The legislation, backed by Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek, would require money transmitters operating in Missouri to verify that individuals sending money overseas are lawfully present in the United States before processing international remittances. The Missouri legislation is part of a broader push by conservative state officials to strengthen safeguards around public spending following high-profile fraud cases uncovered during the pandemic.

The proposal, introduced as HB 2412 and SB 1124 in the Missouri General Assembly, would make Missouri the first state in the nation to require verification of lawful presence before international remittances can be processed.

“The failures in Minnesota offer a lesson to other states,” Malek said in a statement obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire. “We are taking sensible action in Missouri to prevent similar crime from occurring here. American dollars should stay in America.”

The push comes after the massive welfare fraud scheme scandal in Minnesota, which involved Somali-linked fraud networks allegedly siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from federally funded child nutrition programs during the COVID era. The scandal, which has led to dozens of indictments, triggered a wave of scrutiny from lawmakers and watchdog groups who say weak oversight allowed the scheme to flourish for years.

Malek, a member of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), said the Missouri legislation is intended to close potential loopholes that could allow fraudulently obtained taxpayer funds to be moved overseas.

Critics of the proposal argue that the legislation could harm immigrant communities that rely on remittances to support family members abroad. One recent local news report highlighted an illegal immigrant who has lived in the United States for more than a decade and sends roughly half of his income overseas. “I’m here alone fighting for life, to maintain my family over there. I’ve been here for 13 years,” he said anonymously.

Carlos Rich, president of the Rural Community Workers Alliance — an organization which is “a worker-led organization dedicated to empowering, educating, and organizing refugee and immigrant workers,” — predicts that 5,000 immigrants in the area would be affected by this bill.

Supporters of the measure argue that the issue is not legal immigration or legitimate remittances, but preventing taxpayer-funded fraud schemes from funneling money out of the country. The State Financial Officers Foundation recently released a report estimating that Republican state financial officers collectively protected more than $28 billion in taxpayer funds from fraud and waste last year through oversight initiatives and financial reforms.

At the time of the report, Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks and SFOF National Chairman said, “across the country, state financial officers are doing the job taxpayers expect, identifying billions in waste, fraud, and abuse, generating strong investment results, and returning billions in unclaimed property to rightful owners.”

To the critics of the harder approach, Oaks added that it’s “not partisan; it’s fiduciary duty. America’s state financial officers will continue to expose fiscal misconduct and protect the hard-earned dollars of the American people.”

While lawmakers in several states have proposed new oversight measures after the Minnesota scandal, Missouri’s proposal to regulate international remittances would be the first of its kind if enacted.

At the time, the 30-year-old “Marty Supreme” star disparaged the two art forms, claiming they were outdated and irrelevant.

“I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, who go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta keep this genre alive,'” Chalamet said at the time. “And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like ‘Barbie,’ like ‘Oppenheimer,’ they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.”

“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore,’” the actor went on. “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost fourteen cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason.”

This led to Chalamet being slammed by the opera and ballet community. There are even debates over whether the actor reduced his likelihood of winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in less than a week, with betting markets reducing Chalamet’s odds for taking home a golden statue after predicting him as a likely winner for months.

Many have pointed out that it’s only his reputation that risks being ruined, because the Oscars ballots were submitted long before the clip went public.

Chalamet’s comments went viral on social media and got some big reactions. The Metropolitan Opera posted a video showing all the work that goes into productions and added the caption, “All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there…This one’s for you, @tchalamet.”

 

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A post shared by The Metropolitan Opera (@metopera)

LA Opera posted an update to say they were considering giving the actor free tickets, but decided not to because “it’s selling out.” The caption added, “There are a few seats left to purchase if you hurry.” The U.K.’s Royal Ballet and Opera also stressed how popular their shows were and invited Chalamet to come check out the “sheer magic” of a live performance.

Seattle Opera offered 14% off tickets to “Carmen” for patrons using the promo code TIMOTHEE. “Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too,” they said.

And it wasn’t just ballet companies getting in on the mockery. On a recent episode of “Jeopardy!” a category featuring ballet and opera was shared in Instagram reels alongside the caption, “NOBODY @ HIM 👀 #timotheechalamet.”

The ladies of “The View” also weren’t happy with Chalamet. Panelist Sunny Hostin said she was “offended” and “disappointed” by his comments, while moderator Whoopi Goldberg had a rant of her own.

“You come from a dance family. And so, when you crap on somebody else’s art form, it doesn’t feel good,” Goldberg said. “It doesn’t feel good to see, and you probably didn’t realize that until you said, ‘Oh, I’m in trouble.’ But then you compounded it, and said ’14 cents.’ No, when people get mad, it’ll be a lot more than 14 cents. So be careful. I’m just saying, be careful, boy.”

“And really, don’t apologize when you’ve insulted, because it doesn’t sound right. You can’t say, ‘Oh, this is dumb and no disrespect for’ — that’s absolute disrespect!” she went on.

Chalamet missed becoming the youngest ever Best Actor winner at last year’s Oscars for his role in “A Complete Unknown.” He took home his first ever Golden Globe earlier this year for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in “Marty Supreme.”

The display has turned a busy public space into a place of reflection, where Israelis have gathered to pay their respects to the American soldiers who lost their lives during the conflict. The memorial features photos of six fallen U.S. soldiers, with flowers placed nearby and visitors pausing in silence. 

The Tel Aviv memorial comes as the United States and Israel continue close military coordination against Iran. The campaign — known in Washington as Operation Epic Fury and referred to in Israel as Operation Roaring Lion — began on February 28 with coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes targeting Iran’s missile systems, military infrastructure, and naval assets. 

The soldiers honored in the display were members of the United States Army Reserve working in logistics when a drone struck their command center at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. The attack occurred one day after the United States and Israel launched their military campaign.

A sign at the memorial reads: “For the American heroes, your courage and dedication will not be forgotten,” alongside “Seek peace and pursue it,” from Psalm 34:14.

Memorial on Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on March 10, 2026. (OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP via Getty Images)

Those honored in the memorial are:

• Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien
• Capt. Cody Khork
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan
• Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor
• Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens
• Sgt. Declan Coady

Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, who was also killed in an Iranian drone attack, was not included in the display because his name had not yet been publicly announced when the memorial was created. His remains were returned to the U.S. in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base on Monday. 

The memorial comes as U.S. forces continue to face attacks across the region amid the conflict with Iran.

About 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks, though most injuries have been minor, and 108 troops have already returned to duty, according to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell. Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care.

Israel has previously erected memorials dedicated to American victims and service members.

One of the most prominent examples is the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem, built by the Jewish National Fund. Located in the hills outside the city, the monument, shaped like a rising American flag, is the only memorial outside the United States that lists the names of all 2,977 victims of the September 11 attacks. The site hosts annual commemorations attended by Israelis and Americans.

He later went on to receive a deportation order after his release, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire.

Honduran illegal immigrant Samuel Antonio Maldonado-Erazo, 28, allegedly took the toddler to work on March 4 and ignored severe signs of distress his nephew appeared to be experiencing, according to Fox10.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the child had several broken ribs, one of which was detached from the backbone, a broken collarbone, and a transected pancreas from blunt trauma, the local news outlet reported. The child also appeared to show signs of possible sexual abuse.

When first responders came upon the toddler, they found he was suffering from cardiac arrest, according to Fox10.

“Life-saving measures were attempted but unfortunately, he passed,” Simmons said. “We learned this young boy suffered extensive bruising about his body, to include 17 strikes to the head alone. Additionally, there were several burn marks consistent with heating a lighter and then pressing that lighter against the skin. These injuries and the neglect associated with them contributed to his death.”

“The injuries to the child are hard to talk about, and even harder to imagine having to endure,” Simmons said. “The only solace I can think of is he suffers no more.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a detainer with local authorities on March 5, asking for a heads-up before releasing Maldonado-Erazo, DHS said.

Maldonado-Erazo illegally entered the United States in August 2021 and “was immediately removed,” DHS said.

He then reentered the country illegally in November 2021 and was released “under the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies,” the agency added.

He was ordered deported in May 2023, according to DHS.

Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary Lauren Bis called the situation “absolutely sickening,” saying “This heinous crime underscores the importance of local authorities working with ICE to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities.”

“The Biden administration should have never RELEASED this monster into our communities,” Bis added.

The three-year-old was left with Maldonado-Erazo after his mother and aunt were deported, Simmons said.

Maldonado-Erazo had other children living with him who have since been taken into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families, the sheriff said.

Erazo was originally charged with negligent manslaughter, but his charges have since been upgraded to felony murder, according to the sheriff’s office.

You’re being lied to over and over and over again because liars, including Democrats, the horseshoe Right, and terrorists, are working together to make the United States lose.

I’m going to walk you through the three big lies making the rounds right now — and debunk them one by one.

Lie #1: The war is a quagmire, an interminable, never-ending conflict, doomed to catastrophe; we’ll probably have to use nukes.

This is nuts. Can we be real about something for a second? We are 12 days into this war. 12 days. Not 12 years, like Vietnam. Not 12 months, like the Spanish-American War, which ended with the United States winning Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines from Spain.

12 days, which is about how long cottage cheese takes to spoil in your fridge.

Lie #2: Iran is doing great. They’re outlasting us. They’ve never been stronger. They’ll be able to stand up to us forever.

You see this in the AI slop all over X; people making up videos of things that do not exist and pumping them out, showing Iran with nuclear-age weaponry that the aliens used in Independence Day.

No. The war is going incredibly poorly for Iran. Iran is on its last legs, although. I should say last leg, because Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, reportedly is down to one leg. Apparently, the Israelis blew off the other one in the same strike that took out his father. Allegedly, Mojtaba isn’t even conscious, which is why, at a ceremony for him where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps showed up to pledge allegiance to him, they were forced to use a cardboard cutout of him on a poster board they had printed at an Iranian Kinko’s.

By the way, this is also how I run our office. I put up a cardboard cutout, and then my staffers talk to it, and we call it a successful meeting.

According to the New York Post:

Assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was so opposed to his son taking power that he noted it in his will, experts told The Post. “In Khamenei’s will, he explicitly asked Mojtaba not to be named as successor,” said Khosro Isfahani, a research director for the opposition group National Union for Democracy with ties to Iranian intelligence.

Still, the critics argue catastrophe is upon us. And that brings us to…

Lie #3: The oil shock is going to end this war, or Iran’s just going to cut off the Strait of Hormuz forever. You’re going to be standing in line like the Jimmy Carter era, waiting to pump gas. 

Nope. You remember when on Monday morning, people were freaking out about the Strait of Hormuz and the supposed Iranian threat to global oil supply, and there was talk about the price of crude per barrel going up to $150-200?

It was the fastest turnaround in modern market history because the price of oil soared by roughly $40 a barrel. But by the close of business yesterday, crude had dropped again below $90 a barrel.

So clearly we’re in terrible trouble. The economy’s about to collapse.

Not.

If you listen to the idiots, you would think these people really thought that President Trump was going to launch a major action in the Middle East without any idea how it might upset the oil markets.

If there’s one thing (among others) President Trump understands profoundly, it is the impact on markets. This is why he launches strikes on Friday nights — not to annoy me because it’s the Sabbath and I can’t cover it — but actually because the markets don’t open until — wait for it — Monday.

He did it with Maduro. He did it here.

If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” he wrote. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen! This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated.

I love it when he starts just doing heavy metal lyrics.

You notice the veiled threat? It’s pretty wonderful. It’s basically Trump saying, “Hey, China, I know you’re working with Iran, but we are going to keep the oil flowing to you for now if you’re nice.”

President Trump is feeling it.

He said yesterday,

Together with our Israeli partners, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. Iran’s drone and missile capability is being utterly demolished. Their Navy is gone. It’s all lying at the bottom of the ocean. 46 ships. Can you believe it? In fact, I got a little upset with our people. I said, ‘What quality of ship?’ ‘Excellent, sir. Top of the line.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we just capture the ship? We could have used it. Why did we sink them?’ They said ‘It’s more fun to sink them.’ They like sinking ‘em better.

He’s the best. He’s just the best.

If you cannot laugh along with the president about the United States sinking Iranian Navy ships, you need to have a better time in life.

The president also spelled out a timeline. It will be short, and it will be over soon. President Trump talks about this war to reporters the same way I talk to my kids about a trip to the doctors: It will be over “soon.”

Maybe that’s because Trump’s opponents here are acting like children.

Over the years, we’ve talked about “good” Trump and “bad” Trump.

This is not “bad” Trump. And it’s not “good” Trump.

This is unsurpassed awesomeness.

During a White House press briefing, Leavitt urged Americans to stay patient after gas prices rose to their highest national average in four years. Leavitt said oil and gas prices could drop “rapidly” after the U.S. military achieves its objectives in “Operation Epic Fury.”

“The recent increase in oil and gas prices is temporary,” she said. “And this operation will result in lower gas prices in the long-term.”

NEW: @PressSec: “Rest assured to the American people: the recent increase in oil and gas prices is temporary.” pic.twitter.com/KeF8ele6HE

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) March 10, 2026

Brent crude, the international benchmark price point for oil, skyrocketed to nearly $120 per barrel earlier this week, but then plummeted to under $90 after President Trump said on Monday that the war in Iran was “very far ahead of schedule.” As of Tuesday afternoon, Brent crude remained just below $90 per barrel, which is still much higher than before the United States and Israel began their joint operation targeting Iran on February 28.

The ongoing war in Iran has squeezed oil flow coming through the Strait of Hormuz, which sits between Iran and the United Arab Emirates and is the only passage for tankers leaving the Persian Gulf. Around 20% of the world’s oil is transported through the Strait of Hormuz, but that oil flow came to a near complete halt last week. As of Monday, oil tankers again began traversing the strait, with oil tanker traffic ticking up to 20% of its normal level, according to analysis from Goldman Sachs.

Trump has floated taking control of the strait. The White House is also considering using U.S. ships to escort oil tankers.

“That’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time,” Leavitt said on Tuesday.

The president warned Iran on Monday, saying, “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”

U.S. intelligence suggests that Iran could be preparing to drop mines in the Strait of Hormuz, CBS News reported. Such a move could further threaten oil tanker traffic and stall oil flow to the world. If tankers are prevented from passing through the Strait of Hormuz for more than two weeks, oil could reach $150 per barrel, some experts warned, according to the Associated Press. Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company also warned of “catastrophic consequences” for global oil markets if the important shipping lane does not reopen soon.

Officers quickly arrested the duo after one of the bombs was thrown. By Saturday evening, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the public, confirming that the devices were “a bit smaller than a football, [appeared] to be a jar wrapped in black tape, importantly with nuts, bolts, and screws along with a hobby fuse that could be lit.”

The devices — in Balat’s own words — were intended “to carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon,” which Balat noted caused “only three deaths.” From Pennsylvania, Balat and Kayumi reportedly traveled to New York City to carry out their attack. After Balat was arrested on Saturday, authorities located a car registered to Balat’s family member and found footage of the vehicle crossing the George Washington Bridge into New York City at 11:36 a.m. on Sunday.

Balat and Kayumi lived ten miles from each other in Pennsylvania. Balat is enrolled at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Kayumi graduated from Council Rock High School in 2024. Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, claimed to reporters that the men did not know each other prior to the attack: “They’re strangers, as far as I know.” He added that they are in different age groups.

An official from Neshaminy High School shared with The Daily Wire said Balat was enrolled in the district’s virtual academy and had not attended in-person classes since September. Essmidi said, “He’s finishing school remotely because he has only like three classes left to do.”

When arrested, both Balat and Kayumi referred to ISIS in recorded post-arrest statements. Balat pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State on a piece of paper at the police detention center, and Kayumi said he was affiliated with ISIS and watched ISIS propaganda on his phone.

Authorities have since searched Balat and Kayumi’s devices, as well as their homes. Balat lived in Langhorne in a home estimated to be worth $653,000, and Kayumi lived in a home worth $2.25 million. It is unclear whether Kayumi continued to live in that home after he graduated from Council Rock.

The FBI also searched a storage facility in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, on South Flowers Mill Road. The FBI said it was conducting a court-authorized search in connection with Balat and Kayumi’s terrorism case.

Kayumi’s parents were originally from Afghanistan and became naturalized citizens in 2004 and 2009.

Both Balat and Kayumi traveled internationally in the last two years. Balat left the United States for about four months, traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, from May 6, 2025, to August 26, 2025. In January of this year, Balat left the country, again traveling to Turkey. Like Balat, Kayumi also went to Istanbul, but in July and August of 2024. He also traveled to Saudi Arabia in March of that year.

The talking filibuster, first suggested by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, would potentially clear a path for the GOP-controlled Senate to pass the legislation by forcing Democrats who oppose the SAVE America Act to speak non-stop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote. Thune said the Republican-controlled Senate, however, doesn’t have enough support from his party to use the talking filibuster.

“The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,” Thune told reporters. “It’s just a reality. I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it.”

Trump has ramped up the pressure on Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act before the 2026 midterms, arguing that a law imposing strict voter ID requirements is vital for Republicans to perform well in the upcoming elections. The legislation would require voters to provide proof of citizenship before registration and would prohibit states from sending mail-in ballots to voters, with the only exceptions being illness, disability, military service, or travel.

Sen. Lee, who sponsored the legislation, told The Daily Wire that Senate Republicans need “to push even harder” to get the SAVE America Act across the finish line.

“Voters across the nation are demanding the SAVE America Act. If we need a few more Senators to get on board to beat a Democrat standing filibuster, that’s not a reason to give up — it’s a reason to push even harder,” he said. “If Republicans don’t fight hard to deliver this wildly popular legislation that President Trump has specifically requested, how can we ask Americans to entrust us with both chambers of Congress in the future?”

Recent polling has shown that despite harsh Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act, a majority of Americans support strict voter ID requirements.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the SAVE America Act “one of the most critical pieces of legislation in our nation’s history.”

