Crews began removing the final three Confederate-linked statues from the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol on Friday after Democrats buried a provision in the budget that set up the removal.
The statues depict Confederate General Thomas &#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson, Confederate General and two-time Virginia Governor William &#8220;Extra Billy&#8221; Smith, and Confederate Army surgeon Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire. Capitol Square has <a href="http://www.vacapitol.org/statues.htm">displayed</a> Jackson&#8217;s statue since 1875, McGuire&#8217;s since 1904, and Smith&#8217;s since 1906.
Former state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced legislation earlier this year directing the state to remove the statues. It passed the Senate but died in a House committee before lawmakers resurrected the plan during state budget negotiations, WTVR Richmond <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/richmond/removing-confederate-statues-capitol-square-aug-28-2026#google_vignette">reported</a>.
Virginia gifted the Confederate statues to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, according to the Department of General Services.
&#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson is one of the Confederacy&#8217;s most iconic generals. His actions at the First Battle of Bull Run helped lead the Confederates to a major victory early in the Civil War. A separate monument to Jackson that had stood on Richmond&#8217;s Monument Avenue since 1919 was removed in July 2020 during the protests and riots that followed George Floyd&#8217;s death.
Smith took over as a commander of Confederate troops after their commander died, despite acknowledging that he had little knowledge of battlefield tactics.
McGuire served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army who worked to save numerous lives. After the war, he served as the president of the American Medical Association, as <a href="https://x.com/BlueBoxDave/status/2093375266240213425">pointed out</a> by Fox News Digital columnist and West Virginia resident David Marcus.
&#8220;I guess Woke 1.0 is still with us, after all,&#8221; Marcus <a href="https://x.com/BlueBoxDave/status/2093373688548651133">said</a> of the statue removal, referencing a comment made by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) when she was pressed about radical leftist priorities like defunding the police. “I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy,&#8217;” AOC said.
Marcus added, &#8220;It’s interesting that the people who tore down statues, renamed schools, and banned mascots, are furious that the inviolable name of Lake Ontario could ever be altered.&#8221;
The Left has aggressively pushed for the removal of statues depicting Confederate figures — and sometimes even Founding Fathers — since 2015. The movement to remove depictions of American history gained steam in 2017 after the deadly Charlottesville rally and in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd and the ensuing riots. Public <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-protests-poll/a-majority-of-americans-want-to-preserve-confederate-monuments-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKCN1B12EG/">polls</a> during that time showed that a plurality of Americans <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confederate-statues-removal-polls_n_599de056e4b05710aa59841c">favored</a> keeping the statues in place despite the Left&#8217;s campaign to tear down historic monuments.
Despite the public opposition to taking down the monuments, around 90 Confederate statues were <a href="https://cwmemory.com/recent-confederate-monument-removals/">removed</a> in 2020 alone. Ten monuments were torn down by rioters that year. From 2020 to 2024, a total of 123 Confederate monuments have been taken down across the country, including 38 in Virginia.

Civil War Statues

Dems Use State Budget To Remove Final Confederate Statues From Capitol Grounds

American History

Civil War

Confederacy

Confederate Flag

Democrats

Virginia

Police officers in Ohio were stunned after arresting San Francisco 49ers owner John &#8220;Jed&#8221; York in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49ers-owner-busted-in-prostitution-sting-at-trailer-park">prostitution sting</a> at a trailer park.
York, who has an estimated <a href="https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/nfl/2026/08/25/jed-york-49ers-owner-arrested-east-palestine-ohio-net-worth-wife-danielle-belluomini/91453250007/">net worth</a> of around $500 million, was accused of agreeing to pay $140 for sex at the trailer park in East Palestine.
The bodycam footage from the East Palestine Police Department was obtained by TMZ on Wednesday. The footage shows an officer approach York&#8217;s car, asking for his hands and telling him, &#8220;Don&#8217;t move.&#8221; York, wearing a gray New York Yankees t-shirt and shorts, held out his wallet, but the officer immediately unbuckled the NFL team owner and detained him.
&#8220;Can I ask what you&#8217;re doing?&#8221; York asked.
&#8220;What are you doing here?&#8221; the officer replied.
&#8220;Just driving,&#8221; York said.
&#8220;You meeting anybody?&#8221; the Ohio police officer pressed.
&#8220;No.&#8221;
York informed officers that he was driving a rental car. He is originally from Youngstown, Ohio, which is just over 20 miles north of East Palestine.
After York was placed in a cruiser, one of the officers commented on the large amount of cash that they found in his wallet. Police found $160 in cash in York&#8217;s wallet.
&#8220;He&#8217;s a real estate guy. He&#8217;s got all the money,&#8221; the other officer said, adding, &#8220;It&#8217;s crazy the people that do this. Like, they could do whatever they want. Like, they could do other things. They could go other ways, but wow.&#8221;
York was nabbed after an undercover officer posted an ad posing as a woman on a &#8220;known prostitution website,&#8221; according to an incident report, ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49723635/49ers-owner-jed-york-contacted-fictitious-prostitution-ad-3-s-arrest">reported</a>. York allegedly contacted the undercover officer twice last Saturday, and reached out a third time on Sunday after his he didn&#8217;t get a response to the first two messages. After the third message from York, the undercover officer offered to meet York in East Palestine, according to the incident report.
York was initially charged with engaging in prostitution and possession of criminal tools before he accepted a plea deal that changed the prostitution charge to a disorderly conduct charge. York was absent from the NFL team owners&#8217; meeting on Wednesday, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/roger-goodell-confirms-league-reviewing-jed-yorks-plea-deal-for-possible-punishment">said</a> the league was reviewing the incident.
The 49ers owner filed for divorce in May of this year after a nearly 15 year marriage with his wife Danielle. The couple share two children.
York&#8217;s connection to the 49ers goes back generations as his grandfather owned the franchise for 23 years before passing ownership onto York&#8217;s parents, who in turn, passed the torch to York. The wealthy businessman is also a co-owner of Premier League club Leeds United and Scottish Premiership club Rangers.

