Author name: LifeZette

Greg Gutfeld Just Dropped a Truth Bomb on the State of the Democrat Party [WATCH]
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Greg Gutfeld Just Dropped a Truth Bomb on the State of the Democrat Party [WATCH]

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Greg Gutfeld did not dance around the obvious on The Five.

He took the modern Democrat Party, stripped away the slogans, and pointed straight at the rot underneath.

“If you don’t value your values enough to protect them, the people you attract, the radicals, they value it, and they will take over,” Gutfeld said.

That single line explains years of Democrat decay better than a thousand consultant memos ever could.

The party that once pretended to represent working families now bends the knee to the loudest activists in the room.

Weak leadership made the opening, and the Democratic Socialists of America happily marched through it.

Gutfeld laid out the cultural wreckage that followed.

“How did we get Drag Queen Story Hour? Do you ever think about that? How did that happen? How is it that city blocks can be taken over, or that we actually tolerated looting, or there’s violence in subways and airplanes? Felons are rarely incarcerated,” he said.

That is not a random list of grievances. It is a map of what happens when a political party decides that order, decency, and accountability are somehow oppressive concepts.

For years, Democrats treated normal Americans like bigots for wanting safe streets, sane schools, and public spaces that do not feel like social experiments run by angry graduate students.

Then they acted shocked when radicals noticed there was nobody guarding the gate.

“This is what happens when you no longer fight for your values, because then the structure starts falling apart,” Gutfeld said.

And fall apart it has, one surrender at a time.

The left did not wake up one morning and suddenly become unrecognizable.

Democrats made bargain after bargain with radicals because those radicals were useful, loud, and willing to do the dirty work of intimidating anyone who disagreed.

Then came the predictable result.

The activists stopped being a tool and became the management.

Gutfeld also put his finger on why the DSA has gained so much traction inside the Democrat ecosystem. “It’s because the DSA has the purest moral expression of the Democrats’ personality,” he said.

That is the part Democrat strategists would rather not discuss on cable news panels.

The DSA is not some alien force that invaded a healthy party, it is the clearest version of what Democrats have been rewarding for years.

“What are their values? They don’t talk about it anymore,” Gutfeld added.

Exactly right, because once a party trades real values for fashionable slogans, there is not much left to say.

Family, faith, order, and personal responsibility used to be considered basic building blocks of society.

On the left, they are now treated as suspicious relics unless they can be repackaged for a campaign ad in a swing district.

Democrats will embrace nearly anything if it earns applause from the right social circles.

If mutilating children under the banner of gender ideology is praised as compassion, many of them will nod along rather than risk being called names.

The same pattern drives their soft approach to crime.

They oppose tough penalties because activists told them law enforcement is inherently racist, and suddenly the rights of victims become an afterthought.

That is how a party loses its spine. It begins caring more about the approval of left wing tastemakers than the truth staring ordinary Americans in the face.

Gutfeld also noted the sudden panic among old guard Democrats who are realizing what they helped create.

“They are starting to realize that this charismatic force will harm you once the trust is secured. But by then, it’ll be too late,” he said.

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The warning is simple.

When you invite radicals in because they energize your base, do not act surprised when they eventually demand the keys.

The Democrat Party wanted the heat, the slogans, the protests, and the street theater.

Now it is stuck with a movement that does not respect limits and has no interest in being managed by political fossils like James Carville.

Gutfeld’s point was bigger than drag shows, looting, subway chaos, or criminal leniency.

Those are symptoms of a party that stopped defending moral standards and started apologizing for them.

Values do not disappear by accident.

They are abandoned through cowardice, one concession at a time, until the radicals are no longer outside the party complaining, they are inside running the show.

The Democrats Have a Major Primary Problem, The Math is Unforgiving [WATCH]
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The Democrats Have a Major Primary Problem, The Math is Unforgiving [WATCH]

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Former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the Democratic Party’s ongoing primary battles in Michigan and Wisconsin represent more than routine election contests, arguing they expose a broader struggle over the party’s identity and direction heading into the midterm elections.

Priebus made the comments during a discussion with Fox News hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, where the three examined the Democratic primaries in two key swing states and the growing influence of candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and other progressive movements.

Priebus predicted that the nomination contests in both states would remain competitive for an extended period because, in his view, the candidates generating the most enthusiasm are not necessarily those appealing to moderate voters.

“Primaries will take very long, whether it be in Michigan or Wisconsin,” Priebus said.

He argued that voters who favor more traditional Democratic candidates may find themselves at odds with the activists driving the primary electorate.

“I mean, I know that people who are normal would rather see Haley Stevens win, or someone normal would rather see a guy like David Crowley, the county executive Milwaukee. But normal isn’t winning. What’s winning is middle finger politics.”

