DC Water, the public utility responsible for the massive sewage spill in the Potomac River, focused much of its attention on environmentalism and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in recent years.
The spill, considered one of the largest wastewater disasters in U.S. history, has placed DC Water&#8217;s DEI priorities in the spotlight. In 2021, DC Water became one of the first public utilities in the country to release a report on its Environmental, Social, and Governance priorities, a framework used by investors to measure a company’s commitments to leftist causes, including fighting &#8220;climate change.&#8221; Then, in February 2022, DC Water CEO David Gadis touted the utility’s emphasis on forming a leadership team made up mostly of minorities and women.
“When I arrived at DC Water, this was an organization that looked very similar to our industry, and it was predominantly, you know, white male at the top,” said Gadis, who was tapped as DC Water’s CEO in 2018. “But this was a utility that more than 70% people of color worked at this utility, and I really believe and I still believe — the outcomes have been fantastic — that the people at the top, the executives, the chiefs in that C-suite, they should look like the employees that they serve and they work with.”
Gadis made the comments on DEI during an appearance on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhIodoQiLnk&amp;t=43s">show</a> hosted by the American Water Works Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring safe water.
“So my executive team looks exactly like the community, it looks like the employees, the staff, be it people of color, women, men,” Gadis added. “It is just a fantastic team that has come together to do a lot of great things here at DC Water and in the community for the customers.”
Asked by American Water Works CEO David LaFrance to describe what his executive team “looks like,” Gadis replied, “We have three women, three women of color, and we have five males total. And of those five males, three of them are of color. And then we have two males that are caucasian. So we are getting that total cross-sectional conversation that’s occurring.”
<div id="attachment_1045859" style="width: 929px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1045859" class="wp-image-1045859 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/DC-Water-919x576.png" alt="" width="919" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/DC-Water-919x576.png 919w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/DC-Water-300x188.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/DC-Water-768x481.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/DC-Water.png 1206w" sizes=" (max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px" />DC Water CEO David Gadis and Board Chair Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes are joined by Mayor Muriel Bowser to celebrate the launch of the machine to help reduce wastewater flow into the Potomac River on November 4, 2025 / Screenshot: Instagram/D.C. Department of Employee Services</div>
DC Water&#8217;s sewage spill debacle comes just one month after a public utility in Nashville was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-senator-declares-war-on-woke-nashville-power-company-after-week-long-outage?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Tennessee+Senator+Declares+War+On+%E2%80%98Woke%E2%80%99+Nashville+Power+Company+After+Week-Long+Outage">slammed</a> for its focus on DEI after an ice storm knocked out power for residents for weeks. Between 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI sessions &#8220;to foster a culture of civility and belonging within our organization with the hopes of extending that dynamic beyond our walls.&#8221; Last month, the electric service faced increased scrutiny for its delayed response to widespread power outages in Nashville.
The sewage spill, which began last month, has unleashed hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River, forcing authorities to issue alerts to residents in the nation’s capital, Maryland, and Virginia to avoid contact with the river as E.coli levels skyrocketed. DC Water said the disaster was caused by the partial collapse of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line, which resulted in a massive overflow of wastewater that made its way into the Potomac.
In just the first five days after the sewer line’s collapse, around 194 million gallons overflowed, DC Water <a href="https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/media/news/dc-water-releases-key-findings-extent-sewer-overflow-and-potomac-river" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on February 6. In an update this week, the utility said that a total of 243.5 million gallons have spilled into the Potomac since January 19.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116082091487085093" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> frustration with state and local leaders over what he viewed as a slow response to the sewage spill. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was directing federal authorities to take over the management of the sewage spill response, writing, “I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone.”
Betsy Nicholas, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, told <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5742741-potomac-river-sewage-spill-dc-virginia-maryland/">The Hill</a> that DC Water knew the collapsed sewer line needed to be repaired and &#8220;had money allocated for it.&#8221;
&#8220;It just seems … the whole pipeline collapsed before they were able to do any work on it,&#8221; Nicholas added.
Under Gadis, DC Water has also sought to award contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses, The Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/17/david-gadis-dc-water-sewage-spill-diversity-dei-flint-michigan-water-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Tuesday. In fiscal year 2024 alone, DC Water awarded women-owned and “disadvantaged” businesses around $520 million of its $1.33 billion in total awards. Gadis also believes it’s important for the utility to have a “diverse workforce” to establish “trust” with homeowners who “like to see people that look like them and walk like them.”
The Daily Wire reached out to DC Water for comment.
The massive sewage spill also marks a rough spot for a utility that <a href="https://www.dcwater.com/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/DC%20Water%20ESG%20Report%202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to provide “high quality water services in a safe, environmentally friendly, and efficient manner.”
In its 2021 <a href="https://www.dcwater.com/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/DC%20Water%20ESG%20Report%202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESG report</a>, DC Water said it was “committed to finding renewable energy solutions for our energy demand to mitigate our contribution to climate change.” The utility also said it was “committed to providing healthy water throughout our operations,” and “dramatically reduce the amount of solids, nitrogen, and phosphorous in the cleaned water we return to the Potomac to protect our local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, said that DC Water had not yet reached out for federal help despite the massive scale of the disaster.
“The Potomac Interceptor overflow is a sewage crisis of historic proportion. Never should any American family, community, or waterway ever have to experience this level of extensive environmental damage,” Zeldin <a href="https://x.com/epaleezeldin/status/2023870910365941812" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in a post on X on Tuesday. “This mess must be completely addressed as fast as humanly possible, and the Trump EPA stands ready, motivated, and highly capable to assist in any way possible to fulfill President Trump’s strong desire to END this disaster.”
Water testing in the Potomac River earlier this week revealed E.coli levels hundreds of times higher than what the EPA considers safe, DC Water officials <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/potomac-river-e-coli-levels-skyrocket-240-million-gallons-sewage-pour-rcna259420">said</a>. Local authorities have assured residents, &#8220;There is no impact to the drinking water supply,&#8221; as the sewer and water systems &#8220;are completely separate.&#8221;

US-ENVIROMENT-SEWAGE-POTOMAC

Ahead Of ‘Sewage Crisis Of Historic Proportion,’ DC Water Officials Were Focused On DEI

D.C. Utility Responsible For Disastrous Potomac Sewage Spill Is Steeped In DEI And Environmentalism

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Environmentalism

Washington D.C.

