A Democrat House candidate supported taking resources away from law enforcement for so-called “critical social services” and claimed that the &#8220;roots&#8221; of crime were hunger and expensive housing.
While he once advocated for funding welfare instead of law enforcement, Colorado Democrat Manny Rutinel now says he will boost support for police if elected to Congress. 
Rutinel is running against Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, a former police officer, in Colorado’s extremely competitive 8th Congressional district.
Last month, Rutinel unveiled a policy <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/648db2d70ac2fb3561c43086/t/6ab546bf1a170f6539a7b6b4/1790265023887/Manny+Rutinel+Public+Safety+Plan+September+2026.pdf">plan</a> seeking to bolster his pro-police credentials. The plan called for investing more money in law enforcement, targeting drug traffickers, and funding local police departments. 
That plan contrasted with the tone he struck in July of 2025 when speaking with leftist organizers.
During an <a href="https://deepnotshallow.substack.com/p/manny-rutinel-once-called-israels?open=false#§manny-10-the-guy-i-thought-i-knew">interview</a> with the leftist Working Families Party, Rutinel responded “yes” when asked if he believed that “resources should be shifted away from the military, policing, and prisons in order to fund critical social services.”
That policy is consistent with those supported by advocates of defunding the police — but support for the “Defund the Police” movement has become a political liability for Democrats, even in deep blue cities like San Francisco.
The Colorado Democrat did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire as to whether he stood by his previous support for shifting money to welfare from law enforcement.
Rutinel’s campaign platform on keeping &#8220;communitites safe&#8221; says that he 
<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/648db2d70ac2fb3561c43086/t/6ab546bf1a170f6539a7b6b4/1790265023887/Manny+Rutinel+Public+Safety+Plan+September+2026.pdf">focused</a> on “funding the police” during his time as a state legislature and that he would pursue similar policies if elected to Congress. “Manny believes that funding for police and law enforcement must be a priority, not a political football,” his policy statement says.
In the same interview with the Working Families Party, Rutinel made the dubious claim that crime was primarily motivated by people who couldn’t afford housing, food, or medical services.
“I think what we need to do is be tough on the roots of crime. And what I mean by that is we need to make sure that folks have a great education and fully funded public schools, and we need to make sure that they have wraparound services around that,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we&#8217;ve got a great social safety net that means that folks don&#8217;t have to decide between crime or affording food or medical assistance for their family or housing,” Rutinel added.
The race for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District is seen as one of the key races that could decide which party controls Congress. Evans, a former police officer, narrowly won the seat in 2024 by less than one percent of the vote. Democrats have targeted the seat as one they would like to pick up.
Rutinel used to run a blog where he <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/what-would-jesus-do-socialism-archived-website-shows-colorado-democrat-pushed-for-socialistic-society/">claimed</a> that Jesus Christ would support socialism and wrote an essay titled &#8220;Why a More Socialistic Society Is Superior.&#8221; He has since backtracked from his affiliation with socialism and rebranded as a moderate, drawing the <a href="https://deepnotshallow.substack.com/p/manny-rutinel-once-called-israels?open=false#§manny-10-the-guy-i-thought-i-knew">anger</a> of some leftists.
Democrats throughout the country, from Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, have faced similar criticisms over their past advocacy for defunding the police.

COLORADO’S 8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Dem’s Election-Year Police Pitch Collides With His Own Past

2026 midterm election

colorado

defund the police

gabe evans

manny rutinel

politics

Convicted murderer Christa Pike was “up and walking” for the first time on Wednesday, a week after she survived multiple rounds of lethal injections in a Tennessee prison. 
Pike, who brutally tortured and murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, has been in the hospital since September 30 after officials botched her scheduled execution. Her lawyer Stephen Ferrell <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c60rln74yzvxo">told</a> the BBC on Wednesday that Pike was doing “fairly well.” 
&#8220;What&#8217;s been described to me is that physically there&#8217;s quite a bit going on, that her arms are very injured and she&#8217;s not able to use them very much,” he said. &#8220;She is up and walking for the first time today, but just around the room, not very far.&#8221;
The lawyer added that Pike was still “foggy.” 
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s kind of good and bad. Good that she is fairly with it, but she&#8217;s also somewhat foggy. She can lose her train of thought really easily and forgets where she&#8217;s going.&#8221;
Ferrell’s comments about Pike moving around the hospital room come after he said earlier this week that she was “handcuffed and shackled to the bed.”
Pike and her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp were convicted in 1996 of killing Slemmer after inviting her out into the woods near Knoxville, where they slit her throat and struck her with a meat cleaver and a piece of asphalt. They also carved a pentagram into her forehead and chest, <a href="https://wpln.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2026/09/Pike-execution-stay-denial-Tennessee-Supreme-Court-092326.pdf">according</a> to court documents. Pike also kept a piece of Slemmer’s skull and bragged about the killing.  
May Martinez, Slemmer’s mother, said that she did not “get justice for my daughter” after Pike’s execution failed. She said that Pike never apologized for her horrific actions. 
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Martinez <a href="https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/christa-pike/christa-pike-conscious-speaking-after-failed-execution-her-attorneys-say/51-ed86d8fd-0d09-453f-b8fe-6655e94c5ca5">told</a> WBIR when asked if she thought Pike would ever be executed. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do.”
After the botched execution, Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee paused all executions in Tennessee until the end of the year and ordered an investigation into what went wrong. In the meantime, Pike&#8217;s lawyers want the state to keep all the evidence from the execution for any future challenges. 
“The state has made no promises that Miss Pike will not be subject to our future execution, and the evidence that we are seeking to preserve now is relevant for any future challenge that she makes,” attorney Luke Ihnen argued.
Nashville Chancellor I’Ashea Myles directed the state on Wednesday to keep all the evidence. 
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is running for governor, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blackburn-says-shell-resurrect-old-school-punishment-after-botched-execution">called</a> for Tennessee to move away from lethal injection and start using the electric chair as the primary method of execution.

