Category: blaze media

A former beauty pageant winner, worship pastor, and Christian performer pleaded guilty to committing day care fraud at three businesses in Minnesota.

Jill Mertens, 43, admitted to fraudulently receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program, which was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

‘We had no idea she was committing any fraud. We didn’t have any idea the day care was in any financial hardship.’

In 2016, Mertens registered three day cares she owned: The Tree of Life Academy in Ramsey and the Creative Stars Academy in Kasson and Rochester.

State data showed that the centers received numerous complaints and violations in recent years.

She received about $425,000 from the program to pay for 23 teachers who did not work at the day cares. She also inflated hours for the employees that she did have.

Mertens won Miss North Dakota and competed in the Miss America pageant in 2001. She went on to become a worship pastor and recorded a contemporary/Christian/gospel album that was released in 2011.

KARE-TV spoke to one couple that said they had prepaid for day care services at one of Mertens’ centers and were cheated when she declared bankruptcy and sold off the centers.

“We had no idea she was committing any fraud. We didn’t have any idea the day care was in any financial hardship,” Joe McInerney of Mantorville said. “Hopefully, she has some time to think about what she did and pay back her debts.”

Mertens agreed to pay back the funds she stole in her plea deal and was released on supervised release.

RELATED: Woman pleads guilty to day care fraud — and also ran Feeding Our Future scam and autism center

A KARE reporter noted in the news video that the plea deal included immunity for Mertens from any other federal investigation that may or may not be going on.

Mertens faces about two years in prison, according to the sentencing guidelines.

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​Daycare fraud, Feeding our future, Minnesota, Miss america, Plea deal, Politics 

“Inclusive.” “Representative.” “Transparent.” That is how Maine Democratic Party Chairman Charlie Dingman describes the process for selecting a new Democratic nominee after Graham Platner’s withdrawal last week from the U.S. Senate race.

Those are worthy goals. But can a process truly be fair, representative, and transparent when the voters who participated in the June primary will not directly choose the replacement nominee?

Maine voters deserve to know that their vote counts not only on Election Day, but throughout the electoral process.

Under Maine law, Democrats have until July 27 to select a replacement. Rather than hold another statewide primary, party officials will convene a nominating convention to choose the candidate who appears on the November ballot.

That means 601 delegates from Maine’s 16 counties — not the full primary electorate that selected Platner — will choose the replacement nominee.

Primary elections and nominating conventions serve different purposes. A primary gives every eligible voter an equal voice in choosing a nominee. A convention limits that decision to party delegates acting on behalf of the organization.

Both are recognized under Maine law. But they are fundamentally different processes, and the distinction is vital.

The question is not whether Maine Democrats are acting within the law. The question is whether replacing the primary electorate with a convention best preserves public confidence.

Transparency is important. But transparency alone does not answer the deeper question: Should voters or party delegates choose a replacement nominee after a primary?

The circumstances in Maine are unusual, but the broader issue is not.

Political parties across the country have rules for replacing nominees when unexpected vacancies occur. A replacement is necessary. Parties must follow the law. But they should also ask whether their procedures reflect the will of voters as closely as circumstances allow.

RELATED: The media’s Democratic cover-up is collapsing

Chuwy/Getty Images

Following the law is essential. Preserving confidence in the process is essential too.

This is not the first time Democratic voters have watched party leaders make consequential decisions after ballots had already been cast. In 2024, Democratic delegates, rather than primary voters, selected Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden stepped aside.

Regardless of where one stood on that decision, it raised an enduring question now facing Maine: When circumstances change after a primary, who should choose the replacement nominee?

Election integrity is often discussed in terms of voter ID, ballot security, voter rolls, and timely vote counting. Those safeguards matter because they help ensure elections are conducted securely and accurately.

But election integrity also depends on voters believing their participation shapes the outcome.

When the final decision shifts from the primary electorate to party delegates after voters have already cast ballots, voters are left wondering how much their vote truly counts.

That uncertainty fuels something increasingly common in American politics: cynicism.

A growing number of Americans have adopted a “black-pill” view of politics — the belief that participation is pointless because vital decisions are ultimately made by a small group rather than the broader electorate.

They’re wrong. Voting remains viable.

Yet every time a party shifts a consequential decision from the full primary electorate to a smaller group of delegates after ballots have already been cast, it becomes harder to convince people their participation makes a difference.

RELATED: This is not the ‘red wave’ America needs

Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Maine voters deserve to know that their vote counts not only on Election Day, but throughout the electoral process.

Election integrity is about more than secure ballots and accurate voter rolls. It is about preserving public confidence that voters, not party insiders, ultimately decide who represents them.

Maine’s experience should prompt lawmakers and political parties to examine whether existing nominee replacement procedures preserve voter confidence when nominees withdraw after a primary.

The question in Maine is not simply who the next Democratic nominee will be.

It is whether voters remain at the center of the process after their ballots have been cast.

The strength of an election is measured not only by how votes are counted, but by whether the voters who cast them still have the final word.

​Primary, Democrats, Graham platner, Americans, Democracy, Kamala harris, Elections, Opinion & analysis, Maine 

For years, Americans have treated the Supreme Court like the nation’s principal.

Every cultural dispute eventually finds its way to Washington, where nine unelected justices are expected to settle questions that neighbors, legislators, parents, and communities no longer seem willing — or able — to resolve themselves.

A free people cannot forever outsource self-government to nine justices in Washington. Sooner or later, our democracy requires citizens to do the hard work themselves.

The Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision upholding state laws protecting women’s sports changed more than athletic policy. It reminded America how the Constitution was designed to work.

Much of the public conversation has focused on biological sex and transgender participation in women’s athletics. Those are important questions. But beneath the headlines lies something more significant: The court exercised judicial restraint. Instead of imposing one national standard, it returned much of the debate to the states.

That may prove to be the ruling’s greatest contribution.

