Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (I) tried to make his case against campaign contributions on the right in front of Joe Rogan, but the popular podcaster shut him down quickly.

Sanders made his pitch against large campaign contributions made by tech billionaire Elon Musk while being interviewed by Rogan on his show.

‘I think that’s probably the worst decision that the Supreme Court has ever made.’

Sanders got Rogan to agree that the U.S. has a “corrupt campaign finance system” and then went on to assail the Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“What it says is, ‘You’re a billionaire. You have now the constitutional right because your money is your freedom of expression,’ right?” Sanders explained.

“So you don’t like Bernie Sanders. You can put millions or hundreds of millions of dollars into a campaign and express your view about how terrible Bernie Sanders is, and you can buy that election, right?” he added. “That’s your constitutional right.”

“Right,” Rogan said.

“I think that’s probably the worst decision that the Supreme Court has ever made. So what is the result of that decision?” Sanders said.

RELATED: Bernie Sanders’ aide lashes out at women of ‘The View’ for segment calling him sexist

“The result of that decision, let’s take us to where we are today, is that Elon Musk, and I know Elon was on your show,” Sanders continued, “… He spent $270 million to elect Trump as president. I think that’s absurd, that any one person …”

“What’s the most someone donated towards the Harris campaign?” Rogan interjected.

“They spent a lot of money on Harris as well,” replied Sanders.

“They spent $1.5 billion just over the course of a couple of months,” Rogan responded.

“You got it!” Sanders said.

“I’m not here to say it’s just a Republican — that’s my point here.”

Rogan went on to ridicule the powers that would try to defeat any campaign financing reform, which delighted Sanders.

A video clip of the debate went viral on social media, with one post garnering more than 1.4 million views in a few hours.

Rogan has previously said that he was a supporter of Bernie Sanders as president, but he dropped a surprise endorsement for Trump in the last days before the 2024 election.

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Progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — and even some Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — are calling President Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities unconstitutional because he didn’t get congressional approval. They point to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which grants Congress the sole power to declare war, and the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which requires congressional authorization for prolonged or substantial military actions unless responding to an imminent attack, as evidence that his actions were unjustified.

AOC and Democratic Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) have even gone so far as to claim that the strikes are an impeachable offense.

To get clarity on the issue, Glenn Beck brought in Gabriel Noronha, president of Polaris National Security and former State Department special adviser for Iran.

“Did the president need to have congressional permission before striking Iran over the weekend?” Glenn asks.

“No, he did not,” is Noronha’s candid answer.

“It would have been nice to have. It strengthens the president’s hand when he does have congressional authorization for the use of military force. But the Constitution grants him the powers as commander in chief to take all necessary actions, especially in a limited fashion like he just did,” he explains.

Glenn agrees, adding, “They never said anything about ISIS when he went after ISIS and shut them down, right? … Why all of a sudden is this one so different than all of the limited strikes we have seen from all of the presidents recently?”

Noronha reiterates Glenn’s frustration, pointing to “Libya 2011” as well as “ISIS 2014-15,” where “more intense” versions of the “the same scenario” played out, but “Democrats didn’t say anything” about needing congressional approval.

Why the sudden pearl-clutching?

“The reason here,” says Noronha, “is because they want to find something to attack President Trump for, but there’s nothing on the policy because [the strikes] went so well, so they’re going onto the legal crutch just because they don’t have anything else.”

Ironically, Congress has had multiple opportunities to prevent presidents from attacking Iran. Noronha, who was “in Congress for four years,” says he witnessed at least “a dozen” attempts to “strip the president of the ability to attack Iran,” and every single time, they failed.

“They always said, ‘No, we want the president to have the ability to strike Iran if and when it’s necessary,”’ he tells Glenn.

But when it comes to Donald Trump specifically, there’s always been a double standard.

“Congress is so radicalized now,” says Glenn. “They’re marching in the streets with people who are burning our cities to the ground.”

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

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The vice mayor of a small city in Los Angeles County may be regretting her apparent taunting challenge to gang members to organize resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation operations after the feds reportedly opened an investigation about the post.

Cynthia Gonzalez reportedly posted a video of herself asking gang members in Los Angeles why they haven’t stepped up to defend their turf against federal agents as the feud between local officials and the Trump administration continues.

