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If only Ophelia had ditched the flowers and gotten herself a redwood tree, maybe she could have turned things around.

Such are the latest musings of pop’s most famous AP English student. Beware, all ye who listen here.

We have, in real time, watched Taylor Swift age but not grow. Her discography charts the elevation of emotional immaturity into an art form.

We weren’t surprised when a teenage girl struggled to control her emotions and thought that a boyfriend could save her. But to witness the “all grown up” version of that girl still in that same mental state is to feel a certain existential dread.

What we have in Taylor Swift’s “Life of a Showgirl” — her 12th studio release in a career spanning two decades — is a cautionary tale about a middle-aged woman in a perpetual state of arrested development. (Cue Ron Howard: “Hey, that’s the name of the show!”)

This new album earns an “explicit” label for bad words and sexual content. But the deeper problem is not the vulgarity of the body — it’s the vacuity of the mind. “Showgirl” is less a collection of songs and more a case study in what happens when emotional adolescence becomes a permanent condition. Swift is not merely immodest; she’s foolishly immature. Let’s look at a few songs to get the point across.

Get thee to a nunnery

Every Taylor Swift song addresses the same inexhaustible mystery: How does Taylor feel? At times the feelings are so big that Swift has no choice but to enlist the help of the kind of literary heavyweights they write CliffsNotes about.

In “The Fate of Ophelia,” it’s William Shakespeare’s turn. Swift casts herself as Hamlet’s doomed girlfriend — with a crucial revision: Instead of being undone by spiritual despair, Swift’s Ophelia is saved by romantic ecstasy. Why drown yourself in the river when you can dive into the sheets? It takes a certain talent to depict sexual yearning poetically without making the reader cringe in embarrassment. Shakespeare had it in spades; Swift emphatically does not.

Never mind: This is Swift’s vision, and her emotions are in the driver’s seat. But her peculiar vision of salvation through (finally) finding Mr. Right suggests serious spiritual depression rather than empowerment. Add to that her pride in thinking that referring to one of literature’s most well-known characters imparts intellectual depth, and you have no reason to think she will ever mature.

It’s not so much a feminist reimagining as it is the fan fiction of a sophomore lit major. In this story, Ophelia has some prurient advice for her would-be Hamlet, but more on that soon enough.

Feminists will hate that she wants to be saved by a man. Christian parents should warn their children that no man or woman can save you and that entering a relationship with that expectation will surely doom it to failure. They needn’t take Mom and Dad’s word for it; this is a lesson you can see play out again and again in Swift’s own songs.

Naughty ‘List’

While Swift’s “sex-positive” Ophelia has left her religious hang-ups behind, that’s not to say that “Showgirl” discards the numinous altogether. In “Wi$h Li$t” Swift prays to God for “a best friend who is hot.”

The chorus petitions for a husband, kids, and a basketball hoop in the driveway. Lest this vision appear too wholesomely straight and suburban, Swift punctuates it with the F-word. She’s also quick to acknowledge the listener’s weary skepticism: Haven’t we heard this all before? “I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not,” she confesses. Yes, Taylor — we noticed.

This moment of honesty is meant to sound self-aware; instead it reads like the notes of a 20-year group therapy session that never progressed past week one. It’s a chronicle of romantic exhaustion mistaken for wisdom.

In some sense she sees her need for salvation, and she recognizes it must be personal/relational, but she looks for it in sex and not from Christ. A teenager missing this is sad but understandable. A middle-aged woman still missing it is culpable ignorance.

But wait. What if this really is the relationship that’s going to save her? Swift makes her case in the next song.

RELATED: Taylor Swift isn’t a role model — and it’s time for moms to stop pretending she is

Todd Owyoung/NBC | Getty Images

Stiff competition

It is called “Wood.” And if that title prompts some involuntary Beavis-and-Butthead-style snickering, you are on Swift’s wavelength.

The listener, having already endured the desecration of “Hamlet,” must now endure the anatomical metaphor of the redwood tree. “He ah-matized me and opened my eyes,” she sings, before clarifying: “His love was the key that opened my thighs.”

Just ponder this. Swift has been wrong more than once before. But this time she’s right, because this time she has proof: his “redwood.” Is it too cynical to conclude that the only thing this guarantees is future musical torture — yet another song tearing down another false savior? It’s too bad the title “Timber” has already been taken.

These are the kinds of lyrics that make one nostalgic for the intellectual rigor of bubblegum pop. Somewhere, Shakespeare’s ghost is filing a restraining order. Hamlet’s father bids us adieu.

But Swift needs more than an editor to fix her songwriting. Her problem isn’t just bad taste — it’s a disordered worldview. In one sense, the title “Showgirl” is sadly apt: On this album Swift puts her spiritual emptiness on full display. She craves deep and lasting love, but years of seeking it in fleeting infatuations have left her soul in a deplorable condition.

Taylor’s (re)version

We have, in real time, watched Taylor Swift age but not grow. From the dear-diary teenage angst of her self-titled debut to these latest middle-age manifestos of sensual self-affirmation, her discography charts the elevation of emotional immaturity into an art form. Taylor and her emotions are always in the center. There is no self-mastery, no self-discipline, no lessons learned. Just doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.

Even the most dazzling career is a cautionary tale in the making. Just ask Madonna, still gyrating unhappily at 67. Parents may one day scare their daughters with the warning, “You better shape up or you’ll end up like Taylor Swift.”

Some will say I’m a grumpy old man. So be it. But Swift could stand to be a little more pessimistic herself. While she revels in her freedom to use bad words and talk about sex, she can’t see that it changes nothing; she’s still fleeing the same profound emptiness. We all are, and the more frantically we try to escape it on our own, the closer we get to the same grim destination: spiritual death.

It’s only Christ’s love that can save us. That Swift has persisted for so long on the same fruitless path is a testament to the allure of the world and the stubbornness of the soul. Perhaps instead of Ophelia, Swift should have drawn inspiration from another of Shakespeare’s indelible creations: the Fool in “King Lear.”“Thou shouldst not have been [middle aged] till thou hadst been wise.”

In the world of this album, however, wisdom is passé and self-absorption is a virtue. Swift gives us a spectacle with endless costume changes and a plot that goes nowhere. But even as we turn away in boredom, we should hold out hope that Swift will someday find a better ending. God’s love has confounded expectations many times before. Even the most jaded showgirl sometimes gets a second act.

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Now that President Trump has designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, unleashing the Department of Justice to investigate its funding networks, operations, and supporters, the mainstream media’s marching orders are: Revive the narrative that Antifa doesn’t exist.

Jimmy Kimmel, CNN’s Erin Burnett, and “The View’s” Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, among a long list of other media figures and Democrat officials, are claiming that Antifa is nothing more than an “imaginary” entity — a boogeyman used by the far right to vilify leftist activism.

Glenn Beck, however, has been sounding the alarm on the very real and insidious network that is Antifa. Last week, he aired the following episode exposing the hidden support and funding networks propping up the terrorist organization.

Soon after the episode dropped, Glenn was contacted by the FBI.

“Saturday I get a phone call: ‘The director would like to send over some agents to speak to you, Glenn,’” he recounts.

Shortly after, three FBI agents were sitting in his living room. Glenn called his head researcher, Jason Buttrill, to come over, and they spoke with the agents for two hours.

While the experience was “surreal,” it was also eye-opening.

“Let me just say this: Finally, we have an administration and an FBI director that is willing to go in deep — not surface, but deep,” says Glenn. “I can only imagine what we could have avoided if anyone in an administration would have done this in 2011.”

