Category: blaze media

On Sunday, March 15, the 98th Academy Awards was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, honoring films released in 2025.

Acceptance speeches were a mixed bag: plenty of good-natured thanks and sweet moments, alongside the usual political remarks — including Javier Bardem’s “No to war, and free Palestine” statement, Jimmy Kimmel’s Trump and Melania digs, gun-violence references, and other commentary on wars and politicians.

But there was one Oscar speech that stopped “Relatable” host Allie Beth Stuckey in her tracks: Jessie Buckley’s.

When the Irish actress took the stage to accept her Best Actress Oscar for her role as Agnes, William Shakespeare’s wife, in the film “Hamnet,” she chose to frame the moment not around her own talent, hard work, politics, or even her historic win as the first Irish woman in the category, but around the beauty of motherhood.

After thanking her fellow actresses and the producers of “Hamnet,” Buckley turned to her husband, Freddie Sorensen, with whom she welcomed their first child in 2025.

“You, Fred, I love you, man. I love you; you’re the most incredible dad. You’re my best friend, and I want to have 20,000 more babies with you. I do!” she tearfully exclaimed.

She then addressed their 8-month old daughter, Isla: “I love you, and I love being your mom, and I can’t wait to discover life beside you.”

“It’s Mother’s Day in the U.K. today. So I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart,” Buckley added.

Allie was pleasantly shocked by Buckley’s heartfelt speech about motherhood.

“I don’t know all Oscar speeches, but I’ve never heard a speech dedicated to motherhood,” she says.

“Dedicating it to motherhood as an institution and saying something to your husband — ‘I want to have 20,000 more babies with you’ — that’s just not usually what you see,” she adds.

Allie recalls Michelle Williams’ acceptance speech at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, during which she said, “I’ve tried my very best to make a life of my own making … and I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose. To choose when to have children and with whom.”

“Well, obviously, being a mom and accomplishing these things is possible at the same time,” says Allie, “and even if it’s not, motherhood is better.”

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.

​Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Oscars, Oscars 2026, Jessie buckley, Motherhood, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota unleashed an unhinged rhetorical attack against President Donald Trump after he accused her of playing a part in the Somali fraud ring.

The president lashed out at Omar while speaking about his new anti-fraud task force from the White House and criticized Somalia, the country she immigrated from.

‘She’s one of the ringleaders. She’s bad news, really bad news. She’s so bad for our country.’

“Everyone knows they’ve been cheating for years. It’s the first ever, and it’s gotta be stopped. It’s gotta be stopped. Think of it: Somalia is a third-world, maybe a fourth-world nation. One of the worst, one of the most dangerous,” Trump said, with Vice President JD Vance at his side.

“They don’t have anything. They don’t have councils. They don’t have government. They don’t have police. They shoot each other all over the place. They come here, and they steal $19 billion — it’s crazy,” he added.

“And Ilhan Omar, I hope this is part of it, but she married her brother supposedly. I mean, there’s a lot of documentation. That means she’s here illegally, and she’s a congresswoman,” Trump alleged. “And I hope you’re gonna be looking at that or somebody is, all right? Because she’s one of the ringleaders. She’s bad news, really bad news. She’s so bad for our country.”

Omar responded with a crazed attack on the president in a post on social media.

“The most disturbing part of his unhinged comments is how comfortable he is in telling the world how stupid he and his followers are,” Omar wrote.

“But I guess it’s expected from a man who regularly and publicly fantasized about sleeping with his own daughter and is clearly implicated in the worst pedophile coverup case,” she added.

The anti-fraud task force will be headed up by Vance.

RELATED: Minnesota news outlet is getting wrecked online for story on Somali migrants’ economic impact on Minnesota

The president’s accusation that the Somalian community is responsible for $19 billion in fraud appears to be based on an estimate by then-federal prosecutor Joe Thompson, who said in December that as much as half of the $18 billion in federal funds billed in Minnesota could be fraudulent. Thompson later quit over his objections to immigration policy.

One of the larger convictions of fraud in the Somalian community from Minnesota involved $250 million of pandemic funds stolen through the Feeding Our Future scheme.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Ilhan omar vs trump, Somali fraud ring, Anti-fraud task force, Government fraud, Politics 

Instead of accepting an Oscar on Sunday night, actor Sean Penn decided to visit a war zone.

Fellow actor Kieran Culkin told viewers that Penn probably “didn’t want to” be at the Oscars, poking fun at him while accepting the Oscar for him.

‘This year I’ll be at the right place.’

Penn won Best Supporting Actor for his role in “One Battle After Another,” his third Oscar in total.

After presenting the award, Culkin said, “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening — or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.”

Duty calls

It appeared that Penn preferred to spend his time in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the president sharing a photo of his meeting with the 65-year-old.

“Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is. You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people,” he added, along with a photo of himself and Penn from inside the presidential office.

RELATED: Yes, there’s an AI hive mind, and it’s making us dumber

Net positive

Penn’s retreat to Ukraine is a stark contrast to Ben Stiller, who chose to skip Oscar night for much more relatable reasons.

On Sunday afternoon, Stiller responded to a picture from the 2025 Oscars that asked, “Does he know the knicks won,” referring to the NBA’s New York Knicks.

The noted basketball fan replied, “This year I’ll be at the right place.”

Lo and behold, Stiller was pictured courtside at Madison Square Garden in an official team photo that stated, “[Ben Stiller] knows where to be.”

RELATED: Sam Altman tells BlackRock he wants AI on a meter ‘like electricity or water’

Kiev, Ukraine, 2022. Photo by Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Missing in action

Both Stiller and Penn are outspoken liberals, making their absence from the Oscars stage — a dependable platform for leftist political messaging — all the more notable.

Recently, Stiller asked the Trump administration to remove a clip of his film “Tropic Thunder” from one of the White House’s highly divisive hype videos, stating, “We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.”

Stiller has consistently posted jabs at the administration on X, such as suggesting it is not adhering to the Constitution, but he has not mentioned the president by name on the platform since 2021, when Trump was ending his first term.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Align, Actors, Hollywood, Liberals, Democrats, New york city, Oscars, Awards, Ukraine, Entertainment 

The latest U.S. Treasury report revealed that in February 2026, the federal government paid $79 billion just in net interest on the national debt, which is approaching a staggering $39 trillion.

“We’re $39 trillion in the hole. We just paid $79 billion last month for just service of the debt. Let me ask you … is your life getting better?” asks Glenn Beck sardonically.

Of all the areas where government money is supposedly spent to improve our quality of life — roads, bridges, hospitals, public education, and airports, among others — Glenn admits the only one that’s actually gotten better is the military.

“I see it in the military. And that’s it. … So where’s the money actually going?” he asks.

