Category: blaze media

The controversial Trump-backed Gold Card visa program not only claimed to offer immigrants “residency in record time,” but promised up to $1 trillion toward reducing national debt.

However, during a heated congressional hearing, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has revealed that only one applicant has been approved so far.

“The process was recently resolved with DHS who runs the program, and they do a $15,000, the most serious vetting and analysis of any potential applicant in the history of the government. Usually it was $600. These pay $15,000 for an extraordinary vet,” Lutnick explained.

“So they have approved recently one person, and there are hundreds in the queue that are going through the process, but this is a new program, and they’ve just set it up, and they wanted to make sure they did it perfectly, and so we’ve worked through that,” he added.

“Sounds pretty rigorous if only one person has been OK’d for this,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray comments, shocked.

“I mean, no matter what you think of the program, that’s a failure, right?” he continues. “And I think the program would have been pretty good if we could have raised a trillion dollars.”

“Maybe it’s because DHS was closed and couldn’t do anything,” Jeff Fisher chimes in, adding, “But again, I’m OK with no one coming in.”

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​1 trillion, Analysis, Approval, Blazetv host, Commerce secretary, Congressional hearing, Dhs, Dhs closed, Failure, Gold card, Howard lutnick, Immigrants, Jeff fisher, National debt, New program, Pat gray, Program, Queue, Record time, Residency, Rigorous, Shocked, Trump, Vetting, Visa, Youtube, Trillion dollars, Blazetv, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze media, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Pat gray unleashed 

Tesla is banking on travelers wanting to hang out with themselves rather than an Uber driver.

The company announced that its Texas production facility, known as Gigafactory Texas, is ready to start preparing for a world without drivers.

‘A personalized driverless experience.’

Elon Musk’s company is diving further into the autonomous auto sector by not only ramping up its production of driverless vehicles, but by pairing specific vehicles with its taxi app that will compete with existing services like Waymo and GM’s Cruise.

“Purpose-built for autonomy,” Tesla wrote on X, promoting its new line called Cybercab. The vehicles are a new production of a battery-electric Tesla with neither steering wheels nor pedals available inside the car.

It was first shown off in 2024 and boasted futuristic wireless charging capabilities, with a rumored target range of 200 miles per charge.

RELATED: 5 cars from the 2026 New York International Auto Show you might actually want to buy

Cybercab will be combined with Tesla’s existing Robotaxi app — launched in 2025 — to create “a personalized driverless experience.”

Currently, the rides are offered on Tesla Model Y cars, but Tesla expects its new autonomous rides to target customers who grow tired of their human experiences. In this sense, Tesla notes how their rides differ from some of the most annoying parts of riding in someone else’s car.

Heating and cooling settings are saved in the passenger’s profile in the app, which means vehicles will automatically adjust to their settings across different rides. Other features target the aggravation of having to hear another person’s music selection, as the Robotaxi allows riders to stream their own.

There are some limitations though. For example, children under 8 years old, which of course includes infants, are not permitted to ride in the taxis. Guests between 8 and 17 years old are permitted in the cars, but minors cannot ride in the vehicle alone, per Robotaxi Rider Rules.

Riders must also adhere to applicable laws regarding small children, meaning a child safety seat may be required (provided by the customer) to bring them along.

Pets are also not permitted unless they are service animals.

RELATED: Anti-Trump Indian investor wants you to use this hat that reads your thoughts

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images

Only three passengers at a combined weight of 800 pounds may ride in the vehicle at one time, and no one can sit in the front seat, Tesla says.

Smoking, vaping, and alcohol consumption are also not allowed.

The company also lists strict rules about recording or collecting any data from inside the vehicle.

“Instruments or equipment intended to record, measure, reverse engineer, collect information about, or conduct surveillance of any feature, equipment, component, or area of our Robotaxi are strictly prohibited.”

The service is currently only available to residents in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas.

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​Return, Cars, Tesla, Texas, Robotaxi, Autonomous cars, Driverless cars, Elon musk, Tech 

This isn’t the first time someone tried to assassinate President Trump. In the seven months since Charlie Kirk was gunned down, the violent rhetoric from the left has only gotten worse.

I resigned from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office after Kirk’s murder in order to warn the public about the violent consequences of the inflammatory rhetoric promoted by Democrats and amplified by the media.

Before almost every prior assassination attempt, that same toxic rhetoric was deployed. After almost every attempt, Democrat leaders and media figures issued predictable calls for calm and unity. Yet shortly thereafter, the rhetoric resumed, and another attempt followed. One of them succeeded.

The pattern has become so predictable that wild conspiracy theories about ‘false flag’ operations are now proliferating.

The public has largely forgotten the earliest attempts on Trump’s life. On June 18, 2016, Michael Steven Sandford tried to grab a police officer’s pistol during a Trump speech at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in order to shoot him. On September 6, 2017, Gregory Lee Leingang stole a forklift from an oil refinery and tried to ram Trump’s motorcade.

In both cases, the attempts were preceded by heated rhetoric. Former Democrat presidential candidate and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley labeled Trump a “fascist demagogue.” After the Charlottesville incident, allegedly partially funded by the SPLC, MSNBC commentator Nicolle Wallace stated that Trump was giving “safe harbor to Nazis” and “white supremacists.”

These early failures did not deter the pattern. The rhetoric continued, and more attempts followed.

In July 2019, New Jersey Democrat Senator Cory Booker stated that Trump was “worse than a racist” and compared Trump to noted segregationist Democrat George Wallace.

On September 1, 2022, in his Philadelphia “Soul of the Nation” speech, Joe Biden declared that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa stated that Trump “channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) consistently paints Trump as a fascist and a threat to democracy. In November 2023, Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan wrote that “a Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable.” “With each passing day, it will become harder and more dangerous to stop it by any means, legal or illegal.”

After this unrelenting barrage, with Trump and conservatives being branded as racists, fascists, and existential threats to democracy, Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The shooting grazed Trump’s ear and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore.

Democrats responded with familiar calls to lower the temperature and some easy condemnations of political violence, but actions speak louder than words.

A New Jersey columnist continued to label Trump a “fascist threat to democracy” only eight days after the assassination attempt.

On September 15, 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested while hiding in the bushes with a rifle near the course where Trump was golfing.

The rhetoric only intensified.

