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Donalds rips opponent’s ‘complete 180’ as Dem’s own 2016 words come back to haunt him in tightening gov race
Republican congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds is taking aim at his Democratic opponent David Jolly over his shifting political positions and party affiliation, in a contest that is resurfacing themes from the 2016 congressional race between Jolly and Charlie Crist.
«You were pro-choice, then you were pro-life, then you were pro-choice. It was only after you switched parties that you switched your position. This was not a matter of conviction for you; it was for political convenience,» Jolly said about Charlie Crist when Jolly was a Republican running against Crist, a Democrat, for Congress in 2016.
Ten years later, Jolly is now a Democrat running for Florida governor and facing the same criticism for allegedly changing his positions for political gain, this time, in his race for governor against Donalds.
«The shift in positions by David Jolly is not because of personal conviction, it is purely because of political convenience,» Donalds told Digital, referencing that 2016 exchange.
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Some of the shifts in Jolly’s positions include issues like abortion, immigration, and drilling off the coast of Florida.
As a Republican, Jolly said he believed «life begins at conception,» authored legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and co-sponsored fetal-personhood legislation. He also voted for a federal 20-week abortion ban. Now running as a Democrat, Jolly calls himself «pro-choice,» supports codifying the Roe v. Wade framework and says he would veto legislation restricting abortion access as governor.
Jolly’s immigration views have also shifted sharply as he attempts to run for governor in a state that voted for Trump each of the last three presidential cycles by wide margins, with many voters motivated by Trump’s immigration policies.
As a Republican, he campaigned on securing the border, supported tighter screening for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and voted for the American SAFE Act. Today, he says the country should have «wide gates» for people coming to work or seek asylum, argues that crossing the border without legal status should not necessarily be treated as a crime in those circumstances and has called the Republican link between immigration and crime «gross,» «immoral» and «wrong.»
As voters consistently say that affordability is a top-of-mind concern, Donalds is also hitting Jolly’s record on healthcare as an example of inconsistency that shows a lack of credibility on the issue.
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«When David Jolly was in Congress, he opposed Obamacare,» Donalds said. «Now trying to run for governor he wants to expand Obamacare in Florida. I mean, these are just some of the complete shifts that we’ve seen in what he stands for.»
Another issue Donalds is taking issue with involves the period after the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which sent oil and tar balls washing ashore along roughly 178 miles of Florida coastline, contributed to an estimated loss of 1.88 million planned recreational visits in northwest Florida and cost the region $1.3 billion in visitor spending, $2.04 billion in economic output and more than 20,000 job-years.
Within a year of the spill, Jolly’s lobbying firm represented a client that publicly advocated for legislation that could have expanded offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Three Bridges Advisors listed H.R. 909, the Roadmap for America’s Energy Future, among the subjects of its 2011 lobbying activity for the Free Enterprise Nation, which supported the bill. Jolly also wrote a post on the group’s website stating that Free Enterprise Nation was «advocating for» the legislation.
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Jolly said he had «never lobbied for offshore drilling,» but PolitiFact rated that claim «Mostly False» after finding that Jolly acknowledged attending a meeting where the bill was discussed, which lobbying experts said technically counted as lobbying.
Donalds cited the controversy to Digital saying, «Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of America, David Jolly went and became a lobbyist for more oil drilling off the coast of Florida, that is a fact and so what we’re seeing is a history of somebody who does everything possible, will say whatever, will be paid by whomever that are only in the interest of David Jolly.»
With polls showing a tightening race, the RealClearPolitics average gives Donalds a roughly 4-point lead. The candidates are also sparring over debate scheduling: Donalds has agreed to three proposed debates, while Jolly, who previously accepted two other debate invitations, has now ruled out participating in debates this cycle.
«Now he’s ducking debates,» Donalds told Digital. «He won’t debate me because he knows that on a debate stage, I will hold him accountable for these things.»
Jolly has hit Donalds on the campaign trail on a variety of issues as he tries to become the first Democrat to win a governor’s race in Florida since Lawton Chiles won reelection in 1994. Primarily, Jolly has focused on data centers and labeling Donalds as a candidate more interested in partisan culture-war battles than addressing Florida’s rising housing, insurance and health care costs.
Digital reached out to the Jolly campaign for comment.
