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A female accused of tossing a cup of hot coffee on the manager of a Michigan McDonald’s earlier this month finally gave herself up and appeared before a judge.

Casharra T. Brown, 48, of Saginaw surrendered to police last Friday on an outstanding warrant authorities had issued for her nine days earlier, MLive.com reported.

‘F**k you, b***h! Catch that hot-a** coffee!’

That same Friday, Brown appeared before Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall Jurrens for arraignment on one count of assault and battery, the outlet noted.

The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine, MLive reported. The outlet previously reported that police submitted paperwork to the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office requesting a felonious assault charge against the suspect.

Jurrens freed Brown on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, the outlet said; one bond condition is that she’s barred from entering McDonald’s restaurants.

On the morning of Nov. 4 at the McDonald’s at 3700 Dixie Highway in Buena Vista Township, Brown wanted a refund for two sandwiches after placing an online order, Buena Vista Township Police Detective Russ Pahssen told MLive.

The outlet said the McDonald’s manager gave Brown a coffee and tried to de-escalate the situation while Brown claimed she had been there for more than an hour. The interaction reached an impasse, MLive said, and the manager told Brown to have a great day as she turned and walked away from the counter.

The female customer removed the lid from the coffee cup, threw the contents at the manager, and yelled, “F**k you, b***h! Catch that hot-a** coffee!” as she exited the restaurant, according to video of the encounter without redacted audio. The manager can be heard screaming after the hot coffee struck her body.

The following video report aired before Brown surrendered to authorities.

RELATED: Woman allegedly tossed coffee at mom and her infant over dog leash dispute — and is now facing deportation

Pahssen shared video of the assault on Facebook to gain the public’s help in identifying the assailant, MLive said, adding that the detective said Brown was identified as the culprit within minutes.

While Pahssen at the time told MLive that the manager suffered minor burns, the outlet said Pahssen later indicated that the McDonald’s manager was wearing enough layers to prevent her skin from being burned.

MLive said it contacted defense attorney Paul M. Purcell about the case, but he declined to comment.

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​Mcdonald’s, Michigan, Buena vista township, Hot coffee, Arraignment, Misdemeanor, Assault and battery charge, Freed, Viral video, Crime 

Did Donald Trump secretly plan this fight over the Jeffrey Epstein files to lure Democrats into another political trap? No. I don’t believe he did. I know people close to the president who were frustrated over the summer when he abruptly shifted from promising the files’ release to calling it a “distraction” and a “hoax.” I said at the time on my show that the switch was the first major misstep of Trump 2.0.

But I understand why the 4D-chess theory is so tempting now. It looks like a setup. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) spent months attacking Trump over Epstein. Then we learned that Jeffries may have accepted donor requests from Epstein after Epstein’s first sex-offense conviction. And a Democrat from the Virgin Islands — Epstein’s district — was literally taking dictation from Epstein on what questions to ask in a congressional hearing.

The 2026 midterms are coming fast. If the GOP wants to avoid another preventable disaster, it had better stop rehearsing the same script.

Those are facts, not theories.

The deeper truth, though, has nothing to do with strategy. American politics follows two patterns, and both showed up again this week.

First, Republicans pre-emptively surrender. Always.

Watch Democrats tell soldiers to ignore orders while Trump follows every instruction a federal judge hands him. His restraint isn’t Romney-level, but the Republicans around him shrink the space for any real fight. That’s why Attorney General Pam Bondi is developing a well-deserved reputation for overpromising and under-delivering.

RELATED: The right message: Justice. The wrong messenger: Pam Bondi.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Second, Democrats always overreach when Republicans fold.

We saw it in 2018 when Republicans gave up on repealing Obamacare and lost 40 House seats for their cowardice. The pattern continued in 2020, as Democrats pushed their false god evangelism into insane absolutism — on “fortifying” elections, on arresting Trump, on forcing people into taking the poisonous jab, on transitioning kids. It was mark of the beast stuff, and voters wanted no part of it.

The latest example came this week, when Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) answered a question from a friendly reporter about why Democrats never pursued the Epstein files when they had the chance by snapping, “What is [Trump] hiding?” The Senate had just voted almost unanimously to release those files, and instead of revealing Trump, former Bill Clinton hack Lawrence Summers stood exposed for his ties to the sex offender, seeking his counsel as “wingman” in an effort to seduce the daughter of a high Chinese Communist Party official.

RELATED: ‘Swamp protects itself’: Republicans shield Epstein-texting Democrat — allegedly to save Cory Mills’ hide

Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Both parties cling to their worst instincts. Republicans surrender too easily. Democrats push too far. And no politician in modern history has been buoyed more by his opponents’ excesses than Donald Trump.

So once again, Republicans hold the advantage on the Epstein files — at least for the moment. But early signs suggest they may squander it. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Pam Bondi appear ready to narrow or redact the release into something the base will see as betrayal. If that happens, Democrats won’t need to win the argument. Republicans will beat themselves.

The 2026 midterms are coming fast. If the GOP wants to avoid another preventable disaster, it had better stop rehearsing the same script.

A little discipline — and a little courage — would go a long way.

​Opinion & analysis, Jeffrey epstein, Epstein files, Congress, Republicans, Democrats, 2026 midterms, Donald trump, Pam bondi, Chuck schumer, Hakeem jeffries, Stacey plaskett, Lawrence summers, Mike johnson, Courage, Justice department, Transparency 

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

RELATED: Antifa burns, the media spin, and truth takes the hits

Photo by Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

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​Aipac, Israel, Foreign aid, Truth seeking, Debate, Opinion & analysis, American israel public affairs committee, Truth, Good faith, Bad faith 

Boo-hoo, Lucy Liu.

The veteran actress is in the awards season mix for “Rosemead,” the tale of an immigrant grappling with a troubled teenage son. That means she’s working the press circuit, talking to as many media outlets as she can to promote a possible Best Actress nomination.

No more peeks at Erivo’s extended, Freddy Krueger-like nails or Grande waving away a helicopter overhead as if it were about to swoop down on them.

If you think political campaigns are cynical, you haven’t seen an actor push for a golden statuette. That may explain why Liu shared her victimhood story with the Hollywood Reporter.