Some of it appears to be disappearing into fraudulent schemes.

A recent CBS News investigation exposed widespread indicators of fraud in Los Angeles County’s hospice industry, where “over 700 of the roughly 1,800” licensed hospice providers revealed numerous red flags — i.e., shell companies, empty offices, piled-up mail, dead phone lines, and suspicious concentrations of “businesses” in single locations.

On this episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn dives into L.A.’s hospice scandal, warning that the broader implications should stop us dead in our tracks.

“Final chapter of life, families gather, pain is eased, dignity is preserved, and you’re stealing from that?” Glenn asks in disgust. “Wow. Medicare pays for that. No, let me rephrase that — you pay for that, your tax dollars.”

He expresses shock that “hundreds of hospice companies suddenly appeared almost overnight and nobody noticed” despite numerous glaring signs.

“Many of these [hospice companies] are run out of small little offices and storefronts and residential homes — like 30 of these companies in one little office. And they were enrolling patients who were not dying. In fact, they existed, but they didn’t know they were enrolling in this,” Glenn exclaims, noting that “tens of thousands of dollars” go to every single hospice patient.

“The dying turn into billing codes. The elderly turned into profit centers,” he scoffs.

While some may argue that this is “victimless crime,” Glenn sets the record straight: “Hospice fraud means that real care is denied. Pain medication is withheld. Proper treatment is delayed. Families misled.”

“And it’s not theft of just money. It is the theft of dignity at the end of human life,” he emphasizes.

But hospice fraud is just the beginning of L.A’.s woes.

The city is also funding the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to the tune of $106 million+ to help tenants fight evictions. Except LAFLA and its lawyers also sue the city to block clearing homeless encampments, which create unsafe, disorderly conditions, hurt businesses, and violate city codes.

“The system is a joke. It’s a loop,” Glenn ridicules. “Government tries to do its job. Government then funds the lawyers who want to stop it from doing its job. Lawyers sue the government. Government pays the settlement. Crisis continues.”

Add our “trillion dollar deficit in five months” to L.A.’s hospice fraud and the “legal warfare that perpetuates [its] urban collapse,” and you arrive at a sinister question, he says: “What if Los Angeles is not the exception? What if it is actually the rule?”

“We spend roughly $6.5 trillion every year. … If just 10% of that is lost to fraud, waste, and corruption, that’s $650 billion. If it’s 20%, that’s $1.3 trillion. That’s the entire deficit,” Glenn exclaims, calling it “deeply unsettling.”

“If what we’re seeing in places like Los Angeles reflects the broader system, then 20%, maybe one-third, of the federal deficit every single year may simply be because of corruption,” he continues.

If this “quiet siphoning of money from [taxpayers] through programs that are meant to be compassionate, noble, [and] necessary” is allowed to continue, Glenn warns that the consequences will be catastrophic.

Not only will it result in “financial bankruptcy” but also “moral bankruptcy.”

“If hospice fraud can flourish in the shadows, if taxpayer money can fund legal warfare against you with your money, if billions can move through programs with no accountability, then the deficit we see on paper is only part of the story,” he cautions.

“The real deficit is something harder to repair — a deficit of courage, a deficit of attention, a deficit of moral clarity. And unless we rediscover those things really soon, gang, the most dangerous line in the federal budget will not be the interest payments. It will be that silent line item that’s been growing for decades: the cost of looking the other way.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis and commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Fraud, Cbs news, Los angeles, La, Hospice fraud, Los angeles hospice fruad 

President Donald Trump demanded over the weekend that NATO members, Pacific region allies, and even China help the United States clear the Strait of Hormuz — through which maritime traffic has ground to a halt due to the ongoing threat of Iranian missile and drone strikes — and “make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

Trump noted that “this should have always been a team effort, and now it will be.”

‘Not a simple task.’

The response was less enthusiastic than Trump had apparently hoped, with some nations rebuffing the invitation and others kicking their decisions down the road.

“There are some countries that greatly disappointed me,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House on Monday. “What does surprise me is that they’re not eager to help.”

Fewer than 24 hours later, Trump unpacked his disappointment on Truth Social, noting that “the United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” continued the president.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Vessel attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on March 11. Photo by Handout / ROYAL THAI NAVY / AFP via Getty Images.

After noting that Iran’s leadership and key defenses “are gone,” Trump said, “We no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”

‘You will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella.’

Trump’s latest criticism of NATO comes just weeks after the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, told his European colleagues, “If anyone thinks here again that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t. We need each other.”

Rutte said that without the U.S., European nations would need to each beef up their defense spending to 10% and build out their nuclear capability.

“In that scenario, you will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So hey, good luck,” added the NATO secretary general.

Despite Rutte’s reminder about Europe’s reliance on America and Trump’s threat on Sunday that NATO would face a “very bad future” if members didn’t assist, numerous NATO members and U.S. allies farther afield declined Trump’s invitation to commit forces in the Persian Gulf.

Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told reporters on Monday that officials want to maintain their focus on Ukraine and that where Iran is concerned, their “focus is de-escalation and also freedom of navigation.”

While acknowledging the impact of the conflict and Iran’s ballistic blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Kallas stressed, “This is not Europe’s war — this situation in the region.”

Kallas noted further that the EU has Operation Aspides underway in the Red Sea — a military operation aimed at safeguarding merchant and commercial vessels — but that it won’t cover the strait as “there was no appetite from the Member states to do that.”

Stefan Kornelius, a spokesman for the German government, stated, “The government will not participate in this war,” reported Deutsche Welle. “This war has nothing to do with NATO; it is not NATO’s war.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius echoed this sentiment on Monday, stating, “It is not our war; we did not start it. We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end, but additional warships in the region will likely not contribute to that.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an address on Monday that “we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability” but that it “is not a simple task.”

Emphasizing that the U.K. will “not be drawn into the wider war,” he noted that Britain is working with European allies on a “viable, collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible.”

While reluctant to send warships, the U.K. is reportedly planning to send mine-hunting drones to help reopen the strait.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, “We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context,” reported Reuters.

‘We won’t be dragged into any war of choice.’

“We are convinced that once the situation has calmed down — and I deliberately ⁠use this term broadly — once the situation has calmed down, that is to say, once the main bombing ⁠has ceased, we are ready, along with other nations, to assume responsibility for the escort system,” added Macron.

RELATED: ‘Die in your rage’: Islamist attacks and murder plots are quickly adding up

Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reportedly indicated that the conflict was none of Warsaw’s business, stating his government “does not plan any expedition to Iran, and this does not raise any doubts on the part of our allies.”

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Euronews that “NATO is indeed a defensive alliance, and we won’t be dragged into any war of choice.”

