Democrats have turned on California Rep. Eric Swalwell after former staffers accused him of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct, prompting the gubernatorial hopeful to scrap his campaign altogether.

Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor just two days after several bombshell reports cited ex-staffers accusing the congressman of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. Although Swalwell has denied all the allegations, pressure in the form of leaked videos, investigations, and rescinded endorsements pushed the lawmaker to drop out Sunday.

‘We should take her story seriously.’

“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Swalwell said in a statement on X. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.”

“I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

RELATED: Eric Swalwell’s campaign for governor is collapsing after devastating allegations from former staffer

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Swalwell’s trouble did not stop there, with dozens of his colleagues condemning the congressman in the immediate aftermath of the reports about the allegations.

“I have read the San Francisco Chronicle’s account and I am deeply distressed by its allegations,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement on X. “This woman was brave to come forward, and we should take her story seriously. I am withdrawing my endorsement immediately, and believe that he should withdraw from the race.”

“Following the incredibly disturbing sexual assault accusations against Congressman Eric Swalwell, we call for a swift investigation into these incidents and for the Congressman to immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a post on X. “This is unacceptable of anyone — certainly not an elected official — and must be taken seriously.”

Not only did Democrats call for a full-fledged investigation, but several lawmakers and former staffers called for Swalwell’s removal from office.

RELATED: ‘I made a mistake’: Tony Gonzales admits to affair with staffer who set herself on fire

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Lawmakers are now leading a bipartisan effort to expel Swalwell and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who similarly suspended his re-election campaign after admitting to an affair with a former aide who tragically took her own life by setting herself on fire.

“I’ve seen enough,” Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California said in a post on X. “With his nuanced statement aimed at defending likely criminal charges, Swalwell all but admits a per se abuse of power under House ethics rules: sex with a subordinate.”

“He must now drop out of the Governor’s race and resign from Congress. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who admitted to the same violation, should also resign. If they don’t, I will support voting to expel both of them.”

The overcrowded Democratic primary for California governor is now down to five candidates. Notably, Republican candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco are leading the general election polls, but Swalwell’s support is likely to shift to the remaining Democrats.

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On April 3, BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo released an investigative report in City Journal documenting fraud in the state of California under current Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. According to his team’s research, California lost at least $180 billion to fraud and improper payments in programs like Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid), unemployment insurance, and general welfare since Newsom took office in 2019.

Rufo believes targeting domestic fraud is a fool-proof “political winner” for the Trump administration — certainly more than the Iran war, which he says is “at best a 50/50 issue.”

“Portraying Minnesota and New York and California and other bastions of blue governance as havens of outright fraud, ripping off taxpayers, seems like the kind of domestic policy agenda — along with immigration, along with a couple of other issues — that can be a winner, both substantively … but also politically,” he tells “Rufo and Lomez” co-host Jonathan Keeperman.

Keeperman wholeheartedly agrees: “[Domestic fraud] is such a good thing for us to be focusing our attention on, not just because it’s a huge problem that we need to eradicate from our public life and is creating all sorts of downstream pathologies that are making everyday life just more difficult for ordinary Americans, but because it also demonstrates … the problems of democratic governance.”

The best part is that large-scale fraud isn’t even that difficult to uncover.

“A guy like Nick Shirley just takes a camera, finds some public documentation, and just goes and knocks on some doors, and you can uncover that easily hundreds of millions, if not billions, in fraud,” he says, “and so yes, this is the best message for the GOP and for Republicans going forward.”

The mass exodus of people from California, Keeperman argues, is evidence that domestic issues are what people care about most.

“California has, despite being one of the nicest places to live in the country, has net out domestic migration and has had net out domestic migration for the last decade, if not longer,” he says.

“People are voting with their feet on this, and so yes — this is all just to say [domestic fraud] is an obvious winner.”

Rufo confirms Newsom’s direct role in California’s out-migration.

“There’s two stats that we came across in this reporting that I think are really important,” he says.

“Under Gavin Newsom, the state’s population has declined by 0.2%, which is the first time that California’s population has declined ever since it became a state … but at the same time that the population declined, Medicaid spending … for low-income people doubled.”

“And so you have the population going down and then the health care expenses under Medicaid doubling,” he explains, pointing out the vicious cycle of fraud money flowing to unions, which funds politicians, who expand the system even more.

The result, Rufo says, is a two-tiered society. The combination of astronomical taxes and high cost of living creates a population where residents are either “rich enough where it doesn’t really matter” or “poor enough where it doesn’t really matter because you have every part of your life subsidized.”

“I think that’s why people are saying, ‘I’m out,”’ he says.

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

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, 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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President Donald Trump has in recent days lambasted several influential critics of the U.S.-Israeli military actions in and around Iran, including long-time supporters Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Alex Jones.

Shortly before sharing an AI image on Truth Social on Sunday depicting himself dressed in messianic garb and healing a sick man, Trump posted another tirade, this time targeting Pope Leo XIV — the spiritual father of over 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, including Vice President JD Vance and roughly 20% of Americans — over Leo’s anti-war remarks.

