News Round-Up: August 15, 2019

Eliad Cohen (via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Papa Party founder Eliad Cohen asks, "What's your favorite fruit?" Talk about a 'loaded question...'

• The Advocate: Democratic White House hopeful Michael Bennet has endorsed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing LGBTQ people equal rights.

• Raw Story: Donald Trump loves to boast, “The stock market has added more than $8 trillion in new wealth,” since he took office. Now that the market is going down, however, he claims it has nothing to do with him. Trump has already blamed the Federal Reserve chairman (whom he nominated), the Democrats, and today blamed - who else? - the media.

The Fake News Media is doing everything they can to crash the economy because they think that will be bad for me and my re-election. The problem they have is that the economy is way too strong and we will soon be winning big on Trade, and everyone knows that, including China!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2019

• Washington Blade: U.S. Park Police have made at least 26 arrests during the past year in Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C. targeting gay men after undercover officers posed as consenting prospective partners interested in a sexual tryst.

• Reuters: Israel has decided to block a visit by U.S. Democratic members of Congress Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar

• Twitter: While former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ended his presidential campaign today with veiled hints he may run for the U.S. Senate in 2020, former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke (whom many have suggested he run against Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in his state) made clear a Senate run isn't "good enough."

.@BetoORourke: "There have even been some who have suggested that I stay in Texas and run for Senate, but that would not be good enough…we must take the fight directly to the source of this problem..." pic.twitter.com/uUlSnULsJy

— CSPAN (@cspan) August 15, 2019