Liberal comedian Bill Maher and former Los Angeles Democratic Mayoral candidate Rick Caruso said on Friday that President-elect Donald Trump was right about the wildfires in California.
The two made the remarks during Maher’s HBO show “Real Time” while discussing how Caruso would have handled the catastrophic fires that have caused tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.
“To know there’s a fire coming, to know you’re in fire season,” Caruso said. “We had a fire three weeks ago in Malibu. Six years ago we had a fire in Brentwood, and for those that don’t know the Brentwood area, it’s 15 minutes from where the Palisades Fire was. There’s 40-year-old vegetation between Brentwood and the Palisades, and at that time, I said, ‘If that fire travels, it’s gonna come through and wipe out the Palisades.'”
“I’m so sad that I was right,” he added. “It was predictable, Bill. And what’s predictable is preventable.”
“And then on top of it, to have a main reservoir out of service during peak fire season. I mean, that’s border negligence,” he continued. “And so we’ve got to get to the backstory of this, but you’ve gotta make good business decisions. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents and what everybody should have been saying, ‘We had all the alerts about the firestorm coming in or the winds coming in … why wasn’t more done?'”
Maher interjected: “I remember when we had a fire when Trump was president, and he came in and he said, ‘You don’t rake, you’re not raking.’ And I did — we all did jokes about it. But, we’ve got to get over this thing.”
“Is he wrong, usually? Yeah,” Maher said. “But I’m not going to — I remember when he took Ivermectin or something and then Ivermectin, which won the Nobel Prize, and it was like that became snake oil. No, just because Trump says it doesn’t mean it’s automatically wrong. Did he have a point about that?”
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, said this week that there will be major immigration raids throughout the country shortly after Trump takes office.
Homan made the remarks during an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Friday evening, just a couple of days before Trump is sworn into office, when asked if there were going to be big raids happening in Chicago on Tuesday.
“There’s going to be a big raid all across the country,” Homan said. “Chicago is just one of many places.”
“We got 24 field offices across the country,” he continued. “On Tuesday, ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens. That’s what’s going to happen.”
When asked what ICE has been doing for the last four years, Homan said: “They haven’t been able to do much because Secretary Mayorkas had new ICE priorities.”
“The secretary of Homeland Security has told ICE you can’t arrest an illegal alien if he’s just here illegally,” he said. “He’s got to be convicted of a serious crime or be a national security threat. He told immigration officers not to enforce immigration law.”
“Well, we’re telling ICE, you’re going to enforce immigration law without apology,” he said. “You’re going to concentrate the worst for public safety threats first, but no one’s off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they’ve got a problem.”
EXCLUSIVE: Incoming border czar @RealTomHoman tells Primetime he will find the missing kids and that starting Tuesday, ICE will finally go out and do their jobs. pic.twitter.com/XwivF0HbQM
Tech billionaire and lifelong Democrat Mark Pincus said during an interview this week that seeing how the mainstream media would lie or hide the truth from the public led to a “red pill moment.”
Pincus made the remarks during an episode of “The All-In Podcast” this week while discussing how he would read blogs that would reveal information faster than mainstream media and would often contradict what was being reported.
“I started feeling more uncomfortable and queasy with what was going on with mainstream media,” he said after coming across multiple examples of mainstream publications hiding information from the public.
“Then, in May 2024, I read an article that talked about Trump’s speech in Charlottesville, where he said there are good people on both sides, and the article said it was completely propaganda and didn’t actually reflect what he said,” Pincus said. “That he denounced the Nazis a bunch of times in his speech, so then I went and watched that video, and that was my red pill moment.”
“I think it was for a lot of people because it wasn’t just the media or politicians spinning it,” he continued. “That speech was one of the pillars of why you were supposed to hate Trump. Then you see Biden say that’s why he had to run a second time, and Obama says it, and Biden brings it up again at the DNC.”
“They clearly know they are misrepresenting things, so for me, that was beyond uncomfortable,” he added. “Now, I have to go back to first principles and look at the primary data, listen to only original speeches by people, and I just realized I couldn’t trust the mainstream media.”
WATCH:
NEW: Tech billionaire and lifelong Democrat Mark Pincus reveals his “Red Pill” moment, sparked by Mike Solana’s Pirate Wires and the “very fine people” hoax, culminating in him voting for Donald Trump.
President-elect Donald Trump said over the weekend that he will “most likely” give TikTok, the social media company owned by the Chinese-controlled company ByteDance, an extension of 90 days to be sold off before it faces being banned in the United States.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with NBC News after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld a law on Friday that requires ByteDance to be completely divested from the app or be banned from the U.S.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at,” Trump said. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.”
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he continued.
President Joe Biden signed the law forcing the app to be sold last April, yet the administration does not want to take credit for it because they are worried about backlash from those who might be negatively impacted if the app ceases operations.
TikTok has said that it will “go dark” starting on Sunday, something that the Biden White House claimed was a “stunt” as they seek to punt the ball to the Trump administration.
“We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration,” she continued. “So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently recounted a private meeting that he had with President Joe Biden last year from which he walked away believing that the country was in serious danger because of how mentally diminished Biden was.
Johnson made the remarks during an interview with The Free Press when asked if he could share a story of when he realized that Biden was not actually in charge of running the country.
“I became Speaker in October 2023, and there were all sorts of big national security concerns and everything going on, and I started requesting a meeting with the president,” he said. “The Speaker the House should be able to talk to the president, especially in times of great national interest and calamity, but they wouldn’t let me meet with him. And his staff kept giving him excuses. This went on for like, eight or nine weeks.”
He said that Biden’s team repeatedly told him that the president did not have time to meet with him.
He said that he needed to have a classified meeting with Biden over serious national security threats that he was “losing sleep over” and that he finally got a meeting after revealing to the press that Biden’s team would not let him meet the president.
Johnson said that once he got the meeting, he was ambushed by top Democrats and members of Biden’s cabinet who tried to shield the president by turning it into a meeting about Ukraine.
Biden had everyone leave the room so he could speak to Johnson alone, much to the dismay of his staff.
Before they talked about the classified national security concerns, Johnson asked Biden why he paused liquified national gas exports to Europe.
Biden responded by saying that he never signed an executive order pausing exports on LNG.
He later claimed that what he signed ordered that a study be done on the effects of LNG.
“It occurred to me, he was not lying to me,” Johnson said. “He genuinely did not know what he had signed. And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, we’re in serious trouble. Who is running the country? Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.”
Speaker Mike Johnson reveals just how out of the loop and cognitively impaired Joe Biden was as President after meeting with Biden and discussing his LNG Executive Order:
“Biden was not lying to me. He genuinely did not know what he had signed.”
New polling from the New York Times shows that Americans, regardless of political party, agree with Republican positions on numerous transgender issues, including gender transitions for minors and sports inclusion.
The New York Times/Ipsos Survey, which was conducted earlier this month, found that a stunning 79% of Americans believe males should not be permitted to participate in female sports, even if the athlete identifies as transgender.
“Thinking about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female — do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports?” the survey posed.
Overall, 79% of those surveyed answered no, including 67% of Democrats. In total, only 18% of Americans believe trans athletes should be allowed in female sports.
NYT POLL: “79% of Americans — including 67% of Democrats — think transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports” pic.twitter.com/w63pPLz04x
Another survey question asked about transgender medications for minors: “Thinking about medications used for transgender care, do you think doctors should be able to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs or hormone therapy to minors between the ages of 10 and 18?”
