The country presently has 27 GOP state attorneys general and 23 Democrat state AGs — counting the Democrat-appointed lesbian activist in Hawaii. Republicans are fighting to maintain their dominance in the top legal offices across the country, the majority of which they have controlled since 2015.

There are 30 state attorney general seats on the ballot this November — 16 of which are presently occupied by Democrats and 14 of which are occupied by Republicans.

The Republican Attorneys General Association, whose support wasn’t enough to spare former Virginia AG Jason Miyares from losing his re-election bid last year, announced on Friday that it raised “a record $29.3 million across all entities last year” — the most that any AG organization has reportedly ever raised in a calendar year.

‘Four of the Toss-up AG races are in states that were considered presidential battlegrounds in 2024.’

“In 11 months, RAGA raised nearly $30 million for the first time ever,” RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper said in a statement. “However, we must shatter previous fundraising records to ensure we protect battleground incumbent seats and pick up winnable seats.”

“2026 is the largest election year for AG races, and RAGA is well positioned for another banner year,” added Piper.

Among the incumbent Republican attorneys general now running or poised to run for re-election are:

Tim Griffin of Arkansas;James Uthmeier of Florida;Chris Carr of Georgia;Raúl Labrador of Idaho;Brenna Bird of Iowa — who received a $1 million donation from the RAGA on Dec. 31;Kris Kobach of Kansas;Mike Hilgers of Nebraska; andDrew Wrigley of North Dakota.

Whereas Ohio’s Dave Yost is ineligible to run again due to term limits, several other GOP incumbents are creating openings because they have their eyes set on different prizes.

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

Georgia AG Chris Carr. Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Alabama AG Steve Marshall and Texas AG Ken Paxton are running for the Senate — Marshall for the seat of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is running for governor, and Paxton to deny Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) a fifth term.

South Dakota AG Marty Jackley is running for Congress. Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond is running for governor of his state.

Louis Jacobson at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics suggested in an analysis late last year that “of the 2025-26 AG races, seven states have competitive AG races: five Toss-ups, plus a Leans Republican and a Leans Democratic seat each.”

“Democrats will largely be playing defense: All five Toss-up races are currently held by Democrats, with at least two of them open-seat races, and potentially more to come open if additional incumbents run for a different office,” continued Jacobson. “Mirroring the national partisan split, four of the Toss-up AG races are in states that were considered presidential battlegrounds in 2024.”

Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin were identified as toss-up AG races. Jacobson suggested further that Carr (R) was well-positioned in Georgia.

“The remaining states with AG races this cycle include 10 Safe Republican seats, 3 Likely Republican seats, and 11 Safe Democratic seats,” added Jacobson.

While the races in Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin are attracting significant national and donor attention, the contests in Iowa and Kansas — where Kobach is once again battling Democrat challenger Chris Mann — are fast becoming two of the most closely watched, reported MultiState.

Mann reportedly out-raised Kobach last year. Nevertheless, the incumbent had more cash on hand to kick off this election year.

Bird has managed to raise over $2 million for her re-election campaign — more than double what her Democrat challenger, Nate Willems, has netted. The Des Moines Register reported, however, that Willems has fared far better in terms of fundraising than his state’s former Democrat AG, Tom Miller, who lost to Bird in 2022.

The race in Texas is similarly garnering national attention, though much of the present heat surrounds the Republican primary on March 3.

The candidates who will face off Tuesday in a debate moderated by BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey are:

Aaron Reitz, the Paxton-endorsed former assistant attorney general who has promised to “destroy the left” if elected;Rep. Chip Roy, an antagonist of Paxton who has Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s endorsement; Mayes Middleton, a Texas state senator who has characterized himself as proud supporter of President Trump and the America First agenda and has been endorsed by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas); andJoan Huffman, a Texas state senator who enjoys the support of various police unions and has been endorsed by National Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Joe Gamaldi.

The debate airs at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Midterm election, Midterm elections, Midterm, State attorneys general, Attorney general, Ken paxton, Chris carr, Kris kobach, Miyares, Tim griffin, Labrador, Brenna bird, Mike hilgers, Raga, Attorneys, Politics 

“People have the right to not be poisoned. Sounds really common sense, but unfortunately, there are a lot of companies in the food industry that do not agree,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says.

That’s why the Florida Department of Health has taken matters into its own hands by launching the Healthy Florida First initiative. Spearheaded by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, first lady Casey DeSantis, and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, this program independently tests common food products for contaminants — such as heavy metals, pesticides like glyphosate, and other toxins — to promote transparency, accountability, clean food systems, and informed choices for families.

The results of Florida’s testing have revealed contaminants in many everyday foods like candy, breads, and even baby formulas.

On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie sits down with Casey DeSantis to discuss some of the most shocking findings.