“We of course have a collective interest — and I should say not only within NATO — but as the world, to have the oil flowing, to de-escalate, and that is certainly something we are calling for,” added Valtonen.

Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said that Iran’s blockade was unlawful but also backed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim that the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes appear to violate international law.

Anand said further that there’s been no formal discussion among NATO members about Trump’s request, stating, “To our knowledge a request has not been made to NATO for the type of assistance that is being requested,” reported the Globe and Mail.

Some allies outside of NATO similarly poured cold water on the prospect of a coalition of the willing.

Australian Transport Minister Catherine King, for instance, said her country “won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz.”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly told lawmakers on Monday that her nation had no plans to send warships to the Persian Gulf.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Strait of hormuz, Hormuz, Iran, Iran war, Conflict, Foreign entanglements, Tehran, Europe, Europeans, Eu, President donald trump, Politics 

A public fistfight in a ritzy Washington, D.C., neighborhood led to a former Biden staffer raging against the failures of Democrat-controlled cities on social media.

Yemisi Egbewole worked as the chief of staff to former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, but she has since become critical of many Democratic policies.

‘Tolerating this behavior is unfair to the residents who live here and unfair to the kids themselves. We need to enforce consequences.’

On Sunday, she posted a video on social media showing a large group of what appeared to be teenagers beating down and stomping a victim at the D.C. Navy Yard.

“Blue cities need to wake up. Tolerating this behavior is unfair to the residents who live here and unfair to the kids themselves. We need to enforce consequences,” Egbewole wrote.

She went on to post another video of the unruly young people running through D.C. and criticized Councilmember Janeese Lewis George for voting against curfews that could have curtailed the fighting.

“[George] believes compassion for these children is the pathway to rehabilitation. But at this point, that kind of ‘compassion’ is just abject neglect,” Egbewole added.

“Imagine paying $3,500 a month to live in a box in the city, working all week to afford it, and when the weekend comes you can’t even enjoy it because kids are bare-knuckle beating each other outside your window,” she continued. “The city you pay taxes to does nothing. Incredible.”

She also rejected commenters who argued that the kids were acting out because of a lack of “third spaces” like skating rinks and arcades, a concept popularized by urbanist activists.

“Is this a joke? So the solution is creating more ‘third spaces’ for them to fight each other in? This is a problem that starts at home. It’s a moral and values issue. A skating rink isn’t going to fix that,” Egbewole responded.

RELATED: Former Biden aides unload on Karine Jean-Pierre after she leaves Democratic Party: ‘As breathtaking as it is desperate’

Egbewole addressed the same issue in an op-ed for Fox News, where she warned that Democrats were wrong to avoid the crime issue.

“Refusing to address crime doesn’t protect communities of color; it leaves them more vulnerable,” she wrote in August. “The kids causing chaos aren’t the only ones who live in these neighborhoods. There are other young people who want to learn, want to grow and are watching bad behavior go unchecked.”

Two firearms were recovered in the Navy Yard altercation, and two juveniles were arrested.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Washington dc juvenile shooting, Yemisi egbewole, Crime in democrat-controlled cities, Trump vs crime, Politics 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi Tuesday over her handling of the Epstein files.

The committee voted to approve the subpoena requiring Bondi to appear for a deposition over the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation and in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In the subpoena, Comer said Bondi’s deposition could “inform legislative solutions” to improve the government’s response to sex trafficking and to “reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements” related to sex crimes.

‘This subpoena is completely unnecessary.’

Although the subpoena refrained from harshly criticizing Bondi, it was ultimately greenlit on March 4 by committee Republicans who have expressed concerns about Bondi’s leadership.

Every committee Democrat voted in favor of the subpoena, as well as Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The DOJ called the subpoena “completely unnecessary,” arguing that Bondi has “made herself available” to lawmakers with respect to the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“This subpoena is completely unnecessary,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. “Lawmakers have been invited to view the unredacted files for themselves at the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General has always made herself available to speak directly with members of Congress.”

RELATED: Watch: Bill Clinton defends Trump in Epstein deposition video

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

“She continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the Department offered to brief the committee tomorrow,” the spokesperson added. “As always, we look forward to continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”

Bondi is now called on to appear before the committee on April 14.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Pam bondi, Epstein files, James comer, Epstein files transparency act, House oversight committee, Department of justice, Subpoena, Nancy mace, Tim burchett, Scott perry, Lauren boebert, Michael cloud, Doj, Politics 

Dave Bonhoff is a retired police officer from Baltimore County, Pennsylvania — and until recently also was a bus driver serving the Littlestown Area School District, WHP-TV reported.

You see, Bonhoff was in the practice of donning his well-worn Make America Great Again hat while driving his route in Littlestown — a small borough just a mile or so north of the Maryland border.

‘I want to be able to express myself. I don’t want somebody to tell me, ”Well, my feelings are hurt. You got to take the hat off.”’

But one of his students complained about Bonhoff’s MAGA hat, the station said, after which his boss at Krise Transportation called him on the morning of Feb. 18.

“She contacts me and says, ‘Hey, listen, I’m going to buy you a hat, an American flag hat, because the school district has deemed that they don’t want you to wear that Make America Great Again hat,'” Bonhoff recounted to WHP.

Well, Bonhoff — also known as “Mr. Dave from Bus #73” — decided to walk away from his bus driver gig that very day, just before the afternoon drop-off, the station said.

“If that wasn’t a condition of my employment, I’d be back to work tomorrow,” Bonhoff told WHP. “I miss the kids. Those kids and I had a great relationship.”

He added to the station that “there’s nothing in this hat that says anything about partisanship. I think that saying that this hat is political is absurd. It’s patriotic.”

When a WHP reporter asked Bonhoff how he would respond to those who argue that MAGA hats are synonymous with a political figure — President Donald Trump — Bonhoff replied that they’re off base.

“I would say that making America great is what we should all strive to be,” he noted to the station. “Anybody who doesn’t want America to prosper, I take issue with them.”

Bonhoff added to WHP that Republican and Democrat presidents during their time in office — including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — have used the phrase Make America Great Again.

Alas, clear explanations from higher-ups regarding exactly who said what to Bonhoff appear to be in short supply.

Al Moyer, the Littlestown Area School District’s acting superintendent, told WHP that “districts need to be neutral on sensitive issues” and that Krise Transportation employed Bonhoff, not the school district.

As for Krise Transportation, it denied giving Bonhoff any ultimatums about his MAGA hat but noted a dress code policy in a section of the company handbook, the station said: “Any item of apparel with text or graphics deemed inappropriate by management (including but not limited to alcoholic beverages, drugs, tobacco/vaping, suggestive sexual images or remarks, political sentiments, or offensive statements) are prohibited.”

