Brian Rapp

Former Professional Baseball Player | @bluejays | @Twins | @BCbirdball | @delbarton | @IMGabaseball

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

What a whirlwind this past year has been. I want to thank everyone that reached out over the last 72 hours. I couldn’t be more excited to be back and now playing for the Toronto Blue Jays Organization. 🇨🇦

[Collin Rugg @CollinRugg]

NEW: CNBC host verbally stunned after billionaire Howard Lutnick explains how Trump's tariffs will be used as a negotiation tactic to make the U.S. a "bunch of money."

Lutnick shot down the media narrative that tariffs would increase inflation.

"It's a bargaining chip. We can't sell a Ford or GM in Europe. You go to Europe, you can't sell a Ford..."

"They're gonna come and negotiate and their tariffs are gonna come down. And finally, Ford and General Motors are gonna be able to sell in these places. How's that sound?"

"This is just negotiating strategically."

"When you're running for office, you make broad statements so people understand you. Tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use."

"Use tariffs to build in America. If we want to make it in America, tariff it... we need to protect the American worker."

"So which is it? Do we make a lot of money on tariffs or do we bring change behavior productivity here? And we drive up our workers here. So it's a win-win scenario."

Becky Quick: "This is the best explanation I've heard."

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The rise in prices (inflation) is caused by government overspending, which increases the amount of money faster than the increase in goods & services output.

That is the vast majority of the problem.

Inflation was particularly bad during the Covid years, as there was massive government spending, despite productivity plunging, as people were forced to stay home.

This is further exacerbated by excess regulation, which prevents the market from solving an unmet need (eg housing in high-demand areas).

Occasionally, there is monopolistic behavior by companies, but this is relatively rare and usually only possible if those companies have gained control of their industry regulator. Again, a government, not private sector, problem.

[Vivek Ramaswamy @VivekGRamaswamy]

Walz creates risks for both sides. The biggest risk for Democrats is they lose centrist voters over his radical policies. The biggest risk for Republicans is we get distracted by his lunacy & forget to define what we stand FOR: seal the border, end rampant crime, grow the economy, stay out of WW3, and revive national pride.

[David Marcus @davidmarcus]

I am crossing the Rubicon and backing the Republican Party and President Trump.

Many — including a former version of myself — get trapped in a mental framework that becomes their identity and prevents them from radically evolving their thinking with new facts and information. I finally broke free from it.

My journey has been a gradual political 180 from where I stood in every previous election. It has been an eye-opening process of disenchantment, zero-basing lifelong beliefs, and rebuilding from there.

In 2017, a good friend enlisted me to pitch the DNC to raise $100M from Silicon Valley founders and executives. The aim was to use these funds and know-how to build a CRM and tech platform to prevent a repeat of Hillary Clinton’s inadequate, outdated 2016 campaign. We met with DNC leadership, who told us we could raise that money, but it would have to go to the general fund; a single-digit percentage would then be allocated to tech. In the wake of one of their most shocking failures, they didn’t want the help.

The next series of realizations began in 2019 while I was at Meta, right after we announced the Libra white paper. I testified before the Senate and the House and subsequently spent significant time in DC, engaging with lawmakers, cabinet members, regulators, and two White House administrations. At the time, I still believed the mainstream idea that Democrats were all about serving the People. However, I was shocked to learn that, for the most part, Republicans cared more deeply about their constituents, while Democrats, in my experience, cared more about government power and control. This is my observation on balance, with many stories to back it up. I also found that more Republicans wanted to understand our project’s goals and took the time to learn about the risks of censoring payments and controlling the network. I found myself remarkably aligned with them.

Then COVID came, revealing more. While I don’t subscribe to the most malicious vaccine conspiracy theories, I do take offense at the censorship machine put in place to hide the origin of the virus from the NIH-funded Wuhan lab and all dissenting voices on vaccinations and lockdowns. At that time, I fully appreciated why Republicans value freedom of speech and preventing censorship.