Eight skiers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ten-skiers-missing-after-avalanche-6-others-stranded-awaiting-rescue">caught in an avalanche</a> near Lake Tahoe in California were confirmed dead and a ninth skier is presumed dead after a rescue team braved harsh conditions to search the area for any survivors, Nevada County, California, Sheriff Shannan Moon said on Wednesday.
The tragic update comes after rescuers found six survivors near Truckee, California, and brought them to safety following one of the deadliest avalanches in U.S. history. Fifteen, including four guides and 11 clients, were on their way back from a three-day backcountry excursion to Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada mountains when they were caught in an avalanche the size of a football field on Tuesday, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/nine-skiers-still-missing-six-rescued-after-california-avalanche-2026-02-18/">reported</a>. Authorities initially said there were 16 total skiers, but they later said that one person who was planning on going on the trip backed out at the last minute.
Authorities will attempt to recover the bodies of the deceased skiers when the weather calms down and allows for safer travel.
&#8220;Due to the ongoing challenges of the weather, the avalanche conditions, the effort remains ongoing, as well as our search for the remaining skier,&#8221; Moon said.
Boreal Mountain Ski Resort said that roughly 30 inches of snow came down in the area within 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday. Search teams made up of around 50 people braved a blinding snow storm during their rescue operation and were forced to ditch their snow cat vehicles for skis when they got within two miles of the avalanche site to avoid causing another avalanche. Up to 18 inches of snow is expected for the area on Thursday and Friday, which could push the authorities&#8217; timeline for recovering the bodies back even further. One of the deceased skiers was the spouse of a person on the rescue team, authorities said.
The group of skiers were part of a guided tour that included nine women and six men. Five of the survivors were clients of the guide company, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and one survivor was a guide. Blackbird Mountain Guides has faced scrutiny over its decision to move ahead with the backcountry ski trip despite the forecast for harsh weather and the avalanche risk. Sheriff Moon said during a press conference on Wednesday that she talked to the guide company about its decision.
The area near Truckee is one of the most popular destinations for skiers and is known for its beautiful scenery and heavy snowfall.
&#8220;The backcountry, it’s beautiful. There’s not a lot of people out there, and that’s where a lot of people like to recreate,” Sheriff Moon <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/18/us/lake-tahoe-avalanche-missing-skiers/c8047596-8e19-5498-862f-9672114112a2?smid=url-share">said</a>. “I myself like to recreate in that area, but Mother Nature, it doesn’t seem to matter, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how experienced you are.&#8221;

Rescue teams deploy to the site of an avalanche in a backcountry slope of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains

8 Skiers Confirmed Dead In One Of America’s Deadliest Avalanches

Avalanche

California

Weather

A Manhattan hospital that has performed countless procedures on gender-confused children in recent years announced on Tuesday that it officially ended its youth gender clinic following the Trump administration&#8217;s move to pull federal funding.
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health, which has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hospitals-clinics-are-promoting-services-to-gender-nonconforming-kids-here-are-47-of-them">offered gender procedures</a> for children since at least <a href="https://nyunews.com/news/2025/02/02/nyu-langone-gender-affirming-care/#:~:text=NYU%20Langone%20Health%20is%20a%20leading%20institution,two%20patients%20under%20the%20age%20of%2019.">2020</a>, cited the &#8220;current regulatory environment,&#8221; along with the &#8220;recent departure&#8221; of its medical director, for its &#8220;difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/nyregion/nyu-hospital-transgender-youth.html">reported</a>.
NYU Langone previously <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220828054900/https://nyulangone.org/locations/child-study-center/gender-sexuality-service">stated</a> on its website that it prescribes &#8220;gender-affirming medical interventions, including puberty suppression, gender-affirming hormone treatments, and gender-affirming surgery&#8221; for gender-confused children. The hospital&#8217;s <a href="https://nyulangone.org/locations/child-study-center/gender-sexuality-service">website</a> no longer mentions gender surgery for children and focuses on &#8220;mental health services.&#8221;
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hospitals-across-u-s-stop-transitioning-children-after-trump-signs-order-protecting-kids">signed</a> an executive order to protect children from irreversible gender procedures by threatening to strip federal funding from hospitals that perform the procedures. Following Trump&#8217;s order last year, NYU Langone began winding down its &#8220;Transgender Youth Health Program,&#8221; canceling appointments for children, including two 12-year-olds who were supposed to start puberty blockers, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hospitals-across-u-s-stop-transitioning-children-after-trump-signs-order-protecting-kids">reported</a> at the time. However, some parents told the Times that the hospital kept appointments for children who were already on puberty blockers or hormone therapy.
Last June, the FBI set up a <a href="https://x.com/FBI/status/1929587710894739567">tip line</a> for Americans to report &#8220;any hospitals, clinics, or practitioners&#8221; that &#8220;mutilate&#8221; children &#8220;under the guise of gender-affirming care.&#8221; The Trump administration <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/nyregion/transgender-care-lawsuit-trump.html">reportedly</a> served subpoenas to multiple hospitals last year, including NYU Langone, seeking more information on their youth gender clinics.
In December, the Trump administration began implementing the president&#8217;s executive order to protect children by proposing rules to strip federal funding from hospitals that continue to perform gender procedures on children.
Democrats have pushed back against Trump&#8217;s effort to go after hospitals and doctors that promote gender procedures for children. In response to Trump&#8217;s crackdown on hospitals performing gender procedures on children, New York joined a coalition of Democrat-led states that sued the Trump administration in an effort to stop the federal government&#8217;s investigation into hospitals and doctors that perform the life-altering procedures on children.
President Trump&#8217;s executive action to protect children from the harmful procedures followed numerous Republican-led states banning the so-called gender-affirming treatments and procedures for minors. Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and many other states took action to protect children beginning in 2023, shortly after Daily Wire host Matt Walsh&#8217;s documentary &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman">What is a Woman?</a>&#8221; exposed the dangers of gender procedures.
After &#8220;What is a Woman?&#8221; became one of the most-watched documentaries of the year, Walsh held a rally in Nashville and met with state leaders in multiple states to advocate for ending &#8220;child mutilation.&#8221;
Thanks to recent laws passed by Republican-led states and the efforts of President Trump, the tide has turned in the debate on gender procedures for children. The Trump administration and advocates for protecting children from gender procedures celebrated another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-fight-is-not-over-major-medical-org-rejects-transgender-surgeries-for-kids">major win</a> earlier this month when the American Society of Plastic Surgeons acknowledged that &#8220;evidence did not support genital procedures or removing the breasts of young girls who identify as boys.&#8221;