Baby formula

“When we got the [baby formula] results back, we were very startled and obviously disquieted by the fact that there was 17 out of 24 that came back with problematic levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury,” DeSantis says, noting that after 2025 Consumer Reports data revealed contamination in several name brand baby formulas, many companies’ products “still [have] problematic contaminants.”

Some of those brands include top-sellers, like Enfamil and Similac — both of which had multiple varieties test positive for contaminants such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead.

“[Heavy metals] don’t just leave the body easily, right? … Unfortunately, what our surgeon general in Florida has said that you have a definite increased risk of cancer over the course of your lifetime if you’re consuming this early in life,” DeSantis tells Allie.

“It is not fair to any mother to go into a store, to have to sit there and wonder which option is better than another when all of it should be safe.”

Bread

Several top brands of bread were found to contain a chemical called glyphosate, which is one of the most commonly used weed killers worldwide.

“It’s Roundup. … It kills plants, and so there’s no reason why any of that should be in any product that we’re consuming,” DeSantis says.

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Ladapo, she says, has warned that consuming glyphosate can cause problems “at the cellular level with your microbiome.”

But even more disturbing are the label warnings on Roundup, she says, which caution users to avoid all skin contact skin and inhalation.

“There’s all of these problematic things with being in close proximity to glyphosate. [It’s] probably safe to assume that it’s not good in the food supply in bread,” DeSantis says.

And yet, testing from the Healthy Florida First initiative detected glyphosate in 6 out of 8 popular brands, including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder Bread, and Sara Lee.

Candy

Most people know that candy isn’t the healthiest food choice, but many have no clue that in addition to the high sugar levels, many top candies contain arsenic — a known human carcinogen.

Florida’s Department of Health tested 46 top candy products and found that 28 (60%) had detectable levels of arsenic in them. Some of those include Laffy Taffy, Nerds, SweeTarts, Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, Kit Kat, Snickers, Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids, among several others.

DeSantis gives a real-life example of how drastically this can impact a child.

“Our analysis found that if you eat more than 96 Nerds over the course of a year, for a child, you are exceeding the allowable threshold of arsenic for a child. … It’s realistic to assume that children are eating more than 96 individual Nerds. When you look at a box that you get in a movie theater, there’s 8,000 Nerds in it,” she says.

Crunching the numbers: Eating a full box of Nerds (8,000 pieces) would expose a child to more than 83 times the yearly safe limit of arsenic set by Florida’s Department of Health — just from that one movie-theater treat.

The occasional piece of candy isn’t concerning, DeSantis says. “It’s the consumption in aggregate that is very problematic.”

“That has to be taken into account, and that has to be disclosed to parents so that they can make better decisions,” she adds.

To hear more, watch the full episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable, Casey desantis, Blazetv, Blaze media, Florida department of health, Joseph ladapo, Healthy florida first, Glyphosate, Heavy metals, Baby formula, Allie beth stuckey, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable podcast 

The latest statistics show the U.S. economy is improving steadily, particularly in the shift from government employment to private-sector jobs and toward new hires going to native-born Americans instead of immigrants. Opinion polls, however, show Americans are displeased with the current state of the economy, and young people are turning toward socialism.

The smart course for the Republicans would be to pass major reforms to shrink the welfare state and cut federal spending and regulation instead of mildly reducing scheduled increases.

The concerns about the economy reflect three major factors: one, stubborn economic distortions caused by longtime government policies; two, the lingering effects of acute Biden-presidency price inflation; and, three, dishonest media reporting.

The average inflation rate during the Biden administration was 5%, nearly double the current rate. Real, inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings in private-sector jobs decreased by 4% while Biden was in office. Home prices rose by 37.4%, sparking a housing affordability crisis. Publicly held federal debt increased by one-third, igniting the price inflation.

That has changed dramatically in just one year. “Since President Trump took office, headline inflation has been running at 2.4% (much lower than 3% inherited from Biden) and core inflation has been running at 2.4% (much lower than 3.3% inherited from Biden),” the White House stated correctly last month.

Slowing inflation does not lower prices however. It only reduces the increases. The Biden-era price rises were worst in basic necessities, and the only way to moderate that is for wages to rise. Fortunately, that is starting to happen.

Employment numbers confirm a positive movement from part-time work to full-time work and away from the government into the productive private sector. “Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 9,000 from the previous week to 198,000 on the week ending January 10,” the second-lowest number of job losses in two years, and initial unemployment claims by federal employees rose by more than one-third, Trading Economics reports.

The movement from part-time work to full-time employment in better jobs that pay more and include benefits is of course a highly positive trend. “In December, the number of part-time jobs declined by 740,000, while full-time employment shot up by 890,000,” Unleash Prosperity notes.