On October 23, 2024, Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris agreed that Trump is a fascist, and she repeated the widely discredited statements of John Kelly that Trump praised Hitler. Media outlets continued to praise and encourage the dangerous and biased labels.

The labeling of Trump and conservatives as Hitler and Nazis and the comparison of ICE to the Gestapo are numerous and easy to find.

RELATED: The collapse of conservatism nobody wants to admit

Blaze Media Illustration

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. Once again came the public statements condemning political violence and calling for unity. But the rhetoric did not subside.

Within two weeks of his death, columnists repeated the lie that Kirk was a white supremacist promoting racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic violence and criticized anyone for mourning or honoring him.

Within a month of his death, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) called Kirk’s views “vile.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) called Trump a “wannabe Hitler.” Kamala Harris called Trump a “tyrant” and compared him to a “communist dictator.” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) claimed Trump was an existential threat requiring vigilance against “totalitarian” moves.

Less than 10 days ago, that dangerous rhetoric was repeated by Camden County Commissioner Louis Cappelli Jr., who publicly labeled Trump a “cult leader and traitor.”

Saturday, another individual attempted to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The pattern has become so predictable that wild conspiracy theories about “false flag” operations are now proliferating. This confusion makes confronting the real problem harder.

The cycle will not stop until more Americans — regardless of party — call out the poisonous rhetoric and insist on debating ideas, not demonizing opponents as enemies who must be stopped by any means.

Political violence has no place in America. Words have consequences. It’s time to choose debate over demonization before more innocent lives are lost.

​Assassination attempts, Charlie kirk, Democratic leaders, Gestapo, Ice, Joe biden, Kamala harris, President trump, Robert kagan, Violent rhetoric, White house correspondents dinner, Opinion & analysis 

The Justice Department announced an indictment last week against the Southern Poverty Law Center for allegedly funneling millions of dollars to the very extremist groups it claimed to be fighting.

In addition to allegedly having a hand in the planning of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, Virginia — which led to over $106.47 million in contributions in fiscal year 2024 alone — the SPLC has been credibly accused of bankrolling leaders and organizers in the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, the American Front, United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America, and the National Alliance.

‘The SPLC engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors.’

Eager to reassure deep-pocketed donors, SPLC CEO Bryan Fair claimed in a recent video statement that the individuals inside various extremist networks whom his organization has funded were actually “paid confidential informants” tasked with gathering “credible intelligence.”

Liberals rushed to embrace and defend Fair’s suggestion that the SPLC wasn’t backing its purported foes but rather “paying informants to expose and prevent violence by the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups.”

This narrative might have survived the month had the identities of the SPLC’s “informants” remained secret.

The New York Post, however, claims to have identified at least two of the eight radicals the smear- and fearmongering racket bankrolled.

The Post reported that one of the two alleged SPLC field sources referred to as “F-unknown” in the indictment was Bradley Scott Jenkins, an imperial wizard of the United Klans of America who regarded himself as the leader of the “true Klan.”

RELATED: History of violence: How the SPLC’s demonization racket helped set the stage for at least 1 shooting

L-R: Evelyn Hockstein/The Washington Post/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images

The SPLC noted in 2013 that the original United Klans of America — which was responsible for the deadly bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 — “dissolved after it was sued by the Southern Poverty Law Center in the 1980s, but in June 2011, longtime white nationalist Bradley Jenkins of Ashland, Ala., (now the UKA’s self-proclaimed imperial wizard) registered a domain name and attempted a comeback. Jenkins … dreams of rehabilitating the Klan’s image.”

Jenkins, a virulent white supremacist until his death in 2023 at the age of 50, not only revived a group that the SPLC identified as a “serious domestic threat” but reportedly showed no signs of reform or undermining the KKK’s agenda, according to his son, Noah Jenkins.

Noah Jenkins, 24, told the Post, “When I went to the rallies with him as a kid, I never saw anything that made me think he wasn’t a true believer.”

The wizard’s son long suspected that his father “was working with someone” but figured that “maybe he got into trouble and was threatened by [law enforcement] to become an informant to avoid jail or something.”

The SPLC did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

The other individual suspected of being one of the SPLC’s alleged “informants” is April Chambers of Georgia.

According to the Post, Chambers is the “F-unknown” described in the indictment as a KKK member who, along with her husband, “an Exalted Cyclops” of the Klan, sued the Peach State over the KKK’s unsuccessful attempt to participate in Georgia Adopt-a-Highway program.

The indictment alleges that “during the course of the litigation, known payments were traced from the SPLC to F-unknown which exceeded $3,500.00.”

Chambers, who did not respond to the Post’s request for comment, now apparently runs a home cleaning and handyman service.

FBI Director Kash Patel recently stated, “The SPLC engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, funded the very hate groups they claim to oppose, and then hid their operations from the public through shell companies and fake entities.”

The SPLC has been charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

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​Charlottesville virginia, Extremist groups, Indictment, Justice department, Kkk, Klansman, Ku klux klan, Liberals, National socialist party, Radicals, Southern poverty law, Unite the right, White nationalist, White supremacist, Racism, Splc, Southern poverty law center, Politics 

A newly passed Tennessee law is igniting controversy after lawmakers approved a measure allowing homeowners to use deadly force to protect their property under certain circumstances — and BlazeTV host John Doyle is thrilled, calling it “common sense.”

The legislation was sponsored by state Representative Kip Capley (R) and state Senator Joey Hensley (R) and aims to allow citizens to use deadly force to protect their property if they see no other options in protecting themselves.

And while Doyle is pleased, leftists predictably are not.

“Leftists are up in arms about this. You know, the usual antics saying that Republicans think that things are more freaking valuable than human life,” Doyle says.

Doyle argued against the leftist response in a post on X, writing: “Every red state should have this btw. You don’t have property rights if you cannot defend your property. There can be no asterisk.”

He went on in his post to mock leftists, adding, “‘Erm, so you’re saying a HUMAN LIFE is worth less than some THING?!’”

And while Doyle admits that they aren’t wrong in their assessment, he points out that it is actually the criminal who is deciding that their life is worth less than an object.

“If someone is trying to take your property from you, they have now decided that their life is on the line … because I could use deadly force. I could use lethal force to preserve my property,” he explains.

“But the situation we have now is the state’s going to come in and then step between me and the bad guy facing me and say, ‘Hey, you can’t do that. Human life is freaking valuable.’ … So you’re going to have to relinquish your personal possession because this Neanderthal decided that he wanted it,” he continues.