Bonhoff remained resolute, telling WHP that “I want to be able to express myself. I don’t want somebody to tell me, ‘Well, my feelings are hurt. You got to take the hat off.'”

RELATED: Girl says she fought ‘old,’ ‘racist’ man with MAGA hat at ICE protest — and excuses fellow teen brawlers

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) addressed Bonhoff’s MAGA hat controversy in a statement Friday, noting that political correctness has become a “tool of intimidation,” the station said in a follow-up story:

Mr. Bonhoff is a retired police officer who continued serving his community by safely transporting children to school. Yet he was effectively forced out of his job because he wore a hat that read “Make America Great Again.” Whether someone agrees with that message is completely irrelevant. In America, citizens do not lose their First Amendment rights simply because someone else claims to be offended.

What happened here is not about “sensitivity” or “respect.” It is about the suffocating culture of political correctness that is spreading through our institutions — a culture that demands conformity, punishes dissent, and attempts to silence anyone who refuses to bow to its ideology. Political correctness has become a tool of intimidation. It is used to shame, threaten, and drive ordinary Americans out of their jobs and public life simply for expressing views that do not align with the approved narrative. That is not tolerance. That is coercion.

Mastriano added to WHP that Bonhoff was brave in holding fast to his beliefs: “Dave Bonhoff showed more courage in standing by his principles than many institutions have shown in defending the rights they claim to value. No American should ever be forced to choose between their livelihood and their constitutional freedoms.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Maga hat, Make america great again hat, Donald trump, School bus driver, Pennsylvania, Littlestown, Baltimore county, Dave bonhoff, Littlestown area school district, Pennsylvania state senator doug mastriano, First amendment, Politics 

President Donald Trump and his allies have come out in full force following Joe Kent’s resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday.

Kent announced his unexpected resignation in a letter to Trump, citing concerns about the United States’ military operation in Iran. Kent argued that Iran posed “no imminent threat” and that the United States was forced into the conflict on behalf of Israel, prompting backlash from the administration.

‘He had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack.’

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives,” Kent said in the letter.

Kent’s resignation sent shock waves through the already fracturing MAGA world. Despite the outpouring of support from anti-war commentators, Kent was met with firm disapproval from Trump.

RELATED: Joe Kent resigns from Trump admin, says Israel forced US into Iran conflict

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday. “Very weak on security. I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But when I read his statement, I realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said that Iran was not a threat.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a much stronger statement, debunking many of Kent’s statements she said were false.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt said, pushing back on Kent’s claim that Iran didn’t pose an imminent threat. “This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors. President Trump would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.”

RELATED: Trump’s hilarious response after intel reportedly tells him Iran’s new supreme leader might be gay

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Leavitt went on to list Iran’s offenses against the American people, citing its sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear ambitions. Leavitt also addressed Kent’s claim that Israel forced the United States’ hand in the conflict, calling the assertion “insulting and laughable.”

“And finally, the absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable,” Leavitt said. “President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran can NEVER possess a nuclear weapon.”

“As someone who actually witnesses President Trump’s decision-making process on a daily basis, I can attest to the fact that he is always looking to do what’s in the best interest of the United States of America — period. America First,” she concluded.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Joe kent, Karoline leavitt, Iran war, Israel, Iran, Forever wars, Maga, Politics 

A Florida man entered a plea at the beginning of the month following a particularly disturbing case involving monkeys investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Francisco Javier Ravelo, 36, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty on March 2 to distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys. Ravelo was charged in October 2025.

‘It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse.’

The Department of Justice’s press release, citing court documents, explains that Ravelo, a U.S. citizen, “created some and administered some online chat groups dedicated to the distribution and discussion of sexual and violent videos depicting monkeys being mutilated and burned, including baby and adult monkeys.”

The DOJ said Ravelo personally distributed “more than 40 of these obscene crush videos.”

RELATED: ‘Staged armed robberies’: 11 Indian nationals catch visa fraud charge amid conspiracy allegations

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. law defines “animal crushing” as “actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.”

“In his first term, President Donald J. Trump signed the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law to end animal crushing,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “If you are involved in this sadistic activity, we will prosecute you.”

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said: “Deliberate cruelty to animals is one of the clearest red flags. It reflects a willingness to dominate, torture, and inflict suffering without remorse. The defendant didn’t merely view this material. He created and administered online groups devoted to it and distributed dozens of obscene animal torture videos. That conduct fuels a market built on brutality.”

HSI New Orleans, HSI Pensacola, the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division investigated the case that led to Ravelo’s guilty plea, according to an ICE press release.

Ravelo faces a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Homeland security investigations, Hsi, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Florida, Florida man, Doj, Department of justice, Animal crushing, Animal abuse, Animal cruelty, Francisco javier ravelo 

Approximately 200,000 foreign truck drivers will no longer be able to renew their commercial driver’s licenses following the Department of Transportation’s final rule that took effect on Monday.

The DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced the final rule, “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses,” in February to prevent “unqualified foreign drivers” from operating big rigs and buses on American roadways.

‘Under President Trump’s leadership, we are putting the safety of the driving public first.’

A press release from the FMCSA noted that in 2025, non-domiciled drivers caused 17 fatal crashes and 30 deaths.

The announcement followed a nationwide audit that found “systemic non-compliance” in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs in several states.

The final rule’s key provisions include limiting non-domiciled CDLs to foreign nationals with H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visas. It also terminated Employment Authorization Documents as acceptable proof of eligibility. Additionally, it required state licensing agencies to verify the eligibility of foreign nationals through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.

RELATED: Foreigners want to drive a big rig? They’ll need more than work authorization papers, Duffy says.

Sean Duffy. Photographer: Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Therefore, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, asylum seekers, Temporary Protected Status holders, and those relying solely on work authorization documents are no longer eligible to obtain a CDL.

Foreign nationals who no longer meet these qualifications may continue to drive as long as their current license remains valid. However, they will not be able to renew their licenses once they expire.

RELATED: ‘Imminent hazard’: Trump administration shuts licensing loophole after illegal alien trucker allegedly causes fatal crash

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Washington Post estimated that the final rule, which took effect on Monday, will impact about 200,000 CDL holders.