Turns out the chronically employed star (123 acting credits, according to IMDB.com) hasn’t been employed enough, by her standards.

I remember being like, “Why isn’t there more happening?” … I didn’t want to participate in anything where I felt like they weren’t even taking me seriously. How am I being given these offers that are less than when I started in this business? It was a sign of disrespect to me, and I didn’t really want that. I didn’t want to acquiesce to that … I cannot turn myself into somebody who looks Caucasian, but if I could, I would’ve had so many more opportunities.

Liu has had the kind of career most actors would kill to duplicate. That doesn’t play on the identity politics guilt of her peers though. Nor is it fodder for a “woe is me” awards speech …

Rest for the ‘Wicked’

That’s a wrap!

The “Wicked: For Good” press push got the heave-ho earlier this week when star Cynthia Erivo reportedly lost her voice. Co-star Ariana Grande pulled out of her appearances in solidarity.

Yup. Not remotely suspicious.

The duo made way too many headlines last year during their initial “Wicked” press tour. Why? It was just … weird. Odd. Creepy. The stars’ emaciated appearance didn’t help, but their kooky, collective affect was off-putting, to be kind.

Even the Free Press called out the duo’s sadly emaciated state.

They trotted out more of the same for round two, and someone had the good sense to yank them off the stage before the bulletproof sequel hit theaters Nov. 21.

No more peeks at Erivo’s extended, Freddy Krueger-like nails or Grande waving away a helicopter overhead as if it were about to swoop down on them.

Any publicity is good publicity, right? Not when it’s wickedly cringe …

RELATED: ‘Last Days’ brings empathy to doomed Sentinel Island missionary’s story

Vertical

Face for radio

John Oliver thinks it’s 1985.

HBO’s far-left lip flapper is furious that the Trump administration stripped NPR of its federal funding. Who will ignore senile presidents and laptop scandals without our hard-earned dollars?

Think of the children!

Never mind that Americans have endless ways to access news, from AM radio to TV, satellite, cable, and streaming options. Heck, just pick up a $20 set of rabbit ears, and you’ll get a crush of local TV stations in many swathes of the country.

You have to live in a bunker a hundred feet below the earth to avoid the news.

Oliver, to his credit, put his money where his mouth is. Or at least, your money. He set up a public auction to raise cash for NPR stations.

Why? Because we’re all going to croak without it. That’s assuming you didn’t die following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the lack of net neutrality.

“Public radio saves lives. The emergency broadcast system. Without it, people would die.”

A second-rate satirist might have a field day with anyone pushing the “you’ll die without X, Y, or Z” card. Alas Oliver doesn’t warrant that ranking …

‘Running’ on empty

Rising star status ain’t what it used to be.

Glen Powell seemed like the next Tom Cruise for a hot minute. Handsome. Affable. Unwilling to insult half the country. He stole a few moments during “Top Gun: Maverick” and powered a mediocre rom-com — 2023’s “Anyone but You” — into a $220 million global hit.

So when Hollywood handed him the keys to the “Running Man” remake, the industry assumed he had finally arrived. Give him his “I’m on the A-List” smoking jacket.

That’s until the remake’s opening weekend numbers came in. Or rather trickled in. That $16 million-plus haul just won’t cut it.

Now Powell’s next film is under the microscope. The project dubbed “Huntington” just got a last-minute name change to “How to Make a Killing.” The film follows Powell’s character as he tries to ensure he’ll inherit millions from his uber-wealthy family. That’s despite getting cast out of the clan’s good graces.

The movie now has a Feb. 20 release date, hardly a key window for an A-lister like Powell.

Then again, his time on the A-list may have already expired.

​Hollywood, Entertainment, Lucy liu, Culture, Wicked, Ariana grande, John oliver, Donald trump, Toto recall 

During the final hours of the shutdown fight earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) slipped a toxic provision into the continuing resolution that reopened the government. The clause created a special pathway for select senators to sue the federal government, bypass its usual legal defenses, and claim large payouts if their records were subpoenaed during the Arctic Frost investigation.

The result? About eight senators could demand $500,000 for every “instance” of seized data. Those instances could stack, pushing potential payouts into the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. That is not an exaggeration. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has all but celebrated the prospect.

Graham said he wanted ‘tens of millions of dollars’ for seized records while victims of weaponization still face shattered lives.

No one else would qualify for compensation. Only senators. Anyone who spent years helping victims of political weaponization — often pro bono, while prestige law firms chased billable hours — can see the corruption in plain view. The message this provision sends on the central Trump-era promise of accountability could not be weaker: screw the people, pay the pols.

The surveillance of senators was wrong. It should never have happened. But senators did not face what ordinary Americans endured. Senators maintain large campaign accounts to hire top lawyers. They operate out of official offices, armed with constitutional protections such as the Speech and Debate Clause. They do not lose their homes, jobs, savings, or businesses. Thousands of Americans did. Many still face legal bills, ruined livelihoods, and ongoing cases. They deserve restitution — not the politicians who failed them.

Graham helped push this provision forward. As public criticism grew, he defended it. On Sean Hannity’s show the other day, he said: “My phone records were seized. I’m not going to put up with this crap. I’m going to sue.” Hannity asked how much. Graham replied: “Tens of millions of dollars.”

Democrats will replay that clip across every battleground in the country going into an uphill midterm battle in 2026.

Graham embodies the worst messenger for this fight. He helped fuel weaponization long before he claimed victimhood. He urged the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to pass the Steele dossier to the FBI. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he did nothing to slow the Justice Department and FBI as they pursued political targets. He even supported many of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees who later embraced aggressive lawfare tactics. If anyone owed restitution to victims, Graham sits high on the list.

RELATED: Trump’s pardons expose the left’s vast lawfare machine

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Fortunately, enough Republicans recognize the political and moral disaster of funneling taxpayer funds to senators while real victims remain abandoned. The House advanced a measure today to repeal the provision. Led by Reps. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas), the House forced the Senate to address in public what it attempted to smuggle through in private.

Thune defended the measure in comments to Axios. He argued that only senators suffered statutory violations and said the provision was crafted to avoid covering House members. He did not explain why any House member who was illegally surveilled should receive no remedy.