Labor productivity in the nonfarm business sector increased by 4.9% in the third quarter of last year, with output rising by 5.4% and hours worked increasing by 0.5%. Manufacturing-sector labor productivity and output are rising markedly after declining during the Biden administration. Overall U.S. industrial production has increased, rising 0.4% month-over-month in both November and December, and manufacturing output rose by 0.2% in December.

Continued improvements in employment and private-sector productivity are the real solution to the affordability crisis. In light of those trends, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta raised its estimate of fourth-quarter annualized real Gross Domestic Product growth to an impressive 5.3%. In addition, mortgage interest rates are down to their lowest level since 2022.

Naturally, the regime media are desperately trying to spin all this good news into a mythical calamity, to cast doubt on the conclusively proven value of market-empowering reforms. “CNN, true to form, immediately tried to make a relatively good report out to be a bad one in a January 13 X post: ‘U.S. inflation remained at 2.7% in December, underscoring persistent cost of living challenges,’” Newsbusters reports.

When inflation was an awful 6% in February 2023, CNN characterized it as good news, saying, “U.S. inflation is still high, but it’s falling. Last month’s Consumer Price Index measured 6%, down from January’s 6.4%,” as Daily Wire reporter Cabot Phillips noted in an X post. Coverage by all the regime media has reflected this bias.

While just under a year’s worth of economic reforms and (disappointingly mild) efforts to hold the line on inflation are showing real progress, the previous four years did major damage to the private, productive sectors of the U.S. economy. It will take some time for the public to feel the full benefit of the policy changes they voted for in 2024.

RELATED: The debt bomb is ticking, and DC spent the blast shield

Artoleshko / Getty Images

Although people should hardly be surprised that Trump and the Congress have not yet fully reversed the economic destruction of the prior four years, poll numbers indicate an impatience that reflects the media’s spin: “Most, 64%, say [Trump] hasn’t gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods,” CNN reports.

Trump and the congressional Republicans understandably feel a strong urge to be seen as doing everything possible to fix the economy, though the only thing that will really unleash American prosperity is a full retrenchment of the enormous federal welfare state that Obama and Biden did so much to expand.

Democrats understandably view the economic stagnation that they themselves caused as a terrific political opportunity that could restore them to majority rule in Congress, with a chance to impeach Trump multiple times and block desperately needed reforms to shrink the government.

The smart course for Republicans would be to pass major reforms to shrink the welfare state and cut federal spending and regulation instead of mildly reducing scheduled increases. That would accelerate the economic improvements we are already seeing. It would also make the recent reforms permanent, given that a Democratic congressional majority would not be able to reverse them, given Trump’s veto power.

Those moves would benefit the American people greatly.

The wise course for the Democrats would be to sit back, go quiet, and let the public reject an ineffectual GOP in this November’s elections.

Many decades of American politics have taught us what is most likely to happen: Neither party will do the smart thing, much less the right thing.

​Trump, Economy, Gop, Midterms, Economic numbers, Inflation, Biden, Price increases, Cnn, Media, Republicans, Opinion & analysis 

Democrats and legacy media have put forth several mischaracterizations and even flat-out lies about the GOP’s latest election integrity bill.

The House passed the SAVE America Act Wednesday with unanimous Republican support and with even one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, joining the GOP. The bill would put in place basic election integrity requirements like providing proof of citizenship and photo ID to register and vote in federal elections.

‘If you buy a 6-pack of beer you have to show an ID.’

The bill is now in the Senate, where Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is leading the effort to pass the legislation.

Although this proposal seems commonsense to most Americans, Democrats have caused a firestorm of hysteria and misconception. Here is the truth behind Democrats’ most common rebuttals.

RELATED: 4 Senate Republicans evading MAGA’s pressure campaign to prevent noncitizens from voting

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

1. ‘It’s already illegal!’

The SAVE America Act aims to protect ballots from election fraud, particularly from illegal aliens and noncitizens. Democrats are quick to point out that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in elections, and those Democrats who are willing to admit that noncitizens voting does occasionally happen insist it takes place at a negligible rate.

This is partially true. It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in American elections, and when it does happen, estimates show it occurs less than 1% of the time. But even if the rate is extremely low, it’s not zero. And while many elections are decisive victories, some are decided by razor-thin margins, making every ballot count.

RELATED: Lone Democrat joins all Republicans to pass landmark election integrity bill barring noncitizens from voting

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

In the 2024 election, former Republican Rep. John Duarte of California was unseated by Democrat Adam Gray by just 187 votes, chipping away at a historically thin GOP advantage in the House. But it’s not just local elections that are decided by such narrow margins. In 2020, former President Joe Biden won several swing states by just thousands of votes, including Georgia by 11,779 votes and Arizona by just 10,457 votes.