According to Priebus, the primary contests have become a debate between competing views of the country rather than simply a contest between individual candidates.

“It is a more of a debate, in my opinion, about two different visions of America: people who see America through a lens of good and hope, and people who see America through a lens of grievance, complaints, flaws,” he said. “That’s the big difference in all of these candidates.”

Priebus also questioned why Democratic Party leaders continue allowing candidates whose views differ from the party’s traditional platform to compete under the Democratic banner.

“The second thing here is what I don’t understand: is this is not a silly debate among candidates. This is a debate over, as your previous reporter said, the future of the Democrat Party. Where do they want to go?” Priebus said.

He argued that many of the candidates now emerging from Democratic primaries are promoting agendas separate from the party’s historical platform.

“And the reality is, these people in the Democrat Party, they don’t have. They’re not adhering to the platform of the party. They’ve got their own platform. They’ve got a different party.”

Priebus noted that political parties are private organizations and said they have broad authority over how they select their nominees.

“So, to me, the biggest oddity of this whole thing is why the DNC and the state parties would allow people who don’t agree with their platform to take over their party,” he said.

“These are private political organizations. They do not have to adhere to the state laws as to who their nominees will be, their members get to choose. They can do a convention. They can do. They can have a vote at their executive committee.”

Although he acknowledged the procedural discussion might not interest every viewer, Priebus maintained that party leaders have the ability to prevent ideological opponents from becoming their nominees.

“So I don’t want to bore you all with with this part of the debate. But the reality is, a private organization, the Republican Party, Democrat Party, they get to choose their candidates. They do not have to allow people who don’t agree with their platform to take over their party. It’s crazy.”

Hemmer then turned the discussion to recent Democratic politics in Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Well, six years ago, Michigan ended Bernie Sanders’ primary run. That that was it when they went up there and Joe Biden went head to head with him,” Hemmer said.

He also referenced Dana Perino’s recent interview with a Democratic socialist candidate for Wisconsin governor before introducing clips from that conversation.

Perino had challenged the candidate about previous positions, asking, “It’s going to be very easy for people to put up on the board and say, ‘You said abolish the Senate, defund the police, abolish the police, and why should they not believe that you would want to do that? That you would try to do that if you became governor?'”

Hemmer then quoted the candidate’s response: “I believe that people can evolve. We need Trump voters from previous elections who now would like to vote for me, who have a sign in their yard.”

Hemmer followed by highlighting an earlier social media post written during the COVID-19 pandemic that read: “Thanksgiving canceled. It should have done it in 1621. It takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indigenous folks, F-O-L-X, clever, and women.”

Turning back to Priebus, Hemmer asked how those positions would be received in Wisconsin.

Priebus responded that the debate illustrates what he sees as a broader political problem for Democrats.

“Well, I’ll be in Wisconsin later today. Here’s the deal. Number one, you’re showing what’s happening to the Democrat Party. They’re getting on the wrong side of normal.”

He argued that winning statewide elections in Wisconsin and Michigan depends on attracting a relatively small group of swing voters.

“When you’re on the wrong side of normal, you can’t win 4% of swing voters in places like Wisconsin or Michigan,” he said.

Priebus also described what he sees as a divide within Wisconsin Democrats, contrasting Madison’s liberal electorate with Democratic voters in Milwaukee.

“Wisconsin, like Michigan, is divided into two parts of the Democrat Party. Number one is in Madison, which is highly educated, you know, wealthy, and and and people who you know are very very liberal, and then you’ve got Democrats in Milwaukee, which are you know African American. They care about safety. That these are important issues.”

He argued that issues surrounding policing and other controversies could hurt Democratic candidates in a general election while still helping them secure the nomination.

“So how does it play out? It gets them on the wrong side of normal, and there’s only 4% of the public that are in play in Wisconsin and Michigan. I think it hurts them in a general, but they’ll launch to a primary victory, and it’ll be a real barn burner.”

Priebus concluded by predicting that President Donald Trump would remain an influential figure in both battleground states.

“And what Trump does will matter because those 4% swing voters in Wisconsin and Michigan they like Trump he’s won in Michigan Wisconsin so he will play a big role here in these swing states.”

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Assassination Attempt?: Armed Suspect Filmed Trump Golf Security as Weapons and Armor Stash Surface [WATCH]
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Assassination Attempt?: Armed Suspect Filmed Trump Golf Security as Weapons and Armor Stash Surface [WATCH]

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Federal authorities say an armed California man was scouting President Trump’s golf club before the president’s scheduled visit, and what investigators later found was not exactly a harmless sightseeing kit.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey, was charged in a federal criminal complaint after his arrest at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Prosecutors say the case centers on possession of an unregistered rifle with a shortened barrel.

The felony charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a reminder that federal agents are not treating this as some routine security mix up.

