<p>With the 2026 midterm elections fast approaching, Democrats have been scrambling to find new ways to connect with voters — particularly young men, a demographic with which the party struggled mightily in 2024 — and thus far, they appear to have settled on a popular streamer who claimed that the United States &#8220;deserved&#8221; 9/11.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sad-michigan-muslims-drove-dem-senate-hopeful-to-silence-on-khamenei">Hasan Piker</a>, who boasts over four million followers between YouTube and Twitch, has hosted Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-NYC), and endorsed Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) — and is set to campaign with Democratic Michigan Senatorial hopeful Abdul El-Sayed.</p>
<p>Not all Democrats are willing to stretch the party&#8217;s tent quite that far, however, and have warned others not to welcome Piker too warmly.</p>
<p>Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is also vying for the Democratic Senate nomination, has accused El-Sayed of intentionally bringing in someone with a reputation for spreading &#8220;antisemitic rhetoric.&#8221;</p>
<p>El-Sayed defended his choice, saying, &#8220;If we want to have a conversation where we’re actually bringing people together about the things that we need and deserve, we’re gonna have to go to unlikely and uncommon places.&#8221;</p>
<p>He also defended his association with Piker — who said the sexual violence and rapes that occurred during the October 7 terrorist attack did not change his opinion that Hamas was &#8220;1,000 times better than Israel&#8221; — during a recent appearance on Fox News.</p>
<p>&#8220;America&#8217;s Newsroom&#8221; anchor Bill Hemmer asked El-Sayed, &#8220;With regard to October 7th, he said that what Hamas did is the lesser of two evils. Why saddle up with that?&#8221;</p>
<p>El-Sayed claimed that his interested in appearing with Piker was no different than his interest in appearing on Fox News, and was nothing more than an attempt to reach more potential voters.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defending his event with Hasan Piker: &#8220;Doesn&#8217;t matter if r*pes happened on October 7th.&#8221;</p>
<p>This is what passes for leadership in today&#8217;s Democratic Party. <a href="https://t.co/Im4h7WGJQp">pic.twitter.com/Im4h7WGJQp</a></p>
<p>— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2039345494724387039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Senator John Fetterman voiced his shock that some in his party weren&#8217;t just agreeing with Piker, but were seeking him out: &#8220;I mean, my God, you have many in my party, they&#8217;re proud to do events with Hasan Piker. This is the individual that said that America deserved 9/11.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">BREAKING: Senator Fetterman slams members of the Democrat party for associating with Hasan Piker.</p>
<p>“I mean, my God, you have many in my party, they&#8217;re proud to do events with Hasan Piker. This is the individual that said that America deserved 9/11.” <a href="https://t.co/DBpXQyAt6S">pic.twitter.com/DBpXQyAt6S</a></p>
<p>— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/EYakoby/status/2040935080575598663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The Bulwark&#8217;s Tim Miller and Sarah Longwell <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-hasan-piker-toxic-or-gettable">debated</a> whether or not the Democratic Party would be wise to embrace Piker or reject him. Miller argued that although he didn&#8217;t agree with Piker&#8217;s politics, he thought that Democrats would be wise to appear on his show — and then said that if the party establishment were to shun him entirely, they would only make him more powerful.</p>
<p>Longwell laid out a number of the problematic things Piker had said, arguing that he was &#8220;all the toxic things&#8221; and his &#8220;worldview&#8221; was entirely incompatible with anything any Democrat in America claims to stand for.</p>
<p>Some of the comments that Longwell laid out as problematic were as follows:</p>
<h4>&#8220;If you cared about Medicare fraud &#8230; you would kill Rick Scott.&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Democrat spokesperson Hasan Piker urged his audience to kill Republican lawmakers.</p>
<p>PIKER: “If you cared about Medicare fraud&#8230;you would kill Rick Scott.”</p>
<p>This is the SICK LUNATIC who Democrats are campaigning with. <a href="https://t.co/vgccGZSbem">pic.twitter.com/vgccGZSbem</a></p>
<p>— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/2041540038714929217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h4>On landlords who choose not to rent properties, &#8220;KiII the motherf*ckers. Let the streets soak in their red, capitalist bIood!&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hasan Piker: &#8220;KiII the motherf*ckers. Let the streets soak in their red, capitalist bIood!&#8221;</p>
<p>Democrats are campaigning with him <a href="https://t.co/YxiL47tOOw">pic.twitter.com/YxiL47tOOw</a></p>
<p>— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/2041269836399940076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h4>&#8220;Hezbollah &#8230; I think as a resistance group, they&#8217;re pretty successful &#8230; I don&#8217;t have an issue with them.&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hasan Piker, who endorses Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, also endorses terrorists:</p>
<p>PIKER: &#8220;Hezbollah&#8230;I think as a resistance group, they&#8217;re pretty successful&#8230;I don&#8217;t have an issue with them&#8230;they are a terrorist organization&#8230;&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/ossoff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ossoff</a>, why haven&#8217;t you condemned this? <a href="https://t.co/6hEhC20FPf">pic.twitter.com/6hEhC20FPf</a></p>
<p>— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/2040157561333125437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h4>&#8220;America deserved 9/11. I do not support the United States of America.&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hasan Piker: “America deserved 9/11. I do not support the United States of America.”</p>
<p>This is Gavin Newsom’s new friend btw.</p>
<p><a href="https://t.co/LDjizrQgVN">pic.twitter.com/LDjizrQgVN</a></p>
<p>— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/EYakoby/status/2037028037556941014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h4>&#8220;Overall, my favorite flag is Hezbollah.&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hasan Piker, sitting at a table with an LGBTQ+ flag, says: “Overall, my favorite flag is Hezbollah.”</p>
<p>This is progressivism today—a guy in a tank top, in the West, praising a terror group that executes gay people, right in front of a pride flag. <a href="https://t.co/9QrtKqMKnl">pic.twitter.com/9QrtKqMKnl</a></p>
<p>— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/EYakoby/status/2040544322278338951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h4>&#8220;Hasan Piker closed his Stanford speech by framing the U.S. as the &#8216;belly of the beast,&#8217; urging students to use their position inside it to &#8216;fight&#8217; the system, warning of &#8216;techno-fascist danger,&#8217; and ending with &#8216;Free Palestine.'&#8221;</h4>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">For those curious, Hasan Piker closed his Stanford speech by framing the U.S. as the “belly of the beast,” urging students to use their position inside it to “fight” the system, warning of “techno-fascist danger,” and ending with “Free Palestine.” <a href="https://t.co/8OdSZgE3M8">pic.twitter.com/8OdSZgE3M8</a></p>
<p>— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) <a href="https://twitter.com/thestustustudio/status/2039706184261795984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>If the 2024 election taught Democrats that they need to do more outreach to young men, the 2026 midterms might teach the party that the voice they choose to do that outreach matters.</p>