Jed York arrest

WATCH: Police Stunned After Arresting 49ers Owner In Prostitution Sting

arrest

bodycam footage

Crime

Police

Prostitution

San Francisco 49ers

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed urged a group of young boys to &#8220;have conversations with all your neighbors&#8221; about the upcoming elections in a video he released Tuesday on social media.
&#8220;All our kids are all our kids,&#8221; El-Sayed wrote in the video&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2092280307596558448">caption</a>.
The Democratic candidate joined the boys, many of whom wore &#8220;Youth for Abdul&#8221; shirts, on a soccer field and explained how decisions made in Washington would affect their futures.
&#8220;My whole job is to go to Washington, D.C., to try and make laws that are better for you,&#8221; he told the boys. &#8220;That&#8217;s the whole point. So you have better schools, so that you can breathe cleaner air, you can drink cleaner water, so we don&#8217;t go send our money to kill other people instead of keeping it here, to protect you and give you healthcare, to make sure your parents have good jobs, that they have protections from a union.&#8221;
&#8220;The world that we&#8217;re building right now is the world you&#8217;re going to live in a lot longer,&#8221; he continued, adding, &#8220;When you are going out having conversations with all your neighbors and talking about elections and voting, what you&#8217;re asking them to do is build a future that&#8217;s better for you guys.&#8221;
El-Sayed told the children that he wanted them to &#8220;fight for their future&#8221; and promised he would do the same if elected to the Senate in November.
Some social media users objected to El-Sayed&#8217;s &#8220;all our kids&#8221; caption, interpreting it as suggesting that children belong collectively to the broader community, and <a href="https://x.com/CatB99261688/status/2092298658897097204">ripped</a> the Democrat for the lack of diversity in the video.
El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire.
The caption El-Sayed used for the post is similar to a quote from civil rights activist James Baldwin, who <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/notes-house-bondage/">wrote</a> in The Nation in 1980, “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.” Baldwin espoused many socialist ideals and <a href="https://lvdsa.org/2020/07/08/socialist-spotlight-james-baldwin/">argued</a> for socialism to be implemented in the United States.
El-Sayed has attempted to distance himself from socialism throughout his Senate campaign, telling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-a-socialist-michigans-mamdani-has-the-lefts-new-playbook-but-doesnt-want-the-new-label">The Daily Wire</a> in February, &#8220;I&#8217;m a scientist. I’m not a socialist.”
Yet many of El-Sayed&#8217;s <a href="https://abdulforsenate.com/priority/money-in-your-pocket/#h-taxing-billionaire-wealth">positions</a> are indistinguishable from socialist ideals, and he has campaigned with democratic socialists, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He has also joined forces with Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, whom he refuses to disavow even after Piker made <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hasan-piker-delivers-ominous-warning-to-pro-israel-jews">threatening comments</a> warning pro-Israel Jews to stop supporting the country before somebody “takes action” against them.

Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Holds Primary Night Event In Detroit

El-Sayed Enlists Children To Spread Political Message: ‘All Our Kids Are All Our Kids’

