Category: blaze media

Every generation seems convinced it is living through America’s darkest hour.

At the moment, America is facing political tribalism dividing families, mounting debt, and endless wars — but despite it all, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck has a message of hope for Americans.

Glenn points out that there’s a “faction in this country” that wants to blow up the United States and “dismantle the Constitution,” that we have overwhelming debt, we’re at war with a country that would “rather die than surrender,” and families have broken apart.

“I mean this is like the worst war we’ve ever fought in some ways,” he says, adding, “The Civil War.”

“The one where the line ran straight down the dinner table. The economy grinds on, the government doesn’t listen,” he continues, noting that “our country has gone godless” and “insane.”

But the good news is there’s good news.

“I’ve been reading history, the letters, the real thing, the words these people wrote in their own hand while the fires were still burning,” Glenn says.

“And I have to tell you, the more I read, the more I keep landing on one sentence,” he continues.

That sentence is, “We have been here before.”

“The exact shape of the things that are scaring us the most already have a date on it,” Glenn says, calling history a “map.”

“It tells you what worked. Patience over panic. Voting over getting into the streets and revolution, the ballot over the barricade, recovering our true sight, remembering what the thing was built to do instead of throwing it all out,” he explains.

“Every time we’ve stood where we’re standing now, the way out was never the loud thing. It was people who knew their own history well enough to stop being afraid of doing the quiet, stubborn, un-newsworthy work of governing themselves,” he continues, adding, “That’s it.”

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​America, Civil war, Constitution, Glenn beck, History, Revolution, Blazetv show 

America recently turned 250, an impressive achievement for a country that began with an argument over taxes and quickly escalated to gunfire. Americans have been arguing ever since. The more interesting question today isn’t whether they’ll continue, but which kinds of disagreement a political coalition can actually survive.

A recent analysis by political scientists Jeremy Pope and Michael Barber at Brigham Young University offers a revealing answer. Using data from the Cooperative Election Study, they examined where Republican and Democrat voters agree with one another — and where the coalitions begin to fracture.

One disagreement is ultimately about numbers. The other concerns who people are, what they believe, and what they owe to one another.

Republicans hold together remarkably well on culture. Whether a GOP voter has a doctorate or left school at 16, Republicans tend to land in roughly the same place on immigration, voter ID, and what children should — and shouldn’t — be taught in schools. Where they bicker is on old-school economic questions: taxes, tariffs, government spending, and the size of the federal beast. Those gaps are real, but they are also the kind of fiscal scuffles political movements have been negotiating for generations.

Democrats are closer to the inverse. They display considerably more agreement on economic questions, including federal spending on health care and education. But the moment the conversation pivots to race and identity, the coalition begins to fracture. Most interestingly, Pope and Barber found that this split runs heavily along racial and educational lines. Black Democrats are often considerably more moderate than white, college-educated Democrats on issues including voter ID, policing, and regulation of speech online.

That isn’t a minor disagreement. It exposes a potentially serious structural weakness inside the Democrat coalition.

Deal-breakers

The reason is cultural long before it is political. A coalition divided over the marginal tax rate can cut a deal. One faction wants 25%, another wants 30%, and eventually some exhausted politician emerges from a conference room with 27.5% and declares victory. Divide that same coalition over identity, however, and there is much less obvious room for compromise. One disagreement is ultimately about numbers. The other concerns who people are, what they believe, and what they owe to one another.

That helps explain why cultural disputes on the left can become so ferocious. Economic disagreement usually has a natural settlement point. Identity has no equivalent dial. Nobody offers half an identity and calls it a successful compromise. When progressive activists define what constitutes racial justice and significant numbers of black voters disagree, the resulting tension is not merely a disagreement over policy. It raises the uncomfortable question of who actually gets to speak for whom.

The BYU data complicates one of the most persistent assumptions in progressive politics: that minority voters naturally share the cultural politics of the highly educated activist left. Black Democrats are not about to start signing up en masse for the Heritage Foundation, but neither do their views reliably resemble those of white progressives who often claim to speak on behalf of marginalized groups. That tension has no easy fix because it runs directly through the question of coalition ownership.

RELATED: ‘Wake up, you’re going to be eaten!’ Glenn Beck warns LGBTQ activists about dangerous Islam alliance

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Dialing it down

Republicans face a different problem. Their voters show greater cohesion on many cultural questions while divisions emerge more clearly over economics. The MAGA populist who wants tariffs and the traditional free-marketeer who hates them may spend years trying to destroy each other’s trade policy, but tariffs can ultimately rise or fall.

Money is inherently negotiable. Tax rates are dials. Spending levels are dials. A faction can lose a budget fight and remain part of the coalition.

None of this means the Republican coalition is indestructible or that cultural agreement automatically translates into electoral success. The GOP has plenty of internal battles over foreign policy, entitlement spending, trade, abortion, and the proper role of government. Nor does the data establish that Democrats are destined to fracture. Political parties routinely absorb contradictions that look impossible from the outside.

Disagreeing to agree

But Pope’s and Barber’s findings suggest something important about the kinds of contradictions each side is being asked to absorb.

And here the difference matters beyond party politics. Of these two styles of disagreement, one offers a more hopeful model for the future of the country.

Republicans may fight bitterly over tariffs, taxes, spending, and the size of government. But those arguments generally take place within a broader cultural consensus. Money is negotiable. A faction can lose a budget fight and still belong to the coalition.

The Democrat divide described by Pope and Barber is harder to resolve because it reaches into identity itself. When members of a coalition disagree over race, speech, policing, and who has the authority to speak for whom, there is no obvious number to split down the middle.The argument becomes not merely what should we do? but who are we?

Common vision

A republic desperately needs citizens who share a common vision of the country while tolerating dissent within their own ranks. Right now, only one side fits that description, however imperfectly. Beneath the shifting GOP platform are tens of millions of Americans who proudly identify as conservative. They might argue until they’re red in the face about the federal deficit, but they agree on the baseline definition of the nation.

That agreement is everything. A country can actually build a future on shared belonging and open arguments about budgets. It cannot build one on a permanent, paranoid quarrel over who is allowed to speak and who must stay quiet. That fight won’t end, because by its very nature, it cannot ever be satisfied.

America has survived 250 years not because Americans agreed, but because for most of that history they possessed enough agreement about basic truths to fight over everything else.

If America is to make it another two and a half centuries, it will not be by inventing new divisions, but by rediscovering the unity that made this great experiment possible in the first place.

​Lifestyle, Gop, Republicans, Democrats, Identity politics, Taxes, Politics, Coalitions, Party report 

Democratic voters in Michigan have spoken — but will they have buyer’s remorse come November?

Though the Michigan primary was held on Tuesday, Wednesday morning rolled around before some outlets pronounced 41-year-old Abdul El-Sayed the winner of the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. Haley Stevens, the candidate preferred by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other establishment Democrats, finished a close second.

A Rogers win would therefore be a Republican pickup and go a long way to help the GOP maintain control of the Senate.

