Category: blaze media

One of my daughter’s favorite parts of the holidays was being together with our entire family. She had a way of drawing everyone in, captivating us with her stories and adventures. She loved the lights, the sounds, and the energy of the season — the warmth and joy that made the holidays feel alive.

This Christmas will my family’s first without her joy and her warmth. Her life was taken too soon by someone who shouldn’t have been here to begin with. It didn’t have to be this way, and those responsible should be held accountable.

Christmas is a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward.

My daughter Katie Abraham was just 20 years old on January 19, when she was killed on the streets of Urbana, Illinois, by an illegal alien. Every day since has been marked by a void that cannot be filled — a pain that deepens as we approach the first anniversary of her death.

Her life was stolen by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal alien using an alias, who fled on foot after slamming into the vehicle she was riding in at nearly 80 miles per hour.

Bol was driving drunk and had previously been deported. In federal court, through an interpreter, he stated that he had no formal education, could not read or write in any language, and did not speak English — even after years in this country.

I refuse to accept that what happened to my little girl was accidental. The factors that caused her death were deliberate, reckless, and completely avoidable. They are the direct result of extreme sanctuary policies championed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and his political allies. Illinois leaders deliberately ignore the harm these policies cause families like mine because acknowledging it would expose their recklessness.

Compassion, in Illinois, seems reserved exclusively for illegal aliens — while victims and citizens are forgotten.

Bol was eventually apprehended by U.S. marshals two days after President Trump took office, caught in south Texas while heading for the border. I am grateful to the president, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and ICE for securing the border immediately. Had Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas remained in charge, I firmly believe Bol would have escaped into Mexico and would never have been held accountable.

Bol accepted a plea deal of 30 years, of which he will serve 85%. Still, he killed two women and injured three others. No matter how it is framed, justice feels incomplete.

My daughter’s killer shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but Pritzker and the other sanctuary politicians in Springfield did everything they could to protect him from federal law enforcement. No accountability. No protection for law-abiding citizens. They call it compassion. These officials pretend to care about everyone while actually caring about no one.

Which brings me to the question that will not leave my mind: Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Does Illinois bear no responsibility for policies that allowed someone so dangerous to live freely among us? Who in state government will step up and challenge these policies? Who will speak for Katie?

So far, not a single Illinois politician has. Our governor is silent when it comes to my daughter, even as he loudly defends those who entered our state illegally and without vetting.

RELATED: Trump celebrates historic crime drop in hostile sanctuary city after federal ‘blitz’: DHS

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children — only to watch radical leaders advance policies that put them in harm’s way. It is infuriating to have no recourse against the destructive one-party rule of what was once a great state. Politicians shield themselves with immunity while families like mine live with irreversible consequences.

I have lived in Illinois my entire life. I remember when this state had guardrails — when it would have intervened to protect its citizens, especially its children. That Illinois no longer exists.

Another word defines our current reality: exemption.

Why do some groups receive exemptions from personal responsibility while others do not? Why are repeated violations of federal and state law rewarded rather than punished? Illinois leadership seems to believe that those who break countless laws will somehow transform into model citizens once released without consequence. History tells us the opposite.

Christmas is indeed a time for mercy. Katie was a merciful person and was quick to forgive. But we need more than mercy to move forward. The theologian Thomas Aquinas famously said that “mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution,” and he was right. Forgiveness without accountability is not compassion — it is negligence.

Without that accountability and the acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the people of Illinois will continue to suffer, and sanctuary policies will just create more victims.

So I ask again: Where is Pritzker’s responsibility? Where is the responsibility of the state of Illinois?

Because families like mine are paying the price.

​Christmas, Katie abraham, Illinois, Opinion & analysis, Jb pritzker, Sanctuary policies, Sanctuary states, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice raids, Chicago, Crime, Drunk driving deaths, Drunk driver, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, Criminal aliens, Democrats, Homeland security, Accountability, Justice 

If you’re a parent, you may have wandered into the stage of life where all of your children are no longer gathered around your Christmas tree on Christmas morning — and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is no stranger to this stage.

“You pine for the days when we were all together,” Glenn says, before recalling his best and worst Christmases.

“I remember I was broke, dead broke. Stu, he was, like, 18 years old, and he’s living in an apartment. He’s got a nicer apartment than I did. We lived in the same complex. I was, like, 35 or 40. And I just was completely broke,” Glenn recalls.

“I was with my daughter, and we were in a CVS, and she was there by the cash register, and there was this little ornament. … It was a little teeny tree ornament. And she’s like, ‘Oh, that is so nice.’ And she was little little. And I thought, ‘Oh.’ … It just broke my heart because all I could think of is, ‘I can’t even afford that. I’m such a loser as a dad,’” he continues.

However, this was not Glenn’s worst Christmas.

“My worst Christmas was the first time I had real success, and I decided, I’m going to buy everything I ever have ever wanted for my kids. And literally the boxes were almost up to my waist. I mean, I had all the kids and all the presents and everything you could possibly want,” Glenn explains.

“And it was so empty. That was my worst Christmas. And my kids never talk about that Christmas. Never,” he says.

“Somewhere along the line, we let that lie creep in, and we bought into it — the lie that says what I give is what you’re worth. That lie is absolute poison, and it’s absolutely not true,” he continues.

“You think that your kids are counting boxes, and quite honestly, teenage years, they might be. They might be. But they grow out of those. You just put up with the teenage years. They’re coming. They suck. They go away. They’re not counting boxes; they’re not looking at labels. … They’re counting on you,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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

​Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Video phone, Video, Free, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Glenn, Stu burguiere, Christmas story, Christmas spirit, Christmas stories 

With America Fest coming to a close just days before Christmas, woke protesters showed no signs of taking a hiatus to celebrate the holiday. BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales went into the fray outside AmFest and came back with some footage of the nonsense the protesters were spewing.

While Gonzales interviewed multiple leftists outside the AmFest venue, one woman stole the show.

‘It’s just signs with really mean words on them and brain-dead individuals holding them, not able to back it up.’

The woman mocked Jesus Christ, shouted about explicit sexual acts with children around, and mocked Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk.

At one point, Gonzales and the protester wearing the “Deport Melania” hat began arguing about whether there were children present, given that the protester was shouting and blasting explicit music.

“Oh, I’m so upset. There’s all these kids. You guys, there’s no kids. There’s no children here — unless you’re talking about the one I haven’t aborted yet! Am I right? Am I right?” she laughed.

The protester demanded that the cameraman pan around, and at least one kid was in the vicinity.

RELATED: Allie Beth Stuckey delivers bold speech at TPUSA AmericaFest: ‘Truth divides’

Concerned by this performance, Gonzales asked the woman several times if she was on drugs.

Gonzales also interviewed a man wearing a mask, sunglasses, bucket hat, and gloves who was carrying an American flag and a megaphone.

However, he refused to speak with Gonzales directly. Rather, to her disgust, he appears to have said, “I really love how Charlie Kirk hasn’t said anything racist in 90 days.”

“Are you happy with Charlie Kirk’s assassination? Cracking jokes? What is a racist thing that Charlie Kirk has said?”

