MixCollage-15-Sep-2025-04-51-PM-6957

Don’t Let Them Lie To You. Charlie Kirk’s Killer Is A Left-Wing Terrorist.

assassination

Charlie Kirk

Democrats

Leftism

Leftists

Liberals

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Progressivism

I grew up in an age of assassinations. The President, John F. Kennedy, was gunned down in 1963, when I was nine years old. His brother, Robert Kennedy, was killed five years later, little more than a month after I saw him at a campaign event in my home town. That was the same month Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. Malcolm X had been killed three years before.
Americans often speak proudly of our peaceful transitions of power, but that is because we are only thinking in terms of political power. Yes, compared to the violence that often accompanied the change of rulers in imperial Rome or medieval England, our transfers of leadership are relatively tranquil. Our system of free elections circumvents the need for violent revolution.
But in a democratic republic, political power is bestowed by the people, and the ideas of the people are shaped by the culture. When cultural power changes hands in the U.S., that’s when the shooting starts. The Civil War did not begin because Abraham Lincoln threatened to free the slaves. He didn’t. The war began because his election telegraphed to the slave states that the tide of the culture was shifting against them.
The 1960s marked the dawn of another such shift. A leftward swing was in the making, a rebellion against the post-war consensus. New voices were rising in the academies and in the arts, voices that challenged the efficacy of capitalism, the treatment of minorities, the roles of women, and traditional norms of language, behavior, and dress. It was as that shift was forming, that leaders who spoke even moderately of change began to seem threatening, that rhetoric became inflated and incendiary, and that dealing death began to seem a reasonable political action in the worst of minds. It didn’t work. If anything, it destroyed reasonable leaders like the Kennedys and MLK, and allowed them to be replaced by radicals and grifters.
Today is also such a time.
For at least the last thirty years, American culture has been all but monopolized by the Left. The news media are almost exclusively located in left-wing coastal enclaves. Journalists’ political donations go to Democrats by a huge margin. The news coverage of Donald Trump’s largely moderate policies is relentlessly negative, not to mention hysterical, childish, and absurd. In Hollywood, outspoken conservatives are vanishingly rare. Those less entrenched than, say, Clint Eastwood and Jon Voight keep their mouths shut and, when they don’t, it hobbles their careers. In the academies, conservative speakers are routinely greeted by demonstrations and violence. Liberal arts courses are no longer liberal: they are indoctrination centers where leftist critical theory drowns out the voices of classic writers and thinkers of the past.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1247-the-opposite-of-murder?elementPosition=0&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=The+Andrew+Klavan+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
Only such a cultural monopoly could have spread the radical ideas of the left and bullied businesses and citizens into pretending to believe their ridiculous untruths. People can’t change sex. Dysfunction in black communities is caused by black culture, not racism. Women have grown steadily unhappier under feminism. Homosexuality is not a source of pride. Facts are not hate speech, and what some may call hate speech is protected under the First Amendment. These are not bigoted, mean, radical opinions. To those who break through the fog of leftist narrative, there are obvious conclusions drawn from the evidence of our own eyes. The years in which the Left was able to declare these self-evident truths unspeakable were years of cultural tyranny.
But now, the leftist cultural monopoly is crumbling. New media — like the Daily Wire, Elon Musk’s X, and the Megyn Kelly and Joe Rogan podcasts — have risen to prominence in spite of widespread attempts by the government and social media outlets to censor us, demonize us, and starve us out. We have not yet developed the cultural power of radical left-wing institutions like the New York Times, Yale University, and Disney, but we are able to debunk the distortions of those institutions almost as fast as they can produce them.
On the night Donald Trump was re-elected, it was immediately evident that the tide had turned. The ceaseless news stories calling Trump an authoritarian, the banana republic lawfare with which the powerful tried to imprison him, the media-wide (and mordantly hilarious) attempts to depict first Joe Biden then Kamala Harris as viable presidential candidates — all these strategies and more were not enough to create a narrative the majority of voters would believe. Like the American Revolutionaries who inspired us, our ragtag band of culture warriors had beaten back an Empire of Lies.
Charlie Kirk was the next generation of that effort. He believed in God, in family, and in American liberty, things that most Americans have believed for nearly 250 years. He utilized techniques of open debate pioneered by forerunners like Ben Shapiro and Steven Crowder to invade the academic enclaves of the left and create free conversations that freed minds. Inscriptions on the bullets in the gun that killed him suggest the killer believed Charlie to be a fascist. The killer is responsible for his own actions, but that utterly false belief was impressed upon him through the power of a culture too long dominated by radicals.
That culture is over. That power is changing hands.
I sometimes joke to my wife that I am the Ernie Pyle of the Culture War. Not a speaker-slash-debater like Ben. Not an activist master of samizdat like Matt Walsh. Not a future politician like Michael Knowles. Just a writer in the trenches who tries to get an up-close view of the fight and report what’s happening.
This is what’s happening: We’re winning.
Watch your six.
* * *
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 for Pre-Order. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>