Glenn has a warning for anyone who has even loose ties to Antifa: “I would be very concerned. … The FBI is deadass serious.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Donald Trump, Kash Patel, and all of the agents at the FBI,” he says.

This is what we’ve been waiting for.

As for the mainstream media talking heads pushing the narrative that Antifa doesn’t exist, Glenn says, that’s “like saying al-Qaeda doesn’t exist.”

Their “logic” is basically that since there’s no headquarters address or HR department, then it doesn’t exist.

“It is a real point used in an intentionally dumb way to mislead,” says co-host Stu Burguiere. If anything, the fact that Antifa is “disengaged from a centralized [entity]” makes the group “more dangerous.”

And yet mainstream figures are pushing a false narrative to make it seem like Antifa is “not a threat.”

“They know it’s not accurate, and they’re trying to mislead people,” says Stu.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.

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A Texas mother was arrested for allegedly abusing her 11-year-old autistic son by locking him up in horrific conditions at her mobile home on Homan Street in Baytown.

The Baytown Police Department said a police officer was called to the home of 41-year-old Rachel Nicole Blaylock in May and reported the strong smell of fecal matter and the presence of numerous flies.

The son reportedly had dried fecal matter under his nails and on his face, arms, and hands.

She said the smell was “bad enough she nearly threw up.”

Blaylock reportedly told the officer that her son had trouble going to the bathroom and would often toss his “poop” in his room and into the hallway.

The officer said she saw dried fecal matter on the floor of the home.

Blaylock began locking her son in his room after he ran out of the home naked several times. She took the door off his room and replaced it with a screen door so she could keep an eye on him but have him locked away.

The officer reported seeing a mattress described as “filthy” and said there was fecal matter on the screen door and in the room.

The son reportedly had dried fecal matter under his nails and on his face, arms, and hands. He also suffered from rotting teeth and had dried urine on his legs.

The officer recorded Blaylock’s response when she told her that her son needed to go to a hospital.

“I just can’t drop everything I’m f**king doing and take him to the hospital so a quack-ass doctor can say, ‘Oh, I don’t know what’s wrong with him,’ so we can see another one,” she reportedly said.

RELATED: Elderly woman beaten to death with a rock — police said they found her daughter ‘covered in blood’

Police also spoke to the boy’s grandmother, who said Blaylock was not a good mother and confirmed many of the accusations of neglect.

The boy weighed 46 pounds, according to police, who said a boy of his age should weigh about 88 pounds. Officials said he was placed in foster care.

On Oct. 7, police arrested Blaylock and found that she had a cylinder container with contents inside on her belt. She claimed that they were her “baby daddy’s ashes,” but police said they determined the contents were actually crystal methamphetamine.

She was charged with injury to a child as well as possession of methamphetamine. She was booked into the Harris County Jail.

Baytown is a city of over 84,000 residents on Galveston Bay about 30 miles east of downtown Houston.

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Two teenage suspects whose assault on a former Trump administration engineer made national headlines avoided jail time and were sentenced to probation.

Edward Coristine, whose nickname is “Big Balls,” was defending his girlfriend from a group of about 10 juveniles when they turned on him and viciously beat him in August. He worked as a software engineer at the Department of Government Efficiency.

‘Think of your daughters and mothers. The same group attacked people before and after us, breaking ribs and stomping heads. This senseless crime must be stopped.’

The incident was cited by President Donald Trump as evidence that federal troops needed to be sent into Washington, D.C., in order to help law enforcement officials quell criminal violence. The president shared a photo of Coristine bloodied and beaten up after the incident.

Prosecutors called for neither 15-year-old to be incarcerated, and the judge respected that wish.

The teenage boy pleaded guilty to four counts related to a robbery and the separate beating of Coristine and received a year of probation. The girl received nine months of probation after pleading guilty to a count of simple assault for pepper-spraying someone during the robbery.

None of the other juveniles involved in the attack have been charged.

Judge Kendra D. Briggs told the two in D.C. Superior Court on Tuesday that the goal of juvenile court was “rehabilitation, not punishment,” during the court hearing.

“I know you are not unfamiliar [with] trauma,” Briggs said to the girl. “I don’t disagree that the trauma you’ve already suffered in life is kind of how you ended up on U Street that day. But I think you also have to think about the trauma that you’re inflicting on others when you engage in the activities that you all chose to engage in a couple of months ago.”

The teenagers also have to complete 90 hours of community service and adhere to several behavioral restrictions, including drug testing.

Coristine responded to the sentencing on social media.

“To this day, they’ve only caught two out of the ten. Eight of them remain on the street,” he said.

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

“That night could’ve gone far differently,” Coristine continued. “Think of your daughters and mothers. The same group attacked people before and after us, breaking ribs and stomping heads. This senseless crime must be stopped.”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also responded on social media.

“If these charges (against the teenagers who brutally beat Big Balls) had been brought in federal district court, the sentence would have been … very different,” Lee wrote. “But they weren’t, so they got a mild slap on the wrist.”

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Milwaukee Police on Monday released dashcam video showing a deadly shoot-out between an off-duty officer and a male who pistol-whipped him just prior to the shoot-out.

Police said the officer was involved in a minor car accident in the 4800 block of West Mill Road while on his way to work just before 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police said video of the incident was released to the public ‘in the interest of transparency.’

Both drivers pulled over and exited their cars, police said, adding that as they were assessing the accident, the other driver approached the off-duty officer, pulled a gun, and struck the off-duty officer in the face with it.

Image source: Milwaukee Police dashcam video screenshot

The off-duty officer drew his department-issued firearm, police said, adding that they exchanged gunfire, and the 26-year-old male who struck the off-duty officer was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.

While no one else was struck by gunfire, police said the off-duty officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries as a result of the incident.

Police said the off-duty officer is a 40-year-old male with over 21 years of service and was placed on administrative duty, as is routine in officer-involved shooting investigations.

Police said the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team is investigating the incident, and the West Allis Police Department is the leading agency.

Police said video of the incident was released to the public “in the interest of transparency,” after regulations requiring police to give next of kin a chance to view relevant video within 48 hours of the incident and regulations requiring police to release relevant video within 15 days of a critical incident were met.

RELATED: Gunman firing rifle while walking along snowy Milwaukee street shoots cop; 2nd officer returns fire, killing suspect

What’s more, WISN-TV reported that the family of Elijah Wilks — the fatally shot male — wanted the video released early and called the shooting justified, as they believe the clip shows everything that occurred.

WISN added that the release of the video came after grainy surveillance video was posted on social media over the weekend.

Attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, who represents the family, told the station that “Elijah pulls out a firearm with his right hand, and … he’s essentially swinging it in the direction of the off-duty officer. One time. It’s almost like a punch is what actually transpired.”

Last Thursday, a neighbor said police pulled a 10mm bullet from his living room wall, WISN noted, adding that video indicates Wilks was facing that direction. Milwaukee police noted to the station that they don’t have 10mm service weapons.

“What this family has done is made the difficult decision, while they’re grieving, to put aside their privacy, put aside their grieving, to allow again the opportunity for accountability to actually exist where the public can see what they saw,” LaMarr added to WISN. “And just try to move past the situation and heal this city.”

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New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has been considered a questionable character by those on the right since he began his campaign — and now his wife, Rama Duwaji, is drawing their ire as well.

Duwaji took to social media to publicly mourn the death of Palestinian influencer Saleh al-Jafarawi, who openly celebrated the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

“Beloved Jafarawi,” she wrote on her Instagram story, pairing it with four broken heart emojis.