Hasan Piker online streamer, influencer, and left-wing

Dems Are Scrambling To Campaign With Terrorist Groupie Who Says America ‘Deserved’ 9/11

Dems Are Scrambling To Campaign With Terrorist Groupie Who Says America 'Deserved' 9/11

9/11

Democrats

Hezbollah

John Fetterman

Jon Ossoff

Ro Khanna

terrorist

<p>President Donald Trump gave the Iranian regime a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule">deadline</a> of 8 p.m. on Tuesday to reach a deal with the United States and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and a number of Democrats have spent the hours leading up to that deadline warning American service members to be wary of — or disregard — any potentially &#8220;illegal&#8221; orders.</p>
<p>Responding to Trump&#8217;s deadline — and his warning that &#8220;a whole civilization will die tonight&#8221; — Democrats quickly lined up to claim that the president was either not in full possession of his mental faculties or about to issue illegal orders to the United States military, if not both.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,&#8221; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://x.com/AOC/status/2041563794787193194">declared</a>. &#8220;To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) addressed his <a href="https://x.com/tedlieu/status/2041277990903091695">warning</a> to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying, &#8220;The UCMJ and federal law prohibit war crimes. Striking civilian infrastructure that causes disproportionate civilian harm constitutes war crimes. You will disobey those illegal orders. If you commit war crimes, the next Administration will prosecute you.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;These are not the words of a sane person,&#8221; Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) <a href="https://x.com/RepJasonCrow/status/2041516423906824681">added</a>. &#8220;Calling for the elimination of a civilization is a war crime. As I’ve repeatedly said, our military must only follow lawful orders. Every American of good conscience must repudiate this.&#8221;</p>
<p>Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) ignored the possibility that a bridge or power plant might be considered a military target if it was part of the necessary infrastructure sustaining and supplying the Iranian forces, and instead suggested that any attack on such infrastructure would necessarily be an attack on civilian populations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Threatening to target power plants and other non-military targets is not strength. If those words become orders to destroy civilian infrastructure with no valid military purpose, it’s hard to see how they would not violate the laws of armed conflict. America leads best with strength, discipline, and professionalism. Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2041333810269151246">Kelly said</a>.</p>
<p>Democrats began warning American troops that &#8220;illegal&#8221; orders were a possibility — and were perhaps even to be expected — from President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration months earlier, when &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseths-war-department-escalates-review-of-mark-kelly-over-seditious-six-video">The Seditious Six</a>&#8221; published a <a href="https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/1990774492356902948">video</a> in response to a number of precision strikes on narco-terrorists. Led by Senators Kelly and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), the group called on members of the military to refuse &#8220;illegal&#8221; or &#8220;unlawful&#8221; orders while heavily insinuating that if Trump or War Secretary Pete Hegseth had not already given such orders, they were likely to do so.</p>
<p>Slotkin doubled down on Tuesday, <a href="https://x.com/SenatorSlotkin/status/2041559132755653104">posting</a>, &#8220;I know that our service members up and down the chain of command know their duty and the law to refuse illegal orders. Even as the Commander-in-Chief tells the world otherwise. It’s moments like these that are why we made the video to service members last year. And I hope and believe our troops — especially those in command — will have the moral clarity to push back if they are given clearly illegal orders.&#8221;</p>