“That is so backwards,” he says. “Nowhere ever in the history of the world have property rights been understood in that context.”

Want more from John Doyle?

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​Criminal decision making, Deadly force measure, Homeowners protection rights, Leftist response criticism, Personal possession relinquishment, Property defense options, Property rights defense, Senator joey hensley, State intervention conflict, Tennessee law controversy, The john doyle show, Property rights history understanding, John doyle, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Representative kip capley 

A substitute teacher from Texas has been accused of having an improper relationship with a student, according to police.

The Llano County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the Llano Independent School District last Tuesday notified authorities about an alleged improper relationship between a substitute teacher and a student.

‘The district takes all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and remains committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all students.’

Police identified the suspect as 27-year-old Angela Palmares.

“Investigators conducted interviews and collected evidence, which led to the issuance of an arrest warrant for Palmares,” police stated.

Officers with the Llano County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division and Bell County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Apprehension Unit arrested Palmares without incident in Bell County on Wednesday, according to police.

Palmares has been “charged with improper relationship between an educator and a student,” which is a second-degree felony, the sheriff’s office said.

Under Texas law the offense occurs when an “employee of a public or private primary or secondary school … engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works.”

The New York Post reported that Palmares is being held on a $150,000 bond.

RELATED: Former girls’ high school basketball coach hit with 32 sex charges, including ‘deviant sexual intercourse with a student’

Mac Edwards, the school district superintendent, wrote a letter to parents saying the substitute teacher was “immediately removed from the list of available substitutes on April 21.”

Edwards added in the letter that an allegation surfaced from Llano High School regarding a substitute teacher and “inappropriate communication with students, specifically through a social media platform outside of the school day.” Edwards said authorities were “promptly” notified.

Edwards added that the substitute teacher had not worked in the school district since April 2.

“The district has been in contact with all of the parents of those students who have been directly impacted by this situation,” the letter stated.

“The district takes all allegations of this nature extremely seriously and remains committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all students,” Edwards also wrote.

Edwards said the school district at present is “unable to provide additional details due to personnel and student privacy considerations.”

The Llano County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

Authorities are urging anyone with information related to the case or anyone who believes they may be a victim to contact the Llano County Sheriff’s Office at 325-247-5767 and request to speak with an investigator in the Criminal Investigation Division.

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​Angela palmares, Bad teacher, Child sex abuse, Child sex crimes, Crime, Substitute teacher arrested, Teacher arrested, Teacher sex scandal, Teacher student sex scandal, Texas 

A couple of new, scaled-down electroencephalogram devices are being marketed as sleep correctives and lucid dreaming devices set to take users to places where anything is possible. Maybe true, but it’s also a feeder program for grander project.

Lucid dreaming follows a spectrum. Everyone from cognitive neuroscientists on down now acknowledges it. The basic idea is that if you can wake up — to some extent — inside your dream and, to varying degrees, take direction, there is probably a way to enhance and prolong that experience.

In a way, in theory, it is the ultimate video game. And you’re the console.

Selling your dream time to direct-inject advertising schemes may appeal to many.

If the team behind the new lucid dream company is representative of the techno-pharmaceutical-religious zeitgeist in the California Bay Area, then perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised by its moniker: Prophetic.

What could go wrong? Why wouldn’t you want to share the utmost intimate details of your subconscious, which may or may not have important relationships with the divine soul?

What’s in it for them?

Prophetic’s interface devices, called Phase and Dual, are not in any way prophetic, of course. In fact, the irony is how predictable is the endeavor to mix dreams, tech, and vibes as the latest quick profit for the expendable income crowd.

The company website and X account share very little of the bigger picture — and it’s this bigger picture, with the implicit long-term profit motives and strategies (almost always related to data acquisition) that is really revealing.

We can glean a peek. When I queried Google for a deeper dive, I was informed that Prophetic’s “data collected from the headsets (EEG data, sleep metrics) is used internally to refine their AI models, including the Morpheus-1 neurostimulation model.” Google linked to an article indicating that “Morpheus-1 will use ‘transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation,’ a non-invasive way to modulate brain activity using high-frequency sound waves beyond the normal human hearing range.”

RELATED: This Big Tech patent tracks your brain, eyes, and body — with earbuds

Christian Vierig/Getty Images

So as in the case of Pokemon Go — wherein users chased phantasm characters on a screen while, unbeknownst to them, their adventures were unpaid labor, traversing urban canyons to harvest geospatial data for a much longer-term robotics play — data collection from lucid dreaming essentially creates a local, spatial grid dataset, of the kind applicable to robots working independent of GPS. “Prophetic induces lucidity by sending safe, low-intensity ultrasonic energy through the forehead and into the prefrontal cortex,” the website notes. “This area of the brain is naturally downregulated during normal non-lucid dreams. And it is upregulated during lucid dreams.”

I can do this job in my sleep!

Down in section 15(b) of the terms of service offered for the Dual and Phase devices, we find the following: “THE CLAIMS MADE ABOUT SPECIFIC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION.” But if it’s not a food and it’s not a drug, what sort of body should be doing the evaluation? Or is your brain in its most vulnerable state the new Wild West?

Caution in strapping an unapproved, largely unproven device to your head for eight hours a night is advised, we hope, obviously. And perhaps the data collection winds up serving some grander purpose related to human well-being. However, Prophetic is set up with a potential captive audience, one in a very particular, ultra-submissive emotional condition.

It may seem impossible today, but with a certain rejiggering of the economic expectations and realities in first-world countries, the notion of selling your dream time to direct-inject advertising schemes — or still more transactional purposes — may appeal to many.

For the luxe early-adopter, nihilism-is-dead crowd, the promise of optimized add-ons for REM, for performance enhancement by way of programming subconscious, may offer an extra appeal, even “better” than the real thing of waking life.

And speaking of add-ons, how long until the Prophetic machine can interact and/or control parameters to “participate” in the ultimate human intimacy of our dreams? Is a scheme for that already being tested?

Perhaps in the final phases of the schemes related to human neurological alteration and “improvement,” we lovers of novel experience (and often blindly willing guinea pigs) will have the option of taking into our innermost selves sales pitches and propaganda for the tools and substances we use to distract us from our spiritual shortcomings. But, what’s more, we soon may want (or need) to consider working not one, not two, but maybe even three or four jobs — wage job by day, “gig economy” side hustle by night, and yet another, and another, and another in your dreams!

