Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass officially secured a spot in November&#8217;s runoff election, while reality television star Spencer Pratt and far-Left Councilmember Nithya Raman continued battling for the second slot.
With roughly 63% of the vote counted as of Wednesday morning, Bass led the field with 34.8% support, according to Associated Press results. Pratt was running second with 30.4%, while Raman trailed in third at 22.3%.
The Associated Press projected Bass would advance to the runoff. As of Wednesday morning, however, the race between Pratt and Raman had not yet been called.
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Pratt, however, was already talking like the runoff matchup had been set: Spencer Pratt versus Karen Bass.
&#8220;She knows it&#8217;s on. I hope she&#8217;s ready,&#8221; Pratt said Tuesday night when asked about a potential runoff against the incumbent mayor. &#8220;I literally could not be more excited.&#8221;
A few months ago, Pratt was viewed as a long-shot candidate. Now he appears within striking distance of becoming Bass&#8217; challenger in November.
&#8220;I was going to be happy if I wasn&#8217;t moving forward, but now I feel very confident,&#8221; he said.
The reality television star turned political outsider has built his campaign around voter frustration with homelessness, crime, and Bass&#8217; handling of the wildfire disaster that destroyed thousands of homes. Pratt lost both his own home and his childhood home in the fire.
And while election officials were still counting ballots, Pratt was already talking about what comes next.
&#8220;We have five months to put the best team the city could ever dream of,&#8221; he said.
Pratt argued that voters have rallied behind his campaign because they are tired of politicians and want someone willing to tell them the truth.
&#8220;At the end of the day, what&#8217;s been resonating is that people just want the truth and they want to know somebody&#8217;s heart,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I try to be as true to my authentic self and I just believe a lot of Los Angeles is so excited to hear from a non-politician.&#8221;
Pratt said voters are looking for a fighter.
&#8220;They want somebody to speak the truth for their communities and fight for them,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They want a fighter that&#8217;s going to step up when the city fails them or their elected leaders fail them and I&#8217;m ready to be that person for Los Angeles.&#8221;
He also couldn&#8217;t resist taking a shot at Raman, who spent much of the campaign fighting him for second place.
&#8220;The communist already lost,&#8221; Pratt said.
Thousands of ballots remain uncounted, and election officials will continue processing votes in the coming days.
If the current results hold, Los Angeles could be headed toward one of the most unexpected mayoral runoffs in recent memory: Karen Bass versus Spencer Pratt.
Pratt made it clear he&#8217;s ready for that possibility.
&#8220;We can do debates every Friday if she&#8217;d like,&#8221; he said. &#8220;As many debates as Mayor Bass would like.&#8221;

karen_spencer_nithya

One Candidate Advances In Heated L.A. Mayor’s Race — Second Spot Still Up For Grabs

California

Election

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

Spencer Pratt

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
The moment you get pregnant, it&#8217;s as if your family, your friends, and even complete strangers are issued a license to offer unsolicited opinions about your body, your eating habits, your birth plan, and occasionally your entire future.
As I write this, I&#8217;m less than a month away from giving birth to our son — or, as I prefer to call it, serving him with his official eviction notice. I&#8217;ve always been jealous of those women who say they love being pregnant. That is not me.
What I do love, though, is motherhood. It&#8217;s been by far the best chapter of my life. I&#8217;m obsessed with being a mom, and it&#8217;s made me a better person in more ways than I can count. If having children didn&#8217;t require pregnancy, I&#8217;d probably have 20 of them. It&#8217;s the cooking process that&#8217;s a horror show for me.
From the moment I get pregnant, my body seems to launch a full-scale rebellion. I swell up. Think of Violet Beauregarde from &#8220;Willy Wonka.&#8221; That&#8217;s me. I spend nine months counting down the days until I can comfortably tie my own shoes again.
Part of the reason pregnancy is such a sensitive subject for me is that my first experience was emotionally and physically traumatic. Around the 20-week mark, my husband and I were told our daughter was measuring small and might not be getting enough nutrition. Thankfully, she arrived perfectly healthy. She&#8217;s still petite and still not a big eater, which turns out is just who she is.
As difficult as that pregnancy was mentally and physically, it paled in comparison to the fear. For half my pregnancy, I lived with the possibility that something might be wrong with my baby, and there was nothing I could do except wait. Everything hurt, but the uncertainty hurt the most.
By the time it was over, I was convinced I never wanted to do it again. Thankfully, God had other plans. And my daughter can&#8217;t wait to have a built-in best friend.
What I wasn&#8217;t prepared for the second time around was how many people would treat my pregnancy like a public discussion forum. So before you approach a pregnant woman with an observation, a prediction, a warning, or a &#8220;helpful&#8221; piece of advice, allow me to offer a few examples of what not to say.
1. &#8220;Are you going to breastfeed?&#8221;
I have never understood why complete strangers feel entitled to ask pregnant women about their future feeding plans. Imagine walking up to someone and asking detailed questions about their breasts. Weird, right? Yet somehow, the moment a woman gets pregnant, all social norms go out the window and everyone suddenly becomes a lactation consultant.
The truth is that breastfeeding can be an incredibly personal and emotional topic. Some women breastfeed for years. Some can&#8217;t breastfeed despite desperately wanting to. Some choose not to. Some supplement with formula. And some spend weeks crying in the middle of the night feeling like a failure because breastfeeding isn&#8217;t going the way they hoped.
Before my daughter was born, I thought breastfeeding would come naturally. It didn&#8217;t. Because she was so small, she was losing weight, and I wasn&#8217;t producing enough milk to keep up with her needs. I ended up supplementing with formula during a nationwide formula shortage. (Living through that is a story for another day.)
Like so many parts of motherhood, feeding your baby comes with a learning curve, frustration, guilt, and plenty of moments when you wonder if you&#8217;re doing enough. A pregnant woman doesn&#8217;t owe anyone an explanation for how she plans to feed her baby. If she wants to talk about it, she will. If not, trust me, there are plenty of other topics to discuss.
2. &#8220;Sleep while you can.&#8221; 
 