NYU Langone/Donald Trump

Trump Flex Delivers Another Major Victory Protecting Kids From Gender Mutilation

Donald Trump

Hospitals

LGBT

New York

Transgender

transgender surgery

Trump Administration

Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the Trump administration does not want &#8220;chaotic&#8221; immigration enforcement, but added that federal officials will not stand by when sanctuary cities refuse to cooperate.
During an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Vance <a href="https://x.com/townhallcom/status/2023862960356008144?s=20">discussed</a> the tactics of U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and acknowledged that &#8220;none of us like&#8221; the videos of altercations between federal agents and agitators, such as the shooting deaths of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want immigration enforcement to be chaotic,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;In 99% of cases, you have a federal law enforcement officer, they show up at a jail or they show up somewhere else, they identify a person who needs to be deported, and they get them out of our country&#8230; Where you have that chaos in Minneapolis or Los Angeles, it&#8217;s because the local authorities are so committed to an open border that they want to put law enforcement at risk. We&#8217;re not going to surrender to that. We&#8217;re not going to submit to that.&#8221;
Some of the largest cities in the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, refuse to work with ICE and hand over illegal immigrants who have been arrested for other offenses. This refusal to cooperate with federal authorities in these Democrat-run cities led the Trump administration to take an aggressive approach to detaining suspected illegal immigrants, including an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and the surrounding area, dubbed &#8220;Operation Metro Surge.&#8221;
Vance&#8217;s comments come shortly after the Trump administration began <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-end-ices-operation-metro-surge-in-minnesota-homan-says">removing</a> many federal agents from Minnesota in February after the major surge in immigration enforcement. From the beginning of &#8220;Operation Metro Surge,&#8221; Democratic leaders in Minnesota opposed Trump&#8217;s efforts to detain illegal immigrants, and the outrage over the Trump administration&#8217;s actions erupted following the shooting deaths of Good and Pretti, which were captured on video.
Vance said that the administration is not capitulating to Democrats&#8217; demands and that President Trump remains committed to deporting illegal immigrants and securing the border.
&#8220;We are going to be deliberate, we&#8217;re going to be smart,&#8221; Vance added. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to try to prevent these chaotic scenes that, of course, the Democrats use to [their] political advantage, but we&#8217;re going to keep on enforcing the border. That&#8217;s the mandate the American people gave us.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s border czar, Tom Homan, assumed control of the federal operation in Minneapolis last month, replacing Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino, who was reassigned. Shortly after arriving in Minnesota and meeting with Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Homan said that he worked out a deal with the leaders for &#8220;unprecedented levels of coordination&#8221; on immigration enforcement.
&#8220;As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,&#8221; Homan said last week.
Vance&#8217;s remarks on Tuesday seem to cut down the middle of a rift in the Trump administration over immigration enforcement tactics. Some Trump officials, such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her top advisor Corey Lewandowski, have pushed for an aggressive strategy and increasing the number of total arrests, Daily Wire immigration reporter Jennie Taer previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-trump-administrations-growing-divide-over-mass-deportation-raids?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=Original&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Inside+The+Trump+Administration%E2%80%99s+Growing+Divide+Over+Mass+Deportation+Raids">reported</a>. Homan and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, meanwhile, want ICE to prioritize arresting the most violent criminals before nabbing other illegal immigrants.

JD Vance

Vance: Admin Wants To Avoid ‘Chaotic’ Immigration Enforcement, But Sanctuary Cities Stand In The Way

Vance: Admin Wants To Avoid 'Chaotic' Immigration Enforcement, But Sanctuary Cities Stand In The Way

The United States military, under the command of President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, took out three boats suspected of trafficking drugs on Monday, killing 11 &#8220;male narco-terrorists,&#8221; according to U.S. Southern Command.
The kinetic strikes targeted two boats in the Eastern Pacific and one boat in the Caribbean. U.S. Southern Command said that the suspected drug-runners were &#8220;transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.&#8221; On Tuesday, the U.S. military shared unclassified <a href="https://x.com/Southcom/status/2023791027383890240">video footage</a> of all three strikes.
&#8220;Turns out President’s Day — under President Trump — is not a good day to run drugs,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2023810666004668441">said</a> War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
With the latest strikes, at least 145 suspected drug runners have been killed in 42 strikes targeting &#8220;narcoterrorist&#8221; boats in the Pacific and Caribbean since last September. Monday&#8217;s operations followed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-says-it-obliterated-another-narcoterrorist-drug-boat-in-caribbean">strike</a> on Friday that destroyed a boat and killed three suspected drug smugglers.
President Donald Trump has defended his authority to carry out the strikes as Democrats argue that Congress must be given a say in the military operations being conducted without a declaration of war. Some Democrats have even claimed that Trump&#8217;s boat strikes in international waters amount to murder. Trump, however, has not backed down on his vow to obliterate suspected drug boats and argues that the United States is in an &#8220;armed conflict&#8221; with drug cartels that seek to transport deadly substances into the United States.
Shortly after the United States began conducting strikes against suspected drug traffickers, Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-warns-drug-traffickers-we-will-blow-you-out-existence-2025-09-23/">said</a> in a speech at the United Nations, &#8220;To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence.&#8221;
Responding to criticism from lawmakers over the strikes in October, Trump told reporters, “I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them.&#8221;
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whatever-we-have-to-do-trump-says-hes-ok-with-striking-inside-mexico-to-stop-drugs">suggested</a> that the United States could target suspected narco-terrorists on land, which he said could include strikes inside Mexico and Colombia.
The U.S. strikes were further scrutinized by some lawmakers late last year after it was revealed that the U.S. military conducted a second strike on one boat in early September after some of the suspected narco-terrorists survived the first attack. The War Department has not publicly released the footage of the second strike and has only shown a select few lawmakers footage of the &#8220;double tap&#8221; strike.
Trump&#8217;s military campaign against drug traffickers led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro last month.
Maduro, who was accused of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, raged against the U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and vowed to fight U.S. forces if the United States made a move on Venezuela.
Following his capture, Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, and he now awaits trial in New York.