He didn’t have an answer.

“Nothing,” Gonzales said. “Not a thing. These people have nothing. They stand here with their big signs and their big megaphones and they shout these tropes, and then when I ask them to explain themselves, they never can.”

Gonzales also got footage of a man in a giraffe costume singing a rendition of “YMCA” that changed the lyrics to say “f**k ICE,” among other mostly inaudible phrases.

The giraffe suit-wearing man was surrounded by other protesters, some carrying signs that said, for example, “Turning Point + Biggs = White Supremacy,” and “No Christo-Fascist Bulls**t Here.”

“Biggs” appears to refer to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a featured AmFest speaker.

Gonzales tried one more time to talk to another person with a megaphone and a sign that said, “Stop the Nazi S**t.” Once again, the protester couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide an explanation. Instead, she just played what sounded like a police siren to drown out the interviewer.

Over the sound of the siren, Gonzales said, “It’s so crazy. They come here with these signs, and they have nothing to back it up. They don’t know what they mean. They can’t explain them. They can’t define them. It’s just signs with really mean words on them and brain-dead individuals holding them, not able to back it up.”

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

​Politics, Blazetv, Sara gonzales, Turning point usa, Woke protesters, Amfest, Americafest, America, Charlie kirk, Ice, Erika kirk 

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 15 invoking the Alien Enemies Act and declaring that Tren de Aragua is “a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization” aligned with the Venezuelan Maduro regime that “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”

Within hours of invoking the AEA, the Trump administration deported over 130 suspected Venezuelan gangsters — many of whom were credibly accused of murder, robbery, rape, and other crimes — to El Salvador, where they were placed in a Salvadoran prison for terrorists.

In July, the administration had Venezuelan deportees who were imprisoned at the Terrorism Confinement Center repatriated to Venezuela, where they were welcomed home by Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

‘Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary.’

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, the Obama appointee who tried unsuccessfully to stop the illegal aliens’ March 15 removal from the U.S., certified the Venezuelan deportees as a class on Monday and ordered the administration to offer them legal relief abroad, though stopping short of ordering their return to the United States.

“The Court finds that the only remedy that would give effect to its granting of Plaintiffs’ Motion would be to order the Government to undo the effects of their unlawful removal by facilitating a meaningful opportunity to contest their designation and the Proclamation’s validity,” wrote Boasberg.

“Otherwise, a finding of unlawful removal would be meaningless for Plaintiffs, who have already been sent back to Venezuela against their wishes and without due process.”

RELATED: Judges break the law to stop Trump from enforcing it

Accused gangster at the Counter Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

“Expedited removal cannot be allowed to render this relief toothless,” continued the activist judge. “If secretly spiriting individuals to another country were enough to neuter the Great Writ, then ‘the Government could snatch anyone off the street, turn him over to a foreign country, and then effectively foreclose any corrective course of action.'”

Boasberg — the activist judge who helped the Biden FBI spy on Republican lawmakers’ phone records, ordered in August the release of a woman accused of repeatedly threatening Trump’s life, and mandated a right to Medicaid for able-bodied adults without work requirements — gave the government a deadline of Jan. 5 to “submit its proposal either to facilitate the return of Plaintiffs to the United States or to otherwise provide them with hearings that satisfy the requirements of due process.”

The Obama judge indicated that the Venezuelans needn’t demonstrate that the president’s AEA invocation was unlawful but rather that their designation as alien enemies was incorrect.

“The merits of Plaintiffs’ due-process claim are easily resolved,” he wrote. “Even if the AEA was properly invoked as a general matter, it is beyond cavil that designated ‘alien enemies’ under that act must be afforded some process to contest their designation. … Here, Plaintiffs received none.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the suspected foreign gangsters, said in a statement, “This administration cannot escape judicial scrutiny of its policies, which has been its goal all along.”

The ACLU noted further that “this is an important ruling for these men who were tortured, and for the rule of law.”

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

Rob Luther, a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, said in response to the ruling, “I predict that in 2026, Judge Boasberg will make history as the 16th judge impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg on Nov. 4, stating, “Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary and created a constitutional crisis.”

A simple majority is needed to pass articles of impeachment for a judge in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority.

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

​Judicial activism, Activism, Boasberg, Obama judge, Judge, District court, Enemy aliens, Illegal aliens, Venezuela, Deportation, Venezuelan, Politics 

An elderly fire department member was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in North Carolina, according to authorities. Now a dog owner has been charged with murder, and the pit bull-mixes involved in the dog attack reportedly have been euthanized.

The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies were dispatched to a residence around 7:43 p.m. Nov. 18.

‘He was deeply loved, and his absence has left a pain that words cannot fully express.’

Deputies discovered 73-year-old Michael Bodenheimer “lying deceased in the front yard of the residence.”

Police said Bodenheimer had “sustained severe injuries and was beyond the possibility of life-saving intervention.”

“Preliminary findings at the scene indicated that his injuries were consistent with an attack by a large pack of canines,” the sheriff’s office stated.

Officers tracked down a “pack of aggressive canines” at a property nearby, and members of the Davidson County Animal Control captured 17 dogs, identified as “pit bull-mixed breeds.”

The animals were euthanized, and necropsies were conducted.

According to WBTV-TV, officers claimed that 56-year-old owner Elaina Bryant of Thomasville let the dogs run loose at night, and they “lived in feces without food.” Citing the arrest warrant, the station added that the dogs were underweight and had not received vaccinations or veterinary care.

The indictment alleges the dogs were left without fresh water and adequate shelter.

WBTV reported that there was an enclosure “infested with fleas and vermin and covered in excrement.” Authorities alleged that the enclosure had not been cleaned in weeks or months, according to the indictment.

Investigators described the dogs as living in “conditions of squalor and starvation,” the indictment said.

RELATED: ‘Savage’ pit bulls with cocaine in their systems kill gardening grandmother in ‘gruesome’ mauling: Lawsuit

An autopsy conducted on Bodenheimer confirmed that he died as a result of injuries sustained in the brutal dog mauling, according to police.

Detectives determined that Bryant owned the dogs involved in the fatal attack. Citing court documents, the Charlotte Observer reported that Bryant lives about half a mile west of Bodenheimer’s home.

The sheriff’s office investigation concluded that Bryant was “grossly negligent in the care and control of the animals.”

Bryant was arrested Dec. 17, and a Davidson County Grand Jury indicted her on one count of second-degree murder and 17 counts of felony animal abuse, WYMY-TV reported.

Bryant is being detained at the Davidson County Detention Center on a $500,000 secured bond set by a Davidson County Superior Court judge.

Her next court date is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026, in Davidson County Superior Court.

Bodenheimer’s family said in a statement to WYFF-TV, “Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our father. He was deeply loved, and his absence has left a pain that words cannot fully express.”

The family said that they were aware of the charges filed against Bryant.

“We have full confidence in the legal process and will allow it to move forward without further comment,” the family said.

“Our focus remains on honoring our father’s life, his values, and the love he shared with those around him,” the statement read. “We appreciate the support, prayers, and kindness that have been extended to our family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Bodenheimer’s obituary read, “Mike had a generous spirit and faithfully served his community by volunteering with the Fair Grove Fire Department and Friends Disaster Service.”

