Matthew McConaughey doesn’t want participation trophies, and he doesn’t want success to be watered down.

The iconic actor recently gave a speech only he could deliver, forgoing giving traditional advice in favor of providing his own spiritual leanings that work for him.

‘I think in the West, because we want everyone to feel really great, participation trophies!’

The movie star was asked about how he critiques his performances on screen and how he gauges success.

“I know if I’m bogeying or if I’m birdieing. … I’ve seen myself on screen [and thought], ‘You’re kind of bulls***ting there,'” McConaughey told host Jay Shetty on his podcast.

Faking the grade

From there, McConaughey trashed the idea of expanded grade-point averages through extra credit.

“I’m not into extra credit. I don’t like 4.2 GPAs. That tells me, like, what happened? Are we, then, we’re not giving the right test? If 4.0 was the pinnacle, you know, that means not many people should be getting it, if anybody,” he explained.

The Texan said that with higher scores, institutions have either over-leveraged the original task or broadened the scope of scoring and therefore cheapened the credit.

“I think in the West, because we want everyone to feel really great, participation trophies! 4.2 GPA. Well, I feel better,” he said sarcastically.

It was from there that McConaughey began to explain where he seeks validation from, which was the true shining light of the discussion.

RELATED: Matthew McConaughey calls for ‘gun responsibility’ not gun control, goes on to demand gun control

Heavenly helpers

Aside from his wife and kids, McConaughey revealed he has a trio of people in heaven that he looks to for reactions — and God’s reaction through them.

“I have a council in the sky. Three people that are extremely important to me in my life: my dad, Penny Allen, and John Cheney.”

While the 56-year-old explained that Cheney is his old friend, it was not clear who Allen is.

“I see them, wink at them, talk with them, listen to them … run ideas by them, run decisions by them, and then I look up and see what their reaction is. And it’s been a very trusted council for me.”

This is a way to put “souls that are no longer with us” in “a heaven sense,” he explained. “They’re a conduit from God to me, and I have no expectations of them.”

In God he trusts

It doesn’t always go well for McConaughey, though. Sometimes his dad is “dancing in his underwear with a Miller Lite and a piece of lemon meringue pie,” he laughed, but sometimes “they’re not dancing,” and he has to figure out why.

RELATED: Matt Damon: Netflix dumbs down movies for attention-impaired phone addicts

Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

The Uvalde, Texas, native said it is very important to him to not have a picture of God in his mind, as he does not want to minimize his meaning.

In the end though, this all leads to McConaughey seeking his own validation, he admitted.

“I try to measure how I counsel and referee myself off of some of the people I just brought up to you,” he told the host.

“That’s where I prove it.”

McConaughey added that he does not look too far outside his own circle, because those he knows are who he trusts.

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Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing some criticism for saying he would not declare a snow day for children during a bitter winter snowstorm.

Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for the entire state of New York on Friday, but the mayor said that students would be required to have online learning rather than a free day.

‘F**k him my kid will not be remote learning he will be building a snow man and some sleigh riding.’

“I know to the disappointment of any student that’s watching this right now, Monday is either going to be a remote learning day or it’s going to be an in-person school day,” Mamdani said Friday.

“It’s not going to be a traditional snow day. That is a determination we’ve made,” he added.

Forecasts say the city could be hit with as much as 18 inches of snow through the weekend, along with very cold temperatures.

Critics online responded with disapproval of the decision.

“I like this mayor but I do not like this! Give the kids a snow day!” said Cristóbal Alex of MSNBC.

“Snow days are an American pastime/tradition of happiness. So out of principle, he despises it and has to do the opposite,” read another response.

“Mamdani had an equity-focused agenda, but this is not equitable. Don’t forget too, the research has shown that students didn’t learn as much during virtual learning. This is just a wasted day that counts,” said another user.

“F**k him my kid will not be remote learning he will be building a snow man and some sleigh riding,” replied another critic.

“Mamdani is such an a**hole. No snow days?” read another.

RELATED: ‘Tax them to the white meat!’ Mamdani’s new ‘equity officer’ posted now-deleted X posts against white women.

“The forecasts don’t always get it right, but what is being predicted right now, whether it’s a foot of snow or even a little bit more, would be one of the biggest snowfalls that our city has seen in years,” continued Mamdani.

“Either late tomorrow evening or early Sunday morning, we are going to see snow start to begin to fall across our city,” he added. “It will fall and fall and then fall some more.”

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A Republican congressman from Texas pre-empted criticism from Democrats on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in his district after Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) announced that she would visit to oversee operations.

Crockett said the Dilley Detention Center near San Antonio was in her crosshairs after reports indicated that a 5-year-old was being sent to the facility after being used as “bait” by ICE agents.

‘Democrats are doing everything they can to spin the truth against law enforcement.’