Donalds told Digital that Jolly’s flips on both party registration and the issues is something his campaign will continue to focus on.
«What you find with David Jolly is somebody who’s done a complete 180 simply to run for office again and to gain relevance again and the people of Florida simply cannot trust David Jolly because we cannot afford David Jolly’s flip-flopping when it comes to the great state of Florida,» Donalds said.
politics, florida, gubernatorial, elections, midterm elections, republicans
INTERNACIONAL
Los 4 puntos clave de la cumbre entre Trump y Xi Jinping en EE.UU.: la rivalidad por la IA y la tensión por la guerra comercial
Entre la guerra en Oriente Medio, una rivalidad comercial con repercusiones a escala mundial y el temor a un descontrol de la inteligencia artificial, los desafíos de la relación entre China y Estados Unidos son inmensos.
Estos temas fueron abordados por los presidentes Donald Trump y Xi Jinping durante sus encuentros en la cumbre de ayer.
Ostentar como muestra de poder
Donald y Melania Trump sacaron toda la artillería para estar a la altura de Xi y su esposa Peng Liyuan, que se esmeraron como anfitriones en mayo pasado: hubo un recibimiento personal a pie de pista a su llegada en avión el miércoles; despliegue de trompetas y banderas a su llegada a la Casa Blanca ayer; cena de Estado entre más de 130 invitados, con la crema de la crema de la industria y la tecnología estadounidenses y una veintena de miembros de la delegación china; y como premio una invitación “especial” para recorrer las obras del futuro salón de baile de la Casa Blanca.
Trump volvió a reivindicar con Xi una “verdadera gran amistad”.
Xi se mantuvo fiel a la reserva que lo caracteriza y habló más bien de una “relación personal”. Hizo hincapié en la necesidad de que las dos potencias “coexistan en paz” pese a sus divergencias.
Reiteró la advertencia contra la “trampa de Tucídides”, una teoría política que plantea una mayor probabilidad de guerra cuando una nueva potencia en ascenso -como China- compite con una potencia establecida, como Estados Unidos.
“Ostentar, esa era la idea”, dice Ryan Hass, del laboratorio de ideas Brookings. “El mensaje consistía en decir que ambos líderes son capaces de gestionar eficazmente las relaciones entre China y Estados Unidos dentro de límites tolerables de competencia. Ninguno de los dos dirigentes esperaba gran cosa del otro”, apunta.
Concretamente, Xi prometió invitar a 100.000 jóvenes estadounidenses a China para intercambios durante cinco años, y prestar dos pandas a un zoológico de Atlanta.
Taiwán, línea roja
Pasadas las cortesías, Xi planteó durante sus conversaciones con Trump dos grandes preocupaciones. Esperó que Estados Unidos tratara “con prudencia” el tema de Taiwán, según informó la agencia Xinhua. Pidió abiertamente que Estados Unidos “se opusiera” a la independencia de Taiwán, que China considera parte integrante de su territorio.
Bates Gill, investigador del National Bureau of Asian Research, no cree en un cambio por parte de Estados Unidos: “El presidente Trump puede muy bien hacer declaraciones que vayan en contra de la política tradicional estadounidense, pero eso no se traduciría necesariamente en un cambio real”.
Xi también expresó su deseo de que Estados Unidos e Irán lleguen a un acuerdo “lo antes posible” mediante la negociación.
China, socio clave de Irán, siempre se opuso a la guerra desencadenada por Estados Unidos e Israel, de la que sufre las consecuencias. Washington quisiera que Pekín contribuyera a hacer ceder a Teherán.
La rivalidad por la inteligencia artificial
La rivalidad también enfrenta a Estados Unidos y China en materia de inteligencia artificial. Ambos países tienen la “responsabilidad de (…) garantizar que el desarrollo de la IA esté siempre bajo control humano”, declaró Xi.
Trump, en cambio, afirmó en su red Truth Social que quiere mantenerla “exactamente donde está”, en alusión a los pedidos para su regulación.
“Hay un amplio consenso sobre los riesgos vinculados con la IA, pero no sobre la manera de gestionarlos”, indicó Dylan Loh, de la Universidad Tecnológica de Nanyang, en Singapur. Existe “una profunda desconfianza y una competencia creciente” en torno a la IA que impiden avances en materia de gobernanza, afirmó.