The RealClearPolling average showed El-Sayed with a commanding lead of more than 10 points over Stevens heading into the primary, but with 98.6% of expected votes counted, El-Sayed had just a one-point margin of victory, 48.5% to 47.5%, NBC News reported.

Mike Rogers, 63, won the Republican nomination after running unopposed.

Speaking to supporters early Wednesday, El-Sayed invoked his Muslim religion to express confidence that he would prevail. According to El-Sayed, doubters might ask, “If and when we win this race, how are you going to beat Mike Rogers and their money?”

He continued: “I want you to remind them that if we come through this, when we come through this — inshallah — that we’ll have taken $70 million on the chin and kept fighting back.”

Inshallah is an Arabic word that means “God willing,” and Muslims use it so frequently that it has even entered modern English parlance.

RELATED: Michigan may help GOP keep control of Senate, no matter who prevails on Democratic side

Sarah Rice/Getty Images

The tight primary indicates that many Michigan Democrats have misgivings about El-Sayed, and indeed, he is no stranger to controversy. El-Sayed:

has been endorsed by far-left radicals like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).campaigned with America-hater Hasan Piker, who once said, “America deserved 9/11.”bills himself as a medical “doctor” even though he reportedly has never treated a patient, isn’t licensed in Michigan, and has never passed any board exams.employed a campaign staffer earlier this year who is currently under federal indictment in connection with anti-Semitic attacks.expressed sympathy for a “Hezbollah-inspired” terrorist who tried to kill Jewish schoolchildren in Michigan on March 13 over Israeli strikes in Iran.promised during a gubernatorial campaign against Whitmer in 2018 to allow illegal aliens to obtain a Michigan driver’s license.

Abdul El-Sayed is doubling down on the same failed, feckless far-left agenda that has held Michigan back. Let’s also not forget that Abdul El-Sayed is a terrorist sympathizer who is hell-bent on releasing violent criminals from prisons and throwing open our borders so criminal illegal aliens can flock to Michigan neighborhoods.

This November, Michiganders will soundly reject radical, Marxist policies and elect Mike Rogers, who will put working families first and protect our freedoms.

But it won’t be easy for Rogers. He not only lost narrowly to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in the 2024 Senate race, but Michigan, which went to Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024, has not elected a Republican U.S. senator in over 30 years.

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​Abdul el-sayed, Gary peters, Gretchen whitmer, Michigan, Mike rogers, Politics 

Leftists have for years publicly fantasized about the demise of President Donald Trump. Some radicals have attempted to make these murderous dreams a reality — and on at least three occasions came awfully close to succeeding.

Investigators are working to determine whether the individual caught allegedly casing the security at a site the president was due to visit is the latest participant in this dark trend.

‘There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life.’

Days ahead of the president’s Tuesday visit to the Trump National Golf Course, Los Angeles, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, plainclothes federal agents spotted a 38-year-old Hispanic man on the property who struck them as suspicious.

According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the suspect was seen walking around the golf course grounds taking pictures and videos and “appearing to monitor security-planning activities.”

Deputies with the LASD Lomita Station approached the individual, identified as Jeanine John Taele, and — having determined he was the subject of a robbery investigation by the El Segundo Police Department — detained him and searched his pickup truck.

Deputies allegedly found a 16-round magazine containing hollow-point ammunition in Taele’s pocket. Inside the suspect’s vehicle, they reportedly recovered a loaded 9mm pistol with a round chambered along with a second loaded magazine containing hollow-point ammunition. The Justice Department claimed that a badge that read “security protection agent” was also found in the truck.

RELATED: Horrific details emerge about international pro-life leader’s assassination

Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles. Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images

Upon the discovery of the weapon and ammunition, deputies formally arrested Taele for carrying a concealed firearm and possession of armor-piercing/prohibited ammunition.

After obtaining a warrant, law enforcement searched Taele’s residence in Downey, California, allegedly recovering: “multiple notebooks containing concerning statements”; a pair of radio signal devices; bulk pistol and rifle ammunition along with high-capacity magazines; body armor; “an illegally modified AR platform rifle”; and a 1911 .45 caliber pistol.

Taele is currently being held at Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Although his bail is set at $250,000, the FBI has filed a federal hold.

The Justice Department announced late on Tuesday that Taele has also been slapped with a federal charge — possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, a felony that could potentially land him in a federal prison for a decade.

“While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the president’s visit,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “Federal and local law enforcement stepped in early and prevented what could have been a dangerous situation from occurring. This investigation remains ongoing.”

“Mr. Taele’s troubling behavior at the president’s public golf course merely days before the president was expected to arrive raised serious red flags for law enforcement and led to the discovery of an unregistered firearm, a loaded weapon, as well as additional items of concern,” Patrick Grandy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement. “There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life.”

At a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, Trump was hit in the ear by one of eight bullets fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks. The failed assassination attempt claimed the life of heroic former fire chief Corey Comperatore and severely injured David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were seated behind the president.

Nine weeks after the Butler shooting, Ryan Routh — a 60-year-old North Carolina native apparently radicalized in recent years with the help of Democrats’ incendiary rhetoric — attempted to assassinate the president at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

On April 25, 2026, 31-year-old Cole Allen allegedly opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where the president was in attendance. Allen’s alleged weapons of choice for the attempt were a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a 1911 .38 caliber pistol.

Trump was also among the names floated in the alleged assassination plot targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn in June. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the “RINGLEADER” of the alleged plot was Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, an illegal alien from Mexico.

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​Jeanine taele, Donald trump, California, Ryan routh, Cole allen, Assassination, Politics 

Golden, Colorado, city officials apologized profusely for the actions of a since-terminated employee of the fire department that hung a noose on a doll depicting rap mogul Snoop Dogg.

The “Snoop on a Stoop” doll, meant to parody the popular “Elf on the Shelf” Christmas decoration, had a noose around its neck and was found in a stairwell at the fire department in March.

‘The display evoked a horrific history of racial terror and violence.’

A member of the city’s Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force criticized the mayor for not notifying the group about the racist doll incident until months later.

“We are very concerned at what we’ve heard about the facts, including the written statement read by the mayor that this was not handled at the time of the incident when the figurine was found with a noose around its neck back in March,” REDI member Holly Olivarez said.

“I call it a noose because of what it represents,” she added. “A black man with a noose around his neck in the United States of America is very apparently making a statement.”

A spokesperson for the city of Golden told KMGH-TV that the employee had been terminated, but the spokesperson could not offer more details on the basis that it was a personnel matter.

Mayor Laura Weinberg said the doll was immediately removed after it was found in the stairwell.

“The doll should never have been brought into any city facility, and the display evoked a horrific history of racial terror and violence,” she said in a prepared statement on July 28 at a Golden City Council meeting.

KMGH cited an email from City Manager Scott Vargo indicating that an internal investigation had been ordered, disciplinary action was taken, and diversity, equity, and inclusion training was being developed for the Golden Fire Department.

RELATED: Activists MELT DOWN over burning cross found in park — Asian man claiming he did it says it was an anti-Trump protest

Weinberg also apologized to the black community.

