blaze media

Bill Gates’ double affair admission: Glenn Beck says he could be the first American jailed over Epstein — here’s why

Following the Department of Justice’s third and largest Epstein file dump, Bill Gates admitted to having two affairs — one with a Russian bridge player and another with a Russian nuclear physicist.

These confessions might land the tech billionaire in hotter water than the kind that results from typical cheating scandals, Glenn Beck says.

“This is not about infidelity,” he says, but rather about a potential “honeypot operation.”

Gates’ unfaithfulness is neither a “private” nor a “personal” matter, Glenn says, because the bridge player, Mila Antonova, whom Gates admitted to having an affair with, “was financially assisted by Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes.”

“According to the DOJ released emails, Epstein attempted to use that relationship to pressure Bill Gates. That’s not gossip. That’s leverage,” he explains.

But there’s another layer that paints an even more compelling picture: “Antonova, the Russian bridge player, she was photographed with Anna Chapman,” who was “part of a Russian spy ring that was rolled up by the FBI in 2010,” Glenn says, adding that Chapman is “the daughter of a former KGB officer [and] deported intelligence asset.”

The suggestion that these two women are “hanging out” sounds both “dangerous and strategic,” he argues.

“Because Bill Gates is not just one of the wealthiest men in the world. His foundation influences global health policy. … His technology platforms, even worse, are embedded in our government systems. He has real relationships tied to military and federal contracts,” Glenn declares. “He’s not a private citizen. He is a national security interest and risk.”

He then paints a hypothetical but chilling picture: “A wealthy American titan in a compromising relationship with a foreign national, facilitated or financially entangled by a convicted blackmailer with global connections.”

He asks pointedly: “If you were running an intelligence service in Russia, what would you call that? I would call that a honeypot operation.”

“If you were looking for leverage over someone with global vaccine influence, agricultural control, networks, data, infrastructure access, advisory roles across all kinds of administrations (his systems are tied into our Pentagon and everything else), you don’t need proof of wrongdoing. You’d only need the threat of exposure,” he adds.

“This is the convergence of Russian nationals, Epstein leverage attempts, … known intelligence-linked figures, government and military influence, and financial entanglement. That’s a very wicked brew.”

While none of this suggests that Gates is guilty of “espionage” or was “knowingly part a foreign plot,” it does suggest something else, Glenn says: “He was in the position where someone could apply pressure.”

Given Gates’ connections to government, military, the Pentagon, and AI development, the mere possibility that he was susceptible to foreign manipulation could be cause for prosecution, Glenn suggests.

Since similar scandals have already rocked powerful people in Europe and elsewhere, he wonders if accountability is finally “coming home to America,” where thus far, no elites have faced criminal charges or prosecution for ties to Epstein.

Will Gates be the first?

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

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Bill gates, Gates epstein, Epstein files, Gates affairs, Blazetv, Blaze media, Epstein 

blaze media

Trump’s Iran week: The hidden wins you didn’t hear about

The daily news cycle around President Trump moves at a pace that buries accomplishments most presidents would tout for weeks. Several developments in late February fit that pattern. The headlines fixated on Iran, but other wins piled up in the background.

On February 22, CNBC reported that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 5.99%, its lowest level since 2022. A year earlier, the rate sat at 6.89%. That drop matters because mortgage rates drive affordability. When rates fall, more families can buy a home, refinance, or move without swallowing a punishing monthly payment. Home ownership still anchors the American dream for millions of households, and lower rates expand access.

In Trump Time, one week can carry the weight of a season.

The news barely lingered there.

Last week, Trump delivered his State of the Union address and used it to draw a bright line between two governing priorities. He framed the choice in plain language: “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.” Republicans applauded. Democrats looked unsure how to respond, caught between the demands of their activist base and the public’s expectation that government first serve citizens.

A CNN poll afterward reported that 54% of respondents supported the president’s priorities and 64% reacted positively to the address. Trump notched another measurable win in a week already packed with news.

On Thursday, another development landed. Netflix dropped its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. That retreat looked like a setback for a streaming giant that critics often associate with a “woke” programming agenda. It also reopened the field for Paramount and Skydance to pursue a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.

If corporate maneuvering eventually places CNN under new ownership more sympathetic to Trump, the political and media implications could prove significant. Even the possibility signals a shift in leverage and influence.

RELATED: CNN’s biggest nightmare is one step closer to finally coming true

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Democrats, meanwhile, appeared to watch one of their own tactics rebound.

For years, many on the left and in legacy media downplayed Jeffrey Epstein’s world, treated the story as politically inconvenient, or framed it as tabloid excess. When Democrats and their allies tried to turn Epstein-related scrutiny into a weapon against Trump, the blowback reached prominent Democrats as well.

Reports circulated about possible testimony and renewed scrutiny for figures long treated as untouchable. Bill Clinton again faced questions about his proximity to Epstein and Epstein’s network. And, once again, the former president insisted: “I know what I did and, more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”

Then Iran swallowed the rest of the news.

As reports surfaced about a rare gathering of Iran’s senior leadership, Trump authorized a combined strike with Israel that killed more than 40 prominent Iranian figures. Iran has served as a major sponsor of terrorism for decades and has threatened the United States and Israel openly, with chants of “Death to America” and repeated vows to destroy Israel. The regime’s proxies and partners have fueled violence across the region and beyond.

RELATED: Iran, China, and Trump’s ‘art of the squeal’

Photo by Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images

Trump framed the strikes as a turning point and spoke directly to the Iranian people afterward. He argued that past presidents refused to do what he did and urged Iranians to seize the moment. His message carried a theme he returns to often: American strength, applied decisively, can change the calculus abroad and open space for change at home in hostile regimes.

Democrats struggled to land on a coherent response. Many want to condemn the Iranian regime. Many also want to attack Trump for acting against it. That tension keeps surfacing in real time, especially when Trump moves quickly and forces the opposition to choose between moral clarity and partisan reflex.

Trump’s week ended with a dramatic shift in the U.S. posture toward Iran and the broader Middle East. At the same time, the mortgage story, the polling bump, and the corporate shake-ups showed how much else moved beneath the Iran headlines.

In Trump Time, one week can carry the weight of a season.

​State of the union, Warner bros, Iran, Democrats, Epstein, Mortgage rates, Affordability, Netflix, Israel, Terrorism, Opinion & analysis, War, Regime change, Donald trump, Media bias, Cnn 

blaze media

Supreme Court sides with Catholic parents against California on student gender notification — for now

The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily handed California a major loss related to the liberal state’s scheme to advance the transgender agenda in public schools.