2026 Midterms

Abdul El-Sayed

Children

Islam in America

Michigan

Republicans

Socialism

U.S. Senate

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed compared Sharia Law to Canon Law when he was pressed by Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday night on a past eyebrow-raising statement about America&#8217;s opposition to Sharia.
During an interview on &#8220;Jesse Watters Primetime,&#8221; El-Sayed, a Muslim, was confronted with a statement he made in 2022 when he argued that white supremacist forces are behind the effort to prevent Sharia Law from being implemented in America.
&#8220;So getting rid of Sharia Law is white supremacy? Can you explain that one?&#8221; Watters asked.
El-Sayed replied with his own question, &#8220;Do you know what Canon Law is, Jesse? I assume you&#8217;re a Christian, right? So Canon Law is the name for Christian law. I don&#8217;t begrudge you and your right to practice your faith as you choose. I don&#8217;t know why the idea that I could practice my faith that I choose is a problem.&#8221;
&#8220;Nobody is trying to push Sharia Law on anyone else. Just like I hope nobody is trying to push Canon Law on anybody else because we live in an America where you should have the freedom of religion,&#8221; El-Sayed added.
El-Sayed&#8217;s comparison doesn&#8217;t quite match up. Canon Law is the Christian system of rules and practices set up for leaders and members within a specific church. Sharia Law, meanwhile, encompasses rituals practiced within the Muslim faith while also setting up rules for legal systems and public practices.
Extremist Muslim nations, including Iran and Afghanistan, are completely under Sharia Law for their governmental systems. The implementation of Sharia Law in these Middle East countries has led to numerous human rights violations and extreme punishments for so-called lawbreakers, which typically target and oppress women, Christians, and people who identify as LGBT.
In many Muslim-majority nations around the world, Sharia Law is incorporated into public life and used as the basis in civil law — such as for marriage and divorce — while the government adheres to more Western principles.
During his interview with Watters, El-Sayed slammed efforts to ban Sharia Law from being implemented in U.S. legal systems, calling out one bill proposed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). El-Sayed said that such efforts are &#8220;deliberately targeting the Muslim community because they&#8217;re different,&#8221; adding, &#8220;As if somehow Muslims are out here trying to push Sharia Law.&#8221;
&#8220;I would never want someone to push their faith on me, and I would never push my faith on somebody else,&#8221; he added. &#8220;When people preemptively go out there and start preemptively passing laws to ban something that&#8217;s not happening, what you&#8217;re trying to do is target a very small community because they&#8217;re different.&#8221;
Watters shot back, saying, &#8220;Sharia Law in Michigan is kind of scary. People don&#8217;t go for that. You know, it&#8217;s like men and women [aren&#8217;t equal], it&#8217;s like physical punishments. People don&#8217;t like that in Michigan. I&#8217;m just saying I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a good position.&#8221;
&#8220;Nobody is pushing it,&#8221; El-Sayed said. &#8220;You know what the issue is in Michigan. The issue that people are worried about is not that someone is going to come and put Sharia Law on them. The issue in Michigan is people are worried about how they&#8217;re going to afford their gas. The issue in Michigan is how am I going to see a doctor when I get sick? How am I going to keep my job?&#8221;
In a 2009 interview with The New York Times, El-Sayed said that he had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-dedicated-his-life-to-sharia-law">dedicated</a> his life to Sharia Law. In the interview, he was asked about buying his first home, and he said that he had chosen a Sharia-compliant mortgage that avoided interest, which Islamic law prohibits.
“Ultimately, the question is, when I die and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way. Not because of fear but because of obligation,&#8221; he said.

Michigan Democratic Senate Primary Winner Abdul El-Sayed Holds News Conference Day After Primary Win

WATCH: El-Sayed Makes Bizarre Comparison When Pressed On Sharia Law

Fox News

Islam

Jesse Watters

Mike Rogers

Muslim

Sharia Law

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who regularly rails against Israeli influence on American elections, had no issue speaking at a conference aimed at influencing the politics of a foreign country over the weekend.
Surrounded by Pakistani flags, El-Sayed spoke at the Pakistan Association of America in Metro Detroit on Sunday, celebrating the 79th anniversary of Pakistani independence and calling for an end to military rule in the South Asian country, The Detroit Free Press <a href="https://x.com/nwarikoo/status/2091643859272945749">reported</a>. He also compared the fight for democracy in Pakistan to his party&#8217;s efforts against President Donald Trump.
&#8220;I&#8217;m so honored to be here with you today to celebrate Pakistani independence, but I do want to speak specifically to this moment right now because the only reason I could be running for office is because I was born in these United States of America because of an accident of history,&#8221; El-Sayed said.
&#8220;Democracy is a precious thing. It is a beautiful thing,&#8221; El-Sayed added. &#8220;And it operates on a knife&#8217;s edge, and we see that in these United States right now under a president who threatens the very ideals of democracy itself.&#8221;
El-Sayed went on to condemn the current regime in Pakistan that has jailed its political opponents, including the former prime minister. The Democratic candidate, who routinely bashes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee&#8217;s (AIPAC) activities in U.S. elections, did not hesitate to push for major reforms in Pakistan while speaking at the Pakistan Association of America gathering.
El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment.
The leftist Muslim made his opposition to Israel and AIPAC a central part of his Senate primary campaign against Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who was backed by AIPAC. El-Sayed regularly highlights how AIPAC and its affiliated groups <a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/elections/2026/aipac-has-spent-a-record-amount-on-michigans-senate-primary-the-biggest-test-of-its-influence-yet/">spent</a> roughly $30 million backing Stevens in the primary. In June, El-Sayed warned that he was &#8220;coming for the system that tells us that the best way to run and win campaigns is to take money from corporations and special interests like AIPAC,&#8221; adding that Israel was “the most egregious example” of foreign governments attempting to influence U.S. elections.
While El-Sayed touts himself as the candidate pushing back against foreign influence, questions have also been raised about outside influences on his own campaign. On Monday, The Midwesterner <a href="https://www.themidwesterner.news/2026/08/egyptian-sentenced-to-life-for-funding-muslim-brotherhood-giving-money-to-abdul-el-sayeds-u-s-senate-campaign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign is benefiting from thousands of dollars from an Egyptian-American activist who was sentenced to life in prison for helping radicals in the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mohamed Soltan, 38, the president of the American Committee for Middle East Rights, has made at least two contributions to El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign. Soltan&#8217;s organization has also donated $25,000 to the Fighting for Michigan PAC, which was created to support El-Sayed.
Soltan faced charges related to aiding protests against the military coup that ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, including accusations that he funded and belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood. Soltan disputed the charges. He was released from prison in 2015 after pressure from the Obama administration.
El-Sayed&#8217;s birth mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayeds-mother-worked-for-terror-group-that-funded-bin-laden-and-taliban">worked</a> for an Islamic charity later designated by the U.S. government as a supporter of terrorism after the organization was accused of funneling funds to Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and Hamas. El-Sayed has said little about his birth mother and said that his stepmother and grandparents mostly influenced him after Elkomy and his father divorced.
El-Sayed also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-displayed-book-written-by-extremist-tied-to-1993-world-trade-center-attack?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Abdul+El-Sayed+Displayed+Book+Written+By+Extremist+Tied+To+1993+World+Trade+Center+Attack">displayed a book</a> written by an Islamic scholar linked to the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack, the Washington Free Beacon first reported. The book, called “Dream Interpretation According to the Qur’an,” was written by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, an Islamic scholar listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the first bombing attack on New York’s World Trade Center. The book was just one of several tied to radical Islam seen on the bookshelf that El-Sayed attempted to hide from cameras in resurfaced documentary footage.
El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign responded, saying, &#8220;This was not Abdul’s bookshelf.&#8221; The campaign added, &#8220;Abdul is a doctor and Rhodes Scholar who reads widely, including authors whose views he may disagree with. A book appearing in the background of documentary footage is not an endorsement of its content nor a reflection of his beliefs.&#8221;
The Democrat has campaigned with Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who said that &#8220;America deserved 9/11.&#8221; El-Sayed is also scheduled to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/el-sayed-to-speak-at-conference-that-will-include-cleric-who-forced-13-year-old-into-marriage?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=El-Sayed+To+Headline+Convention+With+Cleric+Who+Loves+Child+Marriage">headline a conference</a> organized by the Islamic Society of North America over Labor Day weekend. El-Sayed&#8217;s panel is set to address &#8220;Cultivating God Awareness in a Turmoiled America&#8221; alongside Cenk Uygur, the radical-leftist founder of The Young Turks and Piker&#8217;s uncle.
Allies of Republican Mike Rogers, who&#8217;s running against El-Sayed in the general election, are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mike-rogers-allies-urge-aipac-to-stay-out-of-michigan-senate-race">reportedly</a> asking AIPAC to back off plans to broadcast its support for Rogers. Axios reported that Rogers met with AIPAC chairman Michael Tuchin earlier this month before the organization held off on releasing an ad attacking El-Sayed.