There’s no way to know if any of those votes were cast fraudulently, which is precisely the problem. Americans should have total confidence that every ballot counted in an election is a legitimate vote that reflects the political will of a United States citizen. The SAVE America Act would help do just that.

2. ‘Jim Crow 2.0’

Democrats are no stranger to playing the race card, claiming that requiring photo ID somehow unfairly affects minorities. Perhaps most notable of them all is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who unabashedly likened the SAVE Act to Jim Crow-era rules.

“I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement earlier this month. “It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to. If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown.”

RELATED: Stopping the steal: Sen. Lee, Republicans demand Election Day integrity ahead of SCOTUS fight over ‘rolling’ ballot counts

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Apart from Schumer’s soft bigotry of low expectations, his claim is simply inaccurate. The SAVE America Act offers a wide range of acceptable documents to prove citizenship, including a valid U.S. passport, a REAL ID that indicates citizenship, a U.S. military identification card that shows birthplace in the U.S., a birth certificate or other equivalent naturalization documents, and even some tribal IDs like the American Indian card.

Presenting a photo ID is also already a requirement to vote in some states as well as for countless other activities and purchases, including boarding a plane and casting a vote as a member of Congress.

“If you buy a 6-pack of beer you have to show an ID,” Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee joked in a post on X. “End this racism.”

3. ‘It’s an attack on women!’

Another claim Democrats have repeatedly made is that the new requirements disproportionately impact women who have changed their names after marriage. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said that the name change “creates a real problem” for her, implying that the legislation is the GOP’s latest attempt to suppress women’s votes.

The absurdity of Warren’s claim is self-evident. Married women often obtain documentation with their new names for other processes that require identification, such as purchasing alcohol or opening a bank account. In addition, women are not limited to producing birth certificates, but also may provide other forms of acceptable ID, such as a passport or a REAL ID.

RELATED: Lone Republican defies Trump, votes to tank the SAVE Act

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Even in the rare case that a woman’s ID is not updated with her new legal name, the SAVE America Act explicitly allows for name changes in documentation. The legislation requires states to establish fallback procedures for voters who have changed their names due to marriage, divorce, adoption, or another reason.

The reality is that none of the proposed requirements are novel or restrictive. They are simply common sense.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Voter id, Save act, Save america act, Mike lee, Donald trump, Chuck schumer, Elizabeth warren, Democrats, Republicans, Henry cuellar, House republicans, House democrats, Hakeem jeffries, Jim crow, Illegal aliens, Noncitizens voting, John duarte, Adam gray, 2020 election, 2024 election, Georgia, Arizona, Tim burchett, Real id, Politics 

In a recent interview with Bryan Tyler Cohen, former President Barack Obama was asked about the existence of aliens during a “speed round” of questions, and Obama made a shocking statement.

“They’re real,” Obama told Cohen quickly.

The clip quickly went viral, sparking renewed questions about what the former president knows and what he has previously said about UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

‘Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.’

Obama clarified to Cohen that he has never actually “seen them” himself and dismissed long-running Area 51 conspiracy theories, saying that the government is not actively hiding aliens, unless agents somehow managed to conceal that information from the president of the United States.

But this was not the first time Obama publicly addressed the issue.

RELATED: ‘Who put them there?’ Scientists struggle to explain UFO-like objects captured in 1950s astronomy photos.

Image credit: YouTube screenshot

In 2021, during an appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” Obama was pressed about UFOs.

“There are some things I just can’t tell you on air,” Obama said.

Though the exchange began lightheartedly, Obama shifted to a more serious tone.

“What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there’s footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t know exactly what they are,” Obama said. “We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.”

President Donald Trump has also fielded questions about aliens on multiple occasions, including during an interview with podcast host Joe Rogan.

“I interviewed jet pilots that were solid people — perfect, great pilots, great everything. And they said, ‘We saw things, sir, that were very strange, like a round ball, but it wasn’t a comet or a meteor,’” Trump said. “‘It was something, and it was going four times faster than an F-22.’”

“There’s no reason not to think that Mars and all these planets don’t have life,” Trump added.

These previous statements from both presidents are notably similar in tone, acknowledging unexplained aerial phenomena while stopping short of confirming extraterrestrial life, making Obama’s comment to Cohen all the more noteworthy.

However, Obama has since attempted to give more context to his declaration that aliens are “real.”

RELATED: Pentagon psyop exposed: Military reportedly cooked up tales of alien technology in weapons cover-up

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

A day after the interview, Obama made a clarifying post on Instagram, saying he was “trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round.”