Celebrity Sightings In New York City – June 22, 2024

Trump’s Iran Clock Is Ticking As Democrats Try To Make Moves Behind His Back

Dems Prep For Trump's Iran Deadline By Warning Military Against 'Illegal Orders'

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Iran

Military

Pete Hegseth

U.S.

<p>Eissa Hashemi has never denounced his mother — a spokesperson for the Iranian regime&#8217;s propaganda machine — but still he&#8217;s living large in Los Angeles, lecturing American students in his field: psychology.</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/06/us-news/son-of-irans-twisted-pr-chief-found-living-life-of-luxury-in-la-and-hes-teaching-superrich-california-kids/?utm_campaign=capost&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social">Hashemi</a>, 43, has been living in the United States since 2010 and is an adjunct associate professor at The Chicago School in Los Angeles, the New York Post reported — but has recently faced criticism and calls for deportation as critics say that he has never publicly condemned his mother&#8217;s role in the oppressive Iranian revolutionary government.</p>
<p>Hashemi is the son of former Iranian Vice President for Women and Family Affairs <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/ex-spokeswoman-hostage-takers-says-us-misreads-iran">Masoumeh Ebtekar</a> — better known as &#8220;Screaming Mary&#8221; to Americans who were alive when militants attacked the United States Embassy in Tehran in 1979.</p>
<p>Ebtekar was a 19-year-old college student when she joined the revolutionaries in storming the embassy — and because she herself had been raised in Philadelphia, she quickly became their spokesperson when their embassy raid escalated to a hostage crisis that went on for more than a year.</p>
<p>She was the voice heard around the world after violent revolutionaries took 52 American hostages — and proceeded to hold them for 444 days — giving interviews in English and spinning the regime&#8217;s propaganda throughout. She often toured the embassy where the hostages were being held, pushing them to give more positive comments about their time in captivity.</p>
<p>She has, in the time since, claimed that the United States is to blame for diplomatic rifts between Washington and Tehran — and has defended her own role in the revolution.</p>
<p>Hashemi, for his part, is just one of a number of Iranians who were born into political prominence in the regime, but who have since chosen to live in the United States. He is also one of several children of the regime who have risen to prominent positions in academia, and have gone on to educate American children.</p>
<p>Several of those who have been connected to regime officials have already had their <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-members-of-slain-iranian-general-arrested-u-s-legal-status-revoked">legal status</a> in the United States revoked — and a number have already begun petitioning for Hashemi to receive similar treatment. Several protests calling for just that took place in January outside The Chicago School and other facilities with which he has been associated.</p>


Iranian Vice-President Masoumeh Ebtekar

His Mother Raised Him On Iran’s Regime Propaganda. Now He’s Teaching Your Kids.

His Mother Raised Him On Iran's Regime Propaganda. Now He's Teaching Your Kids.