Jafarawi was confirmed killed Sunday in clashes between Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

“This guy that his wife is so enamored with was also a crisis actor. He was showing up at all kinds of different incidents, playing all kinds of different parts, blaming Israel for certain things. And the Palestinians have a real habit of faking these events and putting them on film and doing it for a camera, and then they show it to the world,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray tells BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“And he participated in, I don’t know how many of those. And then he’s killed by some kind of Hamas, anti-Hamas gang. I guess the factions are now battling for control of Gaza right now,” he continues.

“It’s inconceivable that Zohran Mamdani and his wife are going to be the first couple of New York City,” he adds.

“It’s an insult to the history and the legacy of New York City,” Gonzales says.

“This is what happens when your other option is one of the worst people that humanity has ever provided to us, Andrew Cuomo, who is just awful in every single way,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere agrees.

“You’ll have to forgive me,” he continues, “for not rooting for a man who … basically is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, and the people he left in the state, he mostly groped.”

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President Donald Trump’s order for mass layoffs of federal workers was temporarily halted by a federal judge who said the administration was acting out of political motivation.

Susan Illston, a U.S. district court judge for the Northern District of California, sided on Wednesday with two unions that filed a lawsuit against the layoffs.

‘It has a human cost. It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated.’

It’s been 15 days since the government shut down.

Illston accused the Trump administration of taking advantage of the “lapse in government spending and government functioning” and acting as if “all bets are off” and “the laws don’t apply to them anymore.”

Attorneys representing the administration said they would only address procedural questions about jurisdiction.

“You’re not making any statement concerning the government’s position on the merits … whether the [reductions in force] are legal?” Illston asked.

“Not today, your honor,” DOJ attorney Elizabeth Hedges replied.

The temporary restraining order halts the mass layoffs planned to be announced by the president on Friday.

“It’s very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost. It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated,” Illston said.

“I believe that the plaintiffs will demonstrate, ultimately, that what’s being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority,” she added.

RELATED: Trump says a very wealthy ‘gentleman’ offered to pay troops’ wages through government shutdown

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland praised the ruling in a post on social media.

“A judge just confirmed what has been obvious: Trump’s firings of federal workers are politically motivated and likely ILLEGAL,” Van Hollen wrote.

“He is weaponizing his shutdown to terrorize federal workers and deprive Americans of the services they provide,” he added. “These RIFs should be permanently reversed.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for the layoffs in previous comments.

“Unfortunately, because the Democrats shut down the government, the president has directed his cabinet, and the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can me made,” Leavitt said. “And we believe that layoffs are imminent. They are unfortunately a consequence of this government shutdown.”

Illston was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.

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The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais.

The outcome of the case, which centers on the creation of a second black-majority congressional district in the Bayou State, may not only impact the Voting Rights Act and states’ corresponding ability to undertake race-based gerrymandering, but the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives as well.

Conservative justices on the high court — including Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted in 2023 to uphold the relevant VRA provision in a similar case pertaining to Alabama’s map but who warned that “the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future” — appear skeptical over the continued use of race in redistricting.

Background

Section 2 of the VRA, which the Supreme Court indicated in 1980 was a restatement of the protections afforded by the 15th Amendment, enables private citizens and the federal government to challenge allegedly discriminatory voting practices, including minority-vote dilution.

The Supreme Court has previously held that under certain circumstances, Section 2 may require the creation of one or more majority-minority districts in a redistricting map.

The Congressional Research Service noted that in its 1986 Thornburg v. Gingles decision, SCOTUS established a three-prong test for proving vote dilution under Section 2:

“The minority group must be able to demonstrate that it is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district”;”The minority group must be able to show that it is politically cohesive”; andThe minority group must be able to prove that the majority group “votes sufficiently as a bloc to enable it … usually to defeat the minority’s preferred candidate.”

In 2022, a group of black voters took Louisiana to court, complaining that the state legislature adopted a congressional map where, despite the state being one-third black, only one of six districts was majority black. The plaintiffs, who alleged that the map violated Section 2, won the day.

RELATED: North Carolina Republicans will ‘follow Trump’s call’ to redistrict the state

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

A federal court agreed that the map was likely violative, prohibited its use in future elections, and told Louisiana to draft a new map, this time with two majority-black districts.

‘Explicit race-based districting embarks us on a most dangerous course.’

Obliging an order from an Obama U.S. district judge, Shelly Dick, the Louisiana legislature drew a new map last year that boasted a second race-based district that stretches roughly 250 miles from Shreveport in the northwest to Baton Rouge in the southeast, and cuts strategically through black metropolitan areas.

This proved intolerable to another group. This time, the plaintiffs were one dozen non-black voters who contended the map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander that violated both the 14th and 15th Amendments.

“The State has engaged in explicit, racial segregation of voters and intentional discrimination against voters based on race,” the lawsuit said. “The State has drawn lines between neighbors and divided communities. In most cases, the lines separate African American and non-African American voters from their communities and assign them to Districts with dominating populations far away.”

The case was kicked up to SCOTUS after a three-judge district court agreed with the plaintiffs and blocked the state from using the second map.

The high court issued an unsigned order in May 2024 putting the lesser court’s ruling on hold, thereby setting the stage for the election of Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields in the newly drawn district.

The high court first heard oral arguments in the case in March, but in June, it rescheduled the case for reargument.

Justice Clarence Thomas noted in his dissenting opinion at the time of the order for reargument that the case should have been decided then, particularly when the court’s approach to Section 2 is “broken beyond repair,” and the conflict the high court’s Section 2 “jurisprudence has sown with the Constitution is too severe to ignore.”

Growing skepticism

The court heard oral arguments on Wednesday regarding the constitutionality of drawing majority-black districts to comply with the VRA.

While Louisiana previously supported the new map, it is now singing a different tune, suggesting that race-based redistricting is unconstitutional. The Trump administration has also weighed in, stating in a brief opposing the second map that “as Louisiana now concedes, Section 2 cannot justify the racially gerrymandered majority-minority district created to appease the Robinson court.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and the other liberal justices appeared largely convinced during oral arguments that race-based redistricting was not only lawful but a social good. Conservative justices, on the other hand, expressed deep skepticism over the practice.

In his colloquy with Janai Nelson, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who was arguing on behalf of a group of black voters supportive of the second map, Justice Kavanaugh invoked former Justice Anthony Kennedy, noting:

He said the sorting of persons with an intent to divide by reason of race raises the most serious constitutional questions. And he added that explicit race-based districting embarks us on a most dangerous course. It is necessary to bear in mind that redistricting must comply with the overriding demands of Equal Protection clause.

Kavanaugh did not appear entirely convinced by Nelson’s subsequent argument that “Section 2 is addressing a pre-existing problem. It is not producing it, and in fact, it reduces it more broadly across society.”

‘It would be a seismic development both legally and politically.’

While Justice Amy Coney Barrett pressed the matter of whether Section 2 was itself constitutional but improperly interpreted and unlawfully applied, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito questioned whether the redrawn maps satisfied the three-prong Section 2 test previously established by SCOTUS, specifically asking whether the new black-majority district was sufficiently compact.

Alito also insinuated that contrary to the purportedly noble cause guiding the creation of the black-majority district, the real objective appeared ultimately to be “seeking a partisan advantage.”

Meanwhile, Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed concern that states are effectively given license under the current interpretation of Section 2 to “intentionally discriminate on the basis of race” — a hard sell, especially on an indefinite basis.