Christa Pike

Christa Pike’s Lawyer Paints A Mixed Picture Of Recovery After Botched Execution

bill lee

christa pike

death penalty

lethal injection

marsha blackburn

tennessee

A Democrat Senate candidate campaigning heavily on his Christian faith once said he was confused about what to do when young children identify as transgender. 
Largely silent on the issue of transgenderism on the campaign trail, Kansas Democrat Senate candidate Adam Hamilton&#8217;s past comments unearthed by The Daily Wire shed light on how he handled the issue as a pastor. Hamilton, a liberal pastor in the United Methodist Church, once told his church that he was unsure if he should encourage parents to embrace their child’s gender-confusion. 
&#8220;Do we give guidance? Do we not give guidance? What do we do here? And I think this comes up here [on the topic of bisexuality], and it also comes up when we think about smaller children in the question of transgender,” Hamilton said <a href="https://vimeo.com/316582047?fl=pl&amp;fe=sh">during a talk</a> on sexual ethics at his church back in February 2019. 
“Trying to figure out, you know, because I have this, from time to time, with parents of smaller children, and it&#8217;s like, OK, do I leave it up to the child to completely try to think through these things, and their understanding of their identity? Or is there some role that you play in that?&#8221; Hamilton added. 
The Senate candidate made the comments while hosting self-described feminist therapist Hillary McBride for a discussion on sexuality at Church of the Resurrection back in February 2019.
Hamilton has cultivated a faith-centric moderate image while challenging GOP Senator Roger Marshall in ruby red Kansas. Marshall, a doctor, has introduced numerous bills targeting transgender ideology while in the Senate, including a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senator-introduces-bill-to-ban-transgender-procedures-on-kids-across-the-country">proposal</a> to ban doctors nationwide from doing gender surgeries on kids and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-sen-marshall-pushes-to-define-male-and-female-in-biological-truth">looking</a> to define male and female in federal law. 
When pushed on the issue of transgenderism in recent months, Hamilton’s campaign has claimed he opposes gender surgeries on kids and boys competing in girls’ sports. 
&#8220;But no one should attack or demean a small and vulnerable group of people just to score political points,&#8221; campaign spokesman Tyson Brody <a href="https://www.wabe.org/republicans-focusing-on-transgender-issues-in-campaigns/">said</a>. &#8220;Adam thinks Washington spends far more energy on this issue than on the things Kansans actually lose sleep over, like fixing health care or lowering costs.&#8221;
His position on athletics appears to have shifted from November 2024 when he <a href="https://resurrection.church/enote/weekly-update-from-pastor-adam-november-22-2024/">said</a> in a letter to his church that he didn’t know how to “resolve” the intersection of transgenderism and athletics. 
“I don’t fully understand the experience of gender dysphoria, it is not my experience. And I’m not sure what I think about how we resolve the issues surrounding athletics and bathrooms (here at Resurrection we’ve got a number of gender-neutral restrooms). I can tell you what I do understand: treating people with compassion, love, empathy, kindness and dignity is the way of Christ.”
In February 2025, Kansas Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-republicans-override-dem-governors-veto-to-ban-trans-procedures-on-kids">overrode</a> a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly to pass a ban on transgender procedures for kids. 
Polling <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/senate/general/2026/kansas/marshall-vs-hamilton">shows</a> the race between Hamilton and Marshall surprisingly close as the state has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since the 1930s. Republicans have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-money-group-ditches-north-carolina-in-bid-to-save-deep-red-state">shifted</a> some financial resources to back Marshall’s re-election bid. 
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, admitted last week that the race in Kansas was competitive but that he was not worried about the final result. 
“I believe that Kansas is a competitive state,” he said during a press call attended by The Daily Wire. “I will, however, say that as I look at all the data, it tells me that Roger Marshall will be successful, albeit closer than I want it to be.”

Republicans Risk First Senate Loss In 94 Years In Reliably Red Kansas

Pastor Running For Senate Doesn’t Know What To Tell Parents Of Gender-Confused Kids