Education

Politics

<p>An apparently random occurrence aboard the Orion spacecraft quickly resulted in an &#8220;out of this world&#8221; ad campaign for the hazelnut cocoa spread Nutella.</p>
<p>During a video clip posted by the crew of the Artemis II lunar mission — just moments before they broke the record, set by Apollo 13, for distance traveled from earth — a jar of Nutella floated across the cabin, tumbling end over end as it prominently displayed the label.</p>
<p>&#8220;A jar of Nutella was seen floating through the Orion spacecraft approximately 4 minutes before the Artemis II crew made history as they passed the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970 of 248,655 miles from Earth on Monday,&#8221; CBS News captioned a short video of the moment.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">A jar of Nutella was seen floating through the Orion spacecraft approximately 4 minutes before the Artemis II crew made history as they passed the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970 of 248,655 miles from Earth on Monday. <a href="https://t.co/wqt680thQL">pic.twitter.com/wqt680thQL</a></p>
<p>— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/2041263539386458166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Nutella quickly capitalized on what was being hailed across X as the best accidental product placement in history, sharing a video clip with the caption, &#8220;Honored to have traveled further than any spread in history. Taking spreading smiles to new heights.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Honored to have traveled further than any spread in history 🚀 Taking spreading smiles to new heights ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/vDUJMi1qbS">pic.twitter.com/vDUJMi1qbS</a></p>
<p>— Nutella (@NutellaUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NutellaUSA/status/2041274623417795021?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Bright, bold letters on the screen — as the jar flipped across the frame — read simply, &#8220;Nutella is out of this world.&#8221;</p>
<p>NASA&#8217;s Kennedy Space Center got in on the joke, posting in <a href="https://x.com/NASAKennedy/status/2041285011467390990">response</a>, &#8220;Enjoying sweet treats while our Artemis crew takes sweet photos of the Moon!&#8221;</p>
<p>Hilton Hotels <a href="https://x.com/Hilton/status/2041314714194506195">posted</a>, &#8220;A suite touch to a historic journey.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ultrarunner Carilyn Johnson <a href="https://x.com/CarilynJohnson/status/2041303028196622436">suggested</a> a joint campaign with Moon Pies, saying, &#8220;There it is! We’ve been waiting. Now, consider a product mashup with @MoonPie. Their dialogue with NASA has been an absolute delight! And a Nutella Moon Pie sounds delish!&#8221;</p>
<p>The Moon Pies X account has been going back and forth with NASA since Artemis II launched, responding to photos of the <a href="https://x.com/MoonPie/status/2039482821392097425">rocket</a> and the <a href="https://x.com/MoonPie/status/2040082044361875607">earth</a> from space with comments like, &#8220;Please tell the moon how much we love her,&#8221; and, &#8220;Enough about Earth I wanna see that MOON.&#8221;</p>


Screenshot/NASA

WATCH: Artemis Crew Delivers Wholesome Moment People At Home Can Relate To

Artemis II Accidentally Delivers 'Out Of This World' Ad Campaign

advertising

Artemis II

NASA

Outer Space

Space

<p>The crew of NASA&#8217;s Artemis II mission spent Monday looking at parts of the moon that had never been seen by the human eye — and they paused briefly to pay a one-of-a-kind tribute to a lost family member.</p>
<p>The crew shared video on Instagram as they discussed the new features and craters they&#8217;d observed while seeing the far side of the moon for the first time, and shared the names they&#8217;d chosen for two of them: Integrity, for their spacecraft; and Carroll, for mission Commander Reid Wiseman&#8217;s late wife who died of cancer in 2020 at just 46 years old.</p>
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<p>&#8220;Our science team helped us out with a couple of relatively fresh craters on the moon that have not been previously named, and our crew would like to propose a couple of potential names for those items or those areas,&#8221; Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen explained. &#8220;We spent a bit of time this morning looking out the window and we&#8217;re able to see them now, both with our naked eye and through the long lens, and so we feel this is a good time to send this down, and a special shout out to Kelsey for helping us with this.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hansen said that the first of the two features was a crater that the crew wanted named &#8220;in honor of our great spacecraft Integrity,&#8221; but the second was one that held far deeper meaning for the members of the Artemis II crew.</p>
<p>&#8220;A number of years ago, we started this journey [with] our close-knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one, and there&#8217;s a feature and a really neat place on the moon and it is on the near side/far side boundary, in fact it&#8217;s just on the near side of that boundary, and so at certain times of the moon&#8217;s transit around earth you can — we will be able to see this from earth. And so we lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katey and Ellie,&#8221; Hansen said, his voice breaking. Wiseman could be seen in the video wiping away tears, as could mission specialist Christina Koch.</p>
<p>&#8220;And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko and it&#8217;s just to the northwest of that at the same latitude as Ohm and it&#8217;s a bright spot on the moon. We would like to call it Carroll,&#8221; he continued, his voice still shaky as he spelled out the name.</p>
<p>The microphone cut then, and the three other astronauts quickly converged on Hansen, enveloping each other in a zero-gravity group hug.</p>


