President Donald Trump’s tariffs stun the world and cause a stock market selloff, but his team is standing strong. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces the end of different military standards for men and women. And Colorado’s Democrat-run legislature moves to make the state a “transgender sanctuary.”
It’s Friday, April 4, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>“Liberation Day” Tariff Fallout </h2>
<div id="attachment_902919" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902919" class="size-large wp-image-902919" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-with-the-sign-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: As promised, Donald Trump reset the global economy this week with unprecedented tariffs — now foreign leaders, markets, and businesses are racing to react.
For decades, presidents in both parties have almost universally embraced free trade policies and kept tariffs at a minimum. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ marked a fundamental shift in economic policy the likes of which we’ve rarely seen in modern history. Virtually every product entering the United States will be slapped with a 10% tax — many will face rates in excess of 30%.
If you&#8217;re a fan of buying the dip, you’re in luck, because Wall Street took a beating on Thursday, with trillions of dollars in market cap wiped out. Put simply, it was the worst day on Wall Street since COVID wrecked the global economy. Within hours of markets opening, the DOW plummeted 1,400 points, the S&amp;P fell 4%, and the NASDAQ fell 5%. Elsewhere, major U.S. brands with supply chains outside the country, like Nike, Ralph Lauren, and HP, saw double-digit declines. Mid-size U.S. companies were hit the hardest — the Russell 2000 index, which includes smaller stocks, opened down nearly 7%. And the U.S. dollar slipped to its lowest point of the year, sinking more than 2% compared to the Euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc.
For their part, the White House urged patience, calling on Americans to trust Donald Trump’s plan. &#8220;To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1907820223505313987">said</a>. “This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term &#8230; this is indeed a national emergency &#8230; and it&#8217;s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.&#8221;
In response, some foreign leaders have dug their heels in: Beijing, for example, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/04/china-to-impose-34percent-retaliatory-tariff-on-all-goods-imported-from-the-us.html">announced</a> on Friday that China would impose a 34% retaliatory tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting April 10, while EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is finalizing countermeasures, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_964">saying</a>, “If you take on one of us, you take on all of us.” But other leaders expressed cautious optimism, and a willingness to cut a deal. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, for example, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/giorgiameloni.paginaufficiale/posts/pfbid035Wf8aAqZNpi3ZRCSrEgZz1gyXZMdKGCNARjhw5uDDytwqB1E8EVt15ayb8oupvR2l">said</a> the tariffs were “wrong” but that “we will do everything we can to work a deal with the United States.” Britain’s Keir Starmer reiterated that his “intention remains to secure a deal” — we saw a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-leaders-react-trump-sweeping-reciprocal-tariffs/">similar willingness</a> to work on a deal from leaders in Brazil, Singapore, Switzerland, and Vietnam.
The White House is betting that we’re in a better spot than our competitors to withstand a trade war and that, eventually, even our foes will be forced to come to the table. “We are the consumer of the world,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H65C3Z0zDI">CNN</a>. “We buy $20 trillions worth of goods and we are basically the buyer of everybody else in the world&#8217;s items. So what is the point of them going higher so that we go higher?”
<h2>New Military Fitness Standards Irrespective of Sex</h2>
<div id="attachment_902921" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902921" class="size-large wp-image-902921" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/CoEd-Basic-Training-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced this week plans to adopt the same fitness standards for both male and female service members.
Hegseth said he would officially address what he’s described as a decline in physical standards for service members in combat arms roles.
“ For far too long we allowed standards to slip and different standards for men and women,” Hegseth posted on X. “That&#8217;s not acceptable.”
The policy will not formally restrict women from taking on combat roles, but once the training standards are set, they will not be modified simply because the person doing the training happens to be female. Because combat training is — and should be — so intense, it’s entirely possible that this will mean fewer women are able to complete it. If that’s the case, there will be fewer women in combat roles, but those who meet the requirements will continue to serve in that capacity.
Hegseth followed his initial announcement with a second video explaining that the revised standards would only impact combat arms jobs. “We’re ensuring that any combat position, across any of the services — and the services are evaluating that — has the same standard for men and women, which means anybody can join, but the standard is to meet what it takes to do that combat job, rigorous physical standards so that your sons and daughters, those that join our military, have the best possible units, the most lethal units.”
Women did not serve in direct combat roles in the U.S. military until 2013 when former President Barack Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opened up combat arms MOS’ (Military Occupational Specialties) to women. Before that point, women were already serving in supplemental roles that occasionally would put them in combat situations — they often served as medics or vehicle operators, for example &#8212; but they were not placed into positions where direct combat was the only way to perform their duties effectively.
<h2>Colorado “Trans Sanctuary Law” Advances Through Committee</h2>
<div id="attachment_902925" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902925" class="size-large wp-image-902925" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-State-Legislature-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-State-Legislature-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-State-Legislature-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-State-Legislature-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-State-Legislature-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Colorado lawmakers move to make the state a “transgender sanctuary” and make so-called “deadnaming” and “misgendering” illegal through a series of radical Left policies. Morning Wire spoke with a Colorado state representative fighting to stop the law.
House Bill 1312, also known as “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals,” advanced through the Colorado House Judiciary Committee on Thursday on a party-line vote.
Quoting directly from the text of HB 1312: “Section 2 provides that, when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual&#8217;s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control.”
“The most scary thing about this bill is now when you&#8217;re talking in terms of custody, the misgendering of a child is considered child abuse,” Colorado State Representative Jarvis Caldwell (R- District 20) told Morning Wire. “That means when a judge is making custody decisions, if one parent is not affirming of the child&#8217;s trans-identity crisis and the other parent is affirming of it, then the preference for custody is going to go to the affirming parent.”
Section 3 of HB 1312 also allows parents with split or disputed custody to move to Colorado to provide so-called “gender affirming care” without legal recourse for the other parent &#8212; that provision contravenes Article Four, Section One of the U.S. Constitution, which says very directly that “states will honor and recognize rulings of other states.”
“Basically, if one parent were to take a child to the state of Colorado to get ‘gender-affirming care,’ and the state that they came from did a court ruling to bring the child back – Colorado will not recognize [that ruling],” Caldwell told Morning Wire.
Sections 8 and 9 of the bill also “define deadnaming and misgendering as discriminatory acts in the &#8216;Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act,&#8217; and prohibit these discriminatory acts in places of public accommodation.” Places of public accommodation include most spaces outside of a private home, including businesses, schools, and public transport. Under the proposed statute, citizens who “misgender” or “deadname” in these areas could be civilly liable for doing so. 