Federalism is one of the Constitution’s forgotten masterpieces. The founders never intended America to function as one enormous county governed from Washington. They understood that a nation as large and diverse as ours could remain united because many decisions would be made closer to the people.

California may choose one approach. Texas another. Massachusetts another still.

Citizens remain free to debate, persuade, vote, and, if they wish, relocate to states whose laws better reflect their convictions. That’s the wisdom of our federal constitutional system.

Uniformity has never been America’s highest political virtue. Liberty has.

Federalism has costs. Different states will establish different athletic policies. National competitions may become more complicated. Families moving across state lines may encounter different eligibility rules. Critics are right that legal diversity can create confusion.

But confusion is not democracy’s greatest threat. Centralized power is.

RELATED: Women’s sports finally got a reality check

Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images

Freedom is rarely lost in one dramatic moment. It is surrendered gradually as authority migrates from local communities to distant institutions. The Constitution deliberately resists that impulse because power is safest when it remains close to the people who must live under it.

That principle deserves defending regardless of where one stands on this particular question.

The dissent by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson rested on constitutional and statutory interpretation. Lawyers will debate those arguments for years.

Still, their votes raise an unavoidable question.

Three accomplished women reached a legal conclusion on an issue directly affecting women and girls that many female athletes believe weakens the very protections women’s sports were created to provide.

The issue carries added significance because Justice Jackson’s 2022 confirmation hearing became a defining cultural moment when she declined to define the word “woman,” explaining that she was “not a biologist.” Whether one agreed with her answer or not, the exchange symbolized a culture increasingly uncertain about concepts previous generations regarded as self-evident.

A civilization begins to lose confidence long before it loses arguments.

Women’s sports were never created to diminish men. They were created to protect women.

Biological differences in strength, speed, endurance, bone density, and muscle mass are measurable realities. Separate women’s competitions were established not because women are inferior but because fairness requires meaningful opportunities for women to compete, succeed, and excel.

That principle has served female athletes well for decades.

It also raises an obvious question: Must fairness for transgender athletes require sacrificing fairness for women?

Perhaps America has accepted a false choice.

Athletics already recognizes that fairness sometimes requires separate categories. We separate competitors by age because maturity matters. We separate them by weight because size matters. We celebrate the Paralympics because physical ability matters.

We separate men’s and women’s sports because biology matters.

RELATED: The Supreme Court finally confirmed what I knew all along

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

None of those distinctions is considered discrimination. They are considered fairness.

Rather than forcing one protected group into another’s category, America should consider developing meaningful transgender athletic divisions: state championships, collegiate scholarships, national tournaments, and professional opportunities designed specifically for transgender competitors.

That would expand opportunity without diminishing opportunity.

Surely innovation is better than endless litigation.

The court’s decision did not end America’s debate. The conversation now belongs where representative government intended it to be: in state legislatures, school boards, athletic associations, coaches’ offices, and living rooms across America.

As a Christian, I believe Scripture teaches that humanity is created male and female. I also recognize that many Americans do not share that conviction.

That’s precisely why federalism is vital. It allows citizens with profoundly different worldviews to govern themselves through democratic institutions while remaining united under one Constitution.

That arrangement requires something increasingly rare.

Not outrage. Not hashtags. Not judicial shortcuts. Persuasion.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing separately, argued that biological sex is binary and immutable and warned that denying this reality tells “a lie to the public.” I agree with him.

But whether one agrees with every word or not, his opinion reflects a broader concern: Law cannot remain untethered from objective reality forever. Reality has a stubborn habit of refusing to yield to ideology.

The Supreme Court did not solve America’s cultural divisions. It reminded us whose responsibility they are.

That is the forgotten genius of federalism.

A free people cannot forever outsource self-government to nine justices in Washington. Sooner or later, our democracy requires citizens to do the hard work themselves.

Perhaps the future of women’s sports — and constitutional government itself — depends on whether we still remember how.

​America, Christians, Clarence thomas, Female athletes, Scotus, Scripture, State laws, State legislatures, Supreme court, Trans athletes, Women’s sports, Opinion & analysis 

On Wednesday, July 8, President Donald Trump left Turkey, where he was attending a NATO summit in Ankara with other world leaders to discuss security issues, including the conflict involving Iran. Before the plane departed, reporters who attended the summit were told something odd: Lower your window shades.

When asked about the unusual request, President Trump nonchalantly explained that it was likely due to security reasons.

“You’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags that we have to deal with. … I’m number one on [Iran’s] list,” he remarked casually.

Glenn Beck found this moment deeply significant.

As someone who’s received many credible threats over the years, Glenn believes that Trump’s detached comments indicate he’s “made peace” with the deadly implications of having a giant target on his back.

“He is finding a way that he can compartmentalize this and go on with his life and be out in public,” Glenn speculates.

He notes that Trump took his fancy Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8 to Turkey but returned on the traditional Air Force One, likely because it’s far more heavily armored and equipped with full military-grade protections.

“Turkey shares a border with Iran. Iran has drones and ballistic missiles,” Glenn says, adding that the Qatari plane was sent ahead without Trump on it because “it wasn’t safe bringing [Trump] home past Iran’s front door.”

But Glenn sees this moment as far more than a security footnote. It also reveals how Trump is mentally preparing for the very real possibility that Iran will try to assassinate him and what the deadly difference is between open war and covert murder.

“Now, if Iran killed Trump, if they used a missile and it was executed by the army, it’s not an assassination. … If they bring a guy in out of a uniform and they just have a rocket … and they point it up at the sky and they take [Trump’s plane] out, then it’s murder, it’s terror, and it’s an assassination,” he explains, noting that either scenario would culminate in steep consequences for Iran.

“Four months ago at the beginning of this war, America and Israel killed the top guy, supreme leader, and we called that a strike, an operation, practically a Tuesday,” Glenn continues. “And the president said it out loud that he got Khamenei before Khamenei could get him — same verb pointed both directions.”

“Whose hand is on the trigger” is of paramount importance, he argues, because it determines the difference between “war and murder,” “the soldier and the assassin.”