adam hamilton

kansas senate race

roger marshall

transgender

The weapon used by a gender-confused shooter to massacre young children at a rural Canadian school had a transgender-themed attachment, disturbing new photos show.
Court filings unsealed this week shed more light on the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/youtube-confirms-trans-themed-page-is-linked-to-canada-mass-shooting-suspect">deadly rampage</a> carried out in British Columbia on February 10, 2026, by transgender-identifying Jesse van Rootselaar. Van Rootselaar, a man who identified as a woman, gunned down his mother and stepbrother at his home before murdering six people at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
A photo from the day of the deadly rampage shows Van Rootselaar posing in a black skirt and fishnet tights while gripping a rifle with an attachment emblazoned with the blue, pink, and white colors of the transgender flag. Van Rootselaar killed himself during the attack. 
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1193839" style="width: 2057px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1193839" class="size-full wp-image-1193839" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2047" height="2560" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-scaled.jpg 2047w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-1228x1536.jpg 1228w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/MixCollage-07-Oct-2026-09-03-AM-3979-1638x2048.jpg 1638w" sizes=" (max-width: 2047px) 100vw, 2047px" />Van Rootselaar: criminal complaint.</div>
Police first identified the school’s attacker as a “gunperson” wearing a dress, and Canadian authorities repeatedly referred to him in press conferences on the attack as female despite the fact he was male. 
Another photo taken by Van Rootselaar in the months leading up to the attack shows a pump-action shotgun leaning against a transgender flag. The shotgun features a sticker of the planet Saturn shaded with the transgender colors. 
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1193845" style="width: 585px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1193845" class="size-full wp-image-1193845" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-9.00.29-AM.png" alt="" width="575" height="789" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-9.00.29-AM.png 575w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-9.00.29-AM-219x300.png 219w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-9.00.29-AM-420x576.png 420w" sizes=" (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px" />Van Rootselaar shotgun: criminal complaint.</div>
The photos were sent to a 30-year-old American man named James Cody Bryant, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-american-arrested-in-connection-with-canadian-trans-school-shooting?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trans-Identifying+American+Arrested+For+Plotting+With+Canadian+Trans+School+Shooter">arrested</a> Tuesday for conspiracy to murder a person in a foreign country. Both photos were included in the criminal complaint filed against Bryant, who also identifies as transgender. Bryant is accused of helping Van Rootselaar carry out the attack by providing financial support and agreeing to livestream the shooting. 
The criminal complaint against Bryant, filed on October 2, referred to Van Rootselaar as a female. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington plans to file an amended complaint with the correct pronouns, The Daily Wire has learned.  
The arrest of another transgender suspect comes after some federal officials last year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-last-questions-charlie-kirk-answered-were-about-a-trans-gun-ban-that-initiative-is-stalled">considered</a> blocking trans-identifying people from buying firearms and ensuring that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable. Those discussions stalled out in the months following the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-creating-a-new-terrorism-category-for-transgender-violence-matters">urged</a> the FBI in September 2025 to create a new terror designation for attacks motivated by transgender ideology. That came after multiple attacks by transgender shooters targeting Christian schools. 
“The United States has seen a recurring pattern of extreme violence committed by perpetrators that appear to have been acting in furtherance of a radical transgender ideology,” the Oversight Project argued in a memo. The group wanted the FBI to introduce a Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism (TIVE) category to apply to those who believe that violent action is justified against those who oppose transgender ideology. 
The Oversight Project noted that violence is often encouraged in far-Left online communities.
“This digital infrastructure provides anonymous networks for grooming and coordinating, turning isolated resentment into organized threats, exemplified by the radicalization of figures like Tyler Robinson, who allegedly assassinated Charlie Kirk over views on transgender issues after immersion in leftist online forums,” they wrote.
Both Van Rootselaar and Bryant apparently got to know each other online and regularly communicated over Discord, according to investigators. Van Rootselaar would have been about 15-years-old when he started communication with Bryant who was in his late 20s.
Van Rootselaar had a YouTube account featuring an anime figure and a rifle with colors associated with the transgender flag in the background.
<div id="attachment_1193885" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1193885" class="size-full wp-image-1193885" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-02-11-at-12.45.58-PM.png" alt="" width="1024" height="1194" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-02-11-at-12.45.58-PM.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-02-11-at-12.45.58-PM-257x300.png 257w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-02-11-at-12.45.58-PM-494x576.png 494w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-02-11-at-12.45.58-PM-768x896.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Van Rootselaar YouTube: Juno News.</div>
Messages included in the complaint reveal that Van Rootselaar wanted to commit the largest mass shooting in Canadian history and wondered if he would gain fans from carrying out an attack. “Wut do you think. Would I have fans,” Van Rootselaar asked. 
“I think you definitely would,” Bryant replied, according to messages included in the criminal complaint. 
Other disturbing messages showed Van Rootselaar voicing his violent thoughts and discussing how he felt driven to &#8220;break or burn or hurt something&#8221; and &#8220;a lot of things suck like how violent i feel today.&#8221;
“I wish I was closer to the people who deserved to be punished. Not just randos in my town in the middle of nowhere. There are so many people who are. They’re close to the valuable targets yet they sit there doing nothing. If you’re gonna kill yourself why die like a loser and meaninglessly? At least do something,” he wrote in one message less than two weeks before the attack. 
Other messages show the pair nonchalantly discussing the plan to murder innocent school children. Bryant agreed to livestream the shooting and offered tactical and material support for Van Rootselaar to carry out the massacre, according to prosecutors. 
“The Tumbler Ridge Secondary School shooting was a horrific tragedy for that small community and for all of Canada. Indeed, here in the Pacific Northwest we felt the pain of those families devastated by this violence,” said acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “It is even more profoundly disturbing to learn that a resident of Western Washington had a role in the attack and took steps – providing counsel, technical advice, and money to the shooter planning such a tragedy.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-SOCIETY-HOLIDAY-LGBTQ+-DEMONSTRATION

