Imagine what the Republican Party would have looked like had President Trump been endorsing conservative reformers down-ballot rather than milquetoast RINOs backed by special interests for five consecutive cycles.

In 2016, President Trump stormed the corporatist castle of the country-club GOP. But over the next five election cycles, he pulled up the rope ladder behind him. He left the reinforcements outside the gates, which crushed his ability to deliver on his promises in his first term. It also allowed generic Republicans to ride his brand while drifting away from his original America First message.

Conservatives understand that competition improves a product. When Trump protects incumbents from primary pressure, he guarantees that the party never improves.

Now he is making the same mistake in his second term by backing status-quo, corporatist Republicans in key races.

2026 is do or die

The opening months of 2026 should be the Super Bowl of primaries for the right. Vulnerable establishment Republicans and open seats sit on the board across solid red states — for Senate and governor.

Even if Republicans struggle in swing states, Trump could still lock in a generation of red-state power by backing grassroots conservatives in open seats and insurgents challenging weak incumbents.

Instead, he keeps yanking the rug out from under his own base.

Louisiana bait and switch

Over the weekend, the president endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) for U.S. Senate in Louisiana. Until now, Trump has refused to back conservatives against incumbents — except when he endorsed against Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Bob Good of Virginia in 2024.

So yes, Trump finally moved against Sen. Bill Cassidy, a pro-COVID-vaccine liberal wasting a conservative seat. But he waited until more conservative candidates — state Treasurer John Fleming, state Sen. Blake Miguez, and state Rep. Julie Emerson — softened Cassidy up. Then Trump picked a challenger who matches Cassidy’s worldview in a prettier package.

Letlow sides with Cassidy on government-run health care and the COVID vaccines. She also voted against penalizing FDA officials for unlawfully expanding access to mifepristone. Trump carried Louisiana by 22 points and won 57 of 64 parishes. He could have used his clout to elect a conservative stalwart like Miguez. Instead, he chose another version of the same problem.

RELATED: Voters won’t buy ‘freedom in Iran’ while Minneapolis goes lawless

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Governors matter now

If Democrats regain Washington, governors become the last real barrier against federal abuse. Red-state governors will matter more than ever, especially if Democrats install a weaponized Gavin Newsom-style agenda at the national level.

After Ron DeSantis turned Florida from swing state into the red-state model, Republicans should be building an entire bench of governors who make even DeSantis look tame. But Trump’s endorsement habits keep locking in mediocrity. In Florida, he is backing Byron Donalds — a favorite of the legislative RINOs who fought DeSantis for years.

Fourteen governorships are up in states Republicans should win even in a rough year: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Trump hasn’t made one bold, movement-building endorsement as he did with DeSantis in 2018. Instead, he has already pre-emptively endorsed Idaho Gov. Brad Little for a third term and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for a fourth.

Texas betrayal rewarded

Trump has started interfering even in state legislative races. In Texas, Republicans cut a deal with Democrats and installed Dustin Burrows as speaker against the will of most of the party. Burrows rewarded them by handing committees to Democrats and killing conservative priorities.

When conservatives moved to defeat the traitors, Trump carpet-bombed the effort by endorsing Burrows and his lieutenants for re-election.

Conservatives understand that competition improves a product. Trump keeps canceling that competition. When he protects incumbents from primary pressure, he guarantees that the party never improves.

​Trump, 2026 midterms, Rino, Rino republicans, Trump endorsement, 2026 primaries, Byron donalds, Julia letlow, Opinion & analysis, Republicans, Congress, Red state governors 

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) confronted ex-special counsel Jack Smith during a House committee hearing, accusing him and the Justice Department of secretly surveilling members of Congress and stomping on constitutional protections while investigating President Donald Trump.

Gill pressed Smith on his office using secret subpoenas and nondisclosure orders to obtain phone “toll records” from lawmakers, including then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), without notifying them or the public.

‘Nobody’s going to sue. … So who cares? We’re going to do it anyway.’

“In January of 2023, did you subpoena then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s toll records?” Gill asked.

“Yes, sir, we did,” Smith replied.