‘You guys tag everything up, claiming hood, and now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you!’

“Not for nothing, but I want to know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles,” said Gonzalez in a video posted on social media by Bill Melugin of Fox News.

“Cholos” refers to Hispanics, primarily Mexican-Americans, who are gang members. She went on to call out specific gangs of the area by name, including Florencia 13, which is connected to the Mexican Mafia.

“18th Street, Florencia, where is the leadership at? Because you guys are all about territory, ‘This is 18th Street,’ and, ‘This is Florencia.’ You guys tag everything up, claiming hood, and now that your hood’s being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain’t a peep out of you!” she continued.

“It’s everybody else who’s not about the gang life that’s out there protesting and speaking up. We’re out there, like, fighting our turf! Protecting our turf, protecting our people! And like where you at?” she added.

“Bien calladitos!” she repeats, which is Spanish for “very quiet!”

RELATED: LA Dodgers say they blocked ICE agents at stadium after campaign to pressure team to condemn deportations

Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

“Dude, they’re running amok all up on your streets! On your streets and in your city! And [look], when the big gangs, the guns come in, nothing but like quiet, and we’re out here, the regular ones that have never been jumped in, out here, calling things out, trying to organize people, trying to do the thing!” Gonzalez continued.

“So don’t be trying to claim no block, no nothing, if you’re not showing up right now, trying to like help out and organize. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you once they’re gone!” she added.

She reportedly later deleted the video.

Melugin said that federal sources told him FBI agents had visited her home, and an investigation was opened into the video. The FBI told Fox it could not confirm or deny the investigation.

He also said he reached out to Gonzales and the city of Cudahy but received no response.

Although Cudahy is a small town by area, which is just above one square mile, it has among the highest density ratios in the U.S. because of its 22,800 residents.

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House Democrats unanimously voted against a resolution Tuesday formally condemning the destructive anti-ICE riots that took place in Los Angeles, California.

The resolution narrowly passed the House, with 217 Republicans voting in the affirmative while 206 Democrats voted in the negative. The riots protesting ICE deportations in Southern California involved rocks being hurdled at law enforcement and attendees waving foreign flags.

‘Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not.’

Even as multiple cars burned in a news clip, one anchor described the riots as “relatively peaceful” and “relatively calm,” reminding many viewers of the “fiery but mostly peaceful” BLM riots of 2020, according to CNN.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took issue with the resolution, saying he “will not be lectured by extreme MAGA Republicans about questions of law and order.” He also disagreed with the classification, saying there was “unrest” but refusing to acknowledge that it was a riot.

RELATED: Republican senator makes a stunning admission: ‘I can’t be somebody that I’m not’

Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Notably, the resolution “recognizes the right to assemble and protest peacefully” and “condemns unequivocally the violence perpetrated against Federal, State, and local law enforcement.” Despite claiming to hold the same values outlined in the resolution, Jeffries and his 205 colleagues voted against the resolution.

RELATED: Republicans clash with Democratic lawmakers defending violent anti-ICE rioters

Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

California Republican Rep. Young Kim spearheaded the resolution, emphasizing the distinction between peaceful protests and outright chaos and lawlessness.

“Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not,” Kim said. “Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest.”

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The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Trump administration could restart deportations of illegal aliens to countries not their own. While this decision will speed up the mass deportation process, there remains a need for detention facilities.

To help satisfy this need, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) tasked state leaders with identifying places for a new facility. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier evidently had a good spot in mind.

Last week, Uthmeier made a public pitch in favor of “Alligator Alcatraz” — “an old, virtually abandoned airport facility” in the Everglades that could serve as “the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”

The state attorney general noted that the 39-square-mile area, which “is completely surrounded by the Everglades,” presents an “efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter. People get out and there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons — nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.”

Uthmeier confirmed Monday that Alligator Alcatraz is a go.

The Department of Homeland Security told Blaze News that the Florida Division of Emergency Management will build a facility on the location that will house up to 5,000 beds for illegal aliens.

RELATED: Illegal alien suspected of wielding weed whacker at ICE agents is called a ‘father’ and ‘victim’ by local outlet

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Florida law enforcement officers who capture under the 287(G) program — a program delegating specific immigration enforcement authority to state and local officers under the Immigration and Nationality Act — can dump detainees off at Alligator Alcatraz. ICE will similarly be able to transfer aliens to the Florida facility under 287(g) authority.