U.S. Southern Command

U.S. Destroys Three Suspected Narco-Terrorist Boats On Presidents’ Day

Drug Cartels

Pete Hegseth

U.S. Military

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not consider the Munich Security Conference a springboard into the 2028 presidential election. At least, that&#8217;s what she told The New York Times after she was roundly criticized for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-spits-out-word-salad-when-asked-about-china-refuses-to-say-if-u-s-should-defend-taiwan?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=AOC+Spits+Out+Word+Salad+When+Asked+About+China%2C+Refuses+To+Say+If+U.S.+Should+Defend+Taiwan">failing to answer</a> a basic question on U.S. foreign policy at the conference last week.
The Munich Security Conference is considered one of the most important stages for lawmakers, diplomats, and world leaders to set themselves apart as important voices on foreign policy and the direction of global politics. For Ocasio-Cortez, the event came as speculation swirls around 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, with the New York leftist often floated as a top contender. After multiple missteps at the conference, Ocasio-Cortez picked up the phone and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/us/politics/aoc-germany-munich-security-conference.html">spoke</a> to her hometown paper, telling the legacy media outlet that the link between her supposed presidential aspirations and the conference is far-fetched.
&#8220;Everyone’s got this story wrong, that this is about me running for president,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez said. &#8220;I could give — whatever, about that, to be honest.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s appearance in Munich was marked by an awkward response to a question on China and Taiwan and an indecipherable comment on the &#8220;rise of populism.&#8221; During one panel discussion, the congresswoman was joined by Matt Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, and Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is also considered a 2028 presidential hopeful. When asked whether the United States should send troops to Taiwan if China advances on the island, Ocasio-Cortez struggled to speak for around 20 seconds before her attempt to answer the question.
When she finally spit out an answer, she said only that the United States should &#8220;avoid any such confrontation,&#8221; and did not answer whether U.S. troops should be deployed if China attempted to invade Taiwan. Ocasio-Cortez was blasted over her response, including by President Donald Trump.
&#8220;I watched AOC answering questions in Munich. This was not a good look for the United States,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2023579424491253844">told</a> reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday night.
&#8220;She had no idea what was happening,&#8221; he added. &#8220;She had no idea how to answer, you know, very important questions concerning the world.&#8221;
Whitaker, Trump&#8217;s NATO ambassador who was sitting next to Ocasio-Cortez during the panel discussion, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2023753952874164640">told</a> Fox &amp; Friends on Tuesday morning that he was surprised that Ocasio-Cortez and Whitmer &#8220;didn&#8217;t have better answers, or at least, better preparation.&#8221;
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s really quite obvious that the Left really does not have an answer for President Trump&#8217;s very clear articulation and success on the international stage, and they&#8217;re struggling to do that,&#8221; Whitaker added. &#8220;But on the China and Taiwan issue, that issue is so obvious what the answer is; it&#8217;s to make sure China doesn&#8217;t make a move on Taiwan, that Taiwan is strong and can defend itself, and that the region is stable and prosperous and that American interests are protected.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez told the Times that it is &#8220;out of touch&#8221; to consider the Munich Security Conference as an important gauge for the 2028 presidential election, adding that she was really there to send a warning about &#8220;right-wing populist movements&#8221; throughout the world. The lawmaker told the Times that a reporter asked her whether Munich is &#8220;the new New Hampshire,&#8221; referring to the important early primary election.
&#8220;I cannot say enough how out of touch and missing the point, genuinely, that is,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Global democracies are on fire the world over, and established parties are falling to right-wing populist movements.”
She added that she went to Munich &#8220;not because I’m running for president, not because I’ve made some kind of decision about a horse race or a candidacy, but because we need to sound the alarm bells that a lot of those folks in nicely pressed suits in that room will not be there much longer if we do not do something about the runaway inequality that is fueling far-right populist movements.&#8221;
Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro told Fox News host Dana Perino on Tuesday, &#8220;It&#8217;s not our fault for noticing she&#8217;s horrible.&#8221;
&#8220;My favorite conceit here is that she goes abroad and says a bunch of incredibly stupid things. &#8230; I&#8217;m sorry, but if you give an answer reminiscent of that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww">famous clip</a> of Miss South Carolina attempting to answer a question about the Iraq War from 15 years ago, and you&#8217;re on an international stage, that is your fault,&#8221; Shapiro added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, but if you give an answer reminiscent of that famous clip of Miss South Carolina attempting to answer a question about the Iraq War&#8230; that&#8217;s your fault.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@benshapiro</a> joins <a href="https://twitter.com/DanaPerino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanaPerino</a> to slam AOC&#8217;s geopolitical incompetence at the Munich Security Conference 😂 <a href="https://t.co/w3EIJUdf0Z">pic.twitter.com/w3EIJUdf0Z</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2023792851201699861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some of the congresswoman&#8217;s other gaffes during the conference included saying that Venezuela is below the equator (the entire country is north of the equator) and mocking Secretary of State Marco Rubio for saying in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-declares-new-western-century-in-world-speech-says-america-wont-oversee-managed-decline">his speech</a> at the Munich Security Conference that the American cowboy was born in Spain.
&#8220;My favorite part was when he said that American cowboys came from Spain,” Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-mocked-absolute-train-wreck-weekend-global-stage-made-fool-out-of-herself">said</a>. “And I believe the Mexicans and descendants of African enslaved peoples would like to have a word on that.”
Spain is largely responsible for introducing horses to North America in the 1500s, and historians credit the Spanish vaqueros with influencing American cowboy culture, as Rubio mentioned during his widely praised speech.
During another panel discussion at the conference that focused on &#8220;the rise of populism,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez offered another head-scratching answer. While addressing President Trump’s shift on foreign policy and how the rest of the world has responded, Ocasio-Cortez said, “I think what we are seeking is a return to a rules-based order that eliminates the hypocrisies around when too often in the West, we look the other way for inconvenient populations to act out these paradoxes, whether it is kidnapping a foreign head of state, whether it is threatening our allies to colonize Greenland, whether it is looking the other way in a genocide. Hypocrisies are vulnerabilities, and they threaten democracies globally.”
Ocasio-Cortez told the Times that the criticism of her answers in Munich that have gone viral on social media &#8220;distract from the substance of what I am saying.&#8221; In its article breaking down Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s Munich appearance, the Times wrote that there were &#8220;mostly positive&#8221; responses to Ocasio-Cortez &#8220;on the ground in Germany.&#8221;
Warsaw&#8217;s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, was quoted in the Times article and praised Ocasio-Cortez for speaking out about &#8220;right-wing populism.&#8221;
“It’s of course refreshing to see some American politicians who talk openly about all of those challenges that we face,” said  Trzaskowski. “It’s good to hear progressive voices which are courageous enough to call a spade a spade.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC Mocked For Global Stage Disaster — Then Phones A Friend

