Today in Politics, Bulletin 126. 5/8/25

… Cardinal Robert Prevost is now the first American Pope, and he has posted articles critical of both Trump and JD Vance in recent years. Prevost shared an article in February titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,” challenging Vance's interpretation of Christian teachings to justify MAGA's restrictive immigration policies.

… In April 2025, Prevost retweeted a post highlighting Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar's condemnation of the deportation of a US resident, questioning, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?”

… He also retweeted Sen. Chris Murphy’s post calling for stricter gun control laws, made a post calling for people to pray for George Floyd, and another calling for an end to the death penalty.

… Sean Davis, CEO of The Federalist: “The newly selected pope trashed Trump, trashed Vance, trashed border enforcement, endorsed DREAMer-style illegal immigration, repeatedly praised and honored George Floyd, and endorsed a Democrat senator’s call for more gun control.”

… MAGA activist Laura Loomer: “MARXIST POPE!”

… MAGA activist Catturd: “This is so bad.”

… Charlie Kirk: “There is cause for great concern.”

… Fox host Larry Kudlow: “One of the things I love most about Trump is he's putting religion back into play. He's putting God back into play. There's a whole religious revival going on which I think it's authentically being sponsored by President Trump. I just love that.”

… Trump made a post to commemorate Victory Day in Europe. Except he posted the flag raising on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in the Pacific, which happened in February 1945.

… In the last 24 hours, Trump has fired his FEMA Director, Surgeon General, and pulled the nomination of DC US Attorney Ed Martin today, as the Trump admin continues to be in complete disarray.

… Politico reported that FEMA Dir Cameron Hamilton was fired by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem one day after he testified to a House Appropriations subcommittee: “I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate FEMA.”

… It is now 3 weeks before the start of hurricane season.

… Literally the exact time that Noem was firing Hamilton and he was being escorted out of the building, Rep. Mark Green was posting this: “Cameron Hamilton’s service at the helm of FEMA has been nothing short of amazing. Since taking the helm at FEMA, thousands of Americans have seen FEMA’s promises fulfilled, from housing to disaster relief. President Trump made the right choice!”

… I guess nobody told him.

… Trump also withdrew the nomination of Ed Martin for DC US Attorney: "I have to be straight. I was disappointed. A lot of people were disappointed, but that's the way it works. Sometimes, that's the way it works. And he wasn't rejected, but we felt it would be very it would be hard. And we have somebody else that we'll be announcing over the next two days.”

… Then, as Martin was doing an interview with Newsmax about it outside his office this afternoon, a woman walked by, cursed at him, and then spit on him. Tough day.

… ABC then reported that the frontrunner to replace Martin as US Attorney is Fox host Jeanine Pirro. Pirro did not appear for her regular spot on The Five tonight, which seems to indicate something is happening.

… Trump’s post firing his Surgeon General: “I am pleased to announce that Dr. Casey Means, will be nominated as our next Surgeon General. Casey has impeccable “MAHA” credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of HHS, RFK Jr. Secretary Kennedy looks forward to working with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in another capacity at HHS.”

… MSNBC on the new nominee: “While US surgeons general tend to have extensive experience in medicine and public health, Means was described as a ‘wellness influencer’ who dropped out of her surgical residency program and has no experience in public health admin. The same report noted that Means has supplemented her income by selling ‘dietary supplements, creams, teas and other products sponsored on her social media accounts.’ Means’ political profile received a significant boost after she taped interviews with Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.”

… The Independent: “President Trump has selected a conspiracy theorist and self-styled Make America Healthy Again ‘wellness influencer’ who is not currently licensed to practice medicine to be the nation’s next Surgeon General.”

… According to a newsletter than Means publishes, she believes in using spiritual mediums, praying to ancestor shrines, doing full moon ceremonies to amplify her dreams, asking the trees in the forest to deliver advice on men, and dabbles in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

… Trump was asked about his latest nominee. REPORTER: You just announced a new nominee for US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor? TRUMP: Because Bobby thought she was fantastic. I don't know her.”

… RFK Jr’s former running mate Nicole Shanahan isn’t happy with the pick: “Doesn't make any sense. I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that Means would not be working under HHS or in an appointment. I don't know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on. It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn't President Trump). There is something very artificial and aggressive about her, almost like she was bred and raised a Manchurian asset.”

… Lots of MAGA influencers are not happy with Means. Loomer: “A TOTAL CRISIS! It’s crazy how many Republicans make excuses for some of the absolute whack jobs RFK Jr has brought into the Trump admin. Some of these people are full blown Marxists. I will be doing my own personal vet of HHS Marxists to show people who has infiltrated MAGA under the guise of MAHA. It’s incredibly disturbing. And mark my word it’s going to backfire miraculously. You’ll see.”

… She wasn’t done: “This is arguably Witch Craft. I want to know which one of President Trump’s geniuses chose a woman who literally talks to trees and spiritual mediums and who doesn’t even have an active medical license to be the US Surgeon General. I would call her a Witch Doctor, but she doesn’t even have a valid active medical license. You have no idea how many texts I have received from doctors who are members of Mar a Lago and Bedminster who are like WTF IS THIS. This is honestly insane. I do not believe for one second that Donald Trump made this decision. I refuse to believe it.”

… FBI Director Kash Patel showed up to testify today at a hearing on the FBI budget, and said he still doesn’t have one done yet. Sen Patty Murray: It was due last week. By law. PATEL: I understand. MURRAY: You're not gonna follow the law? And you have no timeline? PATEL: No.”

… Patel was also asked when he will release the Epstein files: “In the near future.”

… Trump attempted to make a big deal about a trade agreement with the UK in the Oval Office today, but with all things Trump you have to wait a bit for the details. Bloomberg: “UK providing a polite reality check to Trump’s posts about a ‘full and comprehensive’ deal. UK-US deal will set out general terms of agreement. Will set framework for further negotiations. Focused on specific sectors, not a traditional free trade agreement.”

… UK official: “Despite Trump’s language, any agreement is likely to be limited. The UK-US deal has never been billed as a full-scale free trade pact, which typically take years to negotiate.”

… Economist Justin Wolfers: “It’s a framework, not a deal. The UK is our 11th largest trading partner. The average tariff the UK charges countries around the world is 1%. so the best we can do is knock the UK from 1% down to 0, and it’s already clear we didn’t get them down to 0. And along the way, Trump is imposed a 10% tariff on the UK making it harder for Americans to do business with trading partners in the UK. It’s a photo op with very little macroeconomic significance.”

Today was a crazy news day with a lot of twists and turns, and I did my best to keep up. There was no Bulletin yesterday since I did my podcast Uncovered where we do a deep dive into the Top 10 stories of they day. If you missed it and wanted to check it out, link is here.

… Brendan Duke, Center on Budget: “The Liberation Day reciprocal tariff on UK imports was 10% and it's now going to be 10%. Art of the Deal folks. Populism is now reducing tariffs on British steel and aluminum imports in exchange for the UK lowering taxes on Google and Facebook.”

… Bloomberg reported that the EU is planning to target US cars, planes and alcohol