When a man shows up around a presidential site with weapons, armor and strange explanations, law enforcement tends to pay attention.

According to court papers, federal agents were conducting security sweeps ahead of Trump’s August 4 visit when they first spotted Taele on July 31.

He was allegedly walking around the golf course wearing an earpiece while taking photos and videos of security planning activity.

That is the sort of behavior that tends to make trained security personnel stop and ask questions, especially after prior attempts on President Trump’s life.

The left may love pretending threats around Trump are just overheated political chatter, but agents on the ground do not have the luxury of media spin.

Authorities say Taele returned to the club on Saturday, and staff alerted law enforcement.

He allegedly approached federal agents and claimed he worked for the State Department and had been assigned to a security detail.

Investigators say that claim was false. Taele also allegedly admitted that he had a loaded firearm inside his pickup truck parked at the club.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responded and discovered that Taele had an outstanding El Segundo warrant connected to a robbery case.

Deputies also found a 16 round magazine loaded with hollow point ammunition in his pocket, according to the complaint.

A search of his pickup truck allegedly turned up a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber.

Investigators also found another loaded magazine filled with hollow point ammunition, binoculars and a badge marked “security protection agent.”

The case widened the next day when investigators searched Taele’s home on Sunday.

Authorities say they seized an illegally modified AR style rifle that was never registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

They also recovered additional firearms, ammunition, large capacity magazines, body armor, an earpiece, two radio signal devices and notebooks containing statements investigators described as concerning.

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That is not the profile of a man who merely took a wrong turn near a golf course.

“While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the President’s visit,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said.

“Federal and local law enforcement stepped in early and prevented what could have been a dangerous situation from occurring.”

FBI Los Angeles Assistant Director in Charge Patrick Grandy said Taele’s actions “raised serious red flags” just days before Trump’s arrival.

“There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life,” Grandy said.

Essayli later posted on X that investigators were still working to determine Taele’s motives.

He credited the FBI, Secret Service, ATF and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for stepping in before Trump arrived and preventing “a potentially dangerous situation.”

Taele is also facing firearms charges and a 2025 robbery case in Los Angeles Superior Court, where he was granted 250000 dollars bail.

He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court after being transferred into federal custody.

The FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are investigating.

A federal criminal complaint contains allegations only, and Taele is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Ex NYC Mayor Eric Adams Gets Roasted by Wisconsin Crowd Over AI Data Center [WATCH]
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Ex NYC Mayor Eric Adams Gets Roasted by Wisconsin Crowd Over AI Data Center [WATCH]

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Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams took his traveling pitchman routine to Wisconsin, and the locals did not exactly roll out the red carpet.

A newly surfaced video shows Adams getting booed, heckled, and shouted down during a Saturday meeting in Wisconsin Rapids, where he attempted to sell residents on a proposed artificial intelligence data center.

The scene was ugly, awkward, and very much on brand for Adams, whose political career after City Hall has become a strange blend of salesmanship, scandal residue, and public confusion.

As Adams introduced himself to the crowd, his name drew a blast of boos from attendees who were clearly not interested in being charmed by the former mayor of America’s most chaotic blue city.

“You belong in prison!” one attendee shouted, a blunt reference to Adams’ federal corruption case, which was controversially dismissed before he left office.

That line seemed to set the tone for the rest of the meeting, where residents treated Adams less like a respected civic figure and more like an unwanted salesman who wandered into the wrong town hall.

Adams was appearing on behalf of PNK Group, an industrial engineering and construction company seeking to build a data center on 209 acres along the Wisconsin River.

The proposed site was once home to a paper mill that closed in 2020, taking about 900 local jobs with it and leaving the community understandably sensitive to big promises from outside interests.

PNK has reportedly said the project could create between 50 and 150 permanent jobs, but the company has not publicly identified who would occupy the building.

For many residents, that did not appear to be enough, especially when the pitch came from Adams, a Democrat whose own tenure in New York was marked by scandals, theatrics, and a talent for making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

“Whether we like it or not, folks, data centers are going to be here,” Adams told the crowd.

That argument landed with all the grace of a campaign speech at a tax revolt, as attendees fired back with anger about water, land use, and why this project should be dropped into their backyard.

“Get out of here! Put it in your backyard!,” one resident spouted off.

“You’re here to steal our water!” another yelled.

“How many bribes did you pay in this town?” yet another shouted.

Adams tried to pivot into a more personal appeal, telling a story about artificial intelligence helping a friend receive a breast cancer diagnosis.

But even that attempt at humanizing the issue failed to quiet the room, with one skeptical attendee asking, “Is this story true?”

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That question was especially brutal given Adams’ long history of odd public tales, including one about a childhood pet rat named “Mickey,” which became part of his famously bizarre political folklore.