“For far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems — wreaking havoc on our roadways. This safety loophole ends today,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated during February’s announcement of the final rule. “Moving forward, unqualified foreign drivers will be unable to get a license to operate an 80,000-pound big rig. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are putting the safety of the driving public first. From enforcing English language standards to holding fraudulent carriers accountable, we will continue to attack this crisis on our roads head on.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Sean duffy, Department of transportation, Transportation department, Dot, Daca, Deferred action for childhood arrivals, Temporary protected status, Tps, Asylum seekers, Employment authorization document, Ead, Commercial driver’s licenses, Cdls, Commercial driver’s license, Cdl, H-2a, H-2b, E-2, Federal motor carrier safety administration, Fmcsa, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Trucking, Politics 

In a major upset, a Republican has finally made an inroad in what was once considered a safe Democratic county in Virginia.

Democratic candidate Muhammad “Sef” Casim lost a special election for a vacant seat on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to Republican Jeannie LaCroix following a precipitous loss of support from his own party.

‘I want to make clear that the foolishness of my actions during my college days did not translate then, and most definitely does not indicate now, any prejudice or hatred I hold towards the Black community.’

On March 10, LaCroix received 1,694 (43.73%) of the votes compared to Casim’s 1,436 (37.07%). Democrat Pamela Montgomery, a write-in candidate who launched her campaign barely one week before the election, drew from Casim’s votes, though how many is unclear, according to WJLA.

Casim faced calls from his own party to back out of the race after past social media posts, which he described as “offensive to the Black community,” resurfaced during his campaign.

RELATED: ‘So pathetic’: Virginia governor nailed with backlash over response to possible terror attack at Old Dominion

Chair at-Large Deshundra Jeffersonpwcva.gov

Prince William County Republican County Chairman Jacob Alderman called for the immediate withdrawal of support for Casim, posting screenshots of many of Casim’s past posts and reposts, which he described as “a disturbing pattern of racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, anti-Christian, and anti-American views.”

The posts, which come from X, all appear to be from over a decade ago, with many of them dated between 2012 and 2015.

Posts include Casim allegedly writing or reposting other accounts saying: “Never call a tiger ‘tigga.’ Only tigers can call themselves ‘tigga’”; “This girl’s fav match going on, No dangerous Hindu male”; “the person below is a dirty slut”; and “Heading ot [sic] VCU in the morning with my N***a.”

Casim wrote an apology on Facebook on February 28: “Nobody’s history is perfect and I am no exception. 14 years ago I had made social media posts that were disrespectful and posted a reference to my friend using a term that is quite frankly, offensive to the Black community. There is no excuse for this and I deeply apologize. I want to make clear that the foolishness of my actions during my college days did not translate then, and most definitely does not indicate now, any prejudice or hatred I hold towards the Black community.”

Potomac Local reported that several Democratic elected officials called on Casim to step away from the race over the “racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic” remarks.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair Deshundra Jefferson issued a separate statement on March 2 criticizing Casim’s past remarks — and his apology. “I am deeply disgusted by the past comments Sufiyan Casim made — as well as his lack of responsibility and accountability. No apology should start with the words, ‘Nobody’s history is perfect and I am no exception,’ as it dismisses the pain that one’s words have caused,” Jefferson stated.

LaCroix will assume the role of Woodbridge District supervisor following the election upset, which was triggered after former Supervisor Margaret Franklin won election to the Virginia House of Delegates 23rd District in January.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Virginia, Muhammad sef casim, Sef casim, Democrat, Republican, Democrats, Jeannie lacroix, Special election, Black community, Racist, Woodbridge district supervisor 

As Hollywood continues to embrace diversity mandates — which couldn’t have been more clear at the 96th Academy Awards — the film industry is sending the wrong message about merit and inspiration.

“The Academy Awards came up with new criteria for how to win or be eligible to even win the Best Picture nominee,” Whitlock says, noting that potential winners had to meet DEI requirements.

“At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors submitted for Oscar consideration is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group in a specific country or territory of production,” read some of the Representation and Inclusion Standards of the Academy Awards.

“At least 30% of all actors not submitted for Oscar consideration are from at least two underrepresented groups which may include women, racial or ethnic group, LGBTQ+, people with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing,” reads another guideline.

“This is all programming. This is all brainwashing. This is all a reflection of unreality,” Whitlock says, before playing a clip of Michael B. Jordan, who won the award for Best Actor.

“I stand here because of the people that came before me. Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith. And to be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys,” Jordan said.

He then added, “I just want to say thank you for everybody in this room that has something to do with my success.”

“You know, he rattles off this group of black actors,” Whitlock comments, pointing out that when it was his dream to be a great sportswriter, he didn’t choose his heroes based on skin color.

“What — you’re telling me that in 2026, the only people that can inspire black kids are other black people? I just — I don’t get this. This is so limiting,” he continues. “White people get to be inspired by any and everybody. There’s a white kid, right now, today, that’s sitting around saying, ‘Hey, I want to be like LeBron James.’”

“They get access to be inspired by whatever human being is on the planet. Their options for inspiration are limitless. We’re telling black kids, subtly and straightforwardly, that the only people that can inspire you are other black people,” he adds.

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.

​Fearless with jason whitlock, Fearless, Jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Dei, Oscars, Michael b jordan, Programming, Brainwashed, The oscars, Diversity equity inclusion 

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D) says her deceased security guard who faked his identity was a committed employee who respected others.

Diamon Mazairre Robinson was living for years under the alias “Mike King” and had served on Crockett’s security team “for years,” according to Crockett’s team. Robinson was shot and killed by Dallas SWAT last Wednesday after a standoff in the parking garage of a children’s hospital.

‘What we’re now learning about his past doesn’t fit the person we came to know as Mike King.’

Robinson is seen on police dashcam video fleeing law enforcement before refusing to come out of his car in the parking garage. Detectives negotiated with Robinson for more than an hour before he came out of his car.

As Robinson reached for a handgun, law enforcement can be heard hearing yelling, “Don’t do it!” However, he still pulled the pistol, and officers fired when the pistol appeared to be raised. Robinson was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Despite Robinson having lived for years under a fake identity, with multiple weapons charges and stolen government plates, Rep. Crockett still came to his defense in a press release.

“As a former public defender, I’ve always believed people are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. I believe in redemption. The man we knew showed up with respect, care, and commitment to protecting others,” Crockett wrote in an X post, while sharing an official statement.

RELATED: Jasmine Crockett claims she was ‘targeted’ and cheated out of the Senate by Republicans

After Crockett’s team explained it had “followed all protocols” and were approved to use the security “vendor,” the press release said, “This situation reiterates the need for Capitol Police to provide security for members of Congress, especially under this administration’s new normal of inciting attacks on those who dare speak out.”

Robinson was then described as someone who used legal “loopholes without malice,” with Crockett’s team saying they were “unable to locate any violent offenses” in his criminal history.

Dallas Police Deputy Chief William Griffith told reporters on Monday that Robinson pretended to work for nonexistent federal agencies. This included the “special dignitary police.”

