It is Tunisia’s duty to stand with the Palestinians, its president has said The Tunisian parliament on Thursday began discussing a bill that would define [more…]
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House passes the buck on Mace’s push for sexual misconduct disclosure amid Tony Gonzales scandal
On the same day that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) admitted to having an affair with a former staffer who tragically committed suicide by self-immolation, the U.S. House of Representatives sidelined a bill that would potentially have brought transparency to matters of sexual misconduct among members of Congress.
On Wednesday, the House voted “yea” on a motion to refer a subpoena sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to the House Ethics Committee.
‘I think it is DISGUSTING how Congress protects its own corruption. No wonder the American people hate us.’
The bill, which passed 357-65 in favor of referring the resolution to the Ethics Committee, directs the committee to “preserve and publicly release records of the Committee’s review of violations or alleged violations of clause 9 (as it pertains to acts of sexual harassment) and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives.”
Though she sponsored the bill, Mace appears to be upset by the vote to refer the subpoena to the House Ethics Committee because its leadership has made clear that it does not intend to move forward with the disclosure.
Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement: “Victims may be re-traumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”
Mace took to X shortly after the resolution was sent to committee to condemn the outcome of the vote.
“Our resolution to expose predators in Congress was killed. Your government is more concerned with protecting predators than protecting women. The establishment watches out for itself,” Mace wrote. “Remember this when they ask for your trust. This is what corruption looks like.”
RELATED: ‘I made a mistake’: Tony Gonzales admits to affair with staffer who set herself on fire
Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) signaled her support for the subpoena and said she was disgusted by the move to send the subpoena to the Ethics Committee, which she said is where “stuff” goes to “die.”
“I think it is DISGUSTING how Congress protects its own corruption. No wonder the American people hate us,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said on X.
Mace made another post with all of the names of her colleagues who voted in favor of sending the subpoena to the committee. She then admonished them: “Shame on every single one of you who voted to protect predators in Congress over the women they prey on.”
Though her first resolution was unsuccessful, Politico reported that Mace did have some success in forcing another vote, this time to subpoena the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights for records about sexual harassment awards and settlements under the Congressional Accountability Act.
Mace was able to successfully force that vote after reaching an agreement with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to limit the range of the subpoena to only members of Congress, as well as another small caveat, according to Politico.
Mace celebrated the win on X and made a promise to the American people: “After the full House voted to keep covering up Ethics Committee records of Members of Congress who engaged in sexual harassment records [sic], the Oversight Committee passed our motion to subpoena the taxpayer-funded settlement SLUSH FUND used to silence victims. Every Member of Congress who used your money to silence victims they harassed will be exposed, and we look forward to reviewing the records from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. We will make sure YOU, the people, know their names.”
Calls for disclosure of the so-called slush fund have been going on for years. In late 2024, then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called for the release of the payouts and the names associated with them. The “slush fund” was estimated to be over $17 million at the time.
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Speaker Johnson tells Tony Gonzales to drop re-election bid after affair admission
House Republican leadership has officially called for disgraced Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales to drop his re-election bid.
The scandal-ridden congressman faced calls to resign after reports indicated he had an affair with a staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Gonzales dodged the allegations for weeks but admitted to the affair in a Wednesday interview, prompting an official call to step down from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as well as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.).
‘Let’s get to work.’
“The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales’s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously,” Republican leadership said in a joint statement. “Congressman Gonzales has said he will fully cooperate with the investigation.”
“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues. In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”
RELATED: ‘I made a mistake’: Tony Gonzales admits to affair with staffer who set herself on fire
Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Gonzales’ primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, nearly unseated him in 2024, and the two candidates are currently heading to a runoff in May. Herrera holds a narrow lead over Gonzales in the 2026 primary and has embraced leadership’s calls for his opponent to step down.
“I would like to thank Speaker Johnson and House leadership for holding Congressman Tony Gonzales accountable for actions that have tarnished the office,” Herrera said in a post on X. “I’m looking forward to representing the district the way the people of West Texas have always deserved. Let’s get to work.”
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Gonzales has not yet confirmed whether he will step down from the race. His office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
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Tony gonzales, Brandon herrera, Mike johnson, Steve scalise, Tom emmer, Lisa mcclain, House republicans, Donald trump, Regina santos-aviles, 2026 primary, Texas primary, Republican primary, Politics
Jasmine Crockett crashes out in Senate bid — but is Talarico the Democrats’ ‘silent but deadly’ weapon?
Jasmine Crockett’s run for Senate has come to an end, with Democrat James Talarico handily beating the congresswoman and advancing to the general election — and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is not surprised.
“She didn’t campaign against her number-one opponent. She campaigned against Donald Trump,” Whitlock says, pointing out that her campaign ad featured a shot of Crockett staring straight ahead while a voice-over of Donald Trump insulting her played.
“Who told her that was going to work? Letting Trump talk accurately about you on camera for 30 seconds — that somehow was going to win you [the] election?” Whitlock asks.
However, Chad O. Jackson doesn’t believe it’s the time to be running any victory laps.
“Her opponent, James Talarico, is far worse than Jasmine Crockett is, in terms of his effectiveness in pushing the agenda that they’re pushing. It’s interesting because Jasmine Crockett has become this kind of household name in a negative way for a lot of Republicans and conservatives, for the very reason that she’s very boisterous and she’s very out there and what many people would call ‘ghetto,’” Jackson tells Whitlock.
“James Talarico is much more silent, but he’s much more deadly. Talarico represents a lot of what’s wrong, but he also is a heretic and he’s a fraud. He is a proponent of the social gospel, the, you know, liberation theology,” he explains.
“He has this so-called faith-forward agenda, where he adheres to a kind of progressive theology, and he’s been effective in terms of pushing leftist secularist policies here in the state of Texas,” he continues.
“Somebody like a Jasmine Crockett or an AOC — they’re easy to point at and say, ‘Oh, these people shouldn’t be in Congress; they shouldn’t be in politics,’ and I fully agree with that. But … it’s really easy to defeat their policies. These more silent and yet deadly people are more effective — and therefore more dangerous,” he adds.
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Pro-ICE student suspended over posters at California high school where hundreds of anti-ICE students walked out
A letter circulating on social media appears to show that a California high school has suspended a student over signs showing support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The letter from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego and dated February 27 affirmed that students have a right to free speech but asserted that the signs violated a policy against “conduct that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment,” according to a picture.
‘This is divisive language. Being American means tolerating protests.’
The letter said that the student was caught on video “posting flyers in the learning commons and in hallways that stated I Love ICE from Real Americans.”
It went on to define the “fighting words” doctrine: “While a high bar, in a school context, words that are intentionally used to provoke a violent reaction or target a marginalized group’s right to be on campus can be restricted to maintain safety.”
It said the student would be suspended for March 2 and indicated that one-day suspension was the student’s first suspension of the year.
Torrey Pines High School is also the location of a walkout protest against ICE that included hundreds of students. The school did not sanction the protest and warned students that they would be marked truant if they left the campus.