Obama then delivered a gut punch to the community of UFO believers, saying, “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

Studies show that the American people remain curious about the UFO phenomenon. A 2025 poll from NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ surveyed 521 Republicans, 559 Democrats, 349 independents, and 18 “other” voters and found that 44% of Americans believe the government is concealing UFO information. Twenty-eight percent disagree, while another 28% remain unsure.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Ufo, Aliens, Podcast, Obama, Trump, Pentagon, Conspiracy, Polls 

As the search for Savannah Guthrie’s mother stretches into its third week, the “Today” host released a video update over the weekend — with an urgent appeal to anyone who might know her mother’s whereabouts.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on February 1 after a member of her church noticed she was not at the usual service and later notified her family. While police have been investigating some evidence, there are still no positive leads to her whereabouts, two weeks after her disappearance, CNN reported Monday morning.

‘And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.’

On Sunday, Savannah Guthrie released a second video appealing to anyone who knows where her mother is, including in particular the masked man who was caught on doorbell camera footage, which Guthrie likewise posted on her Instagram.

In the most recent video, which Guthrie captioned “Bring her home. it’s never too late to do the next right thing,” she said:

It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken, and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope and we still believe. And I wanted to say to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it’s never too late, and you’re not lost or alone. And it is never too late to do the right thing. And we are here. We believe. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.

RELATED: ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, 84, vanishes from home after missing church; police warn: ‘We have a crime scene’

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

CNN reported that investigators have still not identified a motive for Guthrie’s disappearance.

However, a glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson, Arizona, residence appears to visually match a glove seen in the doorbell camera footage. DNA from the glove is being examined to try to identify a suspect in the case, according to CNN.

Any DNA found on the glove will be run through the FBI-managed Combined DNA Index System, which is a national database of over 19 million offender profiles.

The Hill reported that the FBI is encouraging those with tips to reach out to 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department also said last Wednesday that individuals can submit tips at 88-CRIME or 520-351-4900.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Savannah guthrie, Nancy guthrie, Instagram, Pima county sheriff’s department, Fbi, Tucson arizona, Guthrie, Codis 

Sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith says he is a fiscal conservative but a social liberal.

For those reasons, the ESPN personality says he is not completely opposed to running for office, but it would be as a Democrat.

‘I couldn’t see myself running as a member of the GOP.’

The 58-year-old critiqued policy from both of the last two administrations during an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” and host Robert Costa, remarking that he has “no desire to be a politician.”

“Zero. I have no desire to run for office,” he told Costa. But when asked if he would “run for president,” Smith revealed that the door is still open.

“I’m not ruling it out because I’d love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they’re better suited to run the country, because I think that the American people deserve to listen to and hear from somebody who genuinely cares about making life better for them instead of yourself.”

RELATED: ESPN fatigue: Stephen A. Smith pushes vaccines, racial drama, and no real journalism

When asked which party’s banner he would fly, Smith said he would run as a Democrat chiefly because of the fact that he is more left on social issues.

“I couldn’t see myself running as a member of the GOP. I’m a fiscal conservative. I can’t stand high taxes, but I’m a social liberal in the same breath because I believe in living and let live. I pay attention to the desolate and the disenfranchised. Yes, I like strong borders. That’s absolutely true. We never needed open borders, but we don’t need it to be completely closed either. We’re a gorgeous mosaic.”

The sports analyst criticized both President Biden’s and President Trump’s policies during an extended version of the interview, calling out Biden’s open-border policies.

“The borders needed to be closed. [Trump] was right to do that, but only because Biden opened them,” he explained.

Smith’s criticisms of Trump mainly focused on deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he described as “grabbing people up [and] snatching people off the streets.”

RELATED: Jason Whitlock: Stephen A. Smith is a part of a controlled ‘clown show’

Smith took issue with the targets of the agency and claimed the Trump administration had previously characterized enforcement as “going after the criminals,” only to then enforce immigration laws against “anybody who crossed the border illegally.”

The interview touched on a lot of different topics, including racism. At one point during the interview, Costa noted that Smith’s broadcasting style had garnered him the nickname “Screaming A. Smith.” The analyst quickly retorted.

“White men are all over the place screaming all the time. They don’t call them screaming whatever,” Smith declared. “Matter of fact, they call them passionate, and they never associate the word ‘anger.’ But somehow they do that with me despite this fact that I smile a lot. A lot of reasons to be happy.”

On the subject of race, Smith later noted that he does not believe racism is “as prevalent as some on the left would like us to believe.”

Smith said he does believe that the vast majority of Americans judge each other on the content of their individual character rather than skin color.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Sports, Stephen a. smith, Democrats, Trump, Republicans, Election, 2028, Biden, Racism, Ice, Immigration, Politics 

Never before have we seen a technology that offers such an impressive veneer of competence, yet demonstrates such dangerous incompetence when it actually matters. It’s what happens when government works together with the largest tech companies to monopolize the public square, prematurely promote AI for the wrong uses, and exaggerate the boundaries of its limitations. “Just good enough” can work for some functions of life, but not if you are on the operating table.