The Department of Homeland Security has vehemently denied the claims and said that the boy had been protected by agents after his father fled from an immigration enforcement operation. An attorney for the family said the boy’s father had a pending asylum claim, but Vice President JD Vance contradicted that claim and said he was an illegal alien.

Democrats have used the media framing of the issue to hammer away at the administration.

“I am aware of reports that this precious 5-year old, Liam Ramos, who was kidnapped by ICE as he returned home from preschool in Minneapolis may be in San Antonio, Texas,” wrote Crockett Friday on her social media account.

“I will be visiting the Dilley Detention Center in San Antonio next week to conduct oversight and will demand answers on the whereabouts and well-being of Liam. If it were up to me, we’d be at the Dilley Detention Center RIGHT NOW getting answers. But let’s be clear about what’s really happening here: The Trump Administration is illegally blocking Members of Congress from conducting lawful oversight,” she added.

“We have an absolute right — under federal law and the Constitution — to enter detention facilities, unannounced, to ensure the safety and well-being of people in government custody,” Crockett continued. “I am outraged. My heart aches for Liam’s family. We will get answers.”

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas posted a video of the facility to undermine any possible suggestion from Crockett that Ramos might be maltreated.

“In the coming days, you’ll see a lot of grandstanding by politicians at the Dilley ICE Center in my district, #TX23. It’s all for show,” he wrote on social media.

“I’ve been there & seen the state-of-the-art facilities & protocols that @ICEgov follows,” he added. “Our ICE agents & CBP personnel are doing their jobs, & yet again, Democrats are doing everything they can to spin the truth against law enforcement.”

RELATED: Trump admin blasts Ilhan Omar over ‘vile lie’ accusing ICE of using autistic child as bait

Among those on the left who have pounced on the story is failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“Enforcing the law is one thing. Terrorizing a population, using children as pawns, is another. My heart aches for Liam Ramos and his family,” she wrote.

Clinton and her husband could face contempt of Congress charges after refusing a subpoena related to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

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Director James Cameron says he prefers to live in New Zealand because of how “sane” it is compared to the United States.

The “Avatar” series director explained during a recent interview that he particularly preferred the New Zealand style of governance during COVID-19, which is when he decided to move there.

‘Fortunately, they already had a 98% vaccination rate.’

Buying the farm

Cameron told host Graham Bensinger that he fell in love with the scenery and people of New Zealand while visiting in 1994 and made a promise to himself that he would live there someday. Cameron bought a farm there in 2011 and found himself spending a lot of time in the country in the years to come.

“We came back for Christmas and then COVID hit, and we didn’t get back down there. So then I had to move mountains to get our production unit back up and running in New Zealand, and we just decided at that point in time that it was time to make the move as a family,” Cameron explained.

Fauci fan

From there, the filmmaker began boasting about New Zealand’s lockdowns for COVID-19, praising the country’s enforcement.

“New Zealand was — they had eliminated the virus completely. They actually eliminated the virus twice,” Cameron claimed. “The third time when it showed up in a mutated form, it broke through. But fortunately they already had a 98% vaccination rate.”

At the time, New Zealand was under the rule of socialist Jacinda Ardern, who ran the government with her Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. The country used a four-level alert system for COVID and spent a whole month under forced confinement except for “essential movement.”

Legislation included allowing police to use any “reasonable means including force” to ensure compliance, with punishments up to six months in prison.

“This is why I love New Zealand,” Cameron continued.

RELATED: Christian children’s movie ‘David’ beats out ‘Spongebob’ and Sydney Sweeney in box-office shock

Cuckoo for Kiwis

The Canadian-born director then began expressing his disdain for what he felt is Americans’ sub-optimal vaccination rates.

“People [in New Zealand] are for the most part sane as opposed to the United States, where you had a 62% vaccination rate, and that’s going down, going the wrong direction. Are you kidding me?! Where would you rather live?” he asked Bensinger.

The host stumbled, initially not realizing Cameron was looking for an answer. “Oh! Right,” he replied before Cameron jumped in.

“A place that actually believes in science and is sane and where people can work together cohesively to a common goal, or a place where everybody’s at each other’s throats extremely polarized, turning its back on science, and basically would be in utter disarray if another pandemic appears.”

Yes-man

Bensinger spoke up after those comments from Cameron though.

“I mean, the United States is a fantastic place to live.”

“Is it?” Cameron challenged.

Seemingly not wanting his podcast to spiral out of control, Bensinger added, “but New Zealand is just stunningly beautiful.”

“I’m not there for the scenery. I’m there for the sanity,” Cameron reaffirmed.

