We’ve seen this playbook before.
Hollywood went all-in on behalf of illegal immigration over the past decade. Documentaries. Feature films. TV show plots. The messaging proved consistent and one-sided.
We need open borders, even if they never said those words aloud.
Now, Hollywood is tag-teaming more specifically against ICE and any attempt to arrest illegal immigrants. And if what’s past is prologue, reality will prove superior to Hollywood fiction.
<div id="attachment_1067967" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067967" class="size-large wp-image-1067967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-864x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Malgosia Turzanska, pin detail, attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Mike Coppola/Getty Images</div>
First, a quick review of how aggressively Tinsel Town promoted the open-border madness under Democrats.
Take Fox’s hit series “Party of Five.” The show centered on a tight-knit family surviving after the loss of their parents. The 2020 reboot on Freeform followed a similar storyline, except the parents in question were deported to Mexico.
And, yes, the messaging was as heavy as possible. Newsbusters dubbed the pilot episode pure “<a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/lindsay-kornick/2020/01/08/illegal-immigrant-party-five-reboot-whats-matter-country">parody</a>,” while the saga got a jump on the current anti-ICE mania.
HBO uncorked not one but <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/hbo-torn-apart-liberty-open-borderstorn-apart/">two open-borders documentaries</a> in 2019, and the titles spoke volumes — “Torn Apart: Separated at the Border” and “Liberty: Mother of Exiles.”
More examples? The final season of “Orange Is the New Black” <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/open-borders-hollywood-immigration/">pushed family separation plot lines</a>, while the villain in the third “Descendants” film for kids tried to ban immigration. 
Selena Gomez used her clout to promote the docuseries “<a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/selena-gomez-netflix-docuseries-1203338879/">Living Undocumented</a>.”
<div id="attachment_1067903" style="width: 799px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067903" class="size-large wp-image-1067903" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-789x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 02: Rosario Dawson (L) and Selena Gomez attend the LA Screening for Netflix Doc Series &quot;Living Undocumented&quot;, produced by Selena Gomez at Netflix Offices on October 02, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)" width="789" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-789x576.jpg 789w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-768x561.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px" />Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix</div>
Subtle? Hardly. And what happened next?
Donald Trump got re-elected by promising to slam the southern border shut. And when he did just that, by sheer coincidence, America celebrated its <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murders-plummet-crime-trends-2025/">lowest national murder rate in more than a century.</a> 
Hollywood’s all-powerful messaging machine had failed. So why not try it again, but this time directly targeting ICE?
It started with “One Battle After Another,” a cinematic love letter to violent revolutionaries. Leonardo DiCaprio played a stoner rebel cosplaying as an anti-ICE warrior. His fiery gal pal (Teyana Taylor) was the real deal, using any means necessary to free illegal immigrants and attack U.S. officials.
Films take much longer than TV shows to produce and release, but writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson somehow grasped his industry’s zeitgeist with Kreskin-like accuracy.
Just days ago, Hollywood gave it the Best Picture Oscar.
<div id="attachment_1067923" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067923" class="size-large wp-image-1067923" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-864x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 25: Noah Wyle and Harriet Rose speak onstage during the Q&amp;A for 'The Pitt' to celebrate the launch of HBO Max at Rosewood London on March 25, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for HBO Max)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for HBO Max</div>
TV show productions happen faster, allowing small screen scribes to indoctrinate on demand. That allowed HBO’s hit series “The Pitt” to pick up the “OBAA” propaganda baton. A second season story arc follows an illegal immigrant being treated for a shoulder injury in the show’s Pittsburgh emergency room.
The ICE agents are portrayed as aggressive and unfeeling, while patients and workers alike recoil at their presence.
<div id="attachment_1067931" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067931" class="size-large wp-image-1067931" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1024x576.jpg" alt="Source: HBO Max/The Pitt" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: HBO Max/The Pitt</div>
Then, according to The Hollywood Reporter, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-pitt-ice-episode-scott-gemmill-interview-1236514931/">things get personal</a>:
<blockquote>…at the end of the episode, nurse Jesse (Ned Brower) gets detained for stepping in to protect the patient when the ICE agents get too aggressive.</blockquote>
Over at CBS, the “Matlock” reboot <a href="https://www.primetimer.com/features/matlock-season-2-episode-9-matty-s-high-risk-collateral-move-leaves-julian-with-the-ultimate-truth-bomb">concocted its own anti-ICE narrative</a>. An episode dubbed “Collateral,” during the show’s second season, finds Kathy Bates’ character defending a client detained by ICE agents. That bleeds into a larger story with both the client and his family trying to stay in the country despite their illegal status.
The government’s “deal” is cruel, including a demand that the client pay up to $6 million in restitution with zero path to citizenship. Boo! Hiss!
Meanwhile, the just-released second season of “Daredevil: Born Again” tackles ICE in a less heavy-handed, but equally negative fashion. The villainous Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), now the Big Apple&#8217;s mayor, begins rounding up citizens without due process. That’s been the Left’s battle cry against ICE arrests across the nation.
<div id="attachment_1067935" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067935" class="size-large wp-image-1067935" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-864x576.jpg" alt="Vincent D'Onofrio at the &quot;Daredevil: Born Again&quot; Season 2 Launch Event held at Drai's Supper Club New York on March 23, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images</div>
D’Onofrio’s character is an obvious stand-in for President Donald Trump, or at least the cartoonish version Hollywood holds dear.
The show’s creative team has been coy about any real-world comparisons, but that may be a case of artists trying not to steamroll a show that hasn’t lit up the ratings world upon its belated return.
“Daredevil: Born Again” co-star Michael Gandolfini didn’t follow that advice. He <a href="https://x.com/Variety/status/2036625364890628459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2036625364890628459%7Ctwgr%5E22e967c30af443b7a7cea49a0a08d23ed1a607a0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodintoto.com%2Fcolberts-lord-of-the-rings-gig-reveals-ugly-hollywood-truth%2F">praised his show</a> for speaking, wait for it, truth to power.
<blockquote>We do a lot of safe things in film now. To do something risky that says something is rare.</blockquote>
More shows will likely follow. These stories aren’t isolated incidents. Late-night TV hosts routinely rage against ICE efforts in their monologues. 
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has done the same via its <a href="https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/snl-slams-ice-weekend-update-1236640253/">Weekend Update faux news desk</a>.
<blockquote>“I get that ICE agents are people, allegedly, and they have a job to do. But at some point while you’re pepper-spraying old ladies or shooting at a nurse, do you ever stop to ask yourself, ‘Are we d*cks?&#8217;”</blockquote>
Stars have been raging against all things ICE from their favorite bully pulpits — <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/celebs-slam-ice-independent-spirit-awards-2026-1236506162/">awards season stages</a>. &#8220;White Lotus&#8221; alum Natasha Rothwell expressed her feelings at the recent Spirit Awards:
<blockquote>I’m gonna go to the prompter, but I just want to say, ‘F*** ICE.&#8217;</blockquote>
“ICE Out” buttons have been the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/celebrities/2026/03/15/ice-out-ceasefire-pins-2026-oscars-photos/89172466007/">fashion accessory of the season</a> at these events, and stars have used their red carpet remarks to blast any attempt to uphold the law.
Just don’t expect any shows reflecting heinous illegal immigrant murders, like the deaths of Laken Riley or Sheridan Gorman. Nor will a star or starlet name-drop either victim as they collect their new shiny trophies.
Their names won’t be found on any chic Hollywood buttons, either.
The facts behind their tragic deaths are chilling and undeniable, but they’re inconvenient to the narrative in play. And Hollywood is all about narratives, especially the fictional ones.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