2028 presidential election

Congress

Democratic Party

Munich

Politics

The New York Times

As Michigan Democrats enter the thick of a competitive Senate primary campaign, one candidate is trying to position himself as an outsider who wants to fix a broken system and take on the oligarchy.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a Bernie Sanders-endorsed former public health director who has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/abdul-el-sayed-democrat-senate-candidate-michigan">compared</a> to New York City’s recently elected democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He wants Medicare for all, believes big corporations are to blame for the problems in government and the economy, and insists that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must be abolished. 
But El-Sayed doesn’t want to be labeled a leftist or a democratic socialist. 
“I’m a scientist. I’m not a socialist,” El-Sayed told The Daily Wire during a 20-minute phone interview last week. “As a scientist, I&#8217;m interested in answering empirical problems. I&#8217;m interested in what works to solve a big problem.” 
“I don&#8217;t know what far-Left means, but I am the change agent, and I think the better way to analyze our politics right now is not Left and Right,” El-Sayed said. “I think those monikers are ill-suited for this time and, frankly, they&#8217;re a bit of a callback to a bygone era.”
El-Sayed is a Muslim running to represent a state with one of the highest Muslim populations in the United States. He is also running to represent a purple state that has voted to elect President Donald Trump twice. 
Asked how he felt about the increased scrutiny of Muslim immigrants in places like Michigan and Minnesota and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, El-Sayed told The Daily Wire that he believes ICE should be abolished. He also argued that conservatives should support calls for ICE to be abolished. 
“It&#8217;s interesting that again we&#8217;ve allowed one narcissistic man to completely twist the idea of what being a conservative was supposed to be about,” he said. “Because when I talked to folks across the state — whether they&#8217;re self-described Democrats or Republicans or independents or none of the above — they&#8217;re always saying, ‘I just want our government to operate in a way that respects and empowers the Constitution.’&#8221; 
“Conservatives talk about small government, conservatives talk about protecting folks from tyranny. This is literally big government in support of tyranny,” El-Sayed said of Trump’s ICE deployment. “So I just think abolishing is a conservative position, don&#8217;t you?”
El-Sayed is clearly no fan of President Trump, and he told The Daily Wire that he believes Trump is the “worst symptom” of a broader “disease.” 
“The disease is the system that allows big corporations, billionaires, oligarchs to buy and sell access to politicians that lets them rig the system against us,” he added. “It&#8217;s the reason we get paid less for the work we do, and we have to pay more for the things we have to buy.” 
If that messaging sounds familiar, it’s because it echoes the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheTNHoller/videos/zohran-we-are-an-existential-threat-to-billionaires-who-think-their-money-can-bu/1898412347696567/">rhetoric</a> of far-Left politicians, including New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OcasioCortez/posts/there-is-an-extreme-concentration-of-power-greed-and-corruption-is-taking-over-t/1234154698067114/">said</a> last year, &#8220;The oligarchs who installed Donald Trump in power have one mission: to make billionaires richer at the expense of the United States of America. It is their agenda to keep wages low and loot our public goods.&#8221;
Mamdani also used similar language on his way to winning New York City’s mayoral election last year. Speaking at a rally last October, Mamdani said that the leftist movement propelling his campaign is an “existential threat to billionaires who think their money can buy our democracy.” 
“We are an existential threat to a broken status quo that buries the voices of working people beneath corporations,” Mamdani added at the time. 
It also aligns with the messaging that democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders has used for decades. In his endorsement of El-Sayed last year, Sanders <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOBjGD2AKE9/">said</a> that Congress “desperately needs right now … members with the guts to stand up to the oligarchs.” 
“Abdul certainly would be doing that, so I’m delighted to be supporting him,” Sanders added. 
While Mamdani, Sanders, and AOC fully adopted the democratic socialist moniker, El-Sayed told The Daily Wire that he’s a capitalist who believes the “biggest danger to capitalism is monopoly,” not “government regulation.” 
“We&#8217;re living in an era right now where monopolies and oligopolies are destroying the idea of a market itself,” El-Sayed said. “And so if we want capitalism to work, you actually have to have meaningful government involvement to protect markets from monopoly and oligopoly too big to fail.”
The democratic socialism of Mamdani, Sanders, and AOC propelled them into power in the liberal enclaves of New York and Vermont, but it likely won&#8217;t play well in Michigan, a blue-collar manufacturing hub that helped elect Trump in both 2016 and 2024. El-Sayed seems to be putting himself in a position to garner some of the momentum of the far-Left without explicitly identifying with the far-Left&#8217;s newfound fascination with socialism.
The Bernie Sanders-endorsed candidate is in a tightly contested race for the seat left open by retiring Sen. Gary Peters. The former health director faces state Senator Mallory McMorrow and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, with recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/michigan-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html">polling</a> showing El-Sayed sitting in third place, but not by much. The Daily Wire reached out to the campaigns for McMorrow and Stevens, requesting interviews, but they have not responded. 
El-Sayed has sought to separate himself from the other Democrats in the race by highlighting his refusal to accept campaign donations from corporations. He is also the candidate who has been the most critical of U.S. support for Israel, telling The Daily Wire, “Our tax dollars are being used to continue genocide.” 
His anti-Israel stance <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-senate-candidate-accuses-israel-of-invading-gaza-in-oct-7-fundraising-email">sparked controversy</a> last October when El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign sent a fundraising email on the anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel that made no mention of Hamas’ atrocities and blamed Israel for launching “a ground invasion of Gaza.” After the email was sent on October 7, 2025, El-Sayed’s campaign said it went out by mistake. 
Asked by The Daily Wire this week how such a mistake could happen, El-Sayed said the email had been approved to go out, but was supposed to be sent on a different day. 
“It went out, and I very quickly reached out to leaders in the Jewish community to apologize for having stepped on their grief,” he said, adding, “The message in the email is something I stand by.” 
When asked about his faith, El-Sayed told The Daily Wire that he’s “proud” to be Muslim and also “really proud” of the U.S. Constitution. 
“One of the things I love about my constitution is that it protects my right to practice as I choose to practice or not practice at all,” he said. “The idea that anybody should be pointing at one religious group in the name of the Constitution and saying that those people are not fit to be here or not fit to serve seems to me to be inconsistent with what the Constitution actually guarantees.” 
El-Sayed condemned conservatives who he said attempt to “twist conservatism to be about a very particular kind of fascism.” 
“When people come at me because I&#8217;m Muslim, I always laugh,” he added. “I&#8217;m like, man, you think you know something about America and you know nothing at all.”