MixCollage-12-Sep-2025-03-22-PM-3225

In America, Violence Arises When Cultural Power Shifts

In America, Violence Arises When Cultural Power Shift

Andrew Klavan

Conservatives

Culture

Murder

Political Violence

A Democrat running for Senate in Maine will host a fundraiser on September 11 at a Washington, D.C., bar that has allied with Hamas sympathizers.
Graham Platner, a 40-year-old Marine and Army veteran seeking to oust Republican Senator Susan Collins, scheduled a fundraiser at Exiles Bar in D.C. on 9/11. The location is an interesting choice for the anniversary of the deadly attack perpetrated by radical Islamic terrorists.
Exiles, located a little over a mile north of the White House, hosted an event last year with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), a group that <a href="https://timep.org/2024/06/27/displacement-is-the-point-contextualizing-israels-decades-of-violence-and-destruction-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank/">claims</a> that Israel started an &#8220;assault on Gaza&#8221; on October 7, 2023 — the day Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed around 1,200 people, taking hundreds more hostage.
&#8220;Israel’s most recent actions in Gaza seem to support the notion that the ultimate goal is to displace Palestinians and seize their land,&#8221; the group wrote in a June 2024 article. &#8220;Since October 7, many Israeli politicians and other powerful actors have made their territorial aspirations clear.&#8221;
TIMEP&#8217;s Executive Director, Mai El-Sadany, also recently <a href="https://x.com/maitelsadany/status/1933342241226924299">posted</a> on X that &#8220;Israel is making all of us less safe.&#8221;
During an April 18, 2024, event, Exiles Bar gifted 10% of some of its food and drink sales to TIMEP. The event was <a href="https://www.nenjp.org/calendar/2024/4/18/418-in-person-dc-530-pm-join-the-tahrir-institute-for-middle-east-policy-for-a-mena-social-night-at-exiles-bar-dc-timep">advertised</a> by the New England Network for Justice for Palestine as &#8220;an evening of food, drink, community, and solidarity.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to Exiles Bar, requesting comment on the event with a Hamas-sympathizing group.
Platner has a troubling record on Israel and the Middle East. While the Democrat has <a href="https://x.com/grahamformaine/status/1958275900958785616">accused</a> Israel of committing &#8220;genocide&#8221; in Gaza, there is no public record of him condemning Hamas.
Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, Platner argued in an op-ed that &#8220;one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,&#8221; the Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democratic-maine-senate-candidate-graham-platner-compared-terrorists-to-freedom-fighters-in-post-9-11-op-ed/">reported</a> earlier this week. The op-ed was published in the Bangor Daily News.
The Daily Wire reached out to Platner&#8217;s campaign, seeking comment on his fundraiser at Exiles Bar and giving him an opportunity to address the 2002 op-ed.
Platner said in a recent <a href="https://zeteo.com/p/meet-the-disillusioned-veteran-who">interview</a> that he joined the Marines out of high school “mostly out of like a young man&#8217;s sense of duty and also a bit of a call to adventure.” He later enrolled at George Washington University, but after seeing that many of his friends were still deployed, he enlisted in the Army and deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. Platner, however, said he &#8220;did not believe in the thing that I had taken part in.”
Platner launched his 2026 Senate campaign last month with a pledge to focus on universal health care, housing affordability, and ending foreign wars, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/iraq-afghanistan-veteran-launches-democratic-campaign-sen-susan-collin-rcna225703">reported</a>. Platner said that he hopes the Democratic Party will follow in the footsteps of leftists such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Hamas