‘Bright Spot’: Artemis II Crew Names Moon Feature After Mission Commander’s Late Wife

Artemis II Crew Names Moon Feature After Mission Commander's Late Wife

Aerospace

General

<p>Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and self-described &#8220;First Partner of California,&#8221; offered a bizarre defense of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.</p>
<p>Newsom, in a recent video, claimed that the two women — both recently removed from cabinet-level positions in President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration — were victims of &#8220;the Patriarchy&#8221; and proof positive that the war on women was raging ever onward.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
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<p>&#8220;Trust me, I&#8217;m not a fan of Pam Bondi nor Kristi Noem,&#8221; Newsom began, adding, &#8220;But I need to call out that it&#8217;s no surprise to me that the first two prominent people pushed out of this administration were women.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Let me explain. The conservative women that Trump handpicks, who align themselves with an agenda that controls women, restricting our rights, limiting our autonomy, and pushing us back into the straitjacket of femininity that is only in service of men, that&#8217;s a familiar pattern here,&#8221; Newsom claimed. &#8220;Women are brought in and packaged Mar-a-Lago-style and lifted up, as long as they commit to whole-heartedly serve the interests of the patriarch at the top.&#8221;</p>
<p>Newsom went on to argue that those positions only <em>appeared</em> to hold power &#8220;or proximity to power&#8221; and failed to provide any kind of real authority or security: &#8220;There’s no secure place inside this handpicked patriarchal body that systemically disrespects, devalues, and discriminates against women and girls.&#8221;</p>
<p>California&#8217;s &#8220;first partner&#8221; pivoted to attack Noem and Bondi — and other women aligned with the Trump administration — as &#8220;complicit&#8221; in devaluing other women and warned that they would always be the &#8220;first to go&#8221; when it mattered.</p>
<p>&#8220;Your power is only temporary,&#8221; she claimed, adding, &#8220;And ultimately, they will come for you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Newsom made no mention of the fact that Trump was responsible for hiring the first woman to manage a winning presidential campaign (Kellyanne Conway), the first working mother to serve as White House Press Secretary (Sarah Huckabee Sanders), and the first woman to serve as White House Chief of Staff (Susie Wiles). She also failed to acknowledge that it was actually a man — Green Beret veteran Mike Waltz, now serving as U.S. Ambassador to the UN — who was the first high-ranking official to be ousted from his role as national security adviser.</p>


California Governor Gavin Newsom Interview On The Circuit

Gavin Newsom’s Wife Offers Bizarre Defense Of Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi

Gavin Newsom's Wife Offers Bizarre Defense Of Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi

Jennifer Newsom

Kristi Noem

Pam Bondi

Patriarchy

Sexism

<p>CNN anchor Jake Tapper and former director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent traded barbs over media coverage of Operation Epic Fury and Iranian state-promoted propaganda.</p>
<p>Kent, who abruptly left his position in the United States intelligence community over President Donald Trump&#8217;s military operation in Iran, spurred the back-and-forth when he commented on the ongoing rescue mission to retrieve an airman from behind enemy lines in Iran.</p>
<p>&#8220;Praying for the rescue of our downed pilot &amp; the safe return of our Special Operators going in to get him back. USAF PJs &amp; CSAR Air crews are top notch,&#8221; Kent <a href="https://x.com/joekent16jan19/status/2040578006230462496">posted</a>, but also shared a report from Drop Site News that parroted Iranian propaganda that suggested the United States was actively attempting to kill the downed airman rather than rescue him.</p>
<blockquote><p>Iranian state-linked Tasnim News, citing a military source, claims U.S. forces are bombing areas in southwest Iran where a missing pilot may be located, alleging Washington has “lost hope” of recovery and is attempting to kill him.</p></blockquote>
<p>Tapper <a href="https://x.com/jaketapper/status/2041125801051967769">pushed back</a> early on Monday, one day after an elaborate rescue mission had succeeded in safely extracting the weapon systems specialist, saying, &#8220;Former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent sharing Iranian state-linked outlet nonsense claiming, falsely, that the U.S. was trying to kill the then-lost U.S. pilot. Aged rather poorly, I think it&#8217;s fair to say.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kent responded by claiming that Tapper was promoting the war and that Iranian media was &#8220;independent,&#8221; and said that anyone &#8220;cheering on wars&#8221; should be questioned.</p>
<p>&#8220;Tapper’s purpose, like the entire corporate media, is to promote this foolish war &amp; attack anyone who points out how this war isn’t in our nation’s interest. Read independent media, Iranian media &amp; US media &#8211; always question those cheering on wars &amp; always pray for our troops,&#8221; he <a href="https://x.com/joekent16jan19/status/2041140400304337063">posted</a>.</p>
<p>The CNN anchor disputed Kent&#8217;s characterization, saying that neither he nor CNN were in the business of promoting any war. &#8220;We cover it, critically.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Moreover, I wasn’t attacking Mr. Kent. I pointed out that he had promoted false information suggesting the U.S. was seeking to *kill* the missing U.S. pilot. Wild stuff,&#8221; Tapper concluded.</p>
<p>Kent had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-kent-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-iran">previously</a> called for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-kent-circa-2020-i-personally-think-trump-should-have-crushed-their-ballistic-nuke-capes">far more aggressive treatment</a> of Iran, but pivoted and quickly announced his departure from the Trump administration after the president took action.</p>