Overall, 71% of Americans answered “No,” including 54% of Democrats. Only 10% of respondents said minors should have access to the drugs, with another 16% saying minors ages 15-18 should have access.
Respondents were also asked if we’ve gone too far as a society accommodating trans-identifying individuals. “Which statement comes closest to your feelings about the way our society deals with transgender people — that is, someone who does not identify with their sex at birth, like a person born male who now identifies as female,” the survey asked.
A total of 77% of respondents agreed that society has gone too far or has gone far enough to accommodate trans people, while only 21% said we haven’t gone far enough.
New NYT poll:
Society has gone too far or far enough accommodating trans people:
Total: 77%
GOP: 93%
Dem: 62%
Trans women should NOT be allowed in women’s sports:
Total: 79%
GOP: 94%
Dem: 67%
Minors should NOT be able to get puberty blockers:
On Friday, a union representing more than 3,000 Los Angeles city firefighters gave its full-throated support for Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, who was reportedly called into Democrat Mayor Karen Bass’ office last week to be fired, though she ultimately kept her job.
Mayor Bass and Crowley have been at odds while the city of Los Angeles battles historic wildfires that have so far killed 25 people, and others remain missing. Additionally, Crowley was recently the subject of an anonymous letter from “retired and active LAFD chief officers” condemning her performance as chief, and specifically her decision to call out Mayor Bass on television.
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 condemned the letter admonishing Crowley, which they said was signed by “disgruntled and anonymous individuals.” The union also thanked Crowley for being “willing to fight” for her staff and the agency’s budget, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“While we haven’t agreed on everything, you’ve been the only fire chief in decades to repeatedly demand adequate resources,” the union said.
Crowley bluntly told the press last week that city leadership “failed” her department — a moment the letter admonishing Crowley referred to as an “outburst.”
“Chief, please focus on your current duties and responsibilities which currently should be focused on mitigating and stabilizing the Palisades fire,” the anonymous letter said. “Your outburst regarding the budget and the statement that the ‘City failed the LAFD’ was ill-advised, poorly timed and took away from the most important issue, the Palisades fire.”
JUST IN: Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley turns on Los Angeles leadership, says they failed her.
Remarkable interview.
Crowley called out the city for having no water in the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
Mayor Bass has been accused of ignoring warnings of the forecasted high winds and fire threat, opting to leave town for a taxpayer-funded trip to Africa. The mayor also cut the fire department budget by $17.5 million just months before the fires broke out, as highlighted by Crowley. Currently, an online petition signed by more than 155,000 people calls for Bass’ immediate resignation.
There is also much controversy about the LA Fire Department’s priorities, specifically its focus on DEI goals over competence and effectiveness. For example, the department’s assistant chief, Kristine Larson, appears in a video in which she says that if someone complains about a woman firefighter’s inability to carry a man out of a fire, her response would be, “He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.”
LAFD Assistant Chief Kristine Larson:
“Am I able to carry your husband out of a fire? He got himself in the wrong place.” pic.twitter.com/BofTVr6dWP
Journalist Michael Shellenberger has reported whistleblowers’ stories about detrimental DEI standards with the department.
“DEI didn’t hurt the LA Fire Department’s response to the catastrophic fires, say the media. But anything that trumps meritocratic standards would,” Shellenberger posted online. “And now, whistleblowers within LAFD say the Department lowered standards on ladders, hoses & push-ups to meet DEI quotas for women.”
David Lynch, the writer-director whose hallucinogenic films and television shows such as “Eraserhead,” “Mulholland Drive,” and “Twin Peaks” reveled in dreams and darkness, in revealing the mysterious and the sinister teeming just below the surface of ordinary white-picket-fence America has died. He was 78.
New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael called David Lynch “the first populist surrealist — a Frank Capra of dream logic” for his keen ability to bridge mainstream filmmaking and arthouse success.
Lynch’s family announced his death on his Facebook page on Thursday. “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us,” they wrote. “But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images
Lynch revealed in an interview with Sight and Sound in 2024, that he was suffering from emphysema after many years of smoking, was housebound, and could only direct any future films remotely. He later posted a statement on X amid speculation about his health and career, writing, “I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire.”
Lynch’s smoking habit was almost literally lifelong. A native of Missoula, Montana, Lynch grew up in rural Idaho and Washington and began smoking at the age of 8. He stopped smoking in 2022 after needing supplemental oxygen for anything more difficult than walking across a room and in an interview with People Magazine last year, Lynch said although the consequences of smoking have been “a big price to pay, I don’t regret it. It was important to me. I wish what every addict wishes for: that what we love is good for us.”
A painter turned avant-garde filmmaker, Lynch debuted his first feature “Eraserhead” in 1977. Shot over several years, the black-and-white surrealist horror film tells the story of a bewildered man grappling with the anxieties of fatherhood after the birth of his sickly, grotesque child—a mutant being that scarcely resembles a human infant.
Initially debuting to limited fanfare, “Eraserhead” gradually built a devoted following through extended runs as a midnight movie, solidifying its status as a cult classic.
Released three years before Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic “The Shining,” “Eraserhead” left an indelible mark on the influential director, who cited Lynch’s debut feature as one of his favorite films. So captivated was Kubrick by Lynch’s unnerving vision that he required his actors and film crew to watch “Eraserhead” before filming started on “The Shining” so that everyone on set was on the same tonal page.
Another enthusiastic fan was comedian Mel Brooks, who, after seeing “Eraserhead,” hired Lynch to direct his first true Hollywood picture, “The Elephant Man” in 1980. Brooks called Lynch “Jimmy Stewart from Mars,” for his spectrum of wild ideas and dressing as if he had stepped right out of the 1950s, with a messy pompadour and simple outfits of slacks and white dress shirts worn without a tie, buttoned all the way to the top.
‘The Elephant Man’, 1980. (Photo by Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images)
“The Elephant Man” proved to be Lynch’s mainstream breakthrough. A poignant film (also in black-and-white) starring Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, and based on the true story of a severely deformed British man, the movie garnered widespread acclaim and became a hit at the box office. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including two for Lynch.
Lynch’s films were not always successful, however, or well received. After receiving several directing offers post “Elephant Man” and turning down an opportunity from George Lucas to direct “Return of the Jedi,” Lynch opted instead to make an adaptation of the space opera “Dune” from the science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The attempt to make a ‘Star Wars for adults’ was a $40 million fiasco and the movie was named by Roger Ebert as the worst of 1984. Plans for two sequels were quickly scrapped.
Lynch roared back in 1986 with his one of his signature movies, “Blue Velvet,” an erotic detective story that peels back the placid exterior of a sweet-as-cherry-pie small town in North Carolina to reveal a seething underworld of dark surreal violence and depravity.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
The movie plays as if directed by a psychopathic Norman Rockwell and polarized critics for its unsettling blend of innocence and white-picket-fence whimsy, brimming over with sexual violence and perverse evil.
Mr. Lynch’s follow-up, the highly controversial albeit forgettable, “Wild at Heart,” a sexed-up, graphically violent road movie starring Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage as a young couple on the run in the American Southwest, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1990. It struck many critics as erratic, cartoony, self-indulgent and, despite some inspired moments, pointless.