In a 6-3 ruling on Monday, the court reinstated a lower court order that blocked the California notification policies after the Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit at the behest of a group of Catholic parents.

‘California built a wall of secrecy between parents and their own children, and the Supreme Court just tore it down.’

California state law prohibits rules requiring teachers and other school officials to notify parents if their children change their personal pronouns or gender expression at school.

The Thomas More Society issued a statement praising the temporary ruling.

“The Court found that California’s secret transition regime likely violates parents’ rights under both the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the statement reads.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta argued in favor of the California policies in 2023.

“By enacting policies that forcibly out students against their own wishes, school districts violate these fundamental protections and risk breaching their obligation to serve these and all students equally,” he wrote.

“Research shows that protecting a transgender student’s ability to make choices about how and when to inform others is critical to their well-being,” reads a statement from Bonta’s office, “as transgender students are exposed to high levels of harassment and mistreatment at school and in their communities when those environments are not supportive of their gender identity.”

RELATED: Two trans-identifying men file lawsuit against ‘dehumanizing’ Kansas law that invalidated their driver’s licenses

“No more can bureaucrats secretly facilitate a child’s gender transition while shutting out parents,” said Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Peter Breen.

“California built a wall of secrecy between parents and their own children, and the Supreme Court just tore it down,” he added. “This groundbreaking ruling will protect parents’ rights to raise their children as they see fit for years to come.”

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

​Supreme court vs california, Gender change notification, Public school gender changes, Thomas more society, Politics 

blaze media

‘American-made retribution’: US ‘suicide drones’ deployed against Iran are based on tech from Iranian drones used in Ukraine

The Pentagon said that Iran is getting pummeled by suicide drones using technology that Iran itself developed and used against U.S. allies, including Ukraine.

The U.S. attacked leaders and commanders of the Iranian regime in a joint operation with Israeli forces beginning Saturday morning. President Donald Trump said Monday that the operation was planned to last four weeks but that the military was prepared to continue “for as long as necessary.”

‘These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.’

“CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike — for the first time in history — is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury. These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution,” reads a statement from U.S. Central Command.

The LUCAS drone was developed by Arizona-based SpektreWorks and costs about $35,000 each, which is significantly less than other options.

The use of the Iranian Shahed suicide drones by Russia against Ukraine is one of the many reasons Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy endorsed the U.S.-led strike against Iran.

He also warned that the U.S. must act decisively against Iran or risk depleting military supplies.

“It is fair to give the Iranian people a chance to rid themselves of a terrorist regime and to guarantee security for all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran,” Zelenskyy said.

“It is important to prevent the war from expanding. It is important that the United States is acting decisively,” he added.

RELATED: Poll: GOP voters’ lukewarm support for Iran strikes significantly lower than past conflicts

Zelenskyy said Russia fired over 57,000 Shahed-style drones into Ukraine.

Trump also refused to rule out the possibility of U.S. troops on the ground in Iran.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” the president said.

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

​Suicide drones, Iran-made suicide drones, Us steals iran tech, Us israeli war on iran, Politics 

blaze media

Jason Whitlock blasts Megan Rapinoe’s Trump comments as ‘childish’

While a viral video of Kash Patel putting a call from President Trump on speaker in the locker room after the U.S. men’s hockey team’s historic win at the Olympics had Americans everywhere proud and celebrating, some Americans took it a little differently.

Former U.S. women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe criticized the idea of teams engaging with the president, suggesting that she never would have allowed him or Patel into a locker room during her leadership tenure.

“I can’t believe … how people have such a, like, a lack of self-preservation. But if you don’t think you’re in threat, then you’re not going to preserve. So they obviously didn’t think that having Kash Patel or having Trump on the phone was a threat, so they’re cool with it,” Rapinoe said on “A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe.”

“But that’s why you don’t put yourself in this position, because to have the president of the United States on the phone … you get yourself wrapped in this moment. So, for me, the choice point is, like, I would have never, as a captain or a leader on my team … I think that would have been clear to our staffs and to the larger organization and, like, support staff, those people would never been allowed in our locker room,” she continued.

“When did we divide the country so bad that we don’t even have the American backing — the support of America — to go to the Oval Office or to the president of the United States? I don’t remember any sports team denying —because of policy — going to the White House for America,” Coach J.B. tells Whitlock.

“Now, it’s because they hate this man so badly that they’ll put that over America. It blows my mind. I’m so shocked. I don’t hate nothing, Jason,” he adds.

“She might be the captain,” Steve Kim chimes in. “Who the hell made her the boss?”

“I don’t think Kash Patel or Donald Trump would want to come into that locker room. I don’t think they would watch your games. I don’t think they care enough. Let’s have some perspective. I think they care about certain sports or certain teams. Yours ain’t one of them,” he adds.

Whitlock isn’t impressed either.

“It’s so childish,” he tells J.B and Kim.

“It’s the president of the United States,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sharing, Free, Camera phone, Upload, Video phone, Video, Youtube.com, Fearless with jason whitlock, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Steve kim, Coach j.b., Megan rapinoe, Donald trump, Kash patel, Us mens hockey team, Olympics 

blaze media

Illegal aliens are getting commercial driver’s licenses — and Savanah Hernandez found out how

While BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales has pointed out many problems with both the legal and illegal immigration systems, there is one way immigration is affecting Americans that she does not believe is talked about enough.

“One of the ones that I don’t think anyone thought about that is now a big problem are these illegals getting commercial driver’s licenses and operating, you know, 18-wheelers, which is kind of a problem,” Gonzales says, pointing out a few recent tragic accidents caused by these illegal aliens that ended the lives of American citizens.

And Frontlines TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez is on the front lines exposing it.

“We ended up finding CDL schools located in places such as Ohio and Michigan that were advertising CDL programs in six different languages including Arabic, Somali, and Hindi. We found reviews of students written in broken English or sometimes in a completely different language stating that they were able to get their CDL in just 10 days,” Hernandez said in her TPUSA documentary on the subject.

“Videos of recent graduates were also posted advertising their new CDL certificates, oftentimes in different languages. And one school in Ohio was even offering free housing to people on TikTok, writing, ‘Ohio brother, we have house for stay for free,’” Hernandez reported.