The Colorado Democratic Party holds a trifecta in the state: it controls the governor’s mansion and has large majorities in the state Senate (23D &#8211; 12R) and House (43D &#8211; 22R), meaning so long as there’s broad consensus within its ranks, Democrats have a free hand to pass whatever legislation they want without any Republican support.

Traders On The Floor Of The NYSE Ahead Of Trump Tariff Announcement

Morning Brief: Tariff Fallout, New Military Standards & CO’s ‘Trans Sanctuary’ Bill

Colorado

Donald Trump

gender ideology

Military

Pete Hegseth

Tariffs

Trade War

Transgender

Colorado Democrat lawmakers appeared to smear parental rights groups who oppose a radical new transgender bill, comparing the bill&#8217;s critics to &#8220;the KKK&#8221; during a Tuesday committee hearing.
The “Kelly Loving Act” targets parents who do not affirm their child’s new gender identity.
In child custody decisions, “a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control,” the bill reads.
“Coercive control” also <a href="https://frascona.com/sweeping-new-domestic-abuse-laws-for-divorcing-couples-unmarried-couples-and-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> things like threatening to kill someone or forcing someone to commit crimes under Colorado law.
The <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025A/bills/2025a_1312_01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> was introduced late Friday evening, and on Tuesday it <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb25-1312" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the Colorado Assembly’s Judiciary Committee in a 7-4 vote. It now heads to the Assembly floor for a second reading.
During Tuesday&#8217;s hearing, state Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, a Republican, told Democrats that he was up until 1 a.m. reading the bill. Republicans had less than 24 hours to mount a response despite Democrats apparently having the bill in the works for over a year, Caldwell told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I really am curious about how much stakeholding went on both sides of the issue, and not just one side,&#8221; Caldwell <a href="https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00327/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20250403/29/17150" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the hearing, &#8220;and if parent groups that are not a part of the LGBT community, if they were involved.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 SHAMEFUL 🚨
Last night during closing statements on HB25-1312, Transgender Protections, two House Judiciary members referred to traditional parental rights groups as “hate groups” &amp; compared them to the KKK. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coleg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/copolitics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#copolitics</a> <a href="https://t.co/G0aP9zpJF2">pic.twitter.com/G0aP9zpJF2</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (@RepCaldwell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepCaldwell/status/1907619797296361831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Two Democrats on the committee dismissed the idea that they had left parent groups and other critics out of the discussion, saying lawmakers do not have to discuss the bill with &#8220;hate groups&#8221; or people using &#8220;hateful rhetoric.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t get to have a difference of opinion over somebody&#8217;s basic rights,&#8221; said Democratic state Rep. Yara Zokaie. &#8220;We&#8217;ve heard a lot about stakeholding and who was left out of stakeholding, and this process is important for us to understand the implications of the bills that we are passing, but a well stakeholded bill does not need to be discussed with hate groups.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t ask someone passing civil rights legislation to go ask the KKK their opinion,&#8221; Zokaie said.
&#8220;If the audience could please hold the snaps,&#8221; the chairman said as supporters of the bill in the audience erupted.
Chairman Javier Mabrey, also a Democrat, said now is &#8220;our generational moment.&#8221;
&#8220;I agree there&#8217;s no reason to go to the table with people who are echoing the hateful rhetoric going around about the trans community,&#8221; Mabrey said.
Mabrey also took the opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
&#8220;The most powerful man on the planet is attacking kids&#8221; and &#8220;empowering the richest man on the planet to line his pocketbooks,&#8221; the chairman said.
&#8220;This fits within the tradition of our civil rights history,&#8221; he said.
Another Democrat on the committee, state Rep. Jennifer Bacon, agreed.
&#8220;For me it helped put myself in context to perhaps what people before me may have felt when we were, or they were advocating for other civil rights,&#8221; Bacon said.
&#8220;If there&#8217;s ever going to be a poster on this — we&#8217;ve seen John Carlos with the fist, we&#8217;ve seen Dr. King, I feel like if there is ever a poster about the change and the recognition of people, we are in it right now,&#8221; she said.

Caucasian mother comforting son

Don’t ‘Ask The KKK’: Colorado Democrats Appear To Smear Parent Groups That Oppose Radical Trans Bill