This one always makes me laugh because by the third trimester, sleep is already a distant memory. I haven&#8217;t slept well in months. Between the constant trips to the bathroom, the inability to get comfortable, the back pain, and a tiny human using my ribs as a jungle gym at 2 a.m., I can assure you that I&#8217;m not exactly banking extra sleep hours before the baby arrives.
Whenever someone tells me to &#8220;sleep while you can,&#8221; I&#8217;m always tempted to ask if they have any suggestions on how, exactly, I&#8217;m supposed to accomplish that.
The truth is that newborn exhaustion is real. I know I&#8217;ll probably feel like I&#8217;ve been hit with a serious case of jet lag for a while. But at least when the baby arrives, I&#8217;ll finally get to meet the tiny roommate who&#8217;s been keeping me awake all night. And somehow that makes it feel worth it.
3. &#8220;You&#8217;ve gained a lot of weight!&#8221;
I&#8217;m on the shorter side and usually weigh around 100 pounds. So when I go from 100 pounds to nearly 200 pounds during pregnancy, my appearance changes. Dramatically.
One day, while I was eight months pregnant, I was on FaceTime with a close family member. We weren&#8217;t discussing pregnancy, weight gain, or anything remotely related to my appearance when she suddenly stopped and pointed out the obvious.
&#8220;You don&#8217;t even look like yourself,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Your face is huge — you have a double chin — you&#8217;re usually a stick. I just don&#8217;t get it.&#8221;
Then came the follow-up.
&#8220;Maybe you&#8217;re just holding the camera too close to your face.&#8221;
Sadly, I wasn&#8217;t. If anything, the camera was farther away than normal because I was trying to fit my entire face into the frame.
As if that wasn&#8217;t enough, a few months earlier my husband committed his own pregnancy-related offense.
Before I tell this story, I need to defend him: My husband is one of the kindest people I know. He&#8217;s also the type of person who occasionally sticks his foot in his mouth.
During this pregnancy, I started a new remote job. A few months in, my boss wanted the new employees to get together for a team bonding trip. For most people, this probably sounds fun. For me, it was my worst nightmare.
I love clothes. I love dressing up. And suddenly I had nothing professional that fit me. I was already feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, and now I was about to meet all of my coworkers for the first time while six months pregnant and feeling approximately the size of a small parade float.
For days, it was all I talked about. I worried about what I was going to wear. I worried about how I looked. I worried about making a first impression while feeling physically miserable. At one point, I realized the only clothes I could fit into were my husband&#8217;s. I told him I was going to have to raid his closet because baby boy had made me too big to fit into any of my own clothes.
Trying to be helpful, he reminded me that I wasn&#8217;t just gaining weight because I was growing a human.
&#8220;I think the strawberry milkshakes from McDonald&#8217;s are playing a role too,&#8221; he said.
Now, to be fair, I had developed a slight addiction to McDonald&#8217;s strawberry milkshakes. So he wasn&#8217;t wrong.
But there are moments in life when being correct is not the goal. This was one of those moments.
To his credit, my husband spends the other 99% of his time making me feel beautiful, especially when I feel my worst. He simply learned the hard way that when a pregnant woman is venting about her appearance, she is not looking for a detailed breakdown of her eating habits.
And that&#8217;s really the point of both stories. If a pregnant woman has gained weight, trust me, she knows.
4.&#8221;Just wait&#8230;&#8221; 
If you&#8217;ve ever been pregnant, you know exactly what I&#8217;m talking about. No matter what you&#8217;re experiencing, someone always has a &#8220;just wait&#8221; ready to go.
Tired?
&#8220;Just wait until the baby gets here.&#8221;
Feeling overwhelmed?
&#8220;Just wait until they&#8217;re crawling.&#8221;
Then it&#8217;s walking.
Then it&#8217;s potty training.
Then it&#8217;s school.
Then it&#8217;s teenagers.
Then, somehow, it&#8217;s grandchildren.
It&#8217;s as if pregnancy and motherhood are one giant game of people trying to convince you that your current stage isn&#8217;t actually difficult because something harder is always coming.
The problem is that these comments almost always come from a good place. Most people aren&#8217;t trying to be negative. They&#8217;re trying to relate. They&#8217;re trying to share their own experiences.
But when you&#8217;re pregnant, especially for the first time, it can feel like nobody is allowing you to enjoy the stage you&#8217;re in.
Not every moment of pregnancy is magical. Trust me, I&#8217;ve spent enough time swollen, uncomfortable, and unable to tie my shoes to know that. But not every moment has to be overshadowed by what&#8217;s coming next, either.
Instead of saying &#8220;just wait,&#8221; try saying, &#8220;You&#8217;re going to love being a mom.&#8221;
After all the swelling, anxiety, weight gain, sleepless nights, the comments on this list, that&#8217;s the part that matters most. Honestly, I can&#8217;t wait. Every minute with my daughter has somehow been better than the last. The lack of sleep, the endless messes, the tantrums, the worries — it&#8217;s all been worth every second.
5. &#8220;Because she&#8217;s fat.&#8221; 
 