Dem Senate Candidate To Host 9/11 Fundraiser At D.C. Bar That Partnered With Terrorist Sympathizers

9/11

Israel

Maine

Terrorism

Washington D.C.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismantled a narrative that President Donald Trump is targeting blue states in his quest to get crime under control nationwide.
When a reporter asked Leavitt if Trump will work with GOP-led states to tackle crime, the press secretary said the premise of the question reflects a false mainstream narrative.
&#8220;Yes, there is crime in red states. Of course, there is crime in all states, but the crime in these cities is all in cities that are run by Democrats. If you look at the list of the top 20 high-crime cities in the United States, every single one, with the exception of one in Louisiana, is run by a Democrat.&#8221;
These Democrat leaders, Leavitt continued, have supported soft-on-crime policies, including cashless bail, which is when suspects do not have to pay any bail to be released from jail while awaiting trial.
Highlighting Jackson, Mississippi &#8212; a blue city in a red state, Leavitt noted the city &#8220;eliminated cash bail for virtually all misdemeanor cases.&#8221; The city also acts like a de facto sanctuary jurisdiction.
Similarly, Birmingham, Alabama, passed a resolution &#8220;committing to establish sanctuary policies,&#8221; the press secretary added.
&#8220;If you actually look at the facts, there are cities that are run by Democrats &#8230; and they have all supported these disastrous policies, which allow repeated career criminals back onto the streets to further commit acts of violence.&#8221;
Trump, Leavitt said, wants to work with &#8220;anyone across this country who wants to end these horrible policies and bring law and order to our streets.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Q: &#8220;Would the President consider working with Red state governors to fix high crime in Blue cities like Memphis?&#8221;
PRESS SEC: &#8220;If you look at the list of the top 20 high-crime cities in the United States, every single one, with the exception of one in Louisiana, is run by a… <a href="https://t.co/sQoF5q9QIJ">pic.twitter.com/sQoF5q9QIJ</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1965477109813707046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
Indeed, the vast majority of high crime and violent crime cities across the nation are run by Democrats, and more specifically, adopt soft-on-crime policies, like cashless bail and other so-called justice reforms that routinely hurt victims.
For example, the top-five most violent cities in the U.S., based on the violent crime rate per 100,000 residents, are Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore, Houston, and Nashville. They are all run by Democrats.
President Donald Trump has already worked with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, to quickly clean up our nation&#8217;s capital. He&#8217;s also said he plans on deploying National Guardsmen to other violent cities, including Chicago.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-less-than-a-month-trumps-federal-d-c-force-makes-more-than-1k-arrests">In Less Than A Month, Trump’s Federal D.C. Force Makes More Than 1K Arrests</a>

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavit Holds Press Briefing At The White House