And so we pioneers forge ahead into a future where such obsequious degradations of the human spirit grow ever more feasible — and potentially more preferable to even worse options.

​Tech 

The Trump administration has made it easier to deport recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals amnesty program implemented by former President Barack Obama, and activists are furious.

Obama said numerous times that he did not have the power to unilaterally pass amnesty for illegal aliens before he announced that he was passing amnesty for illegal aliens in 2012.

‘They don’t deserve this. We will not stop fighting back against the cruel, anti-immigrant obsession of Trump, Stephen Miller, and their loyalists.’

Fourteen years later, the “Dreamer” immigrants granted amnesty through the DACA program face a heightened threat of deportation.

The decision was made by the Executive Office for Immigration Review Board of Immigration Appeals of the Department of Justice.

“This decision could have profound consequences for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who rely on DACA to live and work in America without threat of deportation,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois said. “In the face of this administration’s heartless actions, Congress must finally act to protect these young people who know no other home than here. This is a matter of simple American fairness and justice.”

Durbin noted in his press release that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 261 DACA recipients and deported 86 of them since Jan. 2025.

A joint statement from four Democratic senators from the U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus also decried the decision.

“Donald Trump said that Dreamers should ‘feel safe,’ but every action his government takes weakens the DACA program and threatens the safety and livelihoods of the 500,000 DACA recipients who have only ever known this country as home,” the senators said.

“Dreamers are our friends and neighbors,” they added. “They don’t deserve this. We will not stop fighting back against the cruel, anti-immigrant obsession of Trump, Stephen Miller, and their loyalists.”

The National Immigration Law Center called the decision “cruel” and warned that it would harm immigrants.

“The Trump administration’s proposal to strip DACA recipients’ access to affordable health coverage is a huge step backward for the wellbeing of everyone in our communities and further unmasks Trump’s transparent and hollow claims to care about ‘Dreamers,'” reads an NILC statement.

“This cruel attempt to undo a hard-won victory for immigrant youth would reimpose unnecessary obstacles that for years kept DACA recipients disproportionately uninsured, preventing many of them from getting lifesaving medical care,” the group added.

“This decision is yet another step in dismantling the program without the government taking responsibility for ending it outright. … This is a quiet rollback of protections, and our communities are paying the price in real time,” reads a statement from United We Dream.

RELATED: Court rules Obama-era DACA amnesty program unlawful

Durbin estimated that there were about 515,000 people who had been granted DACA status.

Critics have long argued that the original order from Obama to offer amnesty to child arrivals violated the U.S. Constitution by usurping the powers intended to be vested in Congress.

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​Dream act, Trump vs daca, Daca dream act, Illegal alien activists, Politics 

President Donald Trump continues to prioritize the passage of the SAVE America Act, keeping election integrity at the forefront in Washington. However, states are not waiting for Congress to act. Across the country, this shift has been building for years, and it is becoming harder to ignore.

The SAVE America Act should be passed because it aligns federal elections with the direction states are already taking.

Florida offers one of the clearest examples. Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a state-level measure requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and directing officials to verify applicants using existing data systems. The approach mirrors what the SAVE America Act would do at the federal level. DeSantis said the law would “strengthen the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system.”

Florida is not alone. In Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves signed the SHIELD Act, which requires officials to verify citizenship when individuals register to vote, including checks against federal databases and regular audits of voter rolls. Reeves called it “another win for election integrity” and made clear that the state intends to keep strengthening its system.

South Dakota has already enacted similar requirements this year, requiring proof of citizenship for new voter registrations and putting those rules into effect immediately. Governor Larry Rhoden said the law “ensures only citizens vote in state elections, keeping our elections safe and secure.”

These bills didn’t happen overnight. States have been moving in this direction for years. Arizona, for example, required proof of citizenship for voter registration following the passage of Arizona Proposition 200, creating a system that distinguishes between voters who provide documentation and those who do not.

That history matters. It shows that the idea of verifying citizenship at the point of registration is nothing new. What is changing now is how widely and directly states are applying it to their election systems.

Under current federal law, voter registration generally relies on applicants affirming their eligibility under penalty of perjury rather than providing documentary proof. The federal voter registration form requires applicants to attest that they are United States citizens under penalty of perjury. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 relies heavily on self-attestation rather than documentary proof, leaving states to determine how verification is carried out. As some states move toward more structured verification, those differences become harder to ignore.

States that have moved toward documentation and data verification are operating alongside systems that still rely primarily on sworn statements.

RELATED: Uncle Sam wants YOU — to obey immigration laws

History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The contrast is becoming more visible as more states update their processes, raising a straightforward question about whether federal elections should operate under a consistent standard.

The SAVE America Act answers that problem directly. It would require documentary proof of United States citizenship in order to vote in federal elections, using documents such as a passport or birth certificate.

As Senator Mike Lee has argued, the SAVE America Act would secure federal elections by requiring proof of citizenship and voter identification nationwide.

Citizenship is already required to vote. A federal standard would ensure that requirement is applied the same way in every state.

Without that standard, states will continue moving in different directions, leaving federal elections governed by a patchwork of verification practices. With it, the system becomes consistent.

The SAVE America Act should be passed because it aligns federal elections with the direction states are already taking and applies a clear, uniform standard to voter registration.

States are setting the standard for verifying voter eligibility.

It is time for Congress to do its part and pass the SAVE America Act.

​Congress, Election integrity, Florida, Governor ron desantis, Mississippi, President donald trump, Save america act, Senator mike lee, South dakota, Voter id, Opinion & analysis 

The Indiana Fever team has been having difficulty selling tickets for its season opener against the Dallas Wings — and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock not only believes it’s “a sign that the WNBA is about to potentially crash and burn,” but knows why.

“They’ve probably already burned up the goodwill that Caitlin Clark earned them by entering into the league. If they’ve diminished the star of Caitlin Clark, what they’ve really diminished is the entire league,” he explains.

Whitlock points out that while some of the WNBA players are making seven-figure salaries, the attitude of the league leaves fans wondering if they’ve earned it.

“People are going to want their money’s worth, and the WNBA can’t give it to them. And when you don’t feel good about the players, when these players are walking around making seven-figure salaries, pretending like they’re superstar celebrities, pretending like they’re just the same as NBA players, all the goodwill is going to disappear,” he explains.

