The surviving family that was targeted in an assassination attempt in Minnesota released a statement two days after the terrifying incident that shocked the nation.

Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife, Yvette, were both shot numerous times at their home on Saturday in the same plot that led to the deaths of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband, Mark, according to police.

‘There is never a place for senseless political violence and loss of life.’

“We continue our healing journey and are humbled by the outpouring of love and support our family has received from across the state and our nation,” read the statement, according to ABC News. “We are devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark, and our hearts go out to all those who knew and loved them both.”

The family added that the two wounded victims were “both incredibly lucky to be alive.”

Investigators released video of a man wearing a latex mask to obscure his identity and dressed up like a police officer to fool his victims into opening their front door. Once they did so, he fired at his victims.

The attack on the Hoffmans and the Hortmans led to a massive manhunt for a suspect who was later identified as Vance Leroy Boelter, a co-owner of a security company with political ties.

On Sunday, the suspect’s wife, Jennifer Boelter, was detained after police stopped her vehicle and found passports, a weapon, ammunition, and a large amount of cash. She was driving with three of her relatives, but no other details were released about them.

Hours later, officials announced that Boelter had been arrested in Sibley County, Minnesota.

RELATED: Suspect tied to Walz? Democrat governor may have appointed alleged Minnesota shooter to state board

Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. Steven Garcia/Getty Images

On Monday, law enforcement officials said that Boelter had surveilled his victims and had left behind a list of numerous other targets, including other prominent politicians as well as media figures.

He was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of stalking, and two counts related to firearms crimes. His bail was set at $5 million.

Boelter had been appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Board and later re-appointed by Dem. Gov. Tim Walz, as first reported by Blaze News’ Julio Rosas.

“There is never a place for senseless political violence and loss of life,” said the Hoffmans in their statement Monday.

A GoFundMe donation page has been set up for the Hoffmans and has raised over $129,000 so far.

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Former swimmer Riley Gaines has proven herself to be a fierce advocate for women in sports, and her reaction to a Minnesota high school softball team’s championship win sparked a massive debate on social media.

Gaines alleged the transgender pitcher, Marissa Rothenberger, gave the team an unfair advantage.

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles doesn’t share Gaines’ concern.

“@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight-up sore loser,” Biles wrote in a post on X. “You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!”

“But instead … You bully them … One thing’s for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around,” she added.

“This is actually so disappointing. It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest,” Gaines responded.

USA Today appears to be taking Biles’ side in the debate, with one of its columnists Nancy Armour defending Biles, claiming in an opinion piece that there’s “no scientific evidence that transgender women athletes have a physical advantage over cisgender women athletes.”

And while the statement appears silly to anyone who understands the very real difference of strength between men and women, very few important voices are willing to die on that hill in the midst of cancel culture.

Which is why it was over a decade ago that Serena Williams publicly admitted to the difference.

“Men’s tennis and women’s tennis are completely almost two separate sports. So like if I were to play Andy Murray, I would lose 6-0, 6-0, in five to six minutes, maybe 10 minutes,” Williams said on the “Late Show with David Letterman” in 2013. “The men are a lot faster, and they serve hotter, they hit harder. It’s just a different game.”

BlazeTV host Pat Gray is shocked to hear it from Williams.

“That is from the number one women’s player in the world,” Gray says on “Pat Gray Unleashed.” “And she knows all of that because she got beat by the 203rd ranked man in the world when she was at the top of her game.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

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

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A Utah man was killed during a No Kings protest after he was inadvertently shot at a demonstration in downtown Salt Lake City, according to police.

Around 7:56 p.m. on Saturday, a sergeant with the Salt Lake City Police Department Motor Squad reported hearing gunfire at the demonstration that drew approximately 10,000 protesters, according to a statement from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

‘The shooting at tonight’s protest in Salt Lake City is a deeply troubling act of violence and has no place in our public square.’

“As panic spread throughout the area, hundreds of people ran for safety, hiding in parking garages, behind barriers, and going into nearby businesses,” the Salt Lake City Police Department stated.

Officers and two Salt Lake City Police Department SWAT team members — who are also Salt Lake City Fire paramedics — located a man suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately conducted lifesaving measures.

The shooting victim was rushed to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Police identified the shooting victim as Arthur Folasa Ah Loo. Authorities said Loo had been an “innocent bystander who was not the intended target of the gunfire.”

RELATED: Over 98% of Americans ignore No Kings’ tired tantrum

Just minutes after the shooting, people at the No Kings protest flagged down police officers. The officers found 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa armed and dressed in black, wearing a black mask as he was “crouching among a group of people with a gunshot wound.”

People at the protest informed police officers that there was a firearm near where Gamboa was crouching, which was described as an “AR-15-style rifle.”

Two men, identified as peacekeeping members at the demonstration, informed officers that Gamboa was acting in a “suspicious” manner before the shooting.

The peacekeepers told police that they “saw Gamboa move away from the crowd and move into a secluded area behind a wall — behavior they found suspicious.”

“One of the peacekeepers told detectives he saw Gamboa pull out an AR-15-style rifle from a backpack and begin manipulating it,” according to the Salt Lake City Police Department.

The peacekeepers reportedly drew their guns and ordered Gamboa to drop his firearm.

Witnesses at the protest claimed that Gamboa disregarded the orders and lifted his rifle, then began running toward the crowd while “holding the weapon in a firing position.”

One of the peacekeepers allegedly responded by firing three gunshots toward Gamboa, who was hit by gunfire. However, police said that one of the rounds struck Loo.

The peacekeepers immediately attempted to provide aid to Loo, according to the press release from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Police said Gamboa was transported to the hospital.

Gamboa was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail. He was charged with murder.