New Photos Expose Trans Detail Hiding In Plain Sight On Killer’s Gun

canada

gender dysphoria

gender ideology

mass shooting

tumbler ridge school shooting

The FBI arrested a gender-confused American man for aiding the Canadian transgender-identifying man who murdered eight people during a shooting rampage earlier this year. 
The Justice Department announced charges Tuesday against 30-year-old transgender-identifying James Cody Bryant over accusations that he helped plot the attack on a rural Canadian school carried out by 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar in February 2026. Bryant agreed to livestream the shooting and offered tactical and material support for Van Rootselaar to carry out the massacre, according to prosecutors. 
On February 10, 2026, Van Rootselaar murdered his mother and 11-year-old stepbrother before traveling to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, where he killed five children and one school employee. Van Rootselaar, who police first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/youtube-confirms-trans-themed-page-is-linked-to-canada-mass-shooting-suspect">referred</a> to as a “gunperson,” committed suicide during the attack. 
Bryant identified as transgender, officials with the Justice Department <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuWJ3KzeWA">confirmed</a> during a press briefing on the arrest. He has been charged with conspiracy to murder a person in a foreign country. 
The FBI linked Bryant to the shooting after Discord turned over messages between Van Rootselaar and an account associated with him. The FBI interviewed him at his home in Bellingham, Washington, on February 12, two days after the shooting. 
The criminal complaint, filed by FBI special agent Joseph Rico, says that in August 2025, Bryant agreed to livestream the planned attack on the internet. Bryant also allegedly told Van Rootselaar to avoid hallways so people could not escape, to carry a handgun during the attack, and told him that “you’ve got solid plans.”
“Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers,” Bryant said, according to the criminal complaint. 
“Bryant further confirmed that Bryant had been communicating with Van Rootselaar during the months prior to the murders and had viewed Van Rootselaar’s attempted livestream of the attack,” the criminal complaint says. “Bryant also admitted to assisting Van Rootselaar in testing the livestream equipment. Bryant explained that Van Rootselaar had purchased a tactical chest rig designed to carry additional firearm magazines.”
The two apparently got to know each other online starting when Van Rootselaar was 15 and Bryant was in his late 20s. 
Throughout the months leading up to the attack, Bryant allegedly suggested that they should use a VPN to cover their digital footprint and take steps to delete their messages. “I think we should find a way to delete all our messages,” he said, according to a message included in the complaint.  
Bryant also suggested that Van Rootselaar target a church or grocery store to avoid targeting young kids, the complaint said. 
Just a few weeks before the murders, Bryant allegedly sent Van Rootselaar money for a lighter that he intended to put on an explosive device he “planned to detonate during the murders,” the complaint said. Repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the attack, messages show Bryant telling Van Rootselaar that he would not &#8220;snitch&#8221; on him to law enforcement. 
The criminal complaint, filed on October 2, referred to Van Rootselaar as a female. The U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for the Western District of Washington plans to file an amended complaint with the correct pronouns, The Daily Wire has learned.

CANADA-SHOOTING-CRIME

Trans-Identifying American Arrested For Plotting With Canadian Trans School Shooter

jesse van rootselaar

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized an FBI probe into President Donald Trump even after concerns that it “could be disruptive to the democratic process,” according to newly released unclassified documents.
Garland signed off on an operation called “Plasmic Echo” in the spring of 2022 that involved the FBI snooping on the phone records of Susie Wiles and monitoring the movements of Melania and Barron Trump, documents released by the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/election-integrity/">White House</a> reveal. Plasmic Echo led to the infamous raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on August 8, 2022, on allegations that he mishandled classified documents.
The Plasmic Echo documents show the coordination between the Justice Department and the FBI in the months leading up to the raid and how extensively the bureau later tracked Wiles, a key Trump ally who became White House chief of staff after he won the presidency in November 2024.
One released document was a memo from former FBI Director Christopher Wray to Garland on the operation. The memo noted that the attorney general needs to approve investigations involving presidents and their staff or presidential candidates.
“Although members of the 45th Presidential administration are no longer in office, the DOJ Memo states that the scope of this policy should be broadly construed to ensure that Department leadership is made aware of the opening of matters that could potentially be disruptive to the democratic process if publicly disclosed prior to an election, encouraging the FBI to err on the side of caution or seeking approval if there could be any question as to whether such questions are required under this policy,” Wray wrote in the memo.
Garland approved the memo after then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco wrote on it, “Merrick, I recommend you approve.”
Other documents in the tranche included a series of emails listing actions for the FBI to take ahead of the Mar-a-Lago raid. This included a note to “finalize FBI understanding of [former president/former first lady/minor son&#8217;s] travel (type of aircraft and specific timeline),” a reference to Melania and Barron Trump’s movements.
<div id="attachment_1192883" style="width: 1466px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1192883" class="size-full wp-image-1192883" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.15.55-AM.png" alt="" width="1456" height="632" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.15.55-AM.png 1456w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.15.55-AM-300x130.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.15.55-AM-1024x444.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.15.55-AM-768x333.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1456px) 100vw, 1456px" />FBI emails.</div>
After the raid, the FBI conducted extensive snooping on Wiles’ phone calls and text messages from February to May 2023. Documents show that the FBI kept records of incoming and outgoing calls involving Wiles, the identity of the callers, the frequency of the calls, and text messages sent by the top Trump official.
<div id="attachment_1192875" style="width: 868px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1192875" class="size-full wp-image-1192875" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.17.30-AM.png" alt="" width="858" height="500" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.17.30-AM.png 858w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.17.30-AM-300x175.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-10.17.30-AM-768x448.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px" />FBI emails.</div>
FBI agents carried out the raid just a few months before Trump announced his candidacy for president in November 2022. After the raid, Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the case against Trump. Smith dropped that case after Trump won the presidency in November 2024.
“Jack Smith’s surveillance operation was a disgraceful abuse of government power,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/05/us-news/biden-fbi-tracked-melania-and-barron-trumps-travel-and-even-tapped-susie-wiles-phone-documents-show/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">said</a>. “Spying on political opponents is weaponization of law enforcement, plain and simple. Those responsible must be held accountable.”