The Senate leader also claimed the financial penalty would deter a future Justice Department from targeting lawmakers, citing the actions of special counsel Jack Smith. His emphasis on “future” misconduct glossed over a critical fact: The provision is retroactive and would cover past abuses.

That defense cannot survive daylight. Repeal requires 60 Senate votes, and not a single Democrat will fight to preserve a payout for Graham. Republicans should not try either. Efforts to strike the measure need to begin immediately. Senators — especially Thune — should commit to an up-or-down vote. If they want to send tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to Graham, they should do it in public, with the country watching.

Washington already reeks of grift and self-dealing this year. If senators protect this provision, that smell will spread nationwide.

​Opinion & analysis, Senate, Republicans, Lawfare, John thune, Lindsey graham, Sean hannity, Mike johnson, Special treatment, Weaponization, John mccain, Justice department, Russian collusion, Senate judiciary committee, Fairness, Austin scott, Chip roy, Public vote, Restitution, Payouts, Lawsuits, Populism 

On Monday afternoon, a pregnant mother was walking her 9-year-old son home from his Chicago school when a group of kids started chasing after the mother and son, calling them names and taunting them.

In video footage of the attack, the children were beating the mother and her son against a fence outside the school and dragging them to the ground before the pair were taken to the hospital.

“It’s a very sad story. Anytime you see a mother trying to protect her child and then being totally beaten by a group of children, that is one of the most unfortunate things that you could witness,” Pastor Corey Brooks tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on “Fearless.”

However, Brooks noticed something interesting when he looked at all the news footage surrounding the incident.

“One of the things that I’ve noticed as I looked through a bunch of video footage and I’ve looked at a lot of interviews is that there’s only one father that I’ve seen that’s been present, and that’s the father who was standing behind the sister that was beaten,” Brooks explains.

“I know that father because they’re members of my church. I know the young boy that was beaten because they’re in our after-school program. His grandmother is also a part of our church. So, I’m very familiar with that family,” he continues.

“But one of the sad things about it is that none of these other fathers of these children who beat this woman have spoken out or said anything. I’ve seen interviews with the mothers, with some of their children, but no fathers,” he adds.

And this is not just an issue in Chicago, but black families everywhere.

“I think that is a major problem that we’re faced with in our community, the lack of presence of fathers,” he says. “And anytime you get to a point to where the kids can get it, it’s a sad day.”

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.

​Upload, Free, Camera phone, Video phone, Sharing, Video, Youtube.com, Fearless with jason whitlock, Fearless, Jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze original, Blaze originals, Chicago, Black community, Pregnant mom attacked, Fatherlessness epidemic, Pastor corey brooks 

A Florida woman who was apparently angry over a dog being walked without a leash reacted outlandishly and may be deported after police investigated the incident.

The altercation unfolded on Friday morning when Nina Jaaskelainen confronted a mother outside of a home on Quail Nest Lane in Volusia County according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Video of the altercation was posted to social media.

Jaaskelainen even mocked and ridiculed the mom as she recorded.

Kelly Brisell told WESH-TV that she was walking with her 11-month-old son, Owen, and her dog named Ponce.

“She started screaming at us,” Brisell recalled. “I ignored her. She kept saying it, and I said, ‘I don’t have a leash,’ and kept walking. Then she looked at Ponce, walked up, and threw her coffee on him.”

At one point, Jaaskelainen warned that her own dog had previously killed another dog.

She then tossed cold coffee on them, according to the police.

“It was all over my clothes and all over him,” Brisell added. “It was over his eyes, nose, and temple. Thank God the coffee wasn’t hot.”

Jaaskelainen even mocked and ridiculed the mom as she recorded.

“You just threw coffee on my child!” Brisell yelled on the video.

“Good!” Jaaskelainen replied.

The woman was charged with two counts of battery, but investigators eventually determined that she was also in the country illegally. Jaaskelainen, who had no prior criminal history, is being held on an ICE detainer and is facing deportation.

RELATED: Democrat fires staffer accused of posing as immigration attorney at ICE facility

The woman is originally from Finland.

“Had she not done that, we would have all went about our day. It could have been an exchange of words, and I would have left and probably never saw her again,” Brisell added. “The way she escalated it changed everything.”

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​Deportation, Illegal alien from finland, Coffee tosser deported, Nina jaaskelainen, Politics 

Wouldn’t it be a bitter irony if Republicans lost the midterms — maybe even in conservative red states — because Democrats outmaneuvered them on the dangers of the AI data-center boom? The left now warns voters about land seizures, rising electric bills, water shortages, and Big Tech’s unchecked power. Meanwhile, Republicans stay quiet as Trump himself champions the very agenda voters increasingly fear.

During the Biden years, Republicans attacked Big Tech censorship, digital surveillance, Agenda 2030 land-grabs, and the artificial online culture reshaping young Americans. Every one of those concerns now intersects with the data-center explosion — energy demands, land use, power monopolies, and the rise of generative AI — but the political right barely whispers about it.

Republicans can channel AI toward focused, beneficial uses and away from a dystopian model that erodes civic life. Voters already want that shift.

Democrats don’t make that mistake. They see a potent electoral weapon.

Georgia hadn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 2006. Yet Democrat Peter Hubbard defeated a Republican incumbent on the Public Service Commission by 26 points by hammering “sweetheart deals” GOP officials granted hyperscale data centers. Voters in the state face repeated rate hikes linked to the massive energy demands of Big Tech facilities.

“The number-one issue was affordability,” Hubbard told Wired. “But a very close second was data centers and the concern around them just sucking up the water, the electricity, the land — and not really paying any taxes.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. In 2022, Georgia’s Republican legislature passed a sales-tax exemption for data centers. In 2024, a bipartisan bill attempted to halt those tax breaks, but Gov. Brian Kemp (R) vetoed it. Voters noticed — and punished the GOP for it.

Georgia now surpasses northern Virginia in hyperscale growth. Atlanta’s data-center inventory rose 222% in two years, with more than 2,150 megawatts of new construction under way. It’s no mystery why Democrats flipped two PSC seats in blowouts.