RELATED: James Cameron explains how a ‘Terminator-style apocalypse’ could happen

Photo by Marty MELVILLE / AFP via Getty Images

Carbon coper

The interview then shifted to Cameron’s farm and his veganism, with the 71-year-old explaining that he grows organic, farm-to-table vegetables for local businesses.

“I don’t personally have a problem with GMO per se,” Cameron said about his growing techniques. “Other than when you start to couple it with these chemical pesticides and herbicides into an integrated system, it’s actually opening the door to a lot of chemistry that shouldn’t be in our … bodies,” he said unironically.

Defending his veganism, Cameron concluded that if everyone was “100% plant-based,” not only would humanity live with a much smaller “carbon footprint,” but the environment and wildlife would be in much better shape.

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When Bill Clinton was president in 1995, he gave a speech about immigration that sounded eerily like something President Trump would say today — and Democrats loved it.

“Our nation was built by immigrants. People from every region of the world have made lasting and important contributions to our society. We support legal immigration, but we won’t tolerate immigration by people whose first act is to break the law as they enter our country,” Clinton said.

“We must continue to do everything we can to strengthen our borders, enforce our laws, and remove illegal aliens from our country. As I said in my State of the Union address, we are a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of laws. And it is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years,” he continued.

Clinton then went on to talk about not only increasing deportations but tripling the “number of criminal and other deportable aliens deported since 1993.”

“Every day, illegal aliens show up in court who are charged. Some are guilty, and surely some are innocent. Some go to jail and some don’t. But they’re all illegal aliens. And whether they’re innocent or guilty of the crimes they’re charged with in court, they’re still here illegally,” he said.

“Have you ever heard such hatred?” BlazeTV host Pat Gray comments on “Pat Gray Unleashed.”

“One of the original MAGA guys,” he adds.

Want more from Pat Gray?

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President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice opened an investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and now the Democrat’s supporters are being urged to “rush” donations to his legal defense fund.

‘If you’re with me, please rush a donation to our legal defense fund and help ensure we can keep fighting for accountability, transparency, and justice.’

Reports surfaced last week that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is investigating Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and others for potentially violating a conspiracy statute related to statements they made about the deployment of federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis region.

Walz issued a statement following the reports, accusing the Trump administration of “weaponizing the justice system,” adding that “threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”

Frey similarly accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the federal government “to intimidate local leaders for doing their jobs.”

The DOJ issued subpoenas on Tuesday to several Democratic officials, including Walz and Frey.

RELATED: ‘You want to live with these people?’ Trump exposes killers and child rapists Walz, Frey are shielding with anti-ICE agenda

Tim Walz, Gwen Walz. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The subpoenas, which both Walz and Frey confirmed they received, were connected to the DOJ’s investigation into whether the officials conspired to impede federal officers from carrying out their duties, according to CBS News.

On Friday, Alpha News reporter Liz Collin shared screenshots of an alleged Walz campaign notification, encouraging supporters to donate to the governor’s legal fund.

RELATED: Justice Dept. slaps Gov. Tim Walz, AG Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Frey with subpoenas: Report

Photo by Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images

“Last week, the federal government opened an investigation into me. … My job is to defend Minnesotans and the rule of law, and I’m sure as hell not backing down. But the road ahead is long, difficult, and expensive,” it reads.

“If you’re with me, please rush a donation to our legal defense fund and help ensure we can keep fighting for accountability, transparency, and justice,” the message reads, featuring a link that redirects to an Act Blue webpage where supporters can donate.

“BREAKING: The DOJ is investigating Tim Walz on baseless charges. Donate now to aid his fight,” the webpage states.

Blaze News has reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

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An image was circulated widely this week showing a visibly upset preschooler wearing an oversized hat and Spider-man backpack standing in the company of federal immigration agents. Evidently loath to investigate the circumstances surrounding the photo and what it actually depicts, Democrats and other radicals rushed to condemn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D), for instance, suggested ICE had treated the boy like a criminal, while twice-failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris wrote that he “is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center. I am outraged, and you should be too.”

‘No one thinks that makes any sense.’

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) went a step further, accusing ICE of “kidnapping 5-year-olds and using them as bait” and suggesting the agency should be defunded.

The liberal media didn’t appear particularly eager to correct Democrats’ false narrative, which was incubated by woke officials with Columbia Heights Public Schools, where the child was reportedly enrolled.

During his visit to Minneapolis on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance gave the press a reality check, noting that anti-ICE propagandists glossed over some critical information about the incident.

“I actually saw this terrible story while I was coming to Minneapolis,” said the vice president.

“And I see this story, and I’m a father of a 5-year-old — actually, a 5-year-old little boy. And I think to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is terrible. How do we arrest a 5-year-old?'”

“Well I do a little bit more follow-up research, and what I find is that the 5-year-old was not arrested; that his dad was an illegal alien; and when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,” said Vance.