RELATED: GOP senator to sue Jack Smith after his lawyers try gaslighting on Biden FBI surveillance

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Gill pushed back, claiming Smith abused executive power to secretly collect phone data on Republican leadership.

“Collecting months’ worth of phone data on the Republican speaker of the House — the leader of the opposition — right after he got sworn in as speaker, all around the time of a major vote — that sounds like a flagrant violation of the Speech or Debate Clause to me,” Gill said.

The confrontation ramped up as Gill questioned Smith about the nondisclosure orders used to prevent McCarthy from learning that his records had been subpoenaed.

“At the time you secured those nondisclosure orders, was Speaker McCarthy a flight risk?” Gill asked.

“He was not,” Smith answered.

“Then why did your nondisclosure order refer to him as a flight risk?” Gill pressed. Gill then cited language in the court filing stating that disclosure could result in “flight from prosecution.”

“You think the speaker of the House is … going to hop on a plane and leave the country?” Gill asked.

“No,” Smith said, arguing that the language was not meant to apply personally to McCarthy but to general investigative risks.

Gill rejected that explanation.

RELATED: House Republican seeks criminal investigation into Jack Smith’s alleged surveillance scheme

Photo by Ricky Carioti/Washington Post/Getty Images

“This is clearly in reference to Speaker McCarthy,” Gill said. “You were using clearly false information to secure a nondisclosure order to hide from Speaker McCarthy and from the American people the fact that you were spying on his toll records.”

Gill also revealed that Smith’s office issued additional secret subpoenas in May 2023 for the toll records of nine U.S. senators and another House member, along with more nondisclosure orders.

“So again, nobody would know what you were doing,” Gill said. “The senators wouldn’t. The representatives wouldn’t. The American people wouldn’t.”

Gill then read from an internal DOJ email warning of “litigation risk” tied to compelling disclosure of lawmakers’ phone records due to Speech or Debate Clause concerns.

“As you are aware, there are some litigation risks regarding whether compelled disclosure of toll records of a member’s legislative calls violates the Speech or Debate Clause,” Gill read.

Gill emphasized another line from the same analysis, saying that because of “the low likelihood that any of the members listed below would be charged, the litigation risk should be minimal here.”

“In other words,” Gill said, “You’re using a novel legal theory. … You’re not charging any of these members. Nobody’s going to know about it because you issued NDOs. Nobody’s going to sue. … So who cares? We’re going to do it anyway.”

“You walked all over the Constitution throughout this entire process,” Gill added.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful.”

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The co-hosts of “The View” were exhilarated by the presence of newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), but Whoopi Goldberg topped them all with her praise of his policies.

Mamdani was swept into office on the promise of higher rent controls and redistribution of wealth, but he also benefited from opposition that included a scandal-plagued former governor and an unpopular incumbent mayor.

Her comments were met with thunderous applause from the audience.

At the end of the show that aired Monday, Goldberg expressed hope that his socialist policies could be extended to the rest of the nation.

“It’s really nice to have you here. You make sense,” she said to the mayor.

“Thank you!” he responded, laughing.

“Well, because it’s important, you know,” she responded.

“I just want to say, listen, if you can do what you say you can do, you will not only remake the city, but you may help remake the nation.”

Her comments were met with thunderous applause from the audience.

“So my fingers [are] crossed for you!” she added.

Video of Goldberg’s comments were posted to social media, where they were widely condemned.

“He won’t. He says all those things, but it’ll all fail. Then, it’ll be the prime example of what not to do to a city,” said one commenter.

“A lot of people will pay for his mistakes. The only good thing about it is when he ruins the city it’s possible that New York will finally realize that they need a republican in office,” said another critic.

“We want him to go away!! We don’t want this 15 years old jihadist to touch anything!! Whoopi was a great actress some time ago! She is brain dead idiot now!” read another response.

Mamdani said alleviating the housing crisis and lowering the cost of child care were the central objectives of his administration.

RELATED: ‘Completely out of your f**king mind’: Eric Adams rips into Mamdani over white supremacy

Critics of rent control say that state-ordered market interventions lead to fewer open housing units and ironically higher rents.

The full episode of “The View” with the Mamdani interview is available on the show’s YouTube channel.