Abdul El-Sayed

‘I’m Not A Socialist’: Michigan’s Mamdani Leans On The Left’s New Playbook But Rejects The Label

'I'm Not A Socialist': Michigan's Mamdani Has The Left's New Playbook But Doesn't Want The New Label

2026 Midterms

Michigan

U.S. Senate

Leftist New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez struggled to answer when asked how the United States should respond to China&#8217;s threat to take over Taiwan.
Ocasio-Cortez was part of a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, alongside Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker. The panel focused on discussing U.S. foreign policy, but when the moderator asked Ocasio-Cortez if the United States should &#8220;commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan, if China were to move,&#8221; the far-Left Democrat struggled to come up with an answer.
&#8220;I think that, uh, this is such a — you know, I think that this is a, umm — this is, of course, a uh, a very longstanding, umm, policy of the United States,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Uh, and I think that what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure we never get to that point, and we want to make sure we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
AOC is asked if the US should defend Taiwan in the event China invades. Her answer is a word salad disaster that would even make Kamala cringe: <a href="https://t.co/jgfMWiSfmE">pic.twitter.com/jgfMWiSfmE</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/2022477481576440253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire reached out to Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s office, asking for clarification on her response.
Earlier during the panel discussion, Ocasio-Cortez said the wedge between the United States and China is more about &#8220;competition&#8221; than &#8220;conflict.&#8221;
&#8220;I think China is, of course, an ascending global power, growing very quickly, acting in its own self interests,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And oftentimes in Washington, there&#8217;s this frame between conflict and competition. I think sometimes depending on what&#8217;s happening, that rhetoric can get a little conflict-driven, and I think that it&#8217;s really a question of competition.&#8221;
In another panel on &#8220;the rise of populism&#8221; on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez <a href="https://youtu.be/rbmPHFIFC_U?si=I6QoD5oaxBNn8r8H&amp;t=2062">attempted</a> to describe President Trump&#8217;s shift to a new strategy on foreign policy and how the rest of the world has responded. Her remark, however, left people wondering what she meant.
&#8220;I think what we are seeking is a return to a rules-based order that eliminates the hypocrisies around when too often in the West, we look the other way for inconvenient populations to act out these paradoxes, whether it is kidnapping a foreign head of state, whether it is threatening our allies to colonize Greenland, whether it is looking the other way in a genocide. Hypocrisies are vulnerabilities, and they threaten democracies globally.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez was mocked over her answers on foreign policy and &#8220;the rise of populism,&#8221; with some commentators making comparisons to former Vice President Kamala Harris, who regularly made head-scratching remarks on the campaign trail and in interviews.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Whitmer are viewed as potential Democratic presidential candidates who could compete for the nomination in 2028, but neither the governor nor the congresswoman seemed prepared to answer questions on important foreign policy topics during the Munich Security Conference panel.
In one <a href="https://x.com/Th_Midwesterner/status/2022681978911309884">exchange</a>, Whitmer was asked what she viewed as the solution to the war between Ukraine and Russia, but she tried to redirect the question to Ambassador Whitaker.
&#8220;No, please, I&#8217;d love to hear your answer,&#8221; Whitaker said after Whitmer asked him to take the question.
&#8220;The two that I am on the panel with are much more steeped in foreign policy than a governor is,&#8221; Whitmer said. &#8220;I do think that Ukraine&#8217;s independence, keeping their land mass and having the support of all the allies, I think is the goal from my vantage point. Go ahead, ambassador, do a better job.&#8221;

AOC Spits Out Word Salad When Asked About China, Refuses To Say If U.S. Should Defend Taiwan

China

Foreign Policy

Global Politics

Gretchen Whitmer

Taiwan

President Donald Trump pardoned five former NFL players on Thursday for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to counterfeiting.
Among those pardoned was former New York Jets Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Klecko, and star Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders halfback Billy Cannon, who died in 2018, Trump&#8217;s pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson <a href="https://x.com/AliceMarieFree/status/2022117135594742131">announced</a>. The other three former players granted clemency were Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Nate Newton, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, and Buffalo Bills running back Travis Henry.
&#8220;As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://x.com/AliceMarieFree/status/2022117135594742131">said</a>, adding, &#8220;Grateful [President Trump] for his continued commitment to second chances. Mercy changes lives.&#8221;
Johnson also thanked Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for &#8220;personally sharing the news with Nate Newton.&#8221;
All of the former players pardoned by Trump had already served prison sentences. The president&#8217;s pardons now clear their criminal records.
Klecko, who was part of the Jets&#8217; early 1980s defensive line nicknamed the &#8220;New York Sack Exchange,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/10/sports/sports-people-football-jail-sentence-for-klecko.html?mcubz=0">served</a> three months in prison in the early 1990s after committing perjury before a federal grand jury during an investigation into insurance fraud.
Cannon, who was a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU in 1959, was convicted in 1983 for his part in one of the largest counterfeiting schemes in American history at the time. He <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-06-sp-1344-story.html">served</a> three years of his five-year prison sentence and was released on good behavior. Cannon died in 2018 at the age of 80.
Newton, a three-time Super Bowl champion who was part of the Cowboys&#8217; incredible run in the 1990s, was first <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/03/24/Cowboys-Nate-Newton-arrested-at-dogfight/7795669790800/">arrested</a> in 1991 for allegedly setting up illegal dog fights. A decade later, Newton was arrested after a traffic stop when Texas authorities <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/2002/0814/1418021.html">discovered</a> $10,000 in his pickup truck as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in a vehicle that he was accompanying. Newton took a plea deal and served a 30-month prison sentence after he faced up to 20 years in prison.
Lewis, who helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XXXV in 2001 as a rookie and was the youngest player to play in a Super Bowl, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=1897106">served</a> four months in prison on drug charges after his conviction in 2005. Just months after he was drafted No. 5 overall in 2000, Lewis attempted to set up a drug deal. He entered a plea deal in 2005, which resulted in drug conspiracy and attempted cocaine possession charges against him being dropped.
Henry, a former running back, was drafted by the Bills in 2001 and also spent time playing for the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos. Shortly after retiring from the NFL, Henry was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration and accepted a deal, which saw him <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=4330252">plead guilty</a> to conspiracy to traffic cocaine and was sentenced to three years in federal prison. Henry — who fathered 11 children with 10 different women — was also arrested in 2009 after he failed to pay child support.
Trump recently sparked controversy with his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-frees-former-honduran-president-convicted-of-flooding-u-s-with-cocaine">pardon</a> of a former Honduran president who was convicted of helping drug smugglers import 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. In December, Trump allowed Juan Orlando Hernandez to walk out of a federal prison, saying that &#8220;according to many people that I greatly respect,&#8221; Hernandez was &#8220;treated very harshly and unfairly.&#8221;