“[The killing of Khamenei] was done by the uniformed forces of nations in daylight in a war. What Iran has tried to do to Trump was hire a man, cash for killing, arranged in the dark to be carried out by a hired hand who would slip out of the country before the deed was done,” Glenn contrasts. “Not a soldier — an assassin; not a war — murder.”

“The entire point of the laws of war, the thing that separates us from the pit, is that even killing has limits,” he explains. “Who? How? When? In the open or in the dark?”

How we answer these questions determines whether we remain a civilized nation that still believes in rules — even in war — or whether we descend into the kind of lawless chaos our enemies thrive on.

To hear more, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Donald trump, Air force one, Iran 

Christopher Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of “The Odyssey” is already generating plenty of controversy, as conservatives are pointing out that the casting of the film is “woke.”

“Christopher Nolan went from making a more realistic “Batman,” which is something that I really enjoyed, especially the first “Batman,” “Batman Begins,” to now making a movie about Greece starring black people,” Dave Landau tells co-host Stu Burguiere on “Stu and Dave Do America.”

The film stars Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, which both Stu and Dave point out is historically inaccurate for ancient Greece.

“There’s a huge African-American population in ancient Greece,” Stu jokes. “People don’t realize that.”

“I will say, like, historical accuracy is sort of a weird thing. … You go back in the day, maybe some of these people didn’t exist in these civilizations, but this is a fictional story,” he continues. “I mean, you know it’s a myth, right?”

“It is Greek mythology, I understand that, and you want a lot of the people to be Greek, but at the same time, I don’t really care,” Dave says, though he points out there are some choices he doesn’t quite agree with.

“For example, he put in rapper Travis Scott,” he explains.

Nolan also cast “Elliot” Page as Greek soldier Sinon.

“This is part of a long-term process where, you know, Ellen Page is trying to convince us that she’s a he. And, you know, unlike a lot of the people I see walking around that are trans, she’s putting the work in, right?”

In one photo of the cast, Page, who is 5’1″, stood in front of her other cast members in a suit.

“It looks like a suit you would get for a ring bearer,” Dave comments.

“And you’d be like, ‘It’s fine. It’s for one day, and if we keep it, you can grow into it,’” he jokes.

“That’s exactly what it looks like,” Stu laughs. “You know, a couple things I noticed … she looks like a kid that is, you know, trying to wear a suit for the first time around all these adults. And also it’s, like, a huge suit on her.”

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​Batman, Christopher nolan, Dave landau, Ellen page, Elliot page, Greece, Lupita nyongo, Stu burguiere, The odyssey, Trans, Travis scott, Stu and dave do america 

The sitting government in the United Kingdom is looking to implement more control over the internet before it leaves office.

The next general election in the United Kingdom is set for 2029, which leaves Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour Party plenty of time to continue down the road of online dominance.

‘This is the opposite of “British freedoms.”‘

Last year, the U.K. decided it was time to roll out mandatory digital ID, saying it would protect against illegal employment and stop the infiltration of its borders.

This June, a social media ban on children under 16 years old was announced, backed by that implementation of online ID, which would then force users to prove their age or face an invasion of their camera rolls.

As Blaze Media reported, the idea was to “prevent predators” from exploiting victims, with anyone refusing to submit their ID unable to “take, share, or view nude content.”

Now, the push for further government control of the online world seems to be coming out in full force, especially considering culture secretary Lisa Nandy’s green paper on misinformation, reminiscent of 2019.

Nearly seven years ago, YouTube began its open-air boosting and deboosting of content based on “authoritative” sources. This meant that select news companies would have their content always listed at the top of searches, while independent creators would be pushed down or shadow banned entirely.

Instead of using the term “authoritative,” Nandy’s paper cites “trustworthy” news sources nearly 30 times, which would be placed in “prominence” — mentioned almost 60 times — over other sources online, by decree of government.

RELATED: At America 250, Democrats unveil new surveillance state blueprint

Matthew Chattle/Future Publishing/Getty Images

That brings beleaguered subjects to virtual private networks, thought to be the next target for the U.K. government. VPNs allow users to fake their locations, avoiding data detection and restrictions while making their browsing more private.

This may seem like a small issue, but VPNs are integral to online privacy in the U.K., according to many dissidents.

“VPNs are one of the few remaining tools ordinary British citizens have to protect their online privacy from both the state and big tech,” said Lewis Brackpool, director of investigations for right-wing party Restore Britain.

“Banning them would effectively hand the government near-total visibility into what people read, watch, and say online. This is the opposite of ‘British freedoms,'” Brackpool added.

Brackpool is not the only person who shares this view; in a scathing review of the Labour Party’s handling of online content, outlet Spiked reported that 30 people are arrested every day in England and Wales over social media posts deemed to be “grossly offensive.”

That totals more than 10,000 arrests per year.

RELATED: NANNY STATE: UK’s pointless teen social media ban a fitting legacy for hapless, hated Keir Starmer

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Some in the Labour Party have denied that a VPN ban is coming, including Baroness Liz Lloyd, who holds the title parliamentary under-secretary of state for the digital economy.

There is “limited evidence on children’s use of VPNs,” Lloyd said this week, per Birmingham Live. She added that the government has no plan to ban them.

However, the Labour Party still launched a consultation to “confront the full range of risks children face online,” which included the options to limit VPN use if it “undermines safety protections and changing the age of digital consent.”

A VPN ban is not about stopping serious criminals; they will still use encrypted apps and offshore services, Brackpool says.

“It’s more about making it harder for normal people to bypass censorship, access unfiltered news, or organize against government policy.”

Brackpool, who has arguably set the tone in the U.K. in keeping the government accountable for its alleged media propaganda push, said that banning VPNs is another way for the state to say, “We don’t trust you with your own internet. We’ll decide what you can access.”

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​News, United kingdom, Censorship, Vpn, Digital id, Tech 

The United States has a new senator after the sudden and unexpected death of Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator for South Carolina.