UFC Freedom 250: Lopes v Garcia

FBI Watched Melania And Barron Trump’s Travel Before Mar-a-Lago Raid — And It Went Further

christopher wray

donald trump

jack smith

mar-a-lago raid

merrick garland

susie wiles

A decision from the Food and Drug Administration that opened up the floodgates of mail-order abortions relied on deeply flawed evidence, a group of researchers found. 
Scholars with the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute argued in a <a href="https://issuesinlawandmedicine.com/articles/a-critical-analysis-of-the-fdas-2021-mifepristone-rems-modification-rationale-review/">paper published</a> Tuesday and shared with The Daily Wire that the FDA’s 2021 decision to allow the abortion pill mifepristone to be mailed without an in-person appointment fell significantly short of scientific standards. The publication of the paper comes as pro-life organizations have pressured the FDA for months to roll back the decision to allow the deadly drugs to be shipped through the mail.
Dr. Ingrid Skop, one of the co-authors of the article and a Charlotte Lozier Institute medical expert, told The Daily Wire the findings significantly undercut the FDA’s justification for getting rid of abortion pill guardrails. 
“When federal agencies remove regulations designed to safeguard patient health, those decisions should be grounded in evidence that reflects real-world practice,” she said. “Our analysis found that the FDA’s review fell well short of that standard.”
The decision to remove an in-person dispensing requirement came as part of the FDA’s 2021 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) review for the drug. The FDA is currently reviewing the REMS protocol for mifepristone and has promised to produce a new safety study on the deadly drug. 
When a woman takes mifepristone, the unborn baby is effectively starved to death. After the baby’s death, a second pill is taken to trigger the delivery of the child’s remains. 
The paper, published in “Issues in Law and Medicine,” argues that the FDA relied on evidence that did not take into account real world conditions of how the pill would be used in practice, poor adverse impact reporting standards, and that the agency gave more credence to pro-abortion stakeholders during the review process.
“The FDA relied on studies that do not generalize to real-world conditions, and on complication reporting systems that are plagued by overarching limitations, in part due to previous deregulation,” co-author and Charlotte Lozier Institute researcher Zachary Sluzala said. “Our findings raise important questions about the scientific basis of the agency’s decision.”
Many of the studies the FDA relied on included a woman having an in-person exam, bloodwork done, or an ultrasound before getting the abortion pill. With the availability of the abortion pill online, there are frequently no requirements for any kind of screening.
During the review process, the FDA takes input from external stakeholders. But the review of the abortion pill was influenced more heavily by pro-abortion groups, the researchers argued. 
The scholars additionally found that input from pro-life stakeholders was not treated equally as pro-abortion input. They argue that input from pro-lifers was &#8220;disproportionately underutilized and underacknowledged,” casting doubt on “an unbiased inclusion strategy.” 
In contrast, they found that the FDA referenced material from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-biden-partnered-with-abortion-activists-to-track-and-imprison-pro-lifers">radical</a> pro-abortion National Abortion Federation in its literature review that seemed outside the scope of the focus. 
To address the problems with the FDA’s 2021 decision, the scholars argued that it should reinstate the in-person dispensing requirements and start tracking complications from the deadly drug more closely. Abortion activists frequently tell women to lie to doctors about their abortion if they show up to the hospital for treatment after a botched abortion. 
Medication abortions have quickly become the most common method of ending the life of an unborn child, a condition that has only increased following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. After that decision, leftist activists and doctors continue to mail abortion pills into states where medication abortions are technically illegal.