RELATED: From ‘F**k Trump’ to handshakes: ‘No Kings’ rally in Texas stays civil

Police stated, “Detectives have developed probable cause that Gamboa acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death, and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.”

Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said, “Our detectives are now working to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident. We will not allow this individual act to create fear in our community.”

Redd added, “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the 39-year-old man who was killed, and with the many community members who were impacted by this traumatic incident.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) wrote on the X social media platform, “The shooting at tonight’s protest in Salt Lake City is a deeply troubling act of violence and has no place in our public square. This is an active situation, and we’re working closely with law enforcement to ensure accountability.”

According to KSL, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall (D) said, “The purpose of today’s demonstration was a powerful and peaceful expression until this event, and that cannot be overshadowed or silenced by a single act meant to harm. I want to urge everyone in the public to be calm, to give one another grace, and to look out for one another tonight in the coming days.”

KSL reported that Loo was a “widely-known and accomplished fashion designer” who appeared on the 17th season of the “Project Runway” reality TV show.

Loo — who was born and grew up in Samoa — is survived by his wife.

The Salt Lake City Police Department said the investigation into the deadly shooting is ongoing.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is urging anyone who took photos and videos at the crime scene to submit possible evidence here.

You can watch the press conference from the Salt Lake Police Department on the deadly No Kings protest shooting below.

RELATED: Leftist No Kings event in Arizona draws older crowd with patriotic symbols

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The Senate Finance Committee amended major tax provisions in the House’s version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” and some Republicans are not happy about it.

The SALT Caucus, which advocates for an increased cap on state and local deductions, managed to do just that in the House version of the bill that was passed in May. After weeks of negotiating with Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership, SALT Republicans were able to quadruple the original $10,000 cap to $40,000.

By appealing to the very stubborn SALT members, the House was able to pass the bill in an uncomfortably narrow 215-214 vote.

Although SALT Republicans were eventually able to get behind the landmark legislation, the Senate’s amendments may have alienated them and their much-needed support.

‘Not only insulting but a slap in the face to the Republican districts that delivered our majority and trifecta.’

RELATED: House narrowly passes DOGE cuts despite Republican defectors: ‘The gravy train is up’

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Senate Finance Committee pushed the $40,000 cap right back down to $10,000 on Monday, treating it as a “negotiating mark.” As expected, SALT Republicans are not on board.

At the forefront of this dispute is Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who, like many of his other SALT colleagues, maintains that his support for the bill is conditional.

“I have been clear since Day one: sufficiently lifting the SALT Cap to deliver tax fairness to New Yorkers has been my top priority in Congress,” Lawler said in a statement Monday. “After engaging in good faith negotiations, we were able to increase the cap on SALT from $10,000 to $40,000. That is the deal and I will not accept a penny less. If the Senate reduces the SALT number, I will vote NO and the bill will fail in the House.”

“Consider this the response to the Senate’s ‘negotiating mark’: DEAD ON ARRIVAL,” Lawler added.

RELATED: Democrats vote overwhelmingly to allow illegal aliens to continue voting in key district

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Other SALT Republicans echoed Lawler, saying they will pull their support for the bill if the original $40,000 cap they negotiated in the House is scrapped.

“The Senate doesn’t have the votes for $10k SALT in the House,” Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York said Monday. “And if they’re not sold on the House’s $40k compromise, wait until they crash the OBBB and TCJA expires — when SALT goes back to unlimited at year-end. They won’t like that one bit.”

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York shared her SALT colleagues’ frustrations. Malliotakis said the Senate’s amended bill is a “slap in the face,” reminding them that Republicans in moderate districts have helped secure the narrow majority they relied on to pass the legislation in the first place.

Notably, Malliotakis is the only Republican SALT member who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which is in charge of the tax policy drafted in the House.

RELATED: Chip Roy reveals to Glenn Beck possible motive behind Elon Musk’s scathing review of the ‘big, beautiful bill’

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

“The $40,000 SALT deduction was carefully negotiated along with other tax provisions by the House of Representatives and we all had to give a little to obtain the votes to pass the Big Beautiful Bill,” Malliotakis said Monday. “For the Senate to leave the SALT deduction capped at $10,000 is not only insulting but a slap in the face to the Republican districts that delivered our majority and trifecta.”

“If we want to be the big tent party, we need to recognize that we have members representing blue states with high taxes that are subsidizing many red districts across the country with constituents who benefit from refundable tax credits despite paying zero in taxes,” Malliotakis added.

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President Donald Trump has led a multifaceted plan to address the former Biden administration’s immigration crisis. In addition to increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainment efforts, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security implemented a self-deportation program that has reportedly already experienced considerable success.

The Center for Immigration Studies has conservatively approximated that there are roughly 15.4 million illegal aliens in the country. Andrew Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy with the CIS, claimed that nearly 1 million of those illegal aliens have opted to self-deport due to the Trump administration’s strict immigration enforcement measures.

‘Even with the cost of the stipend, it is projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the costs of a deportation by around 70 percent.’

Arthur reached the 1 million figure based partly on employment numbers.

He cited a June op-ed from the Wall Street Journal, which assessed that the immigrant population had decreased by 773,000 over the first four months of Trump’s presidency.

RELATED: ‘Self-deport’ flights begin as some illegal migrants take advantage of Trump’s tempting offer: Report

Photo by Carlos Moreno/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Further supporting Arthur’s estimate, a Washington Post report read, “More than a million foreign-born workers have exited the workforce since March.” While the Post framed the findings as “a sign of the weakening labor supply,” it also claimed that average wages had increased.

“Average hourly wages accelerated, rising by 0.4 percent over the month, to $36.24 in May, as earnings continue to beat inflation in a boost to workers’ spending power,” the Post stated.