“Daredevil: Born Again” Season 2 Launch Event

Hollywood’s Biggest Shows Have A New Propaganda Mission: Eliminate ICE

Hollywood Keeps Pushing This Narrative But Ignores What Follows

actors

Celebrities

Democrats

Entertainment

Film

Hollywood

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Leftists

Television

You want to know why we are having all this trouble with the TSA?
One word: Democrats.
The standoff over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, continues. People are waiting for hours at airports because of it. 
According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5760981/tsa-wait-times-lines">NPR</a>:
<blockquote>The Transportation Security Administration is experiencing the longest wait times ever in its 24-year history because of the ongoing partial shutdown, the agency&#8217;s deputy administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Wait times at some major airports have exceeded four hours, and employees at those airports are calling out of work at rates of 40% to 50%, McNeill told members of the committee. If this partial government shutdown continues into Friday, TSA will have missed almost $1 billion in paychecks since it began, McNeill said. …</blockquote>
McNeill thanked Trump for sending ICE agents to some major airports, &#8220;enabling TSA officers to focus on carrying out critical security screening duties during this challenging time for our agency.”
TSA may have to close smaller airports due to understaffing, she said, and she worried the agency will continue to lose officers to more steady jobs and fail to attract new talent.
This is crazy town. It&#8217;s insanity.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2397-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
It&#8217;s happening because Democrats have decided that posturing over ICE is more important than basic safety standards and citizen protections all over the United States. 
Senate majority leader John Thune is not wrong when he says that Democrats seem to believe that the current shutdown is good for their left-wing base. For them, it&#8217;s all about politics, and it always has been.
In last fall’s shutdown by the Democrats, the whole government was shut down for 46 days. Remember Chuck Schumer saying, “Every day gets better for us”? Now you have Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Democrat leadership in this shutdown, saying. “We are very serene.”
It’s all playing politics and has been from the beginning. They think this is really good with their base. Their left-wing base won&#8217;t take yes for an answer, and so the Democrats won’t either. But they&#8217;re going to have to, because at some point, people will realize that it is the Democrats who are blockading and have been blockading funding to the Department of Homeland Security.
This is very simple. The Democrats are shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. Everyone knows this. All they have to do is pass a clean funding bill for DHS.
Instead, Democrats seem to think they can insult their way to political victory.
Jimmy Kimmel randomly insulted the new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, for the great crime of being a plumber, which is a weird take from Jimmy Kimmel, who was a shock-jock radio sports guy.
I was informed that it&#8217;s good that AOC was a bartender, but it&#8217;s bad that a senator who is now running DHS was a plumber?
Why?
Democrats are going even harder than that.
Brandon Johnson, the ridiculous mayor of Chicago, debuted his own snowplow truck festooned with a banner stating “Abolish ICE,” because he&#8217;s abolishing genuine ice, but he also wants to abolish ICE. 
Genius-level politicking.
Rep. Thomas Suozzi is arguing for full-scale legalization of illegal immigrants.
Democrats seem to believe that illegal immigrants roaming free is more important than you being able to get to your plane on time.
How pathetic is the Left on these issues?
The Loyola University of Chicago student newspaper —the campus newspaper of murdered student Sheridan Gorman — issued a formal apology for calling her murderer an illegal immigrant.
I&#8217;m not kidding. She was murdered, and the student newspaper stated, “In the body of the original post, we describe the man who was charged as an illegal immigrant using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with the Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper. No human&#8217;s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that. We acknowledge the harm such language can cause, and the power and importance of the words we choose to use.” 
Ridiculous.
No one says that a human&#8217;s existence is illegal. But the term is not illegal human. The term is illegal immigrant.
They are more concerned about the terminology used to address illegal immigration than they are about the fact that an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered one of their students.
The Democrats aren&#8217;t just defending illegal immigration. They&#8217;re defending crime wholesale.
A couple of years ago, we visited the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, which was basically an open-air fentanyl market, one of the most horrifying things I&#8217;ve ever seen in person.
Now, the Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner is threatening to prosecute IRS agents.
This is how crazy Democrats are. They believe that ICE agents ought to be prosecuted, but illegal immigrants ought not, and you should wait in line at the airport because of this.
The open lawbreaking in Philadelphia and the open anti-Americanism are astonishing. Pro-Iran, pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist protesters in Philadelphia even openly celebrated the killing of American troops.
For many of these folks, the lawbreaking is the point. The anti-Americanism is the point.
It makes you wonder on a broader level: Why do so many people in the Democratic Party seem so sanguine about a wide-open border, about importing people that we can&#8217;t vet, about allowing the taxpayer to pay for all these bills?
The answer is that a lot of the people in the Democratic Party are totally fine with anti-Americanism. They like anti-Americanism.
Ilhan Omar, another immigrant we never should have admitted to the United States, showed her wild hatred for America and our allies, ranting:
<blockquote>I&#8217;ve lived through war. I know it is not a game. It is never a one-time cost. It cannot be reduced to a soundbite by politicians who have no regard for the cost of human life when it comes to warfare. War is not paid for a dollar alone. It is paid in the lives of young Americans who we sent to fight this war.</blockquote>
Her pretending that she gives a damn about American soldiers is really galling. This is a woman who wrote a letter of support to a judge for a person who tried to join ISIS. This is a woman who said “something happened to some people” regarding 9/11.
Ilhan Omar has yet to find a terrorist group she cannot find some sort of excuse for.
All of this, of course, is part and parcel of a third-world strategy to undermine the United States. It suggests that people suffering in the Third World are the fault of the United States, and thus the United States must pay.
And all of this falls under the rubric of the Democratic Party not giving a damn about Americans.