Since leaving Gracie Mansion, Adams has managed to keep the headlines coming, becoming an Albanian citizen, appearing in strange Chinese AI videos, and watching close adviser Frank Carone get hit with a corruption indictment of his own.

He has also launched a new life as a business development consultant, pitching products and services ranging from green rebar to fire retardant.

Adams recently bragged to The Real Deal about his portfolio and claimed an 80 percent close rate while helping companies sell everything from cleaning services to health monitoring technology.

That sales record apparently did not impress Wisconsin Rapids, where the former mayor’s big city swagger met small town skepticism and a room full of people who were not buying the glossy tech pitch.

After Hell Gate reported on the chaotic meeting, Adams spokesman Todd Shapiro argued the video did not tell the whole story.

“A short video clip cannot accurately portray an event that lasted much longer,” Shapiro said.

“It omits the many attendees who approached Mayor Adams afterward to thank him, ask questions, and express appreciation for his willingness to engage directly with the community. Reasonable people can have different views on individual projects, but the facts are clear: AI is transforming the global economy, and data centers are the infrastructure that powers it.”

PNK representatives also defended Adams’ role, saying he had been brought in to assist with local outreach.

“We have retained him on a paid consulting basis to advise us on community engagement strategy and best practices,” the reps said.

“His experience is valuable as we work to engage openly and constructively with the communities where we are evaluating future projects.”

The company may see Adams as a seasoned communicator, but the Wisconsin crowd seemed to see something else entirely, a former big city mayor with political baggage trying to sell a massive project they do not trust.

For Adams, it was another reminder that leaving office does not erase the reputation voters remember, especially when the next act involves telling skeptical citizens that a mysterious data center is simply the future coming to town.

Socialist Francesca Hong Flails on CNN Over Resurfaced Cancel Thanksgiving Post [WATCH]
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Socialist Francesca Hong Flails on CNN Over Resurfaced Cancel Thanksgiving Post [WATCH]

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Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Francesca Hong found herself in an uncomfortable national spotlight Monday night after CNN pressed her on an old social media post calling for Americans to cancel Thanksgiving.

Hong, a democratic socialist and the current leader in the Democratic primary race, appeared on “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” as her past comments about one of America’s most cherished holidays resurfaced online.

CNN host Kaitlan Collins did not exactly have to dig deep to find the obvious question.

“Do you still believe that Thanksgiving should be canceled?” Collins asked.

Hong began with a softer answer, leaning on her background in food and hospitality.

“I’m a chef, and one of the first meals that I made that was for the community when I was 16 [years old] was a Thanksgiving meal,” Hong said.

She continued by trying to cast herself as someone who values gathering and conversation.

“I always think my hospitality background in owning a restaurant for seven, eight years, that bringing folks around the table to share conversation and build community is always a good thing.”

That would have been a fine place to stop, but this is progressive politics, where even turkey and stuffing apparently need an ideological struggle session.

Hong then pivoted right back into the familiar left wing critique of the holiday.

“But Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities,” Hong continued.

She tried to smooth out the political damage by suggesting her views had shifted.

“And so I think there, I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are multiple views, but views can evolve.”

Then came the campaign pitch.

“And the position that I’m running for right now, and I think my background as a chef will actually help me become a better governor that’s able to bring more people to the table,” she concluded.

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The problem for Hong is that the resurfaced post was not some vague academic musing.

In November 2020, she wrote, ” Cancel Thanksgiving . Should have done this in 1621,” according to prior reporting.

She added, “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx [sic] and women, so be it,” referring to smallpox and its deadly impact on many indigenous Americans.

The use of “folx” is often treated on the left as a signal of inclusivity toward LGBTQ people and other groups.

For many normal voters, it reads like another reminder that progressive politicians spend far too much time trapped in activist vocabulary workshops.

Hong’s campaign later tried to clean up the mess in a statement to Fox News Digital. “No, she does not want to ‘cancel’ Thanksgiving.”

That denial may be convenient now, but voters are allowed to notice when a politician says one thing online, deletes it, and then suddenly discovers moderation when a camera is rolling.

Conservatives on X wasted little time mocking the answer. “[W]ord salad that would make Kamala [Harris] envious,” Libs of TikTok wrote.

The Thanksgiving controversy is not the only resurfaced social media moment causing headaches for Hong.

In a 2019 post, she described being “on the verge of [an] anxiety attack” while eating at a popular fast food restaurant with her son.

Hong is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and has attracted support from national progressive figures, including Hasan Piker, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California.

She also shares policy ground with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, another socialist darling of the activist class.

That may thrill the online left, but Wisconsin voters may have a few questions before handing over the governor’s office.

The episode gives Republicans an easy opening in a state where cultural issues, kitchen table concerns, and law and order politics remain deeply potent.

If Democrats nominate a socialist who once wanted to cancel Thanksgiving, the campaign ads practically write themselves.