“We recognize this was not simply an inappropriate workplace incident,” she said. “It was an act with deeply painful historical meaning. It can undoubtedly cause fear, anger, grief, and a profound loss of trust. No one should ever question whether they are respected, valued, or safe in a city workplace or while receiving services from the City of Golden.”

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​Snoop dogg, Racist incident, Diversity equity inclusion, Colorado, Politics, Elf on the shelf 

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. turned the tables on his interviewer when she spoke over him and repeated empty COVID-era platitudes.

“It was just beautiful,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

“She brought on RFK to try and lecture him about measles and blame him for the measles outbreak in America. But the conversation quickly turned to the handling of the COVID pandemic and how much she helped contribute to the misinformation during that time,” she adds.

In the interview, Bash began by asking how RFK Jr. would prepare for the next pandemic, claiming that experts think it will happen in the next 10 years.

“Yeah, I mean, I think we did virtually everything wrong the last time,” RFK Jr. responded, pointing out that there were doctors who saw no COVID deaths by prescribing therapeutics. Instead, the country locked down and pushed a vaccine on the population.

RFK Jr. went on to say it’s also important that we protect our constitutional rights, which were “completely dismantled” during COVID.

“We began censoring people in violation,” he said.

After interrupting him several times, Bash said, “I really want to move on.”

“You were part of the problem,” RFK Jr. said.

Bash then claimed that there is “data upon data upon data” that the “COVID vaccine prevented deaths,” but she could not produce a study that proved that the vaccine did more good than harm to children.

“I can tell you that when it comes to the vaccine, there have been studies that show that because of vaccine disinformation, there could have been 100 to 200,000 lives in the U.S. saved but because people didn’t get the vaccine,” Bash said, before RFK Jr. interrupted.

“You are saying nonsense,” RFK Jr. responded.

When Bash claimed that it was a “scary time” and mistakes were made, RFK Jr. fired back that she was scaring people.

“That was the job of CNN,” he said.

“Recall that she was trying to suck up to Anthony Fauci during the pandemic. Now, how do we know this? Well, his homosexual diary entries, of course,” Gonzales explains.

And sure enough, one diary entry from April 17, 2021, reads: “Dana Bash sent me a text: ‘I just watched the whole Jordan thing. Again, you’re a better man than I. As our friend Wolf Blitzer said to me yesterday — no one would have blamed you if you said simply, ‘Mr. Jordan, go f**k yourself.’”

Another from April 18, 2021, reads: “I received a text from Dana Bash pointing out that Vanity Fair recently had a headline that said: ‘Jim Jordan trips over his own asshole trying to debate Anthony Fauci.’”

“Like, oh, OK. Yeah. No, you didn’t have any bias, Dana,” Gonzales mocks, repeating, “You didn’t have any bias.”

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​Anthony fauci, Cnn, Covid, Dana bash, Diary, Pandemic, Robert f kennedy jr, Sara gonzales, Vaccine, Blazetv show 

Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party has gotten so bad, she is refusing to attend the national convention out of fears for her personal safety.

Nessel, who is Jewish, said she’s already faced anti-Semitic harassment and expects it to be far worse at the convention in August.

‘People aren’t interested in the fact that, you know, that I’m gay. They’re not interested in the fact that I’m a woman. They are very interested in the fact that I’m Jewish.’

“I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed,” Nessel said at an anti-Semitism forum on Thursday.

“I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying,” she added.

She went on to criticize the Democratic Party of Michigan for looking the other way regarding threats she’s received.

“The threats that I receive are almost exclusively anti-Semitic threats,” Nessel continued. “People aren’t interested in the fact that, you know, that I’m gay. They’re not interested in the fact that I’m a woman. They are very interested in the fact that I’m Jewish.”

Nessel had been forced to drop felony charges against some students arrested at a pro-Palestine UM student encampment in 2024. She blamed the “circus-like” atmosphere surrounding the case that included accusations of bias against her.

“It’s just been getting worse and worse. And worse,” she added. “And I have profound fears about what is going to happen to this state and what is going to happen to this country if we don’t have a significant change of course in what’s going on and we don’t do a better job of educating people about it and we don’t do a better job of holding people accountable.”

A handful of Democrats have been sounding the alarm about extremist politicians winning primary elections against more establishment candidates. Some Democrats are threatening to leave the party if it continues to veer into extremism related to anti-Semitism as well as communist economic policies.

RELATED: Prominent professor supported Mamdani’s socialist scheme — until he apparently became a target

Derrick Honeyman, the spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party, said they were focused on “ensuring party-hosted events are safe and secure environments” for the attendees of the convention.

“We reject anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct,” he added. “We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29.”

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​Antisemitism, Dana nessel, Democratic party, Jewish, Extremists, Politics 

In an interview on the “Relentless” podcast last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared that we are now “in the singularity.”

Altman was pleased, adding, “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, and I think it’s going to be incredible, hugely positive, awesome for the world.”

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck doesn’t share his excitement.

“That comes from terminology about a black hole. You get to the point of singularity. It means you’re now in the gravitational pull of the black hole and that you’re past the point of return. You cannot reverse the engines. You are going into the black hole,” he says.

“We are there. So now what do we do?” he asks.

The first thing that needs to be done, he says, is “make sure that China doesn’t control” the outcome of AI.

“Let’s make sure that it’s not evil immediately because it’s a surveillance tool for China,” he says.

The second point of action is negotiating.

“Your town must negotiate hard for you,” he says, using data centers as an example.

“If they want to build in your town, you have two choices. You can say no or you can say no unless, unless we have no more property tax, unless you’re paying for 20% of everybody’s electricity,” he says.

“You negotiate like hell, and you ask for the moon and the stars,” he continues.

“And it should not be done in the darkness. This should never come to a community where the community hasn’t had an open discussion and a vote,” he adds.

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​China, Openai, Singularity, Data centers, Glenn beck, Black hole, Sam altman, Blazetv show 

A violent encampment that included dozens of homeless people was dismantled by order of the Democratic mayor, who sounded very sorrowful and reluctant about the decision.

The encampment was ostensibly out of protest against law enforcement after Corey Ruiz, a black man, was shot and killed by officers last month in Madison, Wisconsin.

‘Multiple efforts and calls to end the occupation peacefully were made but ultimately ignored.’

Video from the lethal incident showed several police officers struggling to control Ruiz before one yells, “He’s got a knife!” and another shoots him several times. One officer was injured by Ruiz with the knife, according to the police chief.

Protesters called for “justice for Corey” despite the evidence that the shooting was justified by his alleged actions.

On Tuesday, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway released a video explaining that the protesters had gotten violent and set fires in the encampment at the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin streets.

“For nearly two weeks, I and city staff have been working day and night to peacefully resolve the occupation of Williamson and Baldwin without law enforcement intervention,” she said. “The city has committed to maintaining space for members of the community to gather and grieve, and we stand ready to do that work in collaboration with the family and the community.”

She went on to say protesters got violent when the city began to clear out the encampment.