Senate GOP Rejects Democrats’ Latest Bid To End DHS Shutdown

You’re In An Endless TSA Line Because Of Democrats

Ben Shapiro

Chuck Schumer

Jimmy Kimmel

John Thune

Opinion

You know, I’m old enough to remember a kinder, gentler America, with safe suburban streets of well-kept houses where a kid could go out on his bike after school and not return until sunset around six years later after which he would just sit silently in a corner of the house staring into the middle distance and occasionally pulling the legs off a spider or a mouse or maybe his kid sister while dreaming of the day he’d be free to hunt and kill at will… or maybe that was just me.
But in any case, today’s America is so hostile and so divided, that I just wish we could find a way to build bridges of communication and even friendship between conservatives and the flaming dirtbags trying to destroy everything that good people hold dear.
It’s not that all progressives are sinister Communist authoritarian perverts looking to bring the nation to its knees by allying themselves with Islamist terrorists and illegal immigrant gangsters in order to reduce our civilization to ashes then seize power in the ensuing chaos so they can enchain us in yet another of their drab utopias where everyone is equally miserable except for the small cadre of bitter lowlifes who derive some small pleasure from imposing their own unhappiness on everyone else — well, okay it is that, but it’s also the smug look on the faces of these schmucks that just makes you want to squeeze their noses between the knuckles of your first two fingers and twist them like Moe used to do to Curly on “The Three Stooges,” except not playing around this time.
But as Christians, we have to remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies and, sure, a lot of good that did him, but still, it’s up to us to try to understand those of our fellow citizens whose deeply-held principles lead them to oppose anything that even smells remotely like common decency.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1272-the-andrew-klavan-show?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
For instance, take Ilhan Omar. Here’s a woman who escaped the violence of civil war in the primitive hellhole called Somalia, an African word that means “please get me out of this primitive hellhole.” By the grace of a loving God who clearly just wasn’t paying attention that day, Omar’s family was granted asylum here in the United States, where she then rose to become a congresswoman in the corruption-riddled filth-pit of Minnesota, an Indian word that means, “Please get me out of this corruption-riddled filth-pit.”
Surely, such a woman must feel deep gratitude to a country so welcoming and generous and self-destructive.
And yet the other day, Congresswoman Omar said she was “incredibly proud” of her daughter Isra for traveling with other assorted snot-faced idiots to the Communist cesspool called Cuba, a Spanish word meaning, “Please get me out of this Communist cesspool.” The luxurious Cuban junket was intended, Omar said, to show solidarity with Cuba against the United States because the U.S. is cruelly attempting to free the Cubans from Communist cess-poolery. Omar went on to call her daughter a “brilliant young leader,” presumably referring to Isra’s arrest for demonstrating at Columbia University in support of the Iranian-funded rapist-murderers called Hamas, and also to the t-shirt Isra wore to Cuba celebrating the George Floyd-inspired burning of Minneapolis, an Indian word that means, “Please get me out of Minneapolis.”
So, in an attempt to build bridges of friendship with the congresswoman, I wrote her a polite email, saying, “Dear Communist terrorist witch-demon, shouldn’t you show more gratitude to the country that rescued you from a hellhole and elected you to Congress in a filth-pit?”
To give credit where credit is due, Congresswoman Omar did reply promptly, writing, “Your Islamophobia is not who we are as Americans. Who we are as Americans are people who allow a Somalian grifter to play us for suckers while she’s simultaneously plotting to crush us under the iron heel of Islamist Communism. That’s who we are as Americans, if by ‘we’ I mean you.”
So there it is, my friends, we really can learn to communicate with those on the other side of the political aisle. Just remember to wear a steel-tipped boot and aim for the ass.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Trump Delivers The State Of The Union Address

Yes, We Can Learn To Communicate Across The Political Aisle. Here’s How.