“I have worked the most extensively on this project than I ever have on another project in my life because I really thought I was just going to ask the question, ‘How are illegals getting CDLs’ and get a simple answer,” she tells Gonzales.

“But what I uncovered was an [alleged] web of fraud so vast that we are talking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration relaxing regulations so that these migrants could open CDL schools more easily. We’re talking PPP loan fraud. We are talking, I mean, every single aspect of trucking being completely overrun by illegal immigrants or sometimes legal immigrants who are importing people in to undercut the American trucker and the American trucking business creating the unsafe environments that we have today,” she explains.

Before all the regulations were relaxed, there were about 2,100 CDL schools nationwide.

“After the FMCSA, which again is tasked with federal motor carrier safety, after they relaxed that, the CDL school jumped up to 32,000 nationwide,” Hernandez says.

“It’s crazy because these migrants have created an entire ecosystem, right? So basically, the way the migrants get over here is by being sponsored by a trucking company, which by the way, is also migrant owned. They get sponsored by a migrant trucking company. They go to a migrant CDL school. They work for said trucking company,” she continues.

There are also issues with DOT numbers, which “anybody can very easily get.”

“And what these migrants do is once they bring people over here, they have them apply for a DOT number. Now that DOT number is supposed to be registered to one trucking company. And let’s say your trucking company gets into a crash, right? You’re tied to that number, and all of your other trucks are tied to that number,” Hernandez explains.

“Well these migrants have registered sometimes to hundreds of DOT numbers and then they just switch out the number, and the trucks are on the road the same exact day as that trucking crash has happened,” she continues, adding, “and it’s why we are seeing such a huge uptick in these horrific semi crashes, specifically with illegal immigrants or migrants across the U.S.”

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.

​Free, Upload, Video phone, Video, Sharing, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Cdl truck drivers, Illegal truck drivers, Illegal immigrants, Illegal immigration, Savanah hernandez 

blaze media

Viral video shows Kuwaiti approaching US Air Force pilot who ejected from fighter jet

Video of an apparent interaction between a Kuwaiti citizen and a U.S. Air Force pilot who ejected from an F-15 fighter jet went viral online.

Three U.S. military jets were shot down from the sky in Kuwait, and reports initially assumed they were downed by Iran’s military forces. U.S. Central Command later indicated the incidents were the result of “friendly fire” from Kuwaiti air defenses.

‘You’re safe, you’re safe. … Thank you for helping us!’

The video shows the perspective of the Kuwaiti walking up to the soldier, who smiles as the man greets her and reassures her she is in friendly hands.

“You’re fine? Really? Do you need something to help you?” the man asks.

“No, I’m OK,” she replies.

“No problem, you’re safe, you’re safe. You’re safe,” he repeats. “Everything good? No problem.”

“Thank you for helping us!” he adds.

Video of the amicable interaction was posted to social media, where it went viral.

The U.S. military said six Air Force members parachuted from the jets to safety and survived. The fighters were a part of Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S. and Israeli military attack on Iran.

All of the aircrew are in stable condition, according to U.S. Central Command. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Dan Caine confirmed the incident during a press briefing on Monday.

“Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” reads a statement from CENTCOM.

Jeffrey Fischer, a former U.S. Air Force colonel, told Military.com that it was “nearly impossible for Iran to reach that far with an air defense missile and score a hit against a fighter jet.”

RELATED: Catch up on what’s happening in Iran: US jets shot down, girls’ school bombed, and more

The incident remains under investigation.

Kuwait was at the center of the controversial U.S. military intervention in the Middle East after Iraq invaded the small oil ally of the U.S. in 1990. President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, which eventually led to the 2002 invasion under George W. Bush after the 9/11 attack.

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

​Video of f15 fighter pilot, Us pilot in kuwait, Us attack on iran, F5 shot down friendly fire, Politics 

blaze media

Trump fired Anthropic for being ‘leftwing nut jobs,’ but the company’s AI is conquering the internet

An artificial intelligence company has one philosopher in charge of teaching its chatbot right and wrong, and now her views are everywhere.

That person is Scottish immigrant Amanda Askell, who holds degrees from Oxford and NYU. Askell is in charge of the moral leanings of Claude, the state-of-the-art chatbot from Anthropic — the leading AI company Trump banned from government work for “radical left, woke” politics.

Despite the White House crackdown, however, Anthropic’s products are dominating the tech sector and transforming the economic landscape, and Askell’s indoctrination of Claude is spreading through the internet as its powerful applications become an emerging industry standard.

‘Respecting others’ values can also be harmful. Navigating this is hard.’

Askell, formerly MacAskill from a previous marriage (since divorced), is the woman who teaches chatbot Claude how to be “a good person.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Askell is instructing the AI on how to read subtle cues and to avoid being a bully or “doormat,” and she compares her work to that of a parent raising a child.

To that end, X owner Elon Musk — who is indeed a competitor with his own xAI — criticized Askell as the company’s choice.

“Those without children lack a stake in the future,” Musk wrote in February.

Askell replied, “I think it depends on how much you care about people in general vs. your own kin. I do intend to have kids, but I still feel like I have a strong personal stake in the future because I care a lot about people thriving, even if they’re not related to me.”

Musk shut her down, though, stating that Askell cannot understand his point until she has a child, “anymore than someone who has never experienced true love can understand love.”

Askell is not shy about bringing her philosophical or political leanings into the public spotlight for open discourse, and although she displays obvious liberal leanings, it would be hard to label her as unwilling to engage in debate.

She has often discussed ethics and morals of AI bots throughout her time with OpenAI and Anthropic, publicly posing questions about navigating cultural viewpoints for a worldwide product.

“It’s easy to say you want technology to respect local values when those values are unobjectionable,” she wrote in 2021. “It’s harder when they include things like persecuting gay people. Imposing your values can be harmful. Respecting others’ values can also be harmful. Navigating this is hard.”

RELATED: Chatbots don’t run on magic. They run on your money.

Also in 2021, Askell praised the vaccination rate in San Francisco. Four years later, she seemed to call out some of the vaccine side effects:

“Getting a covid vaccine is like a surreal religious experience of chills and pain and fever dreams where you feel like you’ve lived a decade in a single night and gazed into something absurd and otherworldly. As a bonus, it also makes you less susceptible to covid,” she claimed.

She even referred to her dosage, albeit jokingly, as the “mind-bending RNA vaccine.”