AIPAC-Obsessed El-Sayed Speaks At Event By Pakistan Association Of America

American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

anti-Israel

Israel

Pakistan

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy ripped Enes Kanter Freedom after the former NBA player&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/enes-kanter-freedom-reveals-what-led-to-wnba-courtside-confrontation?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=Sports&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Enes+Kanter+Freedom+Reveals+What+Led+To+WNBA+Courtside+Confrontation">courtside clash</a> with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud on Sunday night.
Portnoy said that while he agrees with Freedom&#8217;s stance on keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports, he argued that Freedom is &#8220;making this issue about him.&#8221; Freedom and Cloud engaged in a viral confrontation late in the third quarter of the game between the Sky and the Fever, and Freedom was ejected from the arena.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think boys should be allowed to play in girls sports. I also think Enes Kanter is an absolute clown for making this issue about him,&#8221; Portnoy <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/2091696406863974812">wrote</a> on X.
The famed sports commentator argued that Freedom&#8217;s action took the spotlight off of women playing in Sunday night&#8217;s game as Freedom&#8217;s fiery confrontation drew attention away from Fever star Caitlin Clark&#8217;s dominant performance of 37 points and 10 assists.
&#8220;We should be talking about how Caitlin had another double double 37 and 10,&#8221; Portnoy added.
Some social media users, however, pointed out that very few people would have paid attention to the Fever&#8217;s game against the Sky if the clash between Freedom and Cloud hadn&#8217;t taken place.
&#8220;Except not even the WNBA wants to talk about Clark having a double double 37 and 10. That&#8217;s what led to all of this in the first place,&#8221; conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller wrote. &#8220;Portnoy isn&#8217;t wrong, but it&#8217;s the WNBA that caused all of this.&#8221;
Conservative activist Billboard Chris slammed Portnoy, arguing that Freedom is &#8220;defending women and girls from the cult of trans in the most effective way he possibly can.&#8221;
&#8220;I have never cared about a double double in the WNBA and I never will, like 99% of men,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But I care about this. Those women should all thank him for improving their ratings and their future paychecks.&#8221;
Freedom sat courtside at the game to support Cunningham, wearing a shirt that stated the definition of a woman as “adult human female.” He claimed that Cloud began shouting at him shortly after he celebrated a three-pointer made by Cunningham.
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’” Kanter told OutKick. “And I was like, ‘I am not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.’ And then, obviously, after that she started yapping, and she started to walk towards me, and literally I just got up, and then I was like, ‘I’m just here to protect women, and that’s all.’”
Portnoy has been one of the WNBA&#8217;s biggest critics, regularly ripping the league&#8217;s inexplicable bias against Clark. He also defended Fever guard Sophie Cunningham after she was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/black-player-clocks-sophie-cunningham-then-complains-about-white-privilege-after-ejection">leveled</a> by Sky player DiJonai Carrington during a game earlier this month. Cunningham has become the center of attention in the WNBA following her comments on keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports last month. But Freedom&#8217;s response to the WNBA, including his declaration for the WNBA draft, is not helping solve issues in the league, according to Portnoy.
Freedom played his final years for the Boston Celtics, Portnoy&#8217;s favorite team, and in 2019, Portnoy said he was excited for the 6-foot-10 center to join the Celtics.
&#8220;I love Kanter. I love this new look Celtics team. Back to guys with heart who want to be here and win,&#8221; Portnoy <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1145758476012048384">said</a> after Freedom signed with Boston.