This one is by far my favorite because it came from my innocent daughter, who was three years old at the time and therefore legally exempt from having a filter. As every parent knows, toddlers have a unique gift for saying exactly what they&#8217;re thinking with zero regard for timing, context, or social consequences.
It was the week of Valentine&#8217;s Day, and I was driving around town (probably headed to McDonald&#8217;s for a strawberry milkshake, if we&#8217;re being honest) while happily working my way through the Valentine&#8217;s Day candy my husband had bought me.
My younger sister called, and because the phone was connected to the car, the conversation was on speaker.
&#8220;It sounds like you&#8217;re eating,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;I am,&#8221; I replied. &#8220;I&#8217;m eating the Valentine&#8217;s Day candy Hunter got me.&#8221;
Without missing a beat, a tiny voice chimed in from the backseat.
&#8220;Because she&#8217;s fat!&#8221;
Silence.
Now, in fairness to Rayne, watching her mom transform into a swollen, waddling version of herself over the course of several months was probably a little confusing. Thankfully, my sister jumped in immediately.
&#8220;Rayne! She&#8217;s pregnant! Tell your mom she&#8217;s beautiful.&#8221;
There was a brief pause. Then came the response I&#8217;ll never forget.
&#8220;Mom, you&#8217;re beautiful — and fat.&#8221;
Honestly, I don&#8217;t know whether to laugh or cry every time I think about it.
Of course, it turned into a teachable moment about how we don&#8217;t ever use the word &#8220;fat.&#8221; But it was so innocent. She wasn&#8217;t trying to hurt my feelings. She was simply making an observation in the brutally honest way only a three-year-old can.
And that&#8217;s why it remains one of my favorite pregnancy stories and one of my favorite examples of what not to say to a pregnant woman.
So if someone you know is pregnant, here&#8217;s my advice: Tell her she looks beautiful, ask how she&#8217;s feeling, and then immediately stop talking. It&#8217;s a strategy that&#8217;s worked surprisingly well for my husband ever since he survived the Great McDonald&#8217;s Strawberry Milkshake Incident of 2026.

