visit to Taiwan amid mounting Chinese threats over her controversial trip.
“We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have traveled to Taiwan. This travel is consistent with the United States’ One China policy to which we are committed.”
— Underscoring Washington’s bipartisan support for Taiwan, 26 Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) released a statement supporting Pelosi’s trip to the democratic island.
“We want to emphasize once again that we are absolutely in solidarity with China. Its attitude towards the problem is understandable and absolutely justified.”
— Vladimir Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declares Russia’s “solidarity” with China over Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, calling the House speaker’s trip to the island “pure provocation.”
“We have agreed to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy in the Senate’s budget reconciliation legislation. Subject to the Parliamentarian’s review, I’ll move forward.”
— Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), a key centrist holdout on a sweeping Democratic spending bill brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), announces her support for the legislation.
“This is a fraud. It’s a lie. It’s going to make every problem worse.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) lambastes the Schumer-Manchin spending deal in a Fox News interview on Friday, arguing claims that it will reduce inflation are “about as accurate as saying the border’s secure and the Taliban didn’t know Zawahiri was in Kabul.”
“Jackie and I shared a deep and abiding friendship and words will never be able to do justice to this heartbreaking loss. I will miss her always. We spoke every day, and often finished each other’s sentences. I am grateful to have spent such meaningful time with her.”
— Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) remembers Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), her “closest friend” who was killed in a car crash along with three other people on Wednesday.
“We’ll be pursuing that.”
— Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. will engage with Russia on a potential prisoner exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony by a Russian court on Thursday. She was arrested in February after vaping canisters that contained cannabis oil were found in her possession.
“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
— Former President Donald Trump splits his endorsement between two candidates named Eric ahead of Missouri’s Republican Senate primary. Eric Schmitt, the state’s attorney general, went on to win the race.
“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to stay in power after voters rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big.”
— Former Vice President Dick Cheney, the father of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), slams Trump as a “threat to our republic” in a campaign ad for his daughter.
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“It’s 100% real.”
— During testimony at his defamation trial, InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones admits the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that claimed 26 victims actually happened despite alleging in 2017 that it was “completely fake” and a “giant hoax.” Jones was later ordered to pay $4.1 million to the plaintiffs in the case.
“If I was mistaken, I was mistaken, but you’ve got the messages right there. … I’m not a tech guy. I told you I gave, in my testimony, the phone to the lawyers before or whatever, and so you got my phone, but we didn’t give it to you.”
— Jones defends himself against accusations of perjury at his defamation trial after his lawyers accidentally gave attorneys for the parents of a Sandy Hook victim a digital copy of his phone records.
“There’s five entities that really control media, academia, and everything else. … It’s those five evil entities — you can always tell when they’re active and what they’re doing. It goes back to 1918 at the Frankfurt Institute, where the concept was fascism [and] Marxism.”
— In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, disgraced ex-Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter claims that “five evil entities” control America.