“Passing the SAVE America Act is the most important thing that Republicans and frankly, Democrats, can do to strengthen election integrity and protect democracy,” Leavitt added. “It’s what the American people elected Republicans to do, and they must deliver on it as soon as possible.”

The press secretary also slammed Democrats for promoting the “myth” that the legislation would make it more difficult for women to vote.

“As far as married women who have changed their name, if they’re already registered to vote, they’re entirely unaffected by the SAVE Act, and for the some fraction of individuals who have changed their name or their address, they can still register to vote, of course. They just have to go through their state processes to update that documentation,” Leavitt continued.

Trump said on Sunday that he would not sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk. The White House kept the pressure up on Tuesday, urging Americans to “DEMAND” that their senators get on board with the Save America Act.

“We either fix the integrity of America’s elections, or we won’t have a country left to fight for,” the White House posted on X. The post also included a link to a White House webpage that provided contact information for each U.S. senator’s office.

Thune said on Monday that much of the pressure campaign on the SAVE America Act is coming from conservative activists on X, which he called a “paid influencer ecosystem,” not from within the Senate itself.

“We want to get to the SAVE Act,” Thune added, but he warned that a talking filibuster would make other priorities much “harder” to address.

The Senate effectively ended the talking filibuster in the 1970s and moved to the silent filibuster, which has allowed the opposition to stall votes only by stating their intent to filibuster, and thereby require 60 votes to invoke cloture. Trump, who also pushed for the Senate to abolish the filibuster, has suggested that he would take executive action to impose voter ID and citizenship requirements if Congress doesn’t pass the SAVE America Act.

Former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf argued that local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities weaken the rule of law.

“States do not have the authority to pick and choose which federal laws are followed,” Wolf told lawmakers. “To restore the rule of law, common sense, and public safety, the era of sanctuary jurisdiction needs to come to an end — permanently.”

Wolf warned that sanctuary policies prevent federal agents from identifying and removing individuals already in local custody who may be in the country illegally.

“The American people are safer when state and local government cooperate with federal immigration agencies,” Wolf said, urging local jurisdictions to give federal agents access to jails and prisons so immigration status can be determined before inmates are released.

Local law enforcement officials echoed those concerns. Michael Chapman, a Republican sheriff who represents Loudoun County, Virginia, testified that in his jurisdiction, three of five homicides in 2024 were committed by illegal immigrants.

Republican senators pressed witnesses about what they see as growing resistance to immigration enforcement among Democratic lawmakers. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Wolf directly why many Democrats appear supportive of more lax border policies.

“In your opinion, why do so many — not all — of my Democratic colleagues believe in open borders?” Kennedy asked. Wolf responded, “There are some that believe anyone and everyone should be able to come to the United States whether they apply for protections under U.S. law or not,” Wolf said. “And there are some probably that would like to see more voters in the U.S.”

The hearing also included sharp exchanges between Republicans and economists critical of the administration’s immigration policies. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sparred with David Bier of the Cato Institute over deportation procedures and enforcement priorities, rejecting claims that judicial warrants are necessary for immigration arrests. “Why? Because it’s stupid.” Graham said after Bier acknowledged that such warrants are rarely used. 

Graham also floated legislation allowing victims to sue local prosecutors who release repeat offenders who later commit crimes — an idea immigration policy analyst Jessica Vaughan said could deter sanctuary policies adopted for political reasons.

Democrats used the hearing to highlight concerns about the broader economic impact of expanded immigration enforcement. Ranking member Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) argued that mass deportations and expanded detention could shrink the labor force and reduce economic growth.

“Fewer working people equals a smaller GDP,” Brendan Duke, who served as a senior policy adviser at the Biden White House National Economic Council, told lawmakers to back up Merkley’s rhetoric.

However, Sen. Kennedy clashed with Duke over his sudden concern and used it as an opportunity to air out more grievances with the fiscal record of the Biden-Harris administration.

“Isn’t it a fact that the profligacy of President Biden caused 9% inflation in America?” Kennedy asked.

Duke rejected the premise, prompting Kennedy to respond with sarcasm: “Isn’t it a fact that if President Biden had discovered life on Mars when he was president, he would have immediately sent it money?” Duke again said no.

“Oh you don’t,” Kennedy said. “Well I appreciate your newly found fiscal conservatism.”

Advocates of stricter enforcement rejected that argument and instead focused on the public safety and fiscal costs they associate with sanctuary jurisdictions. 

In written testimony submitted to the committee, Vaughan said roughly 13 states and about 100 local jurisdictions have adopted sanctuary policies and estimated that more than half of the illegal immigrant population lives in those areas. According to data cited in her testimony, more than 26,000 criminal aliens sought by federal immigration authorities were released by local jurisdictions between 2022 and early 2025 despite detainer requests from immigration officials.

Vaughan argued the policies create both public safety risks and high costs to taxpayers, including spending on healthcare, education, and welfare programs.

“Sanctuary policies that block cooperation with ICE end up shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement,” she wrote.

With immigration expected to remain a central political issue heading into the midterm elections, the debate over sanctuary jurisdictions and whether Congress should penalize them appears likely to intensify in the months ahead.

The 24-year-old athlete told The Daily Mail that dentists are chomping at the bit for the opportunity to repair his cracked smile, but Hughes knows the repair won’t go over well with everyone. 

“Yeah, the amount of dentists that have reached out, man, it’s too many,” he told the outlet during an appearance at Raising Cane’s in Times Square on Monday. “But I’m going to get them fixed, hopefully this week.”

“I think people will be p*ssed if I do get them fixed,” Hughes added.

Team USA won gold during the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan for the first time in 46 years. The game came down to overtime against Canada. Hughes, a center and alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils, scored the winning goal.

Hughes was captured in an iconic, patriotic photo that quickly went viral. The ice hockey player can be seen smiling a bloody, broken grin, raising his fist in victory, and posing with an American flag draped around his shoulders. Viewers praised the emotions conveyed by the single image, which at once exemplified grit, determination, and ultimately, American excellence. 

But any new or old fans should already know that Hughes wasn’t willing to live with broken and missing teeth forever, even if his smile helped make him famous.

One reporter asked about it after Team USA’s big win last month, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

“You get hit in the face. You lose a tooth or two. You still maintained your composure and stayed in the game. You’re tough enough to keep playing, you scored the winning goal … what is that like?” the reporter asked at the time.

“Yeah. I mean, it sounds like definitely crazy for you guys because just different profession, but in hockey, like, if you lose your teeth, it’s not even a question of, like, coming back and playing,” Hughes replied. “That’s like an automatic.”

Hughes described the moment he realized what had happened, saying, “I just, like, was feeling around my mouth and I was just disappointed I lost my teeth…but it is what it is now, so,” he added while laughing.

When asked whether he planned to keep his smile the way it was, he said, “No, I’m going to fix these things, I want my good smile back.”

The priest, Fr. Pierre al-Rahi, was killed March 9 in the village of Qlayaa near the Israeli border after rushing to help parishioners wounded in an earlier attack, according to Catholic officials.

In a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the pontiff said he was grieving the victims of recent violence across the region.

“Pope Leo XIV expresses his profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in the Middle East these past few days, for the many innocent people, including numerous children, and for those who were helping them, such as Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite priest killed this afternoon in Qlayaa,” the Vatican said. The statement added that the pope is “following the events with concern and prays for a swift end to all hostilities.”

Al-Rahi, a parish priest serving the Maronite Catholic community in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, was reportedly assisting wounded villagers when the fatal strike occurred.

According to accounts from Catholic sources in the region, an Israeli tank shell first struck a house in the village, injuring residents. Al-Rahi and several neighbors rushed to help those wounded in the attack when the location was struck again.

The priest was seriously wounded and later died in a nearby hospital.

L’Œuvre d’Orient, a French Catholic organization for Eastern Christians, confirmed the priest’s death and condemned the violence in a statement. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need said al-Rahi had been ministering to distressed parishioners when the strike occurred. “Very disturbing reports that a parish priest in southern Lebanon has been killed in an Israeli strike,” the organization said in a statement, asking the faithful to pray for the slain priest and for peace in the region.

Al-Rahi, who was 50 years old, had reportedly refused earlier calls to evacuate the village despite the growing conflict in southern Lebanon. “We are forced to stay despite the danger, when we defend our land, and we do so peacefully,” the priest said in an interview just one day before his death. “None of us carries weapons. All of us carry peace and goodness and love.”

The killing comes as Israel has intensified its military campaign against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, southern Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley in an effort to dismantle the Iran-backed militant group’s military infrastructure.

Hezbollah fighters have frequently operated from populated areas, including villages in southern Lebanon, leading to increasing danger for civilians caught in the crossfire. The violence has tragically fueled a growing humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in southern Lebanon, joining hundreds of thousands of displaced people seeking shelter elsewhere in the country.

Al-Rahi was widely regarded as a respected figure among local Christians for his dedication to the people of his parish and his decision to remain with them during the fighting. The pope’s statement concluded with a prayer for peace, reiterating the Vatican’s call for an end to the violence that has devastated communities across the Middle East in recent days.

The post, which was deleted on Tuesday amid the backlash, read, “Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs.”

The network was roundly mocked for characterizing the pair — one of whom said his goal had been to execute an attack more deadly than the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three in 2013 — as regular teenagers who’d just happened to pick Saturday to throw improvised explosive devices (IEDs) into a crowd of civilians.

“Classic Pennsylvania teenager behavior: throwing IEDs and pledging allegiance to ISIS. Boys will be boys!” The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles commented.

Classic Pennsylvania teenager behavior: throwing IEDs and pledging allegiance to ISIS. Boys will be boys! pic.twitter.com/KfcMFBXdxK

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 10, 2026

Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) added, “CNN got this headline wrong. It should be: ‘Two radical Islamic terrorists came to NYC pledging allegiance to ISIS with bombs meant to kill Americans’…There. Fixed it for you.”

“What on Earth? CNN acts like they were sightseeing and accidentally found some bombs. NO. They bought chemicals, made the bombs and went to NYC to commit a terrorist attack,” another comment said. “CNN is an unfunny version of the Onion designed to misinform.”

Another post from @honestreporting criticized the outlet for “infantilizing” the people who carry out violent crimes driven by ideology.

“Wow. ISIS-inspired perpetrators commit a literal terrorist act, and this is what CNN comes up with? Oh, those poor ‘Pennsylvania teenagers,’ whose lives have ‘drastically changed’ because they made the conscious decision to throw bombs. When will the media stop employing narrative storytelling to infantilize perpetrators of ideologically motivated crimes?”

After deleting the post, CNN attempted to explain it away with a follow-up: “A post regarding the two individuals arrested for throwing homemade bombs outside of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home failed to reflect the gravity of the incident thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It has therefore been deleted.”

Edits were also made to the story itself, which had initially included the same descriptions of the perpetrators. The accompanying editor’s note read, “A previous version of this story included a summary that does not reflect the gravity of the incident, thereby breaching the editorial standards we require for all our reporting. It therefore has been changed.”

A post from Brian Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” newsletter conceded that the X post was problematic but claimed that “the story itself was solid” — but critics pointed out that the post had been lifted directly from the story.

This morning’s @ReliableSources newsletter has the context >>> https://t.co/v9NLjgs75l pic.twitter.com/S5pR7kirMB

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 10, 2026

“‘The story itself was solid. But the tweet was outrageous,'” Jerry Dunleavy quoted, adding, “The tweet in question ***was also the lede of the story*** before the article was stealth edited.”

Goldberg raised the possibility first, saying it was “nutty as hell” that a major military conflict — involving a known bad actor and American interests and allies in the Middle East — was sucking up all the oxygen in the media space and arguing that it was an intentional play to redirect public focus.

WATCH:

Whoopi claims the conflict with Iran is a distraction from the search for Nancy Guthrie and the Epstein files:

GOLDBERG: Well, I mean, it’s just nutty as hell. It’s nutty as hell and you’re right, every day is something new. And it’s — you know, I was thinking about it… pic.twitter.com/Boyu2mYouH

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) March 10, 2026

“I mean, it’s just nutty as hell. It’s nutty as hell and you’re right, every day is something new,” Goldberg began. “And it’s — you know, I was thinking about it yesterday, because I thought, well, okay, why haven’t we been talking about Savannah Guthrie and what’s going on there?”

“And her mother,” Sunny Hostin interjected.

“Why haven’t we not been — why have we not been talking about the Epstein files? Because that’s still there,” Goldberg continued. “This is meant to get us so worked up that we are unable to see anything else.”

The audience and the others around the table applauded and voiced their agreement.

“It’s a very wag-the-dog feeling. Very wag-the-dog feeling,” Hostin said, employing the slang term for use of a military action that is intended to divert public attention from a politically damaging issue.

The panel then pivoted to claim that the Trump administration viewed members of the military as “cannon fodder.”

Cohost Sara Haines said that anyone who waged war should keep the human cost in mind, and Goldberg immediately claimed that the Trump administration did not do that.

“They don’t have that feeling, because to them, we’re cannon fodder,” she claimed. “They don’t care, you know? It’s how — It’s why they — it’s how they also treat our vets. It tells you a lot. You’ve heard him talk about vets.”

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth were all on hand for the Dignified Transfer to receive the remains of the first six American service members killed during Operation Epic Fury. Vice President Vance, a Marine Corps veteran himself, attended the Dignified Transfer for the seventh. Trump referred to the ceremony as “the toughest thing I have to do as President.”

Roughly 1.3 million petition signatures were submitted for verification — well above the 875,000 threshold required for a constitutional amendment pitch to go before voters, according to CalMatters.

“This is a true, grassroots, broad-based, bipartisan movement. It’s about good government,” Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-CA) said in a recent video regarding the effort.

“In November, we will strike a blow for democracy. We will improve public trust and confidence in our elections, and the fact that that frightens the establishment politicians who have failed us, we need to keep this bipartisan movement going,” DeMaio added.

Specifically, the initiative would require photo identification for those who choose to vote in person, or “the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail.” Secondly, it would require proof of citizenship in order to be registered to vote.

It would also require the Golden State to “provide voter identification cards on request” and for election administrators to provide an annual update on the “percentage of each county’s voters whose citizenship they have verified.”

The amendment, if passed, would have “tens of millions” in “one-time” expenses, as well as “tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars to fulfill new requirements related to elections administration,” according to the Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance estimate.

Some of the key ideas in the proposal are similar to those outlined in the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump has been urging the Senate to pass.

“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday.

“MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!” he wrote.

Opposition to the California-based initiative remains, including from liberal groups such as the League of Women Voters of California and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“This voter ID measure is not about protecting voters; it is about importing the current federal administration’s election lies and intimidation tactics into California,” Jenny Farrell, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California, said in a March 2 statement. “It would expose voters’ sensitive personal information, create new ways to reject eligible ballots, and wrongly target voters through error-prone citizenship checks.”

“President Trump and his administration are working around the clock to make Memphis the safest city in America,” the Tennessee Republican wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire, cosigned by Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor. “It is your obligation as Shelby County’s District Attorney to enforce Tennessee’s criminal code and hold violent criminals accountable — not to allow them to be released back onto the streets to reoffend.”

Data from the Memphis Crime Beat, a citizen-run website that tracks crime in the city, showed that only 84 defendants received prison time for the 514 “resolved” cases in December 2025. At the same time, Mulroy admitted to Blackburn in a March 6 letter obtained by The Daily Wire that 166 of the cases resolved in December were classified as violent offenses.

The rebuke comes amid a back-and-forth between Blackburn and Mulroy over the Democrats’ “soft-on-crime” policies. Mulroy has long faced pressure from state and local Republican officials over his handling of crime. In recent years, Memphis has been ranked as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, with consistently high murder rates. The Trump administration has surged law enforcement to the city to assist in a federal operation to reduce crime in Memphis.  

The data team from Memphis Crime Beat found that in December 2025, there were 514 total cases resolved, including 144 cases where there was no prosecution. Of the other 370, 178 received a combination of suspended sentence and probation or probation, 84 received prison time, 63 received diversion, and 45 were released with time served, Memphis Crime Beat Executive Director Leslie Taylor noted in an analysis of the data.

“It would logically follow that, if there were only 84 defendants who received prison time in December 2025, but there were 166 violent cases in that same month, there appear to be dozens of violent criminal defendants — based on your own admission — that received no jail time in December 2025,” Blackburn and Sen. Taylor wrote.

Mulroy told Blackburn on March 6 that 166 of the 514 cases were “designated as ‘violent’ in our system.” He added that there were a total of 187 “serious” cases closed counting Class A, B, and C felonies. In Tennessee, a Class A felony has a prison range of 15 to 60 years, while a Class C felony has a range of three to 15 years. 

“Most of the cases the letter lists as receiving probation or diversion are either nonviolent cases, cases involving defendants without significant criminal histories, cases where defendants have already spent time (often significant time) in jail, or cases in which judges granted such relief without our agreement,” Mulroy added.

Blackburn’s letter asked for more information on how many of the 166 violent defendants were released onto the streets and how many of the violent or serious felony cases got diversion or probation. 

“We have made significant progress in making Memphis the safest city in the United States, and we will not allow you to stall the tremendous progress that the city of Memphis has made,” Blackburn said.

Mulroy has denied Blackburn’s claims that he is a George Soros-backed DA, despite the evidence that Soros contributed to a political action committee that backed his campaign. Senator Taylor, a Republican from Memphis, has attempted to remove Mulroy from office through the legislature.

Leslie Taylor, who said that crime data is often difficult to obtain, told The Daily Wire that what happens after someone is arrested is at least as important as the initial detainment 

“The most recent data from the Shelby County Jail shows that 80% of those booked into jail have been there before, and 49% have been in jail 6 or more times,” she said. “We are concerned that if criminals aren’t effectively prosecuted, we will be back to square one when federal resources are withdrawn.”

The bill was signed into law by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) last month and will take effect on April 12. It also had bipartisan support and passed the House 195‑8 and the Senate 42‑5 before being signed by the governor, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia.