what not to say to pregnant women

Five Things You Should Never Say To A Pregnant Woman

Pregnancy

Upstream

The next time a Target employee enthusiastically asks whether you need help finding something, don&#8217;t be flattered. It might be homework.
The retail giant is testing a new employee grading system that could evaluate workers on everything from reliability and teamwork to something much harder to measure: whether they&#8217;re friendly enough while helping you find toothpaste.
In other words, your local Target employee may soon be getting a performance review because they didn&#8217;t look excited enough to tell you where the paper towels are.
According to reports, managers will assess workers on customer interactions, including how consistently they greet shoppers, make eye contact, offer assistance, and generally project the kind of cheerful energy usually associated with Disney cast members and golden retrievers.
The effort is part of a larger push by Target to improve the in-store shopping experience as the company tries to reverse sluggish sales and lure customers back into stores.
Target CEO Michael Fiddelke has made customer experience a major priority, arguing that a better shopping experience starts with friendlier employees.
That&#8217;s where things get interesting.
Because most shoppers probably agree that customer service has gotten worse over the years.
We&#8217;ve all experienced it. The cashier who acts offended that you interrupted their conversation. The employee who disappears the second you need help. The customer service desk that somehow has nobody working at it despite there being six people waiting in line.
There is a reason people still talk about Chick-fil-A employees like they&#8217;re members of some elite hospitality unit.
People appreciate good service.
The question is whether you can force it.
Target&#8217;s new approach builds on the company&#8217;s existing &#8220;10-4&#8221; rule, which encourages workers to acknowledge customers within 10 feet and offer assistance when shoppers come within four feet.
The company has already trained more than 300,000 employees through a new guest experience program and says stores receiving additional staffing support have reported higher customer satisfaction scores.
But critics immediately spotted a potential problem. Nobody likes being graded on vibes. Especially not retail workers who are already dealing with long shifts, staffing shortages, difficult customers, and the occasional person trying to return a Christmas tree in March.
The idea that an employee&#8217;s performance score could depend in part on whether management thinks they smiled enough has sparked predictable backlash online.
Some worry that friendliness is becoming another impossible-to-measure corporate metric.
Others are asking an obvious question. If a store is understaffed, shelves are empty, and checkout lines stretch halfway to electronics, is a bigger smile really the solution?
Retail analyst Neil Saunders raised a similar concern, warning that Target needs to make sure any grading system is transparent and fair. He also noted that friendliness alone won&#8217;t fix inventory issues, staffing problems, or long waits.
Most customers don&#8217;t walk out of Target furious because nobody smiled at them. They walk out furious because they spent 20 minutes looking for an employee who could unlock a cabinet containing a $12 bottle of shampoo.
Still, Target appears convinced that better customer interactions can help separate physical stores from online shopping.
After all, Amazon can deliver paper towels. Amazon cannot pretend to be excited that you&#8217;re buying decorative pumpkins in July.
At least not yet.
The bigger question is whether Target employees are about to become retail workers or aspiring theater kids.
Because if your annual review depends on enthusiasm, some people may soon find themselves performing for an audience of one: the mom looking for the Hearth &amp; Hand section.

Why Your Next Trip To Target May Be A Test

Retail

Target

Who&#8217;s the boss here?
If Jill Biden&#8217;s new memoir is to be believed, Kamala Harris wasn&#8217;t exactly interested in waiting for Joe Biden to figure that out.
A newly released excerpt from the former first lady&#8217;s upcoming book, &#8220;View from the East Wing,&#8221; reveals what Jill Biden says happened behind closed doors on the day former President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. And let&#8217;s just say she doesn&#8217;t make Harris look particularly patient.
According to Jill Biden, Harris was shocked when the former president informed her on July 21, 2024, that he was dropping out of the race.
“Oh my God, Joe. Are you sure?” Harris reportedly asked.
Reasonable question.
What came next is what has people talking.
According to the memoir, Biden suggested waiting until the following morning before formally endorsing Harris as his replacement. Harris allegedly had other ideas.
“I want it sooner,” she reportedly replied.
Biden then told Harris he would call her back after he had time to sort things out.
That still wasn&#8217;t fast enough.
“Could you do it soon? Say, in 20 minutes?” Harris allegedly pressed.
At that point, according to Jill Biden, she walked out of the room.
The story is already fueling fresh speculation about the relationship between Harris and the Biden family, which was never exactly warm and fuzzy to begin with.
Long before Harris became vice president, she made headlines during the 2019 Democratic primary by attacking Biden over his past positions on school busing. The exchange became one of the defining moments of the campaign and reportedly left a lasting impression on the Biden family.
Jill Biden certainly didn&#8217;t forget it.
After the debate, she publicly defended her husband and later reportedly questioned why Harris needed to be chosen as his running mate in the first place.
Now, nearly two years after Democrats were forced into a historic last-minute candidate swap, Jill Biden is offering her version of how the handoff unfolded.
And her version reads less like a smooth transition and more like a vice president who saw an opening and wanted the paperwork signed immediately.
The timing of the memoir is also noteworthy.
Jill Biden has spent the past week defending another controversial claim from the book tour, saying she believed her husband might have been suffering a stroke during his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
That explanation generated immediate backlash because neither Jill Biden nor anyone else appeared to treat the moment like a medical emergency. Instead, Biden continued campaigning, attended public events, and even appeared at a rally afterward while Democrats insisted he had merely suffered through a bad debate night.
Now Jill Biden is reopening another chapter of the 2024 campaign collapse.
This one comes with a simple question.
When Joe Biden&#8217;s presidency was ending, was Kamala Harris waiting for permission?
Or was she already asking how quickly she could take over?