Arthur concluded, “In other words, with fewer illegal immigrants, businesses have had to raise wages to attract workers.”

He noted that the administration’s self-deportation program is a significantly cheaper route for taxpayers compared to ICE raids.

The DHS launched “a nationwide and international multimillion-dollar ad campaign” to promote the self-deportation program, warning illegal aliens that if they refuse to leave on their own, they may become ineligible to return to the United States.

RELATED: Trump’s self-deportation plan: Genius or waste of money? Mark Levin weighs in

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

The DHS repurposed the former CBP One application, now CBP Home, to facilitate and track the self-deportations.

The department has also offered financial and travel assistance to illegal aliens to incentivize them to leave the country voluntarily.

“Any illegal alien who uses the CBP Home App to self-deport will also receive a stipend of $1,000 dollars, paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app,” stated a DHS press release. “Even with the cost of the stipend, it is projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the costs of a deportation by around 70 percent. Currently the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien is $17,121.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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California police say they are looking for the driver of a car that barreled through No Kings protesters during an altercation at a Riverside protest on Saturday.

Video on social media showed protesters surrounding the black SUV, and one protester began to damage the rear brake lamp when the driver stepped on the gas and drove through a group of people.

She was in a medically induced coma awaiting a second surgery, her friends said.

Seconds later, a woman can be heard yelling, “They just ran over my sister!”

Riverside police said the incident unfolded at about 9:40 p.m. on University Avenue near Orange Street. They are investigating the incident as a felony hit-and-run.

One woman was hospitalized with what police said were significant injuries. She is said to be in stable condition.

Police are searching for the driver and have asked the public for any information about the suspect. They have not said what happened before the video recording began.

Video of the incident went viral on social media, where it garnered millions of views.

RELATED: The HIDDEN motive behind the anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protests

Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images

Friends of the victim identified her as 21-year-old Alexa Carrasco and said that she had a cracked rib, a punctured lung, numerous severe skull injuries, and a broken leg. She was in a medically induced coma awaiting a second surgery, her friends told KTLA-TV.

“It was just a 21-year-old girl protesting for their family, for human, basic rights,” said Minor Garcia, a friend of Carrasco.

Some estimates put the total number of participants in the protests at about 2% of the total population. More protests are being planned as part of a campaign to oppose the polices of President Donald Trump.

Riverside is a suburb of Los Angeles with about 315,000 residents.

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The Trump Organization, which provides services in many sectors of the economy — including real estate development, entertainment, and financial services — is adding a new venture to its growing portfolio. The Trump Organization, run by President Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., announced the launch of its very own mobile wireless company, Trump Mobile.

The launch of Trump Mobile comes on the 10-year anniversary of the launch of President Trump’s first presidential campaign. They are promising “top-tier connectivity, unbeatable value, and all-American service for our nation’s hardest-working people.”

‘We’re building on the movement to put America first, and we will deliver the highest levels of quality and service.’

“Our company is based right here in the United States because we know it’s what our customers want and deserve,” Donald Trump Jr. said in an announcement. “We’re building on the movement to put America first, and we will deliver the highest levels of quality and service.”

The flagship program, the 47 Plan, costs $47.45 per month, a commemorative number for Trump’s service as the 45th and 47th president of the United States. It works with all three major carriers in the U.S., making it a reliable option coast to coast. On top of that, the plan offers unlimited talk, text, and data; telehealth services; and free international calling, among many other features.

RELATED: JD Vance pushes America First position on India-Pakistan conflict: ‘None of our business’

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The service has some additional perks in the spirit of President Trump’s American First agenda. “We’re especially proud to offer free long-distance calling to our military members and their families — because those serving overseas should always be able to stay connected to the people they love back home,” Eric Trump said in his announcement.

Additionally, the announcement includes the launch of a phone to go along with the mobile network: the T1 Phone. The T1 Phone is a “sleek, gold smartphone” manufactured in the United States. It will be available starting in August.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week canned all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — the federal panel whose vaccine recommendations become official policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and apply to the entire American population once adopted by the agency’s director.

Kennedy accused the ACIP of “malevolent malpractice” and vowed to appoint “highly credentialed physicians and scientists who will make extremely consequential public health determinations by applying evidence-based decision-making with objectivity and common sense.”

Among the eight individuals whom Kennedy has appointed to the committee are:

Dr. Martin Kulldorf, a former professor of medicine at Harvard University who risked his career by both swimming against the tide of establishment thinking during the pandemic and co-authoring the Great Barrington Declaration with now-National Institutes of Health Director Jay Battacharya; Dr. Robert Malone, an early pioneer in messenger RNA technology who faced years of abuse for questioning the safety of mRNA vaccines and the severity of COVID-19; and Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth who ruffled feathers in 2021 by criticizing ruinous mask mandates for children.

The removal and replacement of members of the committee is a wish fulfilled for longtime critics of the ACIP and a nightmare realized for medical and pharmaceutical establishmentarians satisfied with the status quo.

Those in the establishmentarian camp now clutching pearls over Kennedy’s actions appear eager to ignore or downplay the conflicts of interest, ideological bents, and questionable decisions that were apparently commonplace on the committee.

Lucrative questions, questionable decisions

The ACIP’s members as of April 2025 were:

Helen Talbot, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine;Edwin Jose Asturias, professor of pediatrics and infection diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine;Noel Brewer, professor in public health at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health;Oliver Brooks, interim chief executive officer at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases;Lin Chen, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School;Helen Chu, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington;Sybil Cineas, clinical associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University;Denise Jamieson, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine; Mini Kamboj, professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College;George Kuchel, professor of medicine at University of Connecticut Health;Jamie Loehr, family physician;Karyn Lyons, chief of the immunization section at the Illinois Department of Public Health;Yvonne Maldonado, professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford University; Charlotte Moser, co-director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia;Robert Schechter, chief of the California Department of Public Health Immunization branch;Albert Shaw, professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine; andJane Zucker, adjunct professor at SUNY’s department of community health services.