Gender

LGBTQ

Politics

Social Issues

Parents in custody battles who misgender or &#8220;deadname&#8221; their child would be accused of &#8220;coercive control&#8221; under a new radical Colorado bill.
The <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025A/bills/2025a_1312_01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> was introduced late Friday evening and on Tuesday it <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb25-1312" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the Colorado Assembly&#8217;s Judiciary Committee in a 7-4 vote. It now heads to the Assembly floor for a second reading.
The &#8220;Kelly Loving Act,&#8221; named for a trans-identifying man who was killed in the 2022 Colorado nightclub shooting, targets parents who do not affirm their child&#8217;s new gender identity.
In child custody decisions, &#8220;a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual&#8217;s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control,&#8221; the bill reads.
&#8220;Coercive control&#8221; also <a href="https://frascona.com/sweeping-new-domestic-abuse-laws-for-divorcing-couples-unmarried-couples-and-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> things like threatening to kill someone or forcing someone to commit crimes under Colorado law.
The bill also bars Colorado courts from cooperating with other states&#8217; laws that remove a child from their parent because the parent allowed the child to receive transgender medical services like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgery.
The bill also says that school policies allowing children to use a different name must be &#8220;inclusive of all reasons that a student might adopt a chosen name.&#8221; Also, school dress codes must not &#8220;enforce any rules based on gender,&#8221; according to the bill.
&#8220;Deadnaming&#8221; and &#8220;misgendering&#8221; would officially be &#8220;discriminatory acts&#8221; under Colorado law if the bill passes.
State Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, a Republican, called attention to the bill on social media and told The Daily Wire that Democrats introduced the bill &#8220;late Friday evening after we went home for the weekend.&#8221;
Usually lawmakers would have at least two weeks to prepare before a bill goes to committee, but this time Republicans had less than 24 hours to prepare despite Democrats apparently having the bill in the works for over a year, he said.
The bill has many &#8220;serious concerns,&#8221; he said, including targeting both parents and private business owners who misgender someone.
&#8220;In my opinion, the goal is to eliminate the ability of a parent to seek treatment for gender confusion and dysphoria,&#8221; Caldwell said. &#8220;I’ve seen many radical bills this legislative session, but this is by far the most egregious. At a minimum, it attacks parental rights, local control, the U.S. Constitution, and more specifically, the First Amendment.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This bill just got introduced late Friday evening &amp; we just found out today it’s scheduled for Judiciary Committee TOMORROW. And it’s RADICAL.
No time to analyze it. No time to coordinate testimony. No time to talk with stakeholders or constituents. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coleg?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coleg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/copolitics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#copolitics</a> <a href="https://t.co/YvWkJVghhq">pic.twitter.com/YvWkJVghhq</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (@RepCaldwell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepCaldwell/status/1906866092968235260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Caldwell said the bill is likely to become law soon.
Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network called the bill an &#8220;unconstitutional overreach that turns parenting—a sacred duty to guide and protect your child—into a punishable offense if it doesn’t align with the state’s agenda.&#8221;
&#8220;This bill redefines love, conviction, and parenting as ‘coercive control’ — and that’s both dangerous and deeply wrong,&#8221; Gimelshteyn told The Daily Wire. &#8220;What kind of society are we becoming when a parent can lose custody of their child, not for abuse, neglect or endangerment, but for using the name they gave their child at birth?&#8221;
Gimelshteyn spoke in formal opposition to the bill during Tuesday&#8217;s Judiciary Committee hearing. Also speaking were two other women, Mia Hughes, senior researcher at Genspect, and Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, who spoke in her personal capacity.
&#8220;There are consequences to lying to a child,&#8221; Hughes told lawmakers. &#8220;A parent telling their sweet, effeminate boy who likes Barbies and princess gowns that he can be a girl may solve his distress in the short term &#8230; but this is short-sighted.&#8221;
Hughes explained that the data shows most children will desist and identity as their birth sex again, but this &#8220;natural process&#8221; is interrupted if a parent affirms the child&#8217;s cross-sex identity.
&#8220;It&#8217;s easy to turn a little boy into a convincing girl just by putting him in a dress and giving him a girl&#8217;s name, but the illusion becomes unsustainable when testosterone begins to surge, so now he must medicalize,&#8221; she said, citing the often permanent harms of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital surgery.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;What kind of society are we becoming when a parent can lose custody of their child, not for abuse, neglect or endangerment, but for using the name they gave their child at birth. That is what this bill enables&#8230;&quot;
Great testimony today from <a href="https://twitter.com/LoriGim?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LoriGim</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/CPANColorado?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CPANColorado</a> in… <a href="https://t.co/rFmrnuoXFT">pic.twitter.com/rFmrnuoXFT</a>
&mdash; FreeStateColorado (@FreeStateColor1) <a href="https://twitter.com/FreeStateColor1/status/1907266082802708701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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&quot;It’s easy to turn a little boy into a convincing girl just by putting him in a dress and giving him a girl’s name. But the illusion becomes unsustainable when testosterone begins to surge.&quot;
My testimony earlier today in opposition to Colorado&#39;s completely insane HB25-1312. <a href="https://t.co/6uk3W1iG6n">pic.twitter.com/6uk3W1iG6n</a>
&mdash; Mia Hughes (@_CryMiaRiver) <a href="https://twitter.com/_CryMiaRiver/status/1907248168326058262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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My testimony against CO HB 25-1312. This committee is STILL going on. Despite more expert witnesses opposing than people supporting — this bill being unconstitutional — and costing tax payers $MILLIONS: I suspect it will pass. So we must keep fighting. 
Thank you to all who… <a href="https://t.co/8W1pWxqAab">pic.twitter.com/8W1pWxqAab</a>
&mdash; Erin for Parental Rights (@Erin4Parents) <a href="https://twitter.com/Erin4Parents/status/1907283283504767444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Lee said her sixth grade daughter was &#8220;secretly transitioned&#8221; at her school, convinced that her &#8220;normal pubescent discomfort&#8221; meant she was actually a transgender boy, and affirming her only caused her more mental distress.
&#8220;If this law was in place four years ago when CPS came to my door for non-affirmation I would have lost my child,&#8221; she said.
<div>
&#8220;Parents have long been bullied by the suicide myth: that you must transition your child or else they will kill themself. Now the state is adding to that: transition your child or else we will take them from you,&#8221; Lee told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This will harm so many fathers who are fighting their ex-spouses medicalizing their children against their will in Colorado. It fortifies our status as a wrong-sex mutilation sanctuary state, encouraging more people to move here and transition their children.&#8221;
She said Democrats appear to be trying to quickly pass the bill before critics can mount a response.
&#8220;Democrats are seemingly trying to pass this in the night, so quickly that we don’t have time to read the bill or organize testimony against it,&#8221; she added. &#8220;But with 24 hours notice, more expert witnesses showed up to oppose than people who showed up to support this bill yesterday.&#8221;
Colorado parents who oppose their children&#8217;s transgender identities have found themselves in nightmare situations.
Earlier this year, one Durango mother <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-lgbt-activist-teacher-trans-husband-house-minor-teen-girl-against-moms-wishes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> the police would not help her retrieve her 17-year-old daughter from the house of her daughter&#8217;s former math teacher and trans-identifying husband, who had taken the girl into her home.
</div>

Father and son going to kindergarten.

Radical Transgender Bill In Colorado: It’s ‘Coercive Control’ To Not Affirm Child’s Gender Identity

Radical Transgender Bill In Colorado Says Misgendering A Child Is 'Coercive Control'

LGBT

The State of Colorado is removing a portrait of President Donald Trump from his first term in office after the president posted about it over the weekend and demanded that it come down.
Colorado Democrats, who control the state legislature, said that they would oblige Republicans&#8217; request to remove the portrait.
“If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them,” the Democrats said.
Trump demanded on Sunday night that Colorado Governor Jared Polis take down the portrait and replace it with one that was a better representation of him.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” Trump said.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” Trump said. “She must have lost her talent as she got older.”
The portrait that Trump was referring to was hung in the Colorado State Capitol in August 2019.
“In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one, but many people from Colorado have called and written to complain,” Trump continued. “In fact, they are actually angry about it!”
Trump also took aim at far-Left Colorado Democrat Governor Polis in the post.
“I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don’t worry, we saved it!), to take it down,” Trump said. “Jared should be ashamed of himself!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In a lengthy post on Truth Social President Trump says he dislikes this portrait of him hanging in the CO Capitol.
He followed up the post with several other portraits of himself.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State… <a href="https://t.co/eVw9Apirwl">pic.twitter.com/eVw9Apirwl</a>
— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbeyDean_/status/1903967832053813655?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2025</a></blockquote>

Portrait of President Donald Trump at the Colorado State Capitol

Colorado Removing ‘Bad’ Painting Of Trump After He Complains About It

General

Jared Polis

U.S.