What Kamala Asked For Just Minutes After Joe Quit, According To Jill

Democrats

Jill Biden

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Spencer Pratt is showing receipts after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass repeatedly dismissed him as a “former reality TV star.”
Pratt fired back by posting a decades-old Los Angeles Times article that referenced Bass traveling to Cuba in the 1970s with the Venceremos Brigade, a communist-linked activist group that intelligence documents accused of teaching “terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare.”
“When I was in my 20s I was on a TV show,” Pratt wrote on X. “When Karen Bass was in her 20s, she was training in terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare with communists in Cuba. Back when the L.A. Times was still in L.A., and used to tell the truth…”
The resurfaced Los Angeles Times article from 1983 stated Bass traveled to Cuba with the “6th Contingent of the Venceremos Brigade.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
When I was in my 20’s I was on a TV show. When Karen Bass was in her 20’s, she was training in terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare with communists in Cuba. Back when the LA Times was still in LA, and used to tell the truth… <a href="https://t.co/ISrTcfVRv9">pic.twitter.com/ISrTcfVRv9</a>
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) <a href="https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2059832576739869072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to the report, a 1973 intelligence document described the brigade as a group that “trains revolutionary-prone Americans in terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare while claiming to harvest sugar cane.”
The article also stated Bass, who was described as a brigade leader, “returned from Cuba to the U.S.A. bringing back propaganda literature,” though the report noted the document did not cite the source of that information.
Bass denied wrongdoing at the time and reportedly said her trips to Cuba were educational and “had nothing to do with terrorism.”
Pratt’s post quickly spread across social media, especially in conservative circles where critics accused Bass and her allies of trying to reduce Pratt to a punchline while treating Bass’ own political history with far more caution.
Pratt’s attacks on Bass have escalated since California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom endorsed her. During an appearance on Fox News’ “Saturday in America,” Pratt accused Bass and Newsom of failing Californians while billions were spent on homelessness programs.
“It’s not shocking because they’re alleged criminal partners,” Pratt said. “They’re both complicit in laundering $24 billion to actually increase homelessness.”
Pratt also argued that Los Angeles residents can clearly see conditions worsening despite years of spending and promises from state leaders.
“Anybody with eyeballs in the state of California or Los Angeles knows that there has not been a reduction in one homeless person,” Pratt said. “Actually there’s been an increase of naked drug addict zombies in front of every kid’s playground, every kid’s school, every coffee shop.”
The exchange marks the latest escalation in the increasingly personal political fight between Bass and Pratt as the Los Angeles mayoral race continues heating up.

Spencer Pratt Torches Karen Bass With ‘Reality TV Star Vs. Terrorist’ Takedown

Somewhere, a guy wearing a tinfoil hat is having a really tough night.
Anyone who rushed to Aliens.gov on Thursday expecting UFO disclosure was in for a rude awakening. Because the website has nothing to do with extraterrestrials, but rather, illegal immigrants.
The website — which looks like something a guy named Randy would show you at 2 a.m. while explaining what really happened at Area 51 — opens with neon text on a poorly designed background proclaiming &#8220;They Walk Among Us.&#8221; Only &#8220;they&#8221; are not little green men, but the countless illegal immigrants who have entered the United States through the southern border.
&#8220;They&#8217;ve shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences,&#8221; the site reads. &#8220;With one exception — they do not belong here.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Everyone go to Aliens.gov right now. Just trust us." width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rb73gUZi7vM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;President Trump was the first to call out the real danger Aliens pose to every American family, every community, and the future of our nation,&#8221; it continues. &#8220;The truth is no longer out there. It is right here. Right now.&#8221;
The site contains an interactive map showing immigration arrests around the country, where visitors can search by city, state, alleged crimes, countries of origin, and suspected gang affiliations. The site also includes encounter statistics, enforcement information, and a tip line for reporting suspicious activity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
They walk among us. <a href="https://t.co/7HysdUuNVM">https://t.co/7HysdUuNVM</a> <a href="https://t.co/PkUHcT7igg">pic.twitter.com/PkUHcT7igg</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2060127126611718214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A running counter of &#8220;encounters&#8221; at the bottom of the site tracks in real time how many illegals have been apprehended at the southern border.
Perhaps the Fox Mulders of the world are disappointed that this site doesn&#8217;t reveal all the secrets of Area 51. But this is just the latest social media coup from a White House that has repeatedly proven it has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/everyone-go-to-covid-gov-right-now-just-trust-us">no problem using memes</a> and viral content to get its serious policy points across to the American people.

2026-05-28-152237_002

Everyone Go To Aliens.Gov Right Now. Just Trust Us.