Hong may claim she wants to bring people to the table now.

The trouble is that her own record suggests she once wanted to flip the whole Thanksgiving table over, then lecture everyone about colonialism while the mashed potatoes got cold.

On CNN: Biden COVID Response Coordinator Finally Admits What ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ Knew for Years [WATCH]
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On CNN: Biden COVID Response Coordinator Finally Admits What ‘Conspiracy Theorists’ Knew for Years [WATCH]

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Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as the Biden White House COVID response coordinator, has now said out loud what plenty of Americans were mocked for considering years ago.

In a Sunday interview on CNN, Jha acknowledged that he believes COVID most likely began with a lab leak.

That is quite a turn from the early pandemic script, when media outlets, public health officials, and social media censors treated the lab leak theory like forbidden thought.

Funny how yesterday’s conspiracy theory keeps becoming today’s reluctant admission.

WATCH:

CNN anchor Dana Bash raised Jha’s recent social media activity, including his agreement with a long post from commentator Jamie Metzl arguing that COVID originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Jha did not run from it.

“This is going to surprise some people. You know, when I went into the White House, my view was, ‘This was almost surely a natural outbreak, maybe a lab leak,’” he said.

“Based on information I learned and based on information I‘ve seen, I have come to conclude that it is more likely to have been a lab leak.”

That was not some random internet commentator speaking from a basement.

That was a former senior Biden pandemic official admitting that the evidence shifted him toward the theory many elites worked overtime to bury.

Jha made clear that American officials still do not have full certainty, largely because China has never exactly been famous for transparency.

He added, “I‘m not suggesting I know for sure, but I‘m saying my best assessment is that it probably was a lab leak.”

Bash seemed to recognize the significance of the moment.

“That is definitely news to hear that from you for sure,” she replied.

“And shows that we‘re just, we‘re still learning, which is really important.”

Jha later posted a clip of the exchange on X and tried to clarify his view.

He wrote, “no one in America knows for sure,” while adding, “Based on strong circumstantial evidence I’ve seen, I think lab leak is much more likely.”

He also stressed that he was not claiming the virus was engineered or released on purpose.

His view, as he framed it, is that an accidental lab leak is the most likely explanation based on what he has seen.

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The admission lands years after major media outlets dismissed the lab leak theory as fringe, debunked, or politically motivated.

CNN, MS NOW, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and others spent the early pandemic period treating skepticism about China and Wuhan as if it were a moral failing.

NPR offered one of the cleaner examples of institutional overconfidence.

In April 2020, the taxpayer funded outlet published pieces on consecutive days dismissing the possibility of a lab accident, including one headline that told readers scientists had debunked the idea.

That was never journalism’s finest hour. It was a herd of credentialed hall monitors confusing consensus management with fact finding.

The wider COVID era produced a credibility disaster that still hangs over public health, media, and government.

Americans watched officials demand trust while changing guidance, shutting down debate, and treating ordinary questions as dangerous misinformation.

Social media companies also restricted discussion of some COVID claims under misinformation policies, while the Biden administration later faced a major First Amendment fight over pressure placed on platforms.

Under a settlement, the Office of the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are barred for ten years from threatening or coercing platforms to suppress protected speech.

That part matters because the lab leak debate was never just about science.

It was about who gets to ask questions in America when the political class has already decided what the approved answer must be.

Jon Stewart captured the absurdity during a now famous exchange with Stephen Colbert, mocking the refusal to see the obvious coincidence in Wuhan.

“Oh my God, there’s a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China. What do we do? Oh, you know who we could ask, the Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab. The disease is the same name as the lab! That’s just a little too weird, don’t you think?”

Stewart went on, “Then they ask the scientists, ‘Wait a minute, you work at the Wuhan respiratory coronavirus lab, how did this happen?’ And they’re like, ‘A penguin kissed a turtle?’”

“‘Oh my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolaty goodness near Hershey, Penn. What do you think happened?’ I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean. Or it’s the f**ing chocolate factory! Maybe that’s it!”

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California Democrats Rally Behind Controversial Billionaire Tax as 2026 Ballot Fight Explodes [WATCH]
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California Democrats Rally Behind Controversial Billionaire Tax as 2026 Ballot Fight Explodes [WATCH]

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California Democrats have officially lined up behind a proposed one time wealth tax that would take up to 5 percent from billionaires, giving voters another front row seat to Sacramento’s favorite pastime, chasing money that has not fled the state yet.

The proposal will appear before Californians during the 2026 midterm election, where voters will decide whether the state should slap a special levy on its wealthiest residents.

According to The Sacramento Bee, the California Democratic Party executive board voted Sunday to support the measure.

That backing gives the proposal a major political boost from the party that already dominates the statehouse and rarely meets a tax it does not want to invite over for dinner.