GettyImages-2251397231-2

Even The Left Calls Out Joe Kent After He Pushes Iranian Narrative

Jake Tapper

Joe Kent

Media

Propaganda

World

<p>CNN&#8217;s chief data analyst Harry Enten threw cold water on the Democratic Party as the 2026 midterm elections approach, saying that at least in terms of popularity, they were well behind where they had been in previous years.</p>
<p>Enten joined anchor John Berman on Monday morning to discuss the elections — less than eight months away — and said that Democrats were nowhere near where they had been in previous midterm elections when the president was a Republican.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">NEW: Republicans lead in net favorability ahead of the 2026 midterms</p>
<p>&#8220;Democrats are, just simply put, running behind their previous benchmark&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/VeE4MdDqsx">pic.twitter.com/VeE4MdDqsx</a></p>
<p>— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/2041156139274948973?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;Just take a look at this, net favorability, party ahead at this point, midterm years with a GOP president. In 2018, Dems were up by 12,&#8221; Enten said. &#8220;In 2006, on net favorability, which party do you like more, Dems are ahead by 18. Republicans are actually ahead on net favorability at this [point] by five points. So Democrats are just, simply put, running behind their previous benchmarks and they need to be running well ahead of them if they want to take back the United States Senate, given that math.&#8221;</p>
<p>Just a few minutes earlier, Enten laid out the <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/cnn-data-guru-reveals-gop-may-keep-the-senate-thanks-to-dems-historically-low-midterm-lead/">reasons</a> he believed that Democrats had a relatively decent shot at taking control of the U.S. House in the midterms, but would have a much harder time gaining a majority in the Senate.</p>
<p>Citing a small lead for Democrats on generic ballots, Enten said that spread might just be enough to overcome the slim Republican margin in the House of Representatives.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would say this, Mr. Berman, and that is that this lead is historically low for Democrats at this point with a Republican president,&#8221; Enten explained. &#8220;Because, take a look here, and I’m taking a look at the average of all the polls, Dem generic congressional ballot lead at this point in the cycle with a Republican president. On average, their lead’s actually slightly less, it’s five points. That’s less than it was back in 2018 when it was eight points, and way less than it was during the 2006 cycle when it was 11 points.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;So, yeah, Democrats are ahead, but they’re only ahead by five with a president whose net approval rating is bordering on -20 to -30, depending on what polls you look at. You’d make the argument Democrats should be way ahead. And they’re just only sort of, slightly ahead,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>That math, according to Enten, would not help Democrats in the Senate because of the map in play in 2026.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think five points is enough to take back the House, but in the Senate, five points is almost certainly not enough if you apply it to the Senate map,&#8221; Enten argued. &#8220;Why do I say that? Because let’s just take a look, GOP would win the Senate with this map. Let’s say Republicans only hold onto the states that Trump won by greater than 10 points. That would, in fact, give them the Senate 51 to 49.&#8221;</p>
<p>Given the current Senate makeup — 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with Democrats — Democrats would have to flip at least four seats in November in order to take the majority. On a map that Enten identified as far more friendly to the GOP, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/U.S._Senate_battlegrounds,_2026">Ballotpedia</a> has identified ten seats in total — eight of them currently held by Republicans — as potential &#8220;battlegrounds&#8221;: Alaska (R), Montana (R), Texas (R), Nebraska (R), Wisconsin (D), Ohio (R), Florida (R), North Carolina (R), New Hampshire (D), and Maine (R).</p>