Graham’s term will be finished out by his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, who was appointed by Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster.

‘To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words. But I’m going to do this. I got it.’

Nordone accepted the appointment in a news conference Monday with McMaster in Columbia, South Carolina.

“I want to thank the governor for selecting me to serve the remainder of Lindsey’s term,” she said. “It is such an honor. Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.”

Graham’s death was announced early Sunday morning.

“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States,” Nordone continued.

“I know Lindsey thought the world of his staff and colleagues, and with their support, I feel confident. I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way,” she said.

“Now, to Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words. But I’m going to do this. I got it. Thank you.”

Long before his decades-long career in the Senate, Graham lost his mother and father within 15 months in his early 20s. He took on the role of raising and caring for his sister, who was 13 years old at the time. He later became her legal guardian.

“Lindsey assured me that he was going to take care of me, he was going to be there for me,” she said about her brother in 2014. “He never let me down. Never. I don’t see how he did it, to take on the responsibility of raising a little sister.”

A preliminary medical report found that Graham died of an aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

RELATED: Lindsey Graham and Elon Musk feuded over Ukraine and electric car subsidies

Graham had been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump but became an ally of his after he won the presidency.

“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” Trump wrote in a post on social media. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!”

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​Lindsey graham, South carolina, Darline graham nordone, Us senate, Politics 

Longtime GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) broke nearly a month of silence on Sunday, releasing a statement to update the public on his health after spending weeks in the hospital.

McConnell, 84, said he was hospitalized after suffering “a fall” that left him “briefly unconscious.” He dismissed speculation that the incident was caused by a more serious condition, saying, “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages.”

‘A short, unedited video of Senator McConnell speaking directly to the people he represents would answer far more questions than another written statement and a single still photograph.’

“I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” McConnell added.

The press release originally included a photo of the senator in a hospital bed alongside his wife, Elaine Chao. The image was later removed from the statement before being re-uploaded separately to McConnell’s website.

Yet, rather than easing speculation surrounding McConnell’s health, this recent development has only seemed to fuel further uncertainty.

Former Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz shared his own skepticism, writing, “Let’s see you say it. A written statement is far different than saying it on camera.”

In a lengthy X post, Kylie Jane Kremer, former producer for Fox’s Sean Hannity, expressed her frustration with the press release she claims ”still doesn’t answer the fundamental questions about Mitch McConnell’s health.”

“Tax payers have paid McConnell’s salary and healthcare costs for over 49 years! A short, unedited video of Senator McConnell speaking directly to the people he represents would answer far more questions than another written statement and a single still photograph.”

Kremer also addressed Scott Jennings’ unverified claim that he and McConnell “talked for just shy of 20 minutes … about IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history.”

“Yet when those claims have been questioned, no independent evidence of those conversations has been made public,” Kremer said.

RELATED: Mitch McConnell’s replacement might be chosen in court first

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office

On June 14 — the day McConnell was hospitalized — EMS dispatch audio published by an independent journalist suggests medics performed CPR on an “unconscious” individual in “cardiac arrest” at McConnell’s home address. The senator, however, is not mentioned by name in any recordings.

The press release comes just one day after the unexpected passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The cause of death has been attributed to an aortic dissection. Graham was 71 years old.

McConnell’s office did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment regarding the removal and subsequent reposting of the photograph.

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​Politics, Mitch mcconnell 

A federal judge issued a sharp rebuke against the Trump administration over the settlement that was intended to establish the anti-weaponization fund.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said Monday that President Donald Trump had committed self-dealing when he sued the Internal Revenue Service for leaking his tax files and reached a settlement with the agency.

‘The facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy.’

Williams said the case “was brought for an improper purpose — to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ that had no viable basis in law or fact” in her 56-page ruling.

That settlement was reached in May 2026 after the president agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. It set up a $1.776 billion fund that critics said the president would use to benefit and enrich his supporters and political allies.

“In sum, the facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail,” Williams continued.

She accused Trump of “improperly” employing the lawsuit “to justify a particular award in this matter — access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations — which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants.”

Williams similarly excoriated the Department of Justice for “abdicating its responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States” by agreeing to the settlement.

She also pointed to the $1.776 billion figure as evidence that the settlement amount had more to do with branding than it did a “deliberate and thoughtful” account of damages.

A spokesperson for the president’s legal team released a statement about the ruling.

“The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica, and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people,” the statement reads. “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”

RELATED: Clinton judge brazenly gives White House ultimatum over Trump’s anti-weaponization fund

The ruling is likely to worsen the chances of Attorney General Todd Blanche being approved by the U.S. Senate. He is scheduled to appear at the congressional hearing Thursday.

Williams was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

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​Antiweaponization fund, Federal judge, Internal revenue service, Lawsuit, Settlement, Trump administration, Politics 

For many health-conscious Americans, grocery shopping has never been more intimidating. Thanks to the MAHA movement, the curtain has been pulled back on the long list of toxins hiding in most common foods. Many wellness-focused shoppers experience pressure to scrutinize every ingredient label — but without knowing exactly what to look for and avoid, it can be completely overwhelming.

Ashley and Patrick Sullivan, the creators behind the documentary “Breaking Big Food,” keenly understand this frustration. The husband-and-wife duo have spent years exposing the rampant corruption in Big Food, which keeps millions of Americans addicted and sick.

To help struggling shoppers, they created a “Dirty Dozen” cheat sheet for avoiding questionable food additives and ingredients. On a recent episode of “Relatable,” they shared these tips with BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey.

The Sullivans’ “Dirty Dozen” foods to avoid are as follows:

Seed oilsHigh-fructose corn syrupArtificial sweetenersArtificial colorsArtificial flavorsNatural flavorsPreservativesCarrageenanGumsNon-organic coffeeNon-organic cropsNon-organic meats, eggs, and dairy

The cheat sheet explains the reasoning behind each of the ingredients.