Andrew Klavan

Cuba

Humor

Ilhan Omar

Republicans

Satire

After weeks of airport meltdowns and unpaid security agents, the Senate finally blinked.
In a late-night vote that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning, lawmakers passed a funding bill to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security, a move aimed squarely at ending the travel nightmare and getting TSA agents paid again.
The deal comes after a brutal 42-day partial shutdown that left travelers stuck in massive lines, airports understaffed, and TSA officers working without pay. Some quit. Others called out. The result was exactly what you would expect. Chaos.
Now, relief may be on the way.
The bill funds most DHS operations and is expected to restore pay for TSA workers, easing pressure on airports that have been pushed to the brink.
The deal on the table still needs to clear the House before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk, but momentum is clearly there after the overnight breakthrough.
There is a catch.
The legislation leaves out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Border Patrol, setting up the next fight in Washington. That battle is not going away. It is just been delayed.
Democrats were quick to claim they “held the line” on immigration provisions. Republicans, meanwhile, moved to act as airport conditions deteriorated and the need to get TSA agents paid grew more urgent.
In a Truth Social post just hours earlier, Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer,” saying Democrats had made it clear they stand “on the side of criminal illegal aliens, and not the American people,” while accusing them of refusing to fund immigration enforcement unless Republicans agreed to “Open Border Policies.”
In that same post, Trump signaled he was ready to step in to make sure TSA agents could receive paychecks again and provide for their families, with or without Congress, raising the stakes on lawmakers to get something done.
They finally did. At 2 a.m.

Empty_Congress_Money_TSA

Senate Strikes Overnight Deal To Pay TSA Agents In Bid To End Airport Chaos

Airports

President Trump

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This week&#8217;s scheduled debate at USC between the plethora of Democrats vying for the California gubernatorial nomination had to be<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peak-california-usc-backs-out-of-gov-debate-over-lack-of-diversity"> canceled</a>. Not for any of the normal reasons debates get canceled — disputes about rules, moderators, venue, or the metrics used to determine candidate eligibility — all those were in order and agreed upon in advance. No, it had to be canceled for a more<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-23/california-leaders-call-to-boycott-debate-if-other-candidates-not-included"> basic reason</a>: all the candidates who qualified were noticeably, inconveniently, white. 
In an announcement, the university acknowledged that it canceled the debate because its selection criteria had “created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters.” That selection criteria was based on a combination of polling and fundraising, a fairly standard measure of potential success. Unfortunately for Democrats who want to project an image of diversity (even if all their leading candidates in this race are white), this effectively excluded former HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and former State Controller Betty Yee from the debate. That&#8217;s racist, criteria! Bad criteria, bad.
The hue and cry that followed blamed a USC election professor for coming up with the racist popularity + money = viability metric, which has never previously been applied to politics, as each candidate demanded to be included and the university was afraid of saying no. Think of it as similar to California&#8217;s inability to pick a single state nut — it currently has almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans all occupying the same vaunted role. “[W]e have four state nuts, nobody wanted to be left behind,” Alex Vassar, the communications manager for the California State Library,<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2026/03/26/the-professor-at-the-center-of-the-debate-debacle-00845901"> told Politico</a> this week. Only four California nuts? Have you seen the debate stage? It has Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, AND Tom Steyer — there have to be more than four.
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<div id="attachment_1066875" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1066875" class="size-large wp-image-1066875" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-864x576.jpg" alt="PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 28: (L-R) Eric Swalwell, Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Louise Bedsworth, Sammy Roth and Mary Creasman attend &quot;Our Climate Future: A Forum with California's Next Governor&quot; on January 28, 2026 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Matei Horvath/Getty Images for California Environmental Voters)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258201958.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matei Horvath/Getty Images for California Environmental Voters</div>
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<div>The problem that faced California Democrats presages the racial challenge they&#8217;re going to face in 2028, when their debate stage will almost certainly be dominated by white candidates. California&#8217;s own Gavin Newsom, former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly all routinely rank in the top ten candidates in early polling for 2028. The only non-white candidates who share the same status are &#8220;falling out of a coconut tree&#8221; 2024 disaster Kamala Harris and Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Maybe if Jasmine Crockett had more of an opportunity in Texas, she&#8217;d sneak into the top ten — but no, the party chose another bland-looking white guy because they think that&#8217;s what dumb voters want.</div>
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Republicans would be wise to recognize the opportunity here. Having built an elitist left coalition overwhelmingly dependent on identity politics above all else — while offering minority voters nothing of substance when they hold power — Democrats are ripe to correct for Kamala in 2028 and nominate some white guy who they think is &#8220;safe&#8221; from a pool of candidates who all have to wear SPF 70 and above. When all the left has to offer is checking a racial box, it leaves an opening for the right to build on Donald Trump&#8217;s success in attracting voters who are tired of the visual pandering California Democrats think is more important than actual policy. If what they have to offer in 2028 connects with what people actually care about, maybe they can even do it with a white guy from Ohio. And as Kamala Harris showed us, play stupid DEI games, win stupid DEI prizes.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom Continues Book Tour In San Francisco