Chuck Schumer & Hakeem Jeffries

The Midterm Warning Signs Are Flashing For Democrats, And Even CNN Sees It

2026 elections

2026 midterm

Harry Enten

<p>The crew of Artemis II channeled the opening sequence from popular 1980s sitcom &#8220;Full House&#8221; — complete with theme song — in a video NASA shared via Instagram on Easter Sunday.</p>
<p>As anyone who has ever taken a long road trip knows, the challenge is always to find something to do to fill the long hours in between destinations. And in the downtime, amid their mission-oriented duties and amateur photographic exploits, the crew of Artemis II answered that challenge with gusto.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everywhere you look, everywhere you go — there’s the Artemis II crew,&#8221; NASA&#8217;s Instagram caption read. &#8220;These four astronauts are currently on their way to fly around the Moon in NASA’s Orion capsule, which is roughly comparable to two minivans. You could say it’s a full house!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
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<p>Throughout the video — with &#8220;Full House&#8221; theme song &#8220;Everywhere you look&#8221; playing in the background, each of the crew members got a brief video introduction. Even the crew&#8217;s zero-gravity indicator — a ball nicknamed &#8220;Rise&#8221; — got a nod as they all hammed it up for the camera.</p>
<p>Opening on title &#8220;Full Capsule&#8221; and a shot of the crew all together, waving at the camera, the video quickly cut to individual introductions.</p>
<p>Reid Wiseman, Commander, got the first nod. Then came Victor Glover, Pilot; Christina Koch, Mission Specialist; Rise, zero-gravity indicator; and finally Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist.</p>
<p>&#8220;We were doing scenes from bad 80s sitcoms when they introduce the cast of characters, so that&#8217;s why we all did those,&#8221; mission Commander Reid Wiseman said with a laugh as the video ended. &#8220;And we are cracking up up here.&#8221;</p>
<p>The video caught the attention of &#8220;Full House&#8221; star John Stamos, who was clearly on board with the good-natured ribbing. &#8220;Bad 80&#8217;s sitcoms? Honored,&#8221; he posted in the comments.</p>
<p>Stamos then reposted the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DWxR2FDDs_K/">video</a> from his own account, adding his own caption: &#8220;Honestly? If aliens make contact now, they’re gonna think our entire civilization is just hugs, life lessons, and Uncle Jesse fixing everything in 22 minutes.&#8221;</p>


Artemis II Hype Video Goes All-In On 80s Sitcom Vibe

<p>CNN guest Nayyera Haq attempted to spin the war as a win for Iran, claiming that the United States was behind when it came to internet memes and propaganda, and arguing that in order to &#8220;win,&#8221; all Iran had to do was &#8220;survive.&#8221;</p>
<p>Haq — who previously served as a senior State Department adviser under former President Barack Obama — joined a panel discussion on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; where she said that the war thus far had been a showcase displaying two areas in which Iran was prevailing over the United States.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">WATCH <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@scottjenningsKY</a> clowns Obama WH official Nayyera Haq for suggesting Iran&#8217;s memes are a capability on par with the Shahed drone.</p>
<p>NAYYERA HAQ: I think the irony in all of this is that Iran has shown its capabilities in two ways, where the United States is unfortunately… <a href="https://t.co/ob7XuCtbVa">pic.twitter.com/ob7XuCtbVa</a></p>
<p>— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) <a href="https://twitter.com/BonillaJL/status/2040902780999667831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;I think the irony in all of this is that Iran has shown its capabilities in two ways, where the United States is unfortunately catching up,&#8221; Haq began, saying that the first capability was the use of cheap drone technology to carry out attacks — a capability that Iran had honed while providing that technology to Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine.</p>
<p>&#8220;And the second is the meme war and internet propaganda, which is something actually the Iranians have been known for and influencing. And so they had — for all of our talk on our side of all the people killed in the regime, they have been pushing out through multiple channels around the world, images of the American army generals and military people who have also lost their jobs at this time,&#8221; Haq continued. &#8220;So, again, the way this looks out in the public is not a United States that is locked and loaded and working in one direction.&#8221;</p>
<p>Conservative commentator Scott Jennings pushed back then, asking Haq, &#8220;Do you think that the Iranians would rather have their entire navy back or their memes?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Oh, I think the — I think that, no, when we&#8217;re talking —&#8221; Haq protested.</p>
<p>&#8220;I mean, come on. We have destroyed 13,000 military targets. And they have memes,&#8221; Jennings said.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a — the big distinction, is that we&#8217;re fighting the war on their land,&#8221; Haq pivoted. &#8220;So they have a say. If they survive, that&#8217;s a win for them. That&#8217;s it. So their stakes are so much higher, but they have to do so much less to be able to maintain some kind of credibility.&#8221;</p>


Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Politicon

CNN Analyst Says Iran Is Winning War Because Memes

CNN Guest Tries To Spin War In Iran's Favor, Cites ‘Memes’

<p>Former CENTCOM Commander and retired Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie praised the efficiency of the American military&#8217;s rescue operation to retrieve a downed weapon systems operator (WSO) after his plane went down in Iran.</p>
<p>McKenzie spoke with CBS News anchor Ed O&#8217;Keefe on &#8220;Face the Nation,&#8221; where he said it was important to note that U.S. military forces had been able to get to him first — even though the Iranian regime had offered a reward to anyone who could help them locate him before the United States was able to pull off a rescue mission.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The mission to rescue the missing U.S. airman In Iran was “executed pretty effectively,” former CENTCOM commander Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie says.</p>
<p>“It takes a year to build an aircraft and it takes 200 years to build a military tradition where you don&#8217;t leave anybody behind.”… <a href="https://t.co/rZZy9OA0Us">pic.twitter.com/rZZy9OA0Us</a></p>
<p>— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/2040806763054645554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>&#8220;So, it took just under 48 hours to find the missing weapon systems officer,&#8221; O&#8217;Keefe began, noting that the area where the plane had gone down was very remote and the terrain was uneven. &#8220;What&#8217;s your assessment of how the search and rescue operation went?&#8221;</p>
<p>McKenzie said that there were &#8220;two lessons&#8221; that he would take from the way the rescue operations had played out: &#8220;First of all, the excellence of the joint force, our ability to rapidly pivot to look for a downed air crewman. We train for this endlessly, it&#8217;s a part of every time we send air crew over enemy territory, we have detailed, elaborate plans to go get them.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a very basic part of who we are as American fighting men and women,&#8221; he added, saying that the plan had been &#8220;executed pretty effectively&#8221; as far as he could see.</p>
<p>Acknowledging the planes that were lost in pursuit of the rescue mission, McKenzie argued that the man on the ground would always take precedence: &#8220;It takes a year to build an aircraft and it takes 200 years to build a military tradition where you don&#8217;t leave anybody behind. You take the aircraft trade any day in a situation like this.&#8221;</p>
<p>The second lesson, according to McKenzie, was one for Iran – that the people might not be as eager to help the regime as they had hoped. Even after a reward was offered for help in locating the missing American airman, the Iranian regime was unable to prevent the rescue mission from ending in success.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t be happy with that if you&#8217;re a senior leader in Tehran this morning,&#8221; he said.</p>


US-POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN-HEARING

Former CENTCOM Chief Drops A Line That Hits At The Heart Of Military Honor

Department of War

<p>Artemis II pilot Victor Glover delivered a powerful message of faith as he and his fellow astronauts traveled toward the moon, praising God&#8217;s creation ahead of the Easter holiday.</p>
<p>Glover, a devout Christian, said that traveling into space had given him a whole new perspective on his faith, the earth, and the universe — all of which God had made for his final creations: humans.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Astronaut Victor Glover delivers beautiful Easter message from space, praises God’s creation.</p>
<p>“When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us…”</p>
<p>“You&#8217;re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe,… <a href="https://t.co/OnABmW6Sz4">pic.twitter.com/OnABmW6Sz4</a></p>
<p>— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/2040565778941169851?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>&#8220;As we are so far from earth and looking back at the beauty of creation, and I think the — for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see earth as one thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You know, when I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us, who were created, it&#8217;s — you have this amazing place, this spaceship, you guys are talking to us because we&#8217;re in a spaceship really far from earth.&#8221;</p>
<p>Glover then flipped the analogy on its head, saying that in a way, earth itself was the &#8220;spaceship&#8221; from which all of humanity viewed the universe.</p>
<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we&#8217;re doing is special, but we&#8217;re the same distance from you, and I&#8217;m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special.&#8221;</p>
<p>Glover concluded by pointing out that in all the vastness of the universe — most of which was defined more by the empty space than the physical objects that inhabit parts of it — humans had been given one small planet in one small solar system in one small galaxy, and had used that to create incredible things.</p>
<p>&#8220;In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together,&#8221; he added, as the other members of his crew nodded along. &#8220;So I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and we&#8217;ve gotta get through this together.&#8221;</p>


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Virginia Kruta