Askell has also engaged in discussions surrounding reparations and said she supported governments paying off the debt for those of certain ethnicities.

“It seems more sensible for governments to underwrite some amount of debt from historically disadvantaged groups like black people in the US,” she claimed. “That way you try to prevent social harms from perpetuating without legislating the burden onto a specific industry.”

RELATED: The next fight over freedom will run through AI models

Askell has also frequently discussed immigration, and in addition to saying how difficult the process has been for her in the United States, she has noted an increased intolerance for illegal immigration from both sides of the political aisle.

“Legal and illegal immigration seem to basically be entirely different policy domains and I’m not sure why they get lumped together,” she wrote on X in late 2024. “Americans dislike illegal immigration but are surprisingly supportive of legal immigration.”

Askell’s views are now being disseminated throughout the world through OpenClaw (formerly known as Clawdbot), an open-source AI bot that users are downloading for their own use to do their own bidding. This can happen locally on one’s computer, be unleashed online, or both.

It is, to borrow a ’90s analogy, the first burned CD of the AI chatbot world, based on Anthropic’s Claude; and now it is everywhere, perpetuating Askell’s views.

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

​Return, Ai, Chatbot, Artificial intelligence, Emotional, Morals, Authority, Elon musk, Tech 

blaze media

Photo of suspect’s bloody undershirt in Austin attack suggests link to Iran

The image of the undershirt of the shooting suspect in Austin who was gunned down by police suggests that he may have been motivated by the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.

Two people were killed and another 14 were injured when 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne allegedly opened fire early on Sunday morning at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden. Police tracked him down and shot him to death, according to the Austin Police Department.

The sweatshirt is stained with blood.

Images of the suspect showed that he wore a hoodie proclaiming the wearer to be the “Property of Allah,” but another image after Diagne was taken down points to Iran for the possible motivation.

The image, obtained by CBS News and posted on social media, shows a gloved hand, likely of a police officer, lifting the suspect’s sweatshirt to show another shirt with designs from the Iranian flag. The sweatshirt is stained with blood.

FBI agent Alex Doran had previously said “there were indicators … on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.”

Police said Diagne first shot at patrons outside the bar from the window of his vehicle. He then parked his SUV and fired a rifle at unsuspecting pedestrians. Police fatally shot him after encountering him on East 6th Street.

A New York Times report indicated that a Quran was found inside the suspect’s vehicle. Investigators also found an Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders after conducting a search warrant on Diagne’s residence in Pflugerville.

CBS also reported that the suspect had dealt with mental health issues.

RELATED: ‘Painful days’: Iran kills US troops as Trump threatens decapitated Iranian regime

Diagne migrated to the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa in March 2000 and became naturalized in April 2013 after seven years of being married to an American citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He was originally from Senegal.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) made reference to the suspect’s alleged terror ties.

“To anyone who thinks about using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans or our critical infrastructure, understand this clearly: Texas will respond with decisive and overwhelming force to protect our state,” the governor wrote.

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

​Austin terror attack, Ndiaga diagne, Austin attack link to iran, Iran terror cell threats, Politics 

blaze media

Comic calls out Peter Dinklage: ‘You were in the most offensive movie to little people ever made’

A stand-up comedian says fellow little person Peter Dinklage is guilty of hypocrisy for criticizing Disney over the use of dwarf actors in the “Snow White” remake.

The box office bomb garnered few moviegoers but plenty of meme mockery when it launched amid constant denigration by its own star, Rachel Zegler.

‘It’s not up to his cultural standards of what a dwarf should do.’

Zegler turned off audiences by consistently explaining that the movie avoided an out-of-date story concept while progressing to a world where Snow White doesn’t need a man.

Heigh-ho, heave-ho

The movie’s universally reviled CGI seven dwarfs certainly didn’t help matters. Disney made the last-minute switch from live actors when “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage lambasted the studio for daring to use actual dwarfs.

The backlash from dwarf entertainers was swift, expressing outrage that the uber-successful Dinklage essentially got at least seven actors fired.

Now stand-up comic and actor Brad Williams is calling out Dinklage for giving himself a pass when it comes to allegedly “offensive dwarf roles.”

Speaking with podcaster Chris Van Vliet, Williams said that while he was jealous of Dinklage’s talent, his disdain for the actor comes from his obvious hypocrisy that no one is speaking about.

“[Dinklage] came out and was really angry that the live-action ‘Snow White’ movie was going to use real dwarf actors, and he thought that was offensive. If someone else gets work, that’s really offensive to him,” Williams began. “It’s not up to his cultural standards of what a dwarf should do to be a respected member of this business.”

‘Toes’ before bros?

Meanwhile, said Williams, Dinklage’s own resume includes “the most offensive movie to little people ever made”: the abysmal 2002 film “Tiptoes.”

RELATED: Woke ‘Snow White’ remake lost way more money than you could ever imagine

The film stars Gary Oldman as a dwarf, an effect achieved by the actor playing “on his knees” with his arms tied back.

“[He] doesn’t look like a little person at all,” Williams explained.

“You can’t be in ‘Tiptoes’ …. and then come out and try to take work from dwarf actors and say, ‘You can’t play the role of a dwarf because it’s considered offensive.’ To whom? To you?”

While joking that Hollywood is “not writing” many roles for little people, the comedian screamed that he would have loved to be in the movie.

“Yes! Literally the role I was born to play, genetically,” he laughed.

Shortchanged

Dinklage’s influence over the film did not please fellow dwarf actor Dylan Postl either, who said last year that Dinklage was putting at least a dozen little people out of work in what would have been the role of a lifetime.

“What gave him the voice for all of our community?” Postl asked.

Stuntmen and stand-ins could have been employed for the dwarf roles as well, Postl and Williams agreed.

RELATED: ‘It’s not right!’ Actor Dylan Postl blasts Disney for not casting dwarfs for ‘Snow White’ in the name of ‘progression’

Williams’ notion that “Tiptoe” “looks like a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch” was the exact sentiment shared by comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura when they brought up the film to one of its stars, Matthew McConaughey.

Watching the movie trailer for the first time more than 20 years later, McConaughey called it a “wild concept” that drew a lot of talent.

“We knew it was a soap opera,” he remembered, saying the cast was thinking, “If we straight-face this, it can be really funny and also might actually make you drop a tear.”

McConaughey and the comedians joked at the swing-and-miss nature of the trailer, agreeing that it “doesn’t look real.”