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​Mamdani on the view, Whoopi goldberg loves mamdani, Mamdani remakes the nation, The view extremism, Politics 

Like the post-apocalyptic Britain of the “28 Days Later” franchise, Hollywood has become a wasteland, teeming with the stripped-down, lethally efficient shells of once-vital creations. Nostalgia-driven reboots swarm the multiplex, satisfying audience cravings for familiarity and studio appetites for certainty — even as they leave the surrounding creative landscape increasingly barren.

This year’s “28 Years Later” could just as easily have been another of these living-dead productions. While previous installment “28 Weeks Later” (2007) — made with nominal participation from the original creative team — delivered competent scares, it hardly cried out for a follow-up.

The movie is littered with British cultural references — decontextualized and repurposed by survivors struggling to find meaning in a world they no longer understand.

But the return of director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland proved worth the wait. “28 Years Later” demonstrated that this universe could still surprise, ending with a tantalizingly bizarre coda in which our hero Spike is rescued by Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) and his blonde-wigged, track-suited minions. Clearly the infected are not the only menace stalking the British countryside.

Charity cases

“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” picks up right after this moment, confirming our suspicions that Spike’s troubles have just begun. After a gruesome kind of initiation, Spike is forcibly enlisted as one the “Jimmys,” who turn out to be a gang of satanic killers. Led by Jimmy Crystal, who believes himself to be the son of “Old Nick,” they prowl the land inflicting gruesome ritualized violence — which they call “charity” — on those unfortunate enough to meet them.

While Garland returns as screenwriter, Boyle (who stays on as producer) cedes the director’s chair to Nia DaCosta, whose striking use of lingering close-ups and tightly framed compositions inject the film with a raw, anarchic energy. The result is a legacy sequel that both pays homage to its origins and reimagines them — one that weaves graphic violence together with incisive observations on culture, faith, and survival in a world irreversibly altered by catastrophe.

Doctor Sleep

Many of those observations come straight from the kindly and philosophical Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), an eccentric recluse who provided shelter for runaway Spike and his dying mother in “28 Years Later.” In this grisly sequel, the iodine-covered, blowdart-wielding former physician is searching for a cure to the rage virus, using an infected “alpha” zombie — whom he names Samson — as his pet project.

He also continues work on the titular bone temple, a memorial to the outbreak’s victims, until his optimism and ingenuity is tested by the new and horrifying human adversary we met in the beginning.

While Boyle’s 2002 film focused on urban chaos, this installment widens its lens, exploring the virus’ impact across the countryside while delving into deeper philosophical terrain. Beneath the skin-flaying, stabbings, “Mortal Kombat”-style spine removals, and Iron Maiden needle drops lies a poignant meditation on a once-beautiful country sliding into social and spiritual decay.

This is England

DaCosta, an American director, deftly preserves the distinctly English identity of the original films. The movie is littered with British cultural references — decontextualized and repurposed by survivors struggling to find meaning in a world they no longer understand.

The Jimmys, with their blonde wigs, tracksuits, and gold jewelry, are intentionally modeled after Jimmy Savile, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders. In this universe — where society collapsed in 2002, years before Savile’s real-world crimes were exposed — the cult reveres him as a benevolent, almost mythical figure. Their so-called acts of “charity” grotesquely invert Savile’s public image of philanthropy, turning it into a rationale for cruelty and sadism.

The dynamic between Sir Jimmy and Kelson is magnetic. O’Connell and Fiennes deliver outstanding performances, moving seamlessly between surrealism and melancholy. Some of the film’s most compelling moments occur when these two simply share the screen in conversation.

Sir Jimmy and Kelson represent competing philosophies of survival. In desperate times, humanity creates belief systems — sometimes as tools of power, sometimes as mechanisms of self-preservation. Through these two figures, Garland weaves a thoughtful exploration of evil, faith, and meaning.

RELATED: ‘28 Years Later’: Brutal, bewildering, and unabashedly British

Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Feral faith

Religious symbolism runs throughout the film. The Jimmys repurpose Savile’s catchphrase “Howzat!” as a ritual chant — stripped of its original meaning and reconstituted as a signifier of violence. Kelson, meanwhile, assumes the role of a secular creator. His humanist liturgy centers on music and literature, which function as sacred texts connecting him to the past and preserving his sanity.