The DHS anticipates that the facility will be functional in a matter of days, initially with 500 to 1,000 beds, but ultimately 5,000 beds by early July, following expansions in several 500-bed increments.

Authorities might ultimately build hardened structures on the site, but for the time being, Alligator Alcatraz will largely be a tented destination.

While illegal aliens sweat it out in the soft-sided structures, Florida Division of Emergency Management workers will be housed in old Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers that have apparently been renovated.

‘I’m proud to help support President Trump and Secretary Noem in their mission to fix our illegal immigration problem once and for all.’

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to Blaze News. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”

RELATED: Judge orders release of Kilmar Garcia — but DHS vows that ‘he will never go free on American soil’

Image (left): Department of Homeland Security; Photo (right): Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Noem noted further that the new facilities “will in large part be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which the Biden Administration used as a piggy bank to spend hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to house illegal aliens, including at the Roosevelt Hotel that served as a Tren de Aragua base of operations that was used to shelter Laken Riley’s killer.”

According to the DHS, the approximate cost of running the facility will be $245 per bed per day and an annual cost of $450 million. Florida will initially foot the bill but later receive reimbursement from FEMA, which has roughly $625 million in Shelter and Services Program funds available for this effort.

“I’m proud to help support President Trump and Secretary Noem in their mission to fix our illegal immigration problem once and for all,” stated Uthmeier. “Alligator Alcatraz and other Florida facilities will do just that.”

Hundreds of protesters traveled to the site of the future detention facility on Sunday to protest its construction, reported WGCU-TV. Their concerns largely appeared to be tied up with the potential environmental impact of the facility on supposedly “sacred” land.

Illegal immigrant advocates have similarly criticized the proposed facility albeit for difference reasons.

For instance, Mark Fleming, the associate director of federal litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, told the New York Times that the move amounted to an “independent, unaccountable detention system.”

“The fact that the administration and its allies would even consider such a huge temporary facility,” said Fleming, “on such a short timeline, with no obvious plan for how to adequately staff medical and other necessary services, in the middle of the Florida summer heat is demonstrative of their callous disregard for the health and safety of the human beings they intend to imprison there.”

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the man the mainstream media labeled a “Maryland father” despite the fact that he entered the U.S. illegally and exhibits signs of MS-13 gang affiliation — might be released from criminal custody. In April, after the Supreme Court upheld an order by a federal judge, Garcia was returned to the U.S. from a Salvadoran prison, but he was soon hit with human trafficking charges and detained.

Now, another lower court judge has intervened. Tennessee Judge Barbara D. Holmes has ordered Garcia’s release from criminal custody until his trial arrives. The hearing to discuss the conditions of his release is scheduled for tomorrow.

“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable to other persons or the community,” Holmes announced.

“He was extradited back to the United States to stand trial for human trafficking in Tennessee, so there’s that,” scoffs Sara Gonzales, BlazeTV host of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

She then plays the bodycam footage of Garcia being pulled over by Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2022, which captures Garcia’s large vehicle with eight passengers inside. This footage is being used by prosecutors in his human smuggling trial to support allegations that he was transporting illegal immigrants.

But there’s more evidence that suggests Garcia poses a threat to the community. Sara plays an audio clip of Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, recounting his history of domestic abuse.

“I kept trying to get to the door basement to try to open the door, and then, like, he pushed me,” Sura said, adding that she called 911 but had to ask a neighbor for “help” since it was taking police a long time to respond.

“When [Garcia] heard me [call for help], like, he grabbed me from my hair and then he slapped me, and then the neighbor, like, he didn’t know what to do. … I have pictures of the evidence, like all the bruises,” she added, noting that the abuse was not a one-time incident.

“He would just wake up and, like, hit me, and then last Saturday … before I went to my daughter’s birthday party, he slammed me three times. … My sister called the police because he hit me in front of my sister,” she said.

Besides the reality that Garcia is an “illegal human trafficker domestic abuser,” he’s “a really good guy,” says Sara sarcastically.

BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden predicts that if Garcia is released, “he’ll either flee and they won’t be able to find him, or he’ll go on and do something within his own character,” likely “something violent.”

“If criminals know that they’re going to go away for a long time, they go on a crime spree. I mean we’ve seen it over and over and over again,” he adds.

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

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Friends and foes alike have expressed skepticism in recent days regarding President Donald Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Iranian conflict. Trump appears to have once again earned their trust by neutralizing the Iranian nuclear program, striking a tenuous peace between Tehran and Jerusalem, and securing a U.S. exit out of what easily could have become another bloody Middle Eastern quagmire.

Vice President JD Vance provided BlazeTV host Steve Deace with critical insights on Tuesday both into the thinking that guided the president’s successful actions in the Middle East and into how Trump avoided the damning misstep that tripped up his predecessors.

Vance, who deployed as a Marine to Iraq in 2005, indicated that he “always wondered kind of what went wrong” with past military interventions in the Middle East. This recent episode in the region buttressed his understanding that the answer is “that we allowed mission creep. In other words, we started with one mission, and then it turned into another mission, and it turned into another mission.”

This phenomenon would account, in part, for why the U.S. military was formally involved in Afghanistan for two decades and in Iraq from 2003 until 2011 — protracted conflicts that claimed the lives of thousands of American service members and cost trillions of dollars.

Vance suggested that previous presidents lacked the clarity of focus and the restraint that Trump exercised in recent days.

RELATED: Rubio, Vance outline the ‘work of a generation,’ next steps for the American renewal: ‘This is a 20-year project’

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

“You didn’t have the kind of presidential leadership to say, ‘We are going to do what we came to do, and then once we’ve accomplished that successfully, we’re going to get out,'” Vance told Deace. “And what did the president say we needed to do? We needed to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. We did that, of course, with incredibly competent troops and, really, an amazing military operation.”

“The president just never let that mission creep settle in to the way the generals were thinking about it, the [way] diplomats were thinking about it,” continued the vice president. “I really have to give the president all of the credit here, because I think, look — American history has told us that given the situation that [Trump] was in, every American president of pretty much my lifetime has made a bad decision in the Middle East. He was able to get in there, do what he said he was going to do, and then put the region back on the path to peace.”

— (@)

Vance indicated further that Trump has changed the nature of the game, particularly where international expectations go, noting that foreign powers have come to expect the U.S. to “permanently entrench ourselves in that region of the world; to try to build democracies; to build separate nations, sometimes even separate cultures within a country where you didn’t have any democratic culture.”

The reason why the U.S. defied expectations this time around is because the man in charge “has made it very clear that the only thing the United States is going to be on the hook for is accomplishing our national objectives and our national mission.”

‘We don’t want to have to serve as the policemen of the world.’

While emphasizing a willingness from the Trump administration to engage in diplomacy, Vance emphasized that America’s interests remain the top priority — that “America first” is Trump’s guiding principle in such matters.

Deace suggested that many in the MAGA coalition have been torn between a love for Israel and a desire to limit American engagements in the Middle East, particularly those that might draw American troops abroad.

Vance indicated that Trump “has been able to thread the needle very well” by simultaneously recognizing Israel as a “very important ally” with which there are multiple opportunities for cooperation, and the need, both for the U.S. and Jerusalem, for the U.S. to give up the role of “policemen of the Middle East” and leave that responsibility to the Israelis and the “rational” Gulf Arab states.

“We want Israel and the Gulf Arab countries to police their own back yard,” said Vance. “We don’t want to have to serve as the policemen of the world.”

— (@)

In addition to seeking further disentanglement from Middle Eastern affairs, the vice president suggested there is also room for criticism of the action taken on the part of friends in the region.

‘I think so long as we have political leaders in America who are laser-focused on the United States, yes, we can be pro-Israel.’

Vance noted that while Israel “is a great friend of ours, and we are in agreement on the deep cultural value question,” that “doesn’t mean that on every question of foreign policy we’re always going to be aligned.”

RELATED: ‘They don’t know what the f**k they’re doing’: Trump cusses out Israel, Iran for nearly blowing up his ceasefire

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Vance cited as an example Trump’s stern call Tuesday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the president made clear that the ceasefire needed to be respected.