All 17 of the members were appointed by the Biden administration. Thirteen were appointed last year.

RELATED: RFK Jr. torches vaccine panel to make consequences count again

Photo illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Data provided on OpenPaymentData.CMS.gov, a site managed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provides some insights into just how cozy some of the former members were with the organizations whose products they were tasked with scrutinizing.

The website indicates that between 2017 and 2023:

Asturias apparently collected around $54,000 from pharmaceutical companies, including $20,705 in what appear to be consulting fees. Among the companies that paid Asturias what appear to have been consulting fees were Pfizer and Merck Sharpe & Dohme LLC, a bio-pharmaceutical subsidiary of the company whose pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive the committee voted to recommend in October. Asturias also appears to have received millions of dollars in research support from Big Pharma, including over $3.1 million from Pfizer and over $730,000 from the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline LLC. The Colorado Sun reported that the research support was for Asturias to study RSV, pneumonia, and other diseases both in Guatemala and the United States.Brooks apparently received over $18,000 in what appear to be consulting fees from the vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur and thousands of dollars more from the company categorized as “compensation for services other than consulting, including serving as faculty or as a speaker at a venue other than a continuing education program.”Chen, a proponent of masking during the pandemic, apparently collected $55,111.07 from pharmaceutical companies. Like Asturias, she has collected thousands of dollars in consulting fees from Merck Sharpe & Dohme LLC but also plenty in consulting fees from the vaccine manufacturer Valneva, which the committee has since blessed with multiple recommendations. During Chen’s directorship, Mount Auburn Hospital Travel Center received over $245,000 from the COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna.Chu apparently received over $6,000 in consulting fees from Merck Sharpe & Dohme and thousands more from the Illinois-headquartered pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc. According to documentation from the Washington State Department of Health, Chu served as a co-investigator on studies funded by Pfizer, Novavax, and GlaxoSmithKline; has received research support from Gates Ventures, the Gates Foundation, Sanofi Pasteur, and Cepheid; and has served on advisory boards for Abbvie, Merck, Pfizer, Ellume, and the Gates Foundation.Kuchel apparently received $10,720 in consulting fees from Big Pharma, the largest payment of which was from Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical company, Janssen Global. ACIP recommended the use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine last year.Maldonado, who publicly emphasized the supposed need for children to get vaccinated for COVID-19, apparently received over $33,147 from pharmaceutical companies, including $27,577.71 in what appear to be consulting fees. Like Asturias and Chen, Maldonado received a sizeable consulting fee payment from Merck Sharp & Dohme in 2023. When broken down by general payments, Pfizer ranked number one for Maldonado. Prior to her appointment to the ACIP, the CDC indicated that Maldonado “served as Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for Pfizer meningococcal vaccine trials and as a site PI for Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 and maternal RSV vaccines and AstraZenaca [sic] varicella zoster vaccine trials.” She reportedly abstained form voting on the COVID-19, pneumococcal, and influenza vaccines.Shaw, a member of Yale’s Infectious Disease Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism Committee, apparently received $2,590 in consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

According to the HPV IQ subpage on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health website, Brewer “has received grants from and/or served on paid advisory boards for Pfizer, Merck, [GlaxoSmithKline LLC], FDA, CDC, and NIH.”

The Defender reported in 2023 that Brewer — who suggested in 2023 that the “U.S. needs to get on an annual [COVID-19 vaccine] schedule, as we do for seasonal flu vaccination” — served on different paid Merck human papillomavirus boards since 2011 and served as a general consultant for the company for several years.

‘They have a big job to do.’

Brewer reportedly received over $500,000 in grant funding to study HPV vaccine uptake from Merck and over $400,000 from Pfizer to “study how trainings might improve physician perceptions and recommendations of the HPV vaccine.”

A Science investigation published in March downplayed the possible impact of Big Pharma ties among ACIP members, claiming that five of the 13 physicians on the committee prior to Kennedy’s purge received no Big Pharma payments in the “several years before the service began” and that the various kinds of payments from drugmakers that eight other members received “averaged just over $4000 a year, nearly $3000 less than the average for all U.S. specialist physicians.”

Blaze News reached out to Asturias, Brewer, Brooks, Chen, Chu, Maldonado, and Shaw for comment.

Brewer told Blaze News that his “last research grant from a pharmaceutical company ended nine years ago, in 2016,” and the numbers provided above “are about right” and that “the actual numbers are higher by maybe $10K and change.”

Brewer added, “I wish the new ACIP committee members well. They have a big job to do,” then referred Blaze News to a recent article in Science, which notes that “the new panel members have been authors on about 78% fewer vaccine-related papers than the ousted members.”

Ideological bent

Helen Chu joined Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) to complain at a press conference on Thursday about the firings. Murray called the removal of Biden administration appointees a “dangerous, practically unthinkable step to undermine public health and vaccine confidence.”

Chu, meanwhile, characterized the previous work of the ACIP as “transparent” and “unbiased.”

Contrary to Chu’s suggestion, biases ran deep on the panel in years past. While some of these biases may have been professional, others were ideological.

Noel Brewer, for instance, is a 2020 Biden donor whose social media history signals a possible DEI-lensed preoccupation with race.

‘We must ask whether our own research, teaching, and service are intentionally antiracist.’

Brewer kicked off 2023 complaining that AI tools like ChatGPT sounded “straight, white and probably a few other things too.” Months later, Brewer suggested that the lack of diversity in the authorship of certain textbooks was indicative of “white supremacy culture in academia.” When discussing academic tenure and promotion decisions in September 2023, Brewer claimed that “fit, culture, and so on are tools of white supremacy.”