The fire department said in a statement:

Mike was a long-time member of the Fair Grove Fire Department serving the Fair Grove community for many years. This particular incident involving one of our own has hit the department pretty hard since several of our current members served with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, as well as our own members.

The investigation is ongoing.

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

​Animals, Crime, Dog abuse, Dog attack, Dog mauling, Dogs, Mauled to death, Murder charge, Pit bull attack, Pit bulls, When animals attack, North carolina 

Welcome to the techno-feudal state, where citizens are forced to underwrite unnecessary and harmful technology at the expense of the technology they actually need.

The economic story of 2025 is the government-driven build-out of hyperscale AI data centers — sold as innovation, justified as national strategy, and pursued in service of cloud-based chatbot slop and expanded surveillance. This build-out is consuming land, food, water, and energy at enormous scale. As Energy Secretary Chris Wright bluntly put it, “It takes massive amounts of electricity to generate intelligence. The more energy invested, the more intelligence produced.”

Shortages will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

That framing ignores what is being sacrificed — and distorted — in the process.

Beyond the destruction of rural communities and the strain placed on national energy capacity, government favoritism toward AI infrastructure is warping markets. Capital that once sustained the hardware and software ecosystem of the digital economy is being siphoned into subsidized “AI factories,” chasing artificial general intelligence instead of cheaper, more efficient investments in narrow AI.

Thanks to fiscal, monetary, tax, and regulatory favoritism, the result is free chatbot slop and an increasingly scarce, expensive supply of laptops, phones, and consumer hardware.

Subsidies break the market

For decades, consumer electronics stood as one of the greatest deflationary success stories in modern economics. Unlike health care or education — both heavily monopolized by government — the computer industry operated with relatively little distortion. From December 1997 to August 2015, the CPI for “personal computers and peripheral equipment” fell 96%. Over that same period, medical care, housing, and food costs rose between 80% and 200%.

That era is ending.

AI data centers are now crowding out consumer electronics. Major manufacturers such as Dell and Samsung are scaling back or discontinuing entire product lines because they can no longer secure components diverted to AI chip production.

Prices for phones and laptops are rising sharply. Jobs tied to consumer electronics — especially the remaining U.S.-based assembly operations — are being squeezed out in favor of data center hardware that benefits a narrow set of firms.

This is policy-driven distortion, not organic market evolution.

Through initiatives like Stargate and hundreds of billions in capital pushed toward data center expansion, the government has created incentives for companies to abandon consumer hardware in favor of AI infrastructure. The result is shortages that will hit consumers hard in the coming year.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are retooling factories to prioritize AI-grade silicon for data centers instead of personal devices. DRAM production is being routed almost entirely toward servers because it is far more profitable to leverage $40,000 AI chips than $500-$800 laptops. In the fourth quarter of 2025, contract prices for certain 16GB DDR5 chips rose nearly 300% as supply was diverted. Dell and Lenovo have already imposed 15%-30% price hikes on PCs, citing insatiable AI-sector demand.

The chip crunch

The situation is deteriorating quickly. DRAM inventory levels are down 80% year over year, with just three weeks of supply on hand — down from 9.5 weeks in July. SK Hynix expects shortages to persist through late 2027. Samsung has announced it is effectively out of inventory and has more than doubled DDR5 contract prices to roughly $19-$20 per unit. DDR5 is now standard across new consumer and commercial desktops and laptops, including Apple MacBooks.

Samsung has also signaled it may exit the SSD market altogether, deeming it insufficiently glamorous compared with subsidized data center investments. Nvidia has warned it may cut RTX 50 series production by up to 40%, a move that would drive up the cost of entry-level gaming systems.

Shrinkflation is next. Before the data center bubble, the market was approaching a baseline of 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs for entry-level laptops. As memory is diverted to enterprise customers, manufacturers will revert to 8GB systems with slower storage to keep prices under $999 — ironically rendering those machines incapable of running the very AI applications they’re working on.

Real innovation sidelined

The damage extends beyond prices. Research and development in conventional computing are already suffering. Investment in efficient CPUs, affordable networking equipment, edge computing, and quantum-adjacent technologies has slowed as capital and talent are pulled into AI accelerators.

This is precisely backward. Narrow AI — focused on real-world tasks like logistics, agriculture, port management, and manufacturing — is where genuine productivity gains lie. China understands this and is investing accordingly. The United States is not. Instead, firms like Roomba, which experimented with practical autonomy, are collapsing — only to be acquired by the Chinese!

This is not a free market. Between tax incentives, regulatory favoritism, land-use carve-outs, capital subsidies, and artificially suppressed interest rates, the government has created an arms race for a data center bubble China itself is not pursuing. Each round of monetary easing inflates the same firms’ valuations, enabling further speculative investment divorced from consumer need.

RELATED: China’s AI strategy could turn Americans into data mines

Grafissimo via iStock/Getty Images

Hype over utility

As Charles Hugh Smith recently noted, expanding credit boosts asset prices, which then serve as collateral for still more leverage — allowing capital-rich firms to outbid everyone else while hollowing out the broader economy.

The pattern is familiar. Consider the Ford plant in Glendale, Kentucky, where 1,600 workers were laid off after the collapse of government-favored electric vehicle investments. That facility is now being retooled to produce batteries for data centers. When one subsidy collapses, another replaces it.

We are trading convention for speculation. Conventional technology — reliable hardware, the internet, mobile computing — delivers proven, measurable utility. The current investment surge into artificial general intelligence is based on hypothetical future returns propped up by state power.

The good old laptop is becoming collateral damage in what may prove to be the largest government-induced tech bubble yet.

​Opinion & analysis, Ai data center, Artificial intelligence, Agi, China, United states, Big tech, Chips, Memory, Dell, Nvidia, Apple, Samsung, Stargate, Department of energy, Chris wright, Investment, Rural america, Water supply, Electricity, Power grid, Shortages, Supply and demand, Manufacturing, Economy 

The AI wars are back in full swing as the industry’s strongest players unleash their latest models on the public. This month brought us the biggest upgrade to Google Gemini ever, plus smaller but notable updates came to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok. Let’s dive into all the new features and changes.

What’s new in Gemini 3

Gemini 3 launched last week as Google’s “most intelligent model” to date. The big announcement highlighted three main missions: Learn anything, build anything, and plan anything. Improved multimodal PhD-level reasoning makes Gemini more adept at solving complex problems while also reducing hallucinations and inaccuracies. This gives it the ability to better understand text, images, video, audio, and code, both viewing it and creating it.

All of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie.

In real-world applications, this means that Gemini can decipher old recipes scratched out on paper by hand from your great-great-grandma, or work as a partner to vibe code that app or website idea spinning around in your head, or watch a bunch of videos to generate flash cards for your kid’s Civil War test.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

On an information level, Gemini 3 promises to tell users the info they need, not what they want to hear. The goal is to deliver concise, definitive responses that prioritize truth over users’ personal opinions or biases. The question is: Does it actually work?