Donald Trump/Joe Klecko/Nate Newton

Trump Pardons Five Former NFL Players, Including Hall Of Famer

Crime

Executive

pardons

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked War Secretary Pete Hegseth from stripping Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of his rank and military pay.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush, comes after Hegseth censured Kelly over the video he helped produce with five other Democrats urging military members to disobey &#8220;illegal orders.&#8221; In response, Kelly sued Hegseth, arguing that his First Amendment rights were violated.
In the 29-page <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.37.0_2.pdf">ruling</a>, Judge Leon wrote that Kelly&#8217;s First Amendment defense &#8220;is likely to succeed on merits,&#8221; adding, &#8220;This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly&#8217;s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.&#8221;
Leon said Hegseth&#8217;s argument &#8220;that military servicemembers enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections&#8221; due to their obligations to the country has never been applied to &#8220;retired servicemembers&#8221; by a court.
&#8220;This Court will not be the first to do so!&#8221; Leon added.
Leon&#8217;s ruling means that the War Department cannot proceed with its actions against Kelly as the court continues to consider the case. Kelly, a retired Navy officer and astronaut, ripped Hegseth and President Donald Trump after Leon&#8217;s ruling was released.
&#8220;Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said. This is a critical moment to show this administration they can&#8217;t keep undermining Americans&#8217; rights,&#8221; Kelly <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqtAMFj5Ul/">said</a>. &#8220;I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can&#8217;t admit when they are wrong.&#8221;
Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2022035474337214836">vowed</a> to appeal the judge&#8217;s ruling &#8220;immediately,&#8221; writing, &#8220;Sedition is sedition, &#8216;Captain.'&#8221;
In the video, the Democrats said the Trump administration &#8220;is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.&#8221;
&#8220;Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution,” the Democratic lawmakers told U.S. service members. “Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.&#8221;
The Trump administration labeled the video as &#8220;seditious,&#8221; with President Trump suggesting the Democrats&#8217; behavior was &#8220;punishable by DEATH.&#8221; Trump later clarified that he was not calling for the Democrats to be executed, but added, &#8220;I think they’re in serious trouble.&#8221;
When the War Department launched its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/war-department-reviewing-serious-allegations-against-sen-mark-kelly-after-dem-military-message?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=War+Department+Reviewing+%E2%80%98Serious+Allegations%E2%80%99+Against+Sen.+Mark+Kelly+After+Dem+Military+Message">review</a> of Kelly&#8217;s participation in the video last November, it cited a military code that makes it a crime “to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States” and “to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States.”
The Justice Department also sought to bring charges against all six Democrats involved, but earlier this week, a federal grand jury <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/grand-jury-refuses-to-indict-dem-lawmakers-over-video-urging-military-to-disobey-illegal-orders">declined</a> to sign off on an indictment. The other Democrats involved in the controversial video include Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania. All of the Democrats who helped make the video are military veterans or former members of the intelligence community.
The video was released as Democrats — and some Republicans — condemned President Trump&#8217;s authorization of strikes against suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea.
This article has been updated with additional information.

Mark Kelly/Pete Hegseth

Federal Judge Deals Another Blow To Trump Admin’s Effort To Punish Dems Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video

Federal Judge Deals Another Blow To Trump Admin's Effort To Punish Dems Over 'Illegal Orders' Video

Democrats

Department of War

Mark Kelly

President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that Republicans who vote against his tariffs would face severe opposition in their upcoming re-election campaigns.
Trump made the comment as the House voted on Wednesday evening to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-in-trouble-house-passes-democrat-resolution-to-overturn-some-of-trumps-tariffs?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=GOP+In+Trouble%3F+House+Passes+Democrat+Resolution+To+Overturn+Some+Of+Trump%E2%80%99s+Tariffs">pass a resolution</a> overturning the president&#8217;s tariffs on Canada. Six Republicans joined all but one Democrat to pass the anti-tariff resolution in a 219-211 vote.
&#8220;Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116054542648712986">said</a>.
Trump&#8217;s threat comes as Republicans gear up for what promises to be a tightly contested midterm election season. Republicans currently hold a four-seat House majority, and Democrats are widely expected to perform well nationwide in the 2026 elections.
The House Republicans who voted against Trump&#8217;s tariffs were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Kevin Kiley of California, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Dan Newhouse of Washington, and Jeff Hurd of Colorado. The measure now heads to the Senate, but is largely a symbolic rebuke of Trump&#8217;s far-reaching tariffs. Even if the resolution passed the Senate, it would still need Trump&#8217;s signature.
A spokesman for Rep. Hurd told The Daily Wire that his vote on Wednesday is in line with his constituents&#8217; feelings on Trump&#8217;s tariffs. Hurd&#8217;s district is <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/house/race/482456">considered</a> &#8220;likely Republican&#8221; for the 2026 midterms by the Cook Political Report.
&#8220;The people of Colorado’s Third District have been vocal with Congressman Hurd about the effect these tariffs have had on their livelihoods,&#8221; Hurd&#8217;s office said. &#8220;Congressman Hurd will always fight for Western and Southern Coloradan farmers, ranchers, and small business owners.&#8221;
Rep. Bacon, who has opposed Trump on multiple issues over the past year, responded to Trump&#8217;s warning, telling The Daily Wire, “Folks should vote their conscience and do what is best for our country. We are an independent branch of government.” The president&#8217;s warning will not affect Bacon, since the Nebraska congressman is not running for re-election.
The Daily Wire also reached out to Massie, Kiley, Fitzpatrick, and Newhouse, seeking comment. Newhouse is also not seeking re-election in 2026, and Massie has been in the president&#8217;s crosshairs throughout Trump&#8217;s second term. Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-backs-navy-seal-in-bid-to-knock-off-gop-rep-thomas-massie">endorsed</a> Massie&#8217;s Republican primary opponent Ed Gallrein after Massie pushed back on some of the president&#8217;s signature economic policies and focused on criticizing Trump&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.
Fitzpatrick has also become one of Trump&#8217;s biggest critics in Congress and joined Massie as the only two Republicans who voted against Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; last summer.
The anti-tariffs vote could have the biggest implications for Rep. Kiley, who recently <a href="https://kiley.house.gov/posts/president-trump-endorses-rep-kiley-bill-to-prevent-violent-riots">received</a> a shoutout from President Trump for his bill that seeks to punish nonprofits that help organize &#8220;unlawful riots.&#8221; Kiley introduced the legislation after anti-ICE demonstrations broke out in Los Angeles last year. Kiley&#8217;s 2026 chances are already in question after California redistricted, making his path to re-election much more difficult. Kiley told the Sacramento Bee earlier this month that he did not have a timeline for deciding on where he would run for re-election.
Republicans still largely support Trump&#8217;s tariffs, but earlier this week, the Republican-controlled House cleared the way for more votes on the president&#8217;s trade policy. In a vote on Tuesday night, three Republicans joined with Democrats to shoot down a rule that blocked members from proposing resolutions to reject Trump’s tariffs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the chamber&#8217;s vote on tariffs was &#8220;a big mistake.&#8221;
The president said on Wednesday that his tariffs have given the United States an economic boost and reduced the country&#8217;s trade deficit.
&#8220;In addition, TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes,&#8221; he added. &#8220;TARIFFS have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege.&#8221;
Trump recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-canada-threatens-to-shut-down-grand-opening-of-bridge-connecting-ontario-to-michigan?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Rips+Canada%2C+Threatens+To+Shut+Down+Grand+Opening+Of+Bridge+Connecting+Ontario+To+Michigan">threatened</a> to raise the tariff rate on Canada to 100% and suggested he would prevent the opening of a bridge connecting Ontario to Detroit after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” he said.

