RINGSIDE POLITICS – APRIL 20, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) The White House backtracked after President Joe Biden referred to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as a “crisis” over the weekend, arguing Monday he meant the conditions in Central America that have led more people to flee.

Biden used the word “crisis” – a descriptor his administration has avoided since taking office – on Saturday after a round of golf in Wilmington, Delaware, while speaking to reporters. He was explaining why he initially indicated Friday he would keep a Trump-era cap on refugees in place, only to announce plans to increase the number hours later.

“We’re gonna increase the numbers,” Biden said. “The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people and we couldn’t do two things at once. And now we’re going to increase the numbers.”

2) Former pipeline workers are still struggling to find jobs after being laid-off in January as a result of President Joe Biden’s decision to eliminate the Keystone XL Pipeline, according to a report from Fox News.

Many of them said they’re still unemployed and are at risk of losing their livelihoods at the hand of Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda.

“I lost probably 60 to 80 grand not being able to go on that job,” said one pipeline worker. “I mean that’s my livelihood. If I’m not off working I’m barely scraping by. I’ve got two kids I’m having to support. What am I supposed to do there?”

President Biden promised to deliver new green energy jobs that would replace the oil and gas jobs terminated under his administration, but pipeliners looking for work say those opportunities are non-existent.

3) U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged with pro-Trump rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, died of natural causes the day after the attack, Washington, D.C.’s chief medical examiner announced Monday.

Sicknick died after suffering strokes, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Francisco Diaz, said in a report. In an interview, Diaz told The Washington Post, which first reported on the determination, that Sicknick suffered two strokes.

Sicknick, 42, was sprayed with a chemical substance outside the Capitol at around 2:20 p.m. ET on Jan. 6, the report said.

He did not suffer an allergic reaction to the chemical irritants dispensed by rioters, Diaz told the Post, nor was there evidence of internal or external injuries.

At approximately 10 p.m., Sicknick collapsed at the Capitol and was transported to a local hospital. He died nearly 24 hours later.

4) Two nights before the jury began deliberating in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, US Rep. Maxine Waters visited Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and called on protesters to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” if there is no guilty verdict.

On Monday, the fired Minneapolis police officer’s defense cited those words to call for a mistrial.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson said that Waters’ comments over the weekend, paired with recent Chauvin content in fictional TV shows, furthered his earlier argument that the judge should have sequestered the jury and ordered them to avoid all media throughout the trial.

Today’s Guests:

1) Jason Snead, Executive Director; Honest Elections Project