Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
New Trump Immigration Ad Calls Democrats ‘Complicit’ in Murder
On Saturday, the Trump campaign released an ad calling Democrats “complicit” in murders by illegal immigrants in the U.S. and…no, just no. The ad, which was likely in response to Democrats’ refusal to give in to Trump’s now-infamous “border wall” in exchange for the Republican party to agree to reinstate DACA, is titled “Complicit,” and features a voiceover that reads, “President Trump is right — build the wall, deport criminals, stop illegal immigration now. Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.”
Meanwhile, the White House has offered mixed messages on the ad, denying involved in it’s creation — while also still defending it. In any case, the backlash on Twitter has been swift:
Despite the racist dog whistling from Team Trump, the U.S. violent crime rate dropped by nearly half between 1990 and 2013 — a period in which the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. tripled. https://t.co/b8sY0CZrQs via @denverpost
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 21, 2018
Killings by white supremacists *doubled* in 2017, including the murders of three law enforcement officers. Who’s complicit in that? https://t.co/Msn6flhbts https://t.co/hOMXU9Ovqc
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) January 20, 2018
Rep. Patrick Meehan Kicked Out of Ethics Committee After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Representative Patrick Meehan, a Republican from Pennsylvania (and a House member who had played a role in investigating sexual harassment in Congress), has been removed from the House Ethics Committee after a New York Times story detailing the way in which he used taxpayer money to settle his own sexual harassment case was released Saturday. According to the report in the Times, Meehan made romantic advances toward an aide last year, becoming hostile when she did not reciprocate — prompting the aide to file a complaint and eventually quit her job altogether after his advances made her feel intimidated.
Despite the fact that the report used accounts from multiple people who witnessed the situation in Meehan’s office, the representative has denied the allegations. Quick suggestion: can we please leave men pretending to support women and equality while doing the exact opposite in private behind in 2018?
Breaking News: Representative Patrick Meehan was removed from the House ethics panel amid an investigation into sexual misconduct, the speaker’s office said https://t.co/j3l03TQQYp
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 20, 2018
Utah State University Student Hospitalized After Eating a Tide Pod
In case it hasn’t already been made abundantly clear that the only thing you should be doing with Tide Pods is putting them in your washing machine, you might want to take note of the fact that a Utah State University student was hospitalized over the weekend after swallowing one, the Huffington Post reports. The local hospital where the student was admitted has not yet released his or her condition, and the school said in a statement that it did not know why the student ingested the Tide Pod. So please, let’s limit our Tide Pod consumption to memes and, if the temptation is just too strong, the recipe for this edible version.
What should Tide PODs be used for? DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else.
Eating a Tide POD is a BAD IDEA, and we asked our friend @robgronkowski to help explain. pic.twitter.com/0JnFdhnsWZ
— Tide (@tide) January 12, 2018
What to look out for…
2018 Oscar nominations are released tomorrow! Here’s hoping Academy members got the message at the Golden Globes and we will no longer have to make use of the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag or pretend to be shocked when our favorite female directors and actresses are snubbed.