“You don’t have to register for anything. You literally just click it, and it’s made for you to keep on your fridge or save it on your phone so that as you are starting to shop down the grocery aisles, you at least have something to reference,” Ashley says.

Many of the ingredients on the list, she explains, are “really disruptive to the gut and the microbiome.”

“I’ve heard a lot of people talk about seed oils and different things, but what would you say is maybe one that doesn’t get enough attention that people need to look out for?” Allie asks.

“I think natural flavors can be tricky,” says Ashley. “Sometimes they can be from naturally derived sources, but specifically if they are used in savory foods, a lot of times it can be code for MSG.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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

​Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Maha 

Another immigrant has been shot and killed during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, according to Maine lawmakers.

The circumstances of the shooting and the legal status of the victim are still being investigated, but the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition has identified him as 26 years old and from Colombia.

‘He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle — and the term the secretary used was “weaponized” the vehicle — and was shot.’

The MIRC also claimed that he had received a Social Security card and was authorized to work in the U.S.

Photos from the scene in Biddeford show a Kia sedan with several bullet holes in the windshield.

“I know that situations like these are alarming and frightening,” said Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat.

One witness said he saw officers with green ICE vests hop out of an unmarked Ford Explorer at about 7:20 a.m. on Monday and surround the white sedan with guns drawn. He heard four gunshots.

Independent Maine Sen. Angus King told reporters he received a briefing from Markwayne Mullin, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, about the shooting. Mullin told him the man had a deportation order issued against him and also had an arrest warrant.

“He was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle — and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle — and was shot by an ICE agent,” King said.

“What I said to the secretary was, ‘We want a full, transparent, and open investigation of this matter,’” King added after noting that the agents did not have body cameras recording during the incident.

A press release from the office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, said of the Biddeford shooting: “Initial statements indicate an Enforcement Removal Operations Officer was conducting an enforcement operation related to a final order of removal when the subject attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.”

Blaze News reached out to the DHS for comment.

RELATED: President of Mexico VOWS to take action over lethal ICE shooting of illegal alien in Houston

Dozens of protesters joined a demonstration at a park after the shooting. Dozens of activists also went to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ office to protest.

“Vote her out!” they chanted.

WMTW-TV news video from the scene shows agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigating the shooting.

“Today, a 26-year-old member of our community is dead following an incident involving ICE,” reads a statement from MIRC Executive Director Mufalo Chitam.

“We are grieving, we are furious, and we will not allow his death to be treated as routine or inevitable,” he added. “How much more harm must our communities endure before those with the power to act acknowledge that this has gone too far?”

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​Ice shooting, Immigration and customs enforcement, Maine, Anti-ice protest, Politics 

For decades, socialists have held up Sweden as a model for the kind of government they want to build in the United States. But according to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, that argument falls apart the moment you look at what actually happened in Sweden.

“During the postwar decades, Sweden dramatically expanded government spending, the taxes, the regulation. By the 1970s and into the 1980s, economic growth slowed way down. Investments weakened; entrepreneurs left,” Glenn says.

“Some of Sweden’s most successful companies and business leaders moved. They just moved out of the country. IKEA relocated ownership to the Netherlands. Tetra Pak moved to Switzerland. Sweden’s relative standing among wealthy nations fell sharply for two decades,” he explains.

Instead of doubling down, Sweden then reversed course.

“Governments from both the left and the right reduced regulations. They reformed the pensions. These are things we’re not doing. They introduced private competition into education. … Today, more than 800 independent schools operate with public funding. Private companies run a substantial share of the Swedish primary health centers,” he says.

“Taxes were restructured. Markets were liberalized. The reforms were not a rejection of the welfare state. They were an acknowledgment that somebody first has to create the wealth to pay for it,” he continues.

“It’s really hard to redistribute prosperity after you’ve regulated prosperity out of existence. And that’s what New York is doing,” he adds.

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Two Kansas parents are accused of leaving their six children — including two infants — in a hot car as temperatures neared triple digits last week; the parents reportedly went inside a Wingstop for up to 30 minutes.

Citing Salina Police, KSAL-AM reported that officers were dispatched to the Wingstop in the 1600 block of South Ohio Street around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday concerning multiple children left in a vehicle in the parking lot for approximately 20 to 30 minutes with no air conditioning and only one window down.

‘A child’s body temperature raises three to five times faster than adults. They just do not have the same regulating capabilities that an adult does.’

KSAL said arriving officers found a vehicle containing two 7-month-old children, a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 13-year-old. The station said the vehicle was not running and had only one window down while the temperature was 97 degrees with a heat index of 102 degrees.

KSAL added that “the parents of the children,” identified as 53-year-old Michael Krueger and 40-year-old Tiffany Krueger, were located inside the business.

Witnesses said the parents had been in the business for approximately 20 to 30 minutes without checking on the children, the station said.

The Salina Police Department confirmed that Michael Krueger and Tiffany Krueger were booked on six counts of aggravated child endangerment, KWCH-TV reported.

Salina EMS responded and evaluated the children, KSAL reported; police also confirmed that all six children were taken into protective custody, KWCH added.

The parents remained behind bars Monday in Saline County Jail.

RELATED: Mother ‘intentionally’ left her toddler in hot car, police say. Now she’s charged with murder.

Chad Scoville of the Salina Fire Department told KWCH that children are more vulnerable to heat than adults.

“A child’s body temperature raises three to five times faster than adults,” Scoville told the station. “They just do not have the same regulating capabilities that an adult does.”

Scoville added to KWCH that temperatures inside vehicles can reach dangerous levels in a short period of time.

“Temperatures can reach deadly levels inside cars within minutes,” Scoville told the station. “Anything can happen at any time, even if you think you’re going to be minutes — that could turn into an hour. We simply do not want to leave … children or pets in unattended vehicles. Period.”

KWCH, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said cracking a car window does not help reduce temperatures inside a vehicle. The station’s video report said a thermometer placed inside a car starting at 83 degrees with the windows rolled up reached 108 degrees in approximately 20 minutes.