Republicans lost because they defended crony capitalism that inflated energy bills, devoured land, and fed an AI industry conservatives once warned about. If Kamala Harris had pushed the data-center agenda as aggressively as Trump now does, Republicans would be in open revolt. But Trump’s support silences the conservative grassroots and leaves Democrats free to define the issue.

Virginia tells the same story. Democrat John McAuliff flipped a GOP seat by attacking Big Tech’s land-grab and the rising utility costs tied to data-center expansion. He blasted his opponent for profiting while family farms vanished under the footprint of hyperscale development. He became the first Democrat in 30 years to carry the district.

At the statewide level, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s office by arguing that AI data centers must pay their “fair share” of soaring energy costs. She framed the issue as a fight to protect families from Big Tech’s strain on the grid.

New Jersey voters heard similar warnings as they faced a 22% electric rate increase. Democrat Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli by double digits after blaming part of the spike on hyperscale energy demand. She pledged to declare a state of emergency to halt increases and require data centers to fund grid upgrades.

This pattern repeats in reliably red states.

Indiana saw dozens of new hyperscale proposals, yet not a single Republican official pushed back. Ordinary citizens blocked one of Google’s planned rezonings near Indianapolis. Liberal groups — like Citizens Action Coalition — filled the leadership vacuum and demanded a moratorium on new data centers, calling it a fight against “big tech oligarchs that are calling all the shots at every single level of government.”

RELATED: Stop feeding Big Tech and start feeding Americans again

Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Republican leaders, meanwhile, worked to ban states from regulating AI at all. This summer they attempted to insert a sweeping prohibition into the budget reconciliation bill that would bar states from regulating data-center siting or AI content for 10 years. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) now seeks to attach the same language to the FY 2026 defense authorization act. President Trump backs the provision.

Instead of ceding the issue to the left, Republicans should correct course. They can channel AI toward focused, beneficial uses and away from a dystopian model that erodes civic life. Voters already want that shift. A new University of Maryland poll found residents believe — by a 2-1 margin — that AI will harm society more than it helps. More than 80% expressed deep concern about declining face-to-face interaction, the erosion of education and critical thinking, and job displacement fueled by AI.

Capital expenditures cannot sustain the current pace of expansion, and public patience with Big Tech’s demands is running out. The political party that recognizes these realities first will earn the credit. Right now, the party that once defended property rights, community values, and human-centered technology is getting lapped by the party that partnered with Big Tech oligarchs to censor Americans during COVID.

Republicans still have time to lead. But they won’t win a fight they refuse to join.

​Gop, Democrats, Midterms, 2026, Data centers, Ai, Big tech, Opinion & analysis, Artificial intelligence, Wired magazine, Virginia, Georgia, Brian kemp, Taxes, Tax exemption, Land grabs 

The rise of transgenderism among young girls was studied intensely and deemed a social contagion by Abigail Shrier in her incredible book “Irreversible Damage,” and BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey believes it’s a similar story for young men — though the catalyst is different.

“It’s not true today that most of the boys and men who identify as the opposite sex do so because they have gender dysphoria that they were born with or that they developed as a child. But today it is, I believe, mostly due to pornography,” she explains.

“It is due to a sexual fetish that they have developed over time, that there is now a very real algorithmic pipeline via Pornhub and other porn sites that push young men to seek more and more exciting dopamine hits,” she continues.

Stuckey recalls the editor of Reduxx magazine, Genevieve Gluck, finding a link between pornography and the rise of transgenderism, which Stuckey describes as the “fetish of wanting to be feminized as a man, wanting to be submissive as a man.”

“So it’s true that these men who want to go into girls’ locker rooms, who want to go into girls’ bathrooms, are not doing so because they really think that they were born in the wrong body, but because they’re perverts. Those are the exact opposite kind of men that you want infiltrating women’s spaces,” she continues.

“Of course, you don’t want any man doing that, but especially not a man who is a sexual deviant in every way and who actually gets off on humiliation — humiliation for themselves and humiliation for women and girls. This kind of sissification porn actually depicts women as objects and depicts women as just things to be degraded and humiliated,” she adds.

While transgenders and their enablers will claim it’s about feeling uncomfortable in their own skin and slap the label of “gender dysphoria” on these men, it has nothing to do with biological sex at all — and everything to do with sexual fetish.

One subset of hardcore fetish pornography is “furry porn,” which oddly appears to have been a favorite of both Trump’s would-be assassin and Charlie Kirk’s assassin.

“I do not think it’s a coincidence that both of these men who are suspected as the killers of these top, you know, conservative, one politician and one activist, were also allegedly addicted to this kind of pornography and obsessed with transgenderism,” Stuckey says.

Trump’s would-be assassin was allegedly using they/them pronouns online and had an account on Deviantart — where he seemed especially drawn to scantily clad images of muscular male-looking bodies with female heads.

“So right away, this should sound the alarms for you of something satanic,” Stuckey says.

“I think about Mark 5 when Jesus heals a man with a demon, and this person goes by the name of Legion, or the demons go by the name of Legion … and when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him, out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit,” she explains.

When Jesus spoke to the unclean spirit, he asked him, “What is your name?” And the spirit replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

“Even though he is one in this body, goes by a multiple pronoun, goes by we. Now, I’m not saying that this Legion is necessarily possessing all of these people who go by they/them. I am saying unapologetically that it is demonic,” Stuckey says.

“That you cannot be a they, that you cannot be a them, that you cannot be a we. Subverting reality is demonic. Denying biological truth is demonic. Satan loves it. Why?” Stuckey asks, answering, “Because he is the father of lies.”

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.

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A federal judge sided Thursday with the attorney general in Washington, D.C., who sued against the National Guard deployment ordered by President Donald Trump.

The president ordered a deployment of troops into D.C. to quell the violent crime rampant in the area, but many on the left have accused him of militarizing the streets in order to intimidate his political opponents.

‘This unprecedented federal overreach is not normal, or legal. It is long past time to let the National Guard go home — to their everyday lives, their regular jobs, their families, and their children.’

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the president had exceeded his presidential authority but gave the administration 21 days to appeal the ruling.

Cobb said that Trump could not deploy troops for “non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities.”

“Normalizing the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent, where the President can disregard states’ independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants — with no check on his military power,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said after the ruling.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller excoriated the ruling.