“Unfortunately, as city staff cleared the area, rocks and other items were thrown at city employees and two fires were set,” she continued. “As a result, law enforcement was called in to stabilize the scene, and a small number of individuals were arrested. Again, multiple efforts and calls to end the occupation peacefully were made but ultimately ignored.”

She added that about 50 “unsheltered” people at the encampment were offered hotel rooms and transportation to the rooms with “as much compassion as possible.”

RELATED: Black community outraged after California cop shoots and kills a black man, but cellphone video shows he was pulling a gun

Despite her attempts to appease the far-left protesters, more demonstrations sprung up after the mayor ordered the encampment cleared out. One video from the New York Post shows protesters screaming and threatening people trying to drive through the intersection.

“Even one community member killed during interactions with the police is too many,” Rhodes-Conway concluded. “The grief, anger, and frustration are real, and I feel it too.”

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​Homeless crisis, Encampment, Corey ruiz, Police shooting, Politics 

A Democrat who had warned his party against alienating voters with the transgender agenda appears to have completely turned his back on that previous sage advice.

During a debate with incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for the Senate nomination of his party on Monday, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) apologized to the transgender community for his previous comments.

Markey fired back by characterizing Moulton’s comments as tossing transgender kids under the bus and using the MAGA ‘playbook’ against them.

“I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” said Moulton after the 2024 election.

On Monday, Moulton was challenged about his comments during a debate with Markey.

“To the trans community feeling the weight and the pain of the Trump administration policies, I deeply recognize your trauma. And I’m sorry if my comments hurt you. That was not my intention,” said Moulton.

“I am a proud co-sponsor of the Transgender Bill of Rights, a proud repeat co-sponsor of the Equality Act, and I have a 100% voting record with the Human Rights Campaign,” he added. “If you’re in the trans community or you’re a trans kid feeling the weight of the Trump administration and the Supreme Court, you matter, you’re valued, and I will always have your back.”

He then went on to attack Markey for voting 61 times for Trump administration nominees whom Moulton described as anti-transgender.

Markey fired back by characterizing Moulton’s comments as tossing trans-identifying kids under the bus and using the MAGA “playbook” against them.

“We should have been loving those kids,” Markey said.

“We should have been embracing them.”

Video of the comments was widely circulated on social media.

RELATED: Trans-identifying reality TV star arrested for heinous acts with a child, police say

Moulton faced immediate backlash over his transgender comments in 2024, including some protests outside of his office and the resignation of a top aide.

He later reiterated his point while allowing that he may have been unartful about his choice of wording.

“Look, I was just speaking authentically as a parent about one of many issues where Democrats are just out of touch with the majority of Americans,” said Moulton at the time. “And I stand by my position, even though I may not have used exactly the right words.”

The entire debate on Monday between the two Massachusetts Democrats can be viewed on the WFXT-TV YouTube channel. The Massachusetts primary election is September 1.

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​Transgender, Democratic party, Midterm elections, Seth moulton, Ed markey, Politics 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores have hit another obstacle — and critics have been merciless.

Mamdani and his administration are now walking back a proposal that appeared to require shoppers to verify their eligibility for discounted groceries at city-run grocery stores.

‘There will be no system to verify identity, residency, or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop.’

The announcement came shortly after prominent conservative figures blasted the mayor over his apparent hypocrisy on identification requirements.

During a press conference last week, Mamdani announced that the city’s five government-run grocery stores would offer “a collection of essential staples” at prices “30% cheaper” than typical retail rates.

When a reporter pressed Mamdani on how the city would stop opportunists from buying up the taxpayer-subsidized groceries in bulk and flipping them for a profit, a top administration official suggested requiring shoppers to prove they are “everyday New Yorkers.”

New York City Economic Development Corporation Interim President and CEO Jeanny Pak did not specify how shoppers would verify their eligibility, though she floated the idea of a “library card-esque” system, suggesting some form of identification or residency verification may have been required to access the store.

President Donald Trump and his allies blasted Mamdani over his double standard — pointing to the mayor and his fellow Democrats’ opposition to voter ID requirements.

During a press conference Monday, a reporter asked Trump about Mamdani’s proposal and the president’s message for Democrats who oppose the SAVE America Act.

“This was just announced. I heard about it,” Trump said. “Well, I wish they’d have an ID to access the voting booth. You know, they don’t want to access the voting booth with any identification. We want voter ID, and we want proof of citizenship.”

RELATED: Immigrant business owners revolt against Mamdani’s ‘Soviet’-style grocery plan

Elon Musk wrote on X, “Oh, the irony is too much ….”

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), an advocate for the SAVE America Act, slammed Democrats on their “hypocrisy.”

“DEMOCRATS: Are fighting to ensure you don’t have to show an ID before voting in our elections. ALSO DEMOCRATS: Want you to show an ID before entering a supermarket.”

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) chimed in, writing, “So ID for government grocery stores to stop people abusing the system is fine … but requiring ID to vote not?”

Trump also referenced a separate controversy involving the mayor’s emergency snow-shoveling program, which required paid shovelers to provide “two original forms of ID” and a Social Security number to register — another policy that critics claimed represented a double standard on identification requirements.

In light of the intense backlash, Mamdani spokesperson Cassio Mendoza refuted the claims circulating online.

“Comparisons to voter ID laws or the SAVE Act simply do not apply. This is not an identification system, nor is it a mechanism to verify who someone is, where they live, or how much they earn. It is a practical inventory management tool to ensure affordable groceries remain available for the people who need them instead of being cleared off shelves for resale,” Mendoza said.

“To be absolutely clear: NYC grocery stores will be open to everyone. There will be no system to verify identity, residency, or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop,” he added.

A Mamdani spokesperson told Fox News that, in lieu of an ID program, the store could employ a privately designed “customer card” as seen in comparable loyalty programs at private grocery stores. This alternative would ostensibly protect the stores from concerns such as bulk purchases without requiring identification to shop.

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​Donald trump, Elon musk, New york city, Politics, Save america act, Voter id, Zohran mamdani 

Tony Romo’s alleged drunk-driving arrest has landed the former Cowboys quarterback on leave from CBS Sports — but BlazeTV hosts Stu Burguiere and Dave Landau aren’t convinced that’s the whole story.

After Romo was accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Wisconsin, CBS quickly sidelined its lead NFL analyst.

Romo was pulled over in Milwaukee on Thursday, July 23, after he was allegedly seen passing cars illegally.

As a former alcoholic who has been sober for 17 years, resident DUI expert, Dave, has some advice for the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback.

“I know a little bit about it,” he says, adding that “just not doing it” is the best plan of action going forward.

“Yeah, I definitely would advise just not doing it,” Stu agrees, though he doesn’t think the arrest is the real reason for his leave.

“It feels to me that they didn’t like the contract they signed him to, which was, I want to say, 10 years, $180 million. And I don’t know if they’re using this as an excuse to get out of the contract or how seriously they take this sort of stuff,” he says.

“Because it does strike me as, we see a lot of situations where people in the media do things that are much worse and much more serious than even what he’s being accused of, and they seem to hang around forever,” he adds.