Katy Perry has weighed in on the wild internet conspiracy theory — which has circulated for years — claiming that JonBenet Ramsey was never killed and actually grew up to be the superstar singer.
The 40-year-old singer reacted to a post on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGmjo_vswWw/?hl=en">Instagram</a> that was created by Artificial Intelligence and claimed to show the time-lapse growth of Ramsey into Perry, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/24/entertainment/katy-perry-reacts-to-conspiracy-that-shes-jonbenet-ramsey/">New York Post</a> reported. Ramsey was the beauty queen who was murdered in her home in Colorado in 1996 when she was just 6 years old.
The person captioned the post, “iykyk. (if you know you know) and the video included Perry’s song “Wide Awake.” 
The “Fireworks” star somehow saw the post and responded, “wait am I.” It has more than 5,000 comments and hundreds of replies at the time of this publication.
The comments definitely got a lot of attention.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Katy Perry Responds to Conspiracy Theory She&#8217;s JonBenét Ramsey <a href="https://t.co/O9e4XP4hNt">https://t.co/O9e4XP4hNt</a>
— E! News (@enews) <a href="https://twitter.com/enews/status/1903557373286834624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
“The fact that Katy Perry actually commented makes this even better,” one person wrote.
Another added, “I’ve always known these are the same person.”
While a third person wrote, “Show us [your] birth certificate sis.”
And while some people found Perry’s response amusing, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGmjo_vswWw/?hl=en">others</a> were pretty upset at the joke about the murder of a child that still remains unsolved in 2025.
“Please stop. Don’t disrespect that little girl like this,&#8221; one person replied.
Another added, “This is a real child, daughter, and sister whose life was taken from her. This is so disrespectful to the family. I hope they find the animal who did this and some peace for the family.&#8221;
And a third person wrote, “This is bull. Quit dishonoring this little girl&#8217;s memory.”
There have been numerous theories as to what happened to JonBenet, including the one involving Perry. But as the Post noted, there are quite a few problems with this one theory — namely the fact that the superstar singer is 40 years old and JonBenet would only be 35 if she was alive.
JonBenet&#8217;s death shocked the nation on December 26, 1996, after her mother called police to report the young beauty queen missing, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jonbenet-ramseys-father-wants-new-investigation-into-daughters-death-gov-polis-responds">reported</a>. Patsy Ramsey called police after finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the safe return of her daughter. JonBenet’s father, John Ramsey, found the little girl’s body in the basement later that day.
For years, the Ramseys were suspected of killing their daughter until they were “completely cleared” in 2008 by DNA testing. 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/katy-perry-appears-to-compare-trump-victory-to-idiocracy-movie-and-gets-torched" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katy Perry Appears To Compare Trump Victory To ‘Idiocracy’ Movie, And Gets Torched</a>

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Katy Perry Weighs In On Wild JonBenet Ramsey Conspiracy Theory

Celebrities

Death

Entertainment

Katy Perry

Murder

singer

President Donald Trump demanded on Sunday night that Colorado Governor Jared Polis take down a portrait of him in the Colorado State Capitol and replace it with one that is a better representation of him.
&#8220;Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;She must have lost her talent as she got older.&#8221;
The portrait that Trump was referring to was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5sdVjwzemg">hung</a> in the Colorado State Capitol in August 2019.
&#8220;In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one, but many people from Colorado have called and written to complain,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;In fact, they are actually angry about it!&#8221;
Trump also took aim at far-Left Colorado Democrat Governor Jared Polis in the post.
&#8220;I am speaking on their behalf to the Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on Crime, in particular with respect to Tren de Aragua, which practically took over Aurora (Don’t worry, we saved it!), to take it down,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Jared should be ashamed of himself!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In a lengthy post on Truth Social President Trump says he dislikes this portrait of him hanging in the CO Capitol.
He followed up the post with several other portraits of himself.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State… <a href="https://t.co/eVw9Apirwl">pic.twitter.com/eVw9Apirwl</a>
— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) <a href="https://twitter.com/LibbeyDean_/status/1903967832053813655?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2025</a></blockquote>

White House Set To Announce Contractor For Next-Gen Fighter Jet

Trump Demands Colorado Governor Polis Take Down ‘Bad’ Painting Of Him In State Capitol