Portnoy Enes

Dave Portnoy Calls Enes Kanter Freedom An ‘Absolute Clown’ After WNBA Courtside Clash

Dave Portnoy

Enes Kanter Freedom

Indiana Fever

Sophie Cunningham

WNBA

Women's sports

Former NBA player and current WNBA prospect Enes Kanter Freedom said Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud made a crude remark toward him. Moments later, the two were in a viral courtside confrontation that ended with Freedom being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/enes-kanter-freedom-booted-from-wnba-game-after-confrontation?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Enes+Kanter+Freedom+Booted+From+WNBA+Game+After+Confrontation">ejected</a> from the arena.
The wild scene unfolded during Sunday night&#8217;s game between the Sky and the Indiana Fever.
Freedom <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/enes-kanter-freedom-opens-confrontation-natasha-cloud-led-ejection-wnba-pursuit">told</a> OutKick that his heated confrontation with Cloud began shortly after Freedom celebrated Fever guard Sophie Cunningham nailing a three-pointer in the third quarter. Freedom was in attendance to support Cunningham, wearing a shirt that stated the definition of a woman as &#8220;adult human female.&#8221;
&#8220;Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’&#8221; Kanter told OutKick. &#8220;And I was like, ‘I am not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.’ And then, obviously, after that she started yapping, and she started to walk towards me, and literally I just got up, and then I was like, ‘I’m just here to protect women, and that’s all.’&#8221;
Video of the heated exchange showed Cloud approach Freedom as her teammates rushed to hold her back. Freedom stood with his arms outstretched and exchanged words with Cloud before arena security stepped in front of him and led him to the exit.
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/J4xLkXQdkZfx0241wLkaYoN3w7rIIQZk1?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=6c6eddda-38b1-4cc0-8e65-2e70991c0f62&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-08-23%20Enes%20Kanter%20Freedom%20Booted%20From%20WNBA%20Game&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F07f1e6a0-3928-4b0e-a7ff-15a6c6005e9e.jpg&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
&nbsp;
&#8220;She started to actually cuss,&#8221; Freedom added. &#8220;And I was very shocked. There were a lot of kids and there were a lot of teenagers at that game, and I just cannot believe that she was just cussing and using those F-bombs in front of all these kids.&#8221;
The former NBA forward said that he asked security why they were forcing him to leave since Cloud instigated the confrontation. As he was forced out of the arena, Freedom said he also spoke to police officers.
The fiery exchange came as the WNBA grapples with the question of allowing men into the women&#8217;s league. While no trans-identifying men currently play in the WNBA, the increasing number of men dominating other women&#8217;s sports has sparked debate about whether the WNBA should address the issue. Last month, Cunningham made comments on protecting girls&#8217; and women&#8217;s sports that thrust the issue into the spotlight in the WNBA.
“I’m not a very political person, but I do have beliefs,” she said. “I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those and be true to who I am, and I think people are going to take it how they want to take it. … When it comes to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that.”
Freedom, along with former NBA player Royce White, have backed Cunningham during the controversy and recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-nba-player-declares-for-wnba-draft">declared</a> for the WNBA draft in an attempt to force the league&#8217;s hand on the issue. The WNBA, however, has refused to take a stand on keeping men out of the league and held a meeting on transgender athletes earlier this month, but came to no conclusion on men playing in women&#8217;s sports.