A bilingual Latino newspaper in San Diego supported the suspension.
“Students suspended at Torrey Pines HS over ‘We [heart] I.C.E. by Real Americans’ posters. Critics say it’s unfair after anti-ICE protests,” read the post by La Prensa.
RELATED: 100 outraged community members denounce grade school teacher over 2-word pro-ICE post
Photo by Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“The difference: not loving ICE doesnt [sic] mean protesters are not ‘real Americans.’ This is divisive language. Being American means tolerating protests,” the outlet wrote unironically.
The school’s administration acknowledged emails from Blaze News but did not provide comment.
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Torrey pines high school, Pro-ice student suspended, San diego student suspended, Anti-ice protest california, Politics
Would the founders approve of US action in Iran?
Americans remain deeply divided over the U.S.-Israel-initiated conflict in Iran, with opinions ranging from stark disapproval to strong support.
But Glenn Beck wonders how our founding fathers would have viewed America’s current military conflict with Iran. To dive into this query, he invites Professor Jonathan Turley, author of “Rage and the Republic,” to “The Glenn Beck Program” for an in-depth constitutional breakdown.
Glenn cuts straight to the heart of the matter: “How would the founders have looked at the situation in Iran?”
Turley doesn’t mince words: “They would not have looked kindly upon it.”
“The framers divided the power over war between Congress and the president, and so under Article 2, Section 2, the president is declared the commander in chief, but under Article 1, Section 8, Congress alone may declare war,” he explains. “So the framers wanted to make it difficult to go to war; they didn’t like foreign entanglements.”
However, since World War II, which was the last time war was formally declared, Congress has “evaded its responsibility” by passing vague resolutions, like Authorizations for Use of Military Force, Turley explains, and as a result, “The courts have largely deferred to the political branches.”
All considered, is President Trump acting within established authority?
“The answer is yeah,” says Turley. “I mean in the sense of the modern interpretation of the Constitution, not quite if you look at the original intent.”
“There’s no question that [President Trump] is using the authority used by past Democratic presidents, including President Barack Obama,” he adds, criticizing the hypocrisy of Democrats like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), who defended Obama’s unilateral 2011 military attack on Libya but are now “expressing horror” at Trump’s similar decisive action against Iran.
Glenn adds that under the current War Powers Resolution, presidents can engage in hostilities for up to 90 days but only if they properly notify Congress to start the clock — yet “not a single president has ever filed the paperwork” and “Congress doesn’t insist,” so “the clock never starts,” allowing indefinite unilateral actions without real checks.
Turley notes that the War Powers Act has long been contested by presidents of both parties as infringing on Article II authority, and while the standard 60 days would likely suffice for this limited operation, efforts like Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine’s resolution to force an immediate halt carry little force due to a built-in exception allowing responses to imminent attacks.
“Every attack now is imminent. Every attack we launch is preemptive. I mean, the Iranian government is firing missiles randomly at other countries. So the question is, what does this resolution even do?” he asks.
“And can’t the president veto this anyway?” asks Glenn.
“Right,” says Turley, although he speculates that resolution likely won’t pass.
“The interesting dynamic here on the Hill is to see how many of these members are willing in the middle of combat operation to say, even symbolically, even though it’s sort of a paper tiger, ‘You better stop now,”’ he adds.
Turley then highlights another layer of congressional dysfunction amid the conflict: the ongoing partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
He warns that it would be “breathtaking” if Democrats maintain their blockade on funding Homeland Security and TSA — demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement reforms amid the ongoing partial DHS shutdown — right “in the middle of this conflict” with Iran.
To hear more of Glenn and Turley’s conversation, watch the video above.
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Glenn beck, Beck, The glenn beck program, Jonathan turley, Us iran conflict, Iran, Middle east conflict, Blazetv, Blaze media, Founding fathers, Founders, Constitution
Noem is OUT — and Trump has named her replacement
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) would replace Kristi Noem as the homeland security secretary beginning March 31.
‘Markwayne will make a spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security.’
Trump made the announcement shortly after several news reports claimed he was considering firing Noem and weighing a replacement.
Rumors first surfaced in early December that Trump was unsatisfied with Noem and considering her removal. However, the White House was quick to dismiss the reports as “total Fake News,” stating that the secretary was “doing a great job implementing the president’s agenda and making America safe again.”
Those claims resurfaced this week, after NBC News reported on Thursday that Trump “has grown frustrated” with Noem and was “unhappy” with her testimony before House and Senate committees, citing anonymous sources.
The news outlet stated that Noem told senators that Trump had signed off on a $220 million Department of Homeland Security ad campaign encouraging illegal aliens to self-deport.
“The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave or we would detain them and remove them and they’d not get the chance to come back to America the right way,” Noem told lawmakers during Tuesday’s hearing.
When asked to clarify whether Trump had asked her to run the advertisements, Noem replied, “We had that conversation, yes.”
RELATED: Republican senator melts down over Trump administration’s deportations
Markwayne Mullin. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
However, a White House official rejected that claim.
“POTUS did not sign off on a $220 million dollar ad campaign. Absolutely not,” a White House official previously stated.
Trump announced that Mullin would take over for Noem in a post on social media on Thursday afternoon.
RELATED: Government-paid traffickers? Noem testifies Biden administration funded abuse of migrant kids
Kristi Noem. Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump wrote. “The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”
He commended Mullin for “a tremendous job representing the wonderful People of Oklahoma,” describing the senator as a “MAGA Warrior.”
“Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” Trump continued. “As the only Native American in the Senate, Markwayne is a fantastic advocate for our incredible Tribal Communities. Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN. Markwayne will make a spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Neither the DHS nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment.
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News, Kristi noem, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Markwayne mullin, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Politics
Britney Spears reportedly arrested on suspicion of DUI
Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night in Ventura, California, on suspicion of driving under the influence, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing online records from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
The California Highway Patrol arrested the 44-year-old pop star around 9:30 p.m., the Times said, adding that she was booked around 3 a.m. Thursday.
It wasn’t Spears’ first run-in with the law.
Her car was impounded, and she was released just after 6 a.m., the paper said.
The Times said Spears’ occupation was listed as “celebrity.”
Spears is scheduled for a May 4 hearing in Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura, the paper said.
The Times said it wasn’t able to immediately reach a Spears’ representative Thursday morning.
It wasn’t Spears’ first run-in with the law.
She was arrested in 2007 in Los Angeles County not long after her divorce from Kevin Federline was finalized, the paper said, adding that Spears was charged with misdemeanors for an alleged hit-and-run and driving without a license.
The Times said the case was dropped in October 2008 after a jury split 10-2 in favor of acquittal.
Variety said Spears recently sold her song catalog.
The outlet also said Spears in January wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post that she “will never perform in the U.S. again because of extremely sensitive reasons.”
More from Variety:
Spears was released from her 13-year conservatorship in 2021 and has largely kept a low profile since then. The pop superstar has not released an album since 2016’s “Glory,” and she last performed live in the U.S. in 2018, when she closed out her “Piece of Me” tour with a show at the Formula One Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. She had been scheduled to return to Las Vegas in 2019 for a second residency, “Domination,” but she ultimately postponed the show and stepped away from performing indefinitely.
Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, was in control of the pop star’s assets during the conservatorship. Following his daughter’s release from it, Jamie Spears in December 2022 asked, “Where would Britney be right now without that conservatorship? And I don’t know if she’d be alive.”
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Arrest, Britney spears, California, Dui, Entertainment, Pop singer, Ventura county, Pop star, Celebrities, Crime
Mamdani walks back popular progressive campaign promise to pedestrians
In the latest about-face in his nascent term in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has reversed course on a promise he made about traffic in the Big Apple.
The New York Post reported Thursday that Mamdani has walked back his commitment to enact a “daylighting” policy at intersection crosswalks.
‘We always take a holistic approach, and we really look at the unique conditions and context of each location.’
Daylighting is a policy designed to ban parking near pedestrian crosswalks, allowing for safer travel by foot throughout the city.
Mamdani publicly declared in February that “we deserve to have all [intersections] daylighted,” according to the Post.
RELATED: LGBTQ champion Zohran Mamdani faces backlash over photo with ‘anti-homosexuality’ Ugandan lawmaker
Photographer: Amir Hamja/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
However, Mamdani’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn indicated Tuesday that this promise was more talk than walk.
“Daylighting is definitely one important tool but as a few of us have mentioned earlier, we always take a holistic approach, and we really look at the unique conditions and context of each location,” Flynn told the city council.
The Post previously reported that enacting a universal daylighting policy across the city would be extremely costly for New Yorkers. The city would lose an estimated 300,000 parking spots and could foot a bill as large as $3 billion.
“The Mamdani administration is committed to following the data, listening to the evidence, and working with City Council and our experienced advocacy partners to expand daylighting effectively and maximize street safety across the five boroughs,” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said in a statement to the Post.
This isn’t the first campaign promise Mamdani has reneged on.
Last month, Mamdani brought back homeless encampment sweeps during a massive snowstorm that swept the city. Mamdani had promised to ditch the policy during his campaign. At least 19 people died outdoors during the cold snap on Mamdani’s watch.
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Politics, Mamdani, Zohran mamdani, New york city, Daylighting, Mike flynn, Department of transportation, Big apple, Dot commissioner mike flynn
‘I made a mistake’: Tony Gonzales admits to affair with staffer who set herself on fire
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas has officially admitted to having an affair with a former staffer who tragically committed suicide by setting herself on fire.
The scandal-ridden Republican owned up to the affair in a Wednesday interview with Joe Pags the day after receiving a lackluster electoral outcome in his Texas primary. Gonzales has notably maintained the endorsement of prominent Republicans, including President Donald Trump.
‘There’s a whole lot more to the story.’
“I made a mistake,” Gonzales said. “I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith. And I take full responsibility for those actions.”
“Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel,” Gonzales added. “I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever.”
In newly released text messages Gonzales allegedly exchanged with former district staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, Gonzales seemed to pressure Santos-Aviles to “send [him] a sexy pic” and to name her “favorite position.” Santos-Aviles appeared to push back on his advances, saying he was “going too far boss.”
When asked about the sexually explicit text messages released by Santos-Aviles’ widower, Adrian Aviles, Gonzales declined to confirm their validity. Gonzales instead deferred to the House Ethics Committee, which recently launched its investigation into the Texas Republican’s conduct.
“I’ll let the investigation play out and share all the different details on it,” Gonzales said. “I will say there’s a whole lot more to the story.”
Gonzales is now facing a primary rematch with gun YouTuber Brandon Herrera, who narrowly secured more votes than the incumbent, forcing the two rivals into a runoff.
Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Herrera has been a harsh critic of Gonzales’ personal and political record, saying, “2 weeks ago this man called me a liar because I accused him of committing the heinous acts that he just publicly admitted to doing,”
“Is there anyone left who still trusts this now objectively proven liar?”
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Tony gonzales, Brandon herrera, Regina santos-aviles, Adrian aviles, House republicans, Texas primary, 2026 primary, Republican primary, Donald trump, House ethics committee, Ethics investigation, Politics
Only one Democrat joins GOP as Senate rejects effort to halt Trump’s Iran strikes
The Senate on Wednesday stood firm against a Democrat-led effort to undermine President Donald Trump’s military campaign against the Iranian regime, voting to block a war powers resolution that would have forced a halt to U.S. hostilities without new congressional approval.
The measure, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and co-sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), sought to mandate the removal of U.S. armed forces from the conflict unless Congress issued a formal declaration of war. The measure failed 47-53.
‘Keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel.’
The high-stakes vote came just five days after the launch of Operation Epic Fury, a joint U.S.-Israeli military operation that has successfully targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile sites, and senior leadership. The vote fell largely along party lines, with nearly all Republicans voting to allow the commander in chief to proceed with the mission without new legislative constraints.
In a notable break from his party, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote against the measure, siding with the Republican majority. Fetterman has been a vocal defender of the strikes.
RELATED: Iranian state TV hijacked with Trump, Netanyahu message urging citizens to ‘seize control’
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“Our commitment to Israel must be absolute and I fully support this attack,” Fetterman said. “Keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel. We must provide whatever is necessary — military, intelligence, weaponry — to fully back Israel in striking Iran.”
Pennsylvania’s other senator, Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), also voted to block the resolution.
Sen. Paul was the sole Republican to support the measure, maintaining his long-standing position on congressional oversight of military action.
The Senate’s action follows the start of the conflict over the weekend, when U.S. and Israeli airstrikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The operation has hit more than 150 locations used by the regime to threaten the region. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. bases, including a strike in Kuwait that killed American service members, according to U.S. Central Command.
RELATED: ‘LOADED with fraud’: Mamdani announces $425 million child-care handout — open to illegal aliens
Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Operation Epic Fury a “resounding success” and emphasized that the administration is acting to protect U.S. interests and allies from imminent Iranian aggression.
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Politics, Iran, Democrat, Senate, Senate republicans, Senate democrats, Vote, Voting
Democrat voter in Islamic-like face cover wins unopposed GOP primary for North Carolina Senate: ‘I’m converted as a Republican’
A North Carolina woman used the sign-off “Transforming the Masses” when responding to questions about her candidacy.
LaKeshia Mashonda Ruddi Alston was the lone Republican candidate for North Carolina state Senate District 22 and will face Democrat Sophia Chitlik in the midterms in November.
‘[W]hen I was a child, I thought as a child.’
Alston ran unopposed and shocked readers by posing for her board of elections photo wearing a niqab-style head cover, revealing only her eyes. The headdress is typically part of an Islamic garb for women. However, the Facebook account for the Durham County Board of Elections posted a second photo that showed her face, saying that Alston requested an additional photo.
Despite running as a Republican, Alston has reportedly voted for Democrat candidates in the past, twice in 2012 and once in 2024. She told the Daily Caller News Foundation that her party switch came as she matured.