PA Senator and bill sponsor Wayne Langerholic (R) said in a statement that “by reintegrating cursive into the curriculum…we are investing in our students’ cognitive development, strengthening their legal preparedness and preserving their connection to historical literacy.”

“Cursive is more than handwriting. It’s a bridge,” Rep. Dane Watro (R), a cosponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “It connects us to our history, strengthens learning and deepens our understanding of the world. By teaching cursive, we’re equipping students with skills that sharpen the mind and safeguard our shared heritage.”

There’s been a big debate over cursive writing instruction ever since the Common Core Standards for public school education, which were adopted in 2010, did not include a cursive handwriting requirement. Those standards stressed printed writing and keyboard skills to be used for writing instead. 

One recent study found that cursive helps children with brain development. 

“The Neuroscience Behind Writing” found that “cursive writing involves greater activation of the motor cortex and cerebellum, as it requires fine motor coordination and smooth transitions between letters.” The report went on to note that, …this fluidity enhances memory retention and cognitive engagement, as the writer must anticipate the next letter in a continuous motion.”

Per the website MyCursive, almost half of states still require or encourage cursive instruction in the classroom. That number has been steadily increasing over the years. 

New Jersey just updated their cursive writing requirements earlier this year as Governor Phil Murphy (D ) signed a cursive mandate into law just before leaving office in January. The new standards will go into effect next school year for students.

“We owe it to our students to give them a well-rounded education that ensures they have the tools to fully understand our rich history and become competent leaders,” Murphy said in a statement at the time, per the New York Post.

Speaking at the EU Ambassadors’ Conference 2026 in Brussels, she stated, “I start with the Middle East — not only because of the gravity and speed of the conflict there, but also because of what it tells us about the world — and how Europe and its foreign policy fits into that.”

She defended the U.S.-led attack on Iran, stating, “You will hear different views about whether the conflict in Iran is a war of choice or a war of necessity. But I believe this debate partly misses the point. Because Europe must focus on the reality of the situation, to see the world as it actually is today.”

She then denounced the Iranian regime:

I want to be clear: there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime that has inflicted death and imposed repression on its own people. They slaughtered 17,000 of their own young people. And this regime has caused devastation and destabilization across the region through its proxies armed with missiles and drones. Many Iranians, inside the country and across Europe and the world, have celebrated Ayatollah Khamenei’s demise, as have many more people across the region. They hope that this moment can open a path towards a free Iran. The people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future — even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war.

“British military bases have been targeted in Cyprus — who I want to reaffirm our full solidarity with,” she noted. “NATO troops have been called upon to shoot down a drone. Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked — and I have been in touch with many of them across the region to express our solidarity and support.”

She called for a Europe more willing to assert itself in global conflicts:

And the longer-term impact is already posing existential questions. On the future of our international rules-based system, or on how Europe finds unity in these situations. All of this shows how precarious the global situation is today, how diverse the threats are, and how Europe will always be affected by what happens around the world. So the idea that we can simply retrench and withdraw from this chaotic world is simply a fallacy. I believe it is vital that we understand this as we shape our foreign policy for the year ahead.

Thank you, Madam President.
It was encouraging to hear @vonderleyen President of the European Commission, speak with such clarity.
For the first time since the strong words of @EP_President, President of the European Parliament, we are now hearing Ursula von der Leyen, reminding… pic.twitter.com/31euMycMz3

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) March 10, 2026

She wrote, “You only have to tell Lisa to do something once.”

Despite all the drama, I hope he never regretted it.

While David was chairman of the American Conservative Union, a volunteer position, I worked with him as the Director of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) from June 2006 to April 2011. In planning the conference there were many ups and downs. I’m sure there were times when I disappointed David in some effort, but I can’t think of any time when he disappointed me. Even though I was only 28 when I began as CPAC Director, he gave me the same opportunity to give my opinion when I disagreed with a board member, sponsor, speaker, or member of Congress. Not to brag, but I won a couple of those battles.

During the five years I worked with David, I was privy to the way he worked within the conservative movement. I saw him compromise with people he didn’t like and who didn’t like him. I saw him defend people he disagreed with on issues because it was the right thing to do. I saw him make decisions based on what was best for the conference attendees and nothing else. I was on a high when he once told me a speaker idea I had was “inspired.”

Source: @WisconsinYAF

One of the things I admired most about David is that he’s not one of those Old Guard members of the conservative movement who don’t value dissent or new blood. As the chairman of ACU/CPAC, he fought to give everyone a seat at the table. Those like Chris Barron, who endeavored to start a group that represented conservative gays and their allies. As well as leaders of the Tea Party movement who criticized his friends in Congress.

David was adamant about including emerging conservative leaders as speakers at the conference. In February 2010, it was his idea to invite Marco Rubio, who was then a long shot in the Republican primary against Charlie Crist, to be the opening speaker at CPAC. He knew the value of sending that message to his Republican friends and to the media.

I’ve seen him give dozens and dozens of young leaders and unknown activists a place in the spotlight over the years. I was fortunate to be one of them. I’m sure it’s because he still thought of himself as one of us — and he was! On Newsmax, John Gizzi wrote about David’s decades in the conservative movement that began on his college campus.

When Rush Limbaugh was the closing speaker at the 2009 conference, it was David who suggested I introduce Rush. We knew the speech would be covered by many of the networks, and it was a very visible spot. David didn’t insist on some well-known Congressman or Senator, donor, or head of a prominent conservative organization. He suggested me because during one of our planning sessions, I said Rush was the person who got me excited about being a conservative. Rush was my Reagan. 

Source: Kevin McKeever

The same thing happened a few years later when Donald Trump was scheduled to make a surprise appearance at the conference (thanks to Chris Barron!), and I expressed interest in introducing him because I enjoyed Trump’s candor — also no one else asked. How times have changed.

From time to time, friends or acquaintances came to me with an idea or project and requested a meeting with David. Unless the timing just didn’t work out, I don’t recall any instance when David refused to meet with someone. He was always available to give young conservatives advice and to listen to what they had to say. In fact, it is because of David that CPAC became a must-attend event for College Republicans and other conservative students. In CPAC’s early years, David made a promise to President Reagan that CPAC would never be priced out of reach for students and young activists. Even when hotel costs went up, student registration was always between $25-50 ($15 for early bird rate). He also knew the value of CPAC as a reunion for the “vast right-wing conspiracy.” It wasn’t just about what was happening on stage, but the conversations that happened in the bar, at ancillary events and in the hallways. It was where people met future coworkers, allies, and spouses.

Even though I hadn’t spoken to David in years, it is very important to me that he be remembered for the intellectual and activist giant that he was. In the five years I worked for him, I learned which battles were worth fighting. I learned the importance of being supportive of friends. While I wish I could have worked for David longer than I did (we both left in 2011), I’ll always be grateful to him for giving me a chance to lead CPAC during an important time for the conservative movement. I’ll also remember the man he was in a city and industry that treats people as disposable and transactional.

As his daughter Kerry wrote, “I will remember not the public figure, but a father who welcomed me as his own, who gave me a home, and my first job.”

I will always think of him that way, too.

* * *

Lisa De Pasquale is an author, columnist, and the former director of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). She’s a frequent guest on Fox News and Fox Business, the founder of “Bright” on Substack, and the author of “The Gen X Handbook for Middle Age: The Pursuit of Health, Success, and Human Fulfillment.” De Pasquale has authored articles for a variety of publications including The Federalist, Washingtonian, The Daily Caller, and The Washington Times. Follow her on Twitter/X: @LisaDeP and on Instagram at @Lisa_DeP.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

***

“I just want people to know that I’m a real person,” says Meghan Markle, the same person who tried to wipe out the British monarchy and then moved to a $15 million mansion in Montecito, California, where she pretended to make rainbow fruit platters for her kids and demanded she be announced as “the duchess of Sussex” before entering a room. Yes. So real. Maybe she just needs to “anchor into her own knowing” a little harder, as she says … whatever that means.

Stars—they’re (obsessed with being) just like us! Except they’re hardly ever real enough to be relatable. Apparently, something about falling into a daily routine with Oprah’s $3.2 billion fortune, Beyoncé’s $40 million private jet, or Jeff Bezos’ $500 million superyacht triggers amnesia about before-times spent comparing prices on grocery store toilet paper. 

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski recently highlighted the elite’s struggle to connect. Dubbing himself “Chris K” in a now-viral video launching the chain’s new Big Arch burger, the multi-millionaire unknowingly channeled Mr. Burns as he awkwardly handled what he referred to as the “product,” claiming it was his lunch as if he eats McDonald’s in real life. His dainty, Barbie-sized bite was the final nail in his counterfeit coffin. “We all know he probably chucked it after the camera stopped rolling,” posted a Redditor.

I’m riddled with second-hand embarrassment at these failed attempts to be human, but let’s be real: They’re also entertaining. It reminds me of the Steve Buscemi meme from “30 Rock,” where his old man undercover cop character—rocking a skateboard, hoodie, and “music band” tee—asks a group of high school students, “How do you do, fellow kids?” It’s almost a fetish for the ultra-wealthy to cosplay regular people. Like, hello, stop trying to co-op our normie lives, you guys.

Just check out the never-ending supply of GoFundMes posted by celebrities, desperate for us to understand that millionaire life is harder than we think and to donate our entire paychecks accordingly. And we enjoy no shortage of photoshoots from stars turning shopping for Cheetos at 7-Eleven into high fashion. Of course, who could forget the time Ellen DeGeneres compared quarantining in her multi-million dollar California home to “being in jail,” or the bit where Bill Gates guessed grocery prices on her show.

“When’s the last time that you have been at a supermarket?” DeGeneres asked.

“A long time ago,” Gates said.

Everyone laughed. Not pictured: the staff who keep both of their home fridges stocked.

Did anyone believe that Senator Elizabeth Warren drank beer when she popped one open on Instagram after announcing her 2020 run for president? (It got worse when her husband told her, “Enjoy your beer.”) Elsewhere in politics, during his recent book tour, California Governor Gavin Newsom assured Katie Couric, “I am who I am. You don’t have to like me.” Mkay, says the guy trying to convince regular Americans to like him by claiming he used to eat Wonder Bread and mac and cheese and got a 960 on his SATs. (Look away from the photo where he casually wears a Burberry scarf in college.)

Politicians get a pass for just trying to win votes, but tone-deaf celebrities selling merch feels personal. Hey, if I’m gonna shell out $350 for your complete line of jams, candles, and edible flower sprinkles, I want to believe we could hang out in real life.

Sorry not sorry for dunking on Meghan Markle, duchess of Southern California, but she commits this crime like it’s her brand. Her Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan,” portrayed the daily goings-on of a domestic goddess happily tending to her loving family, when in her personal life, Meghan ditched her first husband and most of her relatives at the first whiff of fame and money. She said she had no idea who Prince Harry was, even though she was already buds with Princess Eugenie before dating him; she alleged she was suffocated by royal fashion protocol in England, and yet she copied Princess Diana’s look any chance she got.

I admit that I hate-subscribe to her newsletter. But that’s where she encourages us normal folk to create a centering moment for ourselves with her overpriced As Ever tea and bespoke honey, marveling at the pitter-patter of our children’s precious little feet—as if she does this herself, without the benefit of nannies to put those little feet to bed while she practices her twee calligraphy. 

This bounty on human connection comes from the magic in recognizing yourself in someone else. Psychological studies prove that we’re more attracted to the perceived warmth and openness of truth tellers we believe, versus scam artists we don’t. Of course, most celebrities are probably caught somewhere in between posting aspirational lifestyle content and blowing their own mysterious allure via oversharing—all for the sake of genuinely connecting with fans.

Maybe it’s the denser atmosphere down here on planet Earth, but we can spot A-list bull honky from a mile away. But the real key to connecting with us normies isn’t relatability; it’s authenticity. Need proof? Instead of pretending not to be a flashy billionaire, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump offered kids rides in his $7 million helicopter at the 2015 Iowa State Fair.

“You don’t think this is a little much?” ABC News reporter Martha Raddatz asked, over the squeals of delighted children.

“It’s me. I am who I am,” Trump replied.

Real and relatable.

***

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a formal complaint Tuesday, and is asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate the nearly $2 million in campaign funds reportedly spent on staffing, travel, events, and other miscellaneous costs. The group says there’s a reasonable chance Sinema violated federal law by using the money for personal benefits. 

Sinema’s Senate term ended in 2024, but FACT says her campaign committee continued spending into 2025. The complaint includes a table summarizing the expenditures. According to FACT’s analysis, staff and payroll expenses totaled $653,555. Other listed expenditures include credit card payments and bank fees, air travel, security, office and administrative expenses, lodging, meals, and events. 

FACT Sinema Complaint by Daily Wire Investigations Team

The watchdog acknowledges that federal law allows former senators to use campaign funds for a limited period to close down office operations, but the complaint argues that “the amount alone is significant and suggests it is not related to official duties.” It further states that “many of the expenses do not appear to have any relation to winding down an office, but rather they appear quite clearly to be for personal purposes, namely makeup services, alcohol, catering and lodging. Thus, there is reason to believe that Kyrsten Sinema and Sinema for Arizona have violated federal law.”

FACT highlights approximately $9,000 spent at resorts in Beverly Hills, Montauk, Wyoming ski country, and the Grand Canyon. The complaint also raises concerns about staff payments made to a security guard with whom Sinema allegedly had a personal relationship.

When Sinema left office on January 3, 2025, her campaign account had a balance of $4.2 million, but that money was gone when she filed the termination report for her campaign committee.

This isn’t the first formal complaint about Sinema’s spending habits. In 2024, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) filed a complaint alleging Sinema spent more than $100,000 on travel expenses between March and September 2024. CREW said the reported trips to Italy and Boston were not connected to Sinema’s campaign or work in the Senate.

The FEC has not yet formally addressed the 2024 complaint.

Typically, after the FEC reviews a complaint, it determines whether there is “reason to believe” a violation occurred. If the agency finds merit, it may impose civil penalties, including monetary fines or the repayment of improperly used funds. In cases where violations are found to be knowing and willful, the matter can be referred to the Department of Justice, which could pursue criminal charges.

FACT filed the complaint just after news broke of Sinema joining the Washington Reporter as a columnist. Sinema did not immediately respond to comment regarding the post office expenditure spending.

FBI agents searched the storage unit in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation, and local authorities shared information about what had been discovered in a Tuesday Facebook post.

“Update Regarding Overnight Activity at Local Storage Facility,” the Middletown Township Police Department titled the post, adding, “Last night, residents in the area of the storage facility on S. Flowers Mill Road may have heard several loud bangs during the overnight hours.”

“As part of the ongoing federal investigation that took place yesterday, the FBI safely disposed of explosive materials that were recovered during the execution of search warrants. These controlled detonations were conducted by trained personnel and were carried out in a controlled manner,” the post continued. “While the noise may have been startling to some residents, there was no danger to the public at any time. The operation at the storage facility has now concluded and the location has returned to normal operations. We appreciate the community’s patience and understanding while federal authorities conducted this investigation.”

Middletown Township, a suburb that sits just northwest of Philadelphia, is located in Bucks County — the same general area from which bombing suspects Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, had come.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has taken over the investigation after both suspects pledged allegiance to and claimed they’d gotten their inspiration from the Islamic State. According to authorities, Balat also told law enforcement that he’d intended to inflict more damage than the Boston Marathon bombers, lamenting the fact that they had only killed three people.

The type of explosives used in the bombs recovered on the scene in New York City, Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), is favored in terrorist circles and has been nicknamed “Mother of Satan.” Reports have not indicated whether the explosives detonated by the FBI at the Pennsylvania storage unit were the same type.

New York City has been at the center of several scares in recent days, with law enforcement blocking off part of the Upper East Side on Sunday when a suspicious device was found in a vehicle near where the suspects had first attacked.

On Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced charges against Balat and Kayumi, whom she called “the two alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists,” adding, “We will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation.”

Mamdani proudly took to social media to announce that he welcomed Khalil, an anti-Israel activist, to Gracie Mansion to break the Ramadan fast.

The spectacle was a direct challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the nation. Khalil, a Green Card holder of Palestinian descent, was ordered to be deported. “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin announced last year. Adding, “It is a privilege, not a right to be in this country to live or to study. And if you are pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, the door’s that way.”

Mamdani painted Khalil as a victim of “cruelty” who was merely “exercising First Amendment rights.” The mayor used the dinner to double down on the blood libel that Israel is committing “genocide” in “Palestine” — a country that, as a matter of historical fact, has never existed.

For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage.

A year ago, Mahmoud was walking home through our city after sharing an iftar with his wife Noor when he was detained by federal agents, flown to Louisiana, and then held in an ICE… pic.twitter.com/6dBtLh0GeT

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 10, 2026

The “genocide” narrative has been thoroughly debunked by military experts. Data shows the Palestinian population has tripled since 1987, making Israel the most “incompetent” practitioner of genocide in human history if the Left’s claims were true. Reports from the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies confirm that Israel has taken “unprecedented” measures to protect civilians, while Hamas continues to use Gazans as human shields.

Khalili’s deportation was not carried out immediately because his lawyers filed a flurry of appeals and federal court challenges. In January 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that his challenge must proceed through the immigration court system. While this handed the administration a tactical victory by moving the case forward, the court did not order an immediate deportation.

Because of these ongoing proceedings, federal authorities have not yet announced a firm deportation date, and it remains unclear exactly when ICE will attempt to detain him again. However, the administration’s stance remains firm: “The door’s that way” for those who push terrorist propaganda.

The Trump administration has been clear: living in the United States is a privilege, not a right. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted in a memo, “An alien is deportable from the United States if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the alien’s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States … I have determined that the activities and presence of these aliens in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest,” adding on X, “Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of U.S. law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation.”

Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of U.S. law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 6, 2025

After Khalil made an appearance on CNN, the Department of Homeland Security stated, “Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as an antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric. It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”

Mahmoud Khalil refuses to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one. He ‘branded’ himself as antisemite through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.