Dave agrees, saying, “I think it is something that they’re using to try to get him out of his contract.”

“He was at a WSJ event, a Wall Street Journal event, and I feel that you should at least get 0.9 taken off of your blood alcohol content if you’re stopped after that event,” he continues.

“He was leaving a golf course, which is almost cheating now if you pull someone over if they’re leaving a golf course, as we’ve learned from Tiger Woods,” he adds.

Romo also had an open container in his vehicle, which Dave points out that in Wisconsin is “like driving with cheese.”

“It should be expected. I don’t know why it would be that big of a deal in that particular state. That’s like getting stopped in Colorado and getting in trouble for pot,” he continues. “It’s just not that big of a deal.”

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​Dave landau, Stu burguiere, Tiger woods, Tony romo, Wisconsin, Cbs sports, Dui, Arrest, Blazetv show 

A Democrat candidate for one of Michigan’s seats in the U.S. Senate previously promised another far-left policy that could change some minds on Election Day.

Abdul El-Sayed has been criticized for his extremist beliefs, but an unearthed video from 2018 shows that he had also promised to deliver driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.

‘You don’t get access to a lot of the basic things the state offers everybody else. … And so we’ve got to stop discriminating that way.’

El-Sayed made the comments during his campaign for the Michigan governor’s office.

“I look forward to pushing forward legislation that would preempt localities from participating with ICE and using their local resources to do the same,” he said in the video.

“Beyond that, we’ve also got to make sure that in this state, we are not discriminating by documentation status, right? Now if you’re undocumented, you don’t get access to a driver’s license,” he added. “So you’re stuck.”

He went on to say that he wanted illegal aliens to get identification in order to seek out other benefits the state offers.

“You don’t get access to a lot of the basic things the state offers everybody else. And I think that’s ridiculous. And so we’ve got to stop discriminating that way.”

Video of his comments was widely circulated on social media.

Advocates of illegal aliens obtaining driver’s licenses say the policy would improve public safety because it would allow them to also obtain insurance. Opponents accuse Democrats of using the policy as a way to backdoor amnesty through state efforts.

El-Sayed is running for the Senate nomination from the Democratic Party against the establishment candidate, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.). The Michigan primary election is Tuesday.

RELATED: Democratic lawmakers organize to TAKE BACK the party from far-left socialists: ‘We’re proud of America’

Current polling shows that the presumptive Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, fares far better against El-Sayed than he does against Stevens.

El-Sayed has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America as well as far-left Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. He has tried to scurry away from his past extremist statements in order to secure the nomination, but he’s gotten pummeled by the right as well as Democrats.

The Democratic primary is seen as a bellwether for the future of the party, which has recently been plagued by primary victories of the far-left extremist wing against the establishment-preferred candidates.

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​Illegal aliens, Abdul el-sayed, Michigan, Senate, Midterms, Politics 

Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race just gave voters a preview of what the modern Democratic Party looks like once the “electability” wing gets out of the way: a democratic socialist front-runner sharing a stage with Hasan Piker and Ilhan Omar, promising the crowd that Wisconsin will never elect a Republican again.

On Sunday, Francesca Hong took the stage at South Milwaukee High School with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Hasan Piker — the Twitch streamer who has previously said that America “deserved 9/11.”

‘Wisconsin doesn’t need Mao-inspired Chinese communism.’

None of that stopped the crowd from giving Piker a standing ovation at the rally.

Piker livestreamed the whole event, called Wisconsin the birthplace of the American socialist movement “long before Zohran [Mamdani] and Bernie Sanders,” and promised that “a Republican will never be elected in this state ever again, once our movement is done.”

Asked if campaigning with a figure like Piker is a liability, Hong said the real risk is “not building the broadest coalition possible.”

Hong is a two-term state representative out of Madison, a former chef, and — by her own admission — a dues-paying, card-carrying DSA member, sitting on the Assembly’s Socialist Caucus.

RELATED: The Democrat civil war is real — and it is happening in Wisconsin

Joshua Lott/Getty Images

Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), a four-term congressman and the Republican front-runner for governor, has made Hong’s socialist tendencies the spine of his campaign.

Last month, Tiffany posted a response to Piker praising Mao Zedong: “Mao Zedong was responsible for the deaths of at least 40 million people. Wisconsin doesn’t need Mao-inspired Chinese communism.”

In another post prior to the rally, Tiffany attacked Hong’s apparent agreement with the DSA platform: “Does she want to abolish the police? Yep. Does she want to abolish prisons? Absolutely. Did she call for abolishing the U.S. Senate? Yes. Socialism is knocking on Wisconsin’s door. This November, we slam it shut.”

Though Hong has since distanced herself from the DSA outright, telling voters she doesn’t support “the full platform of the national DSA,” she signaled her support in late June for a number of socialist positions on Piker’s stream, where he rattled off a rapid-fire menu — repealing Act 10, abolishing ICE, public grocery stores, legalizing marijuana, a free Palestine, and many of the DSA’s priorities.

Hong said yes to essentially all of it, even tentatively backing a statue to be built of former Governor Scott Walker (R) solely for people to deface.

The “abolish the Senate” line has become the flash point of the race, largely due to how she has handled it.

She posted exactly that in February 2021, and as of Tuesday morning, the tweet is still live — yet her campaign told Fox News it “doesn’t exist,” saying, “Rep. Hong has never called for abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a single statement where she did, because it doesn’t exist.”

Days later, Fox News’ Dana Perino asked Hong directly if there was anything on the Piker list she now disavows. Hong responded “no.” When pressed on the “abolish the Senate” line, she walked it back, calling it “nonsensical and non-practical at this time.”

She has since softened her stance on defunding police “as a first step towards abolishing” it, now arguing that “people can evolve.”

“She has spoken about police and prison abolition in the past as an aspirational goal, but it is not her current position, and it’s not something she will pursue as governor,” Hong’s communications director, Allison Geyer, told Fox. “She does not support replacing the presidency with the Supreme Court. Eliminating national borders isn’t her position either, and it’s not even part of the official DSA platform.”

In another notable but since-deleted tweet from 2020, Hong wrote, “Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621.”

And in a 2019 post, ironically filled with typos, she described leaving a Culver’s restaurant early, “on the verge of a [sic] anxiety attack…to [sic] many old white people who didn’t think we spoke english [sic].”

Hong’s campaign account said that she stands by it — and that the restaurant’s fries “leave much to be desired.”

There’s also a more personal chapter that has resurfaced as a talking point about Hong’s fitness for office. In a 2023 magazine profile, Hong spoke candidly about a mental health crisis at 18 — a breakdown, self-harm, a week-long psychiatric hospitalization, and a later bipolar diagnosis after SSRIs and a lithium overdose.

RELATED: Democratic socialist leader goes on Fox and admits every extreme thing they want to do

Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez (D), viewed by many as the more electable option, dropped out in mid-July after problems surfaced about her campaign finance reports in which her fundraising was allegedly inflated by as much as $200,000.