In 1990, Lynch with co-creator Mark Frost ushered in a network TV revolution with their cutting-edge series, “Twin Peaks.” The show is an eerie mystery drama about the murder of high school student Laura Palmer and the investigation by an eccentric FBI agent played by Kyle MacLachlan. It is the spiritual spinoff of “Blue Velvet” with Lynch again illuminating the sinister underbelly of Apple Pie America, pitting ordinary good people against depraved and supernatural evil — Andy Griffith vs. Charles Manson — in perhaps Lynch’s most popular work.
TWIN PEAKS – Pilot – “Northwest Passage” – Airdate: April 8, 1990. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
After 1991, however, it seemed as though Lynch could do nothing right. Viewership for season two of “Twin Peaks” fell off a cliff after the ABC Network insisted on an early season reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer and as Lynch himself seemed to lose interest in the show. Throughout the early 90s, he continued to produce multiple TV shows that were unsuccessful and disappeared from television almost immediately.
Lynch then made “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” a 1992 film companion to the television series, which was ravaged by critics, with Vincent Canby of the New York Times writing, “It’s not the worst movie ever made; it just seems to be.”
Lynch’s lackluster 1997 neo-noir thriller “Lost Highway” a few years later didn’t fare much better.
A turn came in 1998 when Lynch improbably took on the challenge of directing a G-rated Disney movie and created what he called “my most experimental movie”, saying “Tenderness can be just as abstract as insanity.”
“The Straight Story” is a one of Lynch’s finest films. Based on the true story of 73-year-old Alvin Straight, who in 1994 rode his lawnmower more than 300 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin to reconcile with his ailing and estranged brother. It is a profoundly spiritual film about family, forgiveness and healing that celebrates America and the simple, unsentimentalized beauty of the rural Midwest. Perhaps the least likely to do it, Lynch shows the flip side of “Blue Velvet” and reframes America’s heartland as wholesome and its people as good and caring and true in a supremely moving triumph.
The Straight Story. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE D YVOIRE/Sygma via Getty Images)
Then came “Mulholland Drive,” Lynch’s much-heralded masterpiece regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, a poison-pen letter to Hollywood wrapped in Nancy Drew mystery.
That the movie became anything was something of a miracle itself, having started as yet another TV series that was killed by ABC. The pilot was filmed in 1999 and a year and a half later, Lynch cobbled together the original cast, shot additional footage and rounded out his twisted plot.
Lynch again used his favorite film structure, a mystery and an investigation. “Mulholland Drive” follows a budding actress who’s just arrived in Los Angeles as she forms a friendship with another young woman, who has become an amnesiac following a horrific car accident that left her for dead. The two women attempt to learn about the amnesiac’s mysterious past, leading them into an ever-stranger world of mobsters, actors, cops, singers and filmmakers.
In this, his most artistically and philosophically complex work, Lynch portrays “the Hollywood golden dream turning rancid, curdling into a poisonous stew of hatred, envy, sleazy compromise and soul-killing failure. This is the underbelly of our glamorous fantasies”, as Michael Wilmington wrote in the Chicago Tribune.
Following “Mulholland Drive,” Lynch’s filmic output sputtered in the final decades of his life and seemed to halt for lengthy stretches following his descent into near self-parody with his enigmatic last feature, “Inland Empire.” In 2017, he revived the “Twin Peaks” franchise with a baffling yet acclaimed season 3 for Showtime, which he described as an 18-hour movie.
March 22, 1990. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
After that, Lynch then largely devoted himself to his paintings, his comic strip, his coffee-making business and transcendental meditation, the Buddhist practice he first embraced in his late 20s. He continued to frequent and praise the restaurant Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, California.
It is now very quiet out in David Lynch land and all the dreams have floated off into the dark. The dancing dwarfs are idle and The Log Lady no longer shares clairvoyant visions transmitted by The Log. David Lynch has crossed over the River Styx. Requiescat in pace.
* * *
Matt Kemp is the Director of Post-Production at The Daily Wire.
The actor spoke with The Daily Wire in the aftermath of the disaster, discussing how California can come back from the fires and blasting leftists’ focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Carolla also mentioned how he had tried to become a firefighter in L.A. but was turned down.
“I tried to be a firefighter, you know, when I was 19 … I wasn’t black enough, or Hispanic enough, or female enough to be let on to the crew. So I did have a little kind of special place in my heart for equity, ‘cause I was poor, and needed a job, and was willing to work,” Carolla said in an interview that aired on Morning Wire.
He continued, “The people who just want their property saved or just want their kids saved or their pets saved or their husband or their wife saved don’t care about equity. And I also don’t think people in 2025 America care at all.”
“We just sort of want the best-qualified person,” Carolla went on. “I think it’s racist and a lot of projection when they would say …the fire department needs to resemble the community that it serves. I’d always go, I don’t know, why? Who cares?”
The podcast host is one of thousands who had to evacuate his home. Carolla said his apartment survived the inferno, but the entire area around it was burned down.
When asked if the rebuilding process will help cut down on regulations and government red tape, the comedian was optimistic, saying most people don’t realize how much exists until they come face to face with it. He said the rebuilding after the fires will inspire a “renaissance.”
“I had a front-row seat to like really bad regulatory systems and lots of overreach and too much intervention by the government early and I’ve complained about it my entire radio career, but no one else cared because they just didn’t come from that,” he said. “So they didn’t really experience it, but I think now they’re getting a little bit of a front-row seat to it. And so I hope sort of globally it is impactful.”
President-elect Donald Trump announced that his second inauguration will be moved indoors to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda due to the freezing temperatures that are predicted for Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Following the news, a White House reporter shared a photo from the last inauguration to be held inside, which was when the late President Ronald Regan was sworn into office for a second term in 1985 due to extremely cold weather. The image showed a packed room of politicians, dignitaries, and guests surrounding Reagan, who was standing at the podium in the middle of the room as he gave remarks during his inaugural ceremony.
The post included a link to Reagan’s Presidential Library, which contained tons of photos from the inauguration, including several pictures of him being sworn-in for a second term in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol standing by former first lady Nancy Reagan.
There were also photos from Regan’s Inaugural Gala held at the D.C. Convention Center, where some huge singers showed up to perform, including Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer, The Beach Boys, and Dean Martin.
The list of celebrities who were shown in the pictures was just as impressive, with stars like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Tom Selleck, Jimmy Stewart, Ray Charles, and legendary comedian Don Rickles.
On Friday, Trump made the announcement that the Inaugural Address would be moved indoors due to the severe weather expected to hit the area, as previously reported.
“It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself,” Trump said. “The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows.”
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” he added. “It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!).”
“We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade,” Trump continued. “I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In. All other events will remain the same, including the Victory Rally at Capital One Arena, on Sunday at 3 P.M. (Doors open at 1 P.M.—Please arrive early!), and all three Inaugural Balls on Monday evening.”
Anna Corbett continues to fight for the release of her husband, an American businessman who has been held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for three-and-a-half years.
Corbett talked to Morning Wire for an interview that aired on Saturday, opening up about her confusion and frustration over the Biden administration’s failure to secure the release of her husband, Ryan. In the final days of Biden’s time in office, the administration has been attempting to negotiate a deal to exchange a terrorist held in Guantanamo Bay for Ryan, along with two other hostages held by the Taliban.