“Judicial despotism is one of the gravest hazards we face to the functioning and endurance of our Republic,” he wrote on social media. “No district judge can steal for himself the powers of the Commander-in-Chief.”

The president has sent National Guard members to other cities to combat crime and faced other challenges in court from his opponents and local government officials.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Schwalb’s lawsuit was “nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of D.C. residents — to undermine the president’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in D.C.”

RELATED: DC Dems are furious at Mayor Bowser for admitting Trump’s troops are lowering crime

“This unprecedented federal overreach is not normal, or legal. It is long past time to let the National Guard go home — to their everyday lives, their regular jobs, their families, and their children,” Schwalb added.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser admitted that the surge had helped decrease violent crime in the district, but she was widely criticized by other Democrats for saying it publicly.

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With increased national focus on the trucking industry, federal and state authorities are stepping up efforts to crack down on illegal truck drivers to address concerns about road safety and national security.

A one-day operation last week in Texas led to the apprehension of 31 illegal alien truck drivers, according to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s office.

‘When illegal immigrants break the law and illegally drive on our roads, they endanger the lives of countless Texans and Americans.’

The joint commercial vehicle enforcement operation on November 11 in Wheeler County along I-40 involved multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the governor’s office reported on Wednesday.

Law enforcement officers inspected 105 vehicles as part of an effort to identify suspicious commercial driver’s licenses. DPS troopers referred 31 drivers to ICE after they were unable to verify their lawful presence in the U.S., despite presenting CDLs.

“It was determined that all 31 individuals were in the country illegally,” the governor’s office reported, noting that most of the licenses were issued by California, with none issued in Texas.

“Millions of Texans drive on our highways, roads, and streets every day,” Abbott stated. “When illegal immigrants break the law and illegally drive on our roads, they endanger the lives of countless Texans and Americans.”

RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to ‘suspected terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

“This joint state and federal operation along one of the nation’s longest transcontinental highways removed illegal drivers and unsafe vehicles from Texas roads,” Abbott continued. “While liberal states like California issue licenses to illegal immigrants and risk the lives of Americans, Texas will work with our federal partners to maintain safe roads and apprehend illegal immigrants to protect our communities.”

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has similarly launched efforts to remove illegal immigrant truckers from the roads.

RELATED: Oklahoma ICE sting busts 34 illegal alien truck drivers, others with rap sheets

Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

He provided an update in early November about Operation Guardian, which has also conducted enforcement along the I-40 corridor, noting that it has already resulted in the arrest of over 100 illegal alien truck drivers.

“For the second time in just the past month, the state of Oklahoma and ICE have banded together to bolster public safety along Oklahoma’s highways, identifying and apprehending illegal aliens who are in the country illegally and have been recklessly issued a commercial driver’s license by states like California, Illinois, and New Jersey,” said Marcos Charles, the executive associate director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. “Many of the illegal aliens arrested behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound tractor trailer can’t even read basic English, endangering everyone they encounter on the roads.”

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An anonymous complaint against a small cross in the yard of some Christian homeowners has led to a community development district paying out nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Wayne and Bonnie Anderson were notified on April 1, 2019, that their 1-foot white cross was in violation of yard decoration standards at The Villages.

‘In law, there has to be harm — what’s the harm? What’s behind all this? Something sinister, I guess.’

“I thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke,” Wayne Anderson said. “We call it a religious icon; they call it yard art — like the same with pink flamingos.”

He says that someone anonymously complained, and the Village Community Development District 8 began to fine him $25 for each day that he refused to take the cross down.

“The last I heard it was $44,000 for us,” he said.

“It’s not hurting anybody — there’s no harm,” Anderson added. “In law, there has to be harm — what’s the harm? What’s behind all this? Something sinister, I guess.”

The community district filed a lawsuit against the couple, and more than five years later, a judge ordered the district to settle with the couple. The district agreed to pay $173K in court costs and legal fees, as well as $70K for the Andersons.

And the cross gets to stay in the yard.

RELATED: California parents file lawsuit to stop curriculum that makes kids pray to Aztec gods

“Quarter of a million dollars nearly — over the little white cross,” Wayne Anderson said. “Can you believe that?”

WOFL-TV said the community district did not respond to requests for comment. The report noted that other crosses had popped up in the same neighborhood.

“This should never have happened, and it should never happen again,” Anderson added. “In the end, we get to display [it] as is our constitutional and God-given right.”

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Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino told BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck that the company was trying to correct for lighting and comfort when it presented its redesign.

Masino was at the center of controversy in August when the old country store was blasted for changing its logo, branding, and interior design. Customers particularly took issue with the removal of the country man sitting on a chair next to a barrel, as well as the barrel itself, leaving just black “Cracker Barrel” text on a yellow background.

‘Were you surprised you weren’t fired?’

Beck sat down with Masino inside a Cracker Barrel, tucked away in a corner booth along with the company’s senior vice president of store operations, Doug Hisel. During the hour-long conversation that saw Masino almost shed tears at one point, the CEO expressed anxiety about agreeing to the interview due to feeling that her position throughout the ordeal had been misconstrued.

“I want to set the record straight,” she said. “I want people to know that this is the brand that they’ve always known and loved, and that our job is to take care of it and just set it up for the next 55 years.”

Beck cut the noise and directly asked, “Were you surprised you weren’t fired?”

“I feel like I’ve been fired by America,” Masino replied.

“That’s probably worse,” Beck noted.

The CEO explained that her intentions were only to help Americans love the brand, “the way I love this brand … the way everybody who works here.”

Pointing to the some 70,000 employees at Cracker Barrel, Masino said she knows the responsibility she has on her shoulders and that she must ensure her employees are taken care of, and in turn are able to put a roof over their head and food on their table.

“My job is to make sure that Cracker Barrel helps them do that,” she added.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel saves its old-timey decor — but will we settle for a Potemkin past?

Cracker Barrel CEO Finally Addresses ‘Woke’ Rebrand Controversy | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 275

Surrounded by classic Americana synonymous with the store, Beck asked the execs about the disconnect in terms of the rebranding; Masino rejected that there was ever a plan to remodel.