“That agency does not exist within the federal government,” Griffith said. “So that’s who he portrayed to be. … So there was no actual federal agency that he worked for that existed.”

Authorities also revealed that Robinson had posed as a federal officer for the fake agency, produced identification cards for it, and had two active felony warrants from 2017 for theft. Additionally, he had a parole violation, two vehicles with stolen government plates, and multiple stolen firearms, one of which was the gun he pulled during the police standoff.

RELATED: SWAT team kills Jasmine Crockett’s fugitive security guard after suspect pulls gun on police

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

“He’s very good at hiding his true identity,” Griffith added, noting it took one to two weeks of investigative work to determine who Robinson was.

Still Crockett’s team — referring to Robinson as Mike King — said there was “never any reason to suspect he wasn’t who he held himself out to be.”

“He never endangered our team, worked diligently, coordinated with local enforcement, and maintained positive relationships throughout the community,” the press release went on. “What we’re now learning about his past doesn’t fit the person we came to know as Mike King.”

Neither Crockett nor her team responded to Blaze News’ request for comments.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Texas, Congresswoman, Dallas, Police, Swat, Standoff, Politics 

The U.S. under President Donald Trump has decapitated both the Venezuelan and Iranian regimes. Trump confirmed on Monday that he now has his sights set on another country.

When asked whether the “next” country up was Cuba and whether the approach taken will “look like Iran or Venezuela,” Trump said, “Can’t tell you that. I can tell you that they’re talking to us. It’s a failed nation. They have no money. They have no oil. They have no nothing. They have nice land. They have nice landscape, you know. It’s a beautiful island. I think they have great people.”

‘They’re a very weakened nation.’

After extolling the entrepreneurial spirit of the Cuban people and noting that many expatriates would love to visit the communist-controlled island, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “All my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. ‘When will the United States do it?'”

Trump said he believes he will have “the honor of taking Cuba. … That’s a big honor.”

When asked to clarify what such a takeover might look like, the president said, “Free it, take it — I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation.”

Cuba’s electrical grid completely collapsed on Monday. The Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines noted in social media posts on Tuesday that efforts were still under way to restore electric systems around the country.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the impact of the American-imposed oil blockade, which has been in effect for months, “is tremendous.”

RELATED: Cubans torch communist headquarters in protest of blackouts and food shortages

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel at an “anti-imperialist” protest in front of the U.S. embassy in Havana.

Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 29, accusing the Cuban government of “extraordinary actions that harm and threaten the United States” and signaling that any nation that directly or indirectly sells oil to Cuba will have its exports to the U.S. slapped with additional tariffs.

In addition to prompting Mexico to suspend energy shipments to Cuba and cutting off the flow of Venezuelan oil to Havana, the U.S. has reportedly seized shipments bound for the island and intercepted vessels searching for fuel in the Caribbean Sea.

Cuba’s energy crisis and worsening food shortage have exacerbated internal tensions and prompted protests. On Friday, for instance, protesters reportedly burned and ransacked a local communist party building — an incident Díaz-Canel suggested was the result of “distress” caused by the U.S. blockade.

U.S. and Cuban officials have been negotiating over the the fate of the island, four sources said to be familiar with the talks told the New York Times. The U.S. has reportedly signaled to the Cubans that the Trump administration might be satisfied with Díaz-Canel and some regime elders faithful to the murderous ideals of Fidel Castro getting the boot and the Cuban people figuring out the next steps.

“Direct conversations with the United States are about finding, through dialogue, solutions to the differences that exist between the two countries,” Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s chief of mission to the U.S., told Politico. “The conversations are not about Cuba’s internal affairs — our constitutional system, our political model, our social and socialist economy which we Cubans have built.”

On Sunday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “We’re talking to Cuba, but we’re going to do Iran before Cuba,” adding that “people have been waiting 50 years” for possible action on the Cuban front.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Interventionism, Western hemisphere, Cuba, Communism, Collapse, Donald trump, Cuban, Regime change, Takeover, Golden age, Manifest destiny, Politics 

A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden obliged medical establishmentarians on Monday, blocking three critical elements of the Trump administration’s vaccine reform.

Brian Murphy — a Boston-based U.S. district court judge who previously barred the Trump administration from swiftly deporting illegal aliens — paused Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reconstitution of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the federal panel whose vaccine recommendations become official policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

‘How much embarrassment can this Judge take?’

In addition to freezing out Kennedy’s ACIP appointees prior to their planned discussion of COVID-19 vaccines this week, Murphy also halted the health secretary’s reform of the child vaccination schedule as well as Kennedy’s May 2025 directive rescinding the recommendation that pregnant women and healthy kids get the COVID vaccine.

The shake-up

As of early 2025, all 17 members of the ACIP were Biden appointees.

Some of the members were brazen partisans. Oliver Brooks, for instance, made a habit of donating to Democrat candidates, including failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and called for research to be “intentionally antiracist.” Noel Brewer, a 2020 Biden donor, similarly demonstrated a DEI-lensed preoccupation with race.

Most members had collected small fortunes in consulting fees and research support from some of the very pharmaceutical giants whose products the panel had recommended, prompting questions about the members’ loyalties and commitment to public health.

RELATED: FDA finally admits COVID-19 vaccine killed kids: ‘This is a profound revelation’

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

Kennedy noted in a June 9 article, “The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”

“It has never recommended against a vaccine — even those later withdrawn for safety reasons,” continued Kennedy. “It has failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women. To make matters worse, the groups that inform ACIP meet behind closed doors, violating the legal and ethical principle of transparency crucial to maintaining public trust.”

On June 10, Kennedy announced that he had canned all 17 members of the ACIP, accused the panel of “malevolent malpractice,” and vowed to appoint “highly credentialed physicians and scientists who will make extremely consequential public health determinations by applying evidence-based decision-making with objectivity and common sense.”

Medical establishmentarians melted down over the removal of the Biden holdovers.

Susan Kressly, who was the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics at the time, said, “We are witnessing an escalating effort by the administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines.”

Their fury was compounded when Kennedy announced whom he was appointing to the newly vacant panel — experts such as Dr. Robert Malone, an early pioneer in messenger RNA technology, and Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth who ruffled feathers in 2021 by criticizing ruinous mask mandates for children.

In January, the Trump administration dealt those clinging to the status quo another upset, modifying the childhood immunization schedule.

RELATED: The Conspiracy Instinct

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Whereas previously, the CDC recommended that kids get vaccines for 18 diseases — loading them up with twice as many doses as their European counterparts — the Trump administration reduced its list of vaccination recommendations for all children to jabs for the following 11 diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (whooping cough), Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal conjugate, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, human papillomavirus, and chickenpox.