McConaughey assured the duo, however, that it was indeed a “real production” and he actually “showed up to work” to film that movie.

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

​Align, Movies, Film, Little people, Dwarfs, Dwarves, Snow white, Disney, Woke, Entertainment 

blaze media

Marriage meltdown: Mom-of-two teacher busted for alleged child molestation of student; reportedly loses custody of kids

A Georgia teacher has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a child, police said. The teacher — a married mother of two — is now facing a divorce filing from her husband, according to court records.

Danielle Weaver, a 29-year-old teacher in Leesburg, turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 18 after arrest warrants were obtained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 17.

‘During the course of the inquiry, investigators identified Weaver as the suspect and confirmed the alleged victim is a juvenile student enrolled at the school.’

Weaver was booked into the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Jail. She was later released on a $50,000 bond, according to WALB-TV.

Weaver was charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by employee, agent, or foster parent, according to a statement from the GBI.

Georgia law defines child molestation as:

When such person does any immoral or indecent act to or in the presence of or with any child under the age of 16 years with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of either the child or the person; or by means of an electronic device, transmits images of a person engaging in, inducing, or otherwise participating in any immoral or indecent act to a child under the age of 16 years with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of either the child or the person.

Under Georgia law, those convicted of a first offense of child molestation face a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in the statement that the Leesburg Police Department requested the GBI to “assist with an investigation into allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a juvenile student at Lee County High School” on Feb. 4.

The GBI statement noted that officers with the Leesburg Police Department responded to a request from Lee County High School administrators to investigate the allegations against the teacher.

“Investigators identified Weaver as the subject and identified the victim as a juvenile student at Lee County High School,” the GBI stated.

RELATED: Middle school teacher hit with 22 charges of sex abuse of 13-year-old — went from ‘mother figure’ to ‘monster’: Court docs

WALB obtained the following statement from the Lee County School System:

We, at the ninth-grade campus, can confirm that there is an ongoing legal investigation involving law enforcement concerning the alleged conduct of a former staff member who is no longer working for the district. Upon discovering the allegations, school and district leadership acted immediately to ensure the safety and well-being of students, as well as to conduct a thorough investigation.

The investigation into the potential teacher sex scandal is “active and ongoing,” the GBI said. Once the investigation is complete, “the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” according to the GBI.

According to court records reviewed by the New York Post, Weaver’s husband filed for divorce a day after her arrest. Weaver’s husband was granted temporary custody of their two daughters, according to court documents.

According to court filings, the husband is seeking a divorce because the marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office at 229-931-2439 or the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 229-759-6012. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).

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

​Teacher sex scandal, Teacher arrested, Bad teacher, Danielle weaver, Child sex crimes, Child molestation, Danielle weaver arrest, Danielle weaver teacher, Crime 

blaze media

Iranian state TV hijacked with Trump, Netanyahu message urging citizens to ‘seize control’

Iran’s state broadcaster was taken over on Sunday, according to reports, by what appeared to be a coordinated cyber operation airing messages from President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Iranians to rise up against their government.

The interruption struck feeds operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, including its widely viewed TV3 channel. Viewers inside Iran recorded the moment on their phones, and the footage quickly spread across social media.

‘Unleash the glorious and prosperous future that is close within your reach.’

Video circulating online show clips featuring Trump and Netanyahu accompanied by Persian subtitles calling on citizens to take action against the ruling regime.

The disruption reportedly lasted roughly 30 seconds before the signal cut to black and regular programming resumed.

RELATED: Israeli officials say Khamenei is dead. Update: Trump confirms.

Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

Video widely shared on X shows Trump at a podium wearing a “USA” cap, delivering remarks translated into Farsi. In the video Trump encouraged Iranian citizens to “seize control of your destiny” and “unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach.”

Netanyahu’s segment, according to clips and reposts, described what he called a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Iranians to change their government and cast off what he referred to as the yoke of tyranny.

Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed the intrusion or identified who was responsible. There has been no official statement from IRIB acknowledging the disruption.

Conservative commentator Nick Sortor wrote that Iran State TV had reportedly been hacked and was showing a message from President Trump calling on Iranians to rise up against the regime. His post quickly amassed tens of thousands of likes and more than a million views.

RELATED: ‘Painful days’: Iran kills US troops as Trump threatens decapitated Iranian regime

Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

Satellite monitoring groups and regional outlets reported the disruption based on viewer videos and feed anomalies, though independent verification of the source of the intrusion remains limited.

If confirmed as an external cyber operation, the intrusion would mark a rare instance of a foreign leader’s call for regime change appearing on a state-controlled television network inside an authoritarian country. During the Cold War, Western governments used outlets such as Voice of America to broadcast into countries behind the Iron Curtain. Interrupting a regime’s domestic television feed would represent a more direct form of information warfare than traditional cross-border broadcasting.

For now, Iranian state television has resumed normal programming.

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

​Politics, Iran, War, Trump, Hack, Trump administration, Isreal, Netanyahu 

blaze media

Shannon Bream’s hidden suffering — and what God is teaching her through it

Fox News anchor Shannon Bream may look like the perfect picture of health on the outside, but she’s no stranger to illness and pain.

In a battle that nearly broke her physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Bream tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey about a mysterious nighttime episode that soon became a years-long ordeal that left her desperate for answers — and ultimately relying on faith when medicine seemed to fail.

“Several years ago, I woke up one night with excruciating pain in one eye, and it was bizarre. I’m stumbling around the bathroom looking for eye drops, I try like a compress, a washcloth on it,” Bream tells Stuckey.

“And I thought, what have I done while I’m sleeping? This is so strange. And kind of thought of it as a one-off. And that went on for a while. A few weeks later, a few months into it, I’m now getting this pain in both eyes,” she explains.

Bream got to the point where she couldn’t sleep and suffered from double vision and migraines on top of the eye pain.

When she went to a specialist, she only got worse.

“I’m now to where this, as crazy as this sounds, I’m carrying eye drops with me everywhere, at the gym, from machine to machine, even in the shower. Like water touching my eyes hurt. And there was just this mystery about it,” she tells Stuckey.

“I go back to the specialist and say to him, ‘I’m really struggling. I can’t sleep’ … and I just told him, ‘I’m kind of barely holding on right now, and I need some answers.’ And he said to me, ‘You know, you’re very emotional.’ And I always describe it as feeling like I needed somebody to throw me a life preserver, and he threw me an anchor. And I just went under,” she continues.