Leavitt Torches Media Crime Narrative: All These Cities Run By Democrats

Leavitt Torches Media Over Crime Narrative: All These Cities Run By Democrats

Donald Trump

Karoline Leavitt

Media

Politics

The brutal murder of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte highlights the deadly consequences of &#8220;soft-on-crime&#8221; policies in Democrat-run cities. The Supreme Court gives the green light for Trump&#8217;s ICE raids in Los Angeles as the U.S. and its allies coordinate on a global immigration crackdown. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fires back at Democrats who are demanding his resignation, vowing to continue his &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; agenda.
It’s Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Charlotte Tragedy Fallout &amp; LA ICE Raids Enabled" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wxxC88rvvUE?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>
If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/charlotte-tragedy-fallout-la-ice-raids-enabled-9-9-25/id1576594336?i=1000725677207" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Charlotte Murder Highlights Failures of ‘Soft-on-Crime’ Policies</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-969907" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The brutal, unprovoked murder of a Ukrainian refugee on a light rail train has left the city of Charlotte in shock and anger, putting a national spotlight on the deadly consequences of Democrat-led &#8220;soft-on-crime&#8221; policies. 
Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was stabbed to death last month by DeCarlos Brown Jr., a homeless man with a lengthy and violent criminal record. The horrific attack took place in what was once a safe, trendy part of the city, but residents say rising crime and a growing homeless population have made them feel unsafe. Charlotte saw a 25% increase in its homicide rate last year, and robberies in the city center are up 54%. 
The city&#8217;s Democratic mayor, Li Vyles, responded to the murder by calling for empathy for the perpetrator&#8217;s mental health issues, and did not mention the victim in her initial statement. Brown was on the streets despite at least 14 previous arrests for crimes, including armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. A judge gave him pre-trial release on his most recent arrest in January, and police had referred him &#8220;to resources&#8221; rather than jail after three other encounters in 2024. The policies that kept Brown out of jail were recommended by a &#8220;Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice,&#8221; which was created by North Carolina&#8217;s now-Governor, Democrat Josh Stein, in 2020. 
<h2>Supreme Court Upholds Trump’s ICE Raids in Los Angeles</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-969905" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory on Monday, ruling that federal immigration officials can continue their sweeping raids in the Los Angeles area and can consider factors like ethnicity and accent when detaining suspected illegal immigrants. 
The Court’s ruling overturns a lower court judge’s decision that had blocked the raids. Writing for the liberal minority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a dramatic dissent, claiming the court was subjecting people to the &#8220;indignities&#8221; of being handcuffed &#8220;simply because of their looks, their accents.&#8221; 
Border Czar Tom Homan pushed back on that characterization, stating that ICE is focused on public safety. &#8220;Seventy percent of everybody ICE is arresting is a criminal,&#8221; Homan said. The raids have yielded significant results, with over 1,600 arrests in D.C. alone, many of whom are suspected gang members and other violent offenders. 
The ruling comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem meets with the &#8220;Five Eyes&#8221; intelligence alliance in London to coordinate a global crackdown on human smuggling. The U.K.&#8217;s new Home Secretary has signaled a tougher stance on immigration that is more aligned with the Trump administration&#8217;s policies. 
<h2>RFK Fires Back as Democrats Demand His Resignation</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-969909" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MRN-9.9.25-Tue-SH3.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing back against a coordinated campaign by Democrats demanding his resignation, vowing to continue his &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; (MAHA) agenda and restore integrity to public health. 
At least a dozen Democratic senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have signed a letter calling Kennedy’s agenda &#8220;dangerous&#8221; and &#8220;anti-science.&#8221; Former Republican Chris Christie also attacked Kennedy, calling him a &#8220;joke&#8221; and a &#8220;human middle finger to everybody who opposed&#8221; Trump. 
Blue state governors are also pushing back against Kennedy&#8217;s reforms. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order to override new FDA guidance on COVID shots, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation to ensure access to the abortion pill mifepristone, regardless of future FDA safety assessments. 
Kennedy, who enjoys broad public support for his agenda, has fiercely defended his actions. He has accused major medical organizations of being compromised by their Big Pharma sponsors and has vowed to bring in &#8220;new blood&#8221; and people &#8220;who are committed to public health, and integrity, and gold-standard science.&#8221; His department has already reformed baby formula standards, required drug price transparency, and stopped federal funding for gender surgeries for minors, among other changes.