“Was [the rebrand] ever intended to get rid of all this?” Beck asked, kindly referring to the bleakly remodeled restaurants that were shown online.

“I think a lot of people think that Doug and me and other people sit around are like, ‘Let’s remodel Cracker Barrel.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” Masino claimed.

The real reason for the recalibration, she cited, were customer experiences that described visits as being “real dark” and not being able to read the menu. She then recalled not one but two stories where she spotted customers using a stadium cushion while eating at the restaurant.

“I love your food; I love it here, but your chairs are so uncomfortable,” she remembered one man telling her.

“That’s really where it all started,” Masino said. “How do we make the stores more comfortable?”

“How do we get the right balance of investment, of comfort, of nostalgia, of the tradition that everybody knows and loves here? But in a way, that’s easy for our teams to take care of,” she went on.

Masino said it was her expectation that customers would take issue with the presence of too many booths, but “it wasn’t that. It was the black and white and the decor.”

“So that’s why, when people got upset about it, we were like, ‘Oh gosh, that’s not the intention. We can revert them,'” she added.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel folds again, tells customers they ‘don’t need to worry’

Glenn Beck (L) interviews Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino (M) and Doug Hisel (R), senior vice president of store operations. Image courtesy Blaze TV / Glenn Beck

Beck was able to extract a lot of the boardroom reasoning behind the branding blunder from the CEO. Masino told him that the remodeled stores in question were all company-owned and have since been reverted back to their original design, save for four in Florida that are dealing with permitting laws; but the company is working on that.

During this line of questioning, Beck pointed out that he could feel Masino’s genuine nature and that she was “hurt deeply” and “personally” from the backlash the company received.

“You’re so human, and you’re fighting it. Why?” Beck asked.

“I don’t know,” Masino replied, appearing to tear up. At this point, Hisel jumped in to reassure Masino that she is a good person, doing her best.

The productive conversation concluded with a brief mention of Hisel and Masino reaffirming that “everybody is welcome at Cracker Barrel.”

“It’s America’s store,” Hisel said. “Come as you are. If you play checkers, we can do pancakes and country fried turkey. Come as you are.”

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While most rappers and Hollywood celebrities have spoken out against President Donald Trump, one of them is bravely standing for his actions. And who it is is shocking, to say the least.

“I would like to thank President Trump for prioritizing this issue and for his leadership on the global stage in calling for urgent action to defend Christians in Nigeria, to combat extremism, and to bring a stop to violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief,” rapper Nicki Minaj said.

Minaj also called the violence against Nigerian Christians not only a “growing problem in Nigeria,” but in “many other countries across the world” that “demands urgent action.”

“I want to be clear: Protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity. Nigeria is a beautiful nation with deep faith traditions. … When one’s church, mosque, or place of worship is destroyed, everyone’s heart should break just a little bit,” she continued.

“And the foundation of the United Nations, with its core mandate to ensure peace and security, should shake,” she added.

“Has Nicki Minaj always been a Trump supporter?” BlazeTV host Pat Gray asks on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“God bless her,” executive producer Keith Malinak adds.

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Abortions are described as a “uniquely human superpower” in a new kids’ book meant for children as young as 5 years old.

The book, titled “Abortion Is Everything,” was created by Amelia Bonow, an activist who is also responsible for the “Shout Your Abortion” campaign.

‘The book is marketed to children from 5 to 8, with the goal of explaining abortion in kid-friendly language. This isn’t just propaganda. It’s grooming.’

A post on the group’s social media page proudly marketed the book, according to the Live Action pro-life group.

“Parents, caregivers, and educators who work with children have long been searching for a tool to talk with kids about abortion, especially given the volume of political noise currently surrounding the issue,” reads a post on Instagram.

The book intends to describe how an abortion feels and why people have them.

“With accessible, inclusive language, ‘Abortion Is Everything’ frames abortion as the actualization of a uniquely human superpower: our capacity to imagine the future and make choices that lead us towards the life we envision,” the post reads. “Abortion is a tool that allows human beings to shape our destinies, and which has shaped the entire world around us.”

The Live Action group strongly condemned the effort in a post on social media.

“The founder of ‘Shout Your Abortion’ is now targeting kids. With a children’s book. Promoting abortion,” the post reads. “The book is marketed to children from 5 to 8, with the goal of explaining abortion in kid-friendly language. This isn’t just propaganda. It’s grooming.”

RELATED: Missouri man admits to kidnapping pregnant girlfriend at gunpoint to force her to have abortion

Photo by Chris Polk/E! Entertainment/NBC via Getty Images

“The abortion industry has long tried to indoctrinate children into their pro-abortion agenda,” the group continued on its website. “This book, presenting abortion as human empowerment, is just the latest example.”

The political fight over abortion has moved to the state level after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision establishing federal abortion rights in the historic 2022 Dobbs decision.

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A former teacher in Kentucky — who was accused of asking her underage lover to kill her husband — has learned her fate for sexually assaulting a jailed minor.

In April, 28-year-old Elena Bardin was arrested and initially charged with three counts of sexual abuse, solicitation of murder, and distribution of obscene material, according to a court records citation People magazine obtained. Following her arrest, Bardin was hit with three counts of unlawful transaction with a minor.

‘I know you say you’ll take care of him, but shouldn’t someone else do it so suspicion is miles away from you?’

Kentucky State Police said in an April statement that Bardin “solicited a male juvenile at the Adair Juvenile Detention Center to kill her husband.”

But a jury acquitted Bardin of the charge of soliciting the teen to murder her husband.

However, in September, Bardin was convicted of one count each of first-degree sexual abuse, unlawful transaction with a minor, and distribution of obscene material to a minor.

People said the defendant’s estranged husband, Michael Bardin, and the alleged victim both testified against Bardin for the prosecution.

Last week, a judge sentenced Bardin to four years in prison for first-degree sexual abuse, 10 years for unlawful transaction with a minor, and 12 months for the distribution of obscene material to a minor; the sentences are to be served concurrently. Bardin also was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years, according to Court TV.

During sentencing, Circuit Judge Samuel Spalding noted there were 193 pages of “letters, pictures, and everything else,” which he described as “juicy.”