“[W]hen I was a child, I thought as a child, but as I matured. I’m converted as a Republican. In order to form a more Perfect Union,” Alston said in an email.
The outlet noted that Alston signed her email with the phrase “Transforming the Masses.”
RELATED: Former MLB star wins GOP primary to replace Chip Roy in Texas
Photo by Durham County Board of Elections
With a population of about 200,000 as of 2020, the district has been dominated by Democrats for more than a decade. This started with Democrat Mike Woodard winning in 2012 by more than 30 points. He remained in office until he was unseated by fellow Democrat Chitlik in the 2024 primary. Chitlik won the general election by almost 72 points over a Libertarian opponent that year.
Although Republicans had previously controlled the district, a redistricting in 2011 changed the map to include the more Democrat-leaning Durham County.
Durham County has voted for Democrats all but twice in presidential elections as far as history can tell, dating back to 1920, when the county voted for Democrat Governor of Ohio James M. Cox.
In 1928, the county voted for Republican President Herbert Hoover, then in 1972 for Republican President Richard Nixon. The county has not voted red since and last supported Vice President Kamala Harris with over 144,000 votes, giving President Donald Trump just under 33,000 votes.
RELATED: Trump to intervene in Texas’ Senate race, anoint his preferred candidate
Readers on Facebook were not shy about letting their opinions be heard in reaction to Alston’s photos, with one calling the candidate a “devil in disguise.”
A woman named Ronda said that “changing parties seems to be the trend” in North Carolina, while Shana pointed out that the candidate is a “‘Republican’ who has been voting Democrat since 2008.”
Elizabeth added, “Any face cover should be banned,” and 23 people agreed with her sentiment.
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News, North carolina, Senate, Republicans, Islam, Muslims, Democrats, Voting, Politics
Bill Clinton claims in Epstein testimony he has never lied under oath
Newly released footage from the House Oversight Committee has put Bill and Hillary Clinton back under the microscope — this time over their past associations with Jeffrey Epstein.
During his testimony, former President Bill Clinton was shown photos of himself with the convicted sex offender.
“They actually decided to show him some of the photos of his time with Epstein during the testimony,” Gonzales says, pointing out that “he is having quite the time reliving his past experience with Epstein.”
In the clip of Clinton, he appears to be taken by the photos, staring at them while his lawyer tries to grab them and take them away from him. He takes them back and looks a little longer.
“That is not, to me, not the vibes you want to be giving when you’re being questioned about your involvement with a known sex trafficker of young girls. Probably not the look that you want to give,” Gonzales says.
Clinton also went on to claim while under oath that he never has lied while under oath, Gonzales says.
“Very interesting when we just revisit some of Bill Clinton’s very famous history,” Gonzales comments.
“First question I have for you, Mr. President, have you ever lied in a deposition?” Clinton was asked during his testimony.
“No,” Clinton responded.
“Have you ever lied while under oath?” he was asked again.
“No,” he responded again.
“I think what he meant was, ‘No, I’ve never lied while under oath, except for the time that I was impeached for lying under oath about having an affair with my intern Monica Lewinsky,’” Gonzales says.
“Do you really reach a point in your life where you actually forget that you were a president who was impeached for lying under oath about the affair that you had in the Oval Office with your staffer?” she asks. “Like, I feel like that would have to be the very last memory to go.”
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10-year-old Florida boy arrested, perp-walked on camera over kill list, threatening to bring gun to elementary school: Cops
A 10-year-old Florida boy was arrested and perp-walked on camera after threatening to bring a gun to his elementary school and leaving a kill list in his classroom, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office on Wednesday posted video of the boy in handcuffs, being led out of a patrol vehicle and being walked to a holding cell.
‘This is another reminder to talk to your kids and teach them this lesson before they learn it in the juvenile justice system.’
Officials said the student wrote in permanent marker on a Pride Elementary classroom whiteboard that he’d bring a gun to school.
The student then left a “list of people who i’m gunna kill” in a desk, officials said.
The sheriff’s office said the boy is in custody on a felony charge of making a written threat to kill.
Blaze News is not naming or showing the face of the suspect due to his age.
Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office video screenshot
The parents of the three students named on the list were notified, officials said.
The sheriff’s office said the boy told deputies he didn’t mean it, and his parent indicated that he doesn’t have access to any firearms.
Officials said, “That doesn’t change the consequences of his actions. This is another reminder to talk to your kids and teach them this lesson before they learn it in the juvenile justice system.”
Late last month the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said officers arrested a 12-year-old girl after she posted online a “detailed manifesto” about carrying out a mass shooting at a middle school due to bullying.
Blaze News over the last several months has reported about Florida authorities accusing teens — and those even younger — of making similar threats and arresting them. What’s more, law enforcement agencies frequently have released the names and images of the young suspects, a decision that hasn’t made every observer happy.
In February, a pair of 15-year-olds were arrested after being accused of threatening to shoot up high schools, police said.In late October, an 11-year-old girl was arrested after writing a “kill list” at her desk at school, police said. Then just two weeks later, an 11-year-old boy from the same school district was arrested after allegedly creating a “kill list” at school, police said.Also in October, a Florida sheriff’s office came under fire for posting 9-year-old male’s mug shot on Facebook after his felony arrest for allegedly bringing a knife into his elementary school.Just a week prior, that same sheriff’s office said a 10-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a third-degree felony, after bringing a pocketknife to school and threatening another student. The sheriff’s office posted the suspect’s name and mug shot.
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Florida, Kill list, Gun threat, Volusia county sheriff’s office, Arrest, Perp walk, Elementary school, 10-year-old boy, Making a written threat to kill, Crime
Sen. Sheehy steps in: ‘Unhinged’ activist’s arm snaps as Capitol Police intervene in Senate hearing gone wild
A Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing regarding the readiness of the U.S. military was interrupted on Wednesday by a bone-breaking scuffle.
Brian McGinnis, a Marine veteran and firefighter who is running as a Green Party candidate to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, noted in a video taken before the hearing that he intended to ask lawmakers “why they’re going to send our men and women to harm’s way when our elected officials said that there would be no world war.”
Wearing his Marine Corps dress uniform, McGinnis interrupted the hearing with a condemnation of America’s involvement in Iran, shouting, “No one wants to fight for Israel,” and, “Stand up for America.”
‘This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one.’
The Capitol Police said in a statement obtained by the Daily Montanan, “This afternoon, an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing, put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officer’s attempts to remove him from the room.”
In footage captured by CBS News’ Alan He, multiple USCP officers can be seen forcefully ejecting McGinnis from the room with the help of Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy (R), who can be seen grabbing McGinnis’ leg and trying to pull him out the door.
Sen. Sheehy, a decorated Navy SEAL veteran who partook in numerous combat deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, said in a statement, “Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protestor from the Armed Services hearing. He was fighting back. I decided to help out and deescalate the situation.”
RELATED: Lindsey Graham feverishly demands ANOTHER Middle Eastern conflict: ‘Fly with Israel’
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Footage of the struggle published by Code Pink, a leftist anti-war group co-founded by former Democratic political activist Jodie Evans, shows McGinnis insert his arm through one doorway while the rest of his person is being forced through an adjacent doorway.