“I think so long as we have political leaders in America who are laser-focused on the United States, yes, we can be pro-Israel. Yes, we can say that our Israeli friends have a lot of, you know — there are a lot of ways in which we can work together,” Vance told Deace. “Allies often do work together, but sometimes allies have disagreement, and I think we just have to be honest about that.”

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BBC News host Martine Croxall went rogue when quoting a professor live on air, with insiders saying times have changed at the British network.

Croxall was introducing a segment on the number of possible deaths during the current heat wave in the region and, after a live report from a colleague, began quoting an alleged expert about at-risk individuals.

‘You’d better not be in any trouble …’

Quoting assistant professor Dr. Malcolm Mistry from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Croxall relayed the information before stopping mid-sentence to correct some ideological terminology.

“Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, says that the aged, pregnant people — women — and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.”

Croxall’s wide-eyed delivery of the word “women” defied the woke culture that has choked Britain for years, with even insider reports claiming the tables have turned within the BBC, as well.

RELATED: I was separated from my mom because Ireland enforced its laws

Outlet Deadline spoke to sources from inside BBC’s walls who said that while the company does not insist on a particular term to refer to “pregnant women,” the employees do not predict Croxall will be punished for the correction.

“Other insiders said it was highly unlikely that Croxall would be reprimanded over the matter,” Deadline’s Jake Kanter wrote. “These employees pointed to the U.K. Supreme Court ruling in April, which said that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.”

Deadline also said insiders reported that since a BBC radio host was punished in 2024 for saying “transwomen” are “males,” other employees had become sour toward the company.

“I think the fallout made them think: This is mad,” a Deadline source revealed.

RELATED: Michelle Obama makes bizarre pro-abortion argument: The ‘least’ of what the female body does ‘is produce life’

Croxall posted a screenshot of her broadcast on X and remarked that she had seen an influx of followers since her comment aired.

“A huge thank you to everyone who has chosen to follow me today for whatever reason. It’s been quite a ride,” Croxall told her now 135,000 followers.

Praise immediately came from prominent personalities, such as “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who called Croxall her new favorite anchor.

“I have a new favourite BBC presenter,” Rowling wrote on X, as she shared the snippet.

The next day, Rowling replied to Croxall directly and warned the powers that be about possibly punishing her.

“You’d better not be in any trouble …,” Rowling wrote.

The storyteller has been a prominent voice for women in the U.K. in the fight against men in women’s clothing invading female spaces. Rowling dared police to arrest her in April over complaints that she noted that a transgender woman is a man; the police soon backed down.

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Following the United States’ weekend strike on Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrest of nearly a dozen Iranian nationals who are illegally in the country.

The former Biden administration’s open-border policies have sparked concerns that potential terrorists and other threat actors have flooded into the U.S. undetected, raising the risk of the formation of sleeper cells.

‘We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.’

ICE’s arrests, which took place over the weekend, included a suspected terrorist, an individual with admitted ties to Hezbollah, and an alleged former Iranian Army sniper, according to a Tuesday press release from ICE.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that the arrests reflect the agency’s “commitment to keeping known and suspected terrorists out of American communities.”

Immigration agents in Mississippi apprehended Yousef Mehridehno. The U.S. government terminated his residency in 2017 after it determined that he made false statements on his original visa application and potentially committed marriage fraud. The federal government in February listed Mehridehno as “a known or suspected terrorist,” the press release said.

RELATED: ‘They don’t know what the f**k they’re doing’: Trump cusses out Israel, Iran for nearly blowing up his ceasefire

Yousef Mehridehno. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Mehran Makari Saheli, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with admitted connections to Hezbollah, was arrested in Minnesota. He was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and a judge ordered his removal in 2022.

Mehran Makari Saheli. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE Atlanta arrested Ribvar Karimi, who was reportedly carrying his Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card, which noted that he was previously an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021. ICE determined that he was eligible for removal after he entered the U.S. on a marriage visa in 2024 and allegedly broke federal law by failing to adjust his immigration status.

Ribvar Karimi. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad, who was reportedly carrying a loaded firearm when ICE Houston arrested him, entered the country on a student visa in 2016 and was arrested the following year in Texas for allegedly assaulting his wife, impeding her breathing. His wife obtained a restraining order, claiming that he had threatened her and her family in Iran. An immigration judge ordered his removal in October 2019 after his status was terminated due to academic suspension.

Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE Houston also arrested Hamid Reza Bayat, who was convicted of drug crimes and driving on a suspended license. An immigration judge previously ordered his removal nearly two decades ago.

Hamid Reza Bayat. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

In Phoenix, Arizona, federal immigration agents apprehended Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, an illegal alien who received removal orders after he was convicted for threatening a law enforcement office and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Agents also arrested Linet Vartaniann, an American citizen, for allegedly harboring Eidivand and threatening to open fire on officers. The agency claimed that Vartaniann stated she would “shoot ICE officers in the head” if they entered her home.

Linet Vartaniann. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE officials in Colorado Springs nabbed Mahmoud Shafiei and Mehrdad Mehdipour, two illegal aliens living together. Shafiei was convicted of drug crimes and previously arrested for alleged assault and child abuse. A judge ordered Shafiei’s removal in 1987.

Mahmoud Shafiei. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Mehrdad Mehdipour. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Federal immigration agents in San Francisco apprehended Bahman Alizadeh Asfestani, who has a criminal history, including a conviction for theft and possession of a controlled substance for sale.

RELATED: Trump announces ceasefire between Iran and Israel: ‘GOD BLESS THE WORLD!’

Bahman Alizadeh Asfestani. Image Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Mohammad Rafikian, who has a lengthy rap sheet, was arrested on Monday by ICE Buffalo. He was previously convicted of grand larceny, schemes to defraud, criminal impersonation, and practicing as an attorney.

Also on Monday, federal agents in San Diego grabbed Arkavan Babk Moirokorli, an illegal alien convicted of forging an official seal.

‘Very commonly, such groups are engaging in criminal acts to raise money, promote propaganda, recruit assets, or source technology and equipment.’

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Under Secretary Noem, DHS has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists that illegally entered this country, came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs or otherwise.”

“We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out — and we are. We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland,” she added.

When Blaze News contacted ICE for comment, it directed us to its press release. The agency would not respond to specific questions about the arrested illegal aliens’ potential terrorist cell involvement, whether they had previously been under surveillance, or had known or suspected contact with Iranian officials.

Kyle Shideler, the director and senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, told Blaze News, “While the term ‘sleeper cell’ captures the imagination, it’s better to think of such cells as ‘terrorist infrastructure.'”

“Very commonly, such groups are engaging in criminal acts to raise money, promote propaganda, recruit assets, or source technology and equipment,” Shideler continued. “That doesn’t mean they may not possess military or terrorist training and the ability to conduct attacks. But it does allow a proactive law enforcement approach, which seeks to find and remove such threats before it becomes truly dangerous. Aggressive immigration enforcement is good counterterrorism.”

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If being run off of a social media platform can be a sign of losing an argument, then Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has lost her debate to former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines.

The feud between Biles and Gaines began when the latter criticized officials for allowing a transgender athlete to compete on a Minnesota high school softball team. Biles lashed out at her with very personal attacks that many said veered into body-shaming.

‘To be honest, if a male gymnast walked into her division and dominated, Simone wouldn’t be clapping. She’d be calling foul — and rightly so.’

After apologizing to Gaines, Biles deactivated her account on the X platform, where the heated exchange transpired.

“I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.”

She went on to claim that she was arguing against “singling out children for public scrutiny” rather than criticizing the “flawed” system of sports competition.

She later posted a cryptic message on her Instagram account.

“Strength is what we gain from the madness we survive,” the message read.

Many on the left had praised Biles for defending transgender athletes, but Gaines pointed out how irrational it was to demand the inclusion of transgender athletes to ensure “fairness,” as Biles argued.

“The boys are publicly humiliating the girls. To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong,” Gaines wrote earlier in June. “You can’t have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you’re ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them.”

RELATED: USA Today obliterated online over bizarre claim about transgender athletes

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Other female athletes weighed in against Biles’ position in comments to Blaze News.

“I think she did it impetuously. Didn’t think it through. Didn’t expect that kind of response,” said U.S. women’s national artistic gymnast Jennifer Sey. “She lives in a bubble, and she thought everyone would agree and cheer her on.”