2028 So White: Why California’s Canceled Debate Shows Democrats’ Incoming Race Problem

2028 So White: Why California's Canceled Debate Shows Democrats' Incoming Race Problem

California

Democratic Debate

Gavin Newsom

Kamala Harris

President Donald Trump urged Republicans to abolish the filibuster and push through his top legislative priorities, suggesting that GOP senators have been too patient as Democrats block legislation.
Trump took to Truth Social early Thursday morning and <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295094711655881">asked</a>, &#8220;When is &#8216;enough, enough&#8217; for our Republican Senators[?]&#8221;
&#8220;There comes a time when you must do what should have been done a long time ago, and something which the Lunatic Democrats will do on day one, if they ever get the chance. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and get our airports, and everything else, moving again,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Also, add the complete, all five items, SAVE AMERICA ACT items. Go for the Gold!!!&#8221;
The GOP-led Senate remains deadlocked in a fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the passage of the SAVE America Act, which Trump has said is the most important legislation before Congress. Democrats have remained mostly united in their demands for any Homeland Security funding bill to include reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and every Democratic senator has come out in opposition to the SAVE America Act.
With 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster, the Democratic unity has derailed Republicans&#8217; recent efforts to pass the SAVE America Act and to approve a spending bill that would get the Homeland Security Department back on track.
As the latest Senate fight plays out, Trump is once again urging Republicans to abolish the filibuster. The president also recently endorsed a proposal from some conservative senators to impose a talking filibuster, which would force Democrats to speak nonstop on the Senate floor to block a vote.
So far, Republican leadership has pushed back against calls to change Senate rules to either eliminate the filibuster or adopt a talking filibuster. A large group of Republicans argues that touching the filibuster in any way would come back to bite the party in the long run, as Democrats would cram through their leftist agenda the next time they took control of the upper chamber.
Other Republicans, including Trump, argue that Republicans should abolish the filibuster to pass important legislation now while they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, claiming that Democrats would push to get rid of the filibuster whenever they resume control.
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295216341236902">suggested</a> on Thursday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whom he called &#8220;a desperate, crippled politician,&#8221; would soon make a deal with Republicans to pass legislation &#8220;because he thinks that if he doesn’t, Republicans will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER.&#8221;
Trump added that Republicans should ditch the filibuster &#8220;whether he makes a deal or not!!!&#8221;
Democratic lawmakers have been blasted by the White House for blocking a funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS funding fight has led to a major strain on airports as hundreds of TSA employees have opted to quit instead of working without receiving a paycheck.

Donald Trump

Trump Pushes Republicans Toward More Aggressive Play Up Their Sleeve In Senate Fight

Department of Homeland Security

Filibuster

SAVE America Act

If you were told that in the year 2026, elected Democrats in Congress would get away with prolonging the longest partial shutdown in history — all to protect illegal aliens — would you believe it? You should, because it’s happening.
Forty days in, and Democrats are holding the entire Department of Homeland Security hostage over a tiny fraction, 8.5 percent, of the agency. Not the TSA. Not FEMA. Not the Coast Guard. Just ICE — and apparently, that’s worth burning the whole thing down. 
 
Following the Minnesota shootings, Democrats have entered another frenzy to abolish, this time targeting ICE officers instead of police. Because “abolish cops” and demonizing a whole group of people whose job is to protect us went so well the first time. They want masks off —despite forcing them on everyone and their grandmother during Covid. Identification shown — despite their open hostility to requiring ID at the ballot box. And operations paused, unless ICE can navigate numerous legal hurdles to get judicial warrants. 
 
All nonstarters for Republicans. So the shutdown drags on. 
 
Democrats are standing ten toes down on defunding ICE — and by extension, all of DHS — while Republicans and the American people plead with them to at least vote to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and Cyber Security Intelligence. One would think these are reasonable requests, given that we are at war with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. But common sense left the building a long time ago. 
 
The consequences are not abstract. Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the directors of FEMA, TSA, and CISA testified about the devastating impacts this shutdown is having on their institutions. TSA: &#8220;We are really concerned about our security.&#8221; Think about that — the people responsible for keeping bombs off planes are telling Congress they’re scared. CISA: “The threat environment is too dynamic to allow this shutdown to continue.” And FEMA: “We are crippling our disaster response.” Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill put a number to it: over 480 Transportation Security Officers already gone, with airports running at 40-50% staff capacity, because officers simply cannot afford to show up. 
Democrats did that. They own every single minute of it.
Luckily for Republicans, when political leverage fails, public animosity tends to move the needle. And right now, the public is not happy. TSA lines are seeing historic wait times, and Americans are on edge as terrorism threatens to run amok. And little girls are being <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/sheridan-gorman-loyola-killing-venezuelan-court">killed</a> on Chicago streets by the very people Democrats are going to the mat to defend. 
 
To make problems worse for the “party of love and tolerance,” and in direct contradiction to the Democrats&#8217; broken record narrative, Americans are now seeing ICE agents as they shuffle through these historically long airport lines, not arresting and kidnapping! people, but <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2036502819000160539">handing out water bottles and shaking hands</a> with the citizens they work to protect. 
 
The flame is burning at both ends for the Left: they’re defending illegal criminals at the expense of Americans, while ICE gets a PR boost for dissolving an airport bottleneck that Democrats created. ICE deployed to Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston has drastically improved security wait times — and more importantly, Americans are meeting these officers in the flesh, share a laugh, and realize that maybe they aren’t the Gestapo after all. 
 
While Democrats are busy mourning the fact that ICE is finally getting good press — press they manufactured —  Sheridan Gorman&#8217;s family in Chicago is planning her funeral, a tragedy Democrats manufactured. 
 
If the very agency Democrats have tried to dehumanize, defund, and destroy were simply allowed to do their job, a young girl would still be walking the earth. Last weekend, Sheridan Gorman was shot in the head and killed by an illegal alien who was protected from ICE and released from prison because of Democrat sanctuary policies. This horrific tragedy, and the adjacent horrors like it, never seem to be enough to get Democrats to budge. They will keep the entire Department of Homeland Security defunded despite American loss. 
 
What will bring them to the negotiating table, apparently, is a streak of good PR for ICE. They can’t have that going on. 
 
It’s a sad day when the killing of a teenage girl at the hands of an illegal alien can’t get Democrats to do their jobs — but footage of ICE agents smiling in an airport might.