Justices Coney Barrett and John Roberts played their cards closer to their chests.

It’s clear by the left’s pearl-clutching over the case that the stakes are high.

Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ nonprofit Fair Fight Action claimed in a recent report that a ruling defanging the VRA provision at issue “could help secure an additional 27 safe Republican U.S. House seats when compared to the 2024 House maps” and “cement one-party control of the U.S. House for at least a generation.”

Law professor Jonathan Turley noted that “if the Court were to reject such districts or declare a sunsetting of the provision, it would be a seismic development both legally and politically.”

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Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California was caught on video snapping angrily at a reporter who pressed her about her acts during the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol.

The former House speaker was walking out of the Capitol building on Wednesday when a reporter from Mike Lindell of My Pillow fame confronted her.

‘Why are you coming here with Republican talking points as if you’re a serious journalist?’

“Congresswoman Pelosi, are you at all concerned that the new January 6 committee will find you liable for that day?” Alison Steinberg asked. “Are you at all concerned about the new January 6 committee finding you liable for that day? Why did you refuse the National Guard on January 6?”

“Shut up!” Pelosi blurted out.

“I did not refuse the National Guard. The president didn’t send it,” she added. “Why are you coming here with Republican talking points as if you’re a serious journalist?”

Pelosi has been accused of failing to allow the National Guard to respond to the Jan. 6 protests after a video recorded by her daughter on that day showed her talking about the decision.

“We have responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there — and we should have,” said Pelosi to her chief of staff, Terri McCullough, on the recording released by HBO in 2024.

“This is ridiculous. You’re gonna ask me in the middle of the thing, when they’ve already breached the inaugural stuff, ‘Should we call the Capitol Police?’ I mean, the National Guard. Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” she added.

McCullough says that they believed there were “sufficient” resources to handle protesters.

“It’s not a question of how they had — they don’t know,” Pelosi replied. “They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.”

Critics have used the footage to accuse Pelosi of falsely claiming President Donald Trump was to blame for the lack of National Guard resources, though she has denied the allegations.

“Numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed again and again that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination on January 6,” a spokesperson for Pelosi said in June.

RELATED: Pelosi has unbelievable response to Dem candidate who issued death wish against Republican

“As the footage in its entirety plainly shows, Speaker Pelosi sprang into action in response to the attack on the Capitol — mobilizing the defense of the Capitol, urging the administration to deploy the National Guard, and coordinating the continuity of government,” the spokesperson continued. “Cherry-picked, out-of-context clips do not change the fact that the Speaker of the House is not in charge of the security of the Capitol Complex — on January 6 or any other day of the week.”

However, as many as 20,000 National Guard troops were authorized by Trump for duty on Jan. 6, but Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected the offer one day before the protests.

The LindellTV account mocked Pelosi for her reaction.

“No answer. Just insults. This is how the democratic so called Speaker of ‘the people’ treats the press when they don’t fall in line,” the post reads. “@SpeakerPelosi’s meltdown says everything. What is she trying to hide?”

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While the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is dominating the news cycle and letting citizens of the world breathe mass sighs of relief, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck believes there’s something brewing silently — and we should remain on our toes.

“Beijing just tightened its grip on rare earth elements. These are the minerals that make absolutely everything possible: your smartphone, your electric car, your missile defense system, your refrigerator. Everything depends on these rare earth minerals,” Glenn says.

“China, because of our inaction and stupid policies over the last couple of decades, control now 80% of the world’s supply chain. That cannot stand. Now, what they’re doing is they’re choking it off. They are now closing it up, and they are threatening the West, ‘No more rare earth minerals,’” he explains.

“If that happens, we cannot defend ourself,” he adds.

Glenn also notes that out of nowhere, the Pentagon has made a billion-dollar emergency order for those same rare earth minerals.

“That’s not normal. That’s not paperwork. That is the sound of a military quietly preparing for something — a shortage, possibly in a storm,” Glenn says.

In addition, JPMorgan Chase has just announced a $1.5 trillion investment plan in security and resilience.

“That’s not going to mom-and-pop shops. That’s not going to community loans. That money is being funneled straight into AI, defense manufacturing, and critical minerals. It’s as if the Pentagon and Wall Street just linked arms and decided to build a fortress economy together,” Glenn explains.

And interestingly, Glenn notes that the Dutch government has seized control of the Chinese-owned chipmaker on its own soil.

“They invoked emergency powers and nationalized the company to stop the Chinese influence over the semiconductor industry,” he says.

“That’s not good. Four stories, four continents, four quiet tremors in the ground. When you weave them all together, that’s when you begin to understand what all of this means,” Glenn continues.

And what it means is that “the old world as we know it is dying.”

“The world of free markets, the world of open trade, individual enterprise, the world that lifted billions out of poverty is being replaced now, slowly but surely, by something new. And this one is being done in the name of security,” he explains.

“This is the government aligning themselves with tech, rare earth minerals, et cetera, et cetera, to be able to win the AI war. All of this is a single unspoken motive, and that is the race to dominate artificial intelligence,” he continues.

“This is the new arms race. This is the new Manhattan Project, the new nuclear weapon, except this is a million times more enslaving than nuclear weapons could ever hope to be,” he adds.

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Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Wednesday that he is withholding significant funds from a blue state that has failed to comply with English language proficiency standards for commercial drivers, Blaze News has exclusively learned.

Last month, Duffy shared the results of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit, which found “systemic non-compliance” among state driver licensing agencies in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.

‘California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big-rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement.’

Duffy warned that there would be consequences for states that failed to comply with ELP standards.

This issue within the American trucking industry was thrown into the national spotlight in August when an illegal alien truck driver was accused of making an unlawful U-turn and killing three people in Florida. The Indian national obtained his license in California.

The DOT previously described California as “the most egregious” offender in meeting the English proficiency requirement for commercial driver’s license holders.

“My message is very simple,” Duffy warned. “Get into compliance now, or we’ll pull funding and we’ll force you into compliance.”

RELATED: ‘Imminent hazard’: Trump administration shuts licensing loophole after illegal alien trucker allegedly causes fatal crash

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In addition to demanding immediate compliance, the DOT also paused California’s issuance of non-domiciled CDLs in September. The state was required to identify all unexpired licenses that failed to comply with regulations.

Duffy indicated Wednesday that California had failed to comply and, as a result, the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program — which provides grant funding for roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits, and public education campaigns — would withhold $40,685,225 from the state, according to a press release obtained by Blaze News.

“I put states on notice this summer: Enforce the Trump administration’s English language requirements or the checks stop coming. California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big-rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement. This is a fundamental safety issue that impacts you and your family on America’s roads,” Duffy stated.

“Let me be clear: This is valuable money that should be going to the great men and women in California law enforcement, whom we support. Gov. [Gavin] Newsom’s insistence on obstructing federal law has tied my hands,” Duffy remarked.

RELATED: American trucking at a crossroads: Deadly crash involving illegal alien exposes true cost of Biden’s border invasion

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

To receive the now-withheld federal funding, the state “must adopt and actively enforce a law, regulation, standard, or order that is compatible with the federal ELP requirement for commercial drivers,” the press release read.

“This means state inspectors need to begin conducting ELP assessments during roadside inspections and place those who fail out of service,” it added.

The California Highway Patrol indicated to Overdrive in July that it had no plans to place truck drivers out of service for failing to meet ELP standards.