There are few weapons in politics that are more effective than mass disorientation. If you can confuse people about obvious truths, then they become much easier to control. This is a familiar tactic to most living Americans at this point. We are, after all, the first generation in the history of the world to have to grapple with the absurdity that men can change their gender at will. But there&#8217;s really a whole art form to mass disorientation. It&#8217;s not just about spreading big lies. It also involves confusing people at every possible opportunity.
We&#8217;re confronted with deception like this all of the time. Media outlets and purported experts will repeatedly tell us to assume something is true, or to accept some new framework, even when it&#8217;s clearly false. This can continue for decades, without interruption or pushback from anyone.
Consider, for example, the topic of so-called &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; which the Supreme Court has just announced it will address in a few months. This could very well end up being the single most important free-speech case of our generation.
Before we get into the specifics of the case, it&#8217;s important to recognize that &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; is a term that&#8217;s been widely adopted by every mainstream institution in this country. Look through newspapers going back decades, and you&#8217;ll find tens of thousands of articles using the term as if it means something. And in particular, we&#8217;ve been told, it means something very bad — like using some sort of coercive tactic to force a homosexual patient to become straight, or convincing a trans-identifying individual that, in fact, he&#8217;s not really transgender.
Without exception, you&#8217;re commanded to think of these alleged &#8220;conversions&#8221; as acts of unspeakable evil. As of today, for instance, YouTube places a disclaimer written by the far-Left group &#8220;The Trevor Project&#8221; underneath every video discussing the topic of conversion therapy. They&#8217;ll probably append this disclaimer to this episode, too. The disclaimer reads: &#8220;Conversion therapy refers to a range of dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.&#8221;
Well, that sounds ominous. Conversion therapy, according to The Trevor Project and Silicon Valley, isn&#8217;t simply a bad idea. In fact, it&#8217;s &#8220;dangerous.&#8221; It&#8217;s like playing with downed power lines. You could lose your life because of conversion therapy. And indeed, the name &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; is intended to bring images like that to mind. You&#8217;re supposed to picture horrifying scenes of people strapped to gurneys and given electric shocks or lobotomies.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1554-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
Amid all this discussion about how horrible &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; is, the one thing you&#8217;re not supposed to do is pause for a second and realize that &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; — at least as it’s described by the Left — isn’t a real thing. The leftist conception of so-called “conversion therapy” is a fantasy. It&#8217;s like Big Foot, or the bogeyman. It is a myth intended to scare people and disorient them. By endlessly warning of the dangers of &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; the Left has successfully reframed the debate, so that most people go along with the general concept. But there&#8217;s no reason to do that.
For one thing, &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; when applied to &#8220;gender identity&#8221; is an entirely incoherent concept. To be very clear, they call it &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; when a counselor or therapist doesn&#8217;t assist or affirm the attempted conversion of a boy to a girl, or vice versa. Counseling that helps a boy accept himself for who he is, or a girl for who she is, is considered &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; even though it&#8217;s precisely the opposite of conversion therapy. In fact, what they call &#8220;gender affirmation&#8221; is actually conversion therapy, and what they call conversion therapy is actually gender affirmation. They have completely inverted the meaning of the word “conversion,” so that trying to change someone is affirmation and trying to help them accept themselves for who they are is conversion.
There&#8217;s arguably a better case for calling Christian counseling around same-sex attraction &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; in a sense. The counselor would be trying to help a person overcome their same-sex attraction, thereby helping them &#8220;convert&#8221; from gay to straight (if that&#8217;s how you want to put it). But if that&#8217;s the framing, then all therapy is a form of &#8220;conversion therapy.&#8221; All therapy aims to convert patients from one state to another — ideally, from a less-functional state to a more functional one. A depressed person might go to the therapist in order to be &#8220;converted&#8221; into a happy person. A schizophrenic might go to the therapist in order to be &#8220;converted&#8221; to a patient who doesn&#8217;t hear voices. And so on.
So at worst, we have an incoherent term. At best, it&#8217;s redundant. And that&#8217;s precisely the reason &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; has become a rallying cry for the Left. They know they can&#8217;t come out and admit that they want to ban speech, under the First Amendment. But when they cloak their speech bans by claiming they&#8217;re really banning &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; a lot of people will fall for it. In fact, I’m guessing if you did a poll of the average Republican voter and asked them how they feel about conversion therapy, a large number of them would insist that it’s an evil thing and they don’t support it.
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The goal here, of course, is to force mental-health professionals to baptize as many young people as possible into the LGBT religion. And the easiest way of doing that is to ban these mental-health professionals from saying anything that might steer young people away from that path. That&#8217;s why nearly two-dozen states have outlawed so-called &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; and several other states ban the use of government funding for the practice. If a young boy comes into a psychologist&#8217;s office and says he&#8217;s really a girl, then in many cases, it would be against the law for the psychologist to disagree. The psychologist is legally barred from telling the boy that he is in fact actually a boy.
This is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment — both because it restricts the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. The government is telling counselors — who are Christian in many cases — that they can&#8217;t say certain words or communicate certain ideas to their patients. And the counselors&#8217; clients, who are also often Christian, are being told that they can&#8217;t seek this type of care. A grown adult with same-sex attraction is, under these laws, prohibited from seeking care to overcome that attraction. The law is saying that the same sex attracted person who wants to be straight is not allowed to want that. This is a position that the Left has staked out, even though it obviously contradicts their supposed commitment to &#8220;keeping the government out of the doctor&#8217;s office.&#8221; (How quickly that principle goes out the window, when there&#8217;s free speech to ban.) These are the people who also say that if a parent wants to get sex change treatments for their child, it’s none of our business. Remember that was the case Chris Hayes made to Bill Maher a couple of weeks ago. Well, what if a parent wants to get treatment for a child to help them overcome same sex attraction? Suddenly all of that “it’s none of our business” stuff disappears. Suddenly it is very much Chris Hayes’s business. Funny how that works.
After many years, as I mentioned, bans on so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; are finally heading to the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Court agreed to hear the case of Kaley Chiles, a Christian who&#8217;s also a licensed therapist. She&#8217;s banned under Colorado law from telling patients that there&#8217;s no way to change their gender. She&#8217;s also banned from counseling them against a homosexual lifestyle. If Chiles wins the case, then dozens of state-level bans on so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; could be struck down immediately. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Colorado conversion therapy ban" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ibTqz78zmo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The core legal issue, as you heard, is whether or not bans on &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; constitute bans on speech, or whether they constitute bans on &#8220;conduct&#8221;. The various federal appeals courts are split on this issue, somehow. And now the Supreme Court is set to resolve this split among the lower courts.
Just to dissect that a little bit more, because it really is incredible — Democrats are arguing in court that it doesn&#8217;t violate the First Amendment for the government to punish therapists who say certain things to their patients. They&#8217;re arguing that therapy sessions are really a form of &#8220;conduct&#8221; — like a surgical procedure, for example — and therefore, they can be regulated extensively by the government.
As lawyers for the state of Colorado put it, &#8220;a professional’s treatment of her patients and clients is fundamentally different, for First Amendment purposes, from laypersons’ interactions with each other.&#8221; Therefore, they want the Supreme Court to uphold Colorado&#8217;s law, which defines conversion therapy as, quote “any practice or treatment by a licensed physician specializing in the practice of psychiatry that attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” The ban includes, &#8220;efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.&#8221; 
What&#8217;s left unexplained here is how, exactly, speech can become &#8220;conduct&#8221; simply because of the job of the person saying it. That doesn&#8217;t seem clear. Nor is it clear how the law permits the treatment of &#8220;de-transitioners.&#8221; These are people who often want a therapist&#8217;s assistance as they reject their own assumed &#8220;gender identity,&#8221; which under the terms of this law, would seem to be illegal. These are the kinds of problems you run into when you start regulating speech and pretending it&#8217;s &#8220;conduct.&#8221;
Fortunately, there are signs that this particular challenge will be successful. The Supreme Court recently turned away a similar challenge to a ban on &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; but they&#8217;re taking this case. And the plaintiff is represented in this case by the group Alliance Defending Freedom, which famously defended the Colorado baker who didn&#8217;t want to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. They also defended a web designer who didn&#8217;t want to make a website celebrating gay marriages. And Alliance Defending Freedom won both of those cases. They have a very long and successful track record of affirming the right of free expression.
But the clearest sign that Alliance Defending Freedom is going to win this case is that the Left&#8217;s fundamental position, when you follow it to its logical conclusion, simply does not make any sense. They say that sexual orientation is immutable and unchangeable, which is why they claim conversion therapy can&#8217;t possibly work. But at the same time, they also say that sex is very mutable and changeable. Put it mildly, this doesn&#8217;t compute. How can it be that a man might become a woman, but a gay person can&#8217;t possibly become a straight person? How the hell is one a matter of self-identity and the other isn&#8217;t?
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And on top of that, to change your sex is to change your sexual orientation. This is the logical problem that they can&#8217;t escape. If a straight man becomes a woman — and if he really is a woman, as they say — then he has not only gone from man to woman but from straight to lesbian. If sexual orientation is immutable, and if a sex is mutable, it would mean that every heterosexual man who transitions must transition into a heterosexual woman, which is to say he must now be attracted to men. But that&#8217;s not how it works most of the time. Usually by his own claim he goes from a straight man attracted to women to a lesbian woman attracted to women. That is what quote-unquote “trans women” say about themselves. They themselves are claiming that their sexual orientation changed.
Explaining all of this shouldn&#8217;t be necessary. It&#8217;s obvious to everyone when you spell it out. And of course, that&#8217;s why they came up with the term &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; in the first place. The entire purpose of inventing the term is to obfuscate as much as possible, so that the issue is so muddled that no one can follow the logic anymore. It is yet another tool of mass disorientation, created by activists for their own political ends.
But in just a few months, these activists will have to take their case to the Supreme Court. They will have to convince the justices that a ban on speech isn&#8217;t really a ban on speech. It&#8217;s the kind of self-defeating argument that gender activists have successfully relied on for years, because no one&#8217;s ever challenged it. But that&#8217;s changing now. There&#8217;s a very real chance that the LGBT club is about to lose one of its most important tools for indoctrinating the youth, if this decision goes the way we think it will. For the benefit of millions of children seeking mental-health services, as well as anyone who values the First Amendment in this country, that decision can&#8217;t come soon enough.