Sheehy can be seen wrapping his arm around McGinnis’ shoulder in an apparent effort to free the protester’s arm — now trapped by the closing second door — while the officers tug at the protester’s legs.
A loud snap can be heard, prompting an onlooker to yell, “His hand! His hand!” and another individual off-screen to utter, “Oh my God.”
Amid groans from onlookers, a man off-screen yells, “The senator broke his hand! A sitting U.S. senator just broke the hand of a Marine.”
Upon realizing that McGinnis’ arm was indeed stuck, the officers momentarily stopped pulling to help Sheehy dislodge the broken limb.
When asked whether his hand was OK, McGinnis said, “No, it’s not.” He later noted on X that his arm was broken.
While being escorted out of the building, McGinnis — who married a Palestinian and volunteered in 2024 for the pro-Palestinian “Freedom Flotilla Coalition” — shouted, “Free Palestine! From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, Palestine will be free!”
The USCP confirmed that the protester was treated for an injury and now faces three counts of assaulting a police officer and three counts of “resisting arrest and crowding, obstructing, and incommoding for the unlawful demonstration.”
Sheehy noted on X, “This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one. I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence.”
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Protest, Code pink, Brian mcginnis, Tim sheehy, Senate, Military, Iran, War, Anti-war, Intervention, Iranian, Army, Marines, Marine corps, Foreign entanglements, Palestine, Politics
What ‘democratic socialism’ really means to young voters
Like a highly contagious mind virus, democratic socialism is spreading fast among young Americans. The numbers, the polls, and the election results all point in the same direction: A growing share of the next generation is not just flirting with socialism — it is warming to it.
One poll from late 2025 found that nearly 60% of Americans ages 18 to 24 — and well north of 50% ages 25 to 29 — said they would support a democratic socialist for president in 2028. That support even included about a quarter of self-identified Republicans and 42% of moderates.
America needs a return to proper free-market economic policies — and a cultural renewal that treats liberty not as a slogan, but as a birthright worth defending.
Recent local elections reinforce the point. Democratic socialist mayors on both coasts — Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle — won close to 80% of the youth vote in their respective races.
Plenty of institutions deserve blame for this trend. Public schools. Teacher unions. Academia. Legacy media. Social media. Hollywood. Parents too. Each has played a role in shaping how young Americans see the country and what they think “fairness” requires.
But focusing on those inputs misses the deeper driver.
A troubling share of young Americans believes the economy is rigged against them.
In late 2025, the Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports conducted polls on how young Americans view the U.S. economy and the American dream. The results were bleak. Only about 2 in 10 young Americans said they expect their economic future and personal happiness to be better than their parents’. Roughly three-quarters said housing costs have reached a “crisis level,” and they believe their odds of owning a home are shrinking by the day.
That despair didn’t come from nowhere.
This generation came of age in the aftermath of the Great Recession. They watched corporate bailouts become routine and “crony capitalism” harden into a feature of the system. They watched politicians arrive in Washington broke and leave rich, often by playing stock-market games that would end careers in the private sector.
They grew up under the shadow of foreign wars that burned trillions on “nation-building” while much of America decayed. They watched the dollar lose value as Washington normalized out-of-control spending, money printing, and debt accumulation. They watched manufacturing shrivel while leaders prioritized globalism over domestic production, dimming the prospects for secure, high-paying jobs.
RELATED: The party that made life more expensive wants credit for noticing
Photo by Andres Kudacki/Getty Images
Put it together, and you get a generation primed to reject the system — and open to any ideology that promises to punish the winners and rewrite the rules.
Layer on the post-9/11 surveillance state, and the picture darkens further. Many young Americans have never lived in a country where privacy and liberty felt secure. They’ve grown numb to constant monitoring and to platforms that decide what they see, share, and believe. It should not surprise anyone if their commitment to free speech, property rights, and personal liberty weakens under that pressure.
That is why diagnosing the rise of democratic socialism requires more than blaming schools or Hollywood. Those are symptoms and accelerants. The cause is deeper: America has drifted away from too many of the principles that made it a beacon of freedom and a land of opportunity.
If that is true, the remedy won’t come from scolding young Americans for their politics. It will come from proving, again, that free markets can build a stable life, that honest work can buy a home, and that the rules apply to the powerful as well as the weak.
To reduce the appeal of democratic socialism, America needs a return to proper free-market economic policies — and a cultural renewal that treats liberty not as a slogan, but as a birthright worth defending.
Democratic socialism, Young americans, Zohran mamdani, Katie wilson, Great recession, Affordability, Socialism, American dream, Us economy, Opinion & analysis, Gen z, Voters, 2026 midterms, Jobs, Housing, Employment
Shock report reveals Gen Zers and Millennials dislike AI ads more than ever — as executives double down
Awareness of the long-standing generalized anti-AI sentiment has turned a corner, as according to an advertising insider report, consumers, particularly the all-important younger cohorts, are so strongly biased against the use of AI that it’s threatening the proverbial bottom line.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau, which, according to its website, “empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy,” released a report in January stating that “82% of ad executives believe Gen Z/Millennial consumers feel very or somewhat positive about AI-generated ads, nearly double the 45% of consumers who actually feel that way. This gap has widened from 32 points in 2024 to 37 points in 2026.”
Even if it wasn’t holy, it was understandable. Now it comes off to more and more people as direct humiliation.
A real surprise, apparently, to executives. Despite the fact that many industries are all-in on refactoring human society with AI, it would appear that number crunchers and pollsters didn’t seriously consult those among us who prefer joy and satisfaction outside the world of lines on graphs trending upward.
Odd because the sheer quantity of articles in major publications with “AI” and “backlash” in their headlines is enough for casual pattern recognizers to take notice without even trying.
Last week, the over-the-top “luxury” brand Gucci, whose handbags double as status symbols, dropped an AI ad campaign on Instagram. The company seemed shocked by the vehemently negative response: slop, insulting, AI trash.
In fact, the reaction was so uniformly bad that, once again, many articles were written by the usual zombified outlets — the BBC, The New York Times, TIME — wherein the “backlash” is treated with almost effete surprise!
Virtually every governmental and social institution is in some red-flashing-light level of excessive decay, mostly due to an overemphasis by Western culture on the aforementioned lines going up, instead of the old standards like social, physical, and psychic well-being. But still, the consensus is shocked that young people don’t want to trade meaningful work, relationships, and systems of value for simulations thereof.
RELATED: First AI film hits theaters — viewers call for boycott: ‘This is complete garbage dude’
Photo by Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Aside perhaps from the gargantuan name-brand AI companies (ChatGPT, Anthropic, Grok) buoyed by immense government funds, corporations in general, having bought the whole of the cost-savings promises of AI deployed into every level of their profit ventures, are getting nervous.
Another finding in the IAB study? “Some sentiment gaps between ad executives and consumers have actually grown wider. For instance, the percentage of consumers calling a brand “innovative” by using AI dropped from 30% in 2024 to 23%, while advertiser belief that AI signals innovation increased from 40% to 49%.”