“The letters you sent … they were juicy, they were things you’d see in a triple-X movie, and completely inappropriate, obviously, and I think you know that, for a young man that age,” Judge Spalding stated, according to WKRC-TV.

Spalding continued, “And for an educator, it was incumbent upon you to set a better example. I will say, though, the 193 pages of letters, pictures, everything else, it depicts a very intelligent and articulate young woman who was clearly articulating her thoughts and desires to this kid.”

RELATED: Ex-middle school teacher — guilty of 21 counts of sex crimes against daughter’s underage babysitter — learns her fate

Bardin — a reported mother of a 5-year-old girl — had been an English teacher at the Adair County Juvenile Detention Center, where the victim was detained.

The Kentucky State Police said, “Evidence also revealed that Ms. Bardin had subjected the juvenile to illegal sexual contact and provided him with sexually explicit images of herself.”

Citing testimony from Bardin’s supervisor at the juvenile detention center, the judge added that the former teacher had been warned to end the relationship and stay away from the teen. Judge Spalding reportedly stressed that the student had been moved to another section of the detention center.

“And, ma’am, not only did you not heed that advice and stop, it looks to me like you actually doubled down on the behavior after that, and that is concerning,” Spalding alleged.

Prosecutors accused Bardin of having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old student who was detained at the juvenile facility.

The Kentucky State Police stated, “On March 27, 2025, the Adair Juvenile Detention Center conducted a routine search of juveniles’ living units where letters and explicit material were found in a male juvenile’s possession sent by an Adair County School teacher assigned to the facility.”

The Union-Bulletin reported, “According to prosecutors, in one of the letters confiscated by investigators, Bardin talks about oral sex and having sex in the boy’s cell.”

“I hope you enjoyed that. I did,” Bardin reportedly wrote in a letter to the minor, according to the Union-Bulletin.

Another letter written by Bardin allegedly said, “I know you say you’ll take care of him, but shouldn’t someone else do it so suspicion is miles away from you? IDK, I’m going to miss you so (redacted) bad tonight. You look so handsome today, love. I love you.”

In April, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the Adair County school district listed Bardin — with her first name spelled “Elana” — as a teacher at the Adair Learning Academy, which is part of the Adair Youth Development Center.

The youth development center operates in conjunction with the regional juvenile detention center, the Herald-Leader said, citing the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice. Adair Superintendent Jason Faulkner told the paper that Bardin was an employee of the district and that she had been terminated.

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Democrats appeared thrilled when they thought the Epstein files were finally going to take President Donald Trump out, but BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales points out that instead, it appears that the president has “been playing 4D chess all along.”

“They didn’t realize they were just going to fall into a trap of implicating themselves,” Gonzales says, before playing a clip of Democratic House Delegate Stacey Plaskett — who is from the Virgin Islands, where Epstein Island was — doing just that.

When the last batch of Epstein documents came out, the Washington Post even noticed that Plaskett and Epstein would text quite often.

“In fact, they were texting in the middle of congressional hearings, and he ended up coaching her on how to get dirt on President Trump during a hearing of Michael Cohen’s testimony,” Gonzales explains.

“The irony is not lost on me that they kept trying to get Trump with Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, it turns out, Jeffrey Epstein at every direction hates his f**king guts. Like, he hates Donald Trump. So, the idea that they were best buds … he clearly hates Donald Trump,” she continues.

Plaskett has since tried to defend herself, and it didn’t help her case.

“I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who at the time was my constituent, who was not public knowledge at that time that he was under federal investigation, and who was sharing information with me,” she said on the House floor.

However, in 2008, Epstein was serving a sentence for a prostitution case.

“We all knew in 2019 that Jeffrey Epstein was a bad guy,” Gonzales says, pointing out that Plaskett even admitted this to CNN, appearing unable to keep her story straight.

“I believed that Jeffrey Epstein had information, and I was going to get information to get at the truth. If individuals are not involved in illegal activity, extending his criminal enterprise or his financial enterprise or all of those things, I think that we need to look at what people are doing moving forward,” Plaskett said.

“Wait, let me just better understand that. What is that point? Because at the time, he was a known sex offender, and it had been detailed all the sexual abuse,” the CNN anchor replied.

“There are a lot of people who have done a lot of crimes, and as a prosecutor, you get information from people where you can,” Plaskett replied.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) made sure to defend Plaskett when he was being grilled on her admission on CNN — but Gonzales points out it’s likely just because he also was “in bed” with Epstein.

One email reveals that Democrat fundraisers invited Epstein to an event to meet privately with Hakeem Jeffries, which meant his campaign was soliciting money from Epstein.

“Dear Jeffrey, we are thrilled to announce that we are working with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, one of the rising stars in the New York Congressional delegation. Sometimes referred to as ‘Brooklyn’s Barack,’” the email read.

Another section of the email asked Epstein to reach out if he “would like to get an opportunity to get to know Hakeem better.”

“The fact that he was groveling for support, financial support, from a convicted child predator,” Gonzales scoffs. “Like, these are bad people.”

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The horrific attack on a woman on a public train in Chicago has garnered angry responses from many — but the Democratic mayor was not one of them.

The 26-year-old victim is in critical condition after a man doused her with a liquid at about 9:30 on Monday night and then lit her on fire on the CTA Blue Line train. The man fled from the scene, and police later arrested 50-year-old Lawrence Reed as a suspect.

‘The issue is violent misdemeanor offenders & how to stop. Be part of the solution, Mayor.’

When asked to comment on whether the suspect should have been on the streets in the first place, Mayor Brandon Johnson initially called it an “isolated incident,” according to a Chicago Tribune reporter.

“This is an isolated incident, and I don’t see this as some sort of trend. And again, the level of accountability that has to happen in this moment, I trust that the federal level will do its part,” Johnson said.

“As awful and as horrific as this tragedy is, this is an isolated incident. As we continue to invest more in our public transportation system, we want people to feel safe,” he added, “and that’s why I’m doing my part to ensure that these investments are getting right to the people.”

Many on social media thought his response was not proportional to the depth of pain the innocent victim suffered.

“Downplaying this as an isolated incident is absolutely insane,” replied Carter Christensen, a communications strategist for ActBlue.