Indiana Fever v Chicago Sky

Enes Kanter Freedom Reveals What Led To WNBA Courtside Confrontation

Basketball

Comedians Joe Rogan and Shane Gillis trashed communism on Rogan&#8217;s podcast Thursday — then argued in the same breath that Americans should get free healthcare, with Rogan calling billionaire wealth &#8220;the problem with capitalism.&#8221;
Gillis said free healthcare &#8220;would be a good move&#8221; during the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBH4F5a6zAA&amp;t=10697s">episode</a> — and argued that supporting it does not make someone a communist. Rogan agreed. The two were joined by fellow comedians Mark Normand and Ari Shaffir.
&#8220;Communism is the gayest sh*t ever,&#8221; Gillis said. &#8220;Somebody needs to look into how gay communism is.&#8221;
&#8220;But isn&#8217;t it crazy that it&#8217;s making a comeback?&#8221; Rogan asked. &#8220;It always does. It&#8217;s a cycle.&#8221;
&#8220;The problem is if we could not call it communism if we get free healthcare,&#8221; Gillis added. &#8220;That would be a good move. We&#8217;re calling everybody communists. Free healthcare is cool. We should have that. That&#8217;s not communism. Communism is no private property.&#8221;
Rogan agreed, saying, &#8220;We should treat the whole country like it&#8217;s a community. If you have a community, would you want the sickest person to f*cking die, who could be very valuable if you could take care of them, if you have the resources to take care of them? You should take care of them.&#8221;
&#8220;This is the problem with capitalism, this is the reason people turn on all these billionaires,&#8221; Rogan added. &#8220;They turn on them because [they say], &#8216;Why do you have so much when people have so little?&#8217; But it&#8217;s because it&#8217;s the game, it&#8217;s the game that they&#8217;re playing, and you&#8217;re playing the game to — you&#8217;re just not playing it at that level.&#8221;
Normand then pushed back a little on Rogan&#8217;s statement.
&#8220;But again, these rich people pay a lot [in taxes] and give a lot of services,&#8221; Normand said.
&#8220;There&#8217;s that, but also the services, the amount of money they get, is all going to corrupt people that are funneling it into their own bank accounts. That&#8217;s the problem with it all,&#8221; Rogan replied.
Free healthcare of the sort Rogan and Gillis described already exists across the developed world, with mixed results. In Canada, where taxpayers fund the system, the median wait for a family doctor&#8217;s referral to treatment was 28.6 weeks in 2025 — the second longest on record — according to the Fraser Institute. Nearly 6 million Canadian adults have no regular family doctor at all, a survey by St. Michael&#8217;s Hospital and the Canadian Medical Association found. In England, the National Health Service backlog stood at roughly 7.1 million cases this spring, and the health service has not met its 18-week treatment standard since 2016.
Rogan, who describes himself as politically independent, endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 2020 Democratic primary and endorsed President Donald Trump on the eve of the 2024 election. Sanders even endorsed one of Rogan&#8217;s healthcare takes last year.
&#8220;I think healthcare 100% should be socially funded. I think that Medicare and Medicaid — having programs where people who are hurt can get an operation, and it&#8217;s not going to bankrupt them for the rest of their life,&#8221; Rogan said in March 2025, adding, &#8220;It should be a part of our agreement to take care of each other as a community, that we chip in money for what people would think of as socialist positions.&#8221;
&#8220;Joe Rogan is absolutely right about this,&#8221; Sanders said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joe Rogan is absolutely right about this. <a href="https://t.co/xIvMSjARWD">https://t.co/xIvMSjARWD</a>
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) <a href="https://x.com/BernieSanders/status/1906405502046597253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Joe Rogan/Shane Gillis

Joe Rogan, Shane Gillis Agree Communism Is ‘The Gayest Sh*t Ever’ — But ‘Free Healthcare Is Cool’

Bernie Sanders

Communism

Healthcare

Joe Rogan

Medicaid

Medicare

Shane Gillis

A nearly eight-year-old clip of Charlie Kirk ripping Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker&#8217;s communist dream went viral on social media again this week.
In the exchange, which took place during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RIKm-cOdh0">Politicon debate</a> in Los Angeles on October 20, 2018 — the pair&#8217;s second meeting at the convention — Kirk asked Piker why he doesn&#8217;t live by the communist vision he calls for America to embrace.
&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you give 95% of your money away and go live on a commune?&#8221; Kirk asked the America-hating communist streamer.
&#8220;Do you really think that that&#8217;s how it works?&#8221; Piker replied.
&#8220;Why not? Go live what you preach,&#8221; Kirk said as Piker attempted to interrupt the Turning Point USA founder.
&#8220;I live what I practice,&#8221; Kirk added. &#8220;I am a free-market capitalist, I employ people, I took a risk, I have my own start-up business. Every single day, I practice what I preach. He wants other people to contribute to what he considers to be a good idea, what he considers will make the world a better place.&#8221;
&#8220;You have the freedom to go live as a socialist. Go do it, Hasan. What&#8217;s stopping you?&#8221;
Piker called the exchange &#8220;absolutely preposterous.&#8221; &#8220;If I gave away the measly earnings that I had and gave away 95% of that,&#8221; he began — before Kirk cut in to ask, &#8220;How much do you make, Hasan?&#8221; — &#8220;that wouldn&#8217;t necessarily even push the needle.&#8221;
&#8220;I will be very honest, it&#8217;s really embarrassing especially because my boss is sitting right there, I make $60,000 a year, okay? And that&#8217;s a really good salary.&#8221;
The exchange devolved when Cenk Uygur — Piker&#8217;s uncle and, at the time, his boss at The Young Turks — began shouting at Kirk from the audience, demanding to know Kirk&#8217;s own salary.
&#8220;I live like a capitalist every single day, Cenk,&#8221; Kirk said. &#8220;I practice what I preach. You do not practice what you preach.&#8221;
Pressed on his own pay, Kirk answered: &#8220;Less than Hasan, so you can check it yourself.&#8221;
The debate was just one of many examples of how Kirk stood for conservative principles in some of the most radical leftist environments.
On September 10, 2025, Kirk was assassinated while speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University. The Turning Point USA founder was shot while taking a question about transgender mass shooters. According to charging documents, the suspected gunman texted his roommate and trans-identifying lover afterward: &#8220;I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can&#8217;t be negotiated out.&#8221;
Since the debate with Kirk in 2018, Piker has gained fame among the far-Left, and he has even been embraced by some in the Democratic Party, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). This year, Piker has campaigned with Democratic House and Senate candidates in New York and Michigan, including Michigan Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who is hoping to become the first Muslim U.S. senator.
Piker&#8217;s earnings have grown considerably since. Fox Business host Charles Payne <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403267383112">put his net worth at $35</a> million on air Wednesday, though public estimates vary widely, with Celebrity Net Worth listing roughly $8 million. What isn&#8217;t in dispute is the $2.7 million West Hollywood home — a long way from the commune.
In an April New York Times podcast, Piker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialists-have-made-a-new-crime-into-a-form-of-protest">said</a> he&#8217;s &#8220;pro stealing from big corporations, because they steal quite a bit more from their own workers,&#8221; and added that while he doesn&#8217;t shoplift himself, &#8220;if someone needs the food, they should absolutely steal it.&#8221;
Piker has praised murderous Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong and has argued that America &#8220;deserved 9/11.&#8221; In March 2025, Piker was temporarily suspended from the streaming platform Twitch — his fifth suspension from the site — after saying that if Republicans cared about entitlement fraud, &#8220;you would kill Rick Scott.&#8221;