Tregua tras la guerra comercial
Prolongar la tregua de la guerra comercial que sacudió la economía mundial en 2025 era uno de los desafíos de la cumbre. El secretario del Tesoro estadounidense, Scott Bessent, anunció, antes de la llegada de Xi, que el objetivo se había alcanzado, pero solo hasta el 10 de enero.
Xi celebró el “acuerdo”, informó Xinhua sin dar más detalles. Los expertos señalan que esto permite a Trump superar las delicadas elecciones de medio mandato de noviembre.
Algunos en la administración estadounidense buscan “estabilizar las relaciones por ahora, mientras se espera que Estados Unidos reduzca su vulnerabilidad con respecto a Pekín”, afirmó Jared Mondschein, director de investigación del United States Studies Centre de la Universidad de Sídney.
Pero Mondschein no cree en un “cambio profundo o duradero en la dinámica estructural de la rivalidad estratégica”.
“Los chinos habrían esperado una prolongación mayor, pero también son realistas”, comentó Dylan Loh.
China, Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping
Pope Leo lands in France for four-day visit
Pope Leo arrived in France on Friday, Sept. 25, starting a four-day tour across Paris, Lourdes, and Metz that includes speeches and a massive outdoor mass. (HOST BROADCASTER via Reuters.)
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Pope Leo XIV began his visit to France on Friday for his fifth Apostolic Journey as Pontiff. The four-day trip marks the first formal papal visit to the country once called «the eldest daughter of the Church» since Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September 2008.
French bishops announced the visit’s theme as «That the world may have life,» and it comes as the officially secular nation is seeing an influx of new baptisms. So far this year, according to the Conference of Bishops of France, more than 21,000 adults have joined the Church, an increase driven by 18 to 25-year-olds.
«Pope Leo’s visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave» of interest, retired French Bishop Marc Stenger told Reuters. «French Catholics are… saying loudly that they need the Church to find their way in these uncertain moments in world history.»
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The pope will visit Metz on Sept. 28, 2026 to conclude his four-day state and pastoral trip to France, which also includes stops in Paris and Lourdes. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen / AFP via Getty Images)
The rise comes after a 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades, and said the Church had shown «deep, total and even cruel indifference» to victims. Stenger, who led the Diocese of Troyes from 1999 to 2020, told Reuters the scandals «have deeply wounded the Church and damaged its credibility.»
In what is described as an unusual move, the Vatican press office announced Pope Leo will meet privately in Lourdes with seven of those victims as part of a message of healing and vulnerability.
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The Vatican calls the trip, «a journey that unites faith and public engagement, memory and the future, with listening and bridge-building at its heart.» After being greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron and a courtesy visit to Élysée Palace on Friday, Pope Leo is scheduled to make 15 speeches during his visit. He is expected to speak on several spiritual and societal themes, including the need to protect immigrants, the sick and unborn, and defend human dignity in the era of AI, and address themes of peace, culture, and unity.
President of France Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron welcome Pope Leo XIV to Élysée Palace on Sept. 25, 2026 in Paris, France. (Tom Nicholson/Getty Images)
French bishops have expressed surprise at the level of interest in the visit. The Associated Press reports organizers for Pope Leo’s Saturday Mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde, expecting up to 1 million people, have lengthened the security perimeter, extending the site beyond the 1.2-mile length of the Champs-Élysées, where Pope Leo will parade in the Popemobile.
Among his more noteworthy stops, Pope Leo will worship and speak on Sunday at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of Christianity’s most-visited pilgrimage destinations, especially popular with the sick. It is where an ailing Pope John Paul II, on his final foreign trip in 2004, delivered a forceful condemnation of abortion and euthanasia.
Pope Leo XIV attends the Welcome Ceremony at Paris Orly International Airport on Sept. 25, 2026 in Paris, France. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Pope Leo’s visit, however, comes after France’s recent national debate and subsequent passage of legislation allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. That followed 2024 legislation enshrining abortion as a constitutional right.
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On Friday, Pope Leo will speak at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, headquarters in Paris. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says Leo will likely reiterate his call for an AI slowdown and speak «with regard to the meaning of existence, to what makes human beings human and what does not.»
The speech comes after the Pope’s May manifesto in which Leo warned of the dangers of AI and urged international regulation of the industry. His position again puts him at odds with President Trump, who has encouraged AI innovation so the U.S. can compete with and surpass China.