“Brandon Johnson’s minimization of a woman being randomly set on fire on Chicago’s public transportation system is absolutely appalling,” another user responded on social media.

“Loop Punchers hurting women too. The issue is violent misdemeanor offenders & how to stop. Be part of the solution, Mayor,” another response reads.

“Some dude in Chicago with 49 prior arrests lit a woman on fire in public. But somehow this dips**t can’t say he should have been in jail,” another response reads.

“Yes it’s an isolated incident but maybe if his f**king city doesn’t stop releasing these pieces of s**t then it can quickly go from isolated to infrequent until it becomes a common incident,” another added.

Reed has reportedly been arrested more than 70 times in Cook County alone and has at least 13 convictions.

RELATED: Man allegedly lit random woman on fire on Chicago train — suspect had numerous previous arrests

Johnson offered more serious comments at a press conference later where he expressed “shock and horror” at the attack.

“This is an absolute failure of our criminal justice as well as our mental health institutions. This individual was charged with dozens of felonies over the past three decades,” Johnson said. “He was clearly seriously mentally disturbed and was a danger to himself and to others. The system that we had failed to intervene. … We’re also praying for her family at this time. This is a horrific tragedy that should have never happened.”

Reed is facing federal terrorism charges over the incident. Police have since said they have evidence that he filled a bottle with gasoline at a gas station just 20 minutes before the attack.

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The Department of Transportation issued a warning on Thursday to Pennsylvania that it is at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars in federal funding, according to a department press release obtained by Blaze News.

The DOT sent a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and state DOT Secretary Michael Carroll stating that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uncovered “evidence of procedural and programming errors” in the state’s issuance of non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits and driver’s licenses.

‘Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck.’

Pennsylvania issued CDLs with expiration dates beyond the foreign nationals’ lawful presence in the country, according to the DOT. Further, the state was accused of issuing licenses without requiring drivers to provide proof of lawful presence in the U.S. The department also stated that other non-domiciled CDLs were issued to lawful permanent residents who were eligible for regular CDLs.

Of 150 records reviewed by the FMCSA, two instances were found in which PennDOT issued non-domiciled CDLs with expiration dates that extended beyond the drivers’ lawful presence. The FMCSA uncovered four cases in which the department failed to provide evidence that it required drivers to present lawful residence documents. Lastly, the FMCSA identified two instances in which the department issued a non-domiciled CDL to individuals who were eligible for a regular CDL.

The DOT noted that 12,400 drivers hold an unexpired non-domiciled CLP or CDL issued by Pennsylvania.

The federal department demanded that Pennsylvania take “immediate corrective action” or risk the decertification of its CDL program and losing certain federal-aid highway funds. The corrective action includes an immediate pause on the issuance of all non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs, as well as an internal audit to identify procedural errors. Pennsylvania is also required to identify and void all unexpired non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs that were improperly issued.

RELATED: ICE takes down alleged ‘wanted terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Josh Shapiro. Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Failure to comply may lead to the DOT withholding $75,500,000 in funding for fiscal year 2027.

Thursday’s warning is part of the DOT’s greater effort to crack down on road safety and national security concerns related to the flood of illegal aliens that joined the trucking industry amid the Biden administration’s open-border crisis. The DOT has already withheld funds from California over similar violations.

RELATED: Newsom’s state ‘caught red-handed’ illegally issuing thousands of commercial driver’s licenses to foreign truckers: DOT

Akhror Bozorov. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

“Under President Trump, this department is taking every measure to ensure dangerous foreign drivers aren’t illegally operating 40-ton vehicles on American roads,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated. “Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck. I will continue to fight to get these dangerous drivers off our roads to protect American families and support our national security.”

Duffy’s statement presumably referred to Akhror Bozorov, a 31-year-old truck driver from Uzbekistan who was recently arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency stated that Bozorov was accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. He was issued a non-domiciled CDL with REAL ID by Pennsylvania.

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A woman found with hateful political messages written on her body with gruesome injuries was not a victim of a heinous attack, but she plotted the hoax herself, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Twenty-six-year-old Natalie Greene was found bound up with zip ties with numerous slashes and “Trump whore” written on her stomach on the night of July 23, according to a press release. The Rutgers student was working for Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey at the time.

They also obtained a photograph of the design for the body modification that Greene requested from the scarification artist. They matched the wounds photographed by an officer.

Greene allegedly told investigators that she and a friend were attacked by three armed men on a trail at the Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve in New Jersey.

When police arrived, they found her yelling, “He has a gun! He has a gun!” and crying loudly.

She was also found with the message “Van Drew is a racist” written in marker on her body.

Greene was transported to a hospital for treatment, where officers took photographs that were included in the criminal complaint.

Investigators grew suspicious when Greene’s friend appeared agitated when asked to provide keys to the car they drove to the nature reserve, a Maserati sport utility vehicle. After gaining access to the car, they found black zip ties as well as duct tape inside.

RELATED: Dem who blamed Trump for ‘Hinduphobic’ messages has been arrested for alleged race hoax

Image source: U.S. Dept. of Justice press release screenshot composite

Police then obtained cellphone data from the pair and saw that Greene had driven to the studio of a “scarification artist” in Pennsylvania just before the reported assault.

After obtaining data from their phones, investigators saw that someone had googled “zip ties near me” from her friend’s phone as well. They were able to garner evidence that she purchased the zip ties on the day of the alleged attack at a Dollar General store.

Investigators said they obtained evidence from the scarification studio that showed Greene paid $500 for body modifications just hours before the alleged attack. The studio requires clients to provide identification and sign a consent form prior to services performed.

They also obtained a photograph of the design for the body modification that Greene requested from the scarification artist. They matched the wounds photographed by an officer.

Drew’s office released a statement about Greene to the New Jersey Globe.

“While Natalie is no longer associated with the congressman’s government office, our thoughts and prayers are with her and hope she’s getting the care she needs,” the statement read.

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Image source: U.S. Dept. of Justice press release screenshot

Greene was charged with conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and making false statements to federal law enforcement. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

She was released on a $200,000 unsecured bond after her arraignment on Wednesday.

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​Natalie greene, Political hate crime hoax, Rep jeff van drew, Republican hoax, Politics