Tissues and glass of water preparing for psychotherapy

‘Conversion Therapy’ Bans Are An Outrageous Attack On Free Speech

'Conversion Therapy' Bans Are An Outrageous Attack On Free Speech

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Psychology

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Colorado law that has been called the state&#8217;s so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; ban. 
The case was brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of private Colorado Springs counselor Kaley Chiles, who says the law violates her First Amendment rights to free speech. Passed in 2019, the law <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> counseling that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“Many of my clients chose to work with me because we share a similar perspective on faith and values,” Chiles said during a press call on Wednesday morning. “However, I&#8217;m facing a serious challenge. Colorado’s counseling censorship law threatens my ability to engage in private, professional conversations with my clients.” 
Chiles added that the law pushes children with gender dysphoria “toward harmful medical interventions” while not allowing counselors to help those who may want to detransition. 
Penalties for violating the law include a fine of up to $5000 and professional disciplinary action that could include loss of one’s counseling license. 
“We’re very grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear this very important case. It’s essential that children and parents have access to safe and effective counseling that meets their needs and that avoids dangerous and experimental medical interventions,” ADF lawyer Jim Campbell said. 
Campbell added that Chiles has been forced to turn away multiple clients over the law. 
“Colorado censors Kaley from speaking words her clients want to hear because the government does not like the views she expresses,” he added. “Government officials may not impose their ideology on private conversations between counselors and their clients.”
Colorado’s law was previously upheld by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down similar laws implemented by cities in Florida. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on the Colorado law in October. 
The Supreme Court is also poised to rule this summer on another transgender-related case. In December, the court heard a challenge to a Tennessee law banning transgender medical procedures on children. Analysts believe that the justices will uphold that law after the conservative-leaning court appeared largely skeptical of the challenge.

8th Anniversary Of Supreme Court’s Obergefell Decision Legalizing Gay Marriage In The United States

SCOTUS To Hear Challenge To Colorado’s Gender Identity ‘Censorship Law’

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Courts

First Amendment

Gender Transition

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) admitted during a recent appearance on MSNBC that he had traveled to Europe with the intent to undercut the Trump administration&#8217;s agenda as presented by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Crow shared a brief video clip of himself speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt about President Donald Trump&#8217;s policies, saying in his caption, &#8220;I’m in Munich because I refuse to let Vance and Hegseth be the voice of America to the world.&#8221;
Leaving out the fact that Vance and Hegseth, both part of Trump&#8217;s administration, were supposed to &#8220;be the voice of America to the world,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;There is a group of us here who are engaged in real diplomacy and communicating that our economy and security are tied to the well-being of Europe.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m in Munich because I refuse to let Vance and Hegseth be the voice of America to the world.
There is a group of us here who are engaged in real diplomacy and communicating that our economy and security are tied to the well-being of Europe. <a href="https://t.co/IOIZZDrqZr">pic.twitter.com/IOIZZDrqZr</a>
&mdash; Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJasonCrow/status/1890837854059667674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Alex, the Trump administration&#8217;s policies are changing not by the day, but by the hour,&#8221; Crow claimed. &#8220;And I think that is a reflection of the fact that they have no policy. There is no doctrine, there is no policy. They will put out a tweet, then they will pull it back and hour or two later.&#8221;
&#8220;The problem with that is that none of this is funny, none of this is comical,&#8221; he continued, bragging about his plan to effectively undercut the work the Trump administration was doing there. &#8220;Because it has really real consequences to our partnership, to our allies. You know, I am here in Munich because I refuse to let Donald Trump and JD Vance and Secretary Hegseth and others be the voice of America to Europe and to the world.&#8221;
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&#8220;There is a group of us here that are engaged in diplomacy, that are engaged in discussions to let them know that there&#8217;s a lot of people in America who understand that our economy is tied to Europe, that our peace and prosperity is tied to Europe, and that we can&#8217;t pull back into our own borders and forget what&#8217;s going on in other places.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-people-have-a-voice-vance-warns-europe-about-censorship-the-threat-from-within" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vance</a> and Hegseth, both of whom are in Europe as well, have been very clear that the Trump administration does not intend to abandon America&#8217;s allies — but they have been equally clear that some of those allies may have expectations that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-tells-ukraine-group-its-goals-are-unrealistic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cannot be realized</a>.