Republicans cleared their field earlier. Bill Berrien, a manufacturer running on “family values,” dropped out last September after it surfaced that he had allegedly been following sexually explicit accounts online, including a nonbinary porn performer.

That left Tiffany as the clear front-runner — and notably, he isn’t running as a MAGA culture warrior despite boasting one of the most conservative voting records in Congress, leaning instead into a “folksy” identity of Packers and old-fashioned Wisconsin.

The polling shows why Democrats should be nervous. A Marquette Law School poll from late July had Hong at 38% in the field, Barnes, who dropped out last Thursday, at 16%, Crowley at 7% — more than 20 points ahead with a huge chunk still undecided — and Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up.

Betting markets have swung hard toward Tiffany in the general: odds now have Hong at 57%, down 25 points since April, against Tiffany at 46%, up 34 points.

The Wisconsin primary election is August 11, with absentee voting under way and no way to change a ballot once cast.

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​Democratic party, Democratic socialist, Francesca hong, Hasan piker, Ilhan omar, Mao zedong, Tom tiffany, Wisconsin, Zohran mamdani, Politics 

West Midlands Police, the woke force in the United Kingdom that recently got exposed for trying to villainize the white victim of a black mob, appears to have taken DEI to an old extreme.

Non-Muslim WMP officers have been invited to partake in the Islamic practice of abstaining from drink, food, and certain other activities during Ramadan in an “act of solidarity” with the Muslims in their midst, according to a damning new Telegraph report detailing this apparent proselytization tactic spearheaded by the West Midlands Association of Muslim Police.

‘We should not be changing police culture to comply with the practices of one religion.’

The force told the Telegraph that the Islamic practice helps officers understand the “significance of Ramadan” for Muslims in the community. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Britain’s Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy, a Conservative member of parliament for West Suffolk, noted on X, “West Midlands Police encourages non-Muslim officers to fast for Ramadan. It recruits in mosques that host extremists. Such a mosque helped to recruit its last chief constable. It banned visiting Israeli football fans at the behest of Islamists. It’s corrupted by communalism.”

Annunziata Rees-Mogg, a former member of the European Parliament for East Midlands, asked, “Will they be ‘invited’ to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday too? Or is it one rule for one religion and different for others?”

RELATED: Viral video forces UK prosecutors to drop charges against white man arrested after being beaten

Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images (L); Christopher Furlong/Getty Images (R)

WMP told Blaze News in a statement, “The West Midlands Association of Muslim Police has, for a number of years, invited colleagues from all faiths and backgrounds to fast for a day to raise money for charity during Ramadan. Last year’s chosen charity was Children with Cancer UK. It is entirely a matter for officers and staff if they wish to take part.”

“This is an initiative which is undertaken at a number of organisations around the country,” the WMP continued. “The West Midlands has a large and diverse population, including many Muslim residents, and it is important for officers and staff to understand the significance of Ramadan to those communities.”

The West Midlands Association of Muslim Police did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

The British police establishment has been flirting with the Islamic practice of Ramadan fasting for years.

According to a WMP Museum blog post dated March 28, 2024, “During Ramadan Muslim colleagues who are fasting are supported and accommodated when they need to break fast. Information is shared with non-Muslim colleagues to help them to understand what Ramadan is all about, sometimes leading to non-Muslim officers and staff joining in to support their colleagues.”

A video shared to the West Midlands Association of Muslim Police Instagram account in April 2022 about “the Ramadan experience” and the “mandatory” practice of fasting features testimonials by multiple apparent white non-Muslims about their participation in the fasting challenge held at the Derbyshire Constabulary, which is overseen by the WMP.

According to documents obtained by the Telegraph through freedom of information requests, the WMP’s Muslim fasting plan was cited as a best practice in the DEI training overseen by New Forest District Council — a local government in Hampshire, England.

“During the month of Ramadan, [West Midlands Police] supports its fasting colleagues through the use of flexi-working arrangements to ensure that they have time with their families,” a memo from the council reads. “What’s more, increasing numbers of non-Muslim staff have taken up fasting each year as an act of solidarity with their Muslim colleagues, adding to the family feel of WMP culture.”

The United Kingdom officially remains a Christian nation, but Shadow Justice Secretary Timothy emphasized that there should be “no special measures in place for any faith” in the police force.

“We should not be changing police culture to comply with the practices of one religion,” Timothy told the Telegraph. “Expectations should be uniform, and non-Muslim police being encouraged to fast in Ramadan is wholly inappropriate.”

The conservative lawmaker suggested that it is time for the United Kingdom to “abolish the Public Sector Equality Duty, which provides the legal framework for much of this, and ensure there is one rule for all of us — not special treatment for certain groups.”

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​Islam, Dei, United kingdom, Woke, Faith, Politics 

Was the latest Caitlin Clark controversy genuine outrage — or a staged production? After two teenage girls sitting courtside at a WNBA match were publicly screamed at for using signs to thank Sophie Cunningham for standing up for women in sports, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes the answer is obvious.

“Here’s what the cameras won’t show you,” he begins. “Sitting courtside almost shoulder to shoulder with those two teenage girls, there’s this older woman with her own pre-printed sign. ‘No hate in these United States.’ A counterprotester planted, and yes, I’m using the word ‘planted.’”

“In the same frame, rebuttal already made, ready for the shot. Two kids thank an athlete. And there’s a grown activist positioned right next to them with the comeback in hand,” he says.

“Spontaneous fan moments don’t come staged like that,” he adds.

Whitlock doesn’t even believe the presence of the teenage girls was organic.

“This whole thing seems staged, including the two cute little teenage girls juxtaposed against this tatted up, angry, unattractive older woman. This is like a movie script. All of this stuff feels scripted,” he says.

“The media will run the owner’s apology all day,” he continues. “They will not show you that sign. They will not show you all the casting that was done here. The owner got punished. A five-game suspension. She can’t come back to the arena … for five games. There’s some sort of fine.”

“But the coverage still pivoted to ‘why won’t the golden goose, why won’t Caitlin Clark apologize for this?’” he says, adding, “Somebody assigned these roles before the ball went up. The owner plays the heel, the media plays the prosecutor, and Caitlin Clark is cast as the defendant in a trial where the verdict was tight before she woke up.”

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​Sophie cunningham, Jason whitlock, Womens sports, Transgender, Seattle storm, Indiana fever, Caitlin clark, Fake, Wnba, Blazetv show 

In a media environment drowning in division, distorted messaging, and anti-American sentiment, Blaze Media is proud to bring you conservative voices that challenge the prevailing narrative with clear, patriotic, and principled commentary and analysis.

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce that Nick Freitas is joining our lineup.

A decorated Army veteran, former state legislator, and podcaster with 1.5 billion video views and a combined audience of more than 6.5 million across major platforms, Freitas embodies everything we cherish here at Blaze Media: an unapologetic love of America, a fierce commitment to free speech, and the courage to defend our founding principles without apology. For him, politics isn’t about spectacle. It’s about statesmanship and rallying Americans to resist the ideological capture and cultural rot by strengthening their families, communities, and civic institutions.