Trump Makes It Clear What Will Happen To GOP Defectors

House Republicans

Tariffs

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly passed a measure to overturn President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs on Canada on Wednesday.
Six Republicans joined with Democrats to pass the measure 219-211. The Republicans who voted in favor of the measure were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Kevin Kiley of California, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Dan Newhouse of Washington, and Jeff Hurd of Colorado.
The resolution, which was introduced by Democratic New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, mostly serves as a symbolic rebuke of Trump&#8217;s far-reaching trade policies, but it also shows how the Republican Party&#8217;s dwindling control of the House is already coming with consequences. The anti-tariff measure advanced by a vote of 217-214 thanks to a united Democratic front and the votes of three Republicans: Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Kevin Kiley of California, and Don Bacon of Nebraska.
Shortly before the vote, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116054544240272433">wrote</a> on Truth Social, &#8220;Canada has taken advantage of the United States on Trade for many years. They are among the worst in the World to deal with, especially as it relates to our Northern Border. TARIFFS make a WIN for us, EASY. Republicans must keep it that way!&#8221;
On Tuesday, the House cleared the way for the anti-tariff resolution and set up more potential votes on Trump&#8217;s tariffs in the near future. Tuesday&#8217;s procedural vote, which was approved by when Democrats and those three same Republicans, shot down a rule that blocked members from proposing resolutions to reject Trump&#8217;s tariffs. After the successful vote pushing back on Trump&#8217;s Canada tariffs, Democrats are soon expected to bring up more resolutions rejecting the president&#8217;s tariffs on Mexico and Brazil, POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/11/congress/house-votes-trump-tariffs-resolution-canada-00775520">reported</a>.
Even though the resolution likely won&#8217;t go anywhere past the House, the vote still takes time away from other matters that the lower chamber could be debating and voting on, including major parts of Trump&#8217;s agenda. That fact was acknowledged by Bacon, who voted in favor of the resolution.
&#8220;I don’t like putting the important work of the House on pause, but Congress needs to be able to debate on tariffs,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RepDonBacon/status/2021418451911295376?s=20">said</a> Bacon, who has bucked Trump and the Republican Party on multiple occasions.
&#8220;Tariffs have been a &#8216;net negative&#8217; for the economy and are a significant tax that American consumers, manufacturers, and farmers are paying,&#8221; Bacon argued. &#8220;Article I of the Constitution places authority over taxes and tariffs with Congress for a reason, but for too long, we have handed that authority to the executive branch. It’s time for Congress to reclaim that responsibility.&#8221;
The resolution now advances to the Republican-controlled Senate, and even if the upper chamber passed the resolution, it would then have to be signed by the president whose tariffs it seeks to shoot down. While the House resolution will almost assuredly hit a dead end, it represents a growing issue for Republicans as they seek to address the economy and prepare for tightly contested midterm elections. Trump&#8217;s tariffs have also faced scrutiny at the Supreme Court, which could drop a ruling on the issue as early as this month.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has his hands full trying to keep the small Republican majority in line, said the vote was &#8220;a big mistake.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t think we need to go down the road of trying to limit the president’s power while he is in the midst of negotiating America-first trade agreements with nations around the world,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2021575438716297379?s=20">told</a> Fox Business on Wednesday, adding, &#8220;The tariffs [have] been a tool that the president has used very effectively to level the playing field and put America back on top, and I think it&#8217;s wrong for Congress to step in the middle of that.&#8221;
Since the beginning of 2025, Johnson has been tasked with uniting Republicans while holding the narrowest House majority in modern history. What began as a 220-215 Republican majority at the beginning of this term dwindled to a 218-213 majority following the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the death of California Rep. Doug LaMalfa. Democrat Christian Menefee&#8217;s victory in a Texas special election earlier this month further reduced the GOP majority to 218-214, where it currently stands.
The GOP could soon receive another blow, as the Florida Congressman Neal Dunn is <a href="https://x.com/PeterSchorschFL/status/2021293823431716976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2021293823431716976%7Ctwgr%5E327351469860fe8cb0e6a4acffd7e486f19cf0ea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fpolitics%2Fwith-house-gop-majority-teetering-on-the-brink-florida-congressman-plans-to-retire-early-report%2F">reportedly</a> planning to announce his immediate resignation next week. Dunn already said he would not seek re-election in 2026, but a resignation before the election would drop the Republican Party&#8217;s majority to just three seats.

Trump Goes On With New Tariffs

GOP In Trouble? House Passes Democrat Resolution To Overturn Some Of Trump’s Tariffs

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Mike Johnson

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Zach Jewell