‘Kremlin zings Trump for Melania’s loving gaze at Justin Trudeau’: 11 of our most viral posts

06/25/2020 3:09 pm ET • Sabrina Matthews

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Front Page Live is one year old! We want to thank you for reading our stories, and for sharing them on your social media.

You have helped us grow, from an idea of how to cover the central issues of our time to a site that has engaged over 9 million people and published over 6,000 independent news articles which inspire, ignite, and unite readers across ideology, geography, and demographics.

Front Page Live is honored to be your choice when it comes to sipping from the firehose that is today’s news. With more than 500 articles that broke the ten thousand page-view mark, we know we are onto something here in our coverage.

In our inaugural year, we were able to cover national and local politics, our climate in crisis, criminal justice, race and racism, immigration, inequality, corruption, healthcare, gun safety, voting and elections, misinformation, and businesses working for good.

Scroll through this countdown of 11 of our favorite viral posts from our first year here at Front Page Live—and keep coming back to the Front Page!

11. ‘Catastrophic mismanagement’: Rep. Katie Porter’s damning report details how Trump chose money over U.S. lives

A photograph of California Democrat Congresswoman Katie Porter.

Wikipedia

Early in 2020, doctors and hospitals scrambled for the equipment needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic around the country, but the Trump administration was exporting ventilators, masks, and other medical supplies. Front Page Live covered the release of a report by California Representative Katie Porter, detailing how this played out.

Rather than protect U.S. citizens, the Trump Commerce Department advertised a temporary measure streamlining exports to China. The result? The value of U.S. medical mask exports to China jumped by over 1,000% (yes, that’s three zeroes), the value of ventilator exports jumped by over 20%. Meanwhile, American health care and front line workers went without protection, got infected, and died.

Read Amy Penn’s coverage of that story here.

10. Kremlin zings Trump for Melania’s loving gaze at Justin Trudeau

A photograph of Melania trump looking into Justin Trudeau's eyes.

Screenshot / Twitter

Of all of the photos that came out of The 2019 G7 summit, the best one caught First Lady Melania Trump’s steamy gaze into Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s eyes after they kissed hello. Even one of Putin’s propagandists had to Tweet about that.

Dara Brewton gathered up some of the best zingers Twitter had to offer here on Melania’s loving look at…not her husband.

9. ‘I don’t care’: Taylor Swift is unafraid of backlash for going after Trump

Wikimedia

In January of 2020, Taylor Swift started speaking out about her political views. Spoiler alert; she’s pro-choice, finds white supremacy “repulsive,” and isn’t afraid to go after Trump. But what about the backlash, Taylor? “I don’t care.”

Check out the Front Page Live coverage of Taylor Swift’s emerging political obsession here.

8. 20 ways Americans benefit from socialism every day

A photograph of a clear stretch of highway disappearing toward snow capped mountains.

Unsplash / Nahari Perez Aguilar

One of the favorite rallying cries of conservative politicians is to label something “socialist,” but the fact is there are plenty of socialist policies and organizations that Americans rely on every day. From freeways to soda-pop, Front Page Live points to socialist practices woven into daily U.S. life, and how that’s not a bad thing.

Yes, soda pop. Check out Brian Frazer’s list of 20 ways Americans benefit from socialism here.

7. 12th richest congressman wants you to put on your ‘big boy pants’ and die for the economy—Twitter goes wild

A photograph of Indiana Republican Representative Trey Hollingsworth.

Wikimedia

When faced with the choice of “dramatic economic harm” or “loss of life,” Republican Representative Trey Hollingsworth urged policymakers to reopen the American economy. Hollingsworth is pro-life — until you are born. Then, it’s time for you to pull up your bootstraps and get out there.

Nellie English laid down some reality here about this wealthy guy, and how he was ready to send the poor out to die for the economy.

6. ‘I am ashamed as a Republican’: Watch these 9 Trump voters explain why they won’t do it again

Man holding a sign that says "Register early to vote"

Unsplash / Annie Bolin

In a time when American political divides seem deeper than ever, there are some that find themselves switching sides for the most basic reason; they realized they were wrong.

Voters who pulled the lever for Trump in 2016 are wishing they hadn’t, and vow not to do it again. Front Page Live covered the why-then and why-never-again of nine voters who voted for Trump but are horrified at what happened after he won.

Mackenzie Zlatos found out what changed their minds here.

5. ‘Weaker, sicker, poorer’: Devastating new anti-Trump ad has set Twitter on fire

Good Free Photos

The Lincoln Project releases devastating ads that highlight the damage Trump has done in just 3-1/2 years. This super PAC, started by George Conway and other conservatives, wants to block Trump’s re-election — to make sure that Trump won’t get four more. Front Page Live found out that the Lincoln Project isn’t alone in thinking Trump has left us “weaker, sicker, poorer.”

Learn more about the Lincoln Project ad and reactions here.

4. 10 Republican Senators who are vulnerable to being swept out with Trump in November

Side by side photos of Graham, McConnell, and Collins

The Other 98%

While we are on the subject of elections, Front Page Live covered senators who could be swept out with the president in the 2020 elections. Whether it’s because of their submission to Trump’s will or generally bad representation of their constituents, these senators could be in the rearview when voters weigh in.

Check out their chances here.

3. A Trump-backing sheriff fired his lesbian deputy. So she ran for his job and just crushed him

McGuffeyforSheriff.com

In May, Charmaine McGuffey won the Democratic nomination for county sheriff in a landslide.

The incumbent, who claims to be a Democrat but attended a Trump rally in 2016, fired McGuffey after the two “got into a pretty serious disagreement” about the way women were being treated. More recently, McGuffey has announced her plans for an independent citizen review board. “We will have zero tolerance for excessive use of force.”

Sabrina Matthews got the details on McGuffey’s campaign here.

2. Texas teacher who tried to contact Trump to have her students deported is officially fired

A photgraph of fired teacher Georgia Clark.

Screenshot / YouTube

Texas teacher Georgia Clark was fired after tweeting Trump and asking him to “remove the illegals” from the Fort Worth high school where she taught.

Clark apparently thought her Tweets to the president were private, but Front Page Live showed that she had a history of bigoted comments even when she knew people were listening.

Dara Brewton covered her fall from disgrace here.

1. World’s richest man cuts health benefits for 1,900 Whole Foods workers

World's richest man makes $24 billion from pandemic

Flickr / Steve Jurvetson

Jeff Bezos may have taken a pledge to “invest in employees,” but that didn’t stop him from cutting benefits to Whole Foods workers, meaning 1900 of them lost health insurance. Even after his divorce, the Amazon CEO is worth $114 billion: he could give each of those 1,900 workers $500,000 dollars — and still have $113 billion.

Read about Bezos’s history of cutting benefits here in our most-shared post.