‘I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo.’

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” wrote Trump. “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”

Trump noted further that he doesn’t:

want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.

Pope Leo, whose Petrine ministry began in May 2025, has long advocated for victims of war, particularly children, and urged world leaders and followers of Christ to pursue peaceful resolutions.

RELATED: Catholic churches PACKED for Easter as conversions skyrocket

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During a prayer vigil for peace at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Saturday, for instance, the pope highlighted the condemnations of war voiced by two of his predecessors — Pope John Paul II against the Iraq War and Pope Paul VI against the conflict of his age in 1965 — then noted:

Prayer teaches us how to act. In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God. Thoughts, words, and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding, and forgiveness. It is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive. The balance within the human family has been severely destabilized. Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death. A world of brothers and sisters with one heavenly Father vanishes, as in a nightmare, giving way to a reality populated by enemies.

A day earlier, the pope’s X account shared the following message, which was met with widespread criticism: “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

‘I do not think the message of the gospel should be abused as some are doing.’

Such comments apparently got under Trump’s skin.

After claiming that Leo was elected pope only “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump,” the president said, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”

In addition to criticizing the pope on social media, Trump told reporters, “We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don’t like it. I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime.”

Pope Leo responded to Trump’s critiques during a flight to Algeria, noting that he does not regard his “role as that of a politician.”

“I am not a politician, and I do not want to enter into a debate with him,” said the pope. “I do not think the message of the gospel should be abused as some are doing. I continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue, and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems. Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent lives have been lost, and I believe someone must stand up and say there is a better way.”

‘It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life.’

After noting that he urges all world leaders, not just Trump, to “promote peace and reconciliation,” Pope Leo underscored, “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”

“We don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker,” added the pope.

Bishop Robert Barron, whom Trump appointed to his Commission on Religious Liberty last year, stressed on Monday that the president’s remarks about the pope “were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful.”

“It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of good will can and do disagree,” wrote Barron. “I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration — Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others — might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place. This is far preferable to the statements on social media.”

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated, “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father. Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

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Liberals around Europe are raising their glasses in celebration after seeing the results of the election in Hungary on Sunday.

With nearly 99% of the votes counted, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party had secured only 55 of the 199 seats in the Hungarian parliament, bringing Orbán’s 16-year stint as prime minister to an end despite an endorsement last week from President Donald Trump.

‘Hungary has sent a very clear signal against right-wing populism.’

“He is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary — VIKTOR ORBÁN WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN,” Trump wrote Tuesday.

Tisza, the party led by Orbán’s former underling Peter Magyar, managed to secure 138 seats. Our Homeland Movement, a conservative nationalist party, won six seats.

Tisza’s supermajority — won in an election in which approximately 77.8% of eligible voters participated — will enable Magyar and his party to alter the country’s constitution and possibly undo the Fidesz party’s legacy.

Tisza’s manifesto reportedly advocates for a more pro-EU, pro-NATO approach and commits to expediting Hungary’s embrace of the euro as its official currency.

Liberal leaders in Europe were apparently ecstatic over the end of Orbán’s rule and his Christian, nationalist, “migrant-free, pro-family” agenda — an agenda that delivered domestic results that prompted the European Union to deny Hungary billions of euros in funding.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whom a recent survey showed had the lowest approval rating among 24 democratically elected world leaders, characterized the result as a “heavy defeat” for “right-wing populism,” reported Deutsche Welle.

RELATED: Trump lashes out at crumbling NATO alliance following ‘frank’ closed-door meeting

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“Hungary has sent a very clear signal against right-wing populism across the whole world. In that respect, yesterday was … a good day,” said Merz. “This demonstrates that our democratic societies are evidently much more resilient to Russian propaganda and further external interference in such elections.”

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, stated, “Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France welcomes the victory of democratic participation, the Hungarian people’s commitment to the values of the European Union, and Hungary’s commitment to Europe.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who threatened Orbán on March 5, also celebrated Tisza’s rise to power. “Ukraine has always strived for good-neighborly relations with every European country, and we are ready to advance our cooperation with Hungary. Europe and every European nation must strengthen; millions of Europeans yearn for cooperation and stability.”

The Orbán government angered the European liberal establishment in part with its rejection of LGBT cultural imperialism, its refusal to implement the EU’s radical migration policies, and its refusal to “fulfill Ukraine’s demands.”

Magyar said on Facebook that he will “work for a free, European, functional and humane Hungary in the next four years.”

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The term euthanasia literally means “good death.” The word is constructed from the Greek eu (good) and thanatos (death) — the same root that inspired the name of the Marvel villain Thanos, whose vision of “balance” required mass death.

The language itself tells you everything. Dress death up as “good,” and you can begin to sell it to failed socialist medical systems as a desirable cure-all.