Trump Sends ICE Agents To Airports As DHS Remains Unfunded

The Shutdown Is Democrats’ Gift To ICE

Government Shutdown

Politics

When I arrived in the United States Senate in 2011, the Republican Leader would often paraphrase George Washington who referred to the Senate as the saucer beneath a cup of tea. Just like a saucer cools the tea, the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” was uniquely designed to cool the political passions of the time.
From the viewpoint of a limited government conservative, slowing down the passage of legislation that generally tends to grow government and reduce our freedom, the saucer analogy seemed very appealing. But now that I’ve served within this highly partisan and dysfunctional body for 15 years, I would say a better analogy is the Senate is more like the plaque clogging an artery leading to a heart attack.
There are two basic forms of debate in the Senate: speechmaking and the offering of legislation, motions and amendments for a vote. Senators love engaging in the former, but only the latter results in law. Once debate on a particular bill ends, passage requires only a simple majority, currently 51 votes. That has never changed. What has changed is the method for ending debate and “calling the question” or voting on final passage.
Prior to 1917, when Senate Rule 22 was passed establishing the cloture vote, there was no formal way of ending debate — a filibuster — in the Senate. Because unlimited debate was the tradition of the Senate, cloture was invoked only five times in the first approximately 50 years of its existence. That’s because the cloture vote was intended to end a debate that two-thirds (now three-fifths) of senators believed had gone on too long. For example, a cloture vote succeeded in ending debate on the Civil Rights Act but only after a 57-day filibuster — 57 days of debate. It was never intended to prevent all debate, however, that is exactly how it is now being used.
Rather than requiring a simple majority to get on a bill and start debate, now a supermajority of 60 votes is routinely required. This is a huge difference. Ideally, a bill addressing an important issue would be put on the floor and then further honed through a process of discussion and the adoption of amendments. Prior to 1917, as long as any Senator wanted to keep talking or offering motions and amendments (engaged in a filibuster), the question was not called.
Eventually, exhaustion set in and the Senate moved to vote on final passage — with a simple majority required for passage. This was how a deliberative body actually lived up to its name.
Now, instead of reserving the cloture vote for the very end of an extended filibuster as a last resort measure to end debate and vote on passage, the minority uses it at the very start of the process to prevent even getting on a bill, thereby blocking all debate. The resulting record of failure speaks for itself.
Total federal government debt is approaching $39 trillion. Since I entered Congress in 2011, we should have passed 180 appropriations bills prior to the start of the fiscal year they were funding. We have passed a whopping total of six on time. That’s a 96.7% failure rate. Because of that dysfunction, we have had five shutdowns, had to rely on 57 continuing resolutions to fund government on an interim basis, and increased or suspended the debt ceiling 12 times to allow the government to incur an additional $24 trillion in debt. We had a record 42-day shutdown at the start of this fiscal year, and now Democrats are holding TSA and other DHS employees hostage over their quest to defund ICE and CBP.
Both sides want to maintain the 60-vote cloture threshold to block each other’s legislative agenda when they are in the minority. But after Democrats fell only two votes short of ending the filibuster in 2022, the odds are extremely high that they will end it as soon as they regain the majority and it’s advantageous for them to do so. The Republican conference is divided between those of us who believe Democrats will end the filibuster and are therefore willing to beat them to the punch, and those who think we should risk waiting, hoping Democrats will preserve the filibuster. There are good faith arguments supporting both positions.
In light of the profound dysfunction described above, I’m not sure how things could get much worse by ending the filibuster. The status quo certainly isn’t working. I think it’s obvious things must change — we need a paradigm shift.
If the filibuster does end, we all might be surprised to find senators attempting to find common ground on more issues to help ensure bills pass with bipartisan support, thereby reducing the chance of being overturned when the other side regains power. At this point, I’m willing to make that change.
* * *
Sen. Ron Johnson represents Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate and is serving his third term. He serves as Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and is a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Budget, Finance, and Aging committees.

Trump Funding Deal Passes Senate As Short US Shutdown Looms

I’ve Seen Enough: The Senate Is Broken, And It’s Time To Change The Rules

Congress

Ron Johnson

U.S. Senate

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is urging Republican and Democratic lawmakers to move at &#8220;Trump speed&#8221; and send the SAVE America Act to his desk.
Leavitt&#8217;s comment was in response to Olohan&#8217;s question during a press briefing on whether the White House has been satisfied with the effort from Republican leadership to pass the SAVE America Act.
&#8220;I think the president has made it very clear that he wants everyone on Capitol Hill to move as quickly as possible to get the SAVE America Act passed,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;And he wants to see that legislation on his desk as soon as Republicans and Democrats can move to pass it.&#8221;
Olohan pressed, &#8220;But are there any lawmakers in Congress that the president is frustrated with on this matter and feels could be doing a better job?&#8221;
&#8220;I think the president wants to see everybody on Capitol Hill move faster all the time,&#8221; Leavitt replied. &#8220;He wants everyone in this town to work at Trump speed like we do here at the White House.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> that President Trump wants everyone on Capitol Hill to move &#8220;as quickly as possible&#8221; to pass the SAVE America Act:
&#8220;He wants everyone in this town to work at &#8216;Trump Speed&#8217; like we do here at the White House.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/c747W2wtiM">pic.twitter.com/c747W2wtiM</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2036868027912724840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The legislation, which passed the House last month, has been caught up in the Senate as Democrats remain united in their opposition to the bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, mandate voter ID, and impose restrictions on mail-in voting. On Tuesday night, the SAVE America Act <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-save-america-act-just-cleared-a-huge-legislative-hurdle-despite-full-dem-opposition?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+SAVE+America+Act+Just+Cleared+A+Huge+Legislative+Hurdle+Despite+Full+Dem+Opposition">cleared</a> a legislative hurdle and advanced to debate, but the 60-vote filibuster threshold remains in the way of the bill&#8217;s final passage.
Earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/be-a-leader-trump-challenges-john-thune-as-save-america-act-faces-uncertainty?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Be+A+Leader%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Challenges+John+Thune+As+Save+America+Act+Faces+Uncertainty">called</a> on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to &#8220;be a leader&#8221; and &#8220;get [the votes].”
“It’s the most popular bill put before Congress,” Trump added.
Democrats appear unwilling to compromise on their opposition to the SAVE America Act as it currently stands, and at least one Republican senator — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — has come out against the bill. Around half of Republican senators have said they would support a talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, which would force Democrats to speak nonstop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote.
A large group of Republican senators, however, oppose changing filibuster rules to use the talking filibuster, and Thune argues that the move would be &#8220;complicated and risky&#8221; as it would allow Democrats to control the Senate floor and propose an unlimited number of amendments that could be tacked onto the SAVE America Act.
President Trump has said that he will not sign any legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk, adding on Sunday night that he does not want Republicans to make a deal with Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security unless Democrats &#8220;Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.'&#8221;