And this helplessness led to Bream feeling as though it “would be so nice to just go to sleep.”

“The Lord knows how much I’m struggling, just to wake up in heaven. Like, just be done with this. I can’t fathom another 40 years of my life living like this. There were times I couldn’t fathom 40 seconds. I mean, I just was in such excruciating pain all the time,” she explains.

But before Bream gave up, she prayed for another doctor — and God provided.

“When he came in, he said, ‘Oh, I know what you have.’ He hadn’t looked at my eyeballs, had done none of that. And it was this weird hopeful feeling that I really had not had in almost two years at that point,” Bream explains.

“It’s called Map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy, which is a mouthful,” she tells Stuckey, noting that while there’s no cure, surgery and therapy the doctor provided were helpful.

“So much bittersweet there because it really deepened my faith in so many ways. Made me much more empathetic and just grateful to be on the other side of that,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

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

​Sharing, Camera phone, Video phone, Upload, Video, Free, Youtube.com, Relatable, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Shannon bream, Fox news, God, Religion, Faith, Conservative podcast, Christian, Christian podcast, Relatable with allie beth stuckey 

blaze media

‘Child killers, pedophiles, murderers’: DHS drops latest round of the ‘Worst of the Worst’ illegal aliens detained

Statutory rape, sexual abuse of a child, assault on a child causing death, and manslaughter are some of the criminal illegal aliens documented by the Deptartment of Homeland Security.

The Trump administration is continuing the mass deportation of illegal aliens despite challenges in court from illegal alien advocates and left-wing politicians.

‘ICE arrested child killers, pedophiles, murderers, and other despicable criminals across the country.’

“March 1, 2026, marked the 23-year anniversary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS is finally putting Americans first,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis in an email release to Blaze News.

“Over the weekend, ICE arrested child killers, pedophiles, murderers, and other despicable criminals across the country,” she added.

Among those on the list was Miglan Elvin Alvarado-Martinez from El Salvador, who was convicted for assault on a child causing death in Los Angeles, California.

Fernando Melendez-Ramirez was convicted for first-degree criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13 years old in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is an illegal alien from Mexico.

Alfonso Santillan-Sanchez was convicted for third-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment, and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon in Yakima, Washington. He is originally from Mexico.

Here’s a list of the other cases from the release:

Rigoberto Lopez-Aguilar, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for identity theft: using to avoid arrest and driving while intoxicated in Fauquier County, Virginia. Rogelio Cruz-Ramirez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for dangerous drugs, assault, and possession of a weapon across Texas.Diego Mejia-Canales, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras, convicted for three counts of possession of child pornography in Louisa, Virginia.

DHS has reported that 622,000 illegal aliens were deported from the U.S. in 2025, and it estimates that over two million other illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported during that time.

RELATED: Illegal alien transvestite prostitute jumped from 2nd floor while fleeing from police: report

Critics on the left have lambasted the administration over reports of detentions against some illegal aliens without violent criminal histories. DHS has pushed back with lists of the worst of the worst criminal aliens and also with government statistics.

In February 2026, DHS argued in a statement on social media that many illegal aliens deported without violent criminal convictions recorded in the U.S. have horrific convictions in other countries.

“We will stop at nothing to remove these public safety threats and Make America Safe Again,” the agency added.

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

​Worst of the worst illegal aliens, Criminal illegal aliens, Dhs report on illegal aliens, How many deported, Politics 

blaze media

‘Wild, Wild West’: Trump DOT moves to shut down 550+ ‘sham’ truck driver training schools after axing 6,500

The Department of Transportation has moved to shut down another 550 commercial driver’s license schools amid a new focus on crashes involving foreign nationals with U.S. non-domiciled CDLs.

‘For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions.’

The DOT announced on February 18 that it discovered the “sham CDL training schools” violated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety standards. The agency issued notices of proposed removal from the FMCSA’s national training provider registry.

The DOT found that some noncompliant schools used fictitious addresses and employed unqualified instructors who lacked the necessary licenses and permits for the vehicles they were teaching students to drive. In other cases, these schools provided training with vehicles that were not appropriate for the instruction being offered. Some training providers even admitted to investigators that they failed to meet their state’s requirements.

FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said, “If a school isn’t using the right vehicles or if their instructors aren’t qualified, they have no business training the next generation of truckers or school bus drivers.”

One of the schools on the DOT’s proposed removal list reportedly provided training to school bus drivers.

The DOT informed Blaze News that these schools have not yet been closed, as they are still within the 30-day period to either provide evidence of compliance with federal safety standards or indicate their intention to complete the corrective actions specified by the FMCSA. However, the agency stated that it has already closed 6,500 CDL training schools.

RELATED: 18-wheeler speeding the wrong direction on highway was driven by — you guessed it

Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images

The findings resulted from the FMCSA mobilizing over 300 investigators and conducting more than 1,400 on-site sting operations over five days. While 448 schools were issued a notice of proposed removal, 109 training providers voluntarily removed themselves from the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry.

An additional 97 training schools remain under investigation for similar alleged violations.

RELATED: ‘Couldn’t read … road signs’: Video shows trucker driving the wrong direction on highway — Sec. Duffy responds

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“For too long, the trucking industry has operated like the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes and nobody asks any questions,” DOT Secretary Sean Duffy stated. “The buck stops with me. Under President Trump, my team is cracking down on every link in the trucking chain that has allowed this lawlessness to impact the safety of America’s roads. American families should have confidence that our school bus and truck drivers are following every letter of the law and that starts with receiving proper training before getting behind the wheel.”

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

​News, Sean duffy, Department of transportation, Dot, Transportation department, Federal motor carrier safety administration, Fmcsa, Commercial driver’s licenses, Commercial driver’s license, Cdls, Cdl, Non-domiciled cdl, Non-domiciled cdls, Non-domiciled, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, Politics 

blaze media

Reporter for local CBS station goes viral after refusing to downplay pro-Trump rally

In a video posted to X, Vinny Martorano, a multimedia journalist for the Sinclair-owned Austin CBS affiliate, was handed a phone during a livestream at the Texas Capitol and shown what appeared to be a message from station management. According to the brief exchange caught on camera, the instruction was to avoid focusing on celebrations in the street, where demonstrators were chanting and thanking former President Donald Trump following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Martorano glanced at the message, looked back toward the crowd, and responded, “All right. Well, I am,” before continuing his report.