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​Kansas, Hot car, Salina, Aggravated child endangerment, Parents, Children left in hot car, Wingstop, Arrests, Crime 

There are threats, and then there are $30 billion threats.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta seems to have the magic wand that could remedy the situation, but the decision is not exactly a case of right and wrong.

‘The proposed transaction will increase output, expand theatrical releases, and enhance competition.’

All my exes live in Texas

The massive $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount has the California AG at a seemingly unforgiving fork in the road: either allow it to go through or face an exodus of capital in the amount of tens of billions.

At the same time, Paramount CEO David Ellison is allegedly being pushed by advisers and confidants to consider moving his company’s business out of California. Semafor reported that this would take around $30 billion in planned spending out of state if AG Bonta stops the long-battled merger with his new lawsuit.

If the deal were to go through, Paramount would keep both companies’ lots in California, but if it doesn’t, there are a few distinct possibilities.

The first and most popular choice for companies in recent years has been Texas, where both Oracle and Tesla moved in 2020 and 2021. Oracle then went to Tennessee in 2024, which also offers a lower corporate tax rate than California, but neither of these locations is where Paramount bought new office space.

RELATED: California doles out over $100M in taxpayer money to massive film studios

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Strictly business

Last year, Paramount picked up 285,000 square feet of studio space in Bayonne, New Jersey, another option should things fall apart in the Golden State. However, New Jersey joined California’s lawsuit to block the merger, so it remains unclear if the state would still welcome Paramount if it dropped anchor on New Jersey’s shores.

Paramount has defended its intentions by saying the merger is not just good for business, it’s good for the business.

“This merger will create a company capable of investing more aggressively in premium content, theatrical releases, and creative talent at a time when those investments matter more than ever,” Paramount said in a press release provided to Blaze News.

Over the course of several letters, Paramount argued to the California AG that Netflix, Amazon, and Disney have control over the subscription streaming service world, and neither Warner Bros. nor Paramount would be able to “catch up” with the companies without doing “something transformative.”

Paramount added, “The proposed transaction will increase output, expand theatrical releases, and enhance competition with scaled streaming platforms, all of which depend on sustained and growing demand for creative talent.”

Needless to say, Bonta did not agree with these calculations and offered an opposing viewpoint.

RELATED: Hollywood’s Bleeding

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Not a fan

In his lawsuit, AG Bonta said the merger could inflict “substantial harm on movie theaters, basic cable distributors and, ultimately, audiences nationwide.”

The merger threatens viewers with higher prices, the AG claimed, while reducing the “variety, quality, and amount of content distributed.”

The following states joined California in its lawsuit: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

Paramount representatives did not address questions about the potential of leaving California.

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The bullet is said to have missed his head by “less than a quarter of an inch.” That is the whole of it, really — history, for a moment, decided by margin rather than by meaning.

On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania: a rally, a rifle, eight shots. Trump came up off the stage with blood on his ear, fist in the air, shouting, “Fight, fight, fight.” The photograph — flag flying behind him, crowd frozen mid-scream — held the one second death didn’t win, long enough to mean something before anyone decided what.

‘We have thrived and flourished because our founders were great, our cause was just, our people are brave, our culture is exceptional, and our destiny is written by God.’

Trump ducked first, then Secret Service agents covered him. Some feared he had been killed until he rose, fist raised, and was moved toward the waiting SUV. He was treated at the scene, then at Butler Memorial Hospital, before flying home to New Jersey that night.

The rally grounds sat empty for hours, the gunman’s body still on the rooftop, where snipers had killed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks within 15 seconds.

Corey Comperatore, 50, a former volunteer fire chief, dove on top of his family when the shooting started. He did not get a photograph — just a flag-draped casket. Two others were wounded but survived: David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.

RELATED: Democrats still in denial about assassination attempts against Trump, new poll shows

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Just shy of two years after Butler, Trump stood on the National Mall as the 47th president, watching fireworks over a country marking its 250th year.

He spoke past midnight into the wet dark, working through two and a half centuries of American history before declaring, “At 250 years old, we may be the oldest constitutional republic on earth, but our country is just getting started because the best is yet to come. This is only the dawn of the golden age of America.”

Not everyone reads the ledger the same way. By June, Trump’s approval rating had fallen to 36% in the Marist poll, the lowest of his second term, with just a third of Americans approving of his handling of the economy. Despite the low poll ratings, the second Trump term has featured promise after promise kept.

RELATED: From ‘one guy, one gun’ to foreign plots: Glenn Beck exposes the terrifying evolution of assassination attempts against Trump

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Over the same stretch, southwest border apprehensions hit their lowest level since 1970 — a central pledge kept. “No tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” became law. A raid under 30 minutes hauled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, blindfolded in a grey tracksuit, onto a plane bound for the U.S. to face narco-terrorism charges. Pricing deals with drugmakers cut the list price of several medications, and tariffs pushed companies to pledge new American factories, even after the Supreme Court struck down the authority he used to impose them.

Trump won that November on exactly that defiance and has governed since like a man still living out the title of his own book, “The Art of the Comeback” — written almost 30 years before anyone could have imagined what the ultimate comeback would actually look like.

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One passenger had a terrifying ordeal when his window broke soon after takeoff and he was partially sucked to the outside of the plane.

On Friday morning, the unidentified man was traveling from Thessaloniki in Greece to Memmingen in Germany on a budget Ryanair flight before the harrowing incident. The flight was directed to turn back to Thessaloniki and reportedly landed safely.

‘The injured man was bleeding and initially fainted.’

The man was sucked out of the window head-first up to his shoulders, according to public broadcaster ERT in Greece.

Other passengers rushed to hold him down and prevent him from being sucked out even more.

He was treated for shock and other injuries, while the rest of the passengers were transferred to another flight, according to Ryanair.

One witness described the incident.

“We were sitting a bit further back from where it happened; all we heard was a loud noise, and then the oxygen masks dropped,” the witness said. “The injured man was bleeding and initially fainted.”