This trend of spinning and manufacturing a parallel reality to serve the Dem agenda, solidified by complicit mainstream media, hit home with the Hunter Biden laptop story, the coordinated vilification of President Trump and his followers, and President Biden’s cognitive decline — depriving voters of a voice in a proper primary. These examples displayed the hubris of the current Dem leadership. You must think the American people are fools to believe the spin on these issues. I despise this elite vs. general population ideology viscerally.

This version of the Democratic Party is sidelining moderates and centrists and has adopted an increasingly leftist ideology. This drift to the left has dictated policies from which I’ve found myself estranged.

On the domestic front, there has been a total departure from the core American value system of meritocracy, an extreme and weaponized DEI agenda, an open door to massive illegal immigration, and a once-fringe narrative, now mainstream within the party, of vilifying success. This shift is also causing us to fall behind due to an anti-innovation regulatory climate, notably on crypto and soon AI — two non-linear technological breakthroughs that will likely determine tomorrow’s leading countries.

On foreign policy, the administration is exacerbating tensions with Russia through an aggressive NATO expansion narrative focused on Ukraine and prolonging an unwinnable war. This is costing American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, the world hundreds of thousands of lives, depleting the U.S. military arsenal and risking World War III. On Iran, this administration is continuing a misguided Obama-era plan to bring Iran closer to the West by unfreezing Trump-era sanctions, thus giving the Mollahs’ regime the ability to fund terrorism and pursue its anti-America, anti-Israel, and anti-Jewish agenda. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was also handled disastrously. We’re leaving a door open for China to invade Taiwan by coming across as weak. Most importantly to me, concerning Israel, the administration is enabling Iran to fund Hamas and Hezbollah, restraining Israel in its fight against its enemies, thus prolonging another conflict, which is costing more lives on both sides and allowing unprecedented levels of antisemitism to rise at home.

I believe we need a President who is unequivocally pro: America, the Constitution, business, Bitcoin/crypto, innovation, Israel, small government, legal immigration, free speech, meritocracy, and common sense — and anti: regulatory proliferation, illegal immigration, unjust wars, Iran’s current regime, and domestic groups that oppose American values. These issues are central to President Trump’s platform.

Naturally, I disagree with President Trump and the GOP on some issues, particularly women’s reproductive rights. While I’ve come to learn that extreme views exist in both parties, I firmly believe that women should have the unalienable right to make their own decisions on this polarizing topic. President Trump confirmed he was against a national abortion ban and supported the Supreme Court’s decision on maintaining access to mifepristone, which was reassuring and a sign that the party was moving closer to the center.

It’s impossible to close this post without mentioning President Trump’s recent assassination attempt. The courage and resolve he displayed seconds after being hit by a bullet was awe-inspiring for his followers and detractors alike. This was a man, however imperfect, who, at that moment, incarnated the American spirit in the most vivid way, starting to bring a split nation together.

Some claim that reelecting President Trump will bring our democracy to its knees. However, the alternative — having unelected individuals with this much power and no accountability run our government coupled with four more years of bad policies at home and abroad — might present a more significant threat. Neither will likely change in a Harris administration and could potentially worsen.

In this pivotal moment, confronted with the choices we have, I am endorsing and supporting a return to a Republican administration in 2025.

[Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 @Bubblebathgirl]

Molly Jong-Fast says JD Vance only wants “white children.”

Vance has an Indian-American wife and three biracial children.

[DC_Draino @DC_Draino]

Trump releases 1st major campaign ad after picking JD Vance for VP

It will give you chills

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

–––––––
TRUMP
VANCE
–––––––

Resounds with victory

[Inverse Cramer @CramerTracker]

Thank God Elon bought Twitter

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

Where the hell is Biden?

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery

[David Sacks @DavidSacks]

Why I’m Backing President Trump

As many press accounts have reported, I’m hosting a fundraising event for President Donald J. Trump at my home in San Francisco this evening.

Over the last couple of years, I have hosted events for presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as several Congressional figures in both major parties. I give to many, but endorse few.

But today I am giving my endorsement to our 45th President, Donald J. Trump, to be our 47th President. My reasons rest on four main issues that I think are vital to American prosperity, security, and stability – issues where the Biden administration has veered badly off course and where I believe President Trump can lead us back.