It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the… pic.twitter.com/nC2WCR6Dul

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 22, 2025

“Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together,” Mamdani posted.

The mayor attached a picture of he and his wife welcoming the activist who led the anti-Jewish protests at Columbia University, including illegal occupations of buildings which caused the Trump Administration to detain him over support for terrorist organizations like Hamas and lying on his original visa form.

The mayor, who chose to condemn the twenty participants in the “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” protest as white supremacists but slow-rolled his condemnation of the would-be Islamist terrorists, was deliberately sending a signal that is impossible to ignore. Zohran Mamdani won’t endorse the violent young radicals outright – that would be a bridge too far – but he wants everyone to know where his heart lies.

It’d be less disturbing if, as so many legacy media organizations declare, Mamdani is a fringe character in the Democratic Party, a TikTok friendly accidental mayor thanks to the fluke of a rash of bad candidates undone by scandals present and past. But Mamdani doesn’t do things by accident, especially when it comes to social media: he sent a message by hosting Khalil, and he wanted young Democrats to see it. And for New York City’s Jewish population to see it, too.

The reason why is made clear by new polling data from the Manhattan Institute, which surveyed the current Democratic coalition on numerous questions related to policy. MI’s overall takeaway is that the Democratic Party has opinions that are much more moderate than those of Mayor Mamdani or New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But digging into the survey’s details illustrate a younger radical fringe which doesn’t have a problem with Khalil, and probably doesn’t have much of a problem with the attempted bombers, either.

According to MI’s polling, a quarter or more of 18–29 year-old Democrats view Israel essentially the same way as Nick Fuentes. “One in four (26%) of these younger Democrats believe that Israel is a colonial apartheid state that must be dismantled and that Israel bears responsibility for any and all violence since its founding,” writes MI vice president Jesse Arm. And of that same cohort, 38% claim the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel was either an “inside job” or a “false flag operation”, allowed or created whole cloth by Israel as a pretext for war in Gaza. And of course they would think that – 24% of them told MI’s pollsters that the Nazi Holocaust of Jews was either greatly exaggerated, or did not happen at all.

There’s no real separation between these Democrats and Mayor Mamdani – he simply represents an elevated luxury version of these beliefs, one that calls for the end of billionaires while hanging with Alex Soros and Huma Abedin in their tricked out penthouse duplex overlooking the city. The Gracie Mansion Khalil féte is a drab return to the Seventies era of “That Party at Lenny’s,” when Leonard Bernstein hosted the Black Panthers and the doyennes of the city hoped to leave their society friends behind as one of “the few attuned souls” to the new Radical Chic.

As Tom Wolfe wrote:

They had to be morally avant-garde, able to articulate the luxury opinions fashionable at that exact moment. They had to perform all these inversions—rising to the social stratosphere by ostentatiously demonstrating their solidarity with the oppressed, securing their place atop the structures of power by striking radical poses, and pretending to support tearing those structures down.

Of course, Democrats and their legacy media allies will dismiss this development as an exaggeration. It’s just a dinner, after all. What’s to worry about a bit of light terrorism among friends? And there were probably Nazis there, what do you expect? His wife’s Instagram likes, who cares about those, she’s a private citizen! Chuck and Hakeem, they’re still the leaders of the party last we checked.

The aging neoliberal Democrats still fancy themselves in charge of the situation. They still have their hands on the wheel, and the youngsters will learn their place in time. With the rise of Mamdani and his cohort, that grip will be tested like it has not been in half a century. Do not be surprised when it fails.

Jason Hughes, 40, was a math teacher at North Hall High School in Georgia. He died last Friday night after accidentally being run over by a teen driver who was there with other students putting toilet paper in his trees. Hughes slipped near the car and was then accidentally hit by the vehicle, according to NBC News. 

The teen driver was accompanied by four other students in two separate cars. The teens immediately stopped and tried to administer first aid, but Hughes, who is a father of two, succumbed to his injuries.

The family told The New York Times in a statement that they don’t wish to ruin the students’ lives for what amounts to a tragic mistake. 

“This is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” they said in the statement. “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.”

Hughes’ family told ABC News that he knew about the prank and was excited about it, which is why he went outside to see the teens. 

“The family wants to make clear that they knew these kids and they loved them and these kids loved the Hugheses. This was not a malicious act,” they told the outlet in a statement. 

“We are thankful for the outpouring of prayers and support as we grieve the loss of Jason. We ask that you continue to pray for our family and also for the students involved in the accident along with their families. Please join us in extending grace and mercy to them as Christ has done for us.” 

The 18-year-old driver was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering, NBC reported. The other four teens involved were each charged with criminal trespass and littering.

District Attorney Lee Darragh said of dropping the charges, “It is much too early in this process. I’ll not be commenting until the closure of the case.”

A GoFundMe for the Hughes family has raised over $400,000 as of Tuesday morning. 

“Jason’s life was a blessing to so many, and his untimely passing will be indescribably difficult for his wife and two young boys for years to come. Please use this opportunity to come alongside them in their time of immediate need and future planning for his children,” the description said.

Toronto Police responded to reports of gunfire at the consulate, located at University Avenue and Queen Street West, at approximately 5:29 a.m. While officials initially confirmed only “evidence of a firearm discharge” at the scene, visual reports from CBC revealed multiple bullet holes piercing the glass of the building’s front doors.

Breaking: Shots have been fired at the US Consulate, on University Avenue, in Toronto reportedly around 5:30 this morning.

"there are bullet holes in the glass door, the front door of the building." pic.twitter.com/OBlpNSgVyK

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) March 10, 2026

No injuries were reported, and it remains unclear how many staff members were inside the high-security facility at the time of the attack.

The shooting has triggered a swift and forceful response from Canadian officials, who linked the attack to a disturbing wave of antisemitic violence across the greater Toronto area. This incident follows a harrowing week in which three synagogues — two in North York and one in Vaughan — were struck by gunfire. Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree described seeing bullet holes through “three layers” of one synagogue, saying the violence is “not the Canadian way.”

The shooting has triggered a swift and forceful response from Canadian officials. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow linked the attack to a disturbing trend of local violence tied to international conflicts.

“This morning the U.S. consulate was shot at. This comes after shootings at synagogues over the past two weekends. This cannot stand,” Chow told reporters. She emphasized that the city’s Jewish community and international partners have the right to live without fear, noting that “anti-Semitic incidents spike when international tensions rise.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford echoed these sentiments, describing the shooting as an “absolutely unacceptable act of violence and intimidation aimed at our American friends and neighbors.” Ford called for a zero-tolerance approach, urging law enforcement at all levels to “bring every resource to bear” to prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.

The Toronto Police Service is currently working alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to process the scene. A heavy police presence remains at both the U.S. and Israeli consulates as a precautionary measure.

Former OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis noted that while the consulate lacks the permanent, heavy-armed presence of the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, it is heavily monitored by 24-hour surveillance.

“They are making an obvious statement here,” Lewis said, attributing the motive to “anti-U.S. sentiments” fueled by ongoing volatility in the Middle East.

Southbound University Avenue remained closed Tuesday morning as forensic teams scoured the area for evidence. Police are urging anyone with dashcam footage or information regarding the incident to contact investigators immediately.

***

My first thought after reading the viral “I Regret Having Children” article in The Cut was: “Wow, those are some young kids they’re complaining about.” The article consults three moms having second thoughts about their decision to become parents, and the oldest child among them is only 6. There are toddlers and babies but no older kids. That’s telling.

These sorts of articles are horrifying because they normalize a former taboo: admitting you don’t want the children you have. But more than that, they miss a fundamental point about parenthood: It has seasons.

This reminds me of when Chelsea Handler made headlines in 2023 for bragging about sleeping in and not shuttling kids to school in the early morning hours. Critics rightly pointed out that considering how the comedian was in her late 40s, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that if she were a mother, any children she had would be getting themselves on the school bus or even at college sleeping late and partying just like their mom.

The baby years are time-consuming and sleep-deprived, but they are also brief. Toddler years last a little longer and also get more rewarding as your offspring start developing their personalities even more and engaging with the world around them.

Those big kid years? They are challenging too, but also magical and rewarding. Any experienced parent will tell you they are nothing like the baby years. My own kids are getting older, with the youngest out of diapers and the oldest entering her pre-teen years. They pour their own juice, get themselves dressed, clean up after themselves (mostly), and even cook dinner sometimes. Our family is in a completely different rhythm now compared to just five short years ago.

One mom I talked to mentioned how having children is an investment in the future, and that resonated deeply with me. She said for all the sleepless nights, she’s thinking ahead to her Thanksgiving table in 30 years being filled with the family she’s started now. 

The moms interviewed by The Cut complain about missed career opportunities, flabby tummies, and less free time. 

“Having a kid turns you into a morning person the way being chased by a bear turns you into a runner,” one interviewee complained. Another recalls how she “hallucinated from lack of sleep” when her daughter came home from the hospital, while the third said of her one-year-old, “If there is a hell, I’ve been living in it since I gave birth.”

Those are all problems that parents would tell you are worth the trade-off of ensuring the continuation of the family line. But even for these women with more superficial concerns, their desires don’t have to be given up forever. The older the kids, the more independent they become, and the more time moms will have for personal fulfillment again. 

Fortunately, X users were mostly horrified by the views expressed in the article.

“A life focused on pleasure, comfort and money instead of love is ultimately a meaningless, miserable one,” pro-life activist Lila Rose observed. “You have a soul. You need love.”

“Motherhood has its rough parts, but this seems to be a consequence of our obsession with self-actualization not taking into account that some worthwhile things are hard, and that roles of service are often more meaningful long-term than those activities that provide instant gratification,” Daily Wire contributor Emily Zanotti wrote. “Motherhood—physical, spiritual, or otherwise—is just a *good and natural thing.* It’s not always fun, or fulfilling, or even interesting. But it doesn’t need to be those things *all the time* to be the best thing you will do in your life.”

“There is only one thing that will make you chronically miserable as a parent and that thing is selfishness,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh wrote. “Immense joys are available to parents—a unique kind of happiness that non-parents cannot experience—but those joys do require you to pull your head out of your own ass for long enough to experience them. If you can’t, or refuse to, then yeah you’ll be miserable all the time. But the good news (if you want to call it that) is that selfish people are miserable no matter what they do, whether they have kids or not, so there’s still no need to feel regret.”

Children are needy when they’re little. Then they become self-sufficient and later they become helpful. The precious baby you’re wishing wasn’t here so you could have uninterrupted Sudoku afternoons could become your best brunch companion in a couple decades—or sooner. The little boy climbing furniture and throwing tantrums will be helping clean your gutters in a blink. In Bryan Caplan’s 2011 book “Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think,” the economist asks parents take such a long-term approach: consider how many kids you’ll want to have had when you’re 60.

Regretting or questioning having kids, like polyamory, has become the latest norm-bucking trend. But like anything in life, parenthood doesn’t always, or even usually, offer instant gratification. Raising children is just part of the story. It’s a mistake to close the book before you’ve reached the good part.

***

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The number of tankers passing through the strait ticked up to 20% of its normal level on Monday, according to an analysis from Goldman Sachs. Some tankers have braved the strait by turning off their transponders. The increase in tanker traffic in the strait comes after nearly a week of oil flow had been effectively shut down due to the ongoing war in Iran.

Goldman Sachs: some oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz pic.twitter.com/G396UEgdSj

— Brian Sozzi (@BrianSozzi) March 10, 2026

In an interview with CBS News on Monday afternoon, President Trump said he is considering taking control of the Strait of Hormuz and warned that the Iranian regime would be completely obliterated if it continued to threaten maritime traffic. Trump also suggested that the U.S. military is close to achieving its goals in “Operation Epic Fury” and added that the United States is “very far ahead of schedule” after initially predicting a four-to-five-week operation.

After Trump gave his optimistic update, the price of Brent crude plummeted, and stock prices ticked up. Later on Monday, Trump warned, “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”

“Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!” Trump added.

Ali Larijani, a top Iranian official, shot back at Trump with a direct threat of his own aimed at the U.S. president.

“The Ashura-loving nation of Iran does not fear your paper threats,” Larijani said. “Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Watch out for yourself—lest you be eliminated!”

FOLLOW THE DAILY WIRE’S LIVE UPDATES ON IRAN WAR

U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegsesth said during a press briefing that Tuesday would mark the most intense day of U.S. strikes yet, while Iran’s military capabilities continue to dwindle. Since the beginning of “Operation Epic Fury,” U.S. forces have hit over 5,000 targets in Iran, according to Adm. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Americans are beginning to feel the effects of the ongoing war in Iran as gas prices jumped to their highest national average since 2022, with the conflict disrupting global oil flow. Brent crude reached nearly $120 per barrel on Monday — its highest price in nearly four years — before dropping late in the afternoon. President Trump promised on Sunday that oil prices “will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over.” He argued that the “short term” increase in prices “is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”

“ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!” he added.

“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence, more refined, and better than ever,” Hegseth said during a press briefing Tuesday morning. “On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing yet.”

During the same briefing, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 5,000 Iranian targets have been struck since the operation began. He also said that Air Force bombers had dropped dozens of 2,000-pound GPS-guided penetrating weapons on deeply buried missile launchers in recent days. 

“On day 10 of Operation Epic Fury, we are winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives,” Hegseth said. “No hesitation, no half measures. As President Trump declared yesterday, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

Hegseth also defended the U.S. military’s record on minimizing civilian casualties. 

“No nation takes more precautions to ensure there is never targeting of civilians than the U.S.,” he said. “From the boat strikes in the Caribbean to this campaign here, no nation in the history of warfare has ever attempted in every way possible to avoid civilian casualties.”

Hegseth added that the U.S. military investigates any incidents where questions arise.

“It’s a point that isn’t appreciated enough,” he said. “Where things happen that need to be investigated, we’ll investigate.”

Those comments came after the Pentagon said it was investigating reports that an Iranian girls’ school had been struck during the operation. 

During the briefing, Caine and Hegseth outlined the three primary objectives of the campaign. First, Caine said the goal was to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities to prevent attacks on U.S. forces and regional partners.

“That means attacking launch sites, command and control nodes, and stockpiles before they can threaten our personnel, our facilities, and our partners,” he said.

Second, Caine said the U.S. military is targeting Iran’s naval forces while protecting shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz. 

The third goal, Caine said, is targeting Iran’s military and industrial base, including weapons production facilities, research sites, and related infrastructure.

Key officials tied to some projects that have received massive scrutiny for their hefty price tags left the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the weeks leading up to Noem’s ouster.

Tricia McLaughlin, Noem’s chief spokeswoman, left the agency last month. At the time, DHS said she began planning to leave in December, but stayed on in the aftermath of the two fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.

McLaughlin was tied to the scandal that led to Noem’s demise involving $200 million contracts for flashy TV ads promoting the secretary.

Last week, Noem testified to Congress that the contracts “went out to a competitive bid and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.”

Records obtained by The Daily Wire showed that the contracts were awarded using “other than full and open competition” to a company formed days before. That company subcontracted some of the work to a group run by McLaughlin’s husband.

“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), on behalf of the Office of DHS Public Affairs office intends to limit competition to three contractors,” a justification for the decision said.

A competition waiver stated that the department researched the internet and “industry publications” to choose Safe America Media LLC to produce the ads.

The subcontractor, Strategy Group, said Tuesday it “has never had a contract with DHS,” adding that “We had a subcontract with Safe America for limited production services.”

“Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements, and 6 produced radio advertisements,” the company said.

McLaughlin referred The Daily Wire to a recent statement from DHS General Counsel James Percival, who said he’s “personally reviewed the allegations” against her and “find them to be baseless.”

“Nothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in selecting any subcontractors. She is, however, a superstar in the public affairs world, so I am not surprised that she married a successful businessman whose services were attractive to these outside firms,” Percival said.

McLaughlin herself said in a phone conversation with The Daily Wire that “As soon as it became clear that my husband’s firm would at all be involved in subcontracting, which subcontracting DHS has no … there’s no legal mechanism that we can dictate who is subcontracted to,” adding “So as soon as that became clear to me … I immediately firewalled, recused myself from anything with subcontractors.”

Then-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, who left the Trump administration in January to launch a campaign for Congress in Ohio, was involved in a separate $100 million campaign to recruit more immigration officers, according to NBC News. The contract was awarded to People Who Think and Safe America Media.

Sheahan previously served as the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and worked for Noem as she served as the South Dakota governor.

But before it was handed out to those groups, Sheahan battled with an ICE employee she threatened after he suggested that the agency consider other contractors that were offering to do the work for a cheaper price, according to NBC, which cited internal communications. The decision to award the contract, she said, was “made by the secretary.”

Sheahan called the employee into her office before yelling at him for trying to go against the secretary, an administration official who heard the conversation told NBC.

The employee eventually gave up the fight and let the contracts go to the companies of Noem’s choosing, according to the report.

We will have our country back.https://t.co/nZkBEj4evQ pic.twitter.com/gYKzwMJV52

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 14, 2025

Sheahan also wasted millions in taxpayer funds to purchase a couple of thousand flashy pickup trucks and SUVs emblazoned with ICE’s logo, despite agents working in a heightened threat environment, according to The Washington Examiner.

Three Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire they believe the cars only exposed them at a time when threats against ICE are at an all-time high. The sources were granted anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

The agency traditionally uses unmarked vehicles to maintain the element of surprise and protect their safety. ICE agents currently face an 8,000% increase in death threats and a 1,300% surge in assaults, according to DHS.

One source called the decision to deploy the cars “absurd,” adding that agents who were forced to use the cars “were apoplectic” feeling they put a “huge target on them.”

Another source said it “does not make sense” “for an agency that arrests individuals hiding and trying to prevent us from doing our job.”

“The need for surveillance, the element of surprise, and the need to remain inconspicuous, requires the use of unmarked vehicles,” the source said. “We would never be able to arrest anyone rolling around in a marked ICE vehicle that would alert anyone and everyone to our presence in the area.”