Aliens

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigation

Immigration

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was reportedly diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after her departure from the Department of Justice earlier this year.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/27/pam-bondi-white-house-ai">reported</a> that Bondi, 60, has already undergone treatment and is now recovering. Few details about the diagnosis or treatment have been publicly released and Bondi has not personally commented on the reports surrounding her health.
The revelation stunned many in Washington and conservative media circles, especially as the former attorney general has remained closely tied to President Donald Trump following her DOJ exit. Trump is reportedly planning to tap Bondi for a new artificial intelligence advisory role inside the administration.
After the news broke, social media quickly filled with prayers and messages of support from Trump allies, conservative commentators, and longtime supporters.
Former White House official Katie Miller wrote on X that Bondi had been “quietly kicking cancer’s ass the last few weeks,” while praising her personally.
Bondi became one of the most recognizable faces inside Trump’s Justice Department and remained a fierce public defender of the administration throughout her time in office.
Following her removal last month, she vowed to continue fighting for Trump and his agenda.
Before joining the Trump administration, Bondi served as Florida attorney general and built a national profile as a tough-on-crime prosecutor and outspoken conservative legal figure.
She later became one of Trump’s most visible defenders during several major legal and political battles tied to the White House.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, most thyroid cancers are considered highly treatable when caught early, with survival rates remaining extremely high for many patients.
Bondi is not the only major figure in Trump’s orbit currently battling cancer, as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles continues undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

President Trump Swears In DHS Secretary Mullin

Pam Bondi’s Private Health Struggle After DOJ Exit

Cancer

Department of Justice

Pam Bondi

Trump Administration

The heroic Army veteran at the center of a nasty controversy involving Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner is now speaking out, and he says the Democrats still backing Platner owe his children an explanation.
According to the New York Post, Purple Heart recipient Ted Daniels blasted top Democrats for continuing to support Platner after resurfaced Reddit comments showed the candidate mocking Daniels and saying he “didn’t deserve to live” following a brutal firefight in Afghanistan.
The controversy around Platner has only intensified after online critics also resurfaced images allegedly showing the Democrat with a Nazi-linked tattoo, fueling even more backlash surrounding the campaign.
Daniels, whose helmet-cam footage from a 2012 Taliban ambush went massively viral years ago, told the Post he doesn’t even want an apology from Platner anymore because it wouldn’t feel genuine.
Instead, he said he wants liberal lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and Hakeem Jeffries to explain to his kids why they are backing a candidate who mocked the possibility of their father being killed in combat.
Daniels went viral years ago after helmet-cam footage showed him sprinting into open fire during a Taliban ambush while bullets ripped around him.
<div id="attachment_1101357" style="width: 804px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101357" class="wp-image-1101357 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-794x576.webp" alt="" width="794" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-794x576.webp 794w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-300x218.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-768x557.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886.webp 1434w" sizes=" (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px" />FUNKER530 / YouTube</div>
His team survived the onslaught, but not before Daniels, who drew the enemy fire away from his squad, was hit four times. He earned a Purple Heart for his actions.
Years later, Platner, now the presumptive Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, allegedly mocked Daniels on a burner Reddit account, calling him a “dumb motherf*cker” and saying he should not have survived.
<div id="attachment_1101359" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101359" class="wp-image-1101359 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)</div>
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/24/us-news/purple-heart-vet-graham-platner-said-deserved-to-die-slams-dems-backing-him-say-that-to-my-face/">New York Post</a> reported that Platner has since deleted large portions of the account history.
Daniels also criticized Platner over past comments targeting Chris Kyle and Vice President JD Vance over their military service.
“I don’t understand the hatred toward veterans who served honorably,” Daniels told the New York Post. “That part gets me.”
Platner has defended himself by pointing to his own military service, saying accusations that he disrespects veterans are “offensive” and “slanderous.” He has not apologized for the comments.
Despite everything, Daniels said he is not attacking Platner’s military record and still considers him “a brother” because of his service.
But he also suggested it’s a lot easier to trash someone online than say those things face-to-face.
The controversy exploded even further after Dave Portnoy publicly torched Platner over the tattoo controversy while rejecting an apparent attempt by the campaign to get Barstool involved in an anti-private-equity Red Sox message push.
Portnoy blasted Platner in a private exchange. “Yeah I’d be happy to talk to him about that tattoo and him being a Nazi,” Portnoy wrote before later posting screenshots of the exchange online.