Politicon 2018 – Day 1

FLASHBACK: Watch Charlie Kirk Expose Absurdity Of Hasan Piker’s Communist Dream

Capitalism

Cenk Uygur

Charlie Kirk

Hasan Piker

Leftists

The Young Turks

Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed will spend Labor Day weekend speaking at a Muslim conference alongside an antisemitic cleric who said he forced his 13-year-old niece into marriage.
El-Sayed, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Michigan, is slated to speak at the Islamic Society of North America&#8217;s annual convention, held in Detroit from September 4-7, The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/abdul-el-sayed-to-headline-islamic-event-alongside-pakistani-cleric-who-forced-his-13-year-old-niece-into-marriage-was-denounced-for-pedophilic-rhetoric/">reported</a>. ISNA was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 federal prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, and a judge ruled in 2009 that the government had presented &#8220;ample evidence&#8221; tying the group to Hamas.
Also on the convention roster is Tariq Masood, a Pakistani cleric who has urged followers to marry off their young female relatives, citing his own niece&#8217;s marriage at 13.
Masood is scheduled to moderate a panel on &#8220;avoiding mental illness in youth&#8221; aimed at addressing how parents &#8220;can prevent or minimize the impact of any trauma leading to a mental illness.&#8221; He will moderate that session alongside ISNA president Syed Imtiaz Ahmad, who is separately listed on El-Sayed&#8217;s own panel, <a href="https://isna.net/annual-convention">according</a> to the convention itinerary.
Masood has also preached against Jews. In a 2024 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhvnB-DBRR4">sermon</a> titled &#8220;The Final Humiliation of the Jews,&#8221; he said Jews&#8217; &#8220;cunning minds&#8221; had worked to bring the world under their control, according to translations reviewed by the Free Beacon. &#8220;The Quran condemns Jews,&#8221; he said, adding that &#8220;not all Jews are the same&#8221; before claiming no other community in the world matched Jews for &#8220;evil and turmoil.&#8221;
The El-Sayed campaign told The Daily Wire on Saturday that the Democrat &#8220;does not endorse&#8221; anyone speaking at the conference.
&#8220;Abdul is not affiliated with and does not endorse any other participant of the conference,&#8221; a spokeswoman for the campaign said. &#8220;He is scheduled to participate in a different panel at the ISNA conference to speak on unity and commitment to justice in public service.&#8221;
El-Sayed is scheduled to speak on a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DbtLp_ZDRqJ/">panel</a> titled &#8220;Cultivating God Awareness in a Turmoiled America.&#8221; Ahmad is listed on that panel as well, alongside Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks founder and uncle of America-hating streamer Hasan Piker.
El-Sayed&#8217;s panel discussion is advertised as a way to push Muslim Americans and their faith into the public square.
&#8220;In this storm, remaining principled, morally clear, and emotionally steady is essential for Muslim Americans,&#8221; the ISNA wrote. &#8220;ISNA meets the moment by framing taqwa (God-Awareness) not only as personal piety but as a public strategy for success. It urges the Muslim community to mobilize taqwa to uphold unity, ethical integrity, and an uncompromised commitment to justice. This session turns taqwa into actionable guidance, equipping participants not merely to survive but to thrive in workplaces, schools, digital spaces, and community life — and to succeed on their own terms.&#8221;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1158539 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-15T084637.462-477x576.jpg" alt="" width="477" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-15T084637.462-477x576.jpg 477w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-15T084637.462-248x300.jpg 248w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-15T084637.462-768x928.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-15T084637.462.jpg 993w" sizes=" (max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px" /></div>
&nbsp;
El-Sayed&#8217;s ties to ISNA are also familial and financial. His father-in-law, Tayeb Jukaku, has sat on the group&#8217;s founders committee since at least 2007 and also serves on the board of CAIR&#8217;s Michigan chapter, according to the Free Beacon. Jukaku has given $300,000 to a super PAC backing El-Sayed&#8217;s Senate bid.
Another scheduled speaker is Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam who testified as a character witness for Omar Abdel-Rahman, the &#8220;blind sheikh&#8221; convicted in 1995 of plotting a wave of New York terror attacks. Prosecutors listed Wahhaj among roughly 170 people who might be named as co-conspirators in that case, though he was never charged and the lead prosecutor <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/siraj-wahhaj-and-the-1993-world-trade-center-bombing-again/amp/">has said</a> inclusion on the list did not mean the government alleged he was a conspirator.
The leftist Democratic Senate nominee narrowly won his party&#8217;s primary earlier this month pushing a far-Left agenda that includes Medicare for all and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the recent past, he has also called to defund the police and restructure the U.S. Supreme Court, both issues that are pushed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). While El-Sayed has said that he doesn&#8217;t identify as a socialist, the Democrat rode a wave of DSA support in his primary election.
El-Sayed campaigned alongside Hasan Piker ahead of the primary and has resisted calls to cut ties with him, dismissing Piker&#8217;s claim that &#8220;America deserved 9/11&#8221; as a &#8220;dumb statement.&#8221; Asked on Meet the Press whether he would campaign with the communist streamer again, El-Sayed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wacRksAPl4s">said</a> he was &#8220;a lot more focused on who I&#8217;m campaigning to.&#8221;
El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in the November general election.