Freitas is eager to bring his platform — built on the enduring American ideals of honoring God, faithful fatherhood, constitutional liberty, biblical masculinity, and disciplined leadership — to the Blaze Media audience.

“I’m honored to join Blaze Media,” he said. “I truly believe that the key to saving our country is once again learning and living the principles that made it great in the first place: faithfulness to God, the belief in strong families, and the insistence on individual liberty combined with personal responsibility. Blaze has consistently invested in voices that believe America is worth preserving and that our best days lie ahead. I’m excited to keep building alongside a team that shares those convictions.”

We couldn’t agree more.

“Nick has built something increasingly difficult to create in today’s media environment: trust,” said Tyler Cardon, chief executive officer of Blaze Media. “His audience hasn’t grown by accident. It’s grown because he shows up with clarity, conviction, and consistency, week after week, and because he’s genuinely fun to watch. That’s a rare combination and exactly the kind of voice we want in the Blaze family.”

“Making the Argument with Nick Freitas” launches today on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms.

Start watching Nick Freitas NOW at blazetv.com and use the promo code NICK40 for $40 off your BlazeTV+ subscription.

Don’t just hear about Nick Freitas joining the Blaze Media lineup — start watching him fight for the country we love.

​Blaze media, Blazetv, Nick freitas, Blazetv show 

George Kamel knows what it’s like to feel buried by debt. After paying off his own debt and becoming a net-worth millionaire in less than a decade, the Ramsey Solutions personality has made it his mission to help others take control of their finances.

And with young Americans struggling in the current economy, Kamel tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that while it may feel “hopeless” — it’s not.

“I see a lot of chatter on X about the affordability crisis and how Baby Boomers just don’t get it. They don’t get what Millennials and Gen Z are facing. What do you think the real problem is? Do you think it is more of a spending problem, the same problem that people have always had … or do you truly think that young people today have it uniquely hard?” Stuckey asks Kamel.

“Well, there’s the data part, and there’s the emotion part. And I do think that when it comes to intergenerational conversations, we’re not hearing each other. The Boomers hear complaints and they go, ‘Oh, shut up, it was hard for me too,’” Kamel responds.

“The Millennials are going, ‘I don’t think you understand what a $400,000 mortgage at 6% actually costs.’ And so there’s a math reality to it that back in the Boomer’s days, the average home was two to three times the average income, the median income,” he continues.

“And nowadays, it’s five to six times the median income. So there is a legitimate math problem here to solve this affordability crisis. And it sounds very woe is me and cynical,” he adds.

While the problem is real, Kamel points out that it may be slightly exaggerated and cheered on by the media.

“I think it’s overblown in the media because it gets a lot of clicks. And who doesn’t want to have an empathetic voice telling them that they’re not crazy, that they’re not alone,” he says.

“And so I feel like my job on the money side is to say. ‘You’re not crazy, and this isn’t hopeless,’” he adds.

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.

​Affordability crisis, Boomers, Debt, Finances, George kamel, Millennials, Dave ramsey, Allie beth stuckey, Blazetv show 

Jordan Salinas had already seen one mass shooting.

In October 2021, he was at the Boise Towne Square mall when a gunman opened fire, killing two people and wounding several others. Salinas remembers thinking about his brother, who uses a wheelchair, and what would happen if the two of them ever found themselves trapped in such a situation.

Fire extinguishers can be used incorrectly too. That’s not an argument for limiting their use to professional firefighters.

So he did something about it. He began training.

Last Saturday afternoon, almost five years later, Salinas and his girlfriend pulled into the parking lot of the newly opened In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho. People were streaming out of the restaurant. At first, Salinas figured there had been some kind of kitchen fire.

Then he heard gunshots.

What happened next is worth lingering over, if only because we’ve been told so many times that it doesn’t really happen.

Salinas drew the semiautomatic pistol he was carrying and moved toward the shooting.

The gunman, identified by police as 24-year-old Chad Williams, had already killed three people and wounded seven. Salinas fired at him. So did an off-duty Idaho state trooper who happened to be nearby.

Neither man delivered the movie-ending kill shot. Williams eventually died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

But Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks says their intervention mattered. “We believe their actions drove the suspect from the scene, preventing further casualties,” he said.

In other words, not one, but two good guys with a gun showed up. And things could have been a lot worse if they hadn’t.

Myth busters

If the phrase “good guy with a gun” sounds corny, blame former NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, who turned it into a slogan after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” LaPierre famously said.

Ever since, journalists and gun-control advocates have devoted considerable energy to informing us that this seemingly self-evident proposition is, in fact, a “fantasy.”

Salon was still at it in 2024, publishing a story headlined “‘Manipulation of fear’: New analysis blows hole in ‘good guy with a gun’ myth.”

The article, originally published by Common Dreams, described armed self-defense as an “enduring myth” propagated by “right-wing politicians and the powerful gun lobby.” The Center for American Progress report on which it was based went further, calling the good-guy-with-a-gun idea one of the gun lobby’s “most personal and insidious” myths.

“The Bulwark” wasn’t troubled by ambiguity either. In a 2024 podcast episode titled “Debunking the ‘Good Guy with a Gun’ Myth,” it brought on gun-control activist Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was murdered in the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

There’s a grim irony here. Guttenberg is now among the Parkland family members suing the Broward Sheriff’s Office over what they say was its negligent response to the massacre. Eight years later, the case is finally headed toward trial.

In other words, one of the men enlisted to debunk the usefulness of an armed “good guy” lost his daughter in a massacre in part because the armed good guys who were supposed to protect her failed to act.

Exception or rule?

On the rare occasion that the “myth” debunkers provide a real-world example, it doesn’t always make the case they think it does.

Consider the Trace. The nonprofit newsroom devoted to gun violence returned to the familiar theme last December with a story headlined “There Was No ‘Good Guy With a Gun’ in Salt Lake City.”

This time, at least, there was a good reason for the skepticism. An armed member of a volunteer safety team at a Salt Lake City No Kings protest opened fire on a man carrying a rifle and accidentally shot and killed an innocent demonstrator.

A tragic mistake? Absolutely. Evidence that an armed bystander can make a chaotic situation even worse? Certainly. That’s one reason carrying a firearm entails considerably more responsibility than carrying a reusable shopping bag.

Evidence that the “good guy with a gun” is a myth? That’s harder to see.

Especially considering how gun control advocates treat cases in which a bystander with a gun acted safely and responsibly.

Faint praise

I’ve written about this curious phenomenon before.

In July 2022, 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman entered the Greenwood Park Mall outside Indianapolis carrying a rifle, a pistol, and more than 100 rounds of ammunition. He killed three people in just 15 seconds.

Then 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken shot him.

Dicken was shopping with his girlfriend. He had no military or law-enforcement background. He was legally carrying a Glock pistol and, from roughly 40 yards away, hit Sapirman repeatedly, then moved closer while directing fleeing shoppers toward an exit.

Greenwood Police Chief James Ison called Dicken’s actions “nothing short of heroic.”