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Democrat Congressman Says He’s In Munich To Undercut Trump Administration Abroad

Democrat Rep. Says He's In Munich To Undercut Trump Administration Abroad

Democrat

JD Vance

Media

Faculty and administrators at the University of Colorado Boulder sought to hire based on race – at the same time, they were taught that discriminating based on race was abhorrent.
Scholars John Sailer of the Manhattan Institute and Louis Galarowicz of the National Association of Scholars published <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-dei-conquered-the-university-of-colorado-boulder-discrimination-hiring-professors-0c306a9e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a report</a> in The Wall Street Journal detailing the extent to which diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) took over CU Boulder.
The authors detail how faculty and staff for various departments explicitly said they wanted to hire new professors based on race and <a href="https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/exclusive-documents-at-university-of-colorado-boulder-administrators-department-heads-and-professors-worked-in-tandem-to-advance-racial-preferences-in-hiring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published supporting documents</a> on the National Association of Scholars’ website. For example, faculty and staff at CU Boulder&#8217;s writing and rhetoric program wrote that they wanted to recruit a BIPOC (black, Indigenous, and people of color) professor, arguing such a hire was important to achieve the department’s “curricular and programmatic goals.” Faculty at the school’s Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures department also sought to hire someone based on race, saying their preferred candidate &#8220;could revise courses &#8230; to incorporate &#8216;critical race studies perspectives.'&#8221;
When hiring new faculty, an application form asked departments: “How will this hire increase the number of underrepresented faculty members in the unit (e.g., US Faculty of Color, women in disciplines where underrepresented)?”
This mentality informed many hiring decisions, the authors found. Faculty and staff at the journalism department wrote that a “successful” hiring would include “someone from the BIPOC community.” The geography department stated explicitly: “Our aim is specifically to hire a Black, Indigenous, or Latinx faculty member.”
The university also sought “cluster hires” – hiring multiple professors at once – but only from certain racial groups. The College of Engineering and Applied Science said in documents obtained by Sailer and Galarowicz that its goal was to double “our underrepresented faculty in the college.” Faculty at the science department stated their goal was to emphasize “hiring Black, Indigenous, Asian American, Latinx, and Pacific Islander faculty.” The ethnic studies department faculty wrote they “have an urgent and qualified need for BIPOC femme/women of color faculty in an Africana Studies focus who will contribute to the social science division thematic cluster hire in racism and racial inequality.”
“The proposals are remarkable for their candor,” Sailer and Galarowicz wrote. “It’s also absurd that while referring to the specter of systemic racism, they propose systemic discrimination.”
Matt Burgess, a professor at the University of Wyoming who previously worked at CU Boulder until last year, <a href="https://x.com/matthewgburgess/status/1883631087706104006?s=43&amp;t=zEuer7j4Ff8TVIcpiUO1KA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted on X</a> that while these discriminating hiring practices were going on, faculty “were constantly being told in trainings that racial discrimination in hiring was one of the worst things we could do.” He added that faculty “had to report [hiring discrimination] if we saw it, and it would be punished harshly.”
Burgess noted that at the same time, this was being taught, “the Provost was running a faculty hiring program with impunity whose explicit purpose was to racially discriminate.”
As one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump signed <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an executive order</a> restating that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits hiring based on race.
CU Boulder did not respond to a Daily Wire Inquiry prior to press time.

University of Colorado-Boulder

University Of Colorado Faculty Taught Racial Discrimination Is Wrong While Racially Discriminating