“We already see it in Indiana with Caitlin Clark. The goodwill is gone. … Women’s basketball in the WNBA and professionals, it’s bloated. It’s overrated. It’s hot garbage that’s being paid like it’s pristine and some prized possession,” he continues.

And while the players are paid well, Whitlock points out that one of the biggest issues with their attitude is that they “hate America and have portrayed themselves as victims” who have “blackmailed and guilt-tripped their way into a seven-figure salary.”

Now that the league can’t sell out the Indiana Fever’s first home game, Whitlock believes “the entire league is teetering at the brink of an uprising and a backlash that’s really long overdue.”

And Whitlock is among those leaving the league behind.

“I’m prepared, like the rest of you, to de-emphasize my passion for the WNBA,” he says. “This fall can’t happen quick enough.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​America, Attitude, Backlash, Blaze media, Blaze news, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze podcast network, Blaze podcasts, Blazetv, Blazetv host, Blm, Caitlin clark, Dallas wings, Fall, Goodwill, Indiana fever, Jason whitlock, Passion, Professional athletes, Seven figure salaries, The blaze, Ticket sales, Uprising, Victim mindset, Victims, Wnba collapse, Womens basketball, Fearless with jason whitlock 

Following the recent attempted assassination of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, there was an immediate and predictable rush to the microphones.

“We need to tone it down.” “We need to be better.” “We need to lower the temperature.”

The statements came almost reflexively, as if the script had already been written.

The same people now saying “we” have spent years writing and rehearsing the very script they now decry.

It brought to mind a scene from “Blazing Saddles,” when Governor William J. Lepetomane gathers his Cabinet and declares, “We’ve got to protect our phony-baloney jobs, gentlemen,” prompting a chorus of obedient “harrumphs.” When one man fails to join in, he is immediately called out for it.

That scene was meant to be absurd, but it’s hard to laugh when it looks so familiar.

The chorus we hear now from the media is not all that different. The language is more polished, the setting more formal, but the substance is the same. A unified sound, carefully rehearsed, that spreads responsibility so broadly that no one person has to carry it.

“We need to tone it down.”

Who is “we”?

The rush to say “we need to tone it down” or that “both sides” must do so reveals something else. The media knows it has a credibility problem. What it refuses to admit is that it has an ownership problem as well.

“We” is a convenient word to hide behind. The same people now saying “we” have spent years writing and rehearsing the very script they now decry. They used language that casts opponents as existential threats, invoking terms like “Hitler” and “fascist” as routine descriptors rather than historically loaded warnings.

That kind of language does not stay contained. It shapes how listeners understand the stakes. It tells them that what they are seeing is not a mere disagreement, but a moral emergency. And when everything is framed as a moral emergency, there will always be someone who hears that not as metaphor but as instruction.

That does not excuse the person who acts. Responsibility for violence remains personal. But it does expose the gap between those who help set the tone and those who later step forward to warn about it.

The problem is the distance built into the language.

What would it sound like if that distance were removed? Not “we need to dial it back,” but “I do.” Not “we have to be more careful,” but “I have not been careful.” That kind of sentence lands differently because it costs something. It does not distribute the burden. It accepts it.

I did not learn that lesson in Washington. I learned it as a caregiver. There are days when everything is compressed at once, when the routine collapses, the body gives out, and the phone rings at precisely the wrong moment. On those days, it is easy to feel as though everything is being dumped on me. Sometimes that is true.

But caregiving has a way of stripping away illusions, including the ones I prefer to keep about myself.

Because while there are days when I feel like the statue, I have had to admit that there are other days when I am the pigeon — not because I set out to do harm, but because I make impatient decisions in the middle of exhaustion, speak more sharply than I should, or try, in subtle ways, to elevate myself at someone else’s expense.

That does not excuse it. One does not get a free pass to be an ass.

Washington has a hypocrisy problem. The media has a credibility problem. I have done the same thing in smaller rooms with lower stakes and fewer cameras. I have used tone, timing, and words to shift blame, to justify myself, to make someone else carry what was mine to own. That recognition has steadied me more than any sweeping call for “all of us” to do better.

I am not in a position to correct a culture that rewards outrage and then feigns surprise when it produces consequences. But I am in a position to confront myself with the truth.

RELATED: Follow the facts, not the script

Stellalevi/Getty Images

First-person plural spreads the blame until it disappears. First-person singular removes the cover. And once the cover is gone, something else becomes possible: repentance.

Not “we will do better,” but “I will do better.”

That is where leadership begins. Not on a stage or behind a podium, not in a ballroom full of cameras, but in the quiet decision of a single person to own what is his to own.

Life, whether it unfolds in Washington or in a hospital room, is shaped the same way — one voice, one decision, one sentence at a time. Which means it can only be corrected the same way. Not “we.” But “I.”

​Attempted assassination, Correspondents dinner, Donald trump, Hitler fascist, Media credibility problem, White house, Washington hypocrisy, Media, Mainstream media, Media narrative, Media hypocrisy, Opinion & analysis 

New York City Democrat mayor Zohran Mamdani’s latest political stunt has wealthy investors signaling they may rethink their commitments to the once-flourishing city — just as BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales predicted.

“They’re not going to just sit there and take it. They’re going to do something about that. What do you think these millionaires that don’t even live there full-time are going to do?” she asks, showing a video Mamdani released revealing his plans for the rich.

“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today, we’re taxing the rich. I’m thrilled to announce we’ve secured a pied-a-terre tax, the first in New York’s history. This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city,” Mamdani explained in a promotional video.

And they’re not happy — especially billionaire Ken Griffin.

Mamdani “doxxed” the CEO of Citadel in his video, pointing out the location of his apartment.

“I don’t think this should come as a shock to anyone. He wasn’t very happy about being name-checked in this little, you know, ad. And so, Ken Griffin now is pushing back after Mamdani featured … his $238 million penthouse in the tax-the-rich video,” Gonzales explains, pointing out that in a letter to Citadel’s employees, the COO subtly hinted at a possible re-evaluation of its New York City investment.

“Because you see, as the story goes, he was planning on investing $6 billion into a development project. And now he’s like, ‘You know what? I don’t know if I want to do that. I don’t know if I want to continue investing my money in a city that just wants to tax me into oblivion,’” she continues.