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Swarms of sophisticated chatbots enabled by China are embedded in platforms like Reddit and Discord to radicalize America’s youth, foment political division, and encourage violence, according to intelligence experts.

The ability to create millions of online personas to invade chat groups and social media sites to, in essence, destabilize American society is one of the sinister uses of the Chinese-built SIM farms like the ones shut down around New York City in September, Blaze News has learned.

‘Our population is being literally divided and radicalized to destroy our nation.’

“They’re able to use this [SIM] network to initiate social media accounts by the millions,” said one intelligence analyst familiar with the ongoing SIM farm investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, and other federal agencies.

“Social media accounts by the millions,” the analyst reiterated. “Because all of them have the ability to do multifactor authentication, they can create millions of digital personas that are real.”

So far, he said, the American government is “clueless.”

“Our biggest issue is that both the American political class and U.S. government officials are completely clueless on this threat,” he said. “Our population is being literally divided and radicalized to destroy our nation. This is provable, but I think it would require so much more investigation to be able to show people, even on our side, how bad the problem is.”

SIM farms pair with AI

The process is started manually in China. It can have a deep reach into American society.

“It appears they have thousands of people in China that set this up manually. And then they use really sophisticated AI like ChatGPT to spread certain themes and certain messages — all designed, obviously, to divide our country and to create division,” the analyst said.

Election-themed chat threads are often flooded with nefarious bots pushing anti-Trump propaganda. From the outside, these often look like U.S. voters engaged in simple political debate.

However, the threats are not limited to chatbots.

After a series of high-profile swatting incidents targeting senior Secret Service officials and Secret Service protectees last spring, an investigation discovered the presence of SIM farms that are likely spread across America to carry out cyber terrorism and threaten cellular networks and internet access.

RELATED: Patriots targeted by hoax SWATs react to China’s role in shocking SIM farm operations

A New York City SIM farm raided by federal officials in September is tied to China.Photos by U.S. Secret Service

Homeland Security Investigations and the Secret Service raided five SIM farms in the greater New York City area. They disabled and seized more than 300 SIM servers operating from nondescript corporate office locations.

The farms use hundreds of thousands of SIM cards to create online cell numbers that can send out mass texts and synchronized attacks to lay siege to America’s critical infrastructure.

Among the more chilling aspects of these SIM farms is the ability to mimic humans to carry out sophisticated propaganda campaigns to promote progressive causes and radicalize people against the government and each other, intelligence officials told Blaze News.

“They actually groom you. Believe it or not, there’s a chatbot that can pretend to be 27 personalities and is designed to groom you, to groom anybody that asks certain questions or that mentions certain topics,” one expert said. “It’s just a chatbot, and it has very little human supervision.”

Having a real mobile telephone number associated with the SIM cards gives the system flexibility and secrecy. Each server can have up to 512 SIM cards to send texts, make calls, and run apps. Millions of the SIM cards are likely engaged in this SIM farm network at any one time. Each farm location likely has racks and racks of servers and modems working in tandem.

’It allows you to assume someone else’s identity, their phone, their phone number.’

“Having a real phone number that can be associated to a social media account and having that avenue with multifactor authentication capability makes for a nearly undetectable bot account,” he said. “As long as your AI can avoid repetitive or ‘bot-like’ messaging, you will be undetectable.”

A real phone number that can continuously be associated with a particular social media account is a key, he said.

This activity has developed “under the radar,” he said, and the U.S. government is not aggressively seeking out and destroying this nefarious system. The need is urgent.

“Here’s the problem,” he said. “Despite the fact that foreign governments are radicalizing our sovereign nation’s citizens to destroy this country, they are not doing it in a way that the government employees can feel is so important that they would investigate it.”

Private companies that do social media and open-source intelligence can detect the bots, “but nobody is paying them to investigate or report it,” the analyst said.

RELATED: While the lights are off, let’s rewire the government

By adopting the $8 per month blue-checkmark authentication system, X has greatly limited the penetration of chatbots, experts say.Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images

The bots have dynamic and parallel capabilities that allow such subtle messaging. The War Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ran a “Defeat Disinfo” project that identified the best way to create a subtle social media messaging system “to brainwash an entire population in a completely undetectable way,” he said.

The bot technology is especially prevalent on platforms like Reddit and Discord, the analyst said. After Elon Musk purchased Twitter and rebranded it X, the prevalence of nefarious chatbots on that platform dropped precipitously, he said. By charging $8 a month for an authenticated blue checkmark, X limits the ability of fake accounts to penetrate its huge user base.

‘Our own telecoms are hosting a Chinese act of war against us.’

On Oct. 12, X announced it had purged 1.7 million bot accounts for engaging in reply spam.

“You should start experiencing improvement in the coming days,” Nikita Bier, head of product at X, wrote. “We will be focusing on [direct message] spam next.”

The analyst estimated that X is no more than 20%-30% bots. Reddit, however, “is like 80% bots,” the intelligence analyst told Blaze News. “It’s absolutely horrible.

Foment violent division

“The open-source intelligence community, who are mostly contractors that monitor and look for bots, estimate Reddit is about 80% bots. All designed to push a Democrat narrative or a very highly progressive narrative towards the left, but also to foment violent division. Violent division.”

The bots have built-in safeguards so as not to be flagged by the system for “bot-like behavior,” the analyst said. “So they usually don’t mention firearms. They’re normally very, very subtle. It’s so subtle. You would never know. You might be responding to the same dude that’s just hitting likes on your thing for three years.”

While the SIM farms create massive numbers of new identities, each with its own phone number, they can also co-opt existing accounts.

“A lot of these SIM farms allow you to clone an identity,” the analyst said. “So it allows you to assume someone else’s identity, their phone, their phone number.”

Homeland Security Investigations agents led September raids on five SIM farms tied to a secret nationwide network built by the Chinese communist government.Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The SIM farm networks are used by China, but also by criminal syndicates, drug cartels, and other malefactors, allegedly including Antifa. No matter who the user is, all of the data from the transactions is copied back to China, he said. The Chinese communist government requires all manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and computers to spy on behalf of the Ministry of State Security.

“Everything that’s happening on those devices is all going back to China,” he said, “even when the cartel uses them; or even when the United States government uses them; or even when the swatting people are using them; when the terrorists are using them; even when Antifa is using them.”

The SIM farms can be used to recruit radicals who are ready and willing to engage in violence outside immigration facilities — as is happening in Chicago and Portland.

‘We’re in a difficult position. It’s a catch-22.’

The analyst said there’s a good chance that China has been behind the establishment of Antifa chapters in the United States.

“It’s possible that they’re coordinating all of these chapters so that there’s a good chance that Antifa is actually a foreign terrorist organization,” he said. “In other words, it is a distributed terrorism network being unwittingly influenced by a Chinese sabotage network.”

Getting serious about stamping out these SIM farms will require the involvement of regulatory agencies including the Federal Communications Commission, he said.

A recent Reddit discussion on the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.Reddit

“The FCC should be engaged to fine $100 million or $200 million per telecom until they get rid of every single one of these [farms] they are hosting. Our own telecoms are hosting a Chinese act of war against us.”

The effort will also require action by Congress, he said, to make radicalizing American citizens by foreign actors a crime.

“The U.S. Secret Service subpoenaed Google to get the MFA short codes for the Google voice accounts that the bad guys were using,” he said. “But until we make ‘intentionally radicalizing U.S. citizens to destroy their own country’ something that is illegal and also important to prosecute, the U.S. government will never even look into it.”

Major resources are needed to analyze each SIM farm in hopes of finding more of the estimated 80-100 sites operating in the United States.