The San Francisco Standard reported that Jane Natoli, a member of the party’s resolutions committee, said the first vote came up just short of the 60 percent threshold needed for ratification. It reportedly earned 59.2 percent support.

Then came a second vote, and this time the measure squeaked through with about 61.7 percent support.

Nothing says overwhelming mandate quite like trying again until the math finally cooperates.

The tight vote exposed a real split among California Democrats.

Even in one of the bluest political machines in America, not everyone is eager to put another warning sign in front of entrepreneurs, investors, and high earners.

The proposal is being promoted by the Billionaire Tax Now coalition, which has pushed the idea as a way to raise revenue from the extremely wealthy.

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Supporters frame it as fairness, while critics see the familiar California formula of spending first, taxing later, and acting shocked when productive people pack up and leave.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California supports the plan. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term limited and cannot run for another term as governor, has said he will vote against it.

Newsom’s opposition is not exactly a conversion to supply side economics.

His complaint is not that the state is targeting wealth, but that the measure directs almost all of the money into one category of state spending.

“But I’m voting no because this measure dedicates almost all of the revenue it raises to a single category of state spending,” he wrote in a June Substack post.

“So here is what I support: A national billionaires’ tax. A true minimum tax on billionaires, a modern Buffett Rule, that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”

In other words, Newsom is not rejecting the tax grab as much as shopping for a bigger one.

If California cannot keep its billionaires in place, the preferred progressive solution is apparently to nationalize the chase.

The debate comes as California continues to face scrutiny over wealth flight and taxpayer migration.

Billions in taxpayer income have already been leaving high tax states, and California remains one of the biggest examples of what happens when politicians treat success like a public utility.

Fox Business has also highlighted concerns that wealthy Californians may be shifting assets, giving away cash, or moving to blunt the impact of the proposed tax.

Altman Brothers Real Estate owner Josh Altman discussed the possibility of figures such as LeBron James facing California’s wealth tax despite moving to Philadelphia during an appearance on “Varney & Co.”

That possibility gets to the heart of the controversy. If the state can reach beyond current residency or punish accumulated wealth after people make life changes, taxpayers may decide it is safer to cut ties earlier and more completely.

California Democrats are betting that resentment politics will sell in 2026.

They know that putting the word billionaire on a ballot measure can make voters forget how often taxes aimed at the rich eventually ripple through jobs, investment, housing, and small businesses.

For conservatives, the lesson is familiar.

The left starts with a narrow target, wraps it in moral language, and insists only a tiny group will feel the hit.

Then the money is spent, the promises grow, the economy reacts, and Sacramento comes back asking for more.

California voters will now decide whether they want to reward that cycle again or send the tax collectors back to the drawing board.

Teen Says Xavier Becerra Migrant Machine Led to Sexual Abuse and Slave Labor [WATCH]
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Teen Says Xavier Becerra Migrant Machine Led to Sexual Abuse and Slave Labor [WATCH]

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A new video released Monday is putting former Biden Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra back under a very ugly spotlight, this time through the testimony of a young migrant woman who says the child migrant system he oversaw delivered her into abuse.

The testimony comes from Juana Rebecca Pérez Santay, who says she was only 17 when she crossed the southern border in May 2021 and entered the federal system for unaccompanied minors.

Becerra, now running against Republican Steve Hilton in the California governor race, has previously bragged about the operation and described the flow of minors through the system as an “assembly line.”

That description looks even colder in light of Santay’s account, which alleges that the very system meant to protect children instead pushed her into the hands of dangerous people.

Santay said plainly, “Xavier Becerra failed to protect us. He failed me because he didn’t protect me.”

According to her testimony, she was placed with a supposedly vetted sponsor through the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the HHS program responsible for handling unaccompanied migrant minors.

Santay, who speaks Spanish, said a social worker accompanied her onto a resettlement flight, but then abandoned her at the airport instead of making sure she safely reached the sponsor.

She said she called the number she had been given and was picked up by three men, who took her to a house where her situation quickly turned into a nightmare.

Santay said the woman running the house told her she would be working 20 hours a week making food, but the reality was far worse.

She said she was forced to work seven days a week, nearly around the clock, while being forbidden to touch the food she was preparing.

According to Santay, she was deprived of water and threatened with deportation if she dared to complain, which is exactly the kind of abuse government vetting is supposed to prevent.

“I have been sexually abused. I slept on a ceramic floor, in a room with four men who were sleeping there,” Santay said.

She also described a terrifying incident involving a drunken man who came into the house, focused on her, and attempted to sleep beside her.

Santay said the woman sponsor told her to allow it because, “he’s a drunk and he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Santay’s full conclusion was devastating.