DHS pushed back on claims that the cars were a waste of taxpayer funds, telling The Daily Wire that “Any allegation that these new vehicles are not being used is FALSE.”

“Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE finally has the resources to grow its workforce to support ICE’s mission, and that will include all types of additional vehicles,” the agency said. “These specific vehicles are supplementing the existing ICE fleet and support operations across the country.”

***

When Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged travelers to return to more respectful attire, he was met with vicious backlash. People called his PSA racist, classist, and prudish despite him asking for what would have been considered the bare minimum just decades ago. Similarly, when the Tampa International Airport banned pajamas, outraged fliers vowed to never visit Tampa again. These measures aren’t just a push for aesthetic decorum but are active efforts to help mitigate the 400% increase of “in-flight outbursts” Duffy cited.

People can cling to their right to pajamas all they want, but the way people dress is one of the best indicators of social respect. As a recent college graduate, I’ve seen firsthand how dressing well can transform an academic experience.

When I was four, the greatest dread in my life was getting ready for school in the morning. I attended a classical Christian academy, whose strict dress code applied even to the preschool students. The boys were expected to wear crisp white shirts and black trousers, while we girls wore red tartan dresses. Over the years, I grew accustomed to wearing a uniform. They were old-fashioned, but they ensured a standard of neatness and modesty throughout the student body. Most of the students complained about wanting to wear more casual clothing, but complaints were quickly dismissed as we redirected our attention on learning Latin or reading great books. 

My first day at a public high school was shocking for several reasons. I was stunned to see kids vaping, cursing, and shoving one another around. After years attending private schools, it intrigued my rebellious teenage attitude. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the way people were dressed: Some boys wore pajama pants and crude t-shirts, some girls donned crop tops and mini shorts that wouldn’t be appropriate at any age, and a majority wore nothing but sweatpants and sweatshirts. The student body’s appearance fit the school system’s low expectations. 

After four years of public high school, I thought that a Christian college would have a higher standard for personal grooming. The day before my classes began, I picked out a cute dress to wear. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was wearing athletic shirts, sweatpants, and sweatshirts. The students walked around the hallways with headphones on and their eyes glazed over. During class periods, they fiddled with their laptops, didn’t take notes, and often kept at least one of their AirPods in. Their clothing matched their attitude. The students were late to class, rarely finished assignments on time, and hardly ever engaged in thoughtful conversations. Even in a Christian, collegiate setting, there was a total lack of respect for social order. 

I quickly realized that I needed to find an institution where intellectual growth was the actual priority. Transferring schools was my only hope. When I toured Hillsdale College, I felt like I stepped back in time. Every corner of the campus looked like a Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. Professors sat underneath statues in three-piece suits. The young men surrounding them dressed the same as they smoked pipes and talked philosophy. Young women wearing sundresses would set up picnic blankets in the sun to read Homer. Even the athletes and artists had time to change out of soiled clothes and into something fresh and neat for seminars. There is no official dress code, but the young people at Hillsdale were anxious to learn. Their passion was reflected in their appearance. 

Our culture often tries to disconnect people from their physical bodies. This is why movements like transgenderism have been able to take hold of the culture: the belief that your body and your personhood will not necessarily align. However, our bodies and our personal grooming habits are often good representations of our souls. Although there can be exceptions, the way we look can be a reliable measure of how we feel about both ourselves and the world around us. 

Dressing for comfort is convenient. In the age of social media, DoorDash, and Netflix, convenience often becomes our priority. We want things fast and easy; we want to throw on a hoodie and joggers and avoid making eye contact with anyone at the risk of engaging in small talk. This is not the behavior of a healthy society, but of a utilitarian regime. Frank Sinatra, who had a strict standard of rules for style, used to instruct people, “If black tie is optional, wear it.”

Dressing well requires both time and intention. It is something that we don’t do for ourselves, but out of respect for those around us. It is a way to express our gratitude for the social order. In return, good attire gives its wearers esteem and confidence. When students wore suits and skirts to class, as opposed to athleisure, their demeanor changed. They walked, talked, and thought confidently. They had deeper relationships with their fellow students, their professors, and even the custodial staff. They were not simply trying to get a degree but were deeply invested in growing into fully fleshed-out individuals.

Researchers often refer to this as “enclothed cognition,” which shows how one’s clothing directly affects their psychological processes. In a test, researchers split 58 science students into two groups. One of the groups performed a series of tests while wearing white lab coats, which are typically associated with intelligence and status. The other group was allowed to wear their own clothes. The group wearing lab coats did significantly better, making “half as many errors.”

We can see the effects of poor dressing in all areas of society, from businesses to churches to public parks. The way we dress corresponds to the way we behave. If we want to restore this country’s virtues, there needs to be a polite group effort that begins among Gen Z. Encouraging official or unofficial dress codes in schools may help heal the damage of social slovenliness. To love America is to dress the part. It’s time we teach kids that both are important.

***

Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is a senior contributor at New Guard Press, a publication she joined while attending Hillsdale College.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

“Hoppers” is being lauded because it doesn’t push any inkling of LGBT themes that have become quite common in animated films recently. “Elio,” meanwhile, flirted with the idea, and it was widely considered to be a box office flop.

The original narrative included tidbits about former director Adrian Molina’s experience growing up gay, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. But Docter said the studio opted to change it up because parents weren’t necessarily ready to have those discussions with their young children watching the film.

“We’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy,” the Pixar exec said. “As time’s gone on, I realized my job is to make sure the films appeal to everybody.”

The film tells the tale of an 11-year-old boy, Elio, who bonds with aliens. The outlet noted that the original storyline showed Elio raising a child in the future with a same sex partner.

Upon its release, The Hollywood Reporter described Elio as a “queer-coded character” whose “characterization gradually faded away throughout the production process.”

LGBT activists who worked on the film blamed these edits for its poor performance. “Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing,” one former Pixar artist told THR. “The Elio that is in theaters right now is far worse than Adrian’s best version of the original.” Another said the final character version was “generic.”

Meanwhile, there was speculation that “Elio” never took off because those “queer coded” themes were leaked to the media and parents were avoiding it.

After being understood as a hitmaker for years with beloved projects such as the “Toy Story” franchise beginning in 1995, “Monsters Inc” (2001), “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Up” (2009), “Inside Out,” (2015), and a slew of others, Pixar, which was acquired by Disney in 2006, seemed to lose its way by going too niche. It produced sequels to some of its most popular titles, but also came up with out-of-the-box concepts like the controversial “Turning Red” (2022), a movie about puberty.

Then there was that whole “Lightyear” same sex kiss fiasco in 2022, which proved that even Pixar films based on treasured IP weren’t guaranteed to hit, especially if they included topics parents didn’t want their kids to see.

The reports mention strange Google searches and mysterious cash deposits. So I decided to look into it. The DOJ, of course, released a batch of Epstein files a few weeks ago, but as a practical matter, it was impossible for anyone to go through all of the files in a timely fashion. There’s a lot of information to go over, and as a result, some very important stuff was missed.

Today we’re going to go through some of that information, and what it means. Most of the revelations concern this security guard who was assigned to guard Epstein, and who was later charged in federal court for falsifying her logs.

NEW BOMBSHELL🚨: One of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison guards, Tova Noel, Googled “latest on Epstein in jail” TWICE at 5:42 a.m. and 5:52 a.m. — just ~40 minutes before he was found hanged dead in his cell at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2019.

Plus: She made a mysterious $5,000 cash deposit… pic.twitter.com/YigcCAQbRX

— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) March 8, 2026

Source: @officer_Lew/X.com

As we talk about all of this, we’re going to be thorough, and we’re going to include all of the relevant context and document ID’s and everything else. That’s not simply because the new revelations are genuinely important and disturbing — although they absolutely are. It’s also because, whatever you may personally think of the Epstein Files, this is a legitimately important political issue. It’s probably the one news event of the past year that has broken containment and made it onto the radar of almost every normal person in the country. Even if the Iran War hasn’t done that, at least not to this point. So if you care about who controls the U.S. government — and you should — then this story simply can’t be ignored.

We’ll start with a very conspicuous subpoena that was issued to 4Chan, the social media site. In case you’re not familiar with it, 4Chan is basically a “free fire zone” — it’s a forum for memes, commentary, pranks, et cetera. To give one example of 4Chan’s influence — you might remember that, a few years ago, Leftists were freaking out about the “OK” hand sign, saying it was a secret symbol of white supremacy. A lot of people got fired over it. In reality, it was a 4Chan hoax. 4Chan users deliberately set out to convince the media that Nazis were using the “OK” hand sign, and the media took the bait.

Put another way, 4Chan generally isn’t taken seriously as a credible source of information. A lot of content on 4Chan is trolling or intentionally deceptive. But just days after Jeffrey Epstein was reportedly found dead in his prison cell, the federal government began taking 4Chan extremely seriously. In particular, the Southern District of New York — probably the most high-powered U.S. attorney’s office in the country — obtained a grand jury subpoena, seeking information from 4Chan.

And the site complied. This is from the Epstein Files, document “133350.”: “Pursuant to a Federal Grand Jury subpoena served by the Southern District of New York, 4Chan provided the attached response, dated August 14, 2019.”

And here’s the information that 4Chan provided: 

4Chan

As you can see, there are some IP addresses that were blacked out. There are identities (or at least, the virtual identities) of the people who made various 4Chan posts on the morning of August 10th of 2019 — the date Epstein died — which are also blacked out. And there’s also the text of one of those posts, which the federal government was particularly interested in.

Here’s what the post says:

Not saying anything after this pls do not try to dox me but last night after 0415 count they took him medical in a wheelchair front cuffed but not 1 triage nurse says they spoke to him. Next thing we know a trip van shows up? We do not do releases on the weekends unless a judge orders it. Next thing we know, he’s put in a single man cell and hangs himself? Heres the thing, the trip van did NOT sign in and we did not record the plate number and a guy in a green dress military outfit was in the back of the van according to the tower guy who let him thru the gate. You guys i am shaking right now but i think they switched him out.

By itself, this post isn’t particularly credible. Anyone could have written it. But the fact that the Southern District of New York then demanded more information about the person who wrote this post — by itself — raises a lot of questions.

Again, 4Chan is littered with nonsense posts and all kinds of outlandish claims. The Southern District of New York obviously doesn’t subpoena every single one of them. But they took an interest in this post — possibly because they recognized that there might be some truth to it. And they wanted to know who exactly wrote it. On August 14th, 4Chan told the government what it knew. (Other organizations, including AT&T, were apparently subpoenaed for the same purpose, relating to this post.)

Online, various people have speculated that indeed, a prison guard wrote this post. We don’t have proof of that at the moment — nor do we know which guard might have written it. But on August 19th, an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York sent the following email to a redacted individual.

4Chan/Email Southern District of New York

It reads, “Here are the subpoena returns we’ve received. Don’t worry about the 4chan records or the subpoenas related to IP information.”

It’s not clear why exactly the AUSA would say that. Maybe they decided not to follow up on the 4Chan lead after all. Or maybe they wanted to end the investigation for some other reason. We have no idea. But lurking in this same Epstein file dump — the one that was released a few weeks ago — you’ll find the following information about what Epstein’s guards were doing on the night he reportedly died.

4Chan/Email Southern District of New York

This was first uncovered by the New York Post. It’s a readout of the activity on the computer of 37-year-old Tova Noel, who was one of the two Metropolitan Correctional Center workers who was accused of falsifying records to indicate that they had done their rounds on the day Epstein died — when in fact they had not. As you can see, there’s a bunch of Google searches about furniture, and law enforcement discounts, and federal government jobs.

She also ran a Google search for “epp” at 4:31 AM, as well as a search for “unum insurance” at 4:36 AM. Unum insurance mainly sells disability and life insurance.

Then, at 5:42 am, according to these records, Tova Noel searched Google for the phrase, “latest on Epstein in jail.”

Then, less than a minute later, she searched Google for “latest on Omar Amanat” — an entrepreneur who was sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy in the Southern District of New York, likely in the same facility.

At 5:52 a.m., Tova Noel was back to searching about Epstein.

4Chan/Email Southern District of New York

Once again, she asked Google for, “latest on Epstein in jail.” The timing of that last search is significant because it’s less than 40 minutes before Tova Noel’s colleague, a correctional officer named Michael Thomas, found Epstein dead in his cell. (Thomas had also been on Google, but he was mostly searching about motorcycles, and didn’t search for anything about Epstein).

In 2021, Noel denied running the Google searches. Here’s what she said in a sworn statement to the DOJ: “I don’t remember doing that … I don’t recall looking him up.”

Of course, it’s possible this is coincidental. Maybe she was just Googling names of high-profile inmates that she’s supervising, to learn more about them. And maybe it was just a way of passing the time, so she didn’t even remember doing it. But it seems strange, to me anyway, that she searched for “latest on Epstein in jail,” rather than “latest on Epstein” or “information on Epstein” or something like that. I can see why she would want to find news on Epstein himself, if she was curious about who he was and why he was in jail. But why did she want news on Epstein in jail? That seems pretty weird.

And things get a little more difficult to explain when you look at this FBI 302, which is a document that the FBI prepares after an interview, where they recap what they heard.

FBI 302 document

It’s a handwritten, 5-page report from the FBI, in which the agency interviews an inmate at the same facility where Epstein died. The interview was conducted two weeks after Epstein died.

According to the 302, which was first reported by reporter Julie Brown (the Miami Herald reporter who helped break open the Epstein story), the inmate says he overheard a prison guard (and others) talking about covering up Epstein’s death. In particular, the inmate claims he heard an officer say, “Dudes, you killed that dude,” and then a female guard states, “If he is dead, we’re going to cover it up and he’s going to have an alibi — my officers.” The inmate also said that, in the prison, other inmates would say that “Miss Noel killed Jeffrey.”

Keep in mind, this was months before Noel was charged with falsifying records in Epstein’s case. That didn’t happen until November. So, for whatever reason, Tova Noel — not her colleague, who was guarding the same cell — was attracting attention from the inmates.

Source: Associated Press

Again, you can write all of this off as a coincidence. Maybe Tova Noel is just a lazy and unethical guard who was very curious about Epstein right before he died, and maybe the inmates are just making things up. That’s entirely possible, under the circumstances. Inmates are criminals and criminals are liars. Many of them are pathological liars. But it gets a little more tenuous when you look at Noel’s Chase bank records, which are also included in the Epstein file dump that was released a few weeks ago.

Epstein Files

It turns out that Noel had begun depositing thousands of dollars in her Chase account in the weeks leading up to Epstein’s death. Of course, without context, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all. There’s plenty of reasons why someone might deposit thousands of dollars in an account. Without context, we have no idea.

But banks, for the most part, do have that context. They know how much this woman typically deposits in her account and where it comes from. And they have all kinds of sophisticated systems that can determine whether transactions could be related to money laundering or fraud.

They can detect when people are trying to avoid mandatory disclosures to the IRS by spreading out a large deposit across several small payments. And with all of that information in mind, Chase bank decided that Noel’s deposits were suspicious enough to report to the federal government.

This is from the DOJ, and it was first flagged by the Post.

Here’s how they report on the findings.

Chase Bank flagged cash deposits in Noel’s bank account in a “suspicious activity report” to the FBI in November 2019, another file from the DOJ revealed. A total of 12 deposits began in April 2018, the bank said, and culminated in the largest deposit, for $5,000, on July 30, 2019, the records showed. … The files only contain Noel’s bank records beginning in December 2018. They show seven cash deposits totaling $11,880. Noel started working at the Special Housing Unit — where Epstein had been held — beginning on July 7, 2019, just weeks before his death. Noel, who drove a $62,000 2019 Land Rover Range Rover, wasn’t asked about the cash during her DOJ interview, records showed.

Those unusual deposits totaled over $10,000, but no individual deposit was over $10,000. That’s often a tactic that criminals will use in an attempt to stay under the $10,000 mandatory disclosure limit, which is why banks usually flag these transactions.

Does this mean that the prison guard is a criminal? No, it doesn’t.

The DOJ never charged Tova Noel with fraud or conspiracy or money laundering or anything else. And the DOJ also dropped the charges against her for falsifying records. If you’re the cynical type, you might conclude that she’s being protected. It’s also perfectly possible that she’s innocent of any wrongdoing, aside from being an incompetent prison guard. We don’t know.

Even so, if you tend to take things at face value, here’s where things stand: The prison guard who lied about checking on Epstein every 30 minutes (which is her job) also coincidentally received a series of deposits in the weeks prior to Epstein’s death, which were so unusual that her bank reported them to the authorities. Additionally, this guard was coincidentally named by inmates as someone who may have been involved in killing Epstein (or covering up his whereabouts). And on top of that, the guard was coincidentally searching Google for information about Epstein less than an hour before his body was discovered. Oh, and while all of this was going on, two cameras in front of Epstein’s cell coincidentally happened to malfunction, while another camera had footage that was “unusable.” And although Epstein had been placed on suicide watch in July, he was coincidentally taken off suicide watch shortly before his death, after a “high-level psychologist” stepped in and gave him the all-clear.

I’m not being sarcastic when I say that, indeed, this could be a string of coincidences. Unusual events happen all the time. Sometimes multiple unusual events happen at the same time. But this is A LOT of coincidence piled on top of each other. We have a bit of a Jenga tower of coincidence at this point. So, based on the facts that have been presented, we’re entitled to know some additional information. First of all, the DOJ needs to tell us the identity of that 4Chan poster. We need to know who exactly was talking about “Swapping out” Jeffrey Epstein, the night he died. At a minimum, we need to know whether it was one of the guards — and if so, which one. And we also need to know why the Southern District of New York stopped looking into the 4Chan post, as soon as the subpoena came back.

We also need to learn who sent those deposits to Tova Noel, and what action the government took (if any) after receiving the alert from Chase. Why exactly did Chase flag the transactions as suspicious? And how many other times did Tova Noel search Google for information about Jeffrey Epstein? Did she only start searching for information about him on the night he died?