“You could start up a whole new government program office just to deal with the forensics and to find the rest of these sites,” he said.

“So we’re in a difficult position. It’s a catch-22,” the analyst said. “We won’t discover how urgent and destructive this problem is until we investigate it. We won’t investigate it until they discover how urgent and destructive it is.”

Blaze News reached out to Reddit, Discord, and the U.S. Secret Service for more comment.

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​National security 

Los Angeles County officials have declared a state of emergency over federal deportation raids, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement fired back immediately.

Four of the members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of the declaration Tuesday, while only one voted against.

‘Perhaps the board should “supervise” funds to support law-abiding fire victims who still haven’t recovered instead of criminal illegal aliens.’

The resolution said that the raids have created a “climate of fear” for residents and caused them to be “fearful of leaving their homes to go to work, take public transportation, and access County services.”

The motion will allow officials to request state assistance as well as federal resources to protect the communities affected by the immigration operations.

“What’s happening in our communities is an emergency, and Los Angeles County is treating it like one,” said Supervisor Lindsay Horvath. “Declaring a local emergency ensures that the full weight of county government is aligned to support our immigrant communities who are being targeted by federal actions.”

Supervisor Janice Hahn called the raids a “man-made” disaster similar to an earthquake.

“I want our residents to know that we are in this crisis with them — and I want us to have every tool at our disposal in this effort,” she added. “For that reason, I think this emergency proclamation is not just symbolically important as a message to our residents, but critical to our response moving forward.”

ICE spokesperson Emily Covington released a statement criticizing the declaration and accusing the officials of insulting law enforcement officials.

“The only state of emergency is the one the residents of Los Angeles face after electing officials who give a middle finger to the law. Perhaps the board should ‘supervise’ funds to support law-abiding fire victims who still haven’t recovered instead of criminal illegal aliens seeking refuge in their sanctuary city.”

RELATED: Outrage ensues when 13-year-old is arrested by ICE — then DHS releases devastating accusations

The board said the state of emergency would continue until the board decides to terminate it.

The Trump administration’s increased focus on deporting illegal aliens has led to some violent attacks from anti-ICE protesters and rioters. At least one Democrat lawmaker has accused the administration of faking some of the violence in order to justify invoking the Insurrection Act.

Trump has mentioned invoking the Insurrection Act but as of Wednesday afternoon has not yet done so.

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President Trump has achieved a success previously unheard of. That is, he has simultaneously received praise from both Republicans and Democrats for negotiating the unprecedented Israel-Hamas ceasefire and bringing all the hostages home.

Even former president Joe Biden had something positive to say.

“I am deeply grateful and relieved that this day has come — for the last living 20 hostages who have been through unimaginable hell and are finally reunited with their families and loved ones, and for the civilians in Gaza who have experienced immeasurable loss and will finally get the chance to rebuild their lives,” Biden wrote in a post on social media.

“The road to this deal was not easy. My Administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians, and end the war. I commend President Trump and his team for their work to get a renewed ceasefire deal over the finish line,” he continued.

Former president Bill Clinton also chimed in to sing Trump’s praises, writing in a statement posted to X: “The horrors of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and the conflict they reignited, have resulted in unbearable human loss. It has been hard to watch and nearly impossible to rationalize.”

“I’m grateful that a ceasefire has taken hold, that the last 20 living hostages have been freed, and that desperately needed aid has begun to flow into Gaza. President Trump and his administration, Qatar, and other regional actors deserve great credit for keeping everyone engaged until the agreement was reached,” he added.

And comedian Jimmy Kimmel even had something nice to say about the president, though he laid the sarcasm on quite thick.

“What a day for Donald Trump. You know what? He finally did something positive today, and I want to give him credit for it, because I know he’s not the type to take credit for himself,” Kimmel said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

“Trump was in Israel and Egypt today to celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. All 20 Israeli hostages are home after 738 days. Almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released, and while we’re only in the first phase of what will undoubtedly be a long and tricky process, the fact is, the bombing has stopped,” he continued.

“The hostages have been released, and Trump deserves some of the praise for that. And so I know it sounds crazy to say, but good work on that one, President Trump. Now, maybe you can not invade Portland,” he added.

However, not all of Trump’s left-wing critics were quick to praise him.

“Bernie Sanders, as you might expect, a little bit more insane,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere says.

“Today, we welcome the long-overdue release of the 20 remaining Israelis held by Hamas and the freeing of almost 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons,” Sanders wrote in a statement posted to social media.

“But it must be the Palestinians themselves that guide this process and determine their future,” he added.

“Here’s some news for you,” Burguiere comments. “No. No, it must not be the Palestinians that determine their future. The last time the Palestinians got to determine their future, they elected Hamas. So no, they don’t get to determine their future.”

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An American beauty queen expressed relief after her request for a restraining order against a sitting U.S. congressman was granted Tuesday, and her attorney implied that more legal actions may be coming.

Lindsey Langston sought the order against Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida based on accusations that he had threatened to release compromising videos of her after she ended their romantic relationship.

‘There’s certainly the evidence there to pursue criminal charges. I would suspect that this isn’t the last time you’re going to hear about this.’

Langston and her attorney, Bobi Frank, answered questions from Blaze News and other outlets on Wednesday. When asked whether Mills would face criminal prosecution over the sextortion accusation, Frank implied there was a possibility he might.

“I am not a prosecutor, and I am not a law enforcement officer, but I can tell you I have a lot of experience in both the civil and criminal arenas in our justice system,” she responded.

“Certainly from my perspective, the allegations that Ms. Langston made have been absolutely substantiated in each of the elements of two particular crimes … through the findings of fact that the court issued,” Frank added. “So I will say this: There’s certainly the evidence there to pursue criminal charges. I would suspect that this isn’t the last time you’re going to hear about this.”

When asked if she knew whether anything had been filed or was in the works, she repeated only that the TRO ruling on Tuesday was unlikely to be the last time they would hear about the case.

“The Court, considering the totality of the testimony and circumstances, does not find the Respondent’s testimony concerning the intimate videos to be truthful,” Judge Fred Koberlein Jr. wrote in granting the restraining order against Mills.

The judge also wrote that the purpose of at least some of Mills’ messages to Langston “was to continue to harass and cause emotional distress” to her.

Frank went on to call on Republicans and Democrats to vote to purge Mills from Congress over the sextortion allegations as well as numerous other scandals and controversies.

“It’s clear as day that Cory Mills is synonymous with unethical behavior,” she added. “This is not an isolated incident. He leaves a trail of unethical behavior.”

Frank quoted from the order that forbids Mills from referring to Langston on any social media platform.

“If Mr. Mills chooses to take even one step, performs one act that is harassing, threatening, or intimidating in any fashion, we will react swiftly and severely.”

Langston’s attorney said they were thankful that the judge gave the TRO case proper consideration.

“He clearly took this case very seriously, and that is demonstrated in the 14-page injunction that he painstakingly wrote,” she said.

RELATED: Why did Cory Mills come to Ilhan Omar’s rescue?

Frank praised her client for speaking out about the accusations.

“She found the courage, the strength, the perseverance to hold Cory Mills responsible, primarily because of her fear,” she said. “That is amazing, astonishing. It’s to be commended.”

When asked if justice had been served, Langston described her emotional reaction to being told the restraining order had been granted.

“I do feel that justice was served, and I can’t even describe the relief that I felt once I got the phone call that I had been issued the injunction for protection. I felt like I’m able to live my life again,” she said.