Purple Heart Hero Mocked By Graham Platner Has One Question For Dems

graham platner

Signed, sealed, and nearly delivered.
That’s essentially the message President Donald Trump sent Saturday evening after announcing that a major agreement between the United States and Iran has been “largely negotiated” following a day of high-stakes calls with leaders across the Middle East.
“I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call” with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and others “concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization,” Trump added. “Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.”
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Trump also revealed that “the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” one of the administration’s biggest demands throughout the negotiations as concerns grew over Iran’s ability to disrupt one of the world’s most critical oil shipping routes.
The president added that he separately spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said the call “went very well.”
The dramatic update capped off an intense day behind the scenes at the White House as Trump and his national security team worked through Memorial Day weekend trying to hammer out a deal that could determine whether the region moves closer toward peace or back toward military strikes.
The negotiations come after weeks of rising tensions tied to Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign targeting Iranian military infrastructure and nuclear-linked facilities.
A major sticking point throughout the negotiations has centered on Iran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through.
Trump has repeatedly warned Iran that the clock is running out.
“If we don’t come to an agreement,” Trump warned earlier Saturday, “we’re going to have a situation where no country will ever be hit as hard as they’re about to be hit.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also offered a glimpse into the atmosphere inside the West Wing.
“It’s 4:00 PM on a Saturday, and President Trump has been working hard at the White House since early this morning,” Cheung posted online. “This man is focused and determined.”
Trump telling reporters throughout the day that negotiations between the United States and Iran were “getting a lot closer.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio added even more intrigue earlier Saturday while speaking from New Delhi, India, where he suggested major developments could arrive at any moment.
“There’s been some progress done, some progress made,” Rubio said. “Even as I speak to you now, there’s some work being done.”
“There is a chance that, whether it’s later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say,” Rubio added. “But this issue needs to be solved, as the president said, one way or another.”
The White House has not yet released full details of the agreement Trump referenced Saturday evening, but the president’s latest Truth Social post strongly suggests the administration believes a historic deal may now be within reach.
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US-POLITICS-ECONOMY-TRUMP

Trump Drops Signed, Sealed, Nearly Delivered Update On Iran Deal

New York Giants defensive lineman Abdul Carter is taking major heat after posting publicly to criticize teammate Jaxson Dart for introducing President Donald Trump onstage at a New York rally Friday night.
“thought this sh!t was AI, what we doing man,” Carter posted on X, after clips of Dart standing beside Trump exploded across social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
thought this sh!t was AI, what we doing man <a href="https://t.co/ePR3b4MZEv">https://t.co/ePR3b4MZEv</a>
— Abdul Carter (@1NCRDB1) <a href="https://twitter.com/1NCRDB1/status/2058138900187545756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The reaction immediately sparked backlash from conservatives and NFL fans, many of whom accused the rookie defender of disrespecting both Trump and his own teammate over what many viewed as a patriotic moment.
“If your QB wants to support the President, he’s allowed to,” one user wrote under Carter’s post. “Your head coach is a huge Trump fan also, and so is more than half the league. The Left injected their woke bullsh*t into sports for decades, and you didn’t say sh*t. You know nothing of the world.”
Another user blasted Carter even more directly: “lol you’re about to find out that he’s the franchise and you’re not bud,” the commenter wrote. “Also your new coach voted for Trump too. Grow up and get over it. If you voted for kamala who wants our tax dollars to pay for weirdos sex change surgeries, that’s your business bro but not everyone is dumb.”
Others went even further, with some bringing up Carter’s past legal controversy involving an alleged altercation with a tow truck driver during his college years: “The reason I never wanted the Giants to draft you was because I read the police report where you beat the tow truck driver within inches of his life. You are a complete psychopath. It was hard enough to look past the Muslim thing. You can’t sack the QB to save your life and you sleep in meetings. Total bust. Good riddance. At least Jaxson is a Christian American who loves America.”
The viral reaction came shortly after Dart joined Trump onstage at a rally supporting Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), where the rookie quarterback warmly introduced the president before Trump praised him as a future “hall of famer.”
Carter, a former Penn State star selected third overall by the Giants in last year’s NFL Draft, has openly embraced his Muslim faith and made headlines during draft night after wearing traditional Islamic clothing on the red carpet.
“Just paying homage to what got me here,” Carter said at the time. “Just praying to God, praying to Allah, you know, dressing like Muslims. That’s what got me here.”
At Friday’s rally, Trump praised the rookie quarterback moments after Dart introduced him to the crowd.
“I want to thank Jaxson Dart,” Trump said. “This is going to be a Hall of Famer in my book.”
Dart&#8217;s appearance at the rally was brief. He led the crowd in a chant for the Giants and then introduced the president, making no political statement.