When humans outsource their measured judgment to what poses as an expert but lacks internal resistance when unsure of facts, you get catastrophic failure.

Reuters is reporting, based on lawsuits from several injured patients, that in the rush to approve AI-assisted medical devices for surgery, the FDA is receiving a record number of malfunctions leading to injuries during surgery. Additionally, companies are being forced to recall these products at a record pace.

Specifically, the report highlights TruDi from Acclarent, a software that provides imaging and real-time feedback to ENT surgeons during delicate procedures. The product had already been on the market for three years in 2021, at which time the FDA received seven complaints of malfunctions and one complaint of patient injury as a result of error. At the time, this was within the realm of normal baseline adverse event reporting. In 2021, however, Acclarent introduced machine-learning algorithms to the software.

Since then, the FDA has received 100 unconfirmed reports of malfunctions and eight instances of serious injuries.

What sort of injuries? In numerous instances, the software reportedly hallucinated and allegedly misinformed surgeons about the location of their instruments while they were using them inside patients’ heads. While causation is yet to be proven, patients who underwent operations with TruDi guidance since 2021 have reported:

Cerebrospinal fluid reportedly leaking from the nose.The surgeon mistakenly puncturing the base of a skull.Two patients suffering a stroke after a major artery was wrongly cut.

Anyone familiar with using LLMs can easily understand how AI could misidentify anatomy. “The product was arguably safer before integrating changes in the software to incorporate artificial intelligence than after the software modifications were implemented,” one of the suits alleges.

TruDi is one of at least 1,357 medical devices using AI that are now approved by the FDA. That is double the number the agency allowed through 2022, which means that somehow the FDA was able to properly scrutinize nearly 700 AI medical devices in three years. There are currently only 25 scientists working in the Division of Imaging, Diagnostics and Software Reliability, the key agency that assesses the safety of these products.

The apparent rush to market with overhyped and exaggerated capabilities of LLM is clearly reflected in the results from recalls. Researchers from Yale and Johns Hopkins recently found that 60 FDA-authorized medical devices using AI were linked to 182 product recalls, with 43% of those recalls having occurred less than a year after the devices were approved. According to the study published in JAMA, that’s about twice the recall rate of all devices authorized under similar FDA protocols.

Notably, most of the companies associated with the recalls in the JAMA analysis were publicly traded companies. “The association between public company status and higher recalls may reflect investor-driven pressure for faster launches, warranting further study,” warn the authors.

According to one lawsuit in Dallas, the doctor using the TruDi system was “misled and misdirected,” leading him to cut a carotid artery — which resulted in a blood clot and stroke.

The plaintiff’s lawyer told a judge that the doctor’s own records showed he “had no idea he was anywhere near the carotid artery.” The patient, Ralph, was forced to have a portion of skull removed as part of the remedial treatment, and he is still struggling to recover his daily functions a year later.

This is part of a broader problem of laziness on the part of AI users and the desire for speed and shortcuts creeping its way into health care. Researchers from Oxford, in a recent study published in Nature Medicine, found that among 1,300 patients who used LLMs to diagnose medical problems, many of them were provided with a mix of bad and accurate information. They found that while the AI chatbots now “excel at standardized tests of medical knowledge,” their use as a frontline medical tool would “pose risks to real users seeking help with their own medical symptoms.”

Again, “just good enough” is nowhere near enough for health care. The fact that a majority of the information is correct is even more dangerous.

The problem with LLMs is that they present themselves as the most qualified and knowledgeable cognitive human being, capable of adapting to a dynamic situation. However, despite the confidence, lack of hesitation, and even coherence that they offer, they lack the ability to use judgment through error and revision. When humans outsource their measured judgment to what poses as an expert but lacks internal resistance when unsure of facts, you get catastrophic failure.

RELATED: Can computers really make up for everyone getting dumber?

MF3d/Getty Images

In public policy, particularly the FDA and approval of AI technology in health care, we must not fall into the trap of prioritizing speed over safety. That must be the guiding principle in the deployment of these technologies. The money that has been thrown at these technologies and the fact that the return on investment is still lagging should not induce us into a frenetic and rushed approval.

As a percentage of GDP, AI investment is bigger than the railroad expansion of the 1850s, putting astronauts on the moon in the 1960s, and the decades-long construction of the U.S. interstate highway system in the 1950s through 1970s, according to the Wall Street Journal. The difference is that this is all unproductive debt not producing any meaningful revenue. Now, these companies are desperately paying “influencers” to shame people into using their products.

Hopefully the technology will get better, but we should not continue prioritizing this technology in its current iteration without major changes. Nor should we ever mistake generative AI as a replacement for the human mind rather than a potential tool for augmentation of the human mind. Safety always comes first, and God created human judgment and human ethics powered by a human brain to be the last line of defense against danger.