Oliver Brooks — criticized in 2022 by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary for reportedly voting in favor of recommending that kids ages 5-11 receive COVID-19 vaccine booster shots without outcomes data — is a repeat donor to Democratic politicians including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Like Brewer, his outlook appears tinged by identity politics.

Amid the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, Brooks tried to provide an analogy to George Floyd’s death in an editorial titled “Police Brutality and Blacks: An American Immune System Disorder” in the Journal of the National Medical Association in which he stated that the “country as a whole sets stereotypes as well as biases against black Americans which inevitably leads to social misinterpretation of the safety of Americans when a black person is present.”

Brooks also noted, quoting another article, “We must ask whether our own research, teaching, and service are intentionally antiracist and challenge the institutions we work in to ask the same.”

When Americans were protesting in 2020 in favor of reopening the country, Brooks framed the matter in identitarian terms on C-SPAN, noting, “If you look at those protesting to open up the environment — I prefer to use the term ‘environment’ as opposed to ‘the economy’ because it’s not about money; it’s about lives — most, I won’t say all, most of the protesters are white or not inclusive of African-Americans or LatinX individuals.”

Like some of her former colleagues on the panel, Sybil Cineas apparently has found it difficult to separate medicine from racial concerns or vice versa.

For instance, Cineas, listed as a member of the advisory group for Brown University’s Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, signed an open letter in 2021 to Tulane University’s board of trustees, which complained of a “pervasive culture of White Supremacy” in the medical profession that “is perpetuated by the deeply hierarchical power structures of academic medicine.”

The ‘nuclear’ decision

Kennedy noted in a June 9 op-ed that the point of “retiring” the committee members, including those “last-minute appointees of the Biden administration,” was to help restore the public’s trust “that unbiased science guides the recommendations from our health agencies.”

“The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” wrote the health secretary. “It has never recommended against a vaccine — even those later withdrawn for safety reasons. It has failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women. To make matters worse, the groups that inform ACIP meet behind closed doors, violating the legal and ethical principle of transparency crucial to maintaining public trust.”

‘Most of ACIP’s members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies.’

When painting the committee as a succession of compromised members, Kennedy referred to a decades-old investigation that found a “web of close ties” between the CDC and the companies that make vaccines.

RELATED: CDC knew the COVID jab was dangerous — and pushed it anyway

Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

He also highlighted the revelation that four of the eight then-ACIP members who voted in 1997 to recommend routine vaccination of infants with the rotavirus vaccine had financial ties to the very pharmaceutical companies developing such vaccines. This was especially damning because the recommended vaccine was subsequently withdrawn on account of its ruinous and in some cases deadly side effects.

Although members are now barred from holding stocks or serving on advisory boards associated with vaccine makers, Kennedy indicated that “these conflicts of interest persist.”

“Most of ACIP’s members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines,” wrote the health secretary.

‘Ending the conflict of interest is the first critical step to restoring unbiased, science-based analysis of safety and efficacy of vaccines.’

The health secretary emphasized that the “malpractice” impacts Americans nationwide, in part due to the committee’s “stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children.”

Kennedy claimed that “a compliant American child receives between 69 and 92 routine vaccines (depending on brand/dictated dosage) from conception to 18 years of age.”

“ACIP has recommended each of these additional jabs without requiring placebo-controlled trials for any of them,” said Kennedy. “This means that no one can scientifically ascertain whether these products are averting more problems than they are causing.”

Peter Hotez, a cable news vaccine promoter and the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, was among the medical establishmentarians to recently contest this claim about placebo-controlled trials, saying, “That’s simply not true.”

‘The pharmaceutical companies have been running a regulatory capture scam.’

Kennedy claimed in response that such protesters were wrong — and made sure to bring receipts.

— (@)

The health secretary also indicated on Friday that the ACIP will “institute bias policies recommending that ACIP panelists recuse themselves from decisions in which their current or former clients have a financial interest.”

Mixed reception

Blaze News senior editor Daniel Horowitz said, “This is a nuclear bomb on the biomedical security state.”

“The heart of the problem with vaccine safety stems from the fact that the pharmaceutical companies have been running a regulatory capture scam,” continued Horowitz. “They place scientists and doctors on their payroll and then insert those individuals into government advisory positions. Ending the conflict of interest is the first critical step to restoring unbiased, science-based analysis of safety and efficacy of vaccines.”

RELATED: Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Children’s Health Defense, which was chaired by Kennedy from 2015 to 2023, similarly celebrated the news.

Mary Holland, president and CEO of CHD, told Blaze News in a statement that Kennedy’s announcement “marks a pivotal advancement in the radical transparency he promised the country.”

“Children’s Health Defense has long highlighted the conflicts of interest involving the ACIP committee. It is unbelievable that ACIP members were allowed to participate in deliberations regarding a product in which they might have a financial stake,” said Holland. “No wonder the committee consistently approved every vaccine for use, including those that were proven unsafe and subsequently removed shortly after approval. Ending this practice represents a significant step forward in restoring the public’s trust in our health agencies.”

Of course, Kennedy’s actions did not please everyone.

‘I’ve never seen anything this damaging to public health happen in my lifetime.’

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the Democratic lawmakers who has received a fortune in donations from the pharmaceutical industry, called the firing of the ACIP members “a public health disaster.”

Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was among the many who concern-mongered last year about the impact that Kennedy could have if afforded power and access in the Trump administration.

Last week, Offit wrote, “RFK Jr. will do everything he can to make sure that all vaccines are no longer mandated and to make vaccines less available, less affordable and more feared. This is only the beginning.”