ultrasound of baby in pregnant woman

Inside The Government Decision That Opened Up Abortion Pill Floodgates

abortion pill

charlotte lozier institute

food and drug administration

mifepristone

roe v wade

Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed once claimed to hold Egyptian citizenship, newly unearthed video shows. 
El-Sayed made the claim in 2016 when he spoke at the GlobeMed conference in Detroit, <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/exclusive-video-shows-abdul-el-sayed-stating-he-has-dual-citizenship-in-egypt-and-us/">accordin</a>g to a video found by the Washington Free Beacon. The Michigan Democrat’s campaign previously said that El-Sayed has never been a dual citizen despite the fact he once <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/exclusive-video-shows-abdul-el-sayed-stating-he-has-dual-citizenship-in-egypt-and-us/">listed</a> Egyptian citizenship on his resume. 
&#8220;I carry dual citizenship, and I grew up spending most of my summers in another country where I understood what it meant not to have the right to self-govern,&#8221; El-Sayed said in the video. The comment was made during the time El-Sayed led Detroit&#8217;s health department. 
El-Sayed’s parents immigrated to the United States from Egypt, and he was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Shortly after becoming a professor at Columbia University in 2014, El-Sayed <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AbdulrahmanElSayed.pdf">claimed</a> on his resume that he had American and Egyptian citizenship.
<div id="attachment_1192613" style="width: 1833px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1192613" class="size-full wp-image-1192613" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM.png" alt="" width="1823" height="319" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM.png 1823w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM-300x52.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM-1024x179.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM-768x134.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-06-at-6.53.06-AM-1536x269.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1823px) 100vw, 1823px" />El-Sayed resume.</div>
His campaign told the Free Beacon that listing was a mistake after the outlet flagged the resume. Campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner blamed the dual citizenship boast on El-Sayed being &#8220;told as a child that his grandfather had pursued Egyptian citizenship on his behalf, for which he was eligible due to his parents being born in Egypt.&#8221;
&#8220;Abdul is not a dual citizen by any verifiable metric and never has been,&#8221; she said, adding that he was “unable to find any documentation to verify this claim” when he tried to check “later in life.” 
The Daily Wire reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign to inquire about the timeline of when the candidate learned that he was not an Egyptian citizen. The video shows that he made the claim for at least a two-year period. 
El-Sayed, running against Republican Mike Rogers, is looking to be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. 
Back in 2009, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-dedicated-his-life-to-sharia-law">told</a> The New York Times that he had pledged to live his life in compliance with Sharia law. 
“Ultimately, the question is, when I die and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way. Not because of fear but because of obligation,” he said. 
In the past, El-Sayed has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-displayed-book-written-by-extremist-tied-to-1993-world-trade-center-attack">attempted</a> to obscure his links to Islam. He once asked a documentary film crew to avoid filming a bookshelf that included multiple Qurans and a book written by an Islamic scholar linked to the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack. 
“You’re going to want to not get these things in the shot … we’re trying to keep the shot secular,” he said.

Abdul El-Sayed Launches Town Hall Tour As He Campaigns For Senate In Michigan

Michigan Dem Abdul El-Sayed Claimed Citizenship In Muslim Country

abdul el-sayed

dual citizenship

michigan senate race

mike rogers

FBI officials asked to distance themselves from parts of the Biden administration’s crackdown on alleged threats against school officials, warning that the effort appeared political, newly released emails reveal.  
The messages were included in a report released Monday by the Justice Department&#8217;s Weaponization Working Group. It examined former Attorney General Merrick Garland&#8217;s now-infamous October 4, 2021, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/ag/file/1170061-0/dl?inline">memo</a> directing federal law enforcement to coordinate a response to threats against school officials as parents became more vocal challenging mask mandates and curriculum at school board meetings. 
The emails show disagreements within the FBI and DOJ over the initiative, including whether counterterrorism and national security officials should be involved.
For example, in one exchange, an FBI employee urged his supervisor not to collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security on a paper about “threats to school boards” because of its partisan nature. The request came weeks after Garland issued his memo. 
“DHS is writing what I think will be a politically charged paper on threats to school boards with some very specific proposals. They are asking for our coordination,” an unidentified employee with the FBI&#8217;s Counterterrorism Division wrote in an October 29, 2021 email to his supervisor. “In my opinion, we should not coordinate or give any feedback, and we should ensure it is understood we are not to be mentioned as coordinators.”
“I think this product will show up in the news and be featured on the Hill as soon as it is released, so I wanted to get your guidance before moving forward,” the employee added. 
<div id="attachment_1192185" style="width: 1486px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1192185" class="size-full wp-image-1192185" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.11.41-PM.png" alt="" width="1476" height="289" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.11.41-PM.png 1476w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.11.41-PM-300x59.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.11.41-PM-1024x200.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-1.11.41-PM-768x150.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1476px) 100vw, 1476px" />FBI email: DOJ report.</div>
An FBI counterterrorism official agreed, writing that “my initial preference would be that we do *not* coordinate on this or provide any comments back, and ensure we are not identified in any way as a coordinator.”
“This will certainly hit the press as soon as it is published,” the official, whose name was redacted, added. 
Garland&#8217;s school board memo was issued after the National School Boards Association asked the federal government to respond to threats against school officials. Garland said the memo&#8217;s purpose was to respond to “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/ag/file/1170061-0/dl?inline">memo</a> prompted swift backlash from Republican officials and parents who argued that it was an attack on their rights to criticize school officials over mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory in the classroom. 
Other correspondence showed frustration over how DOJ introduced the initiative. One day after the memo was issued, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Jay Greenberg sent an email saying that the bureau had been blindsided by the decision. 
“We were all caught off guard by this announcement,” Greenberg said in an October 5, 2021 email. “This was unilaterally pushed by DOJ, and we are now working with DOJ [Office of Public Affairs] to message clear intent.”
<div id="attachment_1192195" style="width: 1495px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1192195" class="size-full wp-image-1192195" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-2.07.32-PM.png" alt="" width="1485" height="392" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-2.07.32-PM.png 1485w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-2.07.32-PM-300x79.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-2.07.32-PM-1024x270.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-2.07.32-PM-768x203.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1485px) 100vw, 1485px" />FBI email: DOJ.</div>
Previously released emails <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/11/us-news/biden-doj-given-repeated-advance-warnings-about-notorious-school-board-memo-new-docs-show/">show</a> that Greenberg had asked the Justice Department to hold off on releasing the memo so FBI officials could discuss their concerns. 
“We have some concern with the attached [memo] and would like additional time to engage with you before this messaging is released,” he said. “I would ask for any assistance you can provide in helping us get time to find common ground we can all support.”
Another email included in Monday’s report showed former Justice Department official George Toscas objecting to the involvement of the department’s National Security Division in a task force addressing school board threats. 
“As I previously expressed, I don’t see the need for a task force like this. We don’t start a narrowly focused task force every time some group believes they are the subject of threats. We (meaning DOJ and FBI) simply investigate credible criminal threats that have a federal nexus,” he wrote in an October 12, 2021 email. 
“I think we should ask that [the National Security Division] be removed from this task force. There is nothing to suggest a national security nexus to the alleged threats. If the others on the task force identify a national security nexus in any particular investigation, they can loop us in (just as any [US attorney office] or component is required to do),” he added. 
The Justice and Education Departments also sent a joint letter Monday to state attorneys general emphasizing the administration&#8217;s commitment to protecting parental rights. 
“Under the Biden Administration, parents were the enemy. They were labeled as terrorists, targeted, and investigated by a government weaponized against them,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “That era is over. The Trump Administration is acting with unprecedented energy and purpose to restore parents’ natural rights as the primary protectors of their children.”