Abdul El-Sayed/Tariq Masood

El-Sayed To Headline Convention With Cleric Who Loves Child Marriage

Election

Muslims

Pedophilia

Five people were wounded when at least one gunman opened fire at Virginia State University early Saturday morning, just two days before the start of the semester.
Gunfire erupted near some of the university’s dormitories in Chesterfield County around 1:30 a.m. ET, WTVR CBS 6 <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/chesterfield-county/virginia-state-university-shooting-prompts-lockdown-aug-15-2026">reported</a>. When police arrived, they found five people suffering from gunshot wounds. One victim was initially treated for life-threatening wounds and was later upgraded to critical condition. The other four victims appear to have suffered minor graze wounds.
In a post on social media, university officials said that the shooting involves &#8220;multiple suspects.&#8221;
&#8220;VSU Police and the Chesterfield County Police Department are actively investigating,&#8221; Virginia State University said at 5:56 a.m.
In an update at 8:22 a.m., the university said that the lockdown had been lifted, but &#8220;a significant law enforcement presence remains on campus as the investigation into this morning&#8217;s shooting continues.&#8221; It appears that no suspects have been taken into custody as of time of publication, and the university urged anyone with information on the shooting to contact law enforcement.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/f0NBAWU38r">pic.twitter.com/f0NBAWU38r</a>
— Virginia State University (@VSU_1882) <a href="https://x.com/VSU_1882/status/2088602135357239647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Virginia State University is a historically black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia, just south of Richmond. It&#8217;s current on-campus <a href="https://www.vsu.edu/about/">enrollment</a> is around 5,000 students. The university&#8217;s fall semester is set to begin on Monday.
This is a developing story. Stay with The Daily Wire for updates.

Virginia State shooting

Multiple People Shot At Virginia State University

College

Mass Shooting

Shooting

A WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky turned nasty on Saturday when Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was leveled on a breakaway layup by Sky guard DiJonai Carrington.
Carrington struck Cunningham across the face with her forearm after Cunningham had left her feet for a layup. Cunningham hit the ground hard, but quickly got to her feet and got in the face of Carrington, shoving the Sky player as she was held back by teammates.
After officials reviewed the play, Carrington was assessed a flagrant 2, resulting in an automatic ejection.
&#8220;The foul on DiJonai Carrington has flagrant foul penalty 2, since there&#8217;s wind-up, impact, and follow-through — high-potential for injury for players in a vulnerable position,&#8221; the referee announced to the crowd.
Carrington and the Chicago bench were stunned by the decision, but the ESPN commentators immediately expected a flagrant 2 to be called after the play. Carrington, however, was enraged and <a href="https://www.threads.com/@dijonai/post/DbyqmQXj8Uk?xmt=AQG0YVN3u_3ZZ1dQLvLA4rwZGtUNzVlW6DPBP_HhLlEzxw">posted</a> on social media from the locker room, &#8220;WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever.&#8221;
The incident comes as Cunningham has upset many players and coaches in the WNBA for her stance on keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports. Cunningham&#8217;s comments on protecting women&#8217;s sports have resulted in pushback from the WNBA media and even a WNBA head coach, including Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-praises-wnba-coach-after-trans-sports-jab-at-sophie-cunningham">wore</a> a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt during her team&#8217;s game against Cunningham and the Fever earlier this week.
“I would encourage anyone to go and listen to Cheryl Reeve’s comments; incredibly thoughtful, easy to find online. I would just encourage anyone to go and listen,” ESPN Lobo color analyst Rebecca Lobo said of the issue of men in women&#8217;s sports.
Fans supporting Cunningham and her message have also faced backlash, including at a Fever game in Seattle last week when two teenage girls holding signs in support of Cunningham were harassed by Seattle fans and the Seattle Storm&#8217;s co-owner.
For her part, Cunningham has not backed down after the backlash.
“I’m not a very political person, but I do have beliefs,” she said. “I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those and be true to who I am, and I think people are going to take it how they want to take it. … When it comes to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that.”

Black Player Clocks Sophie Cunningham Then Complains About ‘White Privilege’ After Ejection

Race

White Privilege

Menu

Zach Jewell