Anna told Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley that she recently spoke with President Joe Biden over the phone, but the conversation led her to believe that Biden would not “be bringing Ryan home.”
“It was a difficult call. I had just received a call from Biden in the morning. I was traveling. There was a lot in my head and a lot of hope going into that call,” Anna said. “And although he was kind and sympathetic to our family and obviously tracking the situation … he did not seem to be bringing Ryan home, and taking a deal on the table was devastating and obviously very disappointing.”
Anna also said it was “disappointing just to have a phone call” with Biden after requesting to meet with him for months. Asked what’s stopping Biden from striking a deal, Anna replied, “I don’t know. I am honestly very confused because I have raised a lot of attention and advocated very hard for Ryan, taken 16 trips to D. C., worked in a very bipartisan way, helped pass a House and a Senate resolution, and I’m surprised that more progress wasn’t made during this administration.”
Anna and the couple’s three children are now hoping that a new administration led by President Donald Trump, who takes over on Monday, will be able to secure the release of Ryan. In a statement to The Daily Wire last June, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that only Trump “can negotiate the safe return of hostages like Ryan Corbett back to his family.”
“President Trump brought more Americans back home and reunited them with their families because other countries knew not to test him,” said Cheung. “With Biden in office, America is no longer respected on the world stage and has made Americans across the world more vulnerable.”
Anna told Morning Wire that she has already requested to meet with Trump.
“This past weekend, I flew down to Florida with my oldest daughter, Ketsia, and put in requests to meet with President Trump – unsure of what the outcome of the trip would be, but wanting to do my part in raising awareness for Ryan,” she said.
Anna added that Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz met with her for “over an hour,” a sharp contrast to her experience with Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“I had to beg and work so hard to have a meeting with the current National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and it took 16 months to meet with him,” Anna added.
Corbett and his family first moved to Afghanistan in 2010 and started Bloom Afghanistan, an enterprise focused on improving the war-torn country’s private sector. The Corbett family safely evacuated from Afghanistan when the United States withdrew under Biden’s orders in August 2021, creating a vacuum that the Taliban quickly seized to take power.
About five months after U.S. forces left Afghanistan, Corbett returned to the country by himself to renew his visa and train more staff for his enterprise. He was initially welcomed back to Afghanistan and remained there until August 10, 2022, when he, along with two Afghans and a German colleague, were detained by Taliban forces. While the Afghans were released a month later and Corbett’s German colleague was let go in December 2022, Corbett is still being held hostage, likely for political leverage.
Anna urged people to continue to pray for Ryan’s health and safety, and ultimately his release.
“Until Ryan’s home, we cannot rest and even enjoy the opportunities we have in our freedom here in the States because Ryan’s still being held and has only access to sunlight a couple times a day and has no choices and is missing so much in his family’s life.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case involving parents’ right to opt their children out of LGBT content pertaining to sexuality and gender.
Parents in Maryland from differing faith backgrounds, including Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, filed a lawsuit in 2023 after they were denied the right to opt their children out of lessons concerning 20 books on so-called “inclusivity” picked by the Montgomery County Board of Education.
After the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the parents, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm representing the parents, appealed to the Supreme Court. On Friday, the high court agreed to hear the case.
“Cramming down controversial gender ideology on three-year-olds without their parents’ permission is an affront to our nation’s traditions, parental rights, and basic human decency,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. “The Court must make clear: parents, not the state, should be the ones deciding how and when to introduce their children to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality.”
Becket’s website says the Montgomery County Board of Education announced over 20 new “inclusivity” books for its pre-K through eighth grade classrooms in the fall of 2022. Initially, parents were assured that they would be notified when the books were read and could opt their children out.
However, the school board in March 2023 said their policy changed; parents were no longer going to be notified about the LGBT content nor would they be permitted to opt out their children. One board member even claimed that a parent opting their child out of the content because it “offends your religious rights or your family values or your core beliefs is just telling [your] kid, ‘Here’s another reason to hate another person.'”
The books in question discuss pride parades, gender transitions, and pronoun preferences for children, according to Becket. One book for three- and four-year-olds asks kids to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “[drag] queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the spring.
A Pentagon official and member of the United States Air Force hosted a panel discussion that pushed Critical Race Theory, with academics and a former member of the military claiming that America’s public school system has a “white middle class problem” and that racism is “part of the fabric” of the United States, a video obtained by The Daily Wire reveals.
The August, 2021 talk, part of a broader series called “Crucial Convos,” was titled “Critical Race Theory. What is it?” and included endorsements of the far-left theory from academics and a former member of the military.
The event was organized by a team including Brigadier General Terrence Adams, who stated during the talk that “this is not a military event at all, it was a grassroots effort to talk about different topics.” Multiple Air Force bases have advertisedinstallments in the Crucial Convo series on their official websites, however, and the event was organized by Adams and moderated by retired Air Force Brigadier General Greg Brundidge. The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment.
Panelists reaffirmed the core dogmas of the leftwing ideologies, including that America is systematically racist, that white people enjoy unearned privilege on the basis of their race, and that disparities in group achievements are necessarily the result of discrimination and prejudice.
One panelist, a Georgia teacher named Dr. Jay Wamsted, asserted that disparities in academic achievement by race were due to a “white middle class problem” in America’s schools.
“Something is broken in the public schools, and it’s either nature or nurture, it’s either these black boys and girls or it’s, and I’m going to throw a stone here, these white teachers,” Wamsted stated during the talk on Critical Race Theory. “Our structure of public schools has a white, middle class problem.”
WATCH: A Pentagon official hosted a talk for Air Men where activists pushed Critical Race Theory and complained about the “white middle class problem” in America’s schools.
He went on to imply that white American men are naturally complicit in both racism and sexism as a result of their identity and upbringing in the United States.
“I am not a racist but I do sometimes perform racist acts because of some imprinting on me growing up white and middle class in America,” he contended. “In a similar way, I am not a misogynist,” he added before stating that he does sometimes engage in misogynist acts because he was “raised in a patriarchal society.”
Georgia teacher Jay Wamsted argued that whites are complicit in racism and men are complicit in misogyny by virtue of their background.
“I am not a racist but I do sometimes perform racist acts because of some imprinting on me growing up white and middle class in America.” pic.twitter.com/QvuLaqdSJN
He provided one way in which white people can atone for racism, however. “When a white person is looking to help, an easy thing to do is spend your money at black businesses,” Wamsted stated.
Wamsted, who did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, also recommended a book from leftist Carol Anderson that advances Critical Race Theory
“Carol Anderson wrote a great book called ‘White Rage,’ which is a hard book to read if you’re white but it’s a good read,” he stated. The book claims that “black advancement” is the “trigger for white rage,” and that white rage “works its way through the courts, the legislatures, and a range of government bureaucracies.” Wamsted did not respond to a request for comment.
Though Wamsted was perhaps the most radical of the panelists, others chimed in to reaffirm their support for Critical Race Theory and its core doctrines.
The talk was moderated by retired Brigadier General Greg Brundidge, who similarly advanced the belief that racism is deeply embedded in the institutions of the United States. “There’s not going to be a single home run hit that gets rid of racism, it is part of the fabric of the nation,” Brundidge claimed on the call.
Another guest, DEI consultant Tammy Hodo, claimed that race is not a biological reality but a social construct that white people have used to garner special privileges. “Race is not real, it’s a social construct, it is not biologically real,” Hodo said. We recognize that the European Americans alive today did not own slavery [sic] or anything like that but they have definitely benefited from the racial construct of white privilege.”