Employees “Clap Out” Attorney General Merrick Garland As He Leaves The Department Of Justice

FBI Emails Expose Internal Backlash To Biden’s War On Angry Parents

department of justice

parental rights

school board

weaponization working group

While working as a state legislator, Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico put forth a bill that could have proved a boon to a pro-DEI company he consulted for at the time. 
Talarico <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=87R&amp;Bill=HB4111">introduced</a> a bill in the Texas House in March 2021 that would have mandated large Texas school districts to hire diversity, equity, and inclusion officers. That bill came during the time period when Talarico worked as a consultant for a group called MAYA Consulting which <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230320160152/https://mayaconsultingllc.com/2021/02/08/hiring-at-maya/">described</a> its work as “rooted” in a “diversity, equity, and inclusion philosophy.”
The bill, which failed to advance, would have <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/HB04111I.pdf">forced</a> school districts with student enrollment over 5,000 to “employ a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.” The role of the officer would be “addressing systemic inequities that lead to differences in student achievement” and support DEI training and education. 
If passed, 193 school districts would have had to hire DEI officers, <a href="https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfreport/snapshot/2020/distsize.html">according</a> to enrollment data from the time. Had the bill been passed, it could have increased demand for MAYA’s DEI services. 
Talarico worked for MAYA Consulting, now known as VIDA, from 2019 to 2025. The company previously <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/talarico-hit-blatant-corruption-allegation-hefty-salary-consulting-firm-campaign-pushes-back">described</a> his role as an “independent contractor consultant.” A spokeswoman for the company said Talarico’s role “was structured, specifically to remain separate from his role as a Texas state legislator.”
The Daily Wire reached out to VIDA for more clarification on how Talarico’s work was kept “separate” from his position as a lawmaker. 
MAYA has contracted with school districts across the country, including for explicitly DEI-related work. In one <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MAYA-GH-Learning-Sessions-Contract-2019.pdf">arrangement</a> with an Arizona school, that included the facilitation of three DEI seminars and paying one consultant $175 per hour for “strategic guidance and feedback.” 
“Much of our work is rooted in our diversity, equity, and inclusion philosophy. As part of this work, we often discuss how to tear down systems of oppression and white supremacy culture,” MAYA Consulting <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230320160152/https://mayaconsultingllc.com/2021/02/08/hiring-at-maya/">posted</a> on its blog back in 2021. &#8220;We work to recognize our own privilege and how to commit to being antiracist. We believe Black Lives Matter. And we have no tolerance for hate in our company.”
Talarico’s role with the organization was <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/texas-state-representative-on-the-public-education-committee-consulting-for-public-school-districts/">first flagged</a> by the watchdog Defending Education years before he launched his Senate campaign. 
In social media posts describing his role, Talarico said back in 2019 that he would be working with MAYA “to build educational opportunities for all our students” and that he would be working with the goal of offering “equitable educational opportunities.” 
As the Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this year, Talarico was paid $83,333 from MAYA Consulting in 2025, <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Talarico-financial-disclosure.pdf">according</a> to his financial disclosure. 
Talarico’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire to provide further information on his role with MAYA. 
A spokesman for his campaign previously <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/talarico-hit-blatant-corruption-allegation-hefty-salary-consulting-firm-campaign-pushes-back">told</a> Fox News that Talarico’s &#8220;relationship to MAYA was fully disclosed in compliance with Texas House rules&#8221; and that he had “no involvement in MAYA Consulting securing any public contracts and his contract with MAYA barred him from representing MAYA before the Texas Legislature or education agencies.&#8221;
Talarico voted against multiple proposals passed by the Texas legislature to root out support for DEI in educational and public institutions.

