Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Donald Trump beside man in black suit
Donald Trump beside man in black suit
History in HD/Unsplash
Culture > News

HC Wake-Up Call: Trump’s First Cabinet Meeting Of 2019 Starts Off With A Meme, 7-year-old Killed In Drive-By Shooting, & Netflix Pulls ‘Patriot Act’ Episode of Hasan Minhaj’s Show

Carissa Dunlap

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.) 

Trump’s First Cabinet Meeting of 2019 Started Off With a Meme

President Trump held his first cabinet meeting of 2019 on Wednesday, and he featured a poster of his Game of Thrones meme that he tweeted out a while. Yep, that’s right. He prominently displayed his meme poster on the table in front of him. 

The poster featured a photo of himself and the phrase “Sanctions Are Coming,” according to the Huffington Post. Of course, it is inspired by the show’s iconic “winter is coming” tagline. Trump first tweeted the meme in November after reimposing U.S. sanctions on Iran. 

It’s still unclear as to why the poster was displayed at the meeting, and many people were confused by it. According to Buzzfeed News, Trump mention Iran briefly. He reportedly said that the sanctions against it have worked and “turned it into a different country.”  

But amid the partial government shutdown, Trump was primarily focused on his demand for a border wall and reportedly claimed that “walls work.” Many people on Twitter thought that the presidents continuous push for the border wall was inspired by GoT’s wall. 

At this point, we all have questions. And we sadly expect nothing less.

Seven-Year-Old Jazmine Barnes Was Shot and Killed In A Drive-By Shooting This Week

Police are looking for the killer of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes who was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Texas on Sunday. 

Her family members and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office have asked the public multiple times for any information that would lead to Jazmine’s killer. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez asked again on Wednesday to report anything that could identify the driver. 

At the time of the shooting, Jazmine was in the car with her mom and three sisters. They drove to a convenience store on Sunday morning to get coffee, when someone in a red pickup truck pulled up to the family’s car and opened fire. As NBC News reported, the authorities revealed the suspect is a bearded white man in his 40s. 

Jazmine was fatally shot, and her six-year-old sister was injured by shattered glass, according to KHOU. Her mother took a bullet to her arm trying to protect Jazmine from the shots, KHOU reported.

Authorities have deemed the attack as unprovoked. “It just seems to be random,” said Gonzalez in a press conference on Monday Buzzfeed News reports. “There is nothing to indicate that the family did anything wrong in any way. They were simply just driving along the service road when this happened to them.” 

Washington told KHOU from her hospital bed that there was no reason for her daughter to die. 

“I replayed this moment in my head over a million times,” Washington said to KHOU. “Did I see? Did I cut this man off? Did I make a wrong turn in front of him? Did I stop him from getting out of the Walmart, from whatever he was doing, did I do anything wrong to cause this man to fire shots in my car? And I didn’t. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t make a wrong turn. I didn’t get over in his lane. I didn’t do none of that. He fired off at us for no reason. None.”

Jazmine’s death has drawn national attention. Writer and activist Shaun King even offered a $60,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest. 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rest In Peace little angel. #JazmineBarnes was a 7 year old in the car with her family who was murdered by a racist in a pick up truck in Texas. Her family was also shot at again and her mother is in the hospital. My heart hurts. @shaunking is leading an initiative to help find her murderer. If you have any information please send it over to him. I pray we all truly begin to look deeper into our hearts and realize how precious each and every life is. Especially the lives of children. This country seems to not bat an eyelash to tragedy anymore considering how desensitized we are to it all. No one deserves to die, but especially not because of genetics. Sending love and light to the Barnes family at this time, I cannot imagine your pain. I am also sending light to the man who committed this crime, I hope you find it in your heart to at least turn yourself in. Tell those you love just how much you love them today.

A post shared by laurenjauregui (@laurenjauregui) on

Authorities are stilling looking for the same red pickup truck and a man fitting the above description. 

Netflix Pulled An Episode From Hasan Minhaj’s Show In Saudi Arabia 

After receiving complaints from the Saudi Arabian government, Netflix pulled an episode of Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act, NBC News reports. The episode, which was removed from the streaming service in Saudi Arabia, was critical of the Saudi crown prince over the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

“We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request—and to comply with local law,” a spokesperson for Netflix told multiple outlets, including BuzzFeed News and Bustle.

As Financial Times first reported, Netflix took down the episode in Saudi Arabia because it was in violation of the country’s Anti-Cyber Crime Law—“a Saudi regulator cited a law that prohibits the ‘production, preparation, transmission, or storage of materia impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers.” 

In the 20-minute episode, Minhaj criticizes the Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for the “cover up” of the journalists murder. He also discusses the country’s role in the war in Yemen, and even the political and financial ties it has with the U.S. 

Despite the fact that Netflix removed the episode from the country’s site, the episode still remains up on the Patriot Act YouTube page and is still available to view in Saudi Arabia.

The comedian later responded to the streaming service’s decision via Twitter on Wednesday. “Clearly, the best way to stop people from watching something is to ban it, make it trend online, and then leave it up on YouTube,” he said. He also pointed out to fans the International Rescue Committee’s fundraising page, which sends aid to people in Yemen. “Let’s not forget that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is happening in Yemen right now. Please donate,” he continued. 

People on Twitter have expressed outrage towards Netflix’s decision and support for Minhaj.

What To Look Out For…

New members of the House and Senate will take their seats today. It’s honestly a historic day for women in government, where a record number will be sworn into the 116th Congress. A whopping 102 women will be sworn into the House, and 25 women will take their seats in the Senate, according to the Pew Research Center. If you want to watch, C-Span will stream the ceremony at 12:00 p.m. EST.

Carissa Dunlap is a Her Campus News X Social Intern for Summer 2018. She is a current Publishing major and Journalism minor at Emerson College (Class of 2020). When she isn't perusing the YA bookshelf at the bookstore, she can be found watching dog videos on Facebook, at her favorite coffee shops, or relaxing on the beach. Follow her on Instagram @dunlapcarissa or Twitter @Caridunlap.