According to the doctor who treated the man, he was 61 years old, and his wife had to hold on to his feet to keep him in the plane.

A Greek flight official told ABC News that the Ryanair Boeing 737 suffered an engine failure that led to parts hitting the fuselage and damaging the window.

“Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff when a passenger window dislodged inflight,” read a statement from Ryanair. “The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal.”

The statement continued: “One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki.”

Video from the aftermath of the incident showed the oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling and the broken window.

RELATED: VIDEO: Woman twerks during arrest after she and 2 others allegedly stormed flight over baggage fee

The aircraft was delivered by Boeing in 2008.

The Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority is investigating the incident.

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A sitting United States congressman reported an unexpected altercation during his visit to Israel last week. While supporters call for accountability, others have insisted that the altercation was nothing more than a big misunderstanding.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) made a post on Saturday detailing an alleged detention by Israeli settlers and Israel Defense Forces.

‘It’s too much, too insulting and humiliating to America. This is how revolutions start.’

The video and photo in Rep. Khanna’s initial post show multiple vehicles in the road with a few men standing outside one of the trucks. The vehicles appear to be blocking the road from the perspective of a camera in a vehicle facing the scene.

Two of the men are apparently holding firearms. One of them appears to be wearing full military garb.

“Israeli settlers, brandishing American made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine. When the IDF arrived, they sided with the settlers & continued our detention,” Khanna said in the caption of the post.

“They made a huge mistake. You will be hearing more soon,” he added, linking a New York Times article at the end of the post.

RELATED: California Democrat calls for ICE to be abolished after Homan announces ‘record’ illegal alien arrests

Alex Wong/Getty Images

The initial post has since garnered 10 million views on X.

The New York Times added some context behind Khanna’s three-day trip. On Wednesday, the Democratic congressman was visiting the abandoned Palestinian Bedouin village of Khirbet Zanuta in the southern West Bank.

According to the report, “a car of men holding guns pulled up and blocked the narrow road out of the village.” The men allegedly began harassing and taunting Khanna and his team. Eventually, members of the Israeli military showed up, yet instead of dispersing the settlers, they began blocking the road as well.

While Khanna was eventually allowed to continue his journey, he reflected on the fear that this incident inspired in him: “I felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life. Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes.”

The Israeli military confirmed that troops were sent to the scene after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near the Palestinian village, according to a statement by the Israeli military to Reuters.

“Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military told Reuters.

On Monday morning, the congressman reposted bodycam footage capturing what Khanna described as an “unprecedented, illegal detention of Americans by a foreign country.”

The video, posted by Nadav Wieman, executive director of Breaking the Silence, shows the point of view of a man walking up to several men in one car and speaking with them briefly before returning to a van. However, the man does not refer to Khanna by name, nor does Khanna appear at any point in the video.

Of the video, Wieman wrote: “The IDF is lying about the detention of Rep. Khanna. I was on the ground with him that day, and my body camera captured us being detained by both settlers and Israeli soldiers. The IDF did not disperse the violent settlers, as they claim. They explicitly sided with them.”

However, others, including Ambassadors Mike Huckabee and Michael Leiter, have insisted that there is “more to this story,” as Huckabee put it.

In a “Face the Nation” interview, Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, explained that the congressman did not follow the proper protocol, leading to confusion: “There was not an alert. There was a question about visas, that’s all.”

“When we requested he coordinate the trip with us, he rejected that by basically staying silent. So, that’s unfortunate. This whole incident is unfortunate,” he added.

Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, has acknowledged the incident in two separate posts, though both posts merely highlighted others’ reporting on the incident, a fact which one of Huckabee’s high-profile opponents attacked.

Additionally, Huckabee’s two posts acknowledging the incident came several hours after Tucker Carlson’s attack on his response:

An Amercian [sic] member of congress is threatened by foreign terrorists carrying American rifles, backed by a foreign military paid for by American taxpayers, and the US ambassador to that country says not a word in defense of his own countryman, and instead uses his social media accounts to promote his own vapid cable news appearances, which amount to propaganda for that same foreign country. It’s too much, too insulting and humiliating to America. This is how revolutions start. For the sake our nation, Mike Huckabee should be removed from his post immediately.

Blaze News contacted the Jerusalem Embassy’s press office in an attempt to receive a comment from Huckabee but did not immediately receive a response.

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​Jerusalem embassy, Mike huckabee, New york times, Ro khanna, Tucker carlson, Politics, Israel, Idf 

California Assembly members recently peered into the garage of a suburban hobbyist and experienced a collective panic attack. Their legislative response, Assembly Bill 2047, presents itself as a targeted strike against the DIY firearm industry. This classification completely misrepresents the mechanics of the law. The actual mechanism establishes a permanent legal framework in which consumer hardware operates as an automated, inescapable agent of the state.

The statute mandates that every 3D printer sold in California must run mandatory screening software. This system intercepts every digital file, compares the geometric coordinates against a government-maintained database of banned shapes, and shuts down the machine if it detects a forbidden curve. Property law historically recognized a distinct boundary between an object and its purchaser. Under this new system, the state retains ultimate operational veto power over the physical components sitting on your workshop desk, rendering your financial investment and your purchase receipt completely meaningless.

A permanent digital warden in the consumer’s living room.

In 1872, the Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company did not include a microscopic state inspector inside the frame of every Single Action Army revolver to ensure the user aimed at a legal target. The legal system punished the homicide after the body was found. Tools were inert objects of wood and iron. If a blacksmith forged a crowbar in 1890, the state did not mandate that the anvil refuse to shape metals exceeding a certain thickness to prevent bank robberies. A.B. 2047 reverses this dynamic by installing a permanent digital warden in the consumer’s living room.

This structural pivot transforms the machine into the primary enforcer of public policy. The logic governing this bill mirrors the expansion of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Originally designed to flag massive international drug cartel transactions, those exact same reporting mechanisms now force local credit unions to report every individual citizen who withdraws $10,000 of their own cash to buy a used truck. The surveillance footprint expands because the code is already written, and bureaucratic infrastructure loathes a vacuum.

