'Blaze News Tonight' RECAP: Elon Musk's Trump donation, Secret Service failure, and a Jan. 6 victory

In the wake of Trump’s near-assassinaton, Elon Musk has not only endorsed Donald Trump for president but has also pledged $45 million a month to a Trump-affiliated PAC, likely making him an even bigger target for the left. Corrupt Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) has been convicted on 16 counts, leading several Democrat senators to call for his resignation, even threatening to expel him if he refuses to step down. Next, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) gives her thoughts in an exclusive interview on Trump’s decision to appoint JD Vance as his running mate, as well as Biden’s calls for unity. Next, former Navy SEAL and security expert Erik Prince joins the show to shed light on the newly surfaced Iranian assassination plot, as well as the failure of the Secret Service not only at the rally but in general. However, there is a hopeful development in one January 6 case. A federal judge ordered the release of January 6 prisoner John Strand. Blaze News investigative journalist Steve Baker calls in to discuss the ruling.

Elon Musk Goes Full MAGA with Monthly $45M Trump Super PAC Pledge | Guest: Erik Prince | 7/16/24www.youtube.com

Elon gets super political in super PAC donation

Senior politics editor and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media Christopher Bedford joins Jill and the panel on “Blaze News Tonight” from day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to discuss Elon Musk’s recent political moves and Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez’s conviction.

In regard to Musk’s donation pledge, Bedford says, “My gosh, he’s brave.”

Not only did Musk pledge “$45 million a month, a staggering amount of money,” to a Trump super PAC, but he also expressed his disapproval of Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bill that permits children to transition behind their parents’ backs by vowing to “move his space company to Texas.”

Further, Democrat Senator Bob Menendez, who Bedford says is “one of the more openly corrupt senators” and “an incredibly arrogant politician,” has been convicted on “federal corruption charges.”

Even “the Democrats just want him to go away,” says Bedford.

Further, Julio Rosas, Blaze Media’s national correspondent, who is also attending the RNC convention, spoke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) about her thoughts regarding Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance.

“It’s the direction I want the party to go in, and that’s going to be America first,” Greene said of Vance.

To Biden’s calls for “unity,” Greene was candid: “If Joe Biden and the Democrats were serious about unity, he would completely stop the weaponized Department of Justice that he has enabled, he would reel back Merrick Garland, he would drop all the charges against President Trump, [and] he would release political prisoners who are being held in prison for years now for protesting election fraud.”

Secret Service failure and Kimberly Cheatle’s refusal to step down

The Secret Service is on high alert after reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump have surfaced. Former Navy SEAL and security expert Erik Prince joins the show to shed light on the threat.

“I think this is a desperate effort to deflect from a completely botched job of protecting the leading Republican candidate and front-runner for the next presidency,” Prince tells Jill, adding that he doesn’t give the threat “a whole lot of credibility.”

“We suffer from a from a whole collection of federal agencies that are bloated, obese, unaccountable, and ineffective, and we continue to steer away from a merit-based, execution-based excellent society to our detriment,” he continues, noting that had Trump been killed, “we could have literally torn the country asunder.”

When Prince points to the lack of merit in our federal agencies, he is, at least in part, referring to Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle’s DEI initiative to ensure 30% of the force is made up of women.

Even though Cheatle has technically “[taken] responsibility” for Trump’s near-assassination, she has nonetheless refused to step down from her position.

While the FBI has sworn to investigate Saturday’s unfortunate events, Jill questions the authenticity of their claims, given “the way that the federal agencies have handled Donald Trump-related issues in the past.”

Prince agrees, stating he has “zero confidence in the federal government being able to investigate itself.”

A January 6 victory

The tides have turned for one January 6 defendant, John Strand, who was ordered to be released by a federal judge this July.

Blaze News investigative journalist and fellow January 6 victim Steve Baker joins the show to explain the details of Strand’s case. Steve tells Jill and the panel that Strand is one of the more “high-profile cases” of all the January 6 defendants.

Strand attended the Capitol on January 6 because he was the friend and bodyguard of Dr. Simone Gold, who was deplatformed during the height of COVID for recommending “alternate therapies that were not part of the approved narrative from the administration.”

Dr. Gold was scheduled to speak at the Capitol that day — an event that was “legally permitted.” When the Oathkeepers and Strand escorted Dr. Gold to her speaking location, however, the chaos had already begun.

“John Strand and Simone Gold did not participate in violence; they did not participate in breaching the Capitol building whatsoever,” says Baker, “but when the doors opened, they, like so many hundreds and even thousands of others, did in fact go inside peacefully, and she actually decided to deliver her prepared remarks there in the Rotunda.”

After Dr. Gold delivered her speech, she and Strand “peacefully left.” However, both were “arrested very early on” and were “charged not only with a handful of misdemeanors,” but also with the “infamous 1512 obstruction of an official preceding felony, which carried up to 20 years potential imprisonment.”

While Gold ended up “taking a plea deal" involving “60 days in prison,” Strand decided that “he was going to be a warrior” and fight the charges. In the end, he was sentenced to “32 months in prison.”

“They committed exactly the same crimes, but because he wasted the government's time and he put them through the hassle of having to prepare for a trial … Simone got two months in prison and he got 32 months in prison,” says Baker.

However, the Supreme Court’s “overturning of 1512" led to Strand’s release.