“I hope that it serves as a clear message to victims, whether it be physical violence, intimidation, threats, coercion, anything like that,” Langston added.

“I hope that you come forward. I hope that you stick to your guns. Be thorough. Be truthful and have faith in the justice system because it is there to protect you. There are laws in place to protect you. Know your rights, and have courage,” she continued.

A representative for Mills did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

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On Tuesday, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Michigan school district did not violate two students’ rights when the administration forced them to remove clothing with the words “Let’s Go Brandon.”

The case involved two brothers who wore sweatshirts with the phrase to school in 2022. The students, both then of middle-school age, were asked to remove the clothing “since the phrase ‘means the F-word,'” the opinion related, quoting assistant principal of Tri County Middle School Andrew Buikema.

‘It contains no sexual content, no graphic imagery, and no actual profanity.’

Specifically, the opinion affirmed the district court’s understanding that the school “reasonably understood the slogan ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ to be vulgar.”

The court decision explained in detail the provenance of the well-known expression, which originates from a 2021 NASCAR event in Alabama.

RELATED: ‘Let’s go, lawsuit’: Students sue after school forces them to remove ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirts

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

In a video of the NASCAR event, the crowd can be heard chanting, “F**k Joe Biden,” but a reporter misreports the chant during her interview with professional race car driver Brandon Brown. She says the crowd is chanting, “Let’s go, Brandon.”

The misreported phrase quickly became popular as an outlet for criticism of then-President Joe Biden.

The opinion from the appeals court stated that the reporter either misheard the chant or was “simply trying to put a fig leaf over the chant’s vulgarity.”

“The school administrators reasonably interpreted the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ slogan as being vulgar speech that ‘a school may categorically prohibit’ despite its political message. Requesting that students remove clothing with that slogan didn’t violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” the opinion of the court concluded.

The court split two to one in the decision. Judge John Bush dissented from the opinion of Judges John Nalbandian and Karen Nelson Moore.

Bush wrote in his dissent that wearing clothing with political messaging is “the first point of entry to civic engagement.” The school’s intervention thus “quickly ended” the boys’ “civic engagement.”

Getting to the core of the issue, Bush added, “The phrase at issue here is a euphemism for political criticism. It contains no sexual content, no graphic imagery, and no actual profanity. To the extent that it implies an offensive phrase, it does so obliquely — by design.”

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An official from the Trump administration says the NFL has once again decided to go against its supporters.

Ever since Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, was named by the NFL as the Super Bowl LX halftime performer, the singer has been at the center of controversy about whether or not his beliefs are at odds with football fans.

‘So if you choose to come to the Super Bowl and you’re in this country illegally, there are repercussions to that.’

Ocasio appeared on “Saturday Night Live” at the beginning of October and told supporters to expect Spanish songs during the halftime show. After delivering those remarks in Spanish, he even joked that “if you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

Bad Bunny has previously said he avoided U.S. tour dates because he feared Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may be waiting for illegal immigrants outside his concerts. Since then, the Trump administration has issued statements saying that any illegal aliens present at the Super Bowl in San Francisco are subject to deportation.

Some of those statements have come from Corey Lewandowski, a Trump official and special adviser to Homeland Security. Lewandowski appeared on Newsmax’s “National Report” on Tuesday to reiterate that not only is the NFL doing its fans a disservice, but everyone deserves to be safe from illegal alien criminals.

“It’s a poor decision by the NFL,” Lewandowski told the Newsmax hosts.

“Once again the NFL decides to go woke and bring someone who says they don’t want to perform on American soil because they’re afraid of the people who might be coming to his concerts.”

The official said the news around ICE’s presence at the Super Bowl is being greatly exaggerated, and that agents always planned to be present to help prevent instances of counterfeit merchandise and human trafficking.

“This is not news,” he said.

“If you are in this country illegally, you should self-deport, because if you don’t, we will find you.”

He added, “So if you choose to come to the Super Bowl and you’re in this country illegally, there are repercussions to that — just as there are if you are in any other neighborhood in this great country.”

RELATED: Bad Bunny: Learn Spanish if you want to understand my Super Bowl performance

Regarding Bad Bunny, Lewandowski denied any misunderstandings that the Trump administration was calling his U.S. citizenship into question as a resident of Puerto Rico. Still, he reinforced that every legal immigrant and American citizen “is going to be safe” attending the football game.

President Trump, meanwhile, recently blamed the NFL for passing the buck on booking the popular artist. In addition to saying he has “never heard of” Bad Bunny and does not “know who he is,” Trump revealed he did not know the NFL’s motivation for the halftime show.

“I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s, like, crazy,” the president said. “And then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Apple Music, the NFL, and Roc Nation are officially responsible for the musical event; Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and international content, along with Roc Nation founder Jay-Z, are the most notable names attached to the booking. Jay-Z has been involved with Super Bowl halftime shows since 2019.

RELATED: Turning Point USA to offer ‘All American Halftime Show’ alternative to NFL’s woke Super Bowl spectacle

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Ocasio has not shied away from political statements in his past, and he endorsed Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election because he was offended by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally.

Additionally, in his music video for the song “NUEVAYoL,” released on July 4, Bad Bunny draped a Puerto Rican flag over the Statue of Liberty and played a parody of the Trump’s voice in which he admits “this country is nothing without the immigrants.”

At the beginning of September, Bad Bunny said he avoided the United States for his world tour because he feared ICE raids at his concerts. Although there were “many reasons” he did not “show up in the U.S.,” Bad Bunny explained, “There was the issue of — like, f**king ICE could be outside.”

“And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he added.

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An Arkansas father accused of murdering the 67-year-old alleged rapist of his 14-year-old daughter is making a surprising bid for public office after he said the “system failed” him and his family.

Aaron Spencer, 37, announced last week that he’s is running for Lonoke County Sheriff. As it happens, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office investigated last year’s headline-grabbing case involving Spencer.

‘Through my own fight for justice, I have seen firsthand the failures in law enforcement and in our circuit court.’

The Facebook video from Spencer’s campaign is captioned: “It’s time to bring trust, accountability, and safety back to our community. Join us on this journey to build a sheriff’s office you can believe in!”

In the campaign video, Spencer notes that “many of you know my story.”

“I’m the father who acted to protect his daughter when the system failed,” Spencer says.

Spencer adds that he is a husband, a combat veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, a contractor, and a farmer.

“Through my own fight for justice, I have seen firsthand the failures in law enforcement and in our circuit court,” Spencer states. “I refuse to stand by while others face these same failures.”

Spencer also stresses in the video, “This campaign isn’t about me. It’s about every parent, every neighbor, every family who deserves to feel safe in their homes and safe in their community. It’s about restoring trust, where neighbors know law enforcement is on their side and families know that they will not be left alone in a moment of need.”

RELATED: Thug allegedly recorded himself raping woman at gunpoint — before she shot him

As Blaze News reported last October, Spencer was arrested after authorities said he fatally shot 67-year-old Michael Fosler, who reportedly was in a vehicle with Spencer’s 14-year-old daughter.

Spencer reportedly went to his daughter’s bedroom to check on her. Citing an affidavit, CNN said the daughter was gone, but there was a stuffed animal wrapped in her hoodie under the blankets in her bed.

The Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies were dispatched regarding a missing teen at approximately 1:12 a.m. Oct. 8, 2024. However, while en route, deputies were notified that Spencer had located his daughter in a vehicle with Fosler.