The lawsuit

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups sued the administration in July over its termination of COVID vaccine recommendations for healthy kids and pregnant women, then amended their complaint to incorporate challenges to the ACIP shake-up and changes to the immunization schedule updates.

‘We will keep appealing these lawless decisions.’

Judge Murphy echoed the plaintiffs’ talking points in his ruling on Monday and said, “There is a method to how these decisions [about which vaccines to make available through insurers and government programs] historically have been made — a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements. Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.”

Murphy questioned the qualifications held by the majority of current ACIP members but spared his fellow Biden appointees who previously served on the panel from such scrutiny.

He also said that the ACIP, as currently staffed, violates Congress’ requirement that such committees “be fairly balanced.”

Murphy, opting for stays over injunctions, stayed Kennedy’s appointments of new ACIP members, all votes taken by the new ACIP members, and the January changes to the childhood immunization schedule.

The response

The medical groups behind the lawsuit celebrated Murphy’s ruling.

Andrew Racine, president of the AAP, called it “a historic and welcome outcome for children, communities, and pediatricians everywhere.”

“This decision effectively means that a science-based process for developing immunization recommendations is not to be trifled with and represents a critical step to restoring scientific decision-making to federal vaccine policy that has kept children healthy for years,” added Racine.

“Today’s ruling is a win for public health and reaffirms that national vaccine policy should be guided by rigorous, evidence-based science, not politics,” said Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians. “Scientific consensus and overwhelming evidence demonstrate that vaccines are safe and effective.”

The HHS said that it will appeal the ruling.

“We look forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,” wrote HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche noted, “We will keep appealing these lawless decisions, and we will keep winning. The question is, how much embarrassment can this Judge take?”

Dr. Robert Malone said that the “rogue judge” had “inserted himself between the elected executive branch and its constitutional authority to govern.”

Malone, who faced years of abuse for questioning the safety of mRNA vaccines and the severity of COVID-19, emphasized that “the political timing of this ruling is impossible to ignore” and that “the practical consequences of Monday’s ruling are serious.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Acip, Vaccine, Vaccination, Big pharma, Pharmaceuticals, Maha, Make america healthy again, Health, Science, Clotshots, Jab, Vaccine schedule, Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk jr, Rfk, Hhs, Politics 

Free speech isn’t dying in one dramatic moment. It’s getting shaved down in two different ways — both deliberate, both dangerous.

The first track is blunt-force censorship. It looks like platform bans, coordinated deplatforming, demonetization — and in some countries, handcuffs.

The First Amendment requires vigilance — and a culture and an infrastructure that respect not only the right to speak, but the ability to be heard without invisible manipulation.

When Joe Rogan reacted to reports that more than 12,000 people in the United Kingdom had been arrested over social media posts, he said the U.K. has “lost it.” Hyperbolic? Maybe. But the concern is real. Americans still recoil at the idea of police knocking on someone’s door over a tweet. In parts of Europe, that line keeps moving.

Take the arrest of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan over posts criticizing trans activists. Agree with him or not, the point stands: Government shouldn’t referee online speech disputes. Speech that would receive constitutional protection in the United States is treated elsewhere as a criminal offense. That isn’t progress. It’s just regression dressed up as “social responsibility.”

We aren’t immune in the United States. We just do it differently.

The First Amendment still blocks direct government suppression in most cases. But a parallel system has grown up alongside it — one where Big Tech companies act as speech gatekeepers. They decide who can speak, who gets heard, and who disappears into digital exile. You may have the right to talk, but if you can’t reach anyone in the modern public square, what does that right mean?

That’s the predictable result of handing global communication infrastructure to a handful of corporations with opaque rules and shifting political winds. Platforms remove accounts, throttle content, suspend monetization, and slap “misinformation” labels on disfavored opinions. The rules move, enforcement varies, and appeals are a black box.

Jeff Dornik, founder of Pickax, a fast-growing platform branding itself as a free-speech alternative, puts it bluntly: “You can’t have freedom of speech without freedom of reach. It’s quite literally written into the First Amendment: ‘abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.’ If you limit reach, you abridge speech.”

That brings us to the second track — subtler and arguably more insidious.

It’s algorithmic manipulation. It’s the Overton Window nudged by code instead of Congress. It’s the illusion of free speech paired with the quiet denial of reach.

Dominant platforms defend themselves by insisting they support “freedom of speech.” Ask conservatives who’ve watched Big Tech suspend them, kneecap their businesses, or bury their content, and they’ll translate it the same way: Say what you want — we decide who sees it. Freedom of reach is optional at best.

Algorithms decide what trends, what goes viral, and what gets buried on page six of your search. They shape perception, reward some views, starve others, and then hide the rulebook. Users adapt. They soften language and avoid topics entirely. They self-censor — not because they got banned, but because they learned the cost of crossing invisible lines.

RELATED: The European Commission wants your free speech. Elon Musk is in the way.

Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Dornik argues that algorithms can be more corrosive than outright censorship: Instead of punishing speech the powers-that-be don’t like, they dangle engagement and monetization to train creators to censor themselves — “essentially getting you to rewire your own brain.”

“Almost all of the Big Tech platforms are using algorithms to manipulate us,” Dornik says. “The byproduct of this form of censorship is that it’s almost impossible to create community.”

He’s not wrong about the incentive structure. When creators wake up to find engagement cut in half after an unpopular opinion, they get the message. Stay inside the narrative. Don’t challenge the consensus. The window narrows — not because voters demanded it, but because code enforced it.

That’s why the free-speech debate can’t be reduced to arrest statistics. It’s about who controls visibility. It’s about whether speech is meaningfully free when distribution gets manipulated behind the scenes.

America still has the strongest constitutional speech protections in the world. But constitutional protection is only part of the story. Culture matters. Platform design matters. Incentives matter. When creators depend on systems that can quietly demonetize or suppress them, speech becomes conditional.

That’s the gap platforms like Pickax say they want to fill: no shadow bans, no algorithmic throttling, no opaque moderation. The feed is chronological and long-form content is encouraged. Creators own their content, and monetization is simple and direct.

Pickax held a launch event on February 24, with an all-day livestream featuring many of its creators. Dornik called it more than a rollout: “One of our primary missions with Pickax is to build human-to-human connections. We do this by eliminating the computer-driven algorithms … allowing our users to become the algorithm.”

RELATED: California’s next dumb tech idea: Show your papers to scroll

Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Skeptics will say alternative platforms stay niche or ideological. Maybe. But the fact that they keep gaining traction tells you something: People sense the digital public square has been curated, filtered, and sanitized in ways that don’t feel organic.