Senate Candidate James Talarico

Talarico Pushed DEI Mandate While Working For DEI Consulting Firm

diversity equity and inclusion

james talarico

texas legislature

texas senate

A Chinese foreign agent who spied on the relative of a top Taiwanese official was arrested at the airport while attempting to flee the United States, the Justice Department said. 
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced Sunday that the FBI arrested 34-year-old Wanying “Heather” Zhang at Los Angeles International Airport after federal officials accused her of acting as an unregistered agent for China. Zhang, a real estate agent in California, will appear in federal court on Monday.
“We just arrested a Chinese foreign agent at LAX attempting to depart for China,” Essayli <a href="https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2106881078317502927?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2106881078317502927%7Ctwgr%5Eb0782b627fc45061b0ebd3603e892fdbd14cbb70%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2026%2F10%2F04%2Fus-news%2Fcalifornia-realtor-34-busted-at-lax-for-spying-for-china-as-creepy-texts-to-beijing-handlers-revealed-feds%2F">posted</a> on X. “Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of PRC officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials.”
The arrest comes just a few weeks after President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, D.C., for a series of diplomatic meetings. The Trump administration has placed a high focus on countering China’s influence and espionage operations in the United States. 
Essayli said that Zhang coordinated the trip to Seattle with another person and “used tradecraft to avoid detection.” A law enforcement official <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-agent-arrested-lax-taiwan-president-son/">told</a> CBS News that Zhang is accused of spying on Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. 
“If the PRC [People&#8217;s Republic of China] wish to obtain leverage over the President of Taiwan during any potential conflict, the location and pictures of the close relatives of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official, including pictures of their homes and cars, could be useful to the PRC,&#8221; FBI Special Agent Kevin Holt wrote in an October 3 criminal complaint obtained by CBS. 
Holt wrote in the complaint that Zhang and an unnamed person flew from Las Vegas into Seattle on September 1, 2025, before renting a vehicle and driving to the home of Ting-Yu Lai. They allegedly filmed Lai and his family entering the home. 
&#8220;Saw him. Young male. It&#8217;s that young one,&#8221; Zhang texted a Chinese government official, according to messages included in the complaint. &#8220;I am videorecording.”
That trip came a few months after Zhang traveled to China where she met with officials to discuss the surveillance operation, according to investigators. 
&#8220;Zhang was in contact with at least two people whom she appeared to acknowledge worked for the PRC government,&#8221; Holt said in the criminal complaint. 
In the week leading up to the surveillance mission, Zhang allegedly texted a Chinese official, &#8220;I will be busy with work in L.A. this week. I will probably go to Seattle next week.” The official responded by thanking her for her work, according to the complaint. 
A spokeswoman for Taiwan’s president <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/fbi-arrests-alleged-chinese-agent-accused-of-spying-on-son-of-taiwan-leader-2d9d5bee">called</a> the incident a “classic case of transnational repression” with the “aim of suppressing, threatening, or even harming advocates of freedom and democracy and their families.”

MixCollage-05-Oct-2026-09-29-AM-317

Chinese ‘Spy’ Caught Making A Run For It After Secret U.S. Mission

china

espionage

taiwan

world

The son of Right-wing former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro advanced to a presidential runoff election against leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday as Latin American countries continue their shift to the Right. 
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro earned 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45% in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election as a plurality of voters rejected the leftist incumbent who co-founded the socialist Workers&#8217; Party. The race will go to a runoff election on October 25 since no candidate won over 50%. 
“The word is change,” Bolsonaro <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/world/americas/brazil-election-lula-bolsonaro.html">said</a>. “It’s the end of the era of the Workers’ Party.”
Bolsonaro is expected to win in the second round of voting as most of the votes that did not go to him or Lula went to right-wing candidates who are not advancing. The results defied the predictions of Brazil’s pollsters who expected Lula to win. 
“The second round is the ultimate test,” Lula said. “Starting tomorrow, we begin a new campaign.”
<div id="attachment_1191549" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1191549" class="wp-image-1191549 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/GettyImages-2298024225-864x576.jpg" alt="This combination of pictures created on October 4, 2026, shows Brazil's President and re-election candidate for the Workers' Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (R) speaks to the media after casting his vote during the presidential election at a polling station in Sao Bernardo do Campo, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 4, 2026; and Brazil's right-wing senator and presidential candidate for the Liberal Party (PL) Flavio Bolsonaro gives thumbs up in front of Rio de Janeiro gubernatorial candidate Douglas Ruas (C, back), as he leaves a polling station after voting during the presidential election in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 4, 2026. Polling stations closed in Brazil's first-round election on October 4, 2026, featuring a nail-biter presidential race between incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/GettyImages-2298024225-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/GettyImages-2298024225-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/GettyImages-2298024225-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/10/GettyImages-2298024225.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro; Credit: Pablo PORCIUNCULA and Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP via Getty Images.</div>
Lula narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro to win the presidency in 2022 after a judge cleared the way for him to run after his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ex-con-defeats-incumbent-in-brazilian-presidential-election">conviction</a> in a money laundering and bribery scheme centered around a state-owned oil company during his previous time in office. One of the judges who upheld the voiding of Lula’s convictions on a technicality later was appointed to a key cabinet position. 
After Lula&#8217;s election, Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison after he was accused of staging a coup for challenging the results of the election. Bolsonaro was a close ally of President Donald Trump who was tough on crime, supported free market economic policies, and opposed COVID lockdowns.
Bolsonaro’s family has since taken up the political mantle. In addition to his son advancing to the presidential run-off, both his wife Michelle and son Carlos won Senate seats. Another son, Jair Renan, was elected as a federal deputy as was Bolsonaro&#8217;s brother Renato. Bolsonaro&#8217;s son Eduardo currently lives in the United States after Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court sentenced him to over four years in prison for allegedly attempting to get American officials to intervene in his father&#8217;s criminal case. 
Trump weighed in on the Brazilian election results, praising the swift counting of the votes. 
“125 Million People voted today in the first round of Brazil’s Presidential Election,” he posted on Truth Social. “The results came out shortly after the vote closed, on the SAME DAY! In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and numerous other U.S. Cities and States, the results, with much smaller numbers, will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate. Voting in America is CORRUPT!”
In recent years, Latin America has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-trump-backed-candidate-declares-victory-over-the-left-in-latin-america">shifted</a> politically with the ascension of Right-wing leaders in Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

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