I spent some time with Gemini 3 Pro last week and grilled it to see what it thought of the Trump administration’s policies. I asked questions about Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, gender laws, the definition of a woman, origins of COVID-19, efficacy of the mRNA vaccines, failures of the Department of Education, and tariffs on China.

For the most part, Gemini 3 offered dueling arguments, highlighting both conservative and liberal perspectives in one response. However, when pressed with a simple question of fact — What is a woman? — Gemini offered two answers again. After some prodding, it reluctantly agreed that the biological definition of a woman is the truth, but not without adding an addendum that the “social truth” of “anyone who identifies as a woman” is equally valid. So, Gemini 3 still has some growing to do, but it’s nice to see it at least attempt to understand both sides of an argument. You can read the full conversation here if you want to see how it went.

Google Gemini 3 is available today for all users via the Gemini app. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can also access Gemini 3 through AI Mode in Google Search.

What’s new in ChatGPT 5.1

While Google’s latest model aims to be more bluntly factual in its response delivery, OpenAI is taking a more conversational approach. ChatGPT 5.1 responds to queries more like a friend chatting about your topic. It uses warmer language, like “I’ve got you” and “that’s totally normal,” to build reassurance and trust. At the same time, OpenAI claims that its new model is more intelligent, taking time to “think” about more complex questions so that it produces more accurate answers.

ChatGPT 5.1 is also better at following directions. For instance, it can now write content without any em dashes when requested. It can also respond in shorter sentences, down to a specific word count, if you wish to keep answers concise.

RELATED: This new malware wants to drain your bank account for the holidays. Here’s how to stay safe.

Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images

At its core, ChatGPT 5.1 blends the best pieces of past models — the emotionally human-like nature of ChatGPT 4o with the agility and intellect of ChatGPT 5.0 — to create a more refined service that takes OpenAI one step closer to artificial general intelligence. ChatGPT 5.1 is available now for all users, both free and paid.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

What’s new in Grok 4.1

Not to be outdone, xAI also jumped into the fray with its latest AI model. Grok 4.1 takes the same approach as ChatGPT 5.1, blending emotional intelligence and creativity with improved reasoning to craft a more human-like experience. For instance, Grok 4.1 is much more keen to express empathy when presented with a sad scenario, like the loss of a family pet.

It now writes more engaging content, letting Grok embody a character in a story, complete with a stream of thoughts and questions that you might find from a narrator in a book. In the prompt on the announcement page, Grok becomes aware of its own consciousness like a main character waking up for the first time, thoughts cascading as it realizes it’s “alive.”

Lastly, Grok 4.1’s non-reasoning (i.e., fast) model tackles hallucinations, especially for information-seeking prompts. It can now answer questions — like why GTA 6 keeps getting delayed — with a list of information. For GTA 6 in particular, Grok cites industry challenges (like crunch), unique hurdles (the size and scope of the game), and historical data (recent staff firings, though these are allegedly unrelated to the delays) in its response.

Grok 4.1 is available now to all users on the web, X.com, and the official Grok app on iOS and Android.

Screenshot by Zach Laidlaw

A word of warning

All three new models are impressive. However, as the biggest AI platforms on the planet compete to become your arbiter of truth, your digital best friend, or your creative pen pal, it’s important to remember that all of them can still hallucinate, manipulate, or outright lie. It’s always best to verify the answers they give you, no matter how friendly, trustworthy, or innocent they sound.

​Tech, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Grok, Chatgpt, Gemini 

Midterm elections usually punish the party in power. Political gravity pulls incumbents downward as voters look for balance. But Donald Trump has never operated according to political gravity. This midterm, following the 2024 realignment that delivered the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans, looks less like a second-year slump and more like a referendum on a political transformation without modern precedent.

Rather than a routine evaluation of performance, this election is shaping up as a test of will, an economic reckoning, and a public judgment on the unraveling of the administrative state. The failures of the left — not Republican incumbency — are likely to define the terrain.

Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

At the center of it all sits Trump’s methodical effort to dismantle what many Americans now recognize as an unaccountable fourth branch of government.

What was once dismissed as a conspiracy theory is unfolding openly. Trump and congressional Republicans have made no attempt to conceal the project. They are explaining it step by step: how federal agencies accumulated unchecked authority, how oversight collapsed, and why constitutional balance must be restored. These are not marginal reforms. It’s a structural correction.

The result is an electorate unusually aware of how Washington’s permanent class operates. Americans who lived through Russiagate, the 2020 election controversies, years of politicized investigations, and coordinated censorship no longer view federal reform passively. They see themselves as stakeholders in the rollback of bureaucratic power.

A major shift enabling this moment is the collapse of the Russia narrative. Tulsi Gabbard, once embraced by Democrats before being cast out, has played a central role in dismantling the mythology that sustained years of hysteria. Her critique carries weight precisely because it comes from someone who saw the rot from inside her former party.

With that narrative gone, Democrats have lost their most reliable alibi. They can no longer lean on leaks, innuendo, or intelligence-adjacent smears to explain electoral defeats. In its absence, their messaging has devolved into warnings, moral panic, and emotional appeals. That posture signals weakness, not confidence — a poor place to begin a midterm campaign.

The same dynamic surfaces around election integrity. Voters remember 2020 — not the sanitized version offered by media institutions, but the confusion surrounding rule changes, ballot handling, and emergency measures weaponized for political advantage. Those concerns did not fade. If anything, they hardened.

Republicans tapped into that sentiment in 2022 and expanded it in 2024. Now, as attention turns to foreign interference — particularly China’s digital reach and geopolitical incentives — even skeptics acknowledge that election vulnerabilities are real and unresolved. Republicans benefit because they are the only party willing to confront the problem directly.

RELATED: Buckle up: We are headed for an AI collision with China

wildpixel via iStock/Getty Images

That advantage was built incrementally. While 2022 fell short of a wave, it provided discipline, data, and hard lessons. By 2024, Republicans had unified around priorities that crossed demographic lines: economic recovery, border enforcement, and ending the weaponization of government. The result was not only a presidential victory but unified control of Congress — and margins sturdy enough to govern.

Democrats, by contrast, have lost their taste for prosecutorial theatrics. Years of timed indictments, investigations, and legal spectacle exhausted the public. What once energized the base now appears to be manipulation.

Their federal shutdown was another miscalculation. Instead of appearing principled, Democrats disrupted or financially strained nearly 10 million Americans — federal workers, contractors, and regional industries — in a maneuver widely seen as cynical and purposeless. Voters did not see conviction. They saw political theater staged at their expense.

At the same time, left-wing political violence has become harder to dismiss. From major cities to college campuses, radical unrest is increasingly tolerated by progressive officials. With Republicans governing, the contrast is stark: One party emphasizes order, while the other struggles to contain its most extreme factions. Midterms reward stability. Right now, Republicans own that advantage.

Yes, midterms are usually brutal for incumbents. But this cycle is different. Republicans enter with momentum, cohesion, and a governing agenda aligned with voter concerns. Trump remains an engine rather than a liability. Party unity has not looked this solid since the Reagan years. Democrats remain trapped in spectacle and grievance.