MRN 9.09.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Charlotte Train Murder, SCOTUS Upholds ICE Raids, Dems vs MAHA

Charlotte

Courts

Crime

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

North Carolina

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Supreme Court

A lot of people on the Right, in the center, and even on the Left are asking themselves this question: Is peak woke over? 
After all, we suffered through a decade of wokeness, the proposition that any disparity between groups was evidence of discrimination. The wokeness was manifested as DEI, the idea that the government had to constantly rig the system in the reverse direction.
So where does the Left go next? They&#8217;re going back to something old: what could theoretically be titled “economic wokeness.”
Economic wokeness mirrors exactly the same argument as racial wokeness or trans wokeness, except it applies to economic categories.
When I say this is an old argument, it is because it&#8217;s basically the argument Karl Marx made. And it seems the Democrats are moving more and more in that direction.
According to a memo penned by Kamala Harris campaign veterans, what people really want to hear from their favorite politicians is that rich people suck and they should be destroyed.
The reason I&#8217;m calling this economic wokeness is because in order to see the parallel to racial wokeness, all you have to do is replace one word.
The idea for racial wokeness is that disparities are, in and of themselves, signs of discrimination. The idea is that racial discrimination is the norm, not an aberration. It&#8217;s not people who are bad apples. It&#8217;s part of the entire system. And the system is designed purposefully by white people to discriminate against people of color. That is the basis of wokeness.
To get to economic wokeness, all you have to do is replace the word “racial” with “economic.” You simply say economic disparities are in and of themselves signs of economic discrimination. Economic discrimination is ordinary, not an aberration. It&#8217;s not just that there&#8217;s one price gouger out there, it&#8217;s the whole system that is designed for price gouging.
Who is it designed by, according to this theory? “Rich people“ instead of the “white people” of racial wokeness. Rich people who discriminate against the poor.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2274-it-will-never-die-democrats-unleash-new-brand-of-woke?elementPosition=3&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The beauty of economic wokeness is that, unlike racial wokeness — which can be debunked by looking at group studies, pointing to a group that outperforms white people, whether they are Nigerians in America or Asians — there will always be some people who are poorer than other people.
But here’s the salient point: People move in and out of these categories. This is why it is a mistake to talk about the “poor” and the “rich.”
There are many people who are poor now who will one day become rich. There are many people who are rich who will one day become middle-class or poor. 
There is tremendous economic mobility in the United States, according to the available studies. If you are born into the bottom quintile of income earners in the United States, there&#8217;s a better than 60% chance that you will not end up there, that you will end up in a higher bracket in terms of income by the time you are an adult. 
With that said, this sort of economic populism is rooted in grievance, and it&#8217;s a real problem because it does have a popular appeal. It is one thing to claim that America is racist or that America is transphobic. Most people look at that and say, “I don&#8217;t know that many racists.” I really don&#8217;t know that many people who are sitting around all day long thinking about whether a man is a woman; that&#8217;s because it&#8217;s basic logic to know the difference. 
But when it comes to economic status, people have an amazing way of dissociating the rich people they personally know from “rich people” in general. Most people in America know somebody who&#8217;s wealthy. I would bet that the vast majority of people who know people who are wealthy also know good people who are wealthy and bad people who are wealthy. I would also bet they know a lot of poor people, some of whom are good and some of whom are bad, because people come in all shapes and sizes and all sorts of moral qualities.
When it comes to how people think of their own economic performance, the easiest pitch you can make to somebody if they are having a tough time economically is to say it can be fixed by ripping down that billionaire over there.
The only thing that is preventing the advent of people like Bernie Sanders is continued economic growth. If we get continued economic growth, then economic wokeness doesn&#8217;t apply. If people feel pretty good about their direction in the economy, then economic wokeness won&#8217;t help because people won&#8217;t feel discriminated against.
