First lady Melania Trump has released a belated statement about the Capitol riots. In a statement posted to the White House website and shared on her Twitter account, she condemned the violence that happened last Wednesday and said that her heart goes out to the six people who have died since the attack. "I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me — from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda," she said. "This time is solely about healing our country and its citizens. It should not be used for personal gain."
The PGA of America has dumped Trump. The association voted Sunday to take the PGA Championship event away from Trump’s New Jersey golf course next year. The decision comes after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. “We’re fiduciaries for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh. “And how do we best protect that? Our feeling was given the tragic events of Wednesday that we could no longer hold it at Bedminster. The damage could have been irreparable. The only real course of action was to leave.”
Here’s one app benefitting from Parler’s removal. Google and Apple removed the social media app, popular with supporters of President Donald Trump, from their app stores following accusations that Parler was fostering calls to violence ahead of, and following, the raid on the U.S. Capitol. This has led to Parlor, a “social talking app” which people use to talk with strangers about different topics, being the number two most downloaded free app in both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store. The Parlor app saw downloads surge by 355% in 24 hours due to confused searchers. Amazon has also booted Parler off its web hosting service.
Stripe will no longer process payments for Trump’s campaign website, following the Capitol siege. The financial-technology company, which handles card payments for millions of online businesses and e-commerce platforms, is cutting off Trump’s campaign account for violating its policies against encouraging violence, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, several corporations including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Marriott International, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Boston Scientific are restricting or suspending political contributions.
Happening today: A potential pro-Trump protest may happen at Twitter’s headquarters. San Francisco police are making sure they are prepared, after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that posts on a popular internet forum for Trump supporters called for the president’s adherents to protest his Twitter ban outside of the company’s headquarters on Monday. Twitter banned Trump from using its platform following what the company called his continued incitements to violence in the wake of the Capitol riots.