There’s more going on. While the Gucci ads deploy a gouache collage of aesthetic dead-ends and seem to depend on their meaning for long-gone social fabric that the “creatives” don’t likely know how to manipulate anymore to drive sales, the real offense — the one that caused regular Instagram scrollers to stop and take a swipe at Gucci — is that the ads scream cheap.
The visual dexterity, the meaningless symbols, the absence of real human beings depicted in this once-aspirational fantasyland? It all adds up in the gloss to being chintzy. Unsurprisingly, this is insulting to people who have to, and want to, work for a living.
It’s one thing to create an interesting visual or audio piece while using lo-fi or primitive tools. This can impress. We know human ingenuity was expended. We appreciate the thrift, the bending of rules and the use of creative constraints to open new dimensions. And it’s possible to make ads without real people. All of this has been done before without the upheaval, without the counterassault from consumers. But consumers knew in those situations that their human-based feedback loop — strive, achieve, display — still had some social capital. Even if it wasn’t holy, it was understandable. Now it comes off to more and more people as direct humiliation.
“Bleak days,” the BBC laments, “when Gucci can’t find a real human Milanese grandmother to wear an outfit from 1976.”
Here is the double-edged issue with slop: Gucci consumers are purchasing from the striver/acquisition point of view, so their mental frame requires there be careful social and financial stratification to navigate. Even if the navigation is only an illusion. No one buys Gucci and becomes the hyper-interesting and windswept person they see in the advertisements. Of course, Gucci ad makers know and knew this, but the cost-saving opportunities with AI were too much to resist. The deal is broken.
Tech, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Ai slop
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine shipment hijacked, prompting manhunt, 6-figure bounty
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine pouch company has announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a multimillion-dollar shipment of product that was reportedly hijacked in Southern California.
ALP Supply Co., the brand Carlson launched in 2024 with Turning Point Brands, noted on Wednesday that the shipment contained roughly 378,000 tins of the nicotine product and was headed for a warehouse in Kentucky.
‘Redistribute their booty.’
While tracking data initially indicated that the truck was progressing eastbound toward its destination, “communication was suddenly lost,” ALP said. Investigators are looking into whether the vehicle’s location system was modified to provide false positioning data.
The company — which stressed that the delay of its product was temporary — claimed that the driver of the missing truck had “presented what looked like legitimate credentials at pickup, but those documents have since been determined to be fake.”
The Fullerton Police Department told TMZ that a report was taken with regard to the hijacking on Feb. 23.
ALP — short for American Lip Pillow — claimed in a release that it has been working closely with law enforcement authorities and has been in contact with the FBI.
RELATED: Newly revealed documents back Tucker Carlson, Roger Stone’s take that Nixon was undone by a ‘coup’
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Blaze News has reached out to the FBI for comment.
“We know what it feels like to want an Alp so badly that you could hijack a truck full of it. But come on. That’s illegal,” Carlson said in a statement. “We’re going to find the people who did this and redistribute their booty. Alp for the people.”
Amid wild speculation about the motivation of the hijacker and a deluge of related memes, the company shared a playful, AI-generated video with a ’90s action-movie aesthetic in which Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — all sporting mullets — discuss the heist, with Kennedy warning that “you’re going to f**king die” if you steal someone’s ALP pouches.
ALP noted that its $100,000 reward is also good for tips of “credible information” leading to the conviction of those behind the hijacking.
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Crime, Alp, Nicotine, Tucker carlson, Theft, Thieves, Manhunt, California, Los angeles, Hijacking, Hijacker, Politics
Stellantis just blew $26 billion on bad EV bet
Stellantis is facing a financial reckoning that should send a warning across the global auto industry.
After betting that the electric vehicle transition would move faster than consumers were ready to follow, the company is now reporting a staggering $26.3 billion net loss for 2025 — driven largely by roughly $30 billion in write-downs tied to scaling back parts of its EV strategy.
As recently as 2023, some workers received nearly $14,000 in profit-sharing payouts. This year, they received nothing.
For a company that was profitable just a year earlier, the reversal is dramatic. Stellantis’ experience highlights the risks of building product strategies around aggressive electrification timelines shaped by government policy and optimistic forecasts rather than actual consumer demand.
Stellantis, the Amsterdam-based automaker formed in 2021, oversees 14 brands, including Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot, and Citroën. With that kind of global footprint, its strategic decisions ripple across workers, suppliers, investors — and ultimately car buyers.
Electric slide
The company’s 2025 financial results show how quickly those bets can unravel. Net revenue totaled $181.1 billion, down 2% from the previous year. But the real damage appears on the bottom line: a $26.3 billion net loss replacing what had been a $6.5 billion profit the year before. Free cash flow turned negative by roughly $4.9 billion. Dividends were suspended, and profit-sharing checks for UAW workers disappeared.
As recently as 2023, some workers received nearly $14,000 in profit-sharing payouts. This year, they received nothing. When automakers absorb losses of this scale, the financial pressure eventually spreads through the entire system — from employees and suppliers to vehicle pricing and investment decisions.
Chief Executive Officer Antonio Filosa acknowledged the miscalculation directly, saying the results reflect “the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition.” That unusually candid admission reflects a broader reality across the auto sector: Automakers, regulators, and investors collectively assumed EV adoption would accelerate faster than consumers, charging infrastructure, affordability, and political support would allow.
‘Dare’ or truth
The roots of the problem trace back to Stellantis’ “Dare Forward 2030” strategy under former CEO Carlos Tavares. The company set ambitious goals: 100% EV sales in Europe and 50% EV sales in the United States by 2030. To reach those targets, Stellantis invested billions in EV platforms, battery supply chains, and factory conversions.
Those investments were encouraged — and in some cases effectively required — by government mandates and regulatory timelines. But the strategy assumed that consumers would move to EVs at roughly the same pace as policymakers hoped.
That assumption proved overly optimistic.
EV adoption has grown, but not at the pace many projections predicted during the peak of electric vehicle enthusiasm. High vehicle prices, uneven charging infrastructure, rising insurance costs, and concerns about resale value have slowed adoption. As those concerns mounted, both Europe and the United States began easing some regulatory pressure tied to EV mandates.
When policy expectations change, automakers are left adjusting billions of dollars in investments that were made under very different assumptions.
Misery loves company
Stellantis was not alone in this miscalculation. Across the industry, automakers have announced more than $55 billion in EV-related write-offs. Reporting from the Financial Times estimates the broader financial toll of scaling back electrification plans — including restructuring costs and canceled programs — has reached roughly $65 billion. Ford alone has taken about $19 billion in charges connected to its EV reset, while General Motors and Volkswagen have also booked major write-downs.
Even in that context, Stellantis’ losses stand out. The company recorded about $25.9 billion in one-time charges, including nearly $20 billion tied directly to electric-vehicle programs, along with roughly $4.8 billion in warranty costs and other restructuring expenses. Those charges reflect a broad reset of the company’s strategy as Stellantis scrapped certain electric and plug-in hybrid models, revised production plans, and shifted investment back toward internal combustion and hybrid vehicles.