If, however, as we are seeing in the polling data, people do feel that they are stuck, that they don&#8217;t have economic mobility and they have an entire legacy media infrastructure pushing this lie as well as people on both the Right and the Left, that you can&#8217;t get ahead in America, no matter what you do; if you have politicians telling you that so they can garner more power, people believe it.
And if they believe it, they start tearing down the very systems that generated prosperity, such as free markets, private property, and capitalism in the first place. 
I understand the art of gaining power in politics requires getting elected, and getting elected often leads to dissimulating, dissembling, and saying things that are not true. Many politicians are willing to say untrue things in order to garner that power.
That doesn&#8217;t make it moral or good.
Any sort of populist notion that capitalism is “stacked against you” falls flat in a country that is the richest country in literally all of human history, and in which people who are at the bottom of the economic ladder (after income and wealth transfers, because we have massive welfare programs in this country) are earning about $45,000 to $50,000 a year — which is about the same as the median household income in Germany or France.
When you point that out, people get mad. But it happens to be the case.
And that&#8217;s why economic success is absolutely necessary. It&#8217;s also why we need to make a robust defense of things like private property and free markets. Why is private property good? Private property is good because you ought to retain the fruits of your labor, because you are an individual human being with creative capacity, and it is immoral for people to steal the things you create.
Private property is an outgrowth of basic individual autonomy. Free markets are an outgrowth of private property, because if I own the fruits of my labor, I can then alienate them, meaning I can trade them, or I can sell them, and we can trade. And both of our lives get better because I traded something I want for something that you want.
That is the predicate of a free market economy. And that right does not begin with the government. That right begins with God, because God made us in a particular way, with creative capacity.
Man has the capacity to create. Man has the capacity to cultivate the garden, to labor. And so keeping the fruits of our labor is something that human beings want.
This is why communism always fails. That’s because if you tell people they don&#8217;t get to keep what they earned, that they basically should be treated as disposable labor widgets, and all of the fruits of their labor will be taken away and redistributed, people won&#8217;t work. They&#8217;ll just stop. It&#8217;s why communism always ends with coercion.
The free market is not rooted in some sort of peculiar institution created by rich people. It is rooted in basic human notions of autonomy and individual worth.
That&#8217;s why it was disturbing to hear Virginia Democrat senator Tim Kaine, who was the vice presidential nominee with Hillary Clinton back in 2016. He said in the Senate the other day that rights come from the government, declaring:
<blockquote>You state and this is a quote from Secretary Rubio, our rights come from God, our creator, not from our laws, not from our government. I find that very, very troubling. I&#8217;m a devout person. I was a missionary in Honduras. We&#8217;ve got other devout folks in this room Christian, Jewish, Muslim-American. 
The notion that rights don&#8217;t come from laws and don&#8217;t come from the government, but come from the creator, that&#8217;s what the Iranian government believes. It&#8217;s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis Bahais, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities. And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their creator. So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.</blockquote>
That was a gigantic softball over the middle of the plate for Texas GOP senator Ted Cruz, who knows the words of the Declaration of Independence. He responded:
<blockquote>That radical and dangerous notion, in his words, is literally the founding principle upon which the United States of America was created. And if you do not believe me, and you made reference to this, Mr. Barnes, then you can believe perhaps the most prominent Virginian to ever serve, Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator,” not by government, not by the Democratic National Committee, but by God “with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”</blockquote>
This is a fundamental reality.
This is why capitalism and free markets are good things: morally good. You own the product of your hands. You have a right to your own labor.
It&#8217;s time for lions, for people who actually believe in the success of the United States, to robustly defend the free market. This is not something to apologize for.
You are not immoral if you&#8217;re a billionaire any more than you&#8217;re immoral if you are impoverished.