Euthanasia, often called “doctor-assisted suicide,” has been thrust back into public view by developments in countries like Canada and Spain. What we are seeing is not compassionate medicine. It is the quiet normalization of despair.

A culture that cannot tell its weakest members, ‘Your life is worth living,’ will eventually tell them, ‘Your death is preferable.’

Consider the case of Noelia Castillo in Spain.

Castillo, just 25 years old, had endured profound suffering. As a minor, she was in mental health care. As an adult, she was the victim of sexual assault multiple times. After a suicide attempt following the second assault, she was left paralyzed from the waist down. In that condition, she requested euthanasia.

Her father pleaded with the courts to deny the request, arguing that her mental health made such a decision unsound. The courts disagreed. The state approved her death.

A young woman, failed repeatedly by those entrusted to care for her, was ultimately offered death as the solution.

Even more troubling, British pianist James Rhodes publicly appealed to her to reconsider, offering to cover her medical costs. His plea underscores what the system refused to admit: Castillo did not need death; she needed care.

And Castillo herself admitted as much. In an interview, she essentially asked: If I cannot access health care, am I then entitled to access death care?

That question exposes the entire moral collapse. She was denied meaningful treatment in her socialist system but granted state-funded death as the solution to her suffering.

The Canadian example

If Spain reveals the logic of euthanasia, Canada demonstrates its trajectory. In Vancouver, Miriam Lancaster went to the emergency room for back pain. Instead of being treated, she was offered medically assisted suicide.

Death does cure back pain. It cures everything by eliminating the patient. Failed socialist medicine jumped at the chance to raise its cure statistics.

Thankfully, Lancaster refused. She later received proper treatment and went on to continue traveling the world. Had she accepted the offer, a solvable medical issue would have become a state-sanctioned death and she would have been “cared for” right into the grave.

Then there is the case of Jennyfer Hatch, a 37-year-old Canadian woman suffering from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a painful connective tissue disorder. Hatch became the face of a euthanasia promotional campaign titled “All Is Beauty,” a three-minute film celebrating her final days before medically assisted death.

Let that sink in: a commercial for suicide.

And yet Hatch admitted privately that she chose euthanasia not because her condition was untreatable but because obtaining adequate medical care in Canada’s system was too difficult.

The myth of ‘compassionate’ systems

We have long been told by progressives that socialized medicine would deliver universal care, eliminate wait times, and treat every patient with dignity. Instead, it is increasingly offering a different solution: eliminate the patient.

The logic is brutally simple. If you cannot heal the sick, you can always reduce the number of sick people. These socialists saw the story of Thanos as a “how to.”

People have always been capable of taking their own lives. A system that merely facilitates suicide adds nothing of value. It does not heal; it does not restore; it simply institutionalizes despair. It admits it offers no meaning in life to those who suffer.

RELATED: The judgment behind the abortion numbers

DREW ANGERER/AFP/Getty Images

What is a good death?

At the heart of this debate is a deeper question: What do we mean by a good death?

For modern secular societies, the answer is increasingly clear: a good death is a painless one. It is an escape from suffering.

But this definition collapses under scrutiny.

First, it ignores the most basic philosophical question, one raised memorably by Hamlet: “What dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil?” If death is not the end, if judgment awaits, then euthanasia is not an escape but a gamble of the highest stakes. It the solution urged by demons looking forward to claiming another soul.

Second, it misunderstands the nature of a good life.

A life free from all pain is not a noble life. It is not the life we admire, nor the life we aspire to. Our stories, our heroes, and our deepest intuitions all tell us the same thing: Meaning is forged through suffering.

Imagine a hero who, one-third of the way through the story, says, “This is too hard. I think I’ll end my life to avoid the suffering ahead.” That is not a hero. It is a failure.

Suffering, rightly understood, is not meaningless. It teaches perseverance, discipline, and faith. It refines character.

As Scripture teaches, “Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance …” (2 Peter 1:5-6).

A pain-free life is not the highest good. A life shaped by truth, virtue, and endurance aimed at eternal life of knowing God is our chief and highest good.

The real crisis

The rise of euthanasia is not ultimately about medicine. It is about worldview.

Societies that reject God are left with no ultimate purpose, no transcendent hope, and no reason to endure suffering. When affluence fails and suffering remains, the only consistent answer left is escape.

A culture that cannot tell its weakest members, “Your life is worth living,” will eventually tell them, “Your death is preferable.” From hating God, the culture naturally moves to hating neighbors. It is a moral collapse described in Romans 1:31. The people become heartless and ruthless.

A better hope

The answer to suffering is not death. It is redemption.

Only a worldview grounded in the reality of God can make sense of suffering without surrendering to it. Only Christ offers not merely relief from pain, but restoration, meaning, and eternal hope. He can heal our physical pain, but more importantly, he can forgive our sin and restore our communion with God.

The growing acceptance of euthanasia should force us to confront the emptiness of the alternatives.

If death is our only answer, then we have already lost. But if life has meaning, then suffering is not the end of the story.

And that is the difference between despair and hope.

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