Buyers wanted
For consumers, these strategic resets matter because powertrain choices shape vehicle availability and pricing.
In North America, one of the clearest signals of Stellantis’ shift is the return of the 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine. That move reflects continued demand for traditional powertrains, especially in high-margin truck and performance segments where buyers prioritize capability, reliability, and price over electrification targets.
In Europe, Stellantis is folding diesel and mild-hybrid gasoline options back into several models. Instead of betting exclusively on battery electric vehicles, the company is moving toward a broader powertrain strategy that includes EVs, hybrids, gasoline, and diesel options.
That shift reflects what many consumers have been saying throughout the transition: They want choices that fit their budgets, driving habits, and infrastructure realities.
RELATED: Hemi tough: Stellantis chooses power over tired EV mandate
Chicago Tribune/Getty Images
Smooth travels ahead?
Despite the enormous write-downs, there are early signs of stabilization. During the second half of 2025, after Filosa began unwinding elements of the prior strategy, Stellantis reported approximately $93.3 billion in revenue for the July-December period, a 10% increase year over year. Vehicle shipments rose 11% during that timeframe.
The company still reported an adjusted operating loss of roughly $1.6 billion during that period, but improved shipment volumes suggest the recalibrated strategy may be gaining traction.
The crisis did not develop overnight. It grew from several assumptions: that EV demand would rise steadily, that battery costs would fall fast enough to make EVs profitable, and that regulatory pressure would remain constant.
Instead, the transition has proven far more uneven. EV sales remain heavily dependent on subsidies, battery supply chains still rely heavily on China, and charging infrastructure remains inconsistent across many markets. When incentives shrink or economic conditions tighten, EV demand can slow quickly.
Workers feel the pain
For workers, the consequences are immediate. Because Stellantis posted a loss, UAW employees will not receive profit-sharing payouts this year. Across the Detroit Three, the average payout is about $6,200 — roughly 40% lower than prior averages near $10,000. For Stellantis workers, the payout is zero.
The broader lesson is not that electric vehicles have no role in the future. They do, and EV technology will continue to evolve.
But the assumption that internal combustion engines would disappear rapidly now looks unrealistic. Consumers ultimately determine the pace of change, and their priorities remain clear: price, reliability, convenience, charging access, and resale value.
Filosa has framed Stellantis’ reset around restoring “freedom to choose” across electric, hybrid, gasoline, and diesel technologies. That message reflects a shift toward building vehicles that align with real-world consumer demand rather than political timelines.
The cost of the earlier miscalculation is now measured in tens of billions of dollars. Whether the reset ultimately strengthens Stellantis or simply marks the beginning of a smaller product lineup will depend on how effectively the company balances innovation with consumer priorities.
In the end, the lesson is simple. Automakers can design new technologies and governments can set policy goals, but consumers still decide what succeeds in the marketplace.
Stellantis, Ev mandate, Auto industry, Lifestyle, Hemi, Ford, Gm, Volkswagen, Hybrid, Align cars
Opportunity or surrender? Louisiana becomes flash point in battle over carbon storage initiatives.
Louisiana has become a flash point in the battle over carbon capture and storage technology.
As its name suggests, CCS entails the capture, transportation, and storage of carbon dioxide produced by industrial activity or power generation.
‘CO2 capture and storage will provide additional revenue sources.’
Long employed as a means of enhancing oil recovery, this technology has been embraced in various sectors as a way of simultaneously trapping greenhouse emissions and pacifying climate alarmists who regard carbon dioxide as an existential threat.
Just as liberals can be found on both sides of the issue, conservatives too are divided over whether to encourage CCS in Louisiana, one of only six American states approved to regulate all underground wells.
Republican supporters of the technology have touted it as a job-creating, industry-preserving means of fostering energy security, boosting the state’s global competitiveness, and attracting business to Louisiana — claims echoed by ExxonMobil in its Feb. 16 announcement of expanded CCS operations in the state.
Some of the most outspoken opponents of CCS in the Bayou State are, however, MAGA-minded politicos and residents unwilling to accept the potential fallout of what they regard as a threat to private property rights and an act of surrender amid a decades-long climate alarmist campaign against American energy.
In defense
Gov. Jeff Landry (R), among the lawmakers who have encouraged CCS in the state, noted in an Oct. 15 executive order barring consideration of new applications for carbon dioxide injection projects — an order purportedly aimed at enabling the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy to catch up on previously received petitions — that:
Louisiana’s industrial infrastructure “positions the State as a national leader in CO2 capture and storage, capable of seamlessly integrating CO2 capture in existing processes, enhancing America’s energy competitiveness globally”;”CO2 capture and storage will extend Louisiana’s presence in energy by creating 17,000 potential new jobs, investing seventy-six billion dollars in potential capital for communities throughout Louisiana from announced projects alone, and driving economic growth on a scale unimaginable for Louisiana”; and”CO2 capture and storage will provide additional revenue sources for local governments, has the potential to create a more diversified economy for Louisiana, and continue to serve as a catalyst for multiple industries, while sustaining and enhancing existing industries.”
According to Louisiana’s economic development agency, $23 billion in CCS-related capital investments in the state has been announced to date and 4,500 jobs are projected to result from CCS-related projects.
RELATED: Out of order: Courts shouldn’t rule based on ‘trust us’ science
Photo by F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cameron Henry, the president of the Louisiana Senate who has expressed concern about recent legislation that would empower local communities to reject CCS projects, has similarly pitched carbon capture as the way toward greater prosperity.
‘Another industrial experiment with serious risks.’
“It is something that is required for industry coming to Louisiana. Louisiana has to come to grips with that and find a happy medium to it,” Henry said.
Liberal aversion
CCS has historically enjoyed a great deal of support from the American left.
The Biden administration, for instance, committed billions of taxpayer dollars to advance CCS initiatives, while the Democratic Party endorsed increasing taxes on fossil fuel power generation where the technology is employed.
While supported by powerful elements of the left and identified by the United Nations as a way of helping to limit so-called “global warming,” some leftists who would apparently prefer to see the fossil fuel industry further humbled and America dependent on unreliable energy sources have exhausted a great deal of time and resources fighting the technology’s implementation.
Antagonistic groups in the Bayou State, which reportedly leads the nation for proposed CCS projects, appear to have drawn funding from out-of-state liberal organizations such as the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and a climate fund started by billionaire Jeff Bezos.
‘The only people that want it are the ones who are trying to abscond with these federal tax credits.’
Form 990 tax returns indicate that Healthy Gulf, one of the New Orleans-based activist organizations that has criticized and campaigned against CCS initiatives in Louisiana, has received a fortune in recent years from the Rockefeller Family Fund and at least $1 million from the Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc.
Healthy Gulf has in turn dumped grant money into other Louisiana-based anti-CCS outfits including the Lake Maurepas Preservation Society, which campaigned against Air Products’ proposed injection of trapped emissions a mile underneath the eponymous lake.