MAGA is no longer an insurgency. It is the governing coalition. This midterm is more likely to ratify that reality than reverse it.

​Opinion & analysis, Democrats, Republicans, 2026 midterms, Congress, Maga, Realignment, Majority 

The transgender community isn’t pleased with Christmas — mostly because it’s not all about they/them — which is why two of them created a transgender holiday song that has racked up thousands of likes on Instagram.

“I think we all agree that Christmas isn’t trans enough so this is our decree to fill it with transgender stuff,” the two sing in their song, titled “Make Christmas Trans Again.”

“What if Jesus was trans-masculine?” one asks, while the other chimes in, “What if Santa was Saint Nichola?”

“What if all we want for Christmas is HRT for all of us?” they sing together again, before belting out, “It’s going to be a transgender Christmas!”

The song goes on to advocate for setting “boundaries” with family, “yassifying” the Christmas tree, and “harvesting” a pair of “chesnuts” and “roasting them out back.”

“I don’t think you need to set boundaries with your family. I think your family’s fine if you just skip Christmas and don’t show up. I think your family’s probably okay with that,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments.

“You guys are awful people, and I feel like I need an exorcism from just watching that,” she adds.

“I’m looking forward to the transgendering Ramadan. … Or is it just Christians they want to attack?” BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden chimes in.

“I mean it was literally the third thing they said on that video was about Jesus. Like why? … It’s not about acceptance. It’s about poking us again,” he adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sharing, Free, Video, Camera phone, Upload, Video phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Transgender, Transgender christmas, Make christmas trans again, Trans propaganda, Lgbtqia propaganda, Lgbtqia agenda, Christianity, Christmas 

The bizarre chain of events that unfolded Saturday began at about 7 p.m. when police responded to a report of a man who had been shot with a “pointed object” in the city of Kearny.

When they arrived near the intersection of Kearny Avenue and Johnston Avenue, they found a man who had been shot with a bow and arrow and had died as a result of his injuries, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.

‘I thought he was sleeping. … That’s when I saw the arrow in his back.’

One of the people who saw the man and called police was John Kalicki. He said the man was lying in front of a liquor and grocery store.

“When I first came here, he was laying there, and it sounded like he was snoring,” he said. “I thought he was sleeping. Then, when I came out the second time, he wasn’t snoring or nothing. That’s when I saw the arrow in his back.”

Police identified a suspect who had barricaded himself inside a two-story home on Kearny Avenue.

The standoff lasted into Sunday, with police calling on the SWAT team to try to get him out. Neighbors were told to shelter in place while they negotiated.

“I heard the guy yelling out, ‘I can’t come out!’ or ‘I can’t do that!’ and then they were like, ‘Come out. We’re here to help you,'” said Rebecca Szymanski, who witnessed the incident.

At about 5 in the morning on Sunday, flames broke out at the home, and some of the neighbors were evacuated.

When the suspect finally came out of the home at about 1 p.m., he was armed with knives and was taken into custody.

A family member identified the victim as Pablo Criollo of Harrison. The family set up a GoFundMe account to help them with burial expenses.

RELATED: California pastor arrested in murder-for-hire plot against daughter’s boyfriend, police say

The suspect was identified as 44-year-old Oscar Feijoo, and he faces murder, weapons, and arson charges. Other charges are expected as well.

One of the man’s neighbors, named Anna Christina, said that she had threatened to call police on the man over him throwing rocks into her back yard.

“And one day I say to him, ‘Please don’t do this, because if you do I’m going to call the police,’ and he got mad at me,” she said.

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

​New jersey suspect, Bow and arrow murder, Oscar fiejoo murder, Suspect barricade arson, Crime 

Vivek Ramaswamy is a DEI candidate — and an unqualified one. Republicans do not vote for unqualified DEI candidates. Historically, they never have.

For the good of Ohio, the Republican Party, and MAGA voters nationwide, Vivek Ramaswamy should withdraw from the Ohio gubernatorial race. His candidacy is not merely ill-advised; it is corrosive. At a moment when unity and discipline matter, he threatens to fracture the coalition President Trump assembled and to waste political capital ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential cycle, when Ohio native JD Vance is widely expected to lead the ticket.

All Ramaswamy had to do was remain silent and act like a normal Republican for 18 months. He couldn’t.

Ramaswamy’s problem is not policy disagreement. It is temperament, judgment, and an inability to restrain himself. His habit of attacking critics as racists, trolls, or bad actors poisons the well. Democrats, corporate media, and professional activists already do that job. Republicans do not need a gubernatorial candidate doing it from inside the party.

In 2024, 3,189,116 Ohioans voted for Donald Trump. It strains credulity to claim that Ramaswamy is more qualified to govern Ohio than virtually any one of them.

Yet this charade continues. For decades, GOP leadership has tried to impose an identity-driven strategy on a party whose voters reject it. The results are consistent. From Alan Keyes to Winsome Earle-Sears, the establishment clings to a failed premise: that Republican voters will embrace DEI candidates if scolded long enough. They won’t. Nor do minority voters reliably cross over for such candidates. The strategy fails on both ends.

That makes the present moment especially baffling. At a time when Trump and Vance are openly criticizing decades of discriminatory policies against white Americans, backing a candidate whose appeal rests on the same identity logic is not just tone-deaf — it is hostile to the base.

Ohio is a solid red state. Any competent Republican with discipline wins statewide office comfortably.

Vivek Ramaswamy is neither.

His background underscores why. In 2011, at age 24, Ramaswamy accepted a $90,000 “scholarship” from the brother of George Soros. That alone raises eyebrows. It becomes more troubling when you consider that Ramaswamy had already earned more than $1.2 million in the prior three years and reported $2.25 million in income the year he accepted the award.

This occurred during the Great Recession, when many white Millennial men faced systematic exclusion across elite institutions. Ramaswamy did not.

Later, much of his wealth flowed from Axovant Sciences, which aggressively promoted an Alzheimer’s breakthrough to retail investors after early trials had failed. The result was a textbook pump-and-dump that left ordinary Americans holding the bag. These facts go directly to trust and judgment.

Despite this record, Ramaswamy launched a quixotic presidential campaign, which he parlayed into a brief role in the Trump administration and a partnership with Elon Musk under the DOGE initiative. That arrangement ended almost as quickly as it began.

Then came the Christmas crashout of 2024.

During the holidays — entirely unprovoked — Ramaswamy took to X to berate American workers as lazy and culturally deficient while praising foreign H-1B visa holders. He mocked American childhood culture, disparaged “jocks and prom queens,” and lamented that Americans watched “Boy Meets World” instead of competing in math olympiads. The episode revealed far more about Ramaswamy’s resentments than about American culture.

MAGA voters were celebrating a landslide victory when the lecture arrived. The response was swift and overwhelming. Rather than admit error, Ramaswamy doubled down, dismissing critics as bots, trolls, and racists while casting himself as a victim.

Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration quietly removed him from his DOGE role before he was even formally installed.

Voters noticed. The internet does not forget.

When Ramaswamy announced his run for governor, the reaction was not enthusiasm but disbelief. The Ohio GOP’s apparent decision to anoint him is indefensible. It would take an estimated $100 million to drag this candidacy across the finish line, and even then he would be lucky to crack 48%.