The panel conversation was part of a wide-reaching attempt by the Biden administration to embed Critical Race Theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies throughout the military and the national security apparatus.
The Biden Defense Department requested a whopping $269 million to bolster its DEI agenda from 2022 to 2024, one investigation from The Daily Wire revealed. Military funds were even used to establish a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) career pipeline program that discriminated against white and male students at the University of Missouri — Kansas City. The DEI pipeline program had to be modified following the Supreme Court’s decision against affirmative action.
Even American intelligence agencies have adopted far-left ideologies. The NSA created a 34-page DEI Glossary complete with terms like Critical Race Theory, transmisogyny, white fragility, settler colonialism, and the gender-neutral pronouns “ze” and “zir.”
One agent at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) wrote in a widely circulated newsletter that crossdressing made him a better intelligence agent, The Daily Wire revealed. Both the ODNI and the Air Force hosted pride month celebrations, which included intelligence agents having their nails painted the colors of the transgender flag and a talk with the leader of an organization that encourages medical child sex change attempts, respectively.
Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, will have the opportunity to purge the DEI agenda from the military if he is confirmed by the Senate.
Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, said during an interview this week that the incoming administration would need to shut the border down to get control of the madness unleashed by President Joe Biden.
Homan made the remarks during an interview Thursday evening on Newsmax while discussing the administration’s goals after taking office next week.
He said that they have been clear about Democrat governors who refuse to help the administration deport dangerous illegal aliens out of their communities.
“We’re going to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats right out of the gate,” he said. “That’s our priority. We’re going to go for the worst first. And I find it hard to believe any elected official doesn’t want public safety threats out of their communities.”
“I would think that’s your number one responsibility is protecting the communities,” he continued. “But they don’t want help. That’s fine. Just stay out of the way and we will do it.”
He said that Democrats who try to obstruct law enforcement from removing the illegal aliens will face legal repercussions for their actions.
“They can’t cross the line of actively impeding us, preventing them from doing their job,” he continued. “They can’t knowingly harbor or conceal an illegal alien because that is also a felony. So don’t cross the line. You can sit back and let us do the job — it’s going to be less efficient, it will be more dangerous without their assistance, but we’re going to do the job regardless.”
President Joe Biden said during an interview late this week that things were going to drastically change in the U.S., but that those changes would happen “unrelated” to any political leader.
Biden made the remarks during an interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell during the final days of his presidency.
“I really am concerned about how fragile democracy is,” Biden claimed. “Now, that sounds corny, but, I mean, I really am concerned, because you have heard me say it a hundred times. I really think we’re in an inflection point in history here, where, unrelated to any particular leader, things are going to change drastically.”
In his farewell speech, President Biden hinted it. With Lawrence O’Donnell, the president reiterated it. Everybody knows it, but few are saying it. Come January 20th, America will become a facsimile of 1934 Germany. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/YVjSUrkwVx
“And it occurs every five or six generations,” he claimed. “And it usually is generated by technology.”
“I mean, for example, if Gutenberg didn’t invent the printing press, how that would Europe have ever gotten united in any way, to understand what each country was thinking?” Biden asked. “I mean, it sounds stupid, but it really matters.”
“Look, I got involved — I didn’t think about it this way, but I got involved in public life because of abuse of power,” he claimed. “I mean, my dad would say, the greatest sin of all is the abuse of power.”
Biden said that his stutter made him realize growing up that “there’s so damn many bullies around.”
“The reason for all the safeguards out there is, in a very trite way to say it, is to keep the bullies from taking advantage of everybody else, the basic guardrails,” he added. “And I think that this concentration of enormous wealth and power in a circumstance where everything’s changing, and the biggest thing that’s changing is how we communicate with one another.”
Biden complained that social media companies would not censor conservative opinions and demanded that rich people pay their “fair share in taxes.”
“So I guess what I’m worried about is that the thing that keeps it on track are the guardrails, that there’s a Supreme Court that’s independent, but accountable,” he added. “There is a Congress that you speak your mind, but you’re held accountable to basic standards.”
Investor Kevin O’Leary said on Friday that he is willing to pay tens of billions of dollars for TikTok, the social media app that the U.S. Congress passed a law to force the sale of due to its control by the Chinese Communist Party.
“As of midnight on the 19th, any service provider — that could be an Apple, that could be an Oracle, it could be a video compression technology company that’s being paid as a consulting service, any of them — to keep this thing alive, it’s subject to [a] $5,000 a day fine times 170 million,” he said. “That’s over $1 billion a day.”
“So as of right now, unless the company enters into an agreement to be purchased by an American syndicate — and Biden, who’s the executive right now, waives for 90 days — this thing goes dark at midnight because who’s going to take on a billion risk at midnight?” he continued. “Who’s going to do that? What counsel would advise that? This is the most interesting, complicated, crazy situation I’ve ever been involved in. I’m really excited about it.”
When asked by Fox News host Bill Hemmer what the price tag was to buy the social media company, O’Leary responded that he was willing to pay $20 billion for it.
“Right now, $20 billion is on the table — cash, cash,” he said. “$20 billion.”
It was unclear what other investors were involved in the potential purchase of the social media app.
Kevin O’Leary says “$20B is on the table” in bid to buy TikTok and explains that service providers “that keep this thing alive” after the deadline are subject to fines. pic.twitter.com/3en5Ziu8SP
Meta has restored several pro-life Facebook accounts just days after attorneys sent a letter demanding the social media giant do so in the wake of Meta’s recent promise to support free speech.
The Facebook and Instagram accounts for pro-life news site LifeNews.com, LifeNews founder Steven Ertelt, and pro-life mom Abby Covington were restored this week after being suspended for months, according to a press release provided exclusively to The Daily Wire.
The move came just a week after their legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) sent a letter to Meta calling on the platform to reverse its decision to suspend the accounts.
“Restoring pro-life speech to one of the world’s largest platforms is a major step in the right direction,” Phil Sechler, senior counsel at ADF, said in a statement.
“We’re grateful to see Steven Ertelt, Abby Covington, and LifeNews back on Meta platforms, where they will continue to use their voice to spread family-friendly and life-affirming messages. There’s no doubt that Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have plenty of work ahead to build back trust with the public, but correcting these past mistakes will go a long way to do just that,” Sechler said.
In May, Ertelt found his Facebook account had been permanently disabled after he posted a video showing a doctor performing a C-section. During the procedure, the unborn child can be seen grabbing the doctor’s finger.
“An unborn baby can’t be just a clump of cells when he or she is grabbing the doctor’s hand,” read the video’s caption.
Facebook permanently disabled Ertelt’s account and informed him the post failed to follow its Community Standards on “child sexual exploitation,” his attorneys said.
Because LifeNews used Ertelt’s Facebook account to create the LifeNews Instagram account, the group’s Instagram account is effectively permanently suspended as well.
“These account suspensions have caused serious harm to Mr. Ertelt and LifeNews,” the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta.
In a statement Friday, Ertelt expressed hope that Facebook has turned over a new leaf on free speech.
“Facebook should not have suspended our accounts for posting a pro-life medical video,” Ertelt said. “And it should not have taken 8 months and a letter from attorneys for Facebook and Instagram to finally restore access to our accounts. But this is an example of the kind of censorship and discrimination pro-life conservatives have come to expect from Facebook over the years. With its recent changes, we hope Facebook will truly allow free speech on its platforms.”