Healthy Gulf is hardly the only outfit opposing Louisiana CCS initiatives that has received money from out-of-state liberal groups.
Rise St. James touts itself as “a faith-based grassroots organization championing environmental justice and opposing the expansion of petrochemical industries in St. James Parish, Louisiana.”
The group has characterized CCS as “another industrial experiment with serious risks” and advocated against it — not just in Lake Maurepas but across the whole of Louisiana.
This supposedly “grassroots organization” notes on its website that it is financially backed by the Earth Island Institute, a mammoth international organization based in Berkeley, California.
The Earth Island Institute, which has itself received funds from various climate alarmist groups such as the leftist Tides Foundation, has pushed anti-CCS literature, warning about possible leaks and a potential “pipeline-building frenzy” in the event that the technology becomes more common.
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, a New Orleans-based nonprofit, even appeared to imply that CCS initiatives are racist, claiming that the technology is “one of the biggest threats to communities of color being harmed by the polluting industries that exacerbate our climate crisis and by the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be protecting them.”
The DSCEJ also joined Healthy Gulf and the Alliance for Affordable Energy in an unsuccessful legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant Louisiana primary enforcement authority over a class of underground carbon storage wells.
As with the other groups, the DSCEJ has received funds from deep-pocketed, out-of-state liberal organizations.
The Bezos Earth Fund — described as a “$10 billion commitment from Jeff Bezos to fight climate change” — reportedly gave the New Orleans-based activist group $4 million in September 2021. From 2020 to 2023, the DSCEJ received over $700,000 from the San Francisco-based Tides Center and Tides Foundation.
Healthy Gulf, Rise St. James, and the DSCEJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
Conservative backlash
While some of those who oppose CCS appear to be liberals, both inside and outside Louisiana, there is substantial resistance among local conservatives — including Republican lawmakers.
State Rep. Chuck Owen (R), one of the more vocal critics of carbon sequestration initiatives, told Blaze News, “People who live in the country where they’re trying to dump this stuff do not want it.”
“I polled this twice. This is an 85% ‘no’ issue in my district,” said Owen, whose district includes the cities of Anacoco, DeRidder, Leesville, and Rosepine. “The only people that want it are the ones who are trying to abscond with these federal tax credits, knowing that it’s not going to do any good.”
Owen emphasized that much of the resistance is about property rights — about Louisianans’ aversion to having “private companies coming in and taking their land for money.”
A group called Save My Louisiana, comprising mostly residents and elected officials in Owen’s neck of the woods, filed a lawsuit in November over state laws enabling the expropriation of private property for pipelines transporting carbon dioxide.
The lawsuit, which was supported by Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming (R), alleges that laws permitting the use of eminent domain for CCS are unconstitutional and that such statutes turn Louisiana “into a national waste dump site.”
“No one’s against oil and gas. We want oil and gas to succeed here. But how do you equate the burial of carbon waste with energy?” Owen said.
Daniel Turner, founder of the American energy advocacy group Power the Future, told Blaze News, “The entire thing is just absolute bulls**t. The process, the money, the subsidies, the metrics, the goals, the technology — the entire thing is a farce.”
“Once we start playing this game that carbon dioxide is bad and needs to be captured, you are playing the left’s game,” added Turner.
When asked about the burgeoning industry promise of generating thousands of jobs in Louisiana, Turner said, “We’re going to create fake jobs for a fake problem and then wonder why we are further in debt.”
The disagreement over the value of CCS appears to be coming to a head in Baton Rouge, where lawmakers have advanced numerous bills aimed at hamstringing CCS initiatives.
“These bills are not anti-industry,” state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) said in January after filing a trio of bills targeting CCS. “They are pro-property rights, pro-local government, and pro-Louisiana families. Economic development should be built on voluntary agreements — not forced land seizures — and local communities deserve a seat at the table.”
Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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‘Boots on the ground’ would turn Iran into Iraq on steroids
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Donald Trump told the New York Post this week. Referring to Iran, he added that while he probably doesn’t need them, he would deploy ground troops “if necessary.”
With those words, the administration cracked open a door most American strategists hoped was bolted shut by half a century of hard lessons.
Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure.
Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign, has already delivered what hawks in Washington have wanted for decades: the decapitation of Iran’s top leadership. The strikes that killed Ali Khamenei were meant to trigger a rapid collapse of the Islamic Republic. Early evidence points to something messier — and more dangerous.
The fundamental flaw in the administration’s logic is simple: Removing a leader does not remove a regime.
Khamenei is dead, but the Iranian state remains. A temporary leadership council has already formed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still holds the monopoly on force. Worse, strikes that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians — including more than 100 children in Minab — handed the regime a fresh narrative. Instead of a unified, pro-Western uprising, many Iranians are responding with nationalist anger and a predictable desire for revenge.
That reality should end any talk of “finishing the job” with a ground invasion.
Modern American military history is a graveyard of campaigns that began with overwhelming tactical success and ended in strategic failure. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. In each, the “mission accomplished” moment became the prologue to years of insurgency, political collapse, and sunk costs.
In Vietnam, the U.S. won battles and lost the country because it could not produce a legitimate political alternative.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, trillion-dollar investments in nation-building crumbled once American security guarantees lifted.
If the United States shifts from air strikes to a ground presence in Iran, it will collide with problems it cannot solve.
Start with geography and scale. Iran is a country of nearly 90 million people, with mountainous terrain that functions as a natural fortress. A serious occupation would require a troop commitment the American public will not support — and it would likely exceed anything seen in Iraq.
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Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Then comes the legal and constitutional crisis at home. Trump has prosecuted this war without a formal declaration — and without meaningful consultation with Congress. That bypasses the democratic safeguard meant to force elected representatives to weigh blood and treasure.
Escalating to a ground war on such a foundation invites a domestic political firestorm, fracturing the country at the very moment unity matters most. Disregard for constitutional norms does not merely weaken the rule of law; it undermines the legitimacy of the mission.
Next, look at the internal politics of Iran. The administration appears to hope Iran’s grievances can be leveraged against the regime. History suggests the opposite. Foreign boots on the ground almost always unify a population against the invader. An invasion would turn a struggle for internal reform into a war of national liberation and hand hardliners their best recruiting tool.
The anger in Tehran is not necessarily pro-regime. It is a primal response to foreign violation.
Finally, consider the regional fallout. The “Axis of Resistance” has already begun responding — drone activity, base attacks, threats to shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Six U.S. service members have already died in retaliatory strikes. A ground invasion would expand the conflict into a full regional war, drawing in proxies and potentially major powers into a fight Washington cannot afford and cannot control.
A ground invasion would not be brief, as Pete Hegseth has suggested. It would become a generational entanglement.
Washington can destroy targets. It cannot manufacture a stable, pro-Western political order at the point of a bayonet. Ignore the failures of the past and you guarantee a disaster in the future.
Iran, Operation epic fury, Boots on the ground, Iraq war, Trump, Ayatollah ali khamenei, Israel, Ground invasion, Opinion & analysis