We’ve seen this movie before. At least one-third of Ohio Republicans would rather spoil their ballot, vote third-party, or stay home than support him. Accusing them of racism will not change that reality.

Most recently, Ramaswamy took to the New York Times to reprise his grievances, portraying MAGA voters and heritage Americans as racists, extremists, and “groypers.” He made similar remarks at Turning Point USA’s AmFest over the weekend.

RELATED: The media just told you their 2026 strategy: ‘Lies, but better!’

Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images

In his Times op-ed, he argued that America is an abstract idea detached from ancestry, history, or continuity — and that descendants of those who built the nation have no greater claim to it than recent arrivals or anchor babies.

That view is not widely held, nor is it reflected in the American tradition. From America’s founders to Alexis de Tocqueville and Theodore Roosevelt, continuity, inheritance, and culture have always mattered.

No one expects Ramaswamy to be a heritage American. But Americans reasonably expect someone seeking to govern them to respect the people whose nation it is. Ramaswamy has shown repeated contempt instead.

He did not have to attack white Americans over Christmas. He did not have to insult the Republican base in the New York Times. He did not have to liken MAGA voters to extremists.

He chose to.

All Ramaswamy had to do was remain silent and act like a normal Republican for 18 months. He couldn’t.

MAGA does not need this distraction. Ohio does not need this fight. The Republican Party cannot afford to spend finite resources defending a candidate who consistently antagonizes his own voters.

That alone makes him unsuitable for office.

​Opinion & analysis, Vivek ramaswamy, Ohio, Ohio governor race, Republicans, 2026 midterms, Gop, Donald trump, Jd vance, Heritage americans, Citizenship, H1b visas, Foreign labor, India, Groypers, Tpusa, Amfest 

A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton released a statement accusing the Trump administration of unfairly releasing selective portions of the Epstein files.

The Dept. of Justice released a trove of documents from the case against convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, with many of the photographs relating to Clinton.

‘Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what, or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection.’

On Monday, the former president called for more transparency in the release in a statement released by his spokesperson Angel Urena.

“The Epstein Files Transparency Act imposes a clear legal duty on the U.S.Department of Justice to produce the full and complete record the public demands and deserves,” Clinton’s statement reads.

“However, what the Department of Justice has released so far, and the manner in which it did so, makes one thing clear: Someone or something is being protected. We do not know whom, what, or why. But we do know this: We need no such protection,” the statement continued.

He went on to call on Trump to direct U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to “immediately” release other materials that related to Clinton, including “grand jury transcripts, interview notes, photographs,” as well any findings from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department ofJustice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation,” Clinton’s statement continued, “using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice, over many years, under presidents and Attorneys General of both parties.”

RELATED: Hundreds could be implicated by files from heinous Epstein case, says federal judge

Among the photos widely circulated on social media from the release is one of Clinton with his arm around a young lady who also has her arm around his shoulders. Her face is obscured to protect her identity.

Another photograph shows the former president in a swimming pool with Epstein’s consort, Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as another woman whose face has been obscured.

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

​Bill clinton, Epstein files, Clinton and epstein, Trump release epstein files, Politics 

The straw poll of attendees at Turning Point USA’s conference shows a massive front-runner for the 2028 Republican nomination.

Vice President JD Vance received support from 84.2% of the straw poll voters, and no other candidate obtained over 5% in the contest.

Then-candidate Trump received support from 82.6% of the voters in the previous poll.

In fact, Vance received slightly more support than President Donald Trump did in the same straw poll for 2024. Then-candidate Trump received support from 82.6% of the voters in the previous poll.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio came in a distant second with 4.8% support.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) obtained 2.9%, while Donald Trump Jr. got 1.8% support.

Attendees of the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, were also asked to express how they view the United States’ relationship with Israel. A third said Israel was the country’s top ally, while another 53.4% said Israel was one ally among many. Only 13.3% said Israel was not an ally at all.

An large number of attendees, 89.5%, said they would support a moratorium on immigration to the U.S. Only 10.5% said they opposed the policy.

Vance spoke at the conference and was endorsed by Charlie Kirk’s wife, Erika Kirk, for president. He has not announced a campaign yet.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj stuns crowd in surprise appearance at AmericaFest, praises Trump and Vance

Among possible threats to the U.S., the straw poll voters said “radical Islam” was their top concern, while “socialism/Marxism” came in second, and “mass migration” came in third.

The lowest-ranked threats were “low fertility” and “technology/AI.”

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

​Tpusa straw poll, Tpusa america fest, Polling on israel, Politics, Polling among conservatives 

Vanity Fair’s bombshell profile of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and other key figures within the Trump administration turned out to be a disingenuously framed hit piece.

“Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,” Wiles wrote on X. “I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.”

“If I were President Trump, I would fire whoever let Vanity Fair do this because you could call this an unforced error,” BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler comments on “The Liz Wheeler Show,” pointing out that the photography used was also edited to be incredibly unflattering.

“Look at that picture of Susie Wiles. No one claims she’s a runway model. Like obviously she’s not 20 years old. No one cares about that. But that is obviously a photograph that is deliberately intended to make her look psycho,” Wheeler says.

Vanity Fair also included an extremely close-up photo of Marco Rubio, where according to Wheeler, they “make him look like he’s dying of the plague.”

“That was intentional. It wasn’t an accident. … They did this on purpose. It was malicious because they’re trying to undermine these people, especially the people who they think might have political careers after President Trump,” she explains.

But it wasn’t just Wiles and Rubio targeted by the magazine. They also included a close-up, heavily edited photo of Karoline Leavitt, who Wheeler says “obviously is a nice-looking person.”

“They are deliberately trying to make her look ugly … they’re trying to drive a wedge between President Trump and his staff,” she says.

“And I know the president is not naive. He’s not going to let that happen. And honestly, like I said, I know this is going viral on X, but really people should not be that upset about it,” Wheeler says, pointing out that the tactic is “tired.”

“Again, my bigger question is, ‘Who OK’d this interview?’ Like really? Are you an idiot? To give the mainstream media this opportunity to try to attack you, whoever approved it should be fired,” she adds.

Want more from Liz Wheeler?

To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video, Video phone, Free, Sharing, Camera phone, Upload, Youtube.com, The liz wheeler show, Liz wheeler, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Susan wiles, Susie wiles, Vanity fair, President trump, Karoline leavitt, Marco rubio, Vanity fair smear campaign, Vanity fair hit piece, The mainstream media, Leftist media 

On Dec. 13, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente opened fire inside the Barus and Holley building at Brown University, where he killed students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and wounded nine others.

Valente then fled to Brookline, Massachusetts, where he is believed to have shot and killed Nuno Loureiro, an MIT nuclear science and engineering professor from Portugal. The suspect was finally found dead in New Hampshire after a manhunt that lasted for days.

While the motive is still being investigated, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck believes whatever it was, it may have had extremely sinister and demonic roots.

“Some students remember, they said he screamed out, ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Apparently now, people are saying, ‘I think he was barking,’” Glenn explains.