If only outlaws have printed guns

The state’s reliance on automated geometry recognition assumes an intelligence that software does not possess. A hollow cylinder with threading on one end is the exact geometric blueprint for an automotive oil filter, a high-school physics lab weight, a specialized irrigation nozzle, or a firearm suppressor. Algorithms cannot parse human intent. The software views the universe entirely as vectors and vertex points, meaning an industrial designer prototyping a new prosthetic limb component faces an automatic shutdown because his custom structural bracket shares a three-millimeter curve tolerance with a specific rifle receiver.

The actual architects of illicit manufacturing remain entirely unaffected by these computational barriers. A criminal operating a black-market workshop possesses the basic technical literacy required to flash an open-source firmware update, bypass the factory software entirely, or source an unrestricted machine from a vendor across the Nevada border. The state creates an elaborate system of restrictions that binds only the compliant hobbyist who registers his machine, buys legitimate materials, and pays his taxes on time.

RELATED: At America 250, Democrats unveil new surveillance state blueprint

ismagilov/Getty Images

The relationship between user and object now resembles a feudal tenancy arrangement rather than true possession. You provide the electricity, you allocate the physical square footage in your home, and you purchase the plastic filament. The state determines whether the machine executes your command.

This aligns with the broader degradation of product ownership seen across the tech sector, such as the 2022 incident in which John Deere restricted farmers from repairing their own tractor transmissions without a proprietary digital key held exclusively by corporate headquarters. A $99,000,000 class-action settlement in April of this year forced the manufacturer to temporarily lease diagnostic software back to owners for a fixed 10-year window, leaving the underlying structure of corporate hardware control completely unbothered. A.B. 2047 takes this this loss of consumer control and weaponizes it into a statutory requirement.

Join and die?

Silicon Valley spent decades convincing the public that connectivity equaled liberation. A.B. 2047 codifies the reality that connectivity equals a centralized kill switch. Once the population accepts the premise that a manufacturing tool must seek state clearance before melting a line of plastic, the database of forbidden shapes will expand during every subsequent legislative session. The next amendment will target unlicensed medical devices, then copyrighted mechanical designs, and eventually any component that challenges a state-sanctioned corporate monopoly or a protected government contract.

Totalitarian control rarely arrives via a single, dramatic military coup. It embeds itself through highly rationalized, safety-oriented firmware updates pushed to your device at three in the morning while you sleep. By the time the consumer realizes the machine on his desk is no longer his property, the software has already logged the technological infraction and immediately notified the authorities.

​Tech 

President Trump said Monday he has a pick in mind to fill the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat — and it’s not a rising Republican star or a familiar name from Congress.

Trump wants South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to appoint the late senator’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone. Graham became the legal guardian of Nordone in his early 20s after their parents died within months of each other, and the two remained close for the rest of his life.

‘This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!’

Graham died Saturday night at 71, likely of an aortic dissection, the medical examiner said, following what his office initially described as a “brief and sudden illness.” His death prompted a scramble among Republicans for the seat.

Trump posted on Truth Social, “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!”

Under state law, McMaster has sole authority to name an interim replacement, and that appointee would likely have a leg up in the special primary on Aug. 11 to fill Graham’s spot on the November ballot, if he or she decides to run.

RELATED: Lindsey Graham dead at 71

LOGAN CYRUS/AFP/Getty Images

However, Nordone is unlikely to seek the seat herself. So if McMaster selects her, the special primary would be locked in as the real contest for the nomination while still keeping the seat in Republican hands until the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.

McMaster’s office has not committed to a pick, saying only that its focus “at this time” is on honoring Graham’s life and service. McMaster is expected to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. ET Monday, where he may address the vacancy directly.

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In a recent article, the New York Times set out to decode the supposed political meaning behind conservative political figures’ maternity wardrobes, but it really just exposed how desperate the media has become to smear them.

“Vanessa Friedman, the author, claims ‘these pregnancies symbolically reinforce the administration’s emphasis on the pronatalist movement, pushing family, motherhood, and higher birth rates,’” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey reads from the article on “Relatable.”

“Actually, the truth is that the Trump administration and MAGA in general is young. Like it is a younger movement. I’m not saying all of the youth is MAGA. Obviously, the youth is still predominantly Gen Z, but you got a lot of young people. I love it,” she continues.

“But we’re all kind of like the same generation, in the same stage of life, having kids. That’s cool. Not that I’m someone who needs representation,” she adds.

In the article, the author writes, “If the bare-chested, muscled, mixed martial arts fighters at the UFC match that President Trump hosted on Flag Day were the poster guys for the MAGA’s image of masculinity, then the pregnant women of Trump world are one half of their feminine counterparts.”

“They offer an image of idealized womanhood that gives literal shape to the pronatalist movement,” she added.

The author used old photos of pregnant Jackie Kennedy and British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie, to illustrate her point: that women used to hide their pregnant bellies, and now they show them off, like Usha Vance.

“Now, she tries really hard to go deeply into this to say that this has to do with promoting fertility rates, which may be so, but this is also a change in style. She is trying to contrast style in the 1960s, in 2000, to today,” Stuckey explains.

“I think a lot of women have found that actually accentuating the bump or being able to show that is more flattering than wearing things, especially when you get bigger, that look like a tent,” she continues.

Usha Vance responded to the article on X, writing, “Now that we know the political significance of my $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy, can’t wait to hear what the New York Times has to say about my elastic-waistband pants and compression socks!”

“She’s just trying to make the point again, it’s not that deep. I bought a dress that was super affordable and that I could fit and that’s all. It’s not some marketing scheme to promote fertility,” Stuckey adds.

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​Allie beth stuckey, Donald trump, Jackie kennedy, Jd vance, The new york times, Usha vance, Pregnant women, Maternity fashion, Relatable with allie beth stuckey