Press Secretary Leavitt Holds Briefing At The White House

Daily Wire Presses Trump Team On Lawmakers Dropping The Ball

Leavitt Pressed On Whether White House Is Satisfied With GOP Efforts On SAVE America Act

Karoline Leavitt

Senate

A recent poll of the California gubernatorial field backed by the California Democratic Party confirmed their own fears about the potential for a lockout in the top-two primary race.
The EVITARUS Research <a href="https://cadem.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/CA-Voter-Index-Baseline-Survey-03.23.26.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> of 2,000 likely voters from March 12-17 showed Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco leading the pack at 16% and 14%, respectively. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer are the top three leading Democrats tied at 10%.
Other candidates ranked significantly lower in the poll. Biden-era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, are polling at three percent.
“But this initial survey shows two Republicans in the lead with multiple Democrats trailing behind. These results confirm the possibility – albeit a low one – of Democrats being ‘locked out’ of the General Election,” California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks said in a <a href="https://cadem.org/cadem-chair-rusty-hicks-releases-new-california-voter-index-poll-results/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Tuesday.
Hicks then doubled down on his warning from earlier this month, in which he suggested that Democrats consolidate their list of candidates.
“Most importantly, it’s yet another clear reminder of an undeniable fact – all candidates must honestly assess their viable path to win. I continue to call for them to so do,” he added. “Simply put, it’s the best way to ensure we elect a Democrat as our next Governor and that California continues its strong leadership at home and abroad.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will be termed out in 2027, has yet to make an endorsement in the race. However, Swalwell has recently racked up some key endorsements, including from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Other polls have indicated favorable numbers for Hilton and Bianco, including some showing them alternating in first or third place, with Swalwell sometimes coming in second.
Still, the race among the Democrats has been messy in its own right. Steyer has raised questions about Swalwell’s California residency, and Porter faces ongoing criticism about her temperament following a tense interview with CBS News California last year, as well as reports about the poor treatment of her staff.
The University of Southern California canceled its scheduled Tuesday debate with the six candidates over concerns that candidates of color were not included, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/peak-california-usc-backs-out-of-gov-debate-over-lack-of-diversity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported. The candidates invited were Hilton, Bianco, Swalwell, Porter, Mahan, and Steyer.
There have also been calls for a consolidation of the Republican field if Democrats end up surging and locking out Republicans, which has happened in past statewide races in the deep blue state.
“Even though polls show two Republicans in the top two, there&#8217;s no way the Democrat machine will let it happen,” Hilton <a href="https://x.com/SteveHiltonx/status/2022363342812385360?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> in February. “The real risk is two DEMOCRATS. That&#8217;s why we MUST get behind one Republican. Chad Bianco has too much baggage: Democrats will use it to depress the Republican vote.”
Bianco, who is the Riverside County Sheriff, is at odds with Attorney General Rob Bonta over the seizure of an estimated 650,000 ballots from November’s Proposition 50 election in order to recount them, and a state court shot down Bonta’s request to have it stopped, according to <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/bonta-chad-bianco-ballots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CalMatters</a> on Tuesday.
“For those not aware, we are conducting an investigation into an alleged and potential 45,000 extra votes counted than the number of ballots cast in the November 2025 special election,” Bianco said in a Monday <a href="https://x.com/ChadBianco/status/2036279504629334333?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>.
Bonta’s office told CalMatters in a statement that “the Sheriff has not identified any particular crime that may have been committed by anyone — a necessary predicate to obtain a criminal search warrant.”
“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is not equipped nor legally authorized to play the role of elections monitor. By all appearances, this investigation is little more than a fishing expedition meant to sow distrust and undermine public confidence in our elections,” the statement continued.

In Race To Become Newsom’s Successor, Democrats Have Fears Confirmed

California Democrats Have 'Lockout' Fears Confirmed In Race To Be Newsom's Successor