‘A large group of people in front of the Texas Capitol are celebrating the coordinated strike against Iran early this morning.’

The 30-second clip quickly spread across social media, racking up hundreds of thousands of views within hours. Many users framed the moment as evidence of media bias and praised Martorano for refusing to downplay a pro-Trump rally.

RELATED: UK prime minister reverses course, allows US use of British bases for strikes on Iran

Photo by Cheng Xin/Getty Images

The alleged text Martorano received didn’t stop him from reporting what was happening.

When the livestream continued, Martorano opened his on-air report by noting that reactions across Austin were mixed.

“There are a lot of mixed opinions across Austin about the joint attack between the United States and Israel against Iran that happened earlier this morning,” Martorano said. “Some people, like this group behind me, are thanking Trump and the United States government for following through with this attack against Iran, while other people across the city say there needs to be more peace in the Middle East.”

Martorano made additional posts, covering the celebrations.

RELATED: Israeli officials say Khamenei is dead. Update: Trump confirms.

Photo by Natalia Campos/Getty Images

“A large group of people in front of the Texas Capitol are celebrating the coordinated strike against Iran early this morning,” one of his posts read. “Some people I spoke with moved to Austin from Iran.”

Eric Daugherty, chief content officer of Right Line News, praised Martorano for his honest reporting despite alleged pressure to do the opposite. “THAT’S how you do it!”

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

​Iran, Pro-trump rally, Trump, Cbs, Reporter, Republicans, Politics 

blaze media

Catch up on what’s happening in Iran: US jets shot down, girls’ school bombed, and more

As events continue to unfold in the Middle East in the aftermath of Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, military leaders have provided some crucial updates to the events of this weekend.

The United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran at approximately 1:15 a.m. ET on Saturday morning, according to a U.S. Central Command post summarizing the first 24 hours of the operation. Since the beginning of the operation, the attacks have continued consistently, and Iran has repeatedly retaliated.

‘May Almighty God watch over you, and may His providential arms of protection extend over you. GODSPEED WARRIORS — and keep going.’

On the first day of the attacks, President Donald Trump confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a series of strikes on Saturday.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote. “This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”

RELATED: ‘Painful days’: Iran kills US troops as Trump threatens decapitated Iranian regime

US CENTCOM/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Trump announced on Sunday afternoon that he was informed that the U.S. had destroyed and sunk nine Iranian naval ships, “some of them relatively large and important.” He added that “we are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters.”

U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the territory in which the conflict has unfolded, released a press statement on Monday morning regarding “an apparent friendly fire incident” in Kuwait.

The brief statement reported that three United States F-15E Strike Eagles, flying in supporting of Operation Epic Fury, were “mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses” during an active combat situation involving Iranian aircraft. The press release confirmed that all six aircrew ejected, were safely recovered, and are in stable condition.

Another major event includes the bombing of a girls’ elementary school in Iran. According to the New York Times, at least 175 people, presumably mostly children, were killed in a bombing attack in southern Iran.

“The Minab school incident has no comparison with any other incident,” said Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, in a video posted on social media on Sunday. “Even in Gaza,” he added, there had not been such a high number of students killed simultaneously, and he called the attack “a unique and bitter incident,” according to the New York Times.

The attack does not appear to be intentional, however. The school, NYT reported, is adjacent to a naval base of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Further, the school was once connected to the naval base and was only disconnected from it in 2016.

On Monday morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave a direct message to the Joint Force. Hegseth said, in part, “We are not defenders anymore — we are warriors, trained to kill the enemy and break their will. History is watching. Be the force you swore to be: focused, disciplined, lethal, and unbreakable. We will finish this on America First conditions of President Trump’s choosing — nobody else’s. As it should be.”

“May Almighty God watch over you, and may His providential arms of protection extend over you. GODSPEED WARRIORS — and keep going,” Hegseth concluded the address.

The efficiency of the military operation has apparently even surprised the president.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday, President Trump detailed the success of the operation in decapitating Iran’s senior leadership. He explained that dozens of senior leaders were gathered for breakfast with the ayatollah, thinking it was safe because they were gathered in broad daylight, Fox reported.

“It was 49 leaders that were taken out. That was going to take four weeks, we thought, to get rid of the Iranian leadership. And it’s always, you know, if they hide, it’s a lot longer than four weeks. And they would have been hiding,” Trump told Baier. “We were shocked when we heard what was going on. We knew exactly what was happening and where.”

The operation, despite its apparent overwhelming success, has come at a tragic cost, however. U.S. Central Command reported that as of 7:30 a.m. ET, “four U.S. service members have been killed in action.” The number of deaths was previously three. “The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries.”

The identities of the fallen are being withheld at this time.

Additionally, trade is expected to be stalled due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S.-Israeli strikes. The Independent reported Sunday that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping channel for crude oil, fuel, and liquefied natural gas.

Euronews reported that natural gas prices have already surged on Monday in response to the conflict. Further, QatarEnergy announced that it has decided to stop LNG production at one of the largest natural gas fields in the world, North Fields, citing the conflict.

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

​Politics, Pete hegseth, Us military, Operation epic fury, Department of war, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Us centcom, Us central command, Qatar, Qatarenergy, Strait of hormuz, President trump, Donald trump, Iran war 

blaze media

Sara Gonzales infiltrates Democrats’ ‘People’s State of the Union,’ gets kicked out after trolling Joy Reid

In protest of President Trump’s State of the Union address, Democrats held their own “People’s State of the Union” featuring Joy Reid — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales was easily able to infiltrate it before getting kicked out after trolling the former MSNBC host.

“Now obviously, President Trump is the troller in chief, and I just try to learn from him like a young Padawan. And I just thought, you know what? I’m gonna do a little trolling as well,” Gonzales explains.

While there, Gonzales squeezed in some interviews with the audience — one of whom was dressed in an inflatable cat suit.

“So do cats, is their official position that they don’t like Donald Trump?” Gonzales asked the cat attendee.

“They definitely don’t like this guy,” the cat responded, holding a sign of JD Vance.

Another man was holding a sign that read, “MAGA is Putin’s tool.” When Gonzales asked how MAGA is Putin’s tool, the man responded “Figure it out. If you can’t figure it out, you’re part of the problem.”

“I mean, I feel like you would want to educate people as to exactly how that is,” Gonzales shot back, adding, “You don’t want to educate people? … How much you were paid to be here tonight?”