​Ai, Surgery, Ai in medicine, Healthcare, Ai medical tools, Fda, Llms, Artificial intelligence, Opinion & analysis 

Actor James Van Der Beek found love from God before his passing.

Since the 48-year-old “Dawson’s Creek” star’s death from cancer, support has poured in for his family by the millions. However, a video from Van Der Beek’s journey with faith may provide an even longer lasting impression than some of his films.

‘If I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own?’

Van Der Beek passed away on February 11, with his family delivering the message on his Instagram account.

“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” the message read.

Nose-to-nose with death

Since then, fans have reconnected with a message the actor posted on his birthday on March 8, 2024. At that time, Van Der Beek said he was on the road to recovery after having to look his own mortality in the eye, coming “nose-to-nose with death.”

“All of those definitions that I cared so deeply about were stripped from me,” he said, after saying he viewed himself as an actor. Being away for cancer treatment meant he could “no longer be a husband” and no longer “pick up his kids and put them to bed.”

“I could not be a provider because I wasn’t working. I couldn’t even be a steward of a land,” Van Der Beek continued. It was at this point the Connecticut native revealed how he felt about his identity as a “skinny, weak guy alone in an apartment with cancer.”

RELATED: Scott Adams made Trump plausible before anyone else would

Worthy of God’s love

“I meditated, and the answer came through. I am worthy of God’s love simply because I exist. And if I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own? And the same is true for you,” he posited.

Van Der Beek admitted to his audience that he believed this revelation came to him because of “all the prayers and the love that have been directed toward me.”

He added, “However it sits in your consciousness, however it resonates, run with it. … I am worthy of love because you are. Thank you for the love and prayers everyone. Have a blessed day.”

Van Der Beek leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and six children. Since his passing, many celebrities have come out in support of his family, emphasizing how kind of a soul the actor was.

‘Forever in my heart’

This included WWE star Stacy Keibler, who said, “Spending these final days with you has been a true gift from God. I have never been so present in my life,” according to Page Six.

NFL legend Brett Favre revealed he was good friends with the Van Der Beek family, remarking on their shared faith, laughs, and conversations over the years.

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor Alfonso Ribeiro shared multiple heartfelt messages online, stating that he was with Van Der Beek before his passing.

“I’m so broken right now,” Ribeiro wrote. “I will forever be in debt for all they’ve given me and my family. He will live forever in my heart.”

RELATED: Actor James Van Der Beek calls out Democrats for not holding primary debates, calls them ‘back room’ decision-makers

‘Dawson’s Creek’ (1997). Photo by Warner Bros./Getty Images

‘No debate no democracy’

Throughout his illness, Van Der Beek remarked how financially straining the ordeal had become. He had even auctioned off jerseys from his beloved football movie “Varsity Blues” to pay for cancer treatment in November.

The actor’s family has posted a Go Fund Me campaign, which as reached nearly $2.3 million at the time of this writing. Director Steven Spielberg reportedly donated $25,000 as well.

In 2023, Van Der Beek made headlines after criticizing the Democratic Party for not holding a primary to choose their presidential candidate.

“How do we have a government, how do we have democracy if we’re letting a small, little back room of people make all the important decisions for us?” he asked at the time.

“That’s not a democracy, and it doesn’t work. Because y’all have been wrong about a lot these last couple years in that back room. No debate no democracy.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Religion, Align, Dawson’s creek, Christianity, Cancer, Actor, Hollywood, Recovery, Faith 

Two 15-year-old males are accused of threatening to shoot up Florida high schools and were arrested last week.

One teen is from Volusia County, and the sheriff’s office said officers responded Thursday to a tip about him. The second teen is from Okaloosa County, and the sheriff’s office reportedly arrested him last Monday.

‘I commend those who reported the threats. Their willingness to speak up may have prevented a dangerous situation.’

Blaze News is not naming or showing the faces of the suspects due to their ages.

The Okaloosa County 15-year-old lives in Fort Walton Beach and was charged with issuing a written/electronic threat to commit a mass shooting and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony, the sheriff’s office told WEAR-TV.

The sheriff’s office said the teen’s threats were directed toward Choctawhatchee High School and that “investigation witnesses” told the sheriff’s office that the suspect “had been making increasingly specific threats between December 2025 and January 2026,” the station reported.

Officials were notified Jan. 16, WEAR said.

The sheriff’s office noted to the station that a “forensic analysis of his phone revealed it contained a document titled ‘List 2026’ containing names of students that attend or have attended Choctawhatchee High School” but that “no weapons were found.”

The suspect admitted to investigators that he made the threats but said that they were “jokes,” WEAR reported.