None of this information should be hidden from the public. But the federal government, by dropping the criminal case against Tova Noel, ensured that the information would be extremely difficult to obtain. So the official narrative is all we can get. We’re left to speculate how Jeffrey Epstein could have fractured multiple bones and started hemorrhaging from his eyes while hanging himself, which is “extremely unusual,” as the physician hired by Epstein’s estate put it.

There’s one other element of these files that’s worth talking about for a moment. That’s the alleged revelation that, in these files, Trump was accused of ‘hitting a schoolgirl who refused to carry out sex act on him,’ as the Daily Mail put it.

According to the Post and Courier, which is a South Carolina newspaper:

Using archived government records and news accounts, The Post and Courier found that the woman provided verifiable details to agents about her family background and its legal entanglements. She offered the name of an Epstein business associate on Hilton Head Island who became a central figure in the drama, with specifics that are reflected in public records.

That’s the third paragraph of their story. 

Here’s paragraph number eight:

Of the details that The Post and Courier found supported by public records, none related directly to the alleged victim’s claims about Trump.

In other words, there’s nothing to substantiate the claim whatsoever, although it pains the media to admit it. If you page through the Epstein Files, you’ll find dozens of wild accusations against all sorts of prominent figures. And these allegations mostly come from people who are clearly unwell, with no evidence to support what they’re saying. Whatever you may have heard about this particular claim, there’s nothing to distinguish it from all of those other allegations. In this case, when investigators asked the woman for more detail, she refused to elaborate and broke off contact with the investigators entirely, according to the Daily Mail.

So no, this was not a bombshell revelation, by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not even a credible allegation. Unlike the revelations about the prison guard, which are based around verifiable facts, like bank deposits and Google searches. And it certainly isn’t proof that Trump launched the Iran war to “distract from Epstein,” which is something I’m hearing a lot lately. The idea is that the president is willing to tank the economy, sacrifice American soldiers and potentially destabilize the entire world, all so that he can “distract” people from the Epstein files. I’m obviously a critic of the war, but I get very tired of this kind of mid-wit slop analysis.

The fact of the matter is that everyone is distracted all the time anyway. It’s a farce to suggest that the government has to plot elaborate diversions so that people don’t fixate on one particular news story. A video of a monkey with a stuffed animal is enough to distract people, as recent events have shown. Frankly, the monkey video probably distracted more people than the war in Iran. If you don’t live in the D.C. bubble, or on X, then you’ll find most people aren’t actually spending all of their time thinking about Iran. If the government really wanted to create a diversion to distract us, they could just, for instance, give a Nerf gun to a panda bear and post the video. That would be enough to dominate our algorithms for the next six weeks at least. So the idea that an entire war was launched as nothing but a distraction is just absurd.

At the same time, the fact remains that there are many still unanswered questions about Epstein. There is plenty of reason to suspect that we still are not getting the complete answer. The Epstein Files themselves raise important questions that have objective, yes-or-no answers. The government has the capability to answer these questions. Millions of people in the United States are interested in those answers. And for that reason, whatever happens in Iran or Cuba or Venezuela or anywhere else, we should stop with the piecemeal document dumps, release everything, unredact any significant information, and then there should be a press conference where they answer our questions as thoroughly as they possibly can. Until that happens, this story will not go away. It will continue to dog this administration into the midterms, which is a disaster for the conservative movement — regardless of what you think about the Epstein story. Those are the stakes. We can either see total transparency from our conservative leaders on this story, or we won’t have conservative leaders for very long.

Trump made the comments while speaking at the Republican Members Conference, saying that he’d wondered at first why it wouldn’t have made more sense to keep the ships for American use rather than sink them.

WATCH:

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump said he was a little “upset” that our military SUNK 46 Iranian ships rather than CAPTURING them, because they were high quality ships 🤣

“I said, ‘what quality of ship?’

‘Excellent, sir. Top of the line!’

I said ‘why didn’t we just capture the ship?… pic.twitter.com/17ftu4S4Ek

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 9, 2026

“Their missile capability is being utterly demolished. The navy is gone, all lying at the bottom of the ocean — 46 ships, can you believe it? In fact, I got a little upset with our people.”

Trump said that he’d posed the question to military leadership, asking whether the ships would even have been worth keeping: “I said, ‘What quality of ship?’”

“Excellent, sir. Top of the line!” was the reply.

“I said, ‘Why didn’t we just capture the ship? We could’ve used it! Why did we sink them?!’” Trump continued, adding, “He said, ‘It’s more fun to sink them.'”

Everyone laughed then, as he continued.

“They like sinking them better,” he repeated. “They say it’s safer to sink them. I guess it’s probably true!”

”But think of it, we knocked out 46 [ships] and actually it took three and a half days,” the president said. “Their terrorist leaders are gone, or counting down the minutes until they will be gone.”

Trump also said on Monday that he believed the war was more or less finished — or at the very least, was far ahead of his original four-to-six week timeline.

“Think of it, they had leaders and they’re gone, and they had new leaders and they’re gone,” Trump added. “And now nobody has any idea who the people are that are going to be the head of the country.”

* * *

You know you’ve gone too far in your Middle East bombing campaign when Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tells you to cool your jets.

Sen. Graham — whom I like personally — has never seen a Middle Eastern country he didn’t want to bomb. He’s been beating the drum for war for a very, very long time.

That’s why it gives a lot of credibility to his criticism in his recent tweets on X:

Our allies in Israel have shown amazing capability when it comes to collapsing the murderous regime in Iran. America is most appreciative…

You can just sense there’s a “but” coming. And here it is:

However, there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous Ayatollah regime. In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select. Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor.

Our allies in Israel have shown amazing capability when it comes to collapsing the murderous regime in Iran. America is most appreciative.

However, there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime.

In…

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 9, 2026

Source: @LindseyGrahamSC/X.com

For background, Graham’s statement comes after Axios published this article, which says:

Israel’s strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots Saturday went far beyond what the U.S. expected when Israel notified it in advance, sparking the first significant disagreement between the allies since the war began eight days ago, according to a U.S. official, Israeli official and a source with knowledge.

Now, whenever the United States and Israel — or any two allies — are publicly disagreeing, there’s always the possibility that it’s partly a show. Sometimes governments signal disagreement publicly while coordinating privately. But this situation suggests otherwise. There may be a legitimate difference of opinion. Maybe a little tail wagging the dog here?

On its own, Lindsey Graham publicly rebuking Israel is notable. He’s a major, longtime supporter of Israel and a major supporter of regime change in Iran. He is not exactly shy about using the military. And he’s saying: guys, what are we doing here?

The reporting says the United States is worried this could backfire strategically. And those concerns highlight the stakes of the war.

My reaction from the beginning — when the possibility of war with Iran started circulating — has been that there are two very firm camps making overly simplistic arguments.

On one hand you have the pacifists who say war is never the answer, that there is never any place for war. That’s not a serious moral or political position.

On the other hand you have hardcore ideological neocon types — who say the United States has a moral duty to spread liberal democracy everywhere on earth. That’s also a very ideological view.

If you get rid of those two extremes, then there are the people in the middle where reasonable minds can disagree over the wisdom of the Iran campaign. That’s certainly where President Trump is. That’s certainly where I am and where I think most people are.

In the lead-up to the Iran war, when it became clear it was going to happen, I was asking people who were in the know — grand strategy types, diplomats — what do you think about this? Should we go to war in Iran? Should we not go to war in Iran?

And the most persuasive answer I heard was: Well, if we can do it quickly and successfully, then it would be good to change out the regime. But if we can’t, we shouldn’t.

So, I’ve said from the beginning, if I were on the National Security Council (NSC) — not that anyone invited me — but if I had been on the NSC, I would have made all the arguments I could against the Iran strike. Not based on any particular moral argument. I think there’s legal justification to go into Iran. Again, the government had more knowledge than I did when they launched the strike, but if they had asked me, based only on publicly available knowledge I would have said: Look, I don’t know that the threat from Iran is as grave as people are suggesting or as imminent. Also, I’m not confident that we can efficiently and effectively swap out the regime in Iran to get a more Western-friendly regime.

So because of those practical, prudential, pragmatic matters, I don’t know that it’s the right idea. But if you could convince me otherwise on those two points, then I would say, yes, it’s probably a good idea.

And these are the stakes here.

President Trump is taking a much more realistic view. This comes right out of his National Security Strategy that was released last November. President Trump clearly believes that he’s the guy to do it — that he can do it. He has great confidence in himself and in his foreign policy and in the people he’s empowered to efficiently get rid of the Iranian regime and build up a more pro-Western regime.

Similar to what he did in Venezuela. An operation free of global fallout, that will rebuff our enemies like China and Russia, and that will make America great again — that will help us on the world stage and give us a chance, after decades of decline in the American empire, to be great again.

He thinks he’s the guy who can do it. And maybe he is. He’s got a pretty good record so far.

The distinction between him and, say, George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy would be: Bush wasn’t that good at it, and I am good at it.

But in order for that to work, things need to go perfectly. And that’s a really, really tall order in the best circumstances.

And in order for that to work, we need to not turn the Iranian people against us. We need to keep public sentiment against the Islamic regime and at least tolerating us, if not openly supportive of the United States, grateful for our mission.

And we need to make sure the country doesn’t become completely destabilized. Which means sometimes we need to rein in Israel — just like we would have to rein in any other ally if they got a little out of control.

That’s the point Lindsey Graham is making. That’s the point it seems the White House is making with the leak to Axios.

Those are the stakes.

As I’ve had to explain to friends who are deeply skeptical of the war in Iran — the quasi-isolationists — if this works, it will be the greatest foreign policy achievement of any president since the end of the Cold War. Take the Cold War off the table, and it may rank among the most significant foreign policy victories of the last eighty years.

But if this goes south, Trump’s legacy will look a lot like George W. Bush’s.

Those are the stakes.

Stakes so high that even Lindsey Graham is publicly signaling caution — urging Israel to rein it in. That alone tells you everything about how high they are.

The Hawks were set to honor one of Atlanta’s “iconic cultural institutions” with special food, merchandise, and a halftime performance by Atlanta rapper T.I. for their matchup against the Orlando Magic next week, per a team release.

But San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet voiced concerns about having a night that brings attention to Magic City, the historic strip club in Atlanta, calling the move a poor decision.

“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love…we desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.”

Related: NBA Team To Honor Strip Club During International Women’s Month

Warriors center Al Horford, who played for years for the Hawks, also pushed back against “Magic City Monday,” saying he agreed with Kornet’s assessment of the evening not creating an environment for fans of all ages — and the league agrees.

The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/jzbUW8t73Y

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 9, 2026

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement on Monday: “When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale. While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees. I believe cancelling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community.”

“Magic City Monday” was scheduled for the Hawks on March 16.

“The Hawks have worked with Magic City to bring the ‘best of’ the phenomena for fans in attendance at the award-winning State Farm Arena,” the announcement for the promotional night read.

“From the food to the music and the exclusive merchandise, we are excited to team up with Magic City to create an authentic, true to Atlanta-inspired game experience,” said Hawks Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Proctor.

Atlanta’s NBA team responded to the cancellation in a statement Monday evening on X.

“While we are very disappointed in the NBA’s decision to cancel our Magic City Night promotion, we full respect its decision. As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta with authenticity in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together.”

The Hawks never referred to Magic City as a strip club, though the widely-known entertainment space has been known for that since the 80s; instead, the organization planned to focus on other aspects of the club, including its lemon pepper wings that were set to be a special menu item for the March 16 game.

There is no word on if famed rapper T.I. is still set to perform, despite the promotion being called off.

The tip-off for the Hawks and Magic is set for next Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

That is the question behind the startling suggestion from U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers to the Telegraph — Britons may soon be justified in seeking asylum in America. She was not being casually provocative for effect. She was serious — and each passing day strengthens her case.

With war now raging between the United States, Israel, and Iran, Britain is confronting a humiliating question: what does it say about our country when anti-Ayatollah Iranians can be harassed on British streets while police stand idly by? In Manchester, rival demonstrations erupted after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and reports circulated — alongside widely shared footage — that pro-regime Islamists on horseback were intimidating and chasing away Iranians near the Islamic Centre.

UK: Pro-regime Iranian enforcers chased anti-Ayatollah Iranians near the Islamic Centre in Manchester. The police declined to intervene. pic.twitter.com/HNkOOLH75p

— @amuse (@amuse) March 7, 2026

Source: @amuse/X.com

To the shock of bystanders, police made no arrests. The astounded man filming the giant steeds and their bearded Islamic riders pleaded with police to know why the men weren’t being “nicked” (that’s arrested, in Northern parlance). “They’ve just chased people with their ‘orses!” he shouts; his broad Manchester accent starkly at odds with the Middle Eastern politics playing out on his streets.

“What are we supposed to do?” shrugs the short, young police officer, “Pull him off his horse?”

“Yes!” exclaimed the terrified onlooker.

This is the state of affairs in Britain: if your safety, social norms, or free speech are being compromised by Islamic agitators, the police stand by. Our accidental documentary-maker behind the cell phone summed it up nicely, “If he had a Union Jack on, he’d be off the horse.” He’s right.

Over the past thirty years, the United Kingdom has quietly redefined the social contract that underpinned British society. But even those of us who have watched a stream of Trojan horses sneak in cultural change didn’t foresee it morphing into actual horses on our streets.

And as Rogers correctly identifies, it is all underpinned by the demise of free speech. This has fallen off a cliff: not through dramatic constitutional rupture, but via bureaucratic growth under both Left and Right-wing governments. Millions of Brits, many of whom are my viewers on GB News, are relieved that the Trump Administration has been ringing the alarm bell on our behalf.

A growing number of ordinary citizens are being swept into the criminal justice system for social media posts, venting frustration on WhatsApp groups, and even uttering unkind words at protests. There were more than 12,000 arrests in 2023 under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 — laws that criminalize posting messages deemed “grossly offensive,” “indecent, obscene,” or causing “annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.”

That’s roughly 33 arrests per day in a country where shoplifting is practically decriminalized, and less than 5% of home burglaries are solved.

While the laws curtailing speech were originally intended to deal with serious threats and targeted harassment, in practice, they can be applied far more broadly. Civil liberties groups argue that the vagueness of what constitutes “offensive” content allows authorities to monitor or detain people for expressing controversial political opinions, satire, or clumsy humor.

Things became more extreme with the 2023 Online Safety Act, one of the most significant legal changes of the decade, granting the communications regulator (Ofcom) wide authority to compel platforms to remove content. It also creates new criminal offenses for incidents of “false and threatening communications.” But the act’s overly broad, subjective definitions and heavy penalties will lead to the censorship of lawful and harmless speech by tech firms trying to avoid multi-million dollar fines. Hundreds of people have already been charged under the new regime for “illegal fake news” and “threatening communications,” with dozens convicted just months after it came into force.

Rogers is right to observe that this environment has produced something historically novel: a liberal democracy in which citizens increasingly self-censor not out of politeness, but out of fear.

Comedy writer Graham Linehan was arrested last September at London’s Heathrow Airport after traveling from America, where he had posted on X about protecting women’s spaces from trans-identified males.

2023 also saw the arrival of enforcement against “non-crime hate incidents,” a uniquely British invention that allowed police to record speech as hateful even when no law had been broken. The message is unmistakable: speech is tolerated only so long as it causes no discomfort to those empowered to define harm.

Contrast this with the American approach Rogers implicitly praises — the First Amendment as the cultural spine of American life. It protects speech precisely because it is offensive, destabilizing, or unpopular. American courts do not ask whether speech might cause emotional unease; they ask whether the state has any business interfering at all.

Critics will argue that Britain’s model is merely more “civilized” and that Americans fetishize absolutism. But balance presumes a neutral arbiter, and Britain no longer has one. When regulators, universities, employers, and police all share the same ideological assumptions, moderation becomes enforcement by another name.

What Rogers understands — and what many in Britain still resist — is that free speech is not primarily about manners: it is about power and control. Once the power to determine acceptable opinion shifts decisively to institutions, citizens become subjects in all but name. You may still speak, but only at your own risk.

This is why talk of asylum, literal or not, resonates deeply.

Asylum is sought not only when bombs fall, but when rights erode so completely that dissent becomes untenable. We are not quite there yet — but the trajectory is headed nowhere good. How could it? The British government is currently proposing the abolition of jury trials for all but the most heinous crimes.

America’s free-speech culture survives not because Americans are uniquely virtuous or diplomatic but because their system assumes fallibility — of governments, of majorities, of individual morality. Britain, by contrast, increasingly assumes moral consensus and builds enforcement mechanisms around it.

Sarah Rogers has done the UK a service by saying the quiet part aloud. If Britain wishes to remain a nation of free speakers rather than shy whisperers, it must relearn a lesson America never forgot: the price of liberty is not silence, but tolerance of speech we would rather not hear.

* * *

Bev Turner is a host of “The Late Show Live” for Great Britain’s GBNews, based out of Washington, D.C. Follow her on X @BeverleyTurner

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Thirty-six nations are members of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and every single year during the commission, there is an agreed-upon document that focuses on topics affecting women around the world, including injustices.

This year’s document was a disappointment to Bethany Kozma, Director of Global Affairs (OGA) at the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the other members of President Donald Trump’s administration who had traveled to the commission in New York.

The document was filled with mentions of DEI, gender ideology, and ambiguous language about “reproductive rights,” but was bereft of language unique to womanhood, according to Kozma. “No mention of motherhood or unique female experiences,” she said, adding, “and it failed to define what a woman is.”

In short, The Daily Wire has learned, it was not aligned with the Trump administration’s policies and views on these issues. Since the president took office again in 2025, the United States has clearly defined what a woman is, banned boys from girls’ spaces and sports, fought back against transgenderism in the medical world, and shut down many DEI projects in corporations and academia.

“The UN Commission on Women is supposed to be for women, yet for years, it’s been co-opted to include men pretending to be women,” she explained. “Many countries claim to support and empower women, yet some of them cannot even answer the simple question: ‘What is a woman?'”