Free speech has always been messy. It has always included opinions we dislike and arguments we reject. Far from a flaw, that’s the system as it is supposed to work.

The alternative is a world where governments arrest people for posts — and corporations erase dissent with code. One is loud and authoritarian. The other is quiet and corporate. Both undermine open discourse.

The First Amendment is not self-executing. It requires vigilance — and it requires a culture and an infrastructure that respect not only the right to speak, but the ability to be heard without invisible manipulation.

No algorithms and no more shadow bans. No “reach dropped — try boosting.”

If we lose that fight, we won’t lose it all at once. We’ll lose it post by post, throttle by throttle, until only approved voices remain.

​Censorship, Free speech, Social media, First amendment, Overton window, Uk, Big tech, Opinion & analysis, Arrests, European union 

An axe-wielding male allegedly threatened a pair of car-wash employees in Ocala, Florida, last week — but one of the victims managed to violently turn the tables on him.

Marion County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Tidal Wave Auto Spa on SW 95th Street Road over a reported disturbance around 8:30 p.m. March 8, officials said.

‘I timed [it] so that once he lowered [the axe], that’s when I shot the takedown.’

Upon arrival, deputies said they found an 18-year-old victim restraining 36-year-old Bryce Thayer.

The investigation revealed that Thayer approached two employees at the car wash as they were closing, officials said.

Thayer was told to leave the property, officials said, but Thayer became angry and approached the two victims in a threatening manner while wielding an axe.

Officials said the 18-year-old victim lunged at Thayer in an attempt to disarm him and was able to get him on the ground. The second victim then was able to remove the axe from Thayer’s grip, officials said, and the 18-year-old victim restrained Thayer until deputies arrived.

RELATED: Teen robbers open fire on victim behind Texas Family Dollar, but victim also has a gun — and turns the tables lethally

Leodan Pino, 18, told WOFL-TV that his instincts took over amid the unnerving ordeal.

“I hear some screaming, someone yelling something,” Pino told the station. “Something along the lines of, ‘Where’s my wife? I can’t find my wife.’”

Pino added to WOFL that he knew he had to act.

“I timed [it] so that once he lowered [the axe], that’s when I shot the takedown,” Pino told the station. “I got on top of him, and I controlled the situation.”

WOFL reported that one of the car-wash workers — presumably Pino — hit Thayer in the face several times to disorient him.

Thayer was taken into custody, officials told the station, and he was found in possession of drug paraphernalia — a glass pipe believed to be a methamphetamine pipe.

He faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and a drug paraphernalia charge, WOFL said.

Thayer was taken to the Marion County Jail, and bail was set at $65,000, the station reported.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Crime thwarted, Florida, Marion county sheriff’s office, Arrest, Axe, Disarmed, Ocala, Car wash, Self-defense, Fighting back, Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill charge, Tidal wave auto spa, Drug paraphernalia charge, Crime 

The SAVE Act, which would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections, is currently stalled in the Senate. Republicans, led by President Trump and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), are adamant on pushing it through, as it prevents noncitizen voting.

But is the GOP so hyper-fixated on passing it that it’s glossing over an even bigger threat?

According to Blaze Media’s Daniel Horowitz, the answer is yes.

“All you hear going into this new week is ‘the Save Act, the Save Act.’ Do you see what minutia that is when you look at the magnitude of what we’re facing just with Islamic immigration?” he asks.

On this episode of “Conservative Review with Daniel Horowitz,” the no-nonsense conservative analyst breaks down why the SAVE Act is actually a distraction from more pressing immigration issues.

“We basically let in … several million people that believe in at least civilization jihad, don’t like America, cultivate a climate where you have several hundred thousand people that downright support terrorism as a form of fulfilling their jihad,” says Horowitz.

In light of this looming threat, the SAVE Act is “so small potatoes,” he argues, calling it “an idolatrous bill“ that ignores the real problem.

“It’s illegals being counted in the census, noncitizens being counted in the census, bringing in mass waves of people that become citizens and legally vote Democrat. That is a much bigger issue than the actual illegal voting,” Horowitz declares.

“Having Hezbollah, Hamas, Shabab, and Al-Qaeda-supporting Muslims in the millions in this country is a much bigger deal than the freaking SAVE Act,” he continues.

But stricter vetting isn’t the answer, he says.

Citing his interview with former Muslim Danny Burmawi, Horowitz contends that Islam is “not a religion” so much as it’s “a state” with its own “system of governance.”

Unlike in the Middle East, where governments often have to limit or modify strict Islamic practices to keep the state functional and avoid total dysfunction, Muslim immigrants in the West are free to express support for jihad and terrorism.

“We’re trying to run our state, and they’re able to actually implement a full unfettered, unadulterated Islamic state within the confines of our state. And that’s how you have a greater concentration of jihad now in the West than you have even in the East,” says Horowitz.

Instead of focusing on the SAVE Act, he argues that the GOP’s attention should be fixated on “[shutting] off the new flow” of Muslim migrants and denaturalizing and deporting those here legally who support foreign terrorists.

“The Constitution is not a suicide pact,” he declares. “States are going to have to say no to mass migration — illegal and legal.”

To hear more of Horowitz’s in-depth breakdown, watch the full episode above.

​Conservative review, Conservative review with daniel horowitz, Daniel horowitz, Save act, Muslim migration, Jihadists, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Retired Green Beret veteran Joe Kent has resigned from his post as director of the National Counterterrorism Center Tuesday, citing his disapproval of the United States’ strikes in Iran.

Kent said Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the United States and that the U.S. instead became involved in the conflict due to pressure from Israel. Kent also said continuing to serve in the administration would violate his conscience, especially after losing his “beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel.”

‘This echo chamber was used to deceive you.’

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent said in a letter addressed to President Trump. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.”

RELATED: Trump’s hilarious response after intel reportedly tells him Iran’s new supreme leader might be gay

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Kent praised Trump’s foreign policy from his 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns, saying that during those campaigns, Trump understood that wars in the Middle East “were a trap” that cost American lives. He also applauded Trump’s killing of Qasem Soleimani and defeat of ISIS in his first term but says his administration has since been lobbied and persuaded by “high-ranking Israeli officials” who sought out a war with Iran.

“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage war with Iran,” Kent told Trump. “This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory.”

“This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women,” Kent added. “We cannot make this mistake again.”

RELATED: ‘Die in your rage’: Islamist attacks and murder plots are quickly adding up

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Kent signed off with a warning to Trump, urging him to “reverse course” in the war with Iran.

“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for,” Kent said. “The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”

“It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.”

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Joe kent, Israel, Iran, Donald trump, Director of national counterterrorism center, Odni, Tulsi gabbard, Forever war, Israel lobby, Iran war, Politics