Senate Hearing Held For Foreign Ambassador Nominees

It Will Never Die: Democrats Unleash A New Brand Of Woke

Ben Shapiro

Bernie Sanders

Billionaire

Democratic Socialism

Economics

Poverty

Tim Kaine

Woke Culture

We&#8217;ve known for a very long time in this country that if you said the wrong thing about the trans issue, you could be canceled.
But now, finally, there are people — heretofore on the Left — who are acknowledging that the threat of cancellation has been real.
This is just one of the beautiful flowering fruits of the Trump administration: people are now free to say things they weren’t allowed to say before.
It’s not clear whether people are deciding that they want to say what is currently more popular or if they genuinely repent having been bullied into acceptance of the trans agenda.
On Wednesday, Malcolm Gladwell, a famous bestselling author, explained his amended point of view on transgender athletes, meaning men playing against women in sports. He was speaking specifically about a 2022 appearance at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, where he moderated a panel discussion in which they talked about the path forward for the inclusion of trans athletes in sports, meaning men competing against women.
On Wednesday, Gladwell stated to 2022 panel co-host Ross Tucker, &#8220;I’m ashamed of my performance at that panel because I share your position 100%, and I was cowed. The idea of saying anything on this issue — I was, I believe in retrospect — in a dishonest way, I was objective in a dishonest way.”
That is honest. Many people were so scared of saying what was obviously true that they didn&#8217;t say it.
This happens all the time in politics. It happened in Great Britain during the Rotherham grooming scandal, when members of the media specifically decided not to cover the fact that there were Muslim grooming gangs, Muslim men, who were grooming underage white girls for sex and then passing them around.
People in the media knew about this, and they decided not to say anything, because to say something would have resulted in censure and public opprobrium as well as people in power suggesting that you were somehow in league with the Right.
And for a very long time in this country and the UK, being in league with the Right was code for being thrown out of public life.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2273-unspoken-truths-on-trans-can-now-be-said?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
I don&#8217;t believe that every view is equivalent. I&#8217;m not a moral relativist. I don&#8217;t believe that we should take every view with equal seriousness. I do think that there is an Overton window, meaning the arena of valuable discussion.
The problem is that the Left shut the Overton window so much that if you disagreed with the Left and fundamentally true principles such as “men are not women,” they would throw you out.
So, for many members of the Right, the question becomes: what do you do when Malcolm Gladwell says something like this? What do you do?
The answer is you probably should offer forgiveness. You probably should offer some form of generosity. While you can make the argument that what Gladwell did was cowardly, it’s more about the insane echo chamber that exists in so many of our elite spaces.
The reality is, if you said what Malcolm Gladwell now says in 85% of the country, you&#8217;d be totally fine; it is the mainstream view.
But if you were in the elite circles in which Malcolm Gladwell travels, you would have lost your social standing. You might have lost your job; people would stop reviewing your books. There was a real risk attached.
It is a credit to President Trump and the American people that the Overton window has been opened again. The American people didn’t want to do this anymore. They were done.
That’s not true in Great Britain, where cancel culture has been enshrined in government policy.
What prevents that from happening in the United States is not our magical adherence to First Amendment principles as a people. Unfortunately, there are many, many people in the United States who — if they had the opportunity —would vote to curb free speech. If you look at the polls of young people, young people overwhelmingly believe that hate speech should trump free speech. According to many polls, young people believe there should be legal limits on the kinds of speech one should be allowed to say out loud.
What protects us is the structure of the Constitution. It is the fact that the Constitution bars Congress from doing what the British government is doing in Great Britain. And the Supreme Court has made very clear that in deference to the Constitution, free speech must be protected at the highest possible level.
The Founders knew what they were doing.
And President Trump, by opening the Overton window and making it possible for those on the Right to be heard and not canceled, is paying tribute to the Founders in the best possible way.