Samson’s transformation becomes an allegory for rebirth: emerging from the hell of infection into renewal. Where the biblical Adam becomes aware of his nakedness after eating from the tree of knowledge, Samson’s recovery inspires modesty as he clothes himself with memories of his return. It is the Fall in reverse — self-awareness as ascension, rebirth without grace.

“The Bone Temple” manages to inject genuine life into a franchise nearly 25 years old. I may regret saying this, but I am genuinely curious to see where the story goes next — especially with Boyle returning to direct the third and final installment. The film’s closing scene teases the return of a familiar face, and John Murphy’s fuzzed-out guitar theme suggests that hope remains, for both the survivors and the fans.

​Movies, Entertainment, Culture, 28 days later, 28 years later, 28 years later: the bone temple, Hollywood, Danny boyle, Alex garland, Review 

A Texas social media influencer was arrested over a horrifying video that a woman found of him and her 2-year-old daughter on the man’s phone, according to police.

Victor L. Corey Paillet III, 40, was arrested Friday after a woman said she went through his phone and found the video. She said he had gotten drunk and fallen asleep.

‘He tortured her in that video,’ she said. ‘He literally tortured my daughter. How can you do this to a baby?’

“I’ve never went through his phone before, never, but his phone was right there, and I’m like, I just feel something’s not right,” the woman said to KPRC-TV.

“I clicked on that first video right there,” she added. “It was seven minutes and 53 seconds. … And it said yesterday at 6:43 a.m.”

She provided KPRC with surveillance video from his arrest at her home in Porter.

“You raped my f**king daughter!” a woman screams on the video. “I hope you die!”

The mother of the girl told KPRC that she had been dating Paillet but that she looked through his phone when he said something about being a “demon.”

She says she hasn’t been to stop shaking or crying since seeing the video.

“He tortured her in that video,” she said. “He literally tortured my daughter. How can you do this to a baby?”

Court records say that investigators have discovered other evidence that leads them to believe Paillet had abused other victims. They are asking for help from the public in the investigation.

Paillet is known as “Kandy Red Bread” on social media, where he posts about custom car modifications. He has over 62,000 followers and has been photographed with influential Houston figures.

He has past criminal convictions that include drug possession and a weapons charge.

RELATED: Disturbing image caught on video before remains of 5-year-old were found dumped at LA parking lot

Paillet is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault of a child and promotion of child pornography. He has also been placed on “modified safety watch” to prevent the possibility of him harming himself in custody.

His TikTok profile reads, “Love yourself and don’t trust nobody.”

Paillet is being held without bond.

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​Victor paillet arrest, Child sex abuse material, Mom finds horrible cellphone video, Cellphone video child rape, Crime 

Nash Keen holds the Guinness World Record for the most premature infant to survive outside the womb. Born at just 21 weeks’ gestation, Nash’s story forces us to grapple with an unsettling reality: In 29 states and Washington, D.C., the law would have permitted his abortion for at least another week.

At 21 weeks, abortionists commonly use dilation and extraction. Many call it a dismemberment abortion, and the term fits. The procedure requires pulling the child apart.

We’ve made real progress since the Dobbs decision. Thirteen states, including my home state of West Virginia, protect life from the moment of conception.

A Sopher clamp — a metal tool with sharp, serrated jaws — grasps a limb, the torso, or the head. The abortionist twists and tears the body piece by piece. The child has a beating heart and can feel pain. Arms and legs are ripped from the torso. The spine snaps. The skull is crushed so it can pass through the cervix. Blood and tissue are suctioned out. Then the abortionist reassembles the remains on a tray to confirm nothing is left behind.

This barbarity happens tens of thousands of times each year in the United States.

Consider the contrast. At 21 weeks, doctors and nurses fought to keep Nash alive. At the same stage of development, in other hospitals and clinics across the country, medical professionals ended the lives of other babies.

What separates those children? No coherent answer exists because no meaningful difference exists. Every child — born and unborn — bears God-given dignity and deserves the protection of our laws.

This year, Nash will turn 2. His survival, as rare as it is, reveals why so many Americans fight for life — and why we will win.