“Simone Biles has never watched a male gymnast take her place on the podium,” said former NCAA swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler.

“To be honest, if a male gymnast walked into her division and dominated, Simone wouldn’t be clapping,” she added. “She’d be calling foul — and rightly so.”

Others mocked Biles for abandoning the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team in both team and individual events in 2021 in order to focus on her “mental health” issues.

“At the end of the day, I have to do what was right for me,” she said at the time. “It just sucks that it happened at the Olympic Games.”

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Bill Maher advised Democrats to “do something” about “The View” after co-host Whoopi Goldberg made a controversial remark that compared Iran to the United States of America. Meanwhile, a GOP representative blasted Goldberg for attempting to compare life in the United States with life in Iran.

Last week, Goldberg stirred the pot by claiming that living under the brutal Iranian theocratic regime isn’t much different from black people living in the United States.

‘”The View” isn’t a talk show, it’s a weekly tantrum from the far-left padded room.’

The eyebrow-raising comment was made during a discussion about the conflict in Iran, when co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out that the oppressive Iranian regime has regularly violated human rights.

“Let’s just remember, too, the Iranians literally throw gay people off of buildings. They don’t adhere to basic human rights,” Griffin declared during the episode that aired last Wednesday.

The remark irritated Goldberg, who responded by saying, “Let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. I’m sorry, they used to just keep hanging black people.”

Griffin responded while Whoopi continued to talk over her.

“I’m sorry, but where the Iranian regime is today in 2025 is nothing compared to the United States,” Griffin replied. “It is not even the same.”

Goldberg argued, “It is the same.” Then Whoopi told Griffin, “That’s not what you mean to say.”

Griffin countered, “The year 2025 in the United States is nothing like if I stepped foot wearing this outfit in Tehran right now.”

Griffin noted that women cannot wear leg-revealing skirts or have their hair showing in Iran.

It is mandatory for women to wear a hijab to cover their hair in public spaces, and failing to do so is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, according to the United Nations.

RELATED: Watch: Schwarzenegger shuts down Joy Behar’s attempt to ignite anti-ICE sentiment on ‘The View,’ says immigrants must behave

Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

“I think it’s very different to live in the United States in 2025 than it is to live in Iran in 2025,” Griffin stated.

Goldberg interjected, “Not if you’re black.”

“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, saying, “Not for everybody.”

Griffin advised, “Uh, guys, don’t go to Tehran. Do not. No one at this table can go to Tehran.”

Whoopi admitted that the United States is “the greatest country in the world,” but contended that black Americans face issues every day.

Goldberg said, “But every day, we are worried. Do we have to be worried about our kids? Are their kids going to get shot because they’re running through somebody’s neighborhood?”

Co-host Sara Haines added of females in Iran, “And they are not doing well there. They are not doing well in Iran. They are not educated. They can’t own property.”

Haines noted, “They can’t go out of their houses.”

Griffin conceded that there are “very real problems” in the United States, but there are “much darker” places in the world.

“Nobody wants to diminish the very real problems we have in this country,” Griffin stated. “That is no one’s intent, but I think it’s important we remember there are places much darker than this country, and people who deserve rights …”

Goldberg butted in and said, “Listen, not everybody feels that way. Not everybody feels that way. Listen, I’m sorry, you know, when you think about the fact that we got the vote in 1965 …”

Griffin interrupted, “They don’t have free and fair elections in Iran. It’s not even the same universe.”

Goldberg dropped out of the tense debate by saying, “There’s no way I can make you understand.”

RELATED: People are saying Bill Maher’s monologue rebuking pedophilia in Hollywood, gender identity politics might be his best takedown ever

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images

Maher ridiculed “The View” for attempting to equate life in the authoritarian Islamic Republic of Iran with being a black American in the United States.

During the latest episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the liberal talk show host applauded Democrats for taking a step “back to sanity” after the New York Times shifted toward a more “sensible liberal, not crazy woke” position on transgender issues.

However, Maher noted that the Democrats have an issue with the progressive talking points spouted on “The View” and that “something” needs to be done about it.

Maher said it was a “great first step toward giving Democrats back some sanity.” He added, “A second good step would be: We gotta do something about ‘The View.’ I really believe that.”