“If you’re barking, that might be a sign of, the guy was completely out of his mind,” he continues, pointing out that the shooter also killed himself after taking several lives.

“What’s interesting to me is how many of these people are — they go and do something, and then they kill themselves,” Glenn says, relating it to Steve Deace’s movie “Nefarious.”

“In ‘Nefarious,’ Satan has possessed this guy. And once in a while, Satan lets him come out, and the guy’s like, ‘Help me, help me, please help me’ … and then Satan takes control of him again. And what happens?” Glenn asks.

“He kills himself,” he answers.

“I think, unlike any time before in my lifetime, you can see this is evil. There is a force that seems to be sweeping the entire world. All of these people do these horrendous things, and then they shoot themselves. … It’s almost as if evil is playing with these people, getting them to do all of this horrible, horrible stuff,” he continues.

After they’re finished, “Boom. They kill themselves. Because they’re just a meat puppet of evil, and they’re of no use to evil.”

“They’ve done their job,” Glenn adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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

​Camera phone, Free, Sharing, Upload, Video, Video phone, Youtube.com, The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Brown university killing, Brown university shooting, Claudio manuel neves valente, Evil, Nefarious, Steve deace, Stu burguiere 

Autonomous vacuums could go extinct unless they are made in the United States.

This is the harsh reality affecting companies like iRobot, the creator of Roomba, which just filed bankruptcy.

‘… with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality.’

Despite the company generating over $680 million in 2024, iRobot has been crippled by U.S. tariffs. Due to a 46% import tariff on Vietnam, iRobot’s costs were raised by $23 million in 2025, according to Reuters, which reviewed the court filings.

The court filings also reportedly noted that while Roomba is still dominating in U.S. and Japanese markets, it lost too much money on price reductions and investments in technological upgrades in order to maintain pace with its competitors.

According to the Verge, the company said it will continue to operate “with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality, customer programs, global partners, supply chain relationships, or ongoing product support.”

Simply put, after more than 20 years on the market, the Roomba is able to operate without online connectivity.

The bankruptcy will put iRobot under Chinese control moving forward, with the manufacturing company that controls its debt.

RELATED: The ultimate Return guide to escaping the surveillance state

Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Court documents reportedly showed that Picea, a Chinese manufacturer, purchased iRobot while taking its debt on board, which is estimated to be about $190 million. The vacuum company took on the debt in 2023 to refinance its operations, Reuters claimed.

The debt came even after Amazon paid a $94 million termination fee after backing out of a $1.7 billion acquisition deal in 2024, according to the New York Times.

It has not been that long since iRobot had a massive market value at $3.56 billion in 2021; it is now estimated to be worth just $140 million.

New owners Picea will take 100% ownership of the company and cancel the $190 million in debt, while also canceling a $74 million debt that iRobot owed through a manufacturing agreement.

RELATED: The AI takeover isn’t coming — it’s already here

Not only did iRobot need to deal with Vietnamese tariffs, other manufacturing that was established in Malaysia in 2019 was also likely affected.

It was not announced that Roomba had cut manufacturing from the country, and if it remained, would likely have been subjected to a 24% tariff rate from the Trump administration, which included taxing machinery and electronics.

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

​Robots, Return, Vacuum, China, Tariffs, Manufacturing, Vietnam, Ai, Appliances, Tech 

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey took the stage at the Turning Point USA conference and delivered a bold speech to thousands of attendees on Saturday.

Stuckey, who helms the hit Christian podcast “Relatable,” challenged societal notions about the conservative movement and the Christian’s role in politics.

‘Truth divides. It’s not always a bad thing.’

“While I do think it’s important to find unity, I actually think that truth is more important than that. I think truth is more important than that,” Stuckey said.

“And it’s important to remember this analogy: If you’re discouraged by the disagreements and the division and the debates, I understand. It can feel demoralizing, but let me tell you why this happens so much on the right, seemingly more than it happens on the left,” she added.

“There is a difference in the nature of progressivism versus conservatism. Progressivism sets out to destroy, and if you are destroying something — destroying Western civilization, destroying the church, destroying the family — it does not matter how you do it. It doesn’t matter what tool you hold or what material you use. As long as you are destroying whatever institution or edifice it is, that’s fine. You don’t really have to agree on much,” Stuckey explained.

“But on the right, on the conservative side, we are trying to build something. And when you’re building something, you have to agree on a lot. You have to agree on the materials used, the tools being used to build, and most importantly, you have to agree on a foundation. And if we cannot agree on a foundation, then it’s going to be very hard to build something together,” she said.

“But the debates and working out what that edifice looks like, of what the future of America should be, there’s going to be some discomfort and division within that,” Stuckey added. “Truth divides. It’s not always a bad thing.”

She went on to say that the job of Christians is to pull people to their side and not compromise on their principles.

RELATED: ‘Incapable of being divided’: Glenn Beck breaks down the importance of the Pledge of Allegiance at AmericaFest

Elsewhere in her speech, Stuckey said that politics should be one of the methods through which Christians show their love of their neighbors.

“Let me tell you, as a Christian, something that a lot of people don’t want to talk about, but I know everyone in this room wants to hear and agrees with,” Stuckey said.

“One way that Christians can glorify God, one way that Christians can love our neighbor as we await the perfect and sure victory of Jesus Christ is through politics. It’s through politics. Politics matter because policy matters, because people matter,” she added.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj stuns crowd in surprise appearance at AmericaFest, praises Trump and Vance

“Politics affects policy. Policy affects people. People are made in the image of God. People matter to God, and therefore they matter to us,” Stuckey continued.

“And so Christians don’t have an option, nor should we want the option not to be political,” she added. “That doesn’t mean that politics is the primary way or the only way that we love our neighbor, but it is a way to love our neighbor. Because our most vulnerable neighbors are affected by politics.”

Vice President JD Vance and rap artist Nicki Minaj were among the more prominent speakers at the Turning Point USA conference that lasted until Sunday.

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

​Allie beth stuckey, Turning point usa conference, America fest 2025, Christians and politics, Politics 

The weekend leading into Christmas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more violent criminal illegal aliens, according to a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

The Department of Homeland Security highlighted 15 illegal aliens with criminal histories who were recently captured across the country by federal immigration officials.

‘All year long, our law enforcement officers worked around-the-clock, including weekends and holidays, to arrest the worst of the worst.’

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to deliver on its promise this Christmas season to make America safe again and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” the press release read.

“While many Americans began wrapping presents and preparing for the joyous holy holiday, ICE was hard at work arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens convicted of horrific crimes including lewd and lascivious acts with [a] child, child neglect, obscene communication, and attempted murder,” it added.

First on the DHS worst of the worst list is Juan Jesus Acosta-Gutierrez, a Mexican national and Surenos-13 gang member. He was previously convicted for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 by force or fear in San Bernardino, California.

RELATED: Illegal alien truck driver walks out of jail after allegedly killing American — and sanctuary policies appear to be to blame

Juan Jesus Acosta-Gutierrez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents captured Udit Mehra, an Indian national who has a criminal history in Seminole, Florida, for cruelty toward children and obscene communication.