1. The Economy

President Biden took over an economy that was already recovering strongly from the Covid-induced shock of Q2 2020. Demand had roared back, and employment had recovered. But he chose to keep priming the pump with unnecessary Covid stimulus – almost $2 trillion of it, passed on a straight party-line vote in March of 2021, with trillions more to follow for “infrastructure,” green energy, and “inflation reduction.”

Biden did this despite early warnings from former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that it could lead to inflation. When the inflation came, the Biden administration dismissed it as “transitory.” In fact, inflation still remains persistently high even after the fastest interest-rate tightening cycle in memory.

As a result of Biden’s inflation, average Americans have lost roughly a fifth of their purchasing power over the last few years. Moreover, any American who needs a mortgage, car loan, or credit card debt faces much higher interest costs, which further constrain their purchasing power.

It’s no different for our federal government, which now must devote over a trillion dollars annually to interest on its $34 trillion debt, a massive sum that’s been growing by a trillion dollars every hundred days. This trajectory is unsustainable, yet Biden’s 2025 budget calls for even higher spending.

Growth has already slowed from 3.4 percent in the last quarter of 2023 to an anemic 1.3 percent in the first quarter of this year. We can’t afford another four years of Bidenomics.

2. Foreign Policy / Ukraine War

President Trump left office with ISIS defeated, the Abraham Accords signed, and no new wars raging on the global stage. Three and a half years later, the world is on fire. President Biden has made several strategic choices that have contributed to this situation.

In his first year in office, Biden unnecessarily alienated the Saudis before realizing that they are an indispensable partner in the Middle East. He also presided over a chaotic withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan (right policy, abysmal execution).

But his biggest blunder by far has been in Ukraine. His administration immediately began pushing for Ukraine’s admission to NATO, despite no unanimity among the existing NATO members that such a move was a good idea. When this predictably antagonized the Russians, the Biden administration doubled down at every turn, insisting that “NATO’s door is open, and will remain open” with respect to Ukraine. Biden himself baited Russia when he said he didn’t “accept anybody’s red lines.”

After the invasion, there was still a chance to stop the war in its early weeks before much loss of life and destruction had occurred. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators had signed a draft agreement in Istanbul that would have seen Russia retreat to its pre-invasion borders in exchange for Ukrainian neutrality. But the Biden administration rejected that deal as well as General Milley’s advice to seek a diplomatic solution in November 2022.

As the war of attrition grinds on, the Ukrainians face ever-mounting casualties and infrastructure damage. Still, President Biden keeps allowing the conflict to escalate and risk World War III. Every escalation that Biden initially resisted – Abrams tanks, F-16’s, ATACMs, allowing Ukraine to hit targets in Russia – he has eventually acquiesced to. There is just one more escalation to go: NATO troops on the ground fighting Russia directly. And our European allies like Emmanuel Macron are already spoiling for exactly this scenario.

With Biden, our choices are limited to fighting the proxy war to the last Ukrainian, or fighting Russia ourselves. President Trump has said he wants the dying in Ukraine to stop, and that he will seek to end the war through a negotiated settlement. Ukraine will no longer be able to get the deal we talked them out of in April 2022, but we can still save Ukraine as an independent nation and avert world war.

3. The Border

As an immigrant to the United States myself, I certainly believe in America’s history of strengthening its ranks by welcoming talented people from other nations seeking freedom and opportunity. But that promise requires an orderly process of legal immigration that emphasizes skills and the principles of American citizenship. This was the preferred policy under President Trump.

What Biden ushered in was a de facto open border policy. On his first day in office, he repealed President Trump’s executive orders restricting illegal immigration and stopped construction of a border wall, selling off parts of it for scrap metal. This quickly resulted in a massive spike in illegal border crossings and a chaotic and dangerous situation on our southern border.

President Biden (along with the hapless Kamala Harris and the malevolent Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas) responded to growing concerns by gaslighting the American public, saying there was no problem at the border despite constant videos of masses of people sprinting across it.