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Race

A Colorado school district could soon let teachers fly Black Lives Matter and transgender flags in the classroom, but not make other political statements.
The Durango School District 9-R&#8217;s school board is set to consider two resolutions that support displaying the &#8220;Progress Pride&#8221; and BLM flags in classrooms and double down on DEI and gender ideology. The district banned all political flags in September, when a parent <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250105162610/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-schools-ban-black-lives-matter-trans-specific-pride-flags/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> a complaint claiming the BLM and transgender “Pride Progress” flags in their child’s classroom are &#8220;political symbols&#8221; that &#8220;indoctrinate students.&#8221;
Chief Academic Officer Dylan Connell reviewed the situation with legal counsel and determined that the &#8220;Pride Progress&#8221; and BLM symbols are “political in nature.” He directed school staff to remove the flags and all other political content “immediately.” On October 1, principals at the high school and middle school told staff that “political flags, posters and items displaying political symbols” must be removed from classrooms in response to a parental complaint.
But just two weeks later, the school board <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250102230720/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-school-board-reverses-ban-on-trans-specific-pride-black-lives-matter-flags/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> unanimously to suspend the ban on the flags amid an outcry from the liberal area&#8217;s residents, including a student walkout. Then, at a November school board meeting, board members <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241231183932/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-school-board-may-consider-action-to-sanction-certain-flags/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicated</a> they thought a special resolution might give them a legal loophole to display the progressive flags without opening the door to all political speech or violating the First Amendment.
&#8220;By designating it government speech and adopting [them] as symbols of our school district, it avoids a First Amendment problem,” board member Rick Petersen said.
Essentially, the school district itself would be endorsing the &#8220;Progress Pride&#8221; and BLM flags rather than simply allowing teachers to display them.
Denver Public Schools <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250105200710/https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/federal-judge-dismisses-denver-parents-lawsuit-seeking-straight-pride-flag-display/article_2c351eb4-7ee3-11ef-a4c4-3f644b322a60.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> a legal battle using a similar argument last year when a judge ruled that a pride flag in a classroom was the district&#8217;s own speech, so the First Amendment did not apply. A parent had complained that the pride flag was discriminatory, since the school did not also display a &#8220;straight pride&#8221; flag.
The fear of a &#8220;straight lives matter&#8221; flag came up during the Durango school board&#8217;s meeting when a student <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfkMRg6f_CE&amp;t=5520s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> what they would do if someone wanted to display such a flag.
&#8220;You just say no, and if they want to sue us then we&#8217;ll see what the courts say,&#8221; a board member responded.
The district now <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241229162203/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-school-board-unveils-proposed-flag-resolutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> two resolutions on the table that would allow teachers to display both the &#8220;Progress Pride&#8221; and BLM flags.
The pride flag <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/co/dsd/Board.nsf/files/DBSRLP6E8A9C/$file/LGBTQ%20IA2S%2B%20Resolution%20-%20DRAFT%20(1).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> claims that &#8220;affirming gender identity&#8221; is one of the &#8220;most effective mental health interventions&#8221; for trans-identifying children despite <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europe-dialing-back-shocking-policies-on-transgender-kids-and-medical-intervention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mounting</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weak-evidence-britains-nhs-to-review-all-transgender-treatment-after-major-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushback</a> from medical professionals.
It also doubles down on &#8220;honoring&#8221; a student&#8217;s self-reported gender identity, saying it &#8220;will not wait&#8221; for the &#8220;acceptance&#8221; of &#8220;outside adults,&#8221; presumably parents. The resolution also says the district &#8220;does not require parental consent&#8221; to be in their school&#8217;s LGBT club, and emphasizes that the district supports trans-identifying students using the bathroom of the opposite sex.
The BLM flag <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/co/dsd/Board.nsf/files/DBSRM46E9A5D/$file/BLM%20Resolution%20-%20DRAFT%20(1).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> doubles down on the district&#8217;s 2021 DEI resolution and states that &#8220;addressing systemic inequities&#8221; does not &#8220;diminish the value, rights, inclusion, or educational opportunities of other students.&#8221;
&#8220;The Black Lives Matter movement, like the civil rights and Black Power movements before it, has effectively articulated the systemic injustices that exist at the intersections of race, class, and gender,&#8221; the second resolution reads.
The resolutions appear to be drafted by Kristin Smith, the board&#8217;s <a href="https://www.durangoschools.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=458611&amp;type=d&amp;pREC_ID=1035718" target="_blank" rel="noopener">president</a>, and Erika Brown, the vice president.
The Colorado Republican Party&#8217;s vice chairwoman has voiced strong opposition to the resolutions.
The LGBT resolution “blatantly disregards students who hold religious, cultural, or personal beliefs that conflict with LGBTQIA2S+ ideologies,” <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241229162203/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-school-board-unveils-proposed-flag-resolutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> vice chairwoman Hope Scheppelman, who is also the secretary of the county party.
“These students and families are effectively told they don’t matter,” Scheppelman said.
The school board is expected to consult with the district&#8217;s lawyers this month before considering formally adopting the resolutions.
Last week, the Trump administration took an axe to DEI initiatives, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-everything-trump-did-his-first-week-back" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrapping</a> all government DEI programs and putting their staff on leave.
As the flag controversy was going on, the Durango school district was dealing with another crisis — one of its teachers was accused of sexually abusing dozens of local children.
In October, Benjamin Smith, 28, a music teacher at one of the district&#8217;s middle schools was arrested and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/durango-teacher-charged-coercion-and-enticement-minor-possession-child-pornography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> with 48 counts of coercion and enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography, including sexually explicit photographs of more than two dozen children in the Durango area, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241107172952/https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/police-seek-potential-victims-involving-former-escalate-middle-school-teacher/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a federal indictment.
Smith was <a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/durango-teacher-indicted/73-f88f91e7-09e9-424b-929d-a0a55c019eb3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of posing as a 16-year-old girl on Snapchat and getting a teenager to meet him in a parking lot for sex. The teen met Smith, but then reported him to the police.

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Public Schools

Trump Administration

Federal agents arrested dozens of Tren de Aragua members in an overnight raid in Aurora, Colorado.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) busted close to 50 members or associates of the notorious Venezuelan gang at a “makeshift nightclub” in Aurora, a well-documented hub of Tren de Aragua activity, <a href="https://x.com/DEAROCKYMTNDiv/status/1883545551003951289">according to</a> the DEA’s Rocky Mountain division.
Federal agents and local law enforcement conducted “an early AM operation targeting drug trafficking &amp; members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). Drugs, weapons, and cash were seized in Adams County. Nearly 50 illegal aliens were taken into custody,” the DEA said in a statement on X.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DEA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DEA</a> agents, <a href="https://twitter.com/HSIDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HSIDenver</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ERODenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ERODenver</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ATF_Denver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATF_Denver</a> &amp; local partners conduct an early AM operation targeting drug trafficking &amp; members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). Drugs, weapons, and cash were seized in Adams County. Nearly 50 illegal aliens were taken into custody. <a href="https://t.co/cyUJTk6rCH">pic.twitter.com/cyUJTk6rCH</a>
&mdash; DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) <a href="https://twitter.com/DEAROCKYMTNDiv/status/1883539536145437081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In another post, the DEA called the gathering of illegal aliens an “invite-only” affair and posted video of a bus that hauled away all those arrested.
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An early AM raid of a makeshift nightclub in Adams County. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DEA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DEA</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ERODenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ERODenver</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/HSIDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HSIDenver</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ATFHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATFHQ</a> along w local partners seize drugs, cash, weapons. This was invite-only &#8211; dozens connected to the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang were there. This bus took away nearly 50 illegal aliens. <a href="https://t.co/hQDtonGW9Z">pic.twitter.com/hQDtonGW9Z</a>
&mdash; DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) <a href="https://twitter.com/DEAROCKYMTNDiv/status/1883573201948795272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In addition to weapons and cash, a drug known as Tusi or “pink cocaine” was also seized at the black market club. Tusi one of the illicit drugs Tren de Aragua has trafficked throughout the United States, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/26/us-news/feds-bust-50-tren-de-aragua-members-in-colorado-as-part-of-deportation-raids/">New York Post</a>.
“We want the country to know that we will all support the president’s priority to round up the most dangerous illegal criminals,” DEA acting administrator Derek Maltz told the Post.
“The President and the DOJ leaders have made it clear that we are going to work together with a sense of urgency to hold violent criminals accountable,” he added. “The citizens of this country must feel safe every day throughout the country. One of my goals is to help build an army of good to fight evil.”
The bust is one of the latest enforcement actions in President Donald Trump’s first week in office and a sign of the escalating deportation operation that the Trump administration is pursuing. Trump’s promise to effect mass deportations after years of unprecedented levels of illegal immigration was one of the cornerstones of his 2024 presidential campaign.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/venezuelan-migrant-gang-tren-de-aragua-now-operating-16-states-report">noted</a> in a memo last year that Tren de Aragua was active across 16 states in the U.S. The Venezuelan gang has been connected to a series of serious crimes, including murder, drug and sex trafficking, attacks on police, and the seizure of places such as apartment buildings to house and headquarter its criminal activity.

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