“Who could have possibly predicted that that would be the final result of Zohran Mamdani just trying to get the rich to pay for all of his free stuff, which as we know isn’t even free? So, things are not going well on that front,” she adds.

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​238 million penthouse, Blazetv host, Ceo of citadel, Commitments, Doxxed, Free stuff, Investment, Ken griffin, Luxury properties, Mayor zohran mamdani, Millionaires, New york city, Piedaterre tax, Political stunt, Push back, Sara gonzales, Taxation, Wealthy investors, Development project, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

A horrifying random attack on a 3-year-old could have been prevented by the former Biden administration, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Gabriella Perez and her child were relaxing and fishing on April 18 at a San Antonio park when they were violently attacked by Atharva Vyas, according to a DHS post on social media.

‘She’s lashing out, angry. She doesn’t understand evil like this f**king man. She’ll never be the same again.’

Vyas allegedly grabbed Perez by her hair and caused her to drop the 3-year-old. The 24-year-old then reportedly attacked the girl, leaving her with bite marks and knocking two of her teeth out.

Perez told the New York Post that witnesses intervened to subdue the man and two Texans pointed guns at him.

“I was screaming, ‘Shoot him! Shoot him!'” she said.

The man was identified as an illegal alien who had originally come to the U.S. on a student visa in Aug. 2023, according to DHS.

Vyas was arrested only three months later for assault on the campus of the University of Texas, but the Biden administration determined that the offense was not “egregious” enough to justify the revocation of his visa.

The Trump administration revoked his F-1 visa in April 2025, according to the DHS statement. After the newest allegations of assault, Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer request on Vyas.

Perez told the New York Post that the child has life-changing trauma over the attack.

“She’s terrified to sleep. She’s lashing out, angry. She doesn’t understand evil like this f**king man. She’ll never be the same again,” she said.

The man was allegedly on “wax,” a highly concentrated cannabis substance that can be the equivalent of smoking up to 20 joints, according to law enforcement.

RELATED: 83-year-old great-grandmother fights back against carjacker by biting him: ‘Get these animals off the streets!’

“This criminal illegal alien brutally bit this child and caused her to lose two teeth. This barbaric assault against this woman and her three-year-old in a park was completely preventable,” reads a statement from Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

“The Biden administration NEVER should have released this animal following his arrest for assault,” she added. “We are working with our partners in Texas to ensure this criminal illegal alien never roams free in American communities again.”

The victim’s family said in a GoFundMe account that they are focusing on healing. They also posted a photo of the little girl’s grievous injuries. The injuries are also visible in an interview with Telemundo.

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​Atharva vyas, Illegal alien bites child face, Child face attack texas, Wax cannabis face bite attack, Crime 

A man was caught on police bodycam video biting an Alabama police dog while resisting arrest last week — and cops said the suspect just showed up and became disruptive during an operation he wasn’t even part of.

The Florence Police Department said the Lauderdale County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant in the 200 block of North Locust Street in Florence on Wednesday.

‘I can tell you what I had a concern of, and of course, all of the citizens. Those are most of my calls in regard to what happened. It’s all about the dog biting him and when the dog was sicced on him.’

Police said the Florence-Lauderdale SWAT team and the Florence Police Department K-9 Unit assisted.

However, during the execution of the warrant, police said 46-year-old David Culliver arrived on scene.

Believe it or not, police said Culliver wasn’t involved in the investigation and actually “inserted himself into the situation.”

What’s more, cops said Culliver “became belligerent, yelled at officers, and stepped into an active roadway with flowing traffic.”

Police said an officer ordered Culliver several times to get out of the roadway so a vehicle wouldn’t hit him.

However, cops said Culliver re-entered the roadway and continued disrupting traffic.

At that point, officers told Culliver he was being placed under arrest.

But as officers attempted to handcuff him, police said Culliver pulled away and resisted multiple officers as they tried to place him under arrest.

RELATED: Violent suspect actually bites K-9’s ear amid arrest, Florida sheriff says: ‘You can’t make this stuff up’

Image source: Florence (Ala.) Police Department bodycam video screenshot

Soon, a Florence Police K-9 was deployed to help take Culliver into custody.

But Culliver grabbed one of the K-9’s legs and bit the K-9, police said.

Officers struck Culliver to get him to release the K-9, cops noted.

Culliver then was taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs, police said, adding that he was taken to a hospital for treatment of K-9 puncture wounds and then booked into the Lauderdale County Detention Center. Police did not detail what, if any, injuries the K-9 may have suffered.

Police released video of the incident showing two bodycam angles; the clip from Officer Two showing the struggle between the suspect and the K-9 begins at the 11:27 mark in the video below. You also can view the full video from Officer Two here.

Content warning: Explicit language.

Police said Culliver was being charged for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and interfering with a police dog.

Police said Culliver’s bond was set at $2,500; Culliver was not listed as an inmate, according to jail records accessed Monday afternoon.

Police added that “this footage captures the entirety of the encounter, as opposed to the brief clip currently circulating on social media. Shortened videos shared online often present only a limited perspective and may not fully show the sequence of events. Viewing the complete footage is essential to understanding the full context of the situation and ensuring an accurate representation of what occurred.”

Police also said the incident “has been thoroughly reviewed, and the use of force applied has been determined to be justified.”

However, Florence City Council President Kaytrina Simmons said several community members reached out to her in anger over the officers’ actions, according to WAFF-TV.

Simmons told the station that even after considering the police perspective on the incident, the use of the K-9 is troubling to her: “I’m not a police officer. I can tell you what I had a concern of, and of course, all of the citizens. Those are most of my calls in regard to what happened. It’s all about the dog biting him and when the dog was sicced on him.”

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​Man bites dog, Alabama, Florence, Drug bust, Arrest, Bodycam video, Bodycam video released, Resisting arrest, Disorderly conduct, Public intoxication, Interfering with a police dog, Crime 

President Donald Trump reprimanded a “60 Minutes” journalist during his interview for reading the words ascribed to the alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter.

The president discussed the latest assassination attempt against his life with Norah O’Donnell on Sunday but lashed out at her when she quoted suspect Cole Allen’s alleged manifesto.

‘You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with … stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.’

“He appears to reference a motive. In it he writes this, quote: ‘Administration officials, they are targets.’ And he also wrote this: ‘I’m no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.’ What’s your reaction to that?” asked O’Donnell.

“Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump responded. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”

“Do you think he was referring to you?” asked O’Donnell.

“Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile,” the president interrupted.

“You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with … stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, [Jeffrey] Epstein or other things,” he added.

“But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview, and they’ll probably …’ I read the manifesto,” Trump continued. “You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”

“Mr. President, these are the gunman’s words,” she replied.

“Excuse me, you shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes,'” Trump interrupted. “You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”

He added again, “You’re disgraceful.”

Video of the interaction was posted to social media, where O’Donnell was widely criticized.

RELATED: ‘Enough is enough’: Melania demands ABC ‘take a stand’ against ‘coward’ Jimmy Kimmel

In addition to the alleged manifesto, the suspect also apparently left a large digital footprint stacked with Democratic anti-Trump talking points and even some blatant threats against Trump and his administration.

The president has jump-started his campaign to build the White House ballroom in the wake of the shooting by arguing that it would have far better security protocols than the Washington Hilton, where the shooting took place.

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​Trump vs 60 minutes, Norah o’donnell, Cole allen manifesto, Whcd shooter, Politics 

Anti-Trump commentator Ana Navarro made a case for the idea that the latest attempt on the president’s life might have been staged to distract the American public.

Navarro, who is a co-host of “The View,” previously worked for the presidential campaign of the late Sen. John McCain but has become a bitter critic of President Donald Trump and his policies.

‘People look at this and say, “Oh my God, is he trying to distract us again?” because that is what he does, right?’

On the Sunday edition of her “Bleep!” podcast, Navarro offered some reasons why people might think the Trump administration staged the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

“It’s odd to me that in a place that is teeming with Secret Service, with Washington, D.C., police, with all sorts of law enforcement, this could happen,” Navarro said.

“But also, I think people jump to the conclusion that it is staged because Trump lies. He lies constantly, daily, and pathologically. So people do not trust and do not believe anything Trump says. His lips are moving, the likelihood is, he is lying,” she added.

“Also, this is a man who has mastered the art — forget the art of the deal — he has mastered the art of distraction,” Navarro said. “Any time he finds himself in hot water, his numbers right now are down in the basement, his Iran war is incredibly unpopular, people are pissed as hell at the price of gas and the price of everything going up.”

The Justice Dept. presented in a media briefing Monday the mountain of evidence so far collected to show that alleged shooter Cole Tomas Allen was motivated by left-wing animus to target the president.

“People look at this and say, ‘Oh my God, is he trying to distract us again?’ because that is what he does, right?” Navarro continued.

“He posts crazy things, and he does crazy things and says crazy things to distract us from the Epstein files, to distract us from his horrible [polling] numbers, to distract us from the failures and incompetence of his administration,” she added.

RELATED: Ana Navarro cites her disabled relatives to defend abortion and people are horrified

On Monday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that Allen was charged with one count each of attempted assassination of the president of the United States, interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

“Violence has no place in civic life,” Blanche said. “It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.”

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​Ana navarro, Whcd shooting conspiracy theory, Trump assassination attempt, Politics, Cole tomas allen 

Democratic former President Barack Obama appeared to be baffled about the motivation of the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, despite the rather persuasive evidence already available.

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California, was arrested after he allegedly opened fire at the dinner, prompting attendees to dive under their tables and the president to be evacuated from the area.

‘There is no ambiguity. … It’s wrong to downplay or obscure the obvious motive.’

Allen had allegedly released a manifesto and left a massive online footprint full of Democratic anti-Trump propaganda, and yet Obama said he had no clue what could have motivated the suspect to try and assassinate the president and members of his administration.

“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama wrote in the statement on social media Sunday.

“It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day,” he added. “I’m grateful to them — and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

The former president was immediately assailed for the bizarre comment.

“This guy. We don’t have the motives? There’s a damn manifesto that details everything,” NewsNation reporter Katie Pavlich responded.

“Oh, come on. The shooter left a detailed manifesto in his hotel room and sent writings to family members shortly before the attack where explicitly identified himself as the ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ and said was targeting Trump administration officials — prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest,” former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

“There is no ambiguity. It was a politically motivated attack driven by anti-Trump and anti-Christian bile. It’s wrong to downplay or obscure the obvious motive,” she added.

RELATED: ‘Enough is enough’: Melania Trump demands ABC ‘take a stand’ against ‘coward’ Jimmy Kimmel

“You are so SICK!” responded the account for the Republican National Committee. “Law enforcement officers confirmed this radicalized Leftist was targeting President Trump and his administration last night. Why are you lying?”

Allen appeared in federal court for arraignment Monday on charges of attempted assassination of the president, interstate transportation of weapons, and discharge of a firearm during a violent crime. He is likely to face many other charges based on the information gathered from the investigation.

Allen’s next scheduled court date is May 11.

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​Whcd assassination attempt, Whcd shooter motivation, Obama on whcd shooting, Cole tomas allen, Politics 

In the aftermath of the third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to the podium on Monday to call out specific Democrats for heightening tensions and calling for violence.

Just days after 31-year-old Cole Allen allegedly sprinted through a security checkpoint and opened fire in the lobby at the Washington Hilton, wounding a Secret Service agent, Leavitt is pointing the finger at Democrats who have inspired deranged leftists to take up arms.

‘These are Democrat-elected officials calling for war.’

“It’s not just the media. … The entire Democrat Party has made their pitch to voters across the country that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist, and that they compare him to Hitler,” Leavitt said Monday.

“I mean, these are despicable statements that the American people have been consuming for years, and so many mentally perturbed individuals are led to believe these words are truth and then are inspired to act on it.”

RELATED: Stunning new details reveal the ‘depraved’ motivation of the suspected WHCD shooter

Truth Social/Anadolu/Getty Images

Leavitt said those incessantly likening Trump to dictators who deserve to be met with violence inspired the three assassination attempts and countless threats waged against the president and his allies.

“Rep. Hakeem Jeffries just this April, this month, said, ‘We are in an era of maximum warfare everywhere all the time,'” Leavitt said. “Governor Josh Shapiro said, ‘Heads need to roll’ within the administration. Senator Alex Padilla said people are ‘dying because of fear and terror’ caused by the Trump administration.”

Leavitt went on to list several more prominent Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), and Ed Markey (Mass.), Gov. JB Pritzker (Ill.), Rep. Ayanna Presley (Mass.), and Rep. LaMonica McIver (N.J.), who have made similar appeals likening Trump to a fascist, dictator, or authoritarian and calling for ambiguous escalations.