CNN agreed — sort of.

“Making Dicken’s heroism perhaps even more remarkable,” the network explained, “is the fact cases of an armed bystander attacking an active shooter are rare.”

Thanks, CNN.

And so the usual cycle plays out: Armed civilian stops a shooter; media reports it, when the story is too conspicuous to ignore; then somebody rushes in to remind readers that what they just watched happen never happens.

RELATED: Aim true: Anna Thomasson sets her sights on empowering women through firearms training

Matt Himes

How often is ‘never’?

But are people like Elisjsha Dicken really that rare?

Last August, two gunmen opened fire on a house party in Harvey, Illinois, hitting five people, including a 4-year-old child. A concealed-carry license holder returned fire, killing one alleged shooter and wounding the other, who was taken into custody.

Last year in Rapid City, South Dakota, police say a man attempting to steal merchandise from a convenience store pulled a knife when confronted by an employee. A customer drew a pistol and held him there until police arrived.

In the latter case, nobody got shot or stabbed. Funny how these stories sometimes end before there’s much of a story to report.

In Chicago in October 2024, a 23-year-old man driving by saw another man fighting with a woman and stopped to help. Police say the other man pulled a gun. The bystander — a licensed concealed carrier — pulled his own and shot him.

That same month, also in Chicago, a group of men allegedly attempted to carjack a 47-year-old driver, spraying him with some kind of chemical agent. The driver, another concealed-carry license holder, opened fire, hitting one of the alleged attackers. He survived.

You can argue about any one of these cases. You can argue about gun laws, concealed carry, training requirements, crime rates, suicide, accidents, domestic shootings, or any of the other considerations that make gun policy more complicated than an NRA bumper sticker.

What you can’t plausibly argue is that armed citizens never use guns successfully to defend themselves or other people.

Yet somehow we’ve moved from “How often does this happen?” to “It never happens.”

Disarming statistics

According to the FBI’s active shooter reports, armed citizens stopped just 14 of 350 active shooters between 2014 and 2023 — a measly 4%.

If that number sounds familiar, it should. It’s the kind of statistic regularly trotted out to debunk the “good guy with a gun.”

Economist John Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center says there’s a big problem with that calculation: The FBI is missing a lot of active shooter incidents.

Applying what it says is the FBI’s own definition of an active shooter, CPRC found 515 incidents over the same period — 165 additional shootings that never made it into the FBI dataset in the first place.

That’s important because many of the missing incidents ended with an armed citizen stopping the shooter. If those shootings aren’t classified as active shooter incidents, the good guys who stopped them don’t get counted either.

CPRC also identified five cases the FBI did count but, it argues, mischaracterized the armed civilian’s role. In two, armed civilians caused shooters to flee but weren’t credited with stopping them because police later made the arrests. In two others, armed civilians were classified as security personnel.

Put it all together, and the difference is enormous: The FBI’s reports credit armed citizens with stopping 14 of 350 active shooters, or 4%. CPRC says the actual number is 180 of 515, or 35%.

Gun rights, right time

Sometimes the guy with the gun isn’t a good guy. Sometimes he’s frightened, reckless, drunk, or stupid. Sometimes he mistakes the victim for the attacker. Sometimes the presence of another gun makes a chaotic situation even worse.

Fire extinguishers can be used incorrectly too. That’s not an argument for limiting their use to professional firefighters.

And here’s the strange thing about this whole debate: The “good guy with a gun” isn’t even the principal argument for the right to own a gun.

The Second Amendment doesn’t guarantee Americans the right to keep and bear arms on the condition that a sufficient number of them eventually stop mass shootings. Nor does anyone need to prove that armed civilians routinely save the day in order to justify owning a firearm for self-defense.

The occasional good guy who happens to be in the right place when a bad guy starts shooting is simply one of the benefits of living in a country where ordinary citizens can be armed.

Jordan Salinas acted heroically. If there’s a general “lesson” to be derived from his actions, it’s one that is modest and hard to dispute: When a murderous man starts shooting innocent people, having another responsible, trained, and courageous person nearby who can shoot back can make a difference.

That appears to be precisely what happened in Twin Falls. How often does it have to happen before we can stop pretending it doesn’t?

​Active shooter, Elisjsha dicken, Fbi, Good guy with a gun, Gun rights, Jordan salinas, Mass shootings, Nra, Parkland shooting, Salt lake city, Sandy hook, Second amendment, Self-defense, Twin falls shooting 

The top women’s tennis player in the world is standing up for young girls in the ongoing public debate about protecting their sports.

Aryna Sabalenka, the current World No. 1 with 24 singles titles in her career, spoke to reporters ahead of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Sunday. There, Sabalenka fielded a question about the Women’s Tennis Association’s updated policy on gender screening.

‘I don’t agree with this kind of stuff in sport.’

A reporter asked the Belarusian how she felt about the new rules, which include a one-time test for athletes to prove they are women.

Sabalenka gave a straightforward reply:

“I think it’s really important to keep the fairness in our tour, and it’s obvious that biologically, right, the men are way stronger than women.”

The 28-year-old continued, hinting that it may have taken the WTA longer to implement the policy than she would have hoped.

“I feel like it would be not really fair for the women to compete against biological men. So, I believe it took them a little while to make this decision, and, yeah, I support it.”

Sabalenka included remarks about wanting to focus on herself and the tournament, but still unequivocally stated she is in favor of the testing.

“If they want to test us all, I’m happy to do that. It’s pretty fair, and let’s keep it that way,” she added.

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The WTA updated its eligibility policy in late July to reflect the implementation of the gender-screening process, offering definitions of both male and female.

“In this policy, ‘biological male’ means an individual who, regardless of their legal sex or gender identity, has an SRY gene and therefore has or previously had testes or streak testes,” the policy states.

“Biological female” is defined as “an individual who, regardless of their legal sex or gender identity, has no SRY gene and therefore has or previously had ovaries or streak ovaries.”

Further in the document, the governing body states that “a player must demonstrate their eligibility to compete in WTA Tournaments by means of SRY Screening.”

“If the SRY Screen is negative for the presence of the SRY gene, the player will be permitted to compete in WTA Tournaments. Unless there is reason to believe a negative result is in error, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime test,” the WTA explains.

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Robert Prange/Getty Images

Sabalenka was ahead of the curve on this topic, having shared similar remarks when promoting the Battle of the Sexes exhibition match in December.

Before losing 6-3, 6-3 in two straight sets to Nick Kyrgios in Dubai, Sabalenka told host Piers Morgan, “I think it’s just not fair to a woman to basically face, like, biologically man.”

She emphasized that she didn’t think it was fair for a woman to work her entire life to “reach her limit” only to then face a man, knowing they are “biologically much stronger.”

“So for me, I don’t agree with this kind of stuff in sport,” she added.

Kyrgios was asked the same question by Morgan; he simply said he had “nothing to add” because he feels “the exact same way.”

Sabalenka faces Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima on Tuesday night at the National Bank Open.

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​Tennis, Women’s sports, Transgenderism, Sports