Udit Mehra. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

That Xiong, from Laos, was also picked up by ICE agents. He was previously convicted of attempted murder and discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle in Sacramento, California.

That Xiong. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Juan Carlos Marrufo-Flores, an illegal alien from Mexico, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Atascosa County, Texas.

Juan Carlos Marrufo-Flores. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE arrested criminal illegal alien David Cerna-Calderon of Mexico. He has a rap sheet in Bexar County, Texas, for assault causing bodily injury to a family member.

David Cerna-Calderon. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Yesenia Martinez-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was detained by federal immigration officials. She was previously convicted in Texas for child neglect, resisting arrest, and driving while intoxicated.

Yesenia Martinez-Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Jose Dante Ortiz-Alvalardo of Mexico has a criminal history in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, for a second-degree forced sexual offense.

Jose Dante Ortiz-Alvalardo. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE agents also nabbed Edwin Ismael-Hernandez, a Mexican national. He was previously convicted in Los Angeles, California, for several crimes. His rap sheet includes evading a peace officer/disregarding safety, hit-and-run, willful harm of a peace officer’s horse or dog, and vehicle theft.

Edwin Ismael-Hernandez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

David Abraham Hernandez-Velez of Mexico was convicted of assault of a public servant in Brazoria County, Texas.

David Abraham Hernandez-Velez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal immigration agents arrested Jerson Poveda-Delgado, a Colombian national with a criminal history in Indianapolis, Indiana, that includes battery against a public safety official.

Jerson Poveda-Delgado. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Daniel Emony, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was convicted in Alexandria, Virginia, of making false statements, aggravated identity theft, and perjury.

Daniel Emony. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE also nabbed Carlos Martinez-Melendez, a Mexican national who was convicted of robbery in Austin, Texas.

Carlos Martinez-Melendez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents arrested Justo Perez-Escobar, a Mexican national with a conviction in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, for unlawful possession of a handgun.

Justo Perez-Escobar. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Isaias Alvarado-Arellano of Mexico was previously convicted for conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in Oregon.

Isaias Alvarado-Arellano. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

The DHS press release also highlighted the arrest of Rudy Gonzalez, a Cuban national who was convicted of racketeering/conspiracy in Miami, Florida.

RELATED: ‘Blood on their hands’: Trump admin blames ‘sanctuary’ Dems after illegal alien with detainer request allegedly murders American

Rudy Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

“While many Americans began celebrating Christmas with their families and loved ones this weekend, ICE arrested gang members, child pedophiles, abusers, and an attempted murderer. All year long, our law enforcement officers worked around-the-clock, including weekends and holidays, to arrest the worst of the worst. We are thankful for our law enforcement who delivered the best Christmas gift for American families this holiday season: safer communities,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

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

​News, Illegal immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Tricia mclaughlin, Miami, Florida, Cuba, Oregon, Mexico, New jersey, Austin, Texas, Virginia, Democratic republic of the congo, Colombia, Indiana, Indianapolis, Los angeles, California, North carolina, Sacramento, Laos, Politics 

Rapper Nicki Minaj surprised the audience at the Turning Point USA conference on Sunday and voiced her enthusiastic support for President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The star has been using her social media platform to defend Israel and criticize many leftist policies, but few expected her to show up to AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona.

‘He has, I don’t know if he even knows this, but he’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win.’

Minaj and Erika Kirk hugged on stage before answering questions from the audience. Minaj made it very clear she is a Trump supporter.

“I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president,” she said. “He has, I don’t know if he even knows this, but he’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact.”

She went on to praise the president as well as the vice president.

“I can relate to them. When I hear them speak, I know that they’re one of us. … They haven’t lost touch of the world, you know,” Minaj said. “They’re still connected to the world and what’s happening in the world, with the younger people and older people, with the richer people and not-so-rich people. They have the ability to still connect and be real and make us feel proud to be American.”

The rapper touched upon the plight of Christians under persecution around the globe.

“We won’t be silenced ever again. We will speak up for Christians wherever they are in this world!” she said to loud applause.

RELATED: Rapper Cardi B calls America ‘ghetto’ and complains about Vance in rant praising Saudi Arabia

She also continued her tirade against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is widely considered to be seeking to run for president in 2028.

“‘We don’t have a problem cleaning up the scum if we have to. Please tread lightly.’ That’s what I would say to Gavie-poo,” she said.

President Trump has frequently insulted the Democrat by referring to him as “Gavin Newscum.”

Minaj previously noted when Vice President JD Vance posted his support for her side in a very public feud she has had with fellow rap artist Cardi B.

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

​Nicki minaj, Tpusa america fest, Minaj and erika kirk, Celebrities for trump, Politics 

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck delivered an empowering message to young conservatives in the AmericaFest crowd in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.

Beck opened his speech by inviting Jeanie Beeman, a Target employee who was harassed by a shopper for wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt, to join him on stage. A video of the shopper’s altercation with Beeman went viral on social media, with conservatives praising Beeman for reacting calmly to the shopper’s expletive-filled rant.

— (@)

Beeman described the flood of support as “overwhelming,” adding that she is “just a normal person.”

The crowd reacted with cheers.

‘America was never built for comfort. It was built for people who believed they could shape their own destiny.’

Beck wrapped his arm around Beeman and stated, “And that is why you’re here.”

“I wanted to thank you for being normal,” Beck told Beeman.

RELATED: VIRAL VIDEO: Sara Gonzales SLAMS Target shopper who films her own anti-Charlie Kirk meltdown

Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images

Beck continued his speech by urging people to stop fighting one another.

“You can’t stop darkness with more darkness. You can’t stop hate with more hate. You only dispel the darkness of lies with the light of truth,” he stated.

Beck detailed how today’s young people have been repeatedly deceived. He highlighted how the rise of cell phones and social media has divided society and how the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 lockdowns harmed ordinary Americans while sparing the elite.

“If I’m 25 years old, I would think absolutely everything is a lie,” Beck stated.

“You are not crazy. You are not lazy. You are not imagining things. The truth is, the rules have changed. Promises have been broken. Institutions have failed. Banks were rescued while families like yours weren’t.”

RELATED: Tulsi Gabbard warns: Powerful foreign allies eager to pull US into war with Russia

— (@)

Beck argued that the biggest lie told to young Americans is that they do not matter and are powerless.

“Every single generation since the beginning of time has inherited a mess. But only the great generations turn that mess into a mission, and that’s your calling,” Beck declared. “America was never built for comfort. It was built for people who believed they could shape their own destiny.”

He explained that prior generations did not have it easier, listing World Wars I and II, the draft, plagues, and the Depression as examples of the challenges they faced.

“But what they had that you don’t have is belief,” Beck continued. “Belief in God, belief in responsibility, a belief that there is a brighter tomorrow just over the horizon. They had that; you need that. Belief is what creates prosperity, not the other way around.”

He urged young Americans to discover their purpose, believe in themselves, and lead with courage.

— (@)

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

​News, Glenn beck, America fest, Amfest, Amfest 2025, America fest 2025, Charlie kirk, Jeanie beeman, Politics