I plan to do everything I can to protect the most vulnerable among us. That’s why I’m proud to co-sponsor the Life at Conception Act, which aligns federal policy with scientific reality: Life begins at conception, and the law should protect it.

Policymakers must also do more to support mothers and fathers raising children. If we aim — as we should — to end abortion, our laws must protect the unborn and make it easier to raise a family in America.

RELATED: New York caves on forcing nuns and churches to fund abortion after knockout SCOTUS ruling

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

That’s why I have introduced legislation to give low-income families more flexibility to choose the child-care option that fits their situation.

I have also introduced legislation to eliminate marriage penalties that discourage single parents from marrying.

And I have also introduced a bill to close a loophole so women who choose not to return to work after giving birth cannot be forced to reimburse an employer for health insurance premiums from the year they delivered.

Similarly I support legislation that would hold fathers accountable for pregnancy costs as part of child support. I supported expanding the Child Tax Credit in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and I advocate extending the credit to cover the months of pregnancy.

We’ve made real progress since the Dobbs decision. Thirteen states, including my home state of West Virginia, protect life from the moment of conception. In Congress, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act finally defunds big-abortion providers.

The fight has only begun. As long as I’m in public service, I will work to protect every life from the moment of conception — and to ensure federal policy puts the American family first.

​Opinion & analysis, Abortion, March for life, Dobbs v. jackson women’s health organization, Roe v. wade, Pro-life, Premature, Supreme court, Conception, Pregnancy, Women, Healthcare, Life at conception act, Child tax credit, One big beautiful bill, Nash keen, Babies 

On Wednesday, January 21, President Trump delivered an address at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that has the world buzzing. Glenn Beck calls it “the most consequential speech” since Ronald Reagan’s iconic Berlin Wall address.

“He is breaking up the United Nations. He is breaking up the bureaucracy of the WEF. He is putting Europe on notice,” he says.

He was especially impressed when Trump addressed Greenland — specifically when he said, “You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we will remember.”

“I have never heard a president speak to the world like this,” Glenn remarks.

One thing was very clear from Trump’s Davos speech: “The world is changing,” but the U.S. is “carrying a very, very large stick.”

Trump pulled no punches when it came to calling out countries and world leaders. While he expressed love and respect for Europe, he boldly criticized it for importing foreign cultures that are destroying Western civilization.

“Western culture is dying in Europe because you refuse to stand up for it,” Glenn says, summarizing Trump’s words.

“He took on Canada in a way I have never heard before,” he adds, referencing Trump’s pointed rebuke of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In response to Carney’s speech, delivered the day prior, in which he indirectly accused the United States of strong-arming weaker nations with economic integration, tariffs, and financial tools, Trump fired back, “Canada lives because of the U.S. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

“He didn’t even show [Carney] the deference of being prime minister. It was, ‘Mark, you should watch your words,”’ Glenn recaps. “He is not fooling around, and he is declaring an end to this new world order.”

Carney and other world leaders are pushing for “a new world order where the elites all get together from all over the world, and they make the decisions,” he explains.

But Trump’s speech made it crystal clear where he stands on that idea. Glenn summarizes his response: “That hasn’t worked. More bureaucracy will not fix it. More globalization, more melding of our countries together will not fix this.”

Glenn then pulls in his head writer and researcher, Jason Buttrill, to explain the full context of Trump’s Greenland comments.

Jason says that during Trump’s first term, he pressured NATO allies — including Denmark, which controls Greenland — to allocate more funding to its own defense instead of relying so heavily on the U.S. Trump specifically pushed Denmark to step up security in Greenland, and the Danes agreed, promising to dedicate roughly $224 million to better surveillance, reconnaissance, and Arctic defenses.

However as soon as Trump left office in 2021, Denmark backtracked.

“They only allocated 1% of that entire $224 million,” says Jason. “Most of that money that they set aside for defense went to social programs.”

Trump’s hardline Greenland comments during his speech, he says, are just “Daddy Trump … providing the tough love.”

To hear more analysis on Trump’s Davos speech, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Glenn, Beck, Donald trump, Wef, Wef 2026, Wef annual conference, World economic forum, Mark carney, Greenland, Trump, Davos, Canada