A crucifix stands in front of the Basilique Notre-Dame du Rosaire, its spire draped with a banner marking the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV, five days ahead of the pontiff’s trip to the site as part of his apostolic journey to France, in Lourdes on Sept. 22, 2026.
Following his UNESCO visit, Pope Leo holds a prayer service at the newly-restored Cathedral of Notre-Dame, marking the first papal visit since a 2019 fire nearly destroyed one of France’s national landmarks.
He concludes his trip on Monday with a symbolic full-day visit to the border city of Metz, the birthplace of former French Prime Minister Robert Schuman, considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union. It is a backdrop the Vatican says the Pope will use to «champion friendship among European peoples.»
French Ambassador to the Vatican Charles Personnaz told Reuters that Macron has invited leaders from all 27 EU members to attend the speech and meet with the Pontiff. Other media reports say Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may also attend.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
pope leo xiv, france, roman catholic, christianity religion, europe, artificial intelligence
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‘Castro’s playbook’: Ex-AG warns dozens of congressional bills are pushing socialist ideas
Federal guarantees for jobs and housing, the elimination of private health insurance, a massive Green New Deal expansion, and new taxes on unrealized wealth are among dozens of current congressional proposals being called out by a national free-market group led by former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Miyares, whose family fled Fidel Castro’s communist regime, described the proposed laws seen on Capitol Hill as «straight from Castro’s playbook» in a sit-down interview with Digital. Miyares recently became the honorary chairman at the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, a conservative trade organization representing American businesses, which just launched a «Socialism Watch» initiative tracking 32 bills that have been introduced on Capitol Hill aiming to implement what the group describes as socialist policy goals across healthcare, energy, labor, housing, taxation and more.
«The year Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, Cuba had the same GDP as Greece. The year that he died, too bad the same GDP as Sudan,» Miyares told Digital. «Socialism doesn’t work. It impoverishes every country that embraces it.»
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Among the bills highlighted by Miyares and the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce is legislation that would ban fracking nationwide beginning in 2029, prohibit greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants and restrict new liquefied natural gas infrastructure and most U.S. oil and natural gas exports.
Others would create government-backed job-guarantee programs offering employment to qualifying applicants, replace private health insurance with a national Medicare for All program and impose annual taxes on accumulated wealth, even when those gains have not been realized through a sale.
The group is also zeroing in on a massive progressive push to overhaul American real estate: the «Housing is a Human Right Act.» While supporters pitch the $300 billion bill as a moral crusade to end homelessness, critics like Miyares see it differently. They argue that by officially declaring shelter a government-guaranteed right and pumping billions into «social housing,» the legislation is actively trying to push private landlords out of the market.
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Other measures flagged by the group include a proposal to create a quasi-governmental «National Infrastructure Bank» to fund politically favored state projects, alongside a $1.6 trillion «Green New Deal for Public Schools» that the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce warns would hand local school district operations over to the federal government.
«These young people are embracing socialism thinking that it leads to helping those that are poor, disadvantaged. The reality is it does the opposite,» Miyares told Digital. «It actually hurts the very people that it wants to help.»
Miyares’ warnings about socialism are rooted in his family’s history in Cuba. His mother, Miriam, fled Fidel Castro’s communist regime in 1965 at 19 years old, arriving in the United States after leaving nearly everything behind. Miyares has said his uncle, an opponent of Castro, was arrested following the Bay of Pigs invasion and subjected to a mock execution, an experience he has said helped drive his mother’s decision to leave the island.
«So many young people have forgotten really, really painful lessons of history that you cannot judge a bill or an economic system based on intentions, you have to judge it on results,» Miyares said. «What we’ve seen time and time again is socialism fails everywhere it’s been tried.»
But Miyares argued the debate is no longer confined to activists or ideological arguments outside Washington, pointing to the 32 bills tracked through the American Free Enterprise Chamber’s newly launched «Socialism Watch» initiative as evidence that policies associated with the socialist-left have made their way into actual legislation before Congress.
«AOC joked that woke one was crazy,» Miyares said. «Well, it’s clear that woke two should belong in an insane asylum because it’s a full-blown embrace of Marxism and socialism.»
rise of socialism, congress, house of representatives politics, senate
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