‘It’s a silly question. Do I trust the Taliban?’: Quotes of the week

“When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they’re referring to is for white people. This land is stolen land and Black people still aren’t free.”
– Rep. Cory Bush, a Missouri Democrat, in Fourth of July tweet.

TRUMP CALLS TERRY MCAULIFFE A ‘POLITICAL HACK’ AS HE RAILS AGAINST CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN VIRGINIA

“I feel free lol”
– Pro Bowl Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in response to Bush’s tweet.

“July 4th… & so, the Declaration of Independence says all men are created equal. Equal to what? What men? Only white men? Isn’t it something that they wrote this in 1776 when African Americans were enslaved? They weren’t thinking about us then, but we’re thinking about us now!”
– Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, in a Fourth of July tweet.

“To freedom…of shooting!”
– Xinhua News, a Chinese state-affiliated media outlet, in a cartoon appearing to mock Americans for the 2nd Amendment.

“How many deaths must the world suffer before a baby learns to share?”
– Another cartoon from Xinhua News mocking the United States, this time for its vaccines. Many countries that primarily administered China’s Sinovac vaccine to their citizens have seen surges in COVID-19 cases.

“6 months ago today I wore this blue suit as I cleaned the Capitol after the insurrection, now I just donated it to the Smithsonian.”
– Rep. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said on Twitter. Kim donated the suit jacket he wore during the Jan. 6 insurrection to the Smithsonian Institute Tuesday.

“The president will outline five areas his team is focused on to get more Americans vaccinated. One: targeted community-by-community, door-to-door outreach to get remaining Americans vaccinated by ensuring they have the information they need on how both safe and accessible the vaccine is.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki outlining President Joe Biden’s plan to increase vaccination rates after failing to reach his 70% July 4 vaccination goal.

“Here’s my vision. It just came to me. Picture the border. We build a wall. We build a tall, big, a beautiful wall, and we have the wall [that] goes for miles, and we have a little gold leaf up at the top of the wall, [a] little, gold, shiny leaf, and then we put a big name across the wall, and the name is five letters. Do you know the name? I can see it. Can you see it? ‘C-U-O-M-O.’ And it’s a magic wall. People can pass, but illegal guns cannot pass. It’s a magic wall. That’s what we need here in New York, and that’s what we have needed.”
– New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appearing to mock former President Donald Trump in a press conference in which he announced the declaration of a disaster emergency on gun violence.

“We want to do with gun violence what we just did with COVID.”
– Gov. Andrew Cuomo at his press conference. More than 53,700 people have died of COVID-19 in the state of New York since the beginning of the pandemic.

“The laptop from hell. You look at that thing, there is more criminal activity on that laptop than Al Capone had if he ever had a laptop.”
– Former President Donald Trump referring to Hunter Biden’s laptop at a press conference Wednesday.

“That was an unfortunate event. I say, though, however, people are being treated unbelievably unfairly when you look at people in prison, and nothing happens to antifa, and they burned down cities and killed people. There were no guns in the Capitol except for the gun that killed Ashli Babbitt.”
– Trump at his press conference discussing the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“The message to the people of Haiti is this is a tragic tragedy.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki discussing the assassination of Haitian President Jovenal Moise.

“The federal government has spent trillions of dollars to keep Americans alive during this pandemic. So it is absolutely the government’s business.”
– Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on CNN, saying it is the government’s business to know who is vaccinated in America.

“We’re not going to have a ‘mission accomplished’ moment in this regard.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki at a press conference on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

“It’s a 20-year war that has not been won militarily.”
– Psaki on the military withdrawal press conference.

“Is that a serious question? No, I do not. No, I do not trust the Taliban. It’s a silly question, do I trust the Taliban? No, but I trust the capacity of the Afghan military who is better trained, better equipped, and more competent in terms of conducting war.”
– President Joe Biden in response to a question from a reporter asking if he trusts the Taliban.

“Because we don’t know who is paying for this art and we don’t know for sure that [Hunter Biden] knows, we have no way of monitoring whether people are buying access to the White House … What these people are paying for is Hunter Biden’s last name.”
– Walter Shaub, who led the Office of Government Ethics under former President Barack Obama, on plans for Hunter Biden to sell artwork to anonymous buyers.

“After careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards. Of course, he has the right to pursue an artistic career just like any child of a president.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki, in response to the Hunter Biden art criticism.

“I did hear it was Steve Holland’s 29th birthday, so happy 29th birthday. I am a terrible singer, but I am willing to lead a song here if you are all game. Who’s with me? Someone here has a good voice.”
– Psaki at the beginning of Thursday’s press briefing. She went on to lead the press corps in singing happy birthday to Steve Holland of Reuters.

“Is today a good day to ask for an interview with the president?”
– Holland, after being wished a happy birthday by Psaki.

“When I was a child, I dreamed about becoming a lawyer … Fighting for the little guy against the Goliaths. For years, I did just that, but then I lost my way. I betrayed my own values, my friends, my family, and myself. I betrayed my profession. I’ve learned that all the fame, notoriety, and money in the world is meaningless. TV and Twitter, Your Honor, mean nothing. Everyone wants to ride in the limo with you, but few want to ride with you on the bus.”
– Former attorney for Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, crying at his sentencing hearing for extorting Nike.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“‘The Green New Deal, which is a blueprint to create millions of good jobs rebuilding infrastructure to stem climate change & protect vulnerable communities, is unrealistic.’ […] ‘Instead we will do the adult thing, which is take orders from fossil fuel execs &make you swim to work.'”
– Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, responding to a video of a woman wading through murky waters in an NYC subway station following flash floods.