Covington, the Christian pro-life mother of three, had her Facebook account permanently suspended after she posted about her family’s adoption journey. In her post, she described her family’s Christian faith and encouraged expecting mothers to reach out if they were thinking about putting their baby up for adoption.
“We believe children are a gift from the Lord,” she wrote. “God has given us the desire to support an expecting mother who will choose life for her baby through the gift of adoption! We love our children, and our prayer is to expand our family while providing a safe & loving home.”
Covington received a barrage of hateful messages after her post was shared in a private group, prompting her to delete it. One user wrote, “I’m adopted and I’d s*** in your mouth out of spite while you were asleep if I’d been raised that way.”
Facebook then informed her that her account did not follow its Community Standards on “human exploitation,” her attorneys said. The platform disabled her Instagram account, as well as all of her Facebook accounts, including the one for her jewelry, skincare, and makeup business.
“The animus-filled messages that Mrs. Covington received from other Facebook users were understandably distressing,” the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta. “But what is most distressing to her is Facebook’s decision to permanently disable all six of her accounts, causing her significant financial and personal harm.”
The ADF attorneys accused Meta of violating its free speech standards, breaching its own terms of service, and failing to uphold its promises. They had requested the company respond to their request to reinstate the pro-life accounts by January 22.
“These situations provide a litmus test for whether Meta will live up to its public announcement or continue to censor and restrict the marketplace of ideas,” the legal team wrote.
Last week, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg released a video announcing sweeping changes to his company’s content moderation policies, promising “more speech and fewer mistakes.”
“In recent years we’ve developed increasingly complex systems to manage content across our platforms, partly in response to societal and political pressure to moderate content. This approach has gone too far,” Meta said.
“We want to fix that and return to that fundamental commitment to free expression,” the company said.
Meta said it will end its third-party fact-checking program and move to a Community Notes model similar to what X, formerly Twitter, does. The company also said it will be “getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate,” and it will also recommend more political content if a user has indicated they are interested.
Meta has been fiercely criticized in recent years for censoring political content such as the Hunter Biden laptop story, which broke just before the 2020 election.
Democrat staff members who belong to a far-Left caucus withdrew a letter that they wrote this week to congressional leaders asking for a 32-hour workweek to avoid burnout after they were widely mocked online over the request.
The Congressional Progressive Staff Association said in a statement that it “hereby withdraws its recent letter to congressional leadership on a rotating 32-hour workweek.”
“The letter failed to make two things clear: First, that progressive congressional staff are dedicated to serving the American people no matter how many hours it takes to get the job done,” they claimed. “Second, that there are well-known, longstanding workplace issues that deserve Congress’s immediate attention if it wishes to effectively serve the people.”
“There are myriad ways Congress can address these issues,” they continued. “Right now, a 32-hour workweek for staff will not be one of them.”
“We are ready to continue the urgent task of serving our bosses’ constituents and advancing the causes that put working-class people first,” they further claimed.
The sudden reversal came as numerous top Republicans and business leaders openly mocked the letter on X.
The Congressional Progressive Staff Association claimed in their original letter that the proposal was about “a more sustainable approach to work on a national level.”
“By adopting a 32-hour workweek for staff on a rotating basis, you can accomplish these goals while retaining the productivity and quality of work you expect and deserve from your team,” they said. “We urge you to consider piloting the program in your own offices and encouraging your fellow Members across your conference or caucus to do the same.”
They complained that their jobs working for members of Congress were “often demanding and intensive.”
“Staffers routinely work long hours at a level of rigor that regularly leads to burnout,” the letter claimed.
The proposal said that members should institute “a 32-hour workweek for D.C.-based staff during district work periods and a 32-hour workweek for district-based staff while in-session.”
“Doing so — without a reduction in pay — would allow both D.C. and distinct staff to be fully available around the clock throughout more intensive periods when the Member is in town while allowing for a more sustainable schedule when workloads are more manageable,” they added. “If implemented, offices are not likely to see a drop in overall productivity.”
The staffers claimed that members who were skeptical should “engage in a six-month pilot” to see if the reduction in hours leads to increased outcomes.
A former CIA analyst pled guilty in federal court this week to stealing and leaking secret Israeli retaliation plans in October against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, had been employed by the agency since 2016 and had a Top-Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
The U.S. Department of Justice said that on October 17, 2024, Rahman “accessed and printed two Top Secret documents containing National Defense Information” related to Israel’s planned retaliatory strikes against Iran after Iran had fired hundreds of ballistic missiles into Israel just a couple of weeks prior.
The following day the classified documents began to appear on social media platforms and were widely reported on.
The DOJ continued:
After Oct. 17, 2024, Rahman deleted and edited journal entries and written work product on his personal electronic devices to conceal his personal opinions on U.S. policy and drafted entries to construct a false narrative regarding his activity. Rahman also destroyed multiple electronic devices, including a personal mobile device and an internet router he used to transmit classified information and photographs of classified documents, and discarded the destroyed devices in public trash receptacles in an effort to thwart potential investigations into him and his unlawful conduct.
Beginning in the spring of 2024 and continuing through November 2024, Rahman repeatedly accessed and printed classified National Defense Information, including documents classified up to the Top Secret level, to take them to his residence. There, Rahman reproduced the documents and, while doing so, altered them in an effort to conceal their source and his activity. Rahman then communicated Top Secret information that he learned in the course of his employment to multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive it.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury on November 7th and was arrested the following week as he arrived at work.
He pled guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense, and remains in federal custody. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
“Mr. Rahman betrayed the trust of the American people by unlawfully sharing classified national defense information he swore an oath to protect,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that the Justice Department will spare no effort to swiftly find and aggressively prosecute those who harm the United States by illegally disclosing our national security secrets.”
Trump’s Defense Department nominee, Pete Hegseth, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee this week, where female Democrat senators tried to force him to declare that women are fit for combat duty by becoming hysterical and shaking their little fists at him, a man who could crush their skulls between the fingers of a single hand.
Women Democrat Senators like Kirsten Gillibrand, Mazie Hirono and Tim Kaine tried to hammer Hegseth with the mightiest power females have — the power to bully men into lying about women’s capabilities in the hopes it will buy them a few minutes of peace. But the senators’ attacks were dampened by the fact that they were leftists. Because they’re women; they lack the capacity for reason.
The onslaught by the female Democrats was reminiscent of the playground scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film “The Birds” in which legions of crows and seagulls and other shrill, cawing, vacant-eyed creatures, slowly gather on the telephone lines in what at first seems an innocent natural phenomenon but eventually reveals itself as the prelude to an uncanny assault on humanity itself, with the birds making up for what they lack in logical thought with the sharpness of their talons and a relentlessness that could drive a man almost to madness amidst the cacophony of wild screeching cries from their high-pitched, rage-infused voices — except instead of birds, it was Democrat women, which in some ways was even worse because they didn’t even have the mercy to peck out Hegseth’s eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at them while they tried to rip him to pieces because he refused to lie about women in combat.