“Fifty bucks and a bottle of Crown Royal,” he answered.

“Really? Does George Soros pay that to you?” she pressed, before he yelled back, “Fascist maggot, get the f**k out of here.”

After briefly heckling Reid, who took the stage and immediately began celebrating Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Gonzales was kicked out of the event — missing a performance by Reid and another woman singing.

“You guys can hear the claps,” Gonzales comments, adding, “There’s nobody there.”

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.

​Free, Upload, Video phone, Video, Sharing, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Sara gonzales clips, Peoples state of the union, State of the union, Joy reid, Democrats, President trump, Jd vance 

blaze media

Michael Jordan shocks NASCAR by doing something no one has done in 77 years

Michael Jordan is now dominating a new sport, and has started off 2026 by breaking records.

Jordan’s 23XI racing team settled an antitrust lawsuit with NASCAR in December, after alleging the racing organization is a monopoly that uses unfair practices to decide which teams are guaranteed participation.

Now that Jordan’s team has acquired that guaranteed (chartered) status, they have hit the ground running and immediately set an all-time record in 2026.

‘It’s time for change.’

In the 77 years of NASCAR racing, no team has ever won the first three races of a season until Jordan’s 23XI team. Astoundingly, driver Tyler Reddick has won the Daytona 500, EchoPark Speedway, and the Circuit of the Americas to start the 2026 season, despite having zero first-place finishes in all of 2025.

“It’s time for change,” Jordan told Fox NASCAR reporter Jamie Little after the race. “Time for change, and the guys feel the same thing. Tyler came in with the most pressure, I guess. Everybody expected him — or he had a chance — to win three in a row, and that’s the hardest one to win. He kept to his strategy, and man, the guys put together a great car.”

Jordan gave all the credit to his team and drivers, saying, “I just put up the money. I’m just a competitor.”

“That’s what it’s about — winning.”

RELATED: Michael Jordan sues NASCAR but is dealt major legal blow just 2 days before his driver competes in Cup Series championship

Just under Reddick at the top of the standings is another one of Jordan’s drivers, Bubba Wallace. Wallace drives car No. 23, representing the number Jordan made famous during his time in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.

Reddick drives car No. 45, a number Jordan briefly wore when he came out of retirement in 1995, before switching back to 23 in the playoffs that year.

“It’s one race, but it was so important, so fitting that we were able to get three in a row and make history,” Reddick said after the race, per NBC Sports. “Just trying to remember everything that I knew was going to be important there at the end and just tried to minimize the mistakes.”

RELATED: It’s personal: Michael Jordan is more charitable than the media tells you

Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images

Jordan’s lawsuit, which included team Front Row Motorsports, challenged NASCAR’s charter program that consists of 36 charter teams who are guaranteed to compete in the field of 40 for each race.

The remaining four spots are decided by a rather complex system that differs depending on the race. In general, non-chartered teams typically compete in a qualifying race or win a spot based on their qualifying time.

As Fearless reported in 2024, Jordan’s side argued that the unpredictability of being an non-chartered team meant the possible loss of drivers and sponsors from week to week, while binding the teams to the specific series (NASCAR), its tracks, and suppliers.

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

​Fearless, Racing, Michael jordan, Nascar, 2026, Stock car, Daytona 500, Sports 

blaze media

Poll: GOP voters’ lukewarm support for Iran strikes significantly lower than past conflicts

A Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Sunday revealed that the joint U.S.-Israeli regime-change strikes are unpopular with most Americans.

While Republicans are apparently more supportive of the military campaign than their counterparts, the new poll found that such support is largely conditional and far less than for the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

The new polling is consistent with surveys conducted last month, which indicated that Americans were not particularly keen on the prospect of a new series of U.S. military strikes against Iran.

For instance, an SSRS/University of Maryland poll, conducted from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9, found that 21% of respondents favored an attack, 49% were opposed, and 30% were unsure. An Economist/YouGov poll found that 28% of respondents supported and 48% opposed the U.S. taking military action in Iran.

Despite strong public headwinds, the U.S. joined Israel in hammering the Shiite nation anyway, destroying numerous military assets and assassinating top Iranian officials over the weekend while sustaining numerous casualties.

According to the new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 27% of respondents said that they approved of the strikes, 43% signaled disapproval, and 29% said they weren’t sure.

‘We expect casualties.’

Broken down by party affiliation:

55% of Republicans approved of the strikes, 32% said they were unsure or skipped the question, and 13% said they disapproved;7% of Democrats said they approved, 19% said they were unsure or skipped the question, and 74% said they disapproved; and19% of individuals in the “other” camp said they approved, 38% said they were unsure or skipped the question, and 44% said they disapproved.

The support for the present conflict pales in comparison to American support for the Iraq war prior to and following the March 20, 2003, invasion.

A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News just prior to the invasion of Iraq found that 71% of Americans supported going to war. An Ipsos-Reid poll conducted in the two days leading up to the invasion found that roughly nine in 10 Republicans and half of Democrats supported going to war.

The Pew Research Center revealed days later that “support for the decision to go to war has remained steady at about seven-in-ten since the fighting began.”

A total of 56% of respondents said that Trump “is too willing to use military force to advance U.S. interests.” Nearly a quarter of Republicans — 23% — agreed with this statement.

RELATED: Columbia University distances itself from ‘death to America’ student group

US Central Command

The poll found that 42% of Republicans would be less likely to support the military campaign against Iran if it leads to “U.S. troops in the Middle East being killed or injured.”

U.S. Central command indicated that as of Monday morning, four American service members had been killed in action.

Six more service members were nearly killed on Sunday in an apparent friendly-fire incident in which three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles were shot down over Kuwait. CENTCOM noted that all six aircrew personnel “ejected safely, have been recovered, and are in stable condition.”

In an interview on Sunday with the New York Times, President Donald Trump discussed the casualties sustained so far in the conflict and suggested that there will likely be more.

“Three is three too many as far as I’m concerned,” Trump said. “If you look at projections — they do projections — it, you know, it could be quite a bit higher than that.”

“We expect casualties,” Trump added.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that 45% of respondents, including 34% of Republicans and 44% of independents, would be less likely to support the campaign if domestic gas or oil prices spiked.

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

​Polling, Poll, Iran, Iran strikes, War, Donald trump, Iranian, Tehran, Khamenei, Republican, Midterms, Foreign entanglements, Intervention, Regime change, Regime change war, Politics