“These are Democrat-elected officials calling for war against the president of the United States and his supporters,” Leavitt said.

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​Adam schiff, Alex padilla, Assassination attempts, Ayanna pressley, Cole allen, Cole allen manifesto, Democrat party, Donald trump, Ed markey, Elizabeth warren, Hakeem jeffries, Jb pritzker, Josh shapiro, Karoline leavitt, Lamonica mciver, Left wing violence, Secret service, Trump assassination attempt, White house, White house correspondents dinner, Politics 

A depraved radical opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night with the apparent aim of assassinating President Donald Trump and administration officials.

Following this latest attempt on his life, Trump implored all Americans to “recommit with their hearts in resolving our difference peacefully.”

‘A lot of this does come from the White House.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expounded on the need to drop the divisive rhetoric, telling reporters on Monday that “this political violence stems from a systemic demonization of [Trump] and his supporters by commentators — yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media. This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.”

Like the hordes of anti-Trump leftists who sounded off online over the weekend, especially on the liberal X knockoff Bluesky, Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) made clear Monday on CNN that he would rather point fingers than build bridges.

Vindman impressed upon CNN talking head Sara Sidner the supposed need for social media censorship, which he euphemistically referred to as “better regulat[ion.]”

When Sidner asked the Democrat congressman whether toning down the rhetoric “is even possible with this political class, with the vitriol that comes out of the White House,” Vindman agreed that Trump is at least partially responsible for the divisive “political climate.”

“No,” responded Vindman, a native of the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic whose twin brother attacked Trump online after the previous attempt on the president’s life. “Absolutely not. And look, I think you’re right. A lot of this does come from the White House.”

RELATED: Suspected WHCD shooter and another would-be Trump assassin have a lot in common — and it’s not just Ukraine

U.S. President Trump via Truth Social/Anadolu/Getty Images

Vindman was hardly the only Democrat who apparently felt obliged to blame Trump for the violence directed his way.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) told CNN on Monday, “Remember that it’s been Donald Trump and the Republicans that have called for political violence.”

After blaming suspected shooter Cole Allen’s intended targets, Pritzker said that America needs to bring “peace to its politics.” This sentiment was, however, short-lived, as he proceeded to defend the suggestion in his state of the state speech last year that the Trump administration is reminiscent of the Nazi regime in Germany.

Unlike Pritzker and Vindman, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) told his Democrat peers to “drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these.”

Fetterman further acknowledged that the hotel where the gunman attacked on Saturday “wasn’t build to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.”

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday, “What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE. This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!”

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​Cole allen, Donald trump, Law enforcement, Political violence, President, Secret service, Tds, Vindman, White house ballroom, White house correspondents association, Sara sidner, Cnn, Pritzker, Leftism, Violence, Politics 

Today, Allie Beth Stuckey, BlazeTV host of “Relatable,” debated Jacob Hansen, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints podcaster whose channel is dedicated to exploring various worldview apologetics and comparing them to the LDS perspective.

In this fascinating 90-minute conversation, Allie and Hansen dive into important topics that differentiate creedal Christianity from the LDS faith, including the founding of the LDS Church, the Trinity, salvation, and much more.

Allie and Hansen kicked off the debate by discussing the founding of the Mormon faith.

It began in 1830 in upstate New York when a young farm boy named Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and directed him through the angel Moroni to translate the book of Mormon from ancient golden tablets.

“They essentially told [Smith] that the original church of Jesus Christ was not in its fullness on the Earth,” Hansen summarizes.

“What was missing was the priesthood authority and keys that were given to Peter … to effectuate the ordinances of salvation as a means by which we make covenants with our Father in heaven, and so you don’t have the fullness of the church without the fullness of the priesthood that is necessary to govern that institution, and we believe that was what needed to be restored,” he elaborates.

Allie asks Hansen a tough follow-up question: Does the Mormon church consider her — a Baptist — an apostate who lacks the fullness of truth?

“We would believe that you are a full, sincere believer in Jesus Christ, and we believe that you can reach a potential of relationship with Jesus Christ through that sincere belief that you have,” Hansen answers.

But in LDS theology, the afterlife isn’t binary as it is in the creedal Christian perspective. Heaven and hell are on a spectrum.

“The way that our faith views things is that there are different levels of light that people are willing to accept, right?” Hansen explains. “And the fullness of the light is to come into a full covenant relationship with Jesus Christ through His church, through the ordinances that put you into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.”

In other words, someone like Allie, who has a deep and personal relationship with Christ but rejects the tenets of Mormonism that contradict creedal Christianity, can experience “great joy and happiness” in the afterlife but not to the same level as those in the LDS Church who have both a sincere faith in Jesus Christ and fully accept the Church’s restored priesthood authority.

But Allie sees a contradiction.

“At least semantically, you would say Jesus died for our sins and that his sacrifice on the cross paid for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God,” she says.

“But it sounds like you’re saying there’s something else too — that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t quite enough, that you also need to enter into ordinances.”

Hansen addresses Allie’s point with the analogy of a group of teenagers who ignored their parents’ warnings and decided to drive their car around a cliff.

“The brakes all of a sudden go out, and our car is heading downhill towards the cliff. … There’s nothing we can do to save ourselves; we’re going to go off that cliff, and then Jesus shows up with a helicopter, and He reaches His hand out and He says, ‘Take my hand, and I’ll get you out of this mess,’ right?” says Hansen.

He explains that the teenagers in the car are not automatically rescued just because Jesus showed up. They have to “choose Jesus Christ” in order to be saved.

But choosing Christ isn’t just saying yes to being rescued, Hansen argues.

“Our view is that we have to do something to reach up to take His hand,” he says, pointing to how the crowd Peter was preaching to at Pentecost had to repent and be baptized before they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

“So our view is that our repenting, being baptized, which is where we make this covenant with Christ, opens us up to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who have authority,” he tells Allie.

To hear her response and watch the rest of the debate, check out the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Lds church, Apologetics, Baptism, Blaze media, Blazetv, Christianity, Church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, Debate, Jacob hansen, Joseph smith, Lds, Lds faith, Mormon faith, Mormonism, Mormons, Priesthood authority, Relatable, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Salvation, Trinity, Lds perspective