When the situation became too dire to ignore or deny, Biden claimed he didn’t have the executive authority to do anything about it and blamed Republicans for not sending him legislation. But this week, facing abysmal polling numbers on this issue, Biden suddenly discovered he has executive authority after all. The order he signed is a tepid, too little-too late effort to slow the tidal wave of illegal immigration in time for the election. But Biden has shown he is not serious on this issue. If he wins a second term, the open border policy will resume, and tens of millions more illegals will stream across the border.

4. Lawfare

A bedrock of the political stability we’ve enjoyed in America over the last 250 years is that we don’t accept attempts to jail political opponents in order to win an election. Yet Biden has pushed for selective and unprecedented prosecutions of his once and future opponent from the moment he assumed office.

Merrick Garland took a long look at the January 6 situation and didn’t see a path to prosecute Trump, even after a one-sided Congressional committee sent a highly-prejudiced referral to his Justice Department. Press stories then appeared describing Biden’s frustration with Garland’s reticence. The result was Jack Smith at the federal level and Alvin Bragg and Fani Willis at the state level. All have pursued cases based on novel legal theories heretofore unseen and designed to get Trump. In the NY case, Bragg resurrected a dead book-keeping misdemeanor into 34 felonies by claiming it was in the service of a second crime that he never defined and that the judge never insisted the jury unanimously agree on.

My immigration to this country as a young boy happened because my parents disagreed with the political system of their home country. That government sought to solve its political disagreements by imprisoning its political enemies. What a sad irony that the lawfare we escaped has now reared its ugly head in America of all places.

President Biden keeps insisting that a return of President Trump to the White House threatens democracy. But his administration is the one that has colluded with tech platforms to censor the Internet, used the intelligence community to cover up his son Hunter’s laptop, and pursued elective prosecutions against his political opponents.

Conclusion: The A/B Test

The voters have experienced four years of President Trump and four years of President Biden. In tech, we call this an A/B test. With respect to economic policy, foreign policy, border policy, and legal fairness, Trump performed better. He is the President who deserves a second term.

[Daniel Turner @DanielTurnerPTF]

During Joe Biden's 2022 State of the Union address, he promised to cut energy costs by an average of $500.

Here are the results of Biden's energy policies:

• Gas prices have increased by 40%
• Electricity costs have risen by 28.6%
• Energy costs have increased by $3,626

[MJTruthUltra @MJTruthUltra]

💥HOLY SHIZZLES💥

Trump Posted this Video

WATCH and I dare you tell me he ain’t sending everybody a message..

• JFK ASSASSINATION
• EPSTEIN
• Sun Tzu
• Big Mike/Obama/Killary
• George Soros
• WEF & Klause Schwab

ITS SO FUCKING ON!!!

Drop a . If you’re ready to rock!!!!

https://t.co/aR9YbgKWy9

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

@TwinsPlayerDev @BrDink @BaseballAmerica @CRKernels Awesome leader and overall great human being. I loved playing for Dink!
Congratulations @BrDink well deserved!!

[New York Yankees @Yankees]

Certified Gold 🌟

Congrats on your 1st @RawlingsSports Gold Glove, @Volpe_Anthony!

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

@LenMacPT I was waiting for the great Len analysis on this!!!

[New York Yankees @Yankees]

A Couple of Shortstops.

@Volpe_Anthony x @derekjeter

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

Just the beginning !! @Volpe_Anthony proud of you brother!

[New York Yankees @Yankees]

1st Rookie to record a 20/20 Season in Yankees History

Congratulations, @Volpe_Anthony 🙌

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

@KodyFunderburk my guy!!

[Twins Player Development @TwinsPlayerDev]

Kody Funderburk (@KodyFunderburk) made his @MLB debut for the @Twins and had an outing he’ll never forget 👏

2 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 BB / 3 K

He retired all 6 batters he faced, collected his first 3 strikeouts in the majors, and picked up his first major league W ✅

#MNTwins

[Brian Rapp @Brapp1327]

@mikereinold Old school pic!!!