2026 election

Eric Swalwell

Katie Porter

It&#8217;s time to ask some serious questions.
When you get to the airport next week, a record 171 million of us will get on a plane this spring. Will you be safe?
When you look at the southern border or when you read about Sheridan Gorman, 18 years old, shot in the head while going out for a walk with friends to see the Northern Lights, do you feel safe?
You may even be reading this in line at an airport right now, probably waiting for hours if you are. That is because Democrats decided to shut down funding for the Department of Homeland Security in order to punish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — which is a part of DHS — for enforcing the law.
It doesn&#8217;t matter that ICE&#8217;s legal authority has not changed for decades. 
It doesn&#8217;t matter that under President Trump, they&#8217;re simply doing their job for the first time in decades. DHS must be closed down because ICE is doing their job.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2394-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Democrats don&#8217;t want to enforce the border. If they get the chance, they&#8217;ll return to Biden-era open borders as soon as possible.
Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old student at Loyola University in Chicago, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murder-suspect-in-loyola-university-slaying-is-venezuelan-illegal-released-by-biden?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=67&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Murder+Suspect+In+Loyola+University+Slaying+Is+Venezuelan+Illegal+Released+By+Biden">murdered</a> by a masked man while she was walking in Rogers Park last Thursday.
According to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/suspect-due-court-shooting-loyola-chicago-freshman-sheridan-gorman/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">CBS News</a>:
<blockquote>The shooting happened early last Thursday as Gorman, 18, was walking with her friends near the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach at Pratt Boulevard to take in the Chicago skyline. Prosecutors said, as Gorman and her friends were walking toward the lighthouse at the end of the pier shortly after 1 a.m., Gorman told her friends she saw someone hiding behind the lighthouse. When Medina came out from behind the lighthouse, Gorman and her friends ran away, and Medina shot Gorman in the back. The bullet exited her neck.</blockquote>
The alleged murderer was a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally, according to the New York Times. Medina was released into the United States by the Biden administration in May 2023 after he had contact with Border Patrol agents. According to federal officials, Medina was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Chicago in June 2023, and then released. 
Gigantic shock.
You might ask yourself: If someone is arrested for shoplifting and they are an illegal immigrant, why are they still here?
The answer, of course, is that Chicago is a sanctuary city. That means that the city and state of Illinois, a Democratic state, prevent local officials from cooperating with federal law enforcement. That is why Medina was free to allegedly commit a cold-blooded murder.
If local law enforcement had notified ICE that they&#8217;d arrested an illegal immigrant and then held him until ICE arrived, Gorman would probably still be alive. Republicans up to and including President Trump have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doesnt-hold-back-when-daily-wire-asks-about-loyola-murder-suspect-and-biden-era-link?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=44&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Doesn%E2%80%99t+Hold+Back+When+Daily+Wire+Asks+About+Loyola+Murder+Suspect+And+Biden-Era+Link">pointed out</a> that simple fact.
Senator Ted Cruz correctly <a href="https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/2036194371318731131">pointed out</a>, “Gorman&#8217;s killer was an illegal alien who should never have been in our country. Joe Biden&#8217;s open border policies and Governor Pritzker&#8217;s refusal to accept President Trump&#8217;s help are the reasons why she is not with us today.”
Correct. 
President Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2036097183275975161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2036097183275975161%7Ctwgr%5Ec0874bea6be8bc9e9e71c1ae489ffb7959454bd9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-doesnt-hold-back-when-daily-wire-asks-about-loyola-murder-suspect-and-biden-era-link">said</a>, “It&#8217;s devastating. These people were let in by Biden. We&#8217;re getting them out. We&#8217;re getting them out fast. That&#8217;s why ICE is so important. They&#8217;re doing such a good job. This &#8230; this animal — I saw the whole thing last night, they gave me a briefing — came in through Joe Biden with his open door policy and his border czar Kamala, who never saw the border.”
Democrats, however, are still making excuses. A Chicago alderman named Maria Hadden actually speculated it might have been Gorman&#8217;s fault.
You see, when you get shot in the back of the head by an illegal immigrant who was hiding while you were out seeing the Northern Lights, it&#8217;s possible that it&#8217;s your fault for startling that illegal immigrant. It’s like walking into an endangered species arena at the zoo or something. It&#8217;s your fault if something bad happens to you.
She <a href="https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2036134913921937785">said</a>: “Then they go out on the pier, they walk around. So the kids were out doing normal, normal things people do in the neighborhood. And it sounds like this might have been a wrong place, wrong time, running into a person who had a gun. They might have startled this person at the end of the pier, unintentionally.”
Other Democrats, of course, are claiming that this is all happening because we incarcerate too many criminals.
This is the big Democratic move: It&#8217;s been true for decades. The idea is that criminality happens because too many criminals are in jail. It’s sort of like the argument that if you kill too many terrorists, you&#8217;re just creating new terrorists.
Which is weird because when you kill terrorists, then they&#8217;re dead. The same thing is true of people who are in jail: When they&#8217;re in jail, you know what they&#8217;re not doing?
They&#8217;re not on the streets shooting people.
And yet, this is the typical Democratic take. It is idiotic.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson <a href="https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1993419780108550293">said back in</a> November 2025, “We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence. We&#8217;ve already tried that, and we&#8217;ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence, the addiction on jails and incarceration in this country. We have moved past that. It is racist. It is immoral. It is unholy, and it is not the way to drive violence down.”
I beg to differ. I think it&#8217;s a great way to drive violence down. Keeping criminals in jail is a great way for them not to commit crimes against people on the streets, because they&#8217;re in jail.
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office issued this statement: “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and Loyola University community grieving the senseless murder of Sheridan Gorman. Violent crime has no place in our streets. We expect the alleged perpetrator to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The Trump administration needs to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.”
That&#8217;s crazy. Politicizing heinous tragedies instead of focusing on real solutions? It is not politicization to point to the specific policy that could have stopped this murder in the first place. In fact, it is playing politics to ignore that policy for political reasons.
But Democrats are addicted to playing politics on illegal immigration. They&#8217;ve decided that illegal immigrants are the finest among us and deserve our undying sympathy, and that we ought to defund the agency that houses ICE in order to facilitate illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, the partial DHS shutdown has had the effect not just of defunding ICE, but defunding the TSA — in the middle of a war. This initially led to gigantic lines around the country at airports. In response, the administration said that it will deploy ICE officers to man the TSA lines because ICE actually has some leftover funding from the last round of funding.
Now, even CNN is saying ICE is helping with wait times.
If safety is your number one issue, I don’t see how you can vote Democrat.

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