Audible’s The Unusual Suspects With Kenya Barris And Malcolm Gladwell Live With Brené Brown – 2025 SXSW Conference And Festival

Unspoken Truths On Trans Can Now Be Said

Books

Cancel Culture

Malcolm Gladwell

Transgender

Transgender Athletes

Women's sports

Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) took Thursday&#8217;s Senate Finance Committee hearing in a bizarre direction when he claimed that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was not &#8220;worthy&#8221; of a starfish pin he claimed he&#8217;d received from someone in his home state.
Lujan claimed that he&#8217;d been given the pin at a town hall in New Mexico, and said that it was supposed to stand for the idea that even the smallest thing – or the smallest action — could make a difference in the world. Kennedy, he then argued, was not &#8220;worthy&#8221; of wearing such a symbol.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry you are not worthy of this nice little pin.&#8221;
&#8220;I was going to give it to you today, but I don&#8217;t think you deserve it.&#8221;
Senator Ben Ray Luján makes a fool of himself in bizarre moment with starfish pin during hearing. Not sure how RFK Jr. will survive this. <a href="https://t.co/iMXdKR153O">pic.twitter.com/iMXdKR153O</a>
— Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasMHern/status/1963648186414735533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Look, two young ladies in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at a town hall recently gave me this starfish pin,&#8221; he said, removing it from his lapel and holding it up. &#8220;I was going to give it to you today, but after your questioning today, I don&#8217;t think you deserve it.&#8221;
&#8220;Because what this represents is to remember that every one of us can make a difference, sir,&#8221; Lujan continued. &#8220;Something as small as a starfish on a beach that maybe got washed up, you throw it back in the ocean. You might not save them all, but you can save one.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry that you&#8217;re not worthy of this nice little pin, sir, as a nice reminder,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to pray for you, Secretary Kennedy, I hope we do better. I want you to do better. But today was a failure for you, man.&#8221;
Kennedy spent the majority of Thursday&#8217;s hearing listening as the committee&#8217;s Democrats testified in his place, asking only a few <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-deserve-the-truth-rfk-jr-squares-off-with-colorado-senator-in-testy-hearing">contentious questions</a> before talking over him and refusing to let him answer.

Budget, Nominee Hurdles Sow Senate Frustration

Dem Makes A Mockery Of Capitol Hill Hearing, Says RFK Jr. Does Not ‘Deserve’ His Starfish Pin

Dem Makes A Mockery Of Capitol Hill Hearing, Says RFK Jr. Does Not 'Deserve' His Starfish Pin

Congress

Department of Health and Human Services

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tore into Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) after the latter repeatedly called Kennedy a liar during a heated hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Kennedy had already fielded a series of clearly antagonistic questions about vaccines and recent shake-ups at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from several senators before Bennet started in, accusing him of reconfiguring the panel tasked with recommend vaccines and filling the seats with vaccine skeptics. Kennedy conceded that some — including Dr. Robert Malone, who pioneered the mRNA technology used in the COVID-19 vaccine — were skeptical of the long-term impact of mRNA vaccines, but said that he did not anticipate changes in the recommended vaccines for school children.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecKennedy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecKennedy</a> says the Trump Administration&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/HHSGov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HHSGov</a> answers to the American people, not the pharmaceutical companies, for the first time in history — sending <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorBennet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenatorBennet</a> into a deluded fit of rage.
Must watch. <a href="https://t.co/CUsoGqrr8e">pic.twitter.com/CUsoGqrr8e</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1963620013945823515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I think it’s critical for you to share the evidence that this panel will rely on. Will you give the American people … six weeks in advance, the record that they’re going to rely on to make these decisions? Will you make it transparent for the American people?&#8221; Bennet demanded to know.
&#8220;All the evidence is transparent,&#8221; Kennedy replied.
&#8220;Will you make it in advance, transparent for the American people so they can comment?&#8221; Bennet asked again.
&#8220;On all the evidence? It’s transparent for the first time in history, and you were never there complaining when the pharmaceutical companies were picking those people and then running their products through with no safety &#8230;&#8221; Kennedy objected.
&#8220;You can … characterize it any way you want. I quoted them today. What I said was accurate. What you said were lies!&#8221; Bennet claimed.
&#8220;Senator, are you saying the mRNA vaccine has never been associated with myocarditis and pericarditis?&#8221; Kennedy asked, referring to Bennet&#8