RELATED: ‘Going to get someone killed’: Democratic AG shocks with talk about shooting ICE agents in ‘stand your ground’ Arizona

Photo by Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images

Vance told the Minneapolis crowd, “So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?”

The Department of Homeland Security indicated that when ICE attempted to arrest the boy’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on Jan. 20, the illegal alien from Ecuador “fled on foot — abandoning his child.”

Marcos Charles, the assistant director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE, indicated on Friday that after the illegal alien ditched his little boy and was arrested, ICE officers “stayed with the child. They cared for him, took him to get something to eat from a drive-thru restaurant, and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of. Again my officers did that. Not his father.”

Charles noted further that people inside the illegal alien’s apparent residence refused to open the door for the young boy and take him back.

According to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, the boy’s alleged mother was inside the house and would not let him in even after officers assured her that she wouldn’t be taken into custody.

Marc Prokosch, a lawyer representing the family, indicated during a press conference on Thursday that the boy and his father were reunited and are being kept together at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a family holding center in Dilley, Texas.

“Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement,” said DHS.

The vice president further suggested that the argument that ICE cannot arrest illegal aliens who have children is unworkable given that’d mean “every single parent is going to be completely given immunity from ever being the subject of law enforcement.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. No one thinks that makes any sense,” said Vance.

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This September marks the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment’s first passage in the House of Representatives — the annual appropriations rider that bars federal funding of elective abortion.

No one should be surprised that Democrats would mark the moment by extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that help enable backdoor abortion funding in blue states. What did surprise pro-lifers was President Donald Trump’s recent declaration that Republicans “have to be a little flexible on Hyde.”

Human lives aren’t negotiable. Neither is the Hyde Amendment.

“We’re all big fans of everything, but you have to have flexibility,” Trump told House Republicans in Washington on Jan. 6. He urged them to “work something” out on health care, a line that seemed to suggest Hyde could become a bargaining chip.

For millions of GOP voters, it cannot.

Just one year ago, the president aligned himself with them. On his fourth day in office, he signed an executive order declaring that “consistent with the Hyde Amendment,” it is the policy of the United States “to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.”

The same president helped overturn Roe v. Wade, restored the Mexico City policy ending funding for overseas abortions, and declared himself the “most pro-life president” in history.

If his position has changed, Americans have the right to know.

The Hyde Amendment is estimated to have saved more than 2.6 million lives over the past five decades. It forbids the use of federal tax dollars for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or a life-threatening medical emergency.

Yet the abortion lobby found a work-around. Twenty state Medicaid programs cover elective abortions using state funds, and millions of enrollees in those plans receive federal subsidies to help pay their premiums.

In plain terms, federal tax dollars indirectly support abortion in blue states, regardless of Hyde. It’s the same moral and fiscal problem that drove Congress to defund Planned Parenthood in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending package last July. Why cut off one pipeline while leaving another one wide open?

The Jan. 1 expiration of Biden-era enhancements to Obamacare subsidies offered Republicans a chance to close this loophole.

RELATED: ‘Fraud … for abortion’? Vance announces probe into Planned Parenthood’s $88M taxpayer-funded loans at March for Life

Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

House Republicans, to their credit, tried. In December, they passed H.R. 6703, which would explicitly block federal dollars from helping pay for a Medicaid plan that covers elective abortion. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill would lower Obamacare premiums by 11% on average through 2035 — nearly double the estimated reduction in the Democrats’ plan — and shrink the national deficit by $35.6 billion.

Then 17 Republicans defected.

On Jan. 8, they voted with Democrats to force a “clean” three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies with no language protecting taxpayers from subsidizing abortion.

Now the bill moves to the Senate, where negotiations reportedly continue on a bipartisan package. Thankfully, contrary to Trump’s calls for “flexibility,” Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has signaled that Hyde will remain non-negotiable in any deal.

“We want to ensure that, if we do anything, it’s done in a way that reforms these programs and … ensures that those dollars aren’t being used to go against the practice that’s been in place for the last 50 years around here, when it comes to taxpayer dollars being used to finance abortions,” Thune told reporters on Jan. 6.

The president — and any Republicans tempted to treat Hyde as disposable — should follow Thune’s lead. Trump may have a gift for “the art of the deal,” but the values at the center of the Republican coalition are not bargaining chips.

The GOP has long cast itself as a party of abolitionists, freedom fighters, and defenders of the vulnerable unborn. It should not compromise those claims for short-term political convenience — and become what it says it opposes.

Respectfully, Mr. President, human lives aren’t negotiable. Neither is the Hyde Amendment.

​Opinion & analysis, Abortion, Hyde amendment, Obamacare, Affordable care act, Subsidies, John thune, Donald trump, The art of the deal, Compromise, Pro-life