Muslim NFL Player’s Post Criticizing Pro-Trump Teammate Backfires

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President Trump

Move over, Ozempic. There’s a new weight loss shot everyone’s freaking out about.
A new experimental weight loss drug called “retatrutide” is suddenly blowing up online after clinical trial results showed patients losing an average of more than 70 pounds, with some people dropping nearly a third of their body weight.
Yes, you read that right.
The once-weekly injectable drug, currently being developed by Eli Lilly and Company, is already being called the next giant leap in the booming GLP-1 weight loss craze that has completely transformed Hollywood, social media, and, honestly, half the conversations happening in America right now.
And based on these numbers, people are definitely going to pay attention.
According to new trial data, patients taking the highest dose of retatrutide lost an average of 70.3 pounds over roughly a year and a half.
Some participants reportedly lost closer to 85 pounds during extended testing.
To put that into perspective, researchers say the results are starting to approach what doctors typically see with actual bariatric surgery.
That’s a huge deal.
Unlike current blockbuster drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound, retatrutide targets three separate hormone receptors instead of one or two.
Experts believe that the extra mechanism may help the body burn more energy while also reducing appetite and improving blood sugar levels at the same time.
In normal-person language? People feel less hungry while their bodies potentially burn more calories.
Which is why the internet and half the medical world are losing their minds over these numbers.
One endocrinologist reportedly called it “the largest weight loss” she had ever seen in a medication trial.
But before everybody starts sprinting to Google looking for prescriptions, there’s a catch.
Actually, several catches.
The drug is still experimental and has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Analysts don&#8217;t expect approval until late 2027 or 2028, though Eli Lilly has said it could happen as early as this year.
The trial data have also not yet gone through a full peer review.
And then there are the side effects.
A pretty significant number of patients experienced nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, skin discomfort, and urinary tract infections.  Some people dropped out of the study altogether because of how rough the side effects became at higher doses.
In other words, while it might sound like magic, it&#8217;s technically not.
Still, the numbers are so dramatic that retatrutide is already being viewed as a possible next-generation successor to the current wave of wildly popular weight loss injections dominating the market.
Which means America’s obsession with these drugs probably is not slowing down anytime soon.

weightloss

Move Over, Ozempic. There’s A New Weight Loss Shot Everyone Is Freaking Out About

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Parents just got another reason to side-eye the toy aisle.
One popular squeeze toy sold at Walmart and Ollie&#8217;s Bargain Outlet is now being <a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Orb-Funkee-Squeeze-Toys-Recalled-Due-to-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-or-Death-from-Asbestos-Exposure-Imported-by-The-Orb-Factory">recalled</a> over something that sounds straight out of a nightmare: asbestos.
More than 120,000 Orb Funkee squeeze toys are being pulled from shelves after officials warned on Thursday that the sand packed inside certain models may contain tremolite asbestos, a dangerous mineral linked to serious lung diseases and cancer.
Yes, we’re talking about a children’s squishy toy.
The recall specifically impacts certain “Funkee Monkee” squeeze toys sold nationwide between February 2025 and April 2026, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
And while, thankfully, no kids have reportedly been hurt so far, the warning itself is enough to make a lot of parents do a double take.
Officials say the danger comes if the toy breaks open and kids inhale particles from the sand filling inside. Asbestos exposure has long been associated with severe health problems, including lung scarring, mesothelioma, and lung cancer.
In other words, not exactly the kind of thing parents expect to hear about a toy monkey sitting in a playroom.
The recalled products include both a large gold Funkee Monkee toy and several smaller colorful versions. Parents are being urged to immediately take the toys away from children and stop using them altogether.
<div id="attachment_1100395" style="width: 1450px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1100395" class="wp-image-1100395 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/orb-toy-recall.webp" alt="" width="1440" height="810" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/orb-toy-recall.webp 1440w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/orb-toy-recall-300x169.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/orb-toy-recall-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/orb-toy-recall-768x432.webp 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" />The recalled Orb Funkee squeeze toys may contain fibrous tremolite (asbestos) in the sand, which can cause adverse health issues if inhaled. (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)</div>
And the cleanup instructions honestly make the situation sound even worse.
If the toy has ruptured and any sand leaked out, consumers are being told to wear gloves and a mask while cleaning it up, use damp cloths to avoid spreading particles into the air, then double-bag everything, including the toy, cloths, gloves, and even the mask itself.
That is a real instruction tied to a children’s toy.
The company behind the product, The Orb Factory, is offering refunds. Customers are being instructed to place the toy into a sealed heavy-duty plastic bag, tape it shut, and send a photo to the company to receive reimbursement.
The affected toys reportedly sold for anywhere between $5 and $40.
Parents can identify recalled models by checking for the date code “3102491A,” which appears on the hand of the large monkey toy or on the back of the smaller versions.
And honestly, stories like this are becoming way too common lately.
Between toy recalls, contaminated snacks, and household products suddenly getting pulled over health concerns, parents increasingly feel like they need a hazmat team just to survive a trip to the store.
This time, though, officials are making one thing crystal clear: if your child has one of these squeeze toys, get it out of the house immediately.

Nothing Says ‘Fun Children’s Toy’ Quite Like An Asbestos Warning

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Jordan Schroeder