“Thanks to the moral leadership of President Trump, the tide is changing and we’re standing up for women and girls,” she emphasized. “And I really was hopeful that we could come to an agreement.”

Kozma and her delegation from the United States worked hard to participate in good faith, offering amendments to the document that they knew some countries might sign onto. Natalie Dodson, senior advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shared that their delegation worked aggressively to negotiate with the other countries in order to include language defending the integrity of women.

“The text was not something that the U.S. liked at all,” Kozma explained. “It would not have been something that we would have ever put out on behalf of the United States government, but we had offered several amendments that were just very common sense.”

One amendment that they had been asking for, over and over, was an amendment that essentially defined men and women so that there would be no ambiguity.

Members of the United States Delegation at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The Commission on the Status of Women wasn’t interested in the American amendments, Kozma and Dodson explained to The Daily Wire. Minutes before midnight on Sunday night, the council sent the final draft to the United States without acknowledging any of the American red lines that Kozma’s team had outlined.

And when it came time to vote on the amendments, which were intended to be voted on separately, the council bundled all the amendments together. Some nations might have voted for one amendment but not another, and bundled together, the amendments failed.

During Monday’s vote, the United States was the only nation in the world to vote against the document. Six nations abstained: Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia.

Kozma believes it was a deliberate attempt at “isolation” by the council to make the United States look like “we won’t don’t defend women and girls.”

“I’m really proud of us,” she told The Daily Wire over the phone. “We were the only country that was voting to protect women and girls.”

The rapid drop in U.S. crude late in the day came as President Donald Trump said the war, which has lasted for over one week, is “very far ahead of schedule” after initially predicting a four-to-five-week operation. Following Trump’s latest comments on the Iran conflict, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 also climbed. The Dow initially fell around 900 points early on Monday before closing the day up 261 points, while the S&P 500 turned a 1.5% fall in the morning into a gain of nearly 1% by the closing bell.

“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS News in a phone interview. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force,” Trump said. “Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones.”

“If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense,” he added.

Snippets of Trump’s interview were posted by CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang just after 3:15 p.m. ET, which was roughly the same time that the steep drop in Brent crude and the rise in the markets began.

Trump also told CBS News that he is considering taking control of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital passage between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, where around 20% of the world’s oil typically traverses each day. Since the conflict in Iran began, tankers have been mostly halted from passing through the strait and into the open ocean. Trump said on Monday afternoon, however, that ships are once again moving through the strait and added that the Iranian regime would be completely obliterated if it threatens ships.

“If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran, and you’d never hear the name again,” Trump said.

If tankers are prevented from passing through the Strait of Hormuz for more than two weeks, oil could reach $150 per barrel, some experts warned, according to the Associated Press. Gas prices in the United States have surged since Trump’s Iran operation began. The national average for gas has climbed to $3.47 per gallon since last week, according to AAA. Before the recent rise, gas prices in the United States had mostly fallen since Trump took office last year.

Trump has not said when exactly “Operation Epic Fury” would end, but during remarks to Republican lawmakers in Doral, Florida, later Monday afternoon, he said that the U.S. military “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” U.S. forces have decimated the Iranian navy and military capabilities, and the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Seven U.S. troops have been killed since the United States launched its major military operation on February 28.

I agree with this 100%, because many terrorists are here.

And — they have the tacit and not-so-tacit support of the mayor of New York City and his wife.

Over the weekend, an anti-Islamist protest took place outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s home. It was titled “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” and run by a white supremacist named Jake Lang. Roughly 20 people showed up.

20 people were apparently too many for 18-year-old Emir Balat, who threw an ignited device toward the protest area. He was shouting at the time — wait, wait, wait for it — you’re never going to guess — “Allahu Akbar!”

I know, I know, a shocking surprise.

Balat then apparently ran toward 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, and he grabbed a second device. He lit that, and then began running. Eventually, he dropped it. Both men were arrested.

The criminal complaint stated:

After the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) arrested them at the scene, BALAT and KAYUMI both made statements referring to ISIS. For example, as KAYUMI was being placed inside an NYPD vehicle to be transported, an individual from the surrounding crowd yelled to KAYUMI and asked, in substance and in part, why he had done this. KAYUMI responded, in part and as captured on NYPD body-worn camera footage, “ISIS.” BALAT and KAYUMI also referred to ISIS in recorded post-arrest statements they made after receiving and waiving their Miranda rights.

These were not smoke bombs. They were IEDs. According to the New York Post, the IEDs were homemade. They were packed with nuts, bolts, and screws, and also a household concoction nicknamed by international terrorist groups the “Mother of Satan.”

Law enforcement sources told the Post the IEDs were so volatile they wouldn’t even have needed a fuse to go off.

To no one’s surprise, Balat traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, for more than three months last year, and Kayumi traveled to Istanbul in 2024. It turns out there are a lot of people in Turkey who are really, really, Islamist.

The pair admitted to law enforcement that they had watched ISIS videos and were inspired by ISIS.

This should be the biggest story in the country: yet another attempted terror attack by a radical Islamist shouting “Allahu Akbar.”

I say “another’ because in the past ten years or so, there have been a wide variety of such attacks. The Austin nightclub shooting just last week, where the terrorist wore a sweatshirt reading “Property of Allah”; the New Orleans terror ramming of January 1, 2025, killing 14, where the suspect had an ISIS flag in his truck; the New York City truck attack on October 31, 2017, in which a terrorist ran down eight people; the Saint Cloud Mall stabbing in September 2016, in which ten people were stabbed by a terrorist shouting “Allahu Akbar”; the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting of 2016 — which was to that point the deadliest mass shooting in American history with 49 killed and the guy was shouting “Allahu Akbar”; the University of California, Merced stabbing of 2015. 

And of course, this wasn’t even the only suspected terror bombing in the West over the weekend. In Norway, the U.S. embassy was bombed early Sunday morning local time.

But that’s not the biggest story here.

The biggest story was the reaction from the mayor in New York. The mayor’s office released a statement condemning — the Anti-Islamist protesters!

Not a word about the attempted bombers, as of Sunday night. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s press secretary said, “The crusade against Islamification gathering held outside Gracie Mansion today by Jake Lang, a vile white supremacist, was despicable and Islamophobic. Thankfully, the mayor and the First Lady are both safe, though the events are a stark reminder of the threats they both face regularly.”

The mayor put out another statement: “Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such hate has no place in New York City. It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are. What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”

Did you notice something in those statements? Jake Lang was condemned in the fullest possible terms. So were the protesters. But, you may have noticed, you would have no idea from those statements who the people were that threw the IED. What did they actually believe? Were they wrong? 

Not a word of condemnation. Not one single word. In fact, if you read the mayor’s statement without context, you would come away thinking that Lang and his group threw the IED, which is disgusting and crazy and vile, because it turns out that if ISIS devotees throw a bomb at the “Stop the Islamic Takeover rally,” the people who ought to be called out are the ISIS devotees. They are the ones who threw a bomb.

So you have one group that’s saying stuff you don’t like, and you have another couple of guys who are lone wolves associated with ISIS who literally built IEDs to throw at a crowd.

And Zohran Mamdani’s response is, “Man, that rally was superbad. And the violence that happened afterward, I mean, that was bad.”

What the hell is he talking about?

We know. We know what’s happening here. This is not a shock.

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, is a lifelong supporter of terrorists, going all the way back to his days as a failed rapper. And, as it turns out, so was the first lady of New York. She repeatedly liked social media posts celebrating October 7 as it unfolded. She even liked one post calling New York Times reporting on the rape of Israeli women by Hamas “a mass rape hoax.”

What was Mamdani’s response to the reports that his wife had liked a bunch of posts sympathetic to terrorists?

You know, my wife is the love of my life, and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my city hall. I, however, was elected to represent all 8.5 million people in the city, and I believe that it’s my responsibility, because of that role, to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.

I have a question for him. Why did your statement about ISIS affiliates throwing bombs at a rally not mention ISIS, radical Islam, terrorism, or anything else about that?

Are we supposed to believe that the husband of the woman who was sympathetic to October 7 disagrees with any of her sentiments? And if so, precisely why?

The problem here isn’t just a fringe issue. It is now a mainstream issue for the Democratic Party, which has decided that pooh-poohing radical Islam is de rigueur in order to condemn both America and Israel.

And Mamdani is the face of their movement.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) suggested much of the current pressure campaign surrounding the legislation is being driven online rather than inside the Senate itself.

“A lot of that is, it’s in that kind of, you know, paid influencer ecosystem,” Thune said, referring to growing calls from some conservative activists to force action on the bill.

The SAVE act would impose new nationwide election integrity requirements, including proof-of-citizenship documentation to register to vote and voter identification requirements for ballots cast both in person and by mail.

The House has already passed the bill, and Trump has recently increased pressure on Senate Republicans to move it forward, declaring he would refuse to sign legislation that does not include the SAVE Act.

But Thune indicated that even many Republicans remain uncertain about how the Senate could realistically pass the measure. There’s support among GOP senators, he said, but “the process and how do you ultimately try and get a result is still unclear to me.”

Some conservatives have floated forcing the legislation through the use of a talking filibuster strategy designed to pressure Senate Democrats and move the bill forward with a simple majority. Thune, however, warned that the tactic would be difficult to execute. “The talking filibuster issue is one on which there is not, certainly, a unified Republican conference, and there would have to be,” he said after a Senate GOP meeting.

Under that approach, Republicans would likely face a barrage of amendments and procedural votes, requiring near-perfect unity within the conference. “If you go down that path, you’re talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified, pretty much on every single vote,” Thune said. “And there’s just not, there isn’t support for doing that at this point.”

The procedural uncertainty comes as Republicans juggle several other legislative priorities, including funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and pursuing a housing-related bill.

“We want to get to the SAVE Act,” Thune told reporters, but cautioned that tackling other priorities becomes “harder to do once you’re in the throes of a talking filibuster.”

The debate is unfolding alongside an increasingly public dispute within the GOP over who is responsible for the bill’s slow movement. In the last few weeks, as voters become acutely aware of the stall, several House Republicans and Trump himself have publicly criticized Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), accusing the longtime senator of blocking the legislation. Lawmakers including Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) have openly questioned McConnell’s motives, while Trump mocked the Kentucky Republican online over the stalled bill.

McConnell’s office has pushed back on those claims, arguing that the senator does not control whether the measure receives a vote. A spokesperson said McConnell “has not, at any point in time, prevented a floor vote on any version of the SAVE Act,” noting that the latest House-passed version of the legislation is awaiting Senate floor consideration.

The dynamic has placed McConnell at the center of conservative frustration over the issue even as Senate leadership emphasizes the procedural challenges involved. For now, Thune’s most recent comments suggest that while Republican leaders say they want to advance the bill, the strategy for actually doing so remains unsettled.

Republicans now hold just 217 seats, and Kiley’s exit makes him the only member of the House not registered under any party.

Kiley is running in California’s Sixth Congressional District this November, and he currently represents the 3rd Congressional District. Kiley was heavily impacted by Prop. 50’s passage last year, which instituted mid-decade redistricting in favor of five Democratic-leaning seats in the Golden State.

“Gerrymandering is a plague on democracy, one that Gavin Newsom has brought back to California. But there’s a way we can fight back and protect our democracy from his partisan games: by removing partisanship from the equation. Today, I filed for reelection as ‘No Party Preference,’” Kiley posted to X on Friday.

“This means I will not have a party affiliation on the ballot or as an officeholder. That’s how it already is with most offices in our state: mayors, city councilors, school board members, county supervisors, sheriffs, and DAs are all nonpartisan,” he continued.

On Monday, he said that he’s “asking the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives to have that reflected in the official roster,” according to Axios. However, he did not inform Republican leadership ahead of his decision on Friday, Spectrum News DC reported.

The congressman has sponsored legislation to end mid-decade redistricting at the federal level, saying in an August statement that it would “stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.”

Kiley took office in 2023 after being endorsed by President Donald Trump in 2022, after several years as a foe of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats as a state assemblyman in Sacramento. The congressman voted in agreement with the president 98.3% of the time in 2025, according to VoteHub.

The Cook Political Report currently ranks both the third and sixth districts as “Solid Democrat” in the upcoming election, as Prop. 50 allows for a more Democrat-friendly redraw until the formal redistricting process occurs after the 2030 census.

The report ranks 18 House races as “toss-ups” this election cycle, with 14 others considered “Lean Democrat” and 4 considered “Lean Republican.” Both parties are expected to pour a hefty amount of financial resources into the hotly competitive districts in order to keep the majorities for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.

Mid-decade redistricting took place in several other states this year, including Texas, which added five Republican-favored seats.

On April 21, Virginia will also be voting on an amendment to allow for mid-decade redistricting intended to favor Democrats.

Balat first made the gesture as he emerged from a tunnel outside the precinct where he had been held after being arrested on Saturday. A police officer attempted to cover his hand with a manila folder, but Balat raised his hand above the folder and repeated the gesture. He briefly lowered his hand before raising it a third time as he was placed into a vehicle.

The 18-year-old was seen holding up his right index finger — a universal salute for the terror group — and grinning at the press while being led by a cop and an FBI agent. Read more at the link in our bio. pic.twitter.com/9bg83J1HQ1

— New York Post (@nypost) March 9, 2026

ISIS began using the gesture, a raised index finger accompanied by a slight shaking motion, in 2014. The gesture refers to Tawhid, the Islamic belief in the oneness of God.

When taken into custody on Saturday, Balat pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. He wrote, “All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar,” on a sheet of paper at the police precinct. Police body cam footage showed Balat saying, “this isn’t a religion that just stands when people talk about the blessed name of the prophet … We take action! We take action!” and “if I didn’t do it someone else will come and do it.”

A federal complaint released Monday adds that Balat stated he wanted to carry out an attack bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing, which Balat said caused “only three deaths.”

Eighteen-year-old Balat was arrested Saturday along with 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi after an explosive device was thrown into a crowd of protesters and police officers. Balat and Kayumi are no longer being held by the NYPD and will instead be held on federal charges pending further court proceedings.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, “Once again, we were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing, but luck is never a strategy.” Tisch added that if the weapons had detonated, they could have caused serious injury or death.

Balat and Kayumi traveled from Pennsylvania to New York City on Saturday morning. Both reportedly grew up in affluent neighborhoods. Balat’s home in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, is estimated to be worth $653,000, while Kayumi’s home is valued at approximately $2.25 million. Balat’s parents were born in Turkey, and Kayumi’s are from Afghanistan, according to federal officials.

Though nothing is confirmed yet, the DOJ announced in Manhattan federal court that the case was likely nearing a conclusion after the term sheet was signed on Thursday, per the Associated Press.

An unnamed official told the outlet that the terms included Live Nation paying a fine of up to $280 million and divesting some properties to allow for more competition in the ticket sales industry. The official said the settlement was a “win-win for everybody.”

Certain states were allegedly not on board with the proposed terms, however, and Judge Arun Subramanian called the terms “entirely unacceptable.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the settlement “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case.” 

“My attorney general colleagues and I have a strong case against Live Nation, and we will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition to the live entertainment industry,” she said, adding that she preferred to move forward with the trial.

Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown has a similar take, saying, “[the] case against Live Nation is strong, and the state coalition is committed to holding the company accountable for its illegal behavior, protecting consumers and restoring competition to this market,” the outlet noted.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2024 under the Biden administration, as WSJ reported. About 40 states came together to sue the entertainment company.

U.S. Justice Department lawyer David Dahlquist summarized the charges during opening statements last Tuesday, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

“This case is about power, the power of a monopolist to control competition,” Dahlquist said. “Today, the concert ticket industry is broken.”

Attorney David Marriott, who is representing Live Nation, said it wasn’t so. “We’ll let the numbers do the talking. We do not have monopoly power,” he said in response.

The complaint alleges that the company engages in “anticompetitive conduct” that results in higher fees, fewer opportunities for artists, and limited ticketing options. The filing occurred after the infamous 2022 incident when Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour pre-sale tickets caused the Ticketmaster site to crash, with thousands of fans — and bots — swarming the site all at once.

This Taylor Swift incident led to congressional hearings beginning in January 2023.

Ticketmaster was founded in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010. Over the years, the company has clashed with fans and artists, with many accusing the company of having predatory prices. The rock band Pearl Jam testified before Congress on the issue all the way back in 1994, but their efforts ultimately led nowhere.

A filing from the DOJ argued that allowing the suit to move forward would inhibit a safety study on the abortion pill being conducted by the Trump administration. Missouri and several other Republican-led states have asked a judge to block a COVID-era policy that relaxed regulations for dispensing the abortion pill. 

“Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho are not the only plaintiffs to have challenged the current conditions of use for mifepristone,” the Justice Department wrote. “Given this widespread debate over the safety of mifepristone, FDA has concluded that the best path forward is for the agency to undertake its review based on all the evidence before the agency.”

The filing asked the judge to put the lawsuit on hold while the FDA reviews the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone or dismiss the case altogether. It comes as pro-life advocates and lawmakers have called for the Trump administration to crack down on mail-order abortion pills. 

Last year, FDA Administrator Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that they initiated the REMS review. The study has yet to be released, and pro-life lawmakers and advocates have grown impatient as abortions continue to increase in states where medication abortion is banned due to an influx of outside pills. 

A spokesman for the Justice Department told The Daily Wire that the intent of the filing was to allow the FDA to oversee drug policy, not the federal court system. 

“In this filing, the Department of Justice requested more time from the court for the FDA to complete its review of mifepristone REMS,” the spokesman said. “As the Supreme Court recognized in a unanimous ruling less than two years ago, it is the role of the FDA – not the federal courts – to evaluate drug safety data and impose appropriate precautions.”

The filing from the DOJ dismisses concerns from pro-life states that FDA policies allow abortionists to ship pills into their states. The department said that states “remain free to make and enforce their pro-life policies” and that the federal government is not “standing in the way of Intervenor Plaintiffs enforcing their abortion laws against out-of-state prescribers of mifepristone.”