Kirstin Gillibrand, for instance, demanded that Hegseth answer two questions. One, do you think women can play an essential role in combat? And two, do you think this dress makes me look fat? Hegseth tried to split the difference by saying the dress was very appealing but women would disappear in combat like a faint pencil smudge under the force of an industrial-strength eraser. But Senator Gillibrand would not be satisfied until Hegseth showed himself willing to shower her with flattering deceit so she could continue to live in a dream world of feminine strength and competence rather than in reality, where she just feels so insecure and down on herself all the time.
Mazie Hirono demanded that Hegseth promise he would give up alcohol, women, nights out on the town with his friends and any hobbies that would distract him from her needs and desires. Hegseth, however, refused, saying he’d only met Hirono ten minutes ago and wasn’t yet willing to make that big a commitment.
And Tim Kaine asked Hegseth if it was true that he had had an affair with a woman and, if so, what was that like and were women’s bodies really as soft as they looked and why did they give him such a funny tingly feeling in his no-no places.
The obsession with feminizing combat units while the Chinese marshal their forces for war is part of a new Democrat strategy forming in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory over What’s-her-name in the presidential election. Whereas the old Democrats hoped to overthrow the immutable nature of reality with lunatic academic theories forced on the nation by censorious social structures meant to silence dissent, the new, reformed Democrat party has taken stock of its weaknesses and failed policies and now hopes to overthrow the immutable nature of reality with lunatic academic theories forced on the nation by censorious social structures meant to silence dissent.
So for instance, in California, Democrats made sure the fire department was stocked with women and that water policy was based on environmentalism. Then when Los Angeles burned to the ground while fat lesbian firefighters all named Kristin for some reason ran in helpless hysteria from one empty fire hydrant to another, Democrats sought to stifle criticism by having the mainstream news media write such headlines as “Homophobes Make Politics Out of Fire Victims’ Suffering.”
This same strategy should work really well when the Chinese invade New York and are met by combat units indistinguishable from the Rockettes. The New York Times headline could read something like, “Hong tsow chee qua su lai chu.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. He is the bestselling author of the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “A WOMAN UNDERGROUND,” is now available. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates recapped during an interview this week his recent dinner with President-elect Donald Trump ahead of the inauguration next week.
Gates is just the latest major tech figure to have dined with the president-elect, joining the ranks of others like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and more.
Gates told The Wall Street Journal that he dined with Trump two weeks ago and had a “long and actually quite intriguing dinner with him.”
Gates said that Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was the only other person from Trump’s side to join him during the dinner.
He said that they talked about a “wide-ranging” number of topics, including Gates’ work with vaccines.
“He, in the Covid days, accelerated the vaccine innovation,” Gates said. “So I was asking him if maybe the same kind of thing could be done here, and we both got, I think, pretty excited about that.”
“I felt like he was energized and looking forward to helping to drive innovation,” Gates said. “I was frankly impressed with how well he showed a lot of interest in the issues I brought up.”
WATCH:
Bill Gates talks about the recent three-hour-long dinner he had with President-elect Trump.
Gates says the only other person to join from the Trump side was Susie Wiles.
Gates says he was impressed by Trump’s interest in the issues he discussed, which included polio… pic.twitter.com/wCzDBK4U8Q
The Israeli government approved the hostage and ceasefire deal between the Jewish state and Hamas after seven hours of negotiations.
The government approved the deal just after 1:00 a.m. on Saturday in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported. Twenty-four ministers voted in favor of the deal, and eight voted against it. Among the latter camp was National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who earlier threatened to quit the government if the deal was approved, calling it “the end of the war before Hamas is beaten.”
The deal comes after over a year of negotiations that failed to take hold until president-elect Donald Trump included his envoys in the talks after threatening that there would be “all hell to pay” if the hostages were not released by the time he takes office on January 20.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly invoked Trump’s imminent inauguration during discussions Friday, telling ministers that the president-elect would fully support Israel and unfreeze weapons shipments to the Jewish state. Netanyahu also blamed Hamas for any holdup in the ceasefire negotiations up to this point.
“There was no deal on the table because Hamas opposed any deal,” Netanyahu said. “However, the situation changed because of the heroism of our fighters and because of our actions in the region, including our severe blow to the Iranian axis. Hamas remained isolated in this theater, and as a result, it folded and agreed to this deal.”
Under the deal’s first phase, 33 hostages will be exchanged for about 1,000 Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails. The Israel Defense Forces will also pull back from certain areas of the Gaza Strip.
The fate of the remaining 65 hostages in Gaza will be addressed in the later phases of the agreement.
One of the hostages included in the first set of releases is 38-year-old Avera Mengistu, who was taken hostage in 2014 when the man, suffering from mental illness, crossed into the Gaza strip, reported the Jerusalem Post.
The list of names of the 33 hostages includes two Americans: Keith Siegel, 65, and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36. While the exact number of living hostages is uncertain, it is believed that only 22 of the 33 to be released are still alive.
The release of the first three hostages could occur as soon as Sunday.
The deal passed with the support of the government’s Haredi ministers, who cited scripture in defense of their votes. The Orthodox Haredi, who had to exit negotiations at the beginning of the Sabbath, left instructions on how to vote.
Joining Ben-Gvir in voting no was Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also threatened to leave the government should the deal pass. In response to those threats earlier this week, Netanyahu’s Likud Party said that “Anyone who dissolves the right-wing government will be remembered as an eternal disgrace.”
The Israeli Justice Ministry released a list of names of 95 Palestinians set to be released, some of whom have been arrested for murder and are accused of being affiliated with Hamas, reported the Jerusalem Post.
The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen announced they would cease their attacks on Israel following the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
This is a breaking story; please check back for more updates.
Special prosecutors representing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Thursday moved to drop the criminal case against Loudoun County Public Schools’ former superintendent, Scott Ziegler, who was fired over a rape coverup.
Ziegler was already convicted by a jury in the case, but a judge overturned the conviction on a technicality, saying that although there was “ample evidence” to support the charge, it would have to be retried. Miyares’ office said it will no longer seek that retrial after LCPS settled a civil lawsuit with a teacher whose testimony was key in the case.
In October 2021, The Daily Wire reported that at a school board meeting over a proposed transgender policy, Ziegler dismissed concerns about safety by stating that no sexual assaults had ever occurred in Loudoun’s bathrooms, despite knowing that a boy wearing a skirt and blouse allegedly raped a ninth-grader in a girls bathroom just weeks prior. LCPS also filed false paperwork with the state concealing the incident. The policy was passed and the boy remained in the school system, despite the police charging him with rape. That allowed him to sexually assault a second girl in October. He was convicted on both counts.
A special grand jury was convened to look into Loudoun’s handling of sexual abuse, and it resulted in a felony perjury charge against the school’s then-spokesman, and two misdemeanors against Ziegler. One was for the false statement at the school board meeting, and the other was for allegedly firing a teacher, Erin Brooks, in retaliation for her speaking to the grand jury.
In September 2023, Ziegler was convicted of the latter charge, which carried a penalty of up to a year in jail. He showed up to his trial wearing nail polish and an earring. Prosecutors then dropped the other charge, explaining that they were satisfied that he was now a convicted criminal and there was no need for the time and expense of a second trial. But that logic no longer held when the judge overturned the conviction on a technicality. Judge Douglas Fleming wrote that there was “ample evidence” to support Ziegler’s conviction in the Brooks case, but that it would have to be retried.