One of the dismissed ACIP members complained to CNN, “I’ve never seen anything this damaging to public health happen in my lifetime.”

RELATED: HHS scraps COVID vaccine schedule for children and pregnant women: ‘It’s common sense, and it’s good science’

Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

The ex-member, whose name was not disclosed, added, “I’m shocked. It’s pretty brazen. This will fundamentally destabilize vaccination in America.”

Bruce Scott, the president of the American Medical Association, similarly expressed distress last week, claiming that the action undermines public trust “and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.”

Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, claimed that Kennedy’s “allegations about the integrity of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are completely unfounded.”

BlazeTV host Steve Deace, considering the action within the broader context of the MAHA movement, told “Blaze News: The Mandate” last week that President Donald Trump’s decision to make Kennedy the health secretary “might be the closest we’re ever going to get in America to a tribunal on what happened during that time [the pandemic].”

The firings at the ACIP are “the closest thing to real consequences — people losing their jobs — that we have seen,” added Deace.

— (@)

HHS indicated in a statement that it will convene its next meeting June 25 through June 27 at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

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The Group of Seven is an informal bloc of first-world nations consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. that has met since the 1970s to coordinate on matters of international security, human rights, economic governance, and technological matters.

Amid rising military tensions between Israel and Iran, unresolved tensions between Ukraine and Russia, and ongoing extranational vexation over his tariff strategy, President Donald Trump touched down in Canada on Sunday for this year’s summit in Kananaskis, an unincorporated Alberta community in the Rocky Mountains.

Leaders from various non-G7 member nations will also be present at the summit, including leaders from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and Ukraine.

A senior U.S. official told Blaze News that Canada “worked with G7 colleagues to craft short, action-oriented leaders’ statements on key issues of common interest. Working discussions will, but not limited to, cover trade and the global economy, critical minerals, migrant and drug smuggling, wildfires, international security, artificial intelligence, and energy security.”

These topics correspond to the priorities for the summit identified by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office earlier this month. The prime minister’s office noted that other discussions will include a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine and other areas of conflict around the world.”

“The president is eager to continue to pursue his goals in all of these areas, including making America’s trade relationships fair and reciprocal, unlocking new markets for American energy exports, and positioning the U.S. to be the world leader and international partner of choice on AI technologies,” the senior American official told Blaze News.

The official added, “We appreciate Canada’s cooperation in the planning of this summit and their choice of a gorgeous location in Kananaskis for these important conversations.”

RELATED: Listen up, America: Everything you’ve been told about Canada is a lie

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Officials from the host country, which Trump has slapped with numerous tariffs in recent months and repeatedly suggested should become the 51st state in the union, appear keen to ensure that the president has a good time to avoid a repeat of the kind of breakdown of goodwill that followed the 2018 G7 summit in Quebec.

Trump left that summit early after reportedly suggesting to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that an injection of 25 million Mexicans into Japan would lose Abe his next election and telling French President Emmanuel Macron during a conversation on Iran and terrorism that Macron had a special familiarity because “all the terrorists are in Paris.” Trump then remotely torpedoed a joint G7 statement on account of what he claimed were “false statements” from former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he emphasized was “weak.”

‘Press reports stress that the participating countries are trying to bend over backward to avoid antagonizing President Trump.’

“The backdrop to this G7 are the tensions between the U.S. and the other G7 members,” Christopher Layne, professor of international affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, told Blaze News. “The leading causes of division are Ukraine, President Trump’s tariffs, and the administration’s apparent break from the institutions and norms upon which the post-1945 liberal rules-based international order rested.”

Layne noted that the G7s Trump attended in his first term were “openly acrimonious.”

“In an attempt to avert a rupture this time, Canada, the host country, determined that there will be no joint communique issued when the meeting ends,” continued Layne. “Press reports stress that the participating countries are trying to bend over backward to avoid antagonizing President Trump. In this atmosphere, it is unlikely that the meeting will produce any major breakthroughs, though the U.S. will seek progress on several issues, including trade/tariffs, drug smuggling, and migration flows.”

Carney — the self-identified “European” World Economic Forum regular who all but guaranteed British economic decline while governor of the Bank of England, then replaced Justin Trudeau to become Canadian prime minister in March — met Sunday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Ottawa and agreed to establish an economic and trade working group and to strengthen military cooperation both bilaterally and through NATO.

RELATED: The Great Reset just got a North American enforcer in Ottawa

Trump at the G7 in Charlevoix, Canada, in 2018. Photo by Jesco Denzel /Bundesregierung via Getty Images

Carney then headed west for his one-on-one meeting Monday morning with Trump ahead of the official start of the summit.

A day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Anita Anand, the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, affirmed the “important relationship” between their respective nations, Carney welcomed Trump to the summit, wishing both the president and the U.S. Army happy belated birthdays and emphasizing the importance of American leadership at the G7, which is apparently celebrating its 50th birthday.

‘I’m sure we can work something out.’

Trump once again bemoaned the removal of Russia from the G8 following its invasion of Crimea, noting that talks about Russia would be easier with it representatives at the table.

“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” said Trump. “And I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago.”

— (@)

Concerning the immediate talks ahead, Trump told reporters, “Our primary focus will be trade, and trade with Canada.”

“I’m sure we can work something out,” said the president, emphasizing that he’s a “tariff person,” while Carney “has a more complex idea but also very good.”

Carney’s office did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

Professor Layne suggested to Blaze News that “even though this is not formally a NATO conference, President Trump is certain to push for increased defense spending from U.S. allies in East Asia and Europe.”

“President Trump approaches multilateral fora with extreme skepticism,” Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, told CNN. “He does not view these organizations as ways to deepen and expand American power and influence. He sees these fora as constraining America, and I think that’s something to remember as he goes into this. He is skeptical towards the G7’s consensus-driven approach.”

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A North Carolina state Democrat was excoriated for posting what many saw as incitement to political violence on her social media account as a part of the No Kings protests.

State Rep. Julie von Haefen posted the offensive image on her X social media account on Saturday but deactivated the entire account after a public outcry.

‘One of the images of a protestor holding a sign was inappropriate, and I later edited the video to remove the photo.’

The post showed a woman holding up a sign that read, “In these difficult times some cuts may be necessary,” with the image of a guillotine. On either side of the sign were two human head props, one of which appeared to bear the likeness of President Donald Trump. The other person had a Nazi swastika written on his forehead.

Von Haefen addressed the controversy in a post on Sunday.

“Yesterday, I posted a video on social media containing crowd photos from the No Kings protest in Raleigh. One of the images of a protestor holding a sign was inappropriate, and I later edited the video to remove the photo,” the Democrat wrote.

She pointed to the recent lethal shootings in Minnesota targeting lawmakers and said she unequivocally rejects political violence.

“Let me be clear: I condemn political violence in all forms,” she continued. “My focus remains on bringing people together and fighting for the values that matter to North Carolinians. Like so many, I was horrified by the violence in Minnesota. There is no place for that kind of extremism in our democracy, no matter the target, no matter the party.”

RELATED: From ‘F**k Trump’ to handshakes: ‘No Kings’ rally in Texas stays civil

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Among those who criticized van Haefen was Republican North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall.

“On the same weekend that a gunman in Minnesota targeted state lawmakers in an act of political violence, and after two attempted assassinations of President Trump within the past year, Representative von Haefen (D-Wake) shared an image of a ‘protest sign’ that glorifies violence against her political opponents-including President Donald Trump,” said Hall on social media.

“Her disgraceful behavior fails to meet the standards expected from House members and sets a dangerous precedent in an already volatile political climate,” he added. “I am examining next steps with our legislative attorneys to ensure this behavior does not continue.”

The North State Journal pointed out that the deletion of the account might be a violation of state records retention laws for elected officials.

Thousands protested against Trump’s presidency and policies in No Kings demonstrations across the country. Less than 2% of the population showed up to the protests, according to some estimates.

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The Houston Police Department last week released bodycam video showing officers pursuing and shooting a male armed with a machete on May 16.

Police received a call around 3:25 p.m. from a Family Dollar in the 5100 block of Almeda Road regarding a male who stole items from the store — and then threatened employees while brandishing a knife while on the way out, KPRC-TV reported.

‘Stop! Put your hands up!’

The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Earnest Duke Harrison, the station said.

Officers encountered Harrison at the Southmore Boulevard bridge over Highway 288, KPRC said.

The department’s video includes bodycam clips from three officers. The officers pursued the suspect from both ends of the bridge.

The officer closest to Harrison runs toward him while yelling, “Stop! Put your hands up!” But Harrison keeps running toward the officer while holding the machete aloft in his right hand.

RELATED: Trio of thugs wanted in beating death of lone victim at gas station. Video shows several people just watching attack happen.

Image source: Houston Police Department

The officer — whom police identified as Officer L. Jumonji — fired at Harrison and hit him, the station said.

RELATED: Crooks caught on video punching, pistol-whipping man in broad daylight near crowded park. Again, bystanders don’t do a thing.

Image source: Houston Police Department

Video shows Harrison immediately collapsing on the bridge, after which he’s disarmed and handcuffed.

RELATED: Home invasion victim fights armed burglar, then turns the tables on him — takes crook’s gun away, shoots him dead with it

Image source: Houston Police Department

The officer who opened fire as well as other officers are seen on the bridge rendering aid to the suspect. After they roll the suspect on his back, one officer notices the suspect suffered a “gunshot in the head.” By the end of the bodycam video, five officers are seen on the bridge.

Paramedics took Harrison to the hospital in critical condition, KPRC said, adding that the officer who shot the suspect was not hurt.

Doctors pronounced Harrison dead on May 20, the station said.

Police told KPRC that Officer Jumonji has been with the department since December 2021.

“As is customary in HPD officer-involved shooting incidents in the Houston city limits, this case is being investigated by the HPD Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office,” police added to the station.

Blaze News on Monday asked an employee at the Family Dollar in question for comment about the robbery, but the employee said, “We’re not able to talk about any of that,” as the matter is “still under investigation.”

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“Climate Homicide: Prosecuting Big Oil for Climate Deaths” is a study that was released by Harvard Environmental Law Review in 2023, and BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere calls it “the most influential piece of propaganda in this particular form.”

The article finds that in jurisdictions across the United States, fossil fuel companies could be prosecuted for every type of homicide, short of first-degree murder. It also concludes that prosecutions could offer highly effective remedies that prosecutors could be motivated to seek.

“Hey, we can find a way for climate deaths to be prosecuted as homicide, basically under every jurisdiction in America, as long as you don’t say it’s first-degree murder,” Stu mocks on “Stu Does America.” “And then in addition to that, you guys should note these will be good remedies for the policies that we want. Right.”

Now, a few years later, the term “climate homicide” is beginning to rear its head.

“The model is lawsuits against the cigarette companies, but individuals smoke cigarettes sold by particular companies. The theory here is that the fossil fuel companies have injured everyone in the entire world now and in the future by means of any business operations with any customers, with the chain of causation running through the atmosphere and climate of the entire planet,” Dan McLaughlin wrote in an article for the National Review.

“It is completely ridiculous,” Stu comments. “But those cases are now popping up.”

One oil company is being sued for the 2021 death of a woman, Juliana Leon, during a heatwave. Her daughter has sued seven oil and gas companies claiming wrongful death, with her suit alleging that “they failed to warn the public of the dangers of the planet-warming emissions produced by their products and that they funded decades-long campaigns to obscure the scientific consensus on global warming.”

“All of this just popped out there as if it’s a complete fact,” Stu says, noting that Leon began to go after the oil companies after being approached by a nonprofit group called the Center for Climate Integrity, which helps assemble and promote cases against large oil and gas companies.

“So this is just a left-wing typical operation here,” Stu says.

The supposed victim, Leon, was on her way back from a doctor’s appointment after having bariatric surgery two weeks prior, when the air conditioning in her car broke.

“So she had just gone through a very traumatic event with her body, she was quite vulnerable to heat stroke, and of course, the car’s AC broke,” Stu explains, adding, “Not only had she had the surgery, she hadn’t eaten any food in two weeks. Which, again, would probably make you very vulnerable.”

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TUKWILA, Wash. — While most attention was on the No Kings march in Seattle on Saturday, a different crowd had gathered at a Department of Homeland Security building 15 minutes outside the city. The group of around 100, mostly dressed in black bloc, had spilt into two groups to physically block the north and south driveways to prevent government vehicles from leaving.

Not only were Antifa agitators using their bodies to block the driveway, they had created makeshift barricades out of traffic signs and random materials found nearby. At first, only three officers with the Federal Protective Service were outside keeping watch over the crowd on the south end of the building, with the Antifa crowd heckling them for hours.

Suddenly, members of the Tukwila Police Department arrived on scene to order the gathering to move from the driveway. The Antifa mob, who was facing the DHS building, turned around and refused to move. The Tukwila officers went into the crowd, firing crowd-control munitions to force the unruly throng off of the driveway.

While Los Angeles was the first city to experience prolonged riots after a federal operation earlier this month, it has inspired far-left radicals to get out into the streets once again.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents came out of the building to support the local police, moving in from behind to clear the road. At least one rioter was arrested by federal agents. Federal vehicles raced out once the driveway was clear.

The rioters did not completely scatter after being forced to the sidewalk. The Tukwila police officers were attacked as they withdrew from the scene, and the CBP agents went back inside the building. The Antifa participants rebuilt the barricade with the few pieces that were usable.

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

— (@)

The scene that played out near Seattle is part of the growing violent response to the Trump administration’s massive illegal immigrant crackdown. While Los Angeles was the first city to experience prolonged riots after a federal operation earlier this month, it has inspired far-left radicals to get out into the streets once again.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, which was one of the many places targeted by Antifa in 2020, has been attacked on a near daily basis this past week. Videos from this weekend showed DHS agents having to confront the Antifa rioters.

RELATED: Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

“Four officers were injured. Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” DHS said on X.

— (@)

The radicals in Portland have gone as far as to post flyers with the names, pictures, and addresses of federal agents around the far-left city.

It remains to be seen how long the far-left will keep up the momentum. With the continued deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guardsmen in Los Angeles, all eyes are now on how the populations will react to President Donald Trump making it clear that immigration enforcement operations will proceed at heightened levels.

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Leftists were evidently unable to persuade President Donald Trump to reverse course on deporting illegal aliens with their recent rioting, demonstrations, and attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The president announced Sunday evening in a post on Truth Social that he was ordering ICE officers to lean into their mass deportation campaign.

“Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People,” wrote Trump. “ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

‘Large employers are more concerned than their counterparts about ICE/DHS enforcement.’

Trump indicated that success will depend upon an expansion of detention and deportation efforts in America’s largest cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, which he noted were not only temporarily home to millions of illegal aliens but “the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”

“The American People want our Cities, Schools, and Communities to be SAFE and FREE from Illegal Alien Crime, Conflict, and Chaos,” continued Trump. “That’s why I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia. Our Federal Government will continue to be focused on the REMIGRATION of Aliens to the places from where they came, and preventing the admission of ANYONE who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States.”

Trump’s Truth Social order comes just days after he sparked controversy among elements of his base with the suggestion that his administration might soften or suspend its crackdown on illegal aliens in the hotel, leisure, and agricultural sectors, which have apparently complained about losing “very good, long time workers.”

RELATED: It’s not a riot, it’s an invasion

BENJAMIN HANSON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

During an event where he signed resolutions barring California electric vehicle rules, Trump told reporters, “They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. And we’re going to have to do something about that.”

— (@)

The employment law firm Littler published the results of a survey of 349 executives, in-house lawyers, and senior human resource professionals across various industries last month, revealing that the Trump administration’s clampdown on illegal immigration was apparently top of mind.

“Large employers are more concerned than their counterparts about ICE/DHS enforcement (84% expect a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces) and workforce staffing challenges (69% expressed concern, versus 58% overall),” said the report.

‘We will follow the president’s direction.’

Where retail/hospitality employers were concerned, 89% of respondents indicated ICE and Department of Homeland Security enforcement would have a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces.

Immigration enforcement raids would similarly be disruptive in the agricultural sector. After all, 42% of hired crop farm workers in the U.S. were not legally authorized to work in the country as of 2022, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Numerous commentators on the right suggested that such a course of action, which some categorized as amnesty for illegal aliens, would negatively impact Trump’s legacy and undermine the agenda he campaigned on.

RELATED: Majority of US employers polled say immigration enforcement will impact their workplaces, cause staffing shortages

Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

This backlash apparently prompted Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to assure the MAGA coalition on Sunday that the administration is keen on transitioning to a “stable and LEGAL agricultural workforce,” although she hinted that the process would be drawn out so as to avoid “severe disruptions to our food supply.”

On the basis of an internal email and the say-so of three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance, the New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration has directed ICE to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants, and meatpacking plants.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” stated Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the DHS, which reportedly confirmed the guidance.

Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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