The filing mirrors another one from January, where the DOJ asked a judge not to grant a request from Louisiana also seeking to block the FDA’s abortion pill mailing policy.

Data indicate that tens of thousands of abortions are still happening in states like Texas, where medication abortion is banned. While Attorney General Ken Paxton has attempted to penalize abortionists accused of shipping pills into the state, New York has so far refused to cooperate due to shield laws put in place for abortionists. 

The Friday filing was condemned by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s handling of medication abortion. 

“The pro-life movement has very simple demands,” she said. “There should be no place on the market for drugs meant to poison and kill innocent human beings – but at the very least, this administration can and should take them out of the mail. This is no more or less than the policy of the first Trump administration.”

The Justice Department spokesman told The Daily Wire the department remains “committed to advancing President Trump’s pro-life agenda, including through dismissing criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against peaceful pro-life advocates targeted by the previous administration, and using the FACE Act to protect pro-life pregnancy centers.”

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

***

Impeccably tailored tweed suits, weighty wool overcoats, and vast, sprawling brick-laden estates that inspire sudden compulsions to sell all your possessions and relocate to the British countryside: These are among the enchanting hallmarks of filmmaker Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of “Young Sherlock.” It’s a new Amazon Prime series based on Andrew Lane’s novel series inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s venerable detective.

Set in a gritty Victorian England, the show imagines what Holmes’s formative years might have looked like before he settled into 221B Baker Street with his flatmate, Dr. Watson. Portrayed by Hero Fiennes Tiffin — who previously appeared in Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) — the incipient and still uncouth Sherlock is plucked from self-inflicted trouble by his watchful older brother, Mycroft (Max Irons), already a neat and trim bureaucrat. Conan Doyle likely would not have envisioned his hero this way, but in Ritchie’s hands Sherlock emerges as something like a British Will Hunting. Like Matt Damon’s swaggering savant, the young Holmes, despite his glaring brilliance, lacks discipline, professional ambition, and any meaningful instinct for self-preservation. After reading a professor’s mathematics textbook overnight, he interrupts the man’s lecture the following morning to correct him, then proceeds to solve a complex chalkboard problem in a scene that borrows too bluntly from Good Will Hunting. Elsewhere, he pursues petty criminal amusements such as pickpocketing purely for the clandestine craft — the very stunt that lands him in jail at the series’ outset.

Though Conan Doyle never clearly elaborated on Holmes’s education, it is no stretch to imagine the Holmes brothers as Oxford men. It is in those august halls that Ritchie stages the opening stretch of the series, bringing his usual directorial flair to the university’s courtyards, corridors, and book-filled interiors. Tiffin and Irons exhibit a palpable chemistry as Sherlock and Mycroft, sharing precisely the sort of fraternal dynamic one imagines between the Holmes brothers: affectionate (calling one another “brother dear”) and intellectually respectful, yet animated by a competitive spirit tantamount to the Space Race, with Mycroft’s composure providing an elegant contrast to Sherlock’s disorderly eccentricities. Both are well cast.

But the real star of Ritchie’s origin story is Sherlock’s infamous future nemesis. We are soon introduced to an irresistibly charming James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), sporting a spry Irish accent and still an innocent inchoate. Finn plays him like a rebellious James Dean, quickly befriending Sherlock, drawing him out of his shell, and urging him to flirt with women, skirt the law, and scorn polite society — not that Sherlock requires much encouragement. A running joke early in the season is that Sherlock, despite his brilliance and tendency to wander into danger, does not know how to fight. Moriarty teaches him how to box and defend himself, among other streetwise lessons. There is something perversely fascinating about the notion that one of literature’s great rivalries might once have resembled an intense youthful friendship. Nearly as intriguing as watching the origins of Sherlock’s deductive gifts is observing the still-boyish Moriarty reveal early signs of sociopathy beneath the charisma, from his detachment from violence to the unnerving ease with which he regards — and dismisses — murder as a situational necessity.

Spanning eight episodes, the season’s overarching narrative revolves around what must be Sherlock’s first real case. Without divulging the cleverly concocted plot, I’ll say the mystery is set in motion when a Chinese princess, Shou’an (Zine Tseng), visiting Oxford with priceless ancient scrolls in tow, is nearly robbed. From that incident unfolds an intricate and multifaceted conspiracy entangling members of the British government, Oxford’s academic elite, and Sherlock’s own family, all operating as warring interests. Overcomplicated plots of this sort are among Ritchie’s specialties and have by now become something of a trademark cliché, but it is hard to fault the formula when executed so well.

Among the many enjoyable aspects of watching Sherlock’s earliest detective work is seeing how Ritchie visualizes his photographic memory. Sherlock will stand in a room with Moriarty and mentally reconstruct prior scenes within that same space, replaying conversations and reassembling visual evidence with startling precision. Conan Doyle described this faculty as Holmes’s “mind palace.” Through sheer concentration, Sherlock can retrieve such minute details as the design on a matchbox left on a side table. It is an effective way of dramatizing his amplified cognition without reducing Holmes’s intellect to the earlier cartoonish riff on Good Will Hunting.

Shou’an, meanwhile, makes for a compelling heroine. Drawn into the broader mystery, she is a gifted martial artist, and her fight sequences are among the series’ highlights. Ritchie has long liked to fuse Sherlock Holmes with hand-to-hand combat, as he did in his Robert Downey Jr. films, reimagining Holmes as a bare-knuckle boxer. Appreciably, Shou’an is not presented as some implausible superwoman who effortlessly flings aside men twice her size. Despite her Mulan-like prowess, she is bested more than once by a towering Turkish henchman (Numan Acar); the series wisely emphasizes that her greatest strengths are cunning, adaptability, and intelligence — qualities central to any serious Sherlock adaptation.

Colin Firth also turns up in a regrettably minor role as Sir Bucephalus Hodge, a facetious and affluent Oxford patron. Firth commands such effortless authority through even mere facial movement that it quickly becomes apparent how formidable a talent he is, especially among the younger cast. He constantly seesaws between affability and menace, making it difficult to tell whose side he is really on. That same sense of instability runs throughout the plot as the mystery widens and loyalties grow harder to parse.

Beneath Ritchie’s reliable filmmaking gimmickry lies an equally compelling thread about fatherhood and family. Sherlock deeply admires his father, Silas (Joseph Fiennes), but as he digs further into the case, he begins to uncover uncomfortable truths about both his family and his own assumptions, so much so that he briefly comes to doubt even his own deductions. Extending beyond the mere solving of a mystery, the central tension becomes deciding whether loyalty ought to reside with blood, the law, or some higher moral principle. That struggle gives Sherlock’s coming-of-age story greater weight. For all the liberties the series takes with his swashbuckling youth, he remains recognizably Holmesian in a sense that he is a moralist, even when morality makes his life more difficult.

Young Moriarty, by contrast, is portrayed as a scholarship student with little money and no real family to speak of. To the show’s credit, it resists the lazy modern temptation to gloss over evil as merely the byproduct of hardship or institutional unfairness — or, in the case of an Irishman, the bitter and corrupting pangs of British oppression. Moriarty’s emerging psychopathy is instead presented as an innate defect of character, making it all the more unsettling because it cannot be neatly rationalized as a social grievance.

Ritchie also retains his flair for music. A nice touch throughout the series is the way the soundtrack adapts to its various settings. As Sherlock’s pursuit carries him from Oxford to London to Paris — where the locals are found indulging in France’s national pastime of violent revolutionary upheaval — and onward to Constantinople, the jukebox shifts accordingly, playing upbeat rock covers performed in the respective local languages. It is a playful stylistic flourish, and an effective one.

Purists will inevitably object that innumerable details are wrong or that the Victorian gentleman of Conan Doyle’s stories could never plausibly have been such a bruised and brash rebel in his youth. But such objections are mostly beside the point. “Young Sherlock” is not attempting some canonical reconstruction of Holmes’s beginnings. It is trying to be a stylish, energetic, and entertaining prehistory of a beloved character, and on those terms it succeeds. Bolstered by strong performances, a beautiful and immersive world, a well-written script, and an engagingly unpredictable mystery, “Young Sherlock” is a polished and thoroughly enjoyable series well worth your attention.

***

Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at BetweenBottles.com.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The story in New York could have been much different, however.

The devices used by the suspects during the weekend attack contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive nicknamed the “Mother of Satan” that terrorists have used to kill hundreds of people since 2005. TATP is especially dangerous because its materials are inexpensive and easy to access.

The U.S. government warns that even small amounts of TATP can cause major damage if detonated, and the explosive can also be packed with shrapnel — such as nuts, bolts, and screws — to increase its lethality. The devices used by two suspects in New York City over the weekend were packed with such shrapnel.

One of the suspects threw an explosive near the crowd of protesters and the other suspect dropped another device near police officers. The suspects, 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi and 18-year-old Emir Balat, were quickly apprehended by authorities. The New York Post reported that one of the suspects said “Allahu Akbar” after he was questioned by investigators.

While the attack in Manhattan on Saturday has not yet been confirmed to be an ISIS attempt to kill Americans, TATP has been a primary weapon for the terrorist group for years. Since 2005, nearly 500 people throughout the world have been killed by terrorists who used the “Mother of Satan” in their attacks. Most of the terrorists who have used TATP to carry out mass killings in the past were either inspired by or part of ISIS.

2019: Sri Lanka Easter Bombings

On Easter Sunday in April 2019, ISIS terrorists used the “Mother of Satan” in bombings that targeted Christians who were worshipping in churches and at hotels throughout the small country. More than 250 people were killed in the coordinated attacks. The TATP bombs were worn by suicide bombers who pulled a strap to detonate their vests.

2017: Ariana Grande Concert Bombing

A lone suicide bomber detonated either a vest or a backpack with TATP and shrapnel at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22, 2017, killing 22, including 10 people under the age of 20. The terrorist reportedly made the bomb by himself. Authorities determined that the blast was able to kill people more than 60 feet away and was “designed to kill and maim indiscriminately the largest number of innocent people.”

2016: Brussels Airport and Train Bombings

Three ISIS suicide bombers detonated “Mother of Satan” bombs at the Brussels airport and on board a train leaving a metro station in a coordinated attack on March 22, 2016. The terrorists killed 32 people and wounded nearly 350 more. Two more attackers had planned to detonate another bomb at the airport and another at the metro station, but they fled the scenes of the bombings before carrying out their part of the attack.

2015: Paris Terrorist Attack

TATP explosives were part of the arsenal for ISIS fighters who carried out the deadliest terror attack in France’s history on November 13, 2015. Terrorists killed 130 people in six different locations throughout Paris in their attack, using semi-automatic rifles and suicide belts loaded with the “Mother of Satan.”

2005: London Bombings

Radical Muslim terrorists inspired by al-Qaeda killed more than 50 people and wounded nearly 800 in one of England’s deadliest terror attacks. Investigators believe the terrorists primarily used TATP bombs for their attack on London underground trains and a double decker bus.

As investigators continue to look into the two New York City attackers who attempted to detonate explosives over the weekend, more information about the suspects is coming to light. The two men reportedly have connections to the Middle East, but as of Monday afternoon, authorities have not tied them to any terror group. Kayumi and Balat recently spent time in Turkey, and Kayumi also flew to Saudi Arabia in 2024, the New York Post reported.

It remains unclear if the two suspects were taught how to make the “Mother of Satan” bombs or if anyone else knew about their attack. Kayumi and Balat reportedly told investigators that they had watched ISIS videos and targeted right-wingers who were protesting outside of Gracie Mansion because they believed the protesters disrespected their religion. The protest, which was organized by far-right activist Jake Lang, focused on denouncing the so-called Muslim takeover of New York City.

In a social media post on Sunday, Mamdani condemned the protest, which he said was “rooted in bigotry and racism” before he added, “What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are.”

For those who don’t spend their weekends glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

In addition to complaining about Trump taking action without first getting the support of Congress, the key note struck by legacy media outlets was the notion that war with Iran — which has thus far lasted just over a week — will necessarily snowball into the same kind of long, drawn-out affair the United States saw in Iraq and Afghanistan: a “forever war.”

To kick off the weekend, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) sat down with HBO host and comedian Bill Maher, where he repeated the same refrain being sung by most Democrats: Trump must first go to Congress.

Maher quickly laid a rhetorical trap for the lawmaker: “This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.’ That’s too vague for you?”

“Totally vague,” Schiff agreed.

Maher dropped the other shoe then, saying, “OK. Because that’s from Obama about Libya.”

Schiff scrambled, saying that then-President Barack Obama had taken the issue to Congress when he wanted to take action in Syria in 2013. He ignored Obama’s 2011 actions in Libya entirely, largely because the Obama administration continued those actions for months without ever getting congressional approval.

By Sunday morning, the narrative had shifted to focus on whether or not Iran would be another “forever war.”

On ABC’s “This Week,” anchor Martha Raddatz spoke with correspondent Ian Pannell about the objectives — which they said were thus far unclear — and suggested that it would be difficult to evaluate whether the U.S. and Israeli coalition had “won,” and if so, when.

“The president tells us we’re winning. How do we know that we’re winning, and if we don’t know that, how do we know when it ends?”

ABC News’ Ian Pannell joins Martha Raddatz in Jerusalem as the UAE joins the U.S. and Israel in firing shots into Iran: “The president tells us we’re winning. How do we know that we’re winning, and if we don’t know that, how do we know when it ends?” https://t.co/zjSQAcbPh6 pic.twitter.com/1XV7irvDGi

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz pushed back on Raddatz later in the show, explaining that the objectives in Iran were fairly straightforward. The Trump administration, he says, is “focused on an Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Americans, in an American-first foreign policy, but also no longer pose a threat to our allies in the region.”

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz tells Martha Raddatz that President Trump “is focused on an Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Americans, in an American-first foreign policy, but also no longer pose a threat to our allies in the region.” https://t.co/FIig18PSLv pic.twitter.com/wHxMAznCAY

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

Admiral (Ret.) Mike Mullen, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the end of former President George W. Bush’s last term and the beginning of former President Barack Obama’s first, warned that wars can start small and grow quickly, especially if the declared objectives change in any way.

“Wars expand, objectives change, circumstances come up that you didn’t expect,” he said.

Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he worries the current war with Iran could drag on for years: “Wars expand, objectives change, circumstances come up that you didn’t expect.” https://t.co/6dNhTiUoMP pic.twitter.com/UG2pVmwtjy

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

“Yes, the [Iranian] supreme leader is dead, but I don’t think the regime change that we’re talking about is represented just by that,” Mullen added, saying that “the regime is embedded, deep, dedicated, and sees this war as a war of survival for Iran.”

“Yes, the [Iranian] supreme leader is dead, but I don’t think the regime change that we’re talking about is represented just by that.” Ret. Admiral Mike Mullen says that he thinks “the regime is embedded, deep, dedicated, and sees this war as a war of survival for Iran.” pic.twitter.com/F5yMWOLhcf

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Jake Tapper pressed Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on his vow to vote against funding for any military action in Iran.

“You have said you’re a ‘hell no’ on funding the war. We have seen this movie before. We know that vote will be cast as — especially if you run for higher office — you voting against the troops,” Tapper prompted.

“Oh come on I mean, the American people don’t want this war,” Murphy scoffed. “They don’t want this war. They have seen what happens when American troops go into places like Iraq, places like Afghanistan. Ultimately we get a lot of people killed, we waste a lot of dollars, the one thing the American people are clear about is they do not want the United States dragged into another long term war in the Middle East.”

TAPPER: “You have said you’re a ‘hell no’ on funding the war. We have seen this movie before. We know that vote will be cast as – especially if you run for higher office – you voting against the troops.”

MURPHY: “Oh come on I mean, the American people don’t want this war.” pic.twitter.com/lTB5isM8I7

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 8, 2026

Although President Trump has said that he is willing to continue military action in Iran as long as it takes to achieve his objectives, his initial assessment was that the entire thing could be handled in a matter of weeks.

Masterson, a Democratic comedian and political satirist, posted video from the incident that took place on Saturday — an incident that is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after both suspects professed their allegiance to ISIS upon being apprehended.

“I was in the middle of saying ‘as a born and raised New Yorker, we welcome everyone into this city’ when he threw that over my head,” Masterson commented on the video.

WATCH:

I was in the middle of saying “as a born and raised New Yorker, we welcome everyone into this city” when he threw that over my head. pic.twitter.com/i5iD3MVf7h

— Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) March 8, 2026

“We were born and raised in New York, and we want everyone to stay in New York,” he said into a megaphone, shouting at the protesters gathered there. “You don’t get to come from outside and then tell everyone else —”

As he was speaking, someone else began to scream. Masterson appeared to instinctively duck down slightly, at which point Emir Balat — one of the suspects who was quickly apprehended — ran right up behind him and tossed something over his head.

People responded to Masterson’s video, suggesting that maybe he’d learned a valuable lesson that day – but Masterson, who claimed that he hadn’t been scared because the bomb looked fake, doubled down: “I’m the guy who didn’t run when a bomb was thrown over his head, I also didn’t become a xenophobic bigot.”

Masterson attempted to justify Balat’s actions — because he was targeting January 6th defendant Jake Lang — saying in an X post, “A terrorist jumped over my shoulder to throw an explosive at a pardoned terrorist from January 6th.”

In what appears to be a bizarre coincidence, Masterson appeared three years earlier at a school board meeting in the Pennsylvania community from which the New York City suspects had come.

There to mock parents concerned about pornographic materials in school libraries and LGBTQ propaganda flooding classrooms, Masterson pretended to be a concerned conservative parent and complained about, among other things, a book that showed two penguins holding hands.

He also claimed that “The Giving Tree” was an overt reference to communism, and argued that all PRIDE flags should be replaced with copies of the Declaration of Independence: “It’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a map that leads to a treasure of Templar gold. That is why Nicolas Cage tried to steal it. As these liberals try to steal our Constitution the only way to stop it is to steal it first.”