“Xavier Becerra failed me because he never cared about my safety. I ended up in the hands of child traffickers, and I was almost raped. They kept me like a slave; they didn’t let me talk to my family. If he were to become governor of California, it would be horrible, because I would not want what happened to me to happen to other children.”

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Hilton has been releasing testimony from whistleblowers and alleged victims tied to the ORR program, arguing that Becerra’s policies weakened protections and helped fuel exploitation under the respectable sounding banner of refugee resettlement.

WATCH:

One public summary of the new testimony stated, “I was sexually abused because of Xavier Becerra.”

Another line from the testimony cut through the bureaucratic fog: “They kept me like a slave. Becerra failed to protect me.”

The allegations fit into a broader conservative concern that the Biden administration treated the border crisis like a political management problem instead of a human catastrophe.

While Democrats wrapped themselves in compassion talk, real children were allegedly moved through federal channels with astonishing speed and then handed over to people who should never have been trusted with them.

That is the part Washington would rather bury under paperwork, acronyms, and the usual polished excuses from the administrative class.

But a teenage girl sleeping on a ceramic floor in a room with men is not a paperwork issue.

It is a moral failure, and if Santay’s account is accurate, it happened under the leadership of a man now asking Californians to give him even more power.

The House may be focused on removing sexual predators from its own ranks, which is a worthy mission, but accountability cannot stop at Capitol Hill.

Anyone who built or supervised a system that allegedly allowed trafficking, forced labor, and sexual abuse of minors should face hard questions before being rewarded with higher office.

Becerra wants voters to trust him with the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.

Before California even thinks about handing him the keys, voters deserve real answers about the children who passed through his “assembly line” and the ones who say they were broken by it.

Mamdani’s Socialist Grocery Scheme Demands ID Before New Yorkers Can Buy Dinner [WATCH]
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Mamdani’s Socialist Grocery Scheme Demands ID Before New Yorkers Can Buy Dinner [WATCH]

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If New Yorkers want to buy food from one of Zohran Mamdani’s proposed government run supermarkets, they may have to bring something the left suddenly finds very useful, identification.

That is the delicious little twist in Mamdani’s big socialist grocery pitch.

The same political crowd that treats voter ID like a civil rights catastrophe now seems perfectly comfortable asking people to prove who they are before buying subsidized dinner.

“So, our RFP [Request for Proposals] makes very clear that this is a program for New Yorkers to be able to put food on the table, not a program for people to be able to make a quick buck through reselling,” explains Mamdani.

“I’m going [to] pass it over to our EDC head, Jeanny Pak, to add some additional details.”

Pak, the Interim President & CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, then filled in the blanks.

“Yes, if you look at our RFP for the operator, we are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be [through] a sort of a library card esque [system], and also, we manage who’s buying and that it’s focused on everyday New Yorkers,” Pak said.

“So, we are mindful of that, and we’re going to make sure that we have all the things in place to ensure that that does not happen.”

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A library is a government institution.

A library card esque system is, in plain English, a government identification system.

That is what happens every single time left wing theory gets dragged out of the faculty lounge and forced to operate in the real world.

The slogans melt, the moral preening fades, and suddenly even the socialists discover that verification matters.

Mamdani wants government involved in the means of feeding people, which is not exactly a subtle political move.

Food is the perfect opening act for a socialist experiment because everyone needs it, everyone wants it cheaper, and nobody wants families going hungry.

The problem, as always, is reality. If a city run store sells groceries 30 percent below retail, ordinary families will go there, because people are not stupid and grocery bills are brutal.

That means privately owned grocery stores, many of which operate on razor thin margins, get crushed.

These are not cartoon villains sitting on piles of gold, they are local businesses trying to survive rent, payroll, crime, inflation, regulation, and the endless brilliant ideas coming out of City Hall.

Once the private stores close, the government stores expand.

Then more private stores close, then more government stores appear, and eventually the same political class that could not manage a pothole becomes the gatekeeper of your pantry.

That is not charity.

That is control wrapped in a sale sticker.

Then comes the obvious question. If groceries are being sold at a steep discount, what stops people from buying up the goods and reselling them elsewhere for a profit?

Apparently, the answer is identification. Imagine that.

When fraud threatens a leftist food scheme, proof of identity suddenly becomes common sense instead of oppression.

Mamdani’s team knows exactly what every normal voter already knows.

Systems without verification invite abuse, and people looking for a loophole will find one faster than a city bureaucrat can schedule a listening session.

Now compare that with the left’s usual sermon on voter ID.

Democrats constantly claim that voting is a sacred right, so asking for identification is somehow cruel, burdensome, or sinister.

But eating is rather important too. If identification is acceptable before someone buys subsidized food, it is more than acceptable before someone helps decide who runs the government.

They also tell Americans that poor people cannot get identification.

Yet Mamdani’s proposed program is aimed at New Yorkers who need cheaper groceries, including poor and working class residents who are being squeezed by the very policies Democrats keep selling as compassion.