In June 2022, Brooks also brought a civil lawsuit seeking money over the same issue, suing LCPS and a principal. It settled last November, not long before the criminal retrial, which was set to take place next month. Miyares’ motion to close the case said “Since this Court’s ruling setting aside the earlier conviction, the complaining witness has resolved her civil suit against the defendant and the Loudoun County Public Schools. The complaining witness is grateful to the Office of the Attorney General for its efforts in obtaining the initial conviction, but now desires to put this entire matter behind her.” Brooks’ cooperation would have been key to securing another criminal conviction.
LCPS has a history of paying people who allege that they have been wronged by its employees in exchange for both not pursuing legal action and their silence. The Daily Wire is currently suing the district for its payouts to resolve allegations of wrongdoing against it, including the contracts with language such as secrecy clauses. LCPS has acknowledged that it is hiding at least 10 settlements since May 2023.
The Loudoun County Public Schools rapist / Social media screenshot
Those include a settlement with the second girl assaulted by the rapist, which used an out-of-district court, the Alexandria Circuit Court, to conceal the deal and place the entire case under seal. In the FOIA lawsuit in Loudoun court, LCPS has refused to show even that judge a copy of the settlement, or disclose its dollar amount. Her family said after the grand jury released its fact-finding report — leading to Ziegler’s firing — that “since our daughter was assaulted, not one member of the school board, LCPS administration, or even our local high school leadership has reached out to check on how she is doing, lend any type of support or even apologize for what we are going through as a family. That alone speaks volumes to what we have endured throughout this ordeal.”
The school system’s indulgence in controversial politics has also been expensive for taxpayers — or its insurance company — through significant bills for the time of outside lawyers. LCPS responded to a FOIA request from The Daily Wire for legal bills with totals showing nearly $2 million to outside attorneys between the June 2021 rape and 2023. Missing were any payments to Ziegler’s attorneys, and LCPS ignored FOIA appeals questioning its completeness. Ziegler’s attorneys later filed a lawsuit against LCPS saying it had refused to pay his bills, seemingly suggesting that Ziegler was on his own. Spokesman Dan Adams did not answer questions about the Brooks settlement for this story, which also asked its current position on whether Ziegler had to pay his own legal bills or not.
The former spokesman facing the felony perjury charge was acquitted after a parade of LCPS officials testified that they could not recall basic details of what had transpired.
Out of all of LCPS’ 15,000 teachers, Brooks was singled out for firing by Ziegler at a school board meeting in June 2022, prosecutors said. Ziegler told board members he fired Brooks for giving private information to a conservative activist, and for giving private information to the grand jury, school board member John Beatty testified. Ziegler’s alleged claim that Brooks had given information to a conservative activist turned out to be false, and it would be illegal to punish her for telling the truth to a jury she’d been subpoenaed by, prosecutors argued.
At trial, school board member Brenda Sheridan, a Democrat who was chair during the rape coverup, was asked under oath about Ziegler’s closed-door statements that amounted to a confession. She did not deny Beatty’s version, but instead refused to answer.
Things are beginning to change. Donald Trump will be taking his oath of office in a few days, but in order for him to take office, Joe Biden has to go.
And before he goes, Biden is attempting to constrain President Trump as he comes in.
In the final days of his term, President Biden has issued a series of policy decisions intended to cement his agenda and, in some cases, make it harder for President-elect Donald J. Trump to put in place his own.
The 11th-hour decisions, many of them executive actions, include measures on environmental justice, prison reform, immigration and foreign relations. Some are intended to preserve Mr. Biden’s legacy, while others are last-ditch efforts to expand his approach. Many are likely to be undone after Mr. Trump takes office next week.
“Environmental justice” means banning fracking and limiting drilling off the coast. “Prison reform” means jailbreak.
This is always the danger of an outgoing administration, particularly one as venal, corrupt, and terrible as Joe Biden’s administration.
Biden is creating two national monuments in California, an action that is not really about creating national monuments; the monuments are intended to prevent mining and drilling that would cover 848,000 acres of desert and mountainous land in a portion of the state where no human would ever visit — unless they were actually going to increase the energy production of the United States.
The Biden administration announced they would remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in an attempt to box Trump in.
Biden commuted the sentence of 37 out of 40 inmates on federal death row. He left out those who had murdered protected classes of people, which apparently does not include small children. Biden said he would cancel student loans for more than 150,000 borrowers, which he doesn’t actually have the capacity to do and the Supreme Court said he could not do.
The Biden administration issued sweeping extensions of deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people to prevent President Trump from actually moving those people out of the country. And, of course, President Biden signed a piece of legislation that gives full Social Security benefits to some public sector retirees who are currently receiving them at a reduced level.
The garbage policies that Biden is planting in the heart of American democracy are going to take a while to come to fruition, but they’re going to be completely damaging. The vast overspending, the changes to procurement systems, the way that environmental regulations have been done, all those things will take time to fully materialize.
By the time Biden left office, people didn’t like him — across the spectrum. Moderates didn’t like him because he wasn’t moderate. The Left didn’t like him because they are nuts and felt he wasn’t nuts enough.
Meanwhile, President Trump is entering the White House with more positive sentiment than he has ever had in his entire political career, including his first term. According to a new CNN poll, Trump continues to see majority approval for his handling of the transition; 55% approval, which is a very, very high percentage.
Almost six in 10 Americans expect Trump to do a good job in his second term, and that’s including moderates, Democrats, and everybody else.
Why?
It’s because as it turns out, Trump is a pragmatist. He’s utilitarian. All he cares about is winning. Even people who may not agree with many of his conservative policies are interested in a country that actually functions again, a country that actually has a booming economy and a strong foreign policy.
He is coming in with a honeymoon. And if Congress does what it is supposed to do, then we are going to see this boomlet turn into an actual boom on behalf of President Trump.
You can feel the mood changing in the country.
The addition of Elon Musk on the Republican side of the aisle has been an imagistic boon in extraordinary ways. Yesterday, for example, his super-heavy booster was caught again by the so-called chopsticks. Musk is doing things with technology that are simply astonishing.
It’s cool to be American. It’s cool to live in a country that makes this sort of thing possible. It’s cool to live in a country where a guy who comes to America with pretty much no money can build himself into the richest person on Earth, making companies that create electric cars and rockets that are reusable and can be caught in mid-air that are 20 stories high.
It gives you a feeling of optimism about the country.
The FBI Assistant Special Agent who insisted that the attack in New Orleans on New Years’ Day — in which Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed his truck into a group of celebrants, killing 15 and injuring dozens of people — was not a terrorist attack, has reportedly been reassigned.
“The city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack,” New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said. But Duncan, who was in charge of the investigation, initially stated, “We’ll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event. What it is right now is there are improvised explosives devices that was found and we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not.”
NEWS: FOX News has learned per multiple sources that Assistant Special in Charge Alethea Duncan from FBI New Orleans has been temporarily reassigned following her initial press conference in which she stated: “This is not a terrorist event.”
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge of New Orleans, Alethea Duncan, has been "temporarily reassigned" after she contradicted the city's mayor by stating the terror attack was NOT terrorism. It was.
The FBI released a statement on New Years’ Day saying:
Today, at approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others. After hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to a local hospital. …
An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject.
Two bombs in Jabbar’s truck, which did not go off, contained a very rare explosive compound, NBC News reported, adding, “The compound, called R-Salt, has never been used in a U.S. or European terrorist attack or incident.”
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