The affidavit states that Spencer used his vehicle to rear-end Fosler’s Ford F-150 truck at an intersection, forcing it off the road.

“A confrontation between the two adult males ensued, which resulted in a shooting,” the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office stated.

According to the affidavit, Spencer told police that he “had no choice” but to shoot Fosler.

The New York Post, citing the affidavit, reported that Spencer told investigators that Fosler “lunged towards him” with something in his hand and shouted, “F**k you!”

The affidavit states Spencer fired at Fosler until his weapon was empty and then jumped on him and pistol-whipped him.

Police said Fosler was pronounced dead at the crime scene.

Citing court records, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported that Fosler was out on bond at the time of the shooting after being arrested and charged with two counts each of fourth-degree sexual assault, sexual indecency with a child, and internet stalking of a child. Fosler also faced one count of electronic facilitation of child sexual abuse and 35 counts of pandering or possessing depictions of sexual conduct involving a child.

CNN added that “the family had been on edge” and that “three months earlier the teen, then 13, revealed she’d been sexually abused by a 67-year-old man she met at the home of a family friend.”

Spencer was arrested and soon charged with second-degree murder. Spencer was released on a surety bond and has pleaded not guilty.

Spencer’s pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17.

RELATED: Couple allegedly tries to sell 2-month-old baby for cash, 6-pack of beer because it’s ‘not working having 3 dogs and a baby’

A Change.org petition titled “Absolve Aaron David Spencer of Charges Stemming from Saving his Daughter’s Life” was launched and has more than 361,000 signatures.

Spencer’s wife, Heather, said in a GiveSendGo fundraiser that her daughter had been “targeted, groomed, and ultimately raped by the boyfriend of a family friend,” the Post reported.

“We let the justice system do its job,” Heather Spencer said. “The monster who hurt our child was charged quickly, but released even faster on a $50k bond. He was awaiting court in December for several felonies in relation to what he did to our child.”

The mother called her husband a “hero” and said that her “child would have not come home if my husband hadn’t found her.”

Lonoke County Sheriff Jeff Staley told the Democrat Gazette that he couldn’t comment on the Spencer case because of the pending trial.

But Staley did say in an emailed statement, “I will be seeking re-election to continue being your Lonoke County sheriff. Since 2013, I have served as sheriff of Lonoke County with a clear mission — to protect our citizens and hold those who break the law accountable. From day one, our focus has been on three major threats to our communities: drug traffickers, sexual predators, and thieves.”

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

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This week, Blaze News reported on an H-1B visa rule change imposed by the Biden Department of Homeland Security, effectively allowing nonimmigrant workers to work remotely while in America. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case that would ostensibly challenge the rule-making authority of executive agencies regarding an adjacent program: the H-4 visa.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari for a case that would reconsider crucial aspects of the H-4 nonimmigrant program, which is more commonly known as the spousal or dependent complement of the H-1B nonimmigrant worker visa program.

‘Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.’

The petition was brought by Save Jobs USA, which, according to Reuters, “represents American tech workers who it says were displaced by foreign labor.” The Center for Immigration Studies says the group “is composed of computer professionals who worked at Southern California Edison until they were replaced by H-1B workers.”

RELATED: ‘Executive fiat’: Biden-era rule change quietly permits H-1B visa holders to work remotely

Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

More details on the group are sparse.

Save Jobs USA’s petition reads in part, “With the H-4 Rule, DHS reversed its earlier interpretation and began allowing certain spouses of H-1B nonimmigrant workers to be employed, despite no such directive in the statute.”

The petition continues with a surprising claim: “Following the H-4 Rule, there was an explosion in the number of noncitizens authorized to work in the United States entirely through regulations.”

The petition for a writ of certiorari presented two questions. The first question was “whether the Department of Homeland Security can grant work authorization for classes of nonimmigrants for whom Congress has refused to grant work authorization.”

The second question asks “whether the statutory terms defining nonimmigrant visas in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15) are mere threshold entry requirements that cease to apply once an alien is admitted or whether they persist and dictate the terms of a nonimmigrant’s stay in the United States.”

The 22-page order list from SCOTUS included a short explanation: “The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.”

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, the only eligibility requirement for H-4 visas is to be the spouse of a qualified and approved H-1B visa holder.

Blaze News contacted the Departments of Homeland Security and State for comment.

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A new study from the University of Buckingham’s Centre for Heterodox Social Science suggests that gender ideology is falling out of favor and the sex-change regime’s supply of potential young victims might be drying up.

Citing data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s annual campus surveys of undergraduate students — FIRE polled over 60,000 this year — and several institution-level surveys of young Americans, study author Dr. Eric Kaufmann indicated that “the share of young people not identifying as male or female (typically ticking the non-binary or questioning options) has declined substantially since its 2022-23 peak.”

‘The fall of trans and queer seems most similar to the fading of a fashion or trend.’

One of the institutional-level student surveys Kaufmann looked at, the survey conducted annually at the Boston-area Andover Phillips Academy, showed a drop from over 9% of all respondents identifying as “non-binary” in 2023 to 3% total this year.

FIRE survey data and Brown University student survey data similarly showed declines in the share of self-identified “non-binary” respondents — from 6.8% to 3.6% of the total in the first case, and a drop from roughly 5% to 2.6% in the second case.

While the homosexual cohort has remained relatively stable, in the 3-5% range, Andover Phillips data indicated that there has been a rebound in the share of students who identify as straight.

This rebound was similarly reflected in the FIRE data — which indicates that straightness dropped from 80% in 2020 to 68% in 2023, but now sits around 77% — as well as in the General Social Survey’s findings, which reportedly indicated that straightness fell from 95% in 2010 to 71% in 2022, then rose to 81% last year.

RELATED: Groomed for violence? The dark world of furries and transgenderism in America’s classrooms

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, the category of self-identified bisexuals, which increased from 10% to 17% between 2020 and 2023, has dropped to 12%, according to the Andover Phillips data.

The category for “queer and other” sexual identities, which had jumped from 7% in 2020 to 17% in 2023, has since fallen to 12% of the total.

FIRE data indicates that the “queer and other” sexuality category has fallen from 15% in 2023 to 8%.

Kaufmann suggested that “it appears that trans and queer are going out of fashion among young people, especially in elite settings,” and that the freshman 2028 cohort “was less likely than older students in 2025 to identify as BTQ+.”

“To the extent that the youngest represent the leading edge of new trends, this suggests that trans, bisexual and queer identities are declining in popularity with each new cohort,” Kaufmann added.

The professor indicated that the decline in non-straight identification “does not appear to be the result of a shift to the right, the return of religion, or a rejection of woke culture war attitudes.”

Kaufmann suggested on X that “the fall of trans and queer seems most similar to the fading of a fashion or trend. It happened largely independently of shifts in political beliefs and social media use, though improved mental health played a role.”

Gender ideologues appear to be everywhere losing their battle against common sense and the well-being of young Americans.

For instance, a recent Gallup poll indicated that 66% of American adults think people should be required to list their real sex on government documents and that 69% believe medical transvestites should play on sports teams with members of their own sex.

Pew Research Center polling shows that a majority of Americans now support bans on child sex-change procedures — bans of the kind now in effect in a majority of U.S. states.

This rebuke of the sex-change regime, which is also taking a beating from the Trump administration, appears to be pan-generational. Data published by the Public Religion Research Institute in May indicates that support for so-called “gender-affirming care” has also plummeted among younger Americans. For instance, 66% of young men ages 18-29 think that sex-change interventions, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, should be illegal in most or all cases.

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