‘Honestly? Don’t cancel “The View.” Add more cameras. More microphones. Maybe even a laugh track. Once you realize it’s basically an “SNL” skit of a left-wing meltdown, it becomes the greatest MAGA campaign ad on TV.’

Maher asked guest Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) for his opinion on Goldberg’s remarks that black Americans have just as many issues as people in Iran.

Hunt reacted with a hearty laugh before stating, “My district in the great state of Texas is actually a white-majority district that President Trump would have won by 25 points.”

“As I said, I’m a direct descendant of a slave, my great-great-grandfather, who was born on Rosedown Plantation,” Hunt continued. “I am literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character.”

Hunt added, “That’s the progress, because, like, a lot of white people had to vote for me — a lot. So I don’t ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg’s conversation about how it’s worse to be black in America right now. That’s a bit far.”

Hunt explained that his father grew up under Jim Crow but is now the father of a Republican U.S. congressman in a white-majority district.

“That is America,” Hunt proclaimed. “So let’s celebrate that.”

Fellow guest Paul Begala, a Democratic political consultant and commentator, argued that we have the holiday of Juneteenth to celebrate the freedom of black Americans, but asserted that President Donald Trump “doesn’t want to honor” the occasion.

Hunt fired back, “I don’t want it. I don’t want Black History Month. I don’t want all these days to make everybody feel special. I’m an ’80s baby. Everybody’s too sensitive anyway. We’re all Americans anyway.”

RELATED: Watch: Bill Maher’s awkward exchange with Don Lemon prompts Caitlyn Jenner to blast ex-CNN anchor as privileged, wealthy, entitled

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Hunt continued to bash “The View” host even after his Friday appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Hunt wrote on the X social media platform on Monday, “Hey Whoopi, if America is so bad, why are you still cashing multi-million dollar checks from a country that made you rich, famous, and free? You claim it’s worse to be Black in America than a woman in Iran? Really?”

“Try hosting The View in Tehran and see how that goes. Spoiler alert: there won’t be a studio audience — there’ll be a firing squad,” the Texas congressman stated.

“The truth is, you’ve become a professional victim in a nation that gave you everything. The View isn’t a talk show, it’s a weekly tantrum from the far-left padded room,” Hunt declared. “Let her talk. Let her rant. Every time she opens her mouth, she reminds America why we’re winning.”

Hunt stated that he doesn’t want “The View” canceled. In fact, Hunt wants to bring more exposure to the left-wing talk show.

“Honestly? Don’t cancel The View. Add more cameras. More microphones. Maybe even a laugh track,” Hunt said. “Once you realize it’s basically an SNL skit of a leftwing meltdown, it becomes the greatest MAGA campaign ad on TV.”

RELATED: Rep. Wesley Hunt refuses to apologize when a black man screams at him for supporting Trump: ‘How can a black man do this?’

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During Fox News’ coverage of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade, contributor and former Defense Intelligence Officer Rebekah Koffler appeared on air with slurred speech and exaggerated gestures, leading viewers to speculate she was intoxicated.

In a now deleted post on X, Koffler wrote prior to the interview, “Well @POTUS is apparently encroaching on my airtime! My hit is moved to 8:20-8:30 pm depending on how long #Trump takes. I’m honored. Refilling my #champagne glass while waiting for my hit!”

Accompanying the sentiment was a photo of a bottle of champagne.

When she was asked on air what her thoughts were on the “incredible symbolism” and “messaging” of the event, her response was almost unintelligible.

“I’m so excited, Emily and Lucas Tomlinson,” Koffler said to Fox News anchors Emily Compagno and Lawrence Jones. “Everybody, like, this is incredible! Finally, the United States is back! I want to really thank all of our Army, Navy, and Air Force officers who’ve been sacrificing their lives, literally. Their families have been contributing to the mission.”

“With our new commander in chief, Donald J. Trump, they are prioritizing America first. And I want to thank these officers for all of their sacrifices and all of the hardships that their families have endured,” she continued, adding, “Lawrence Jones, you’re doing … you’re rocking, man!”

Her segment then ended when the Fox and Friends hosts cut her off and quickly went to a commercial break.

Koffler claimed she was simply having an audio issue, but BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t buying it.

“I say she was drunk,” Gray says on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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