Sheriff Eric Aden had the following to say about the incident, according to the station:

I commend those who reported the threats. Their willingness to speak up may have prevented a dangerous situation. Reporting concerns is the best way to protect your classmates, your school, your community, and yourself. I encourage parents to please talk to your children about the seriousness of violent statements and the importance of reporting concerning behavior immediately to school administrators or law enforcement. We are proud of our successful partnership with the Okaloosa County School District as well as those who did the right thing and came forward.

The teen in question was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice facility near Crestview, WEAR said.

As for the 15-year-old from Volusia County, the sheriff’s office said it responded to a tip about an Atlantic High School student “who posted about shooting up his high school.”

RELATED: 11-year-old arrested for alleged ‘kill list’ at Florida school — just 2 weeks after similar incident in same school district

Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office video screenshot

Officials said Thursday he’s “in custody for a felony. I can’t solve every issue out there that might cause a 15-year-old to post what he posted. But I can guarantee we’re going to act quickly to protect the 99% of kids who just want to know they’re safe at school. Once again, parents, talk to your kids before they make this mistake.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Crime thwarted, Florida, Arrests, Teenagers, High schools, Mass shooting threats, Volusia county sheriff’s office, Okaloosa county sheriff’s office, 15-year-old males, Crime 

The two major prediction market companies, Kalshi and Polymarket, have determined that they will use what amounts to online betting and rehypothecation schemes to eventually financialize “every difference of opinion” — and both platforms started giving out free groceries in New York City to keep any PR issues at bay. Believe it or not, most bettors lose money.

The sequence of events is remarkable. Kalshi, founded in 2018, came into being first. Polymarket didn’t get started until 2020 but got into operations immediately and grabbed huge market share before Kalshi could get off the ground. Polymarket didn’t have any government authorization to operate but worked the margins and caught attention. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission fined Polymarket and set the company on the overseas sidelines for four years. In the meantime, Kalshi formed quickly and launched in 2021. Jump to 2025, and Polymarket acquired a U.S.-based previously licensed exchange, putting it back in the game.

If it sounds a lot like gambling, that’s because it is a lot like gambling.

Now both companies are mushrooming in value, intent on financializing everything heretofore not yet saleable. Like opinions and politics. Like famous relationship outcomes. And war.

It’s hard to keep perfect track, but Kalshi is currently facing something close to 20 federal lawsuits. Meanwhile, Polymarket, among its own federal legal issues, is currently suing the state of Massachusetts. “Polymarket U.S. now faces a real and imminent risk of identical enforcement,” the lawsuit states, “exposing it to civil penalties, potential criminal liability, forced cessation of operation within Massachusetts, and severe collateral consequences to its nationwide operations.”

So-called prediction markets are trading platforms providing users with the options to create, buy, and sell contracts on future events. If it sounds a lot like gambling, that’s because it is a lot like gambling. The main difference so far appears to be not-so-cleverly veiled legalese and chicanery coupled with the option to place a bet — er, purchase a yes/no contract — but also to sell said financial instrument. Typically once bets are placed, they’re locked.

The capacity to sell your bet opens several of the same secondary market opportunities found in standard stock exchanges — hedging, immediate profit taking, and so forth. Essentially, you can play it like a day trader, except you’re betting on outcomes or events as varied as the winner of the Super Bowl or the likelihood of the halftime performance to involve ambulances and pack animals.

It’s unclear exactly how both of these companies, ostensibly in mortal combat for the market share (estimates vary, but it’s safe to say hundreds of billions of dollars), decided almost simultaneously to cover their optics issues by supplying Big Apple residents with free groceries. Isn’t that SNAP’s job? Are Gotham’s socialist politicians giving advice? Or is this an example of the inevitably messy transition from Boomer to Zoomer/Millennial domination of political and social economy operations?

RELATED: Prediction markets let you ‘bet’ in states where gambling is banned: Here’s how

Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The free groceries will buy plenty of favor from the everyman on the street. How, though, will Kalshi or Polymarket deal with the rest of the major financial players who will want their cut?

It gets interesting, because according to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, “the long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradeable asset out of any difference in opinion.” This sounds provocative, and it is. However, we know tokenization, digitalization, and any number of other schemes to contort the pricing mechanisms of a free society are already en route. The underlying assumptions regarding control or at least a plausibly accurate prognostication — not just seeing the future, but memeing it into being, a process dubbed hyperstition — should point observers to the potential for even worse insider trading and control schemes than those we suffer under now.

This is the sort of thing you would imagine at the very last phases of civilizational decline, of course. Wild claims of near-divine power, sweeping assaults on the old power order, and an all-out mad scramble for anything resembling monetary advantage. With liquidity always a challenge, Kalshi and Polymarket will likely continue to hemorrhage cash to cover optics until they can grease the regulatory skids and find a place at the table with current giants. Or the current giants will just buy them out. But either way, it appears that the power and danger of prediction markets are here to stay — at least for a while.

​Tech