They say voter ID is racist.

By that logic, a government ID requirement for food would also be racist, unless the rule only becomes bigotry when it interferes with Democrat election strategy.

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The real lesson here is not complicated.

Mamdani and his allies understand that ID protects programs from fraud, abuse, and exploitation.

They simply object when that same protection is applied to elections.

Funny how the moral crisis disappears the moment the fraud might damage a socialist project instead of helping the Democrat machine.

For conservatives, this is a perfect little snapshot of the modern left.

They want control over food, control over business, control over access, and control over the rules, all while lecturing everyone else about freedom and fairness.

Mamdani’s grocery scheme is not just about cheaper food.

It is about the government gaining another lever over daily life, and requiring ID at the checkout counter proves the left knows exactly why verification matters.

Donna Brazile Warns Democrats Their Socialist Wave Could Wreck the Party [WATCH]
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Donna Brazile Warns Democrats Their Socialist Wave Could Wreck the Party [WATCH]

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Donna Brazile delivered a blunt warning to Democrats on Sunday, telling her party on ABC’s “This Week” that it had better figure out what it is before the socialist wing defines it for them.

The longtime Democratic operative, who has seen more party brawls than most cable news panels can remember, acknowledged what many in Washington already know. The left flank is not just making noise anymore, it is winning races and scaring the establishment.

George Stephanopoulos pressed Brazile about the Democratic Socialists of America and the rise of insurgent candidates in House primaries.

He also pointed to Abdul El Sayed in Michigan, noting that he is not formally a socialist but comes from the progressive wing.

Brazile tried to draw a line between the Democratic Party and the DSA, which is becoming a harder sell by the week as the party’s activist base keeps sprinting left.

“Well, first of all, George, when you look at the DSA, which is not the Democratic Party, so I had to go online to figure it out. They ran 29 candidates. They’ve lost 11. They’ve won seven. And there’s still an opportunity for them if they play their cards right, maybe to pick up three or four more seats.”

That is not exactly the kind of math that soothes nervous Democrats heading into a general election.

Seven wins by socialist aligned candidates is enough to make party consultants start pretending they always cared deeply about moderation.

Then Brazile said the quiet part out loud.

“The problem right now, George, is that the Democratic Party must define itself and make sure that we don’t get caught in this socialist wave, which is, you know, popping up here, there and everywhere.”

For Republicans, that line practically writes the campaign ads.

Democrats can call it populism, progressivism, or whatever new branding exercise their consultants cook up, but voters keep seeing a party increasingly comfortable with open borders, massive government spending, anti police rhetoric, and class warfare.

Brazile pointed to Michigan as a major test for the party and the national electorate.

“But I think Michigan is going to tell us a lot about this current electorate. We know they’re angry, they want change. And both candidates are trying not to allow the labels to define them.”

That anger is real, but Democrats are clearly wrestling over who gets to harness it.

The old guard wants to channel frustration into safe campaign slogans, while the activist left wants to remake the party into a full blown government control machine with better graphics.

Brazile noted that candidates are now running away from traditional ideological labels and reaching for the magic word of the moment.

“Miss Stevens said I’m not a moderate, I’m a populist. Mr. Abdul said I’m not a progressive, I’m a populist. They want to capture this anger and they want to see if they can ride it to the polls.”

That tells voters plenty. When every Democrat suddenly discovers populism, it usually means someone tested the word in a focus group and found it sounded less toxic than socialism.

Stephanopoulos then raised the concern among establishment Democrats that El Sayed might struggle to win in November.

Brazile responded with a dose of political reality that Democrats cannot spin away with another round of activist applause.

“Well, that young man at the end said, well, Trump won. It’s going to be difficult. He will have to unite the party.

He’s going to have to bring the establishment wing back on board to his side. And he’s going to have to, I think, do a better job of messaging for the fall in order to win swing voters. Michigan is a purple state. It’s going to be tough.”

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That is the heart of the problem for Democrats.

Their primary voters keep rewarding candidates who speak to the party’s leftward fever, but general election voters in places like Michigan are not always eager to sign up for the revolution.

Brazile’s warning is notable because she is not some Republican strategist gleefully pointing at the wreckage.

She is a seasoned Democrat telling her own party that the socialist label is becoming a real danger, especially in competitive states where working families may want better wages and safer communities, not lectures from radicals.

The irony is rich. For years, Democrats insisted conservatives were exaggerating when they warned about socialism gaining ground inside the party.

Now Donna Brazile is on national television telling Democrats not to get swallowed by the very wave they said did not exist.

If Democrats cannot define themselves, Republicans will be more than happy to do it for them.

And with the socialist wing “popping up here, there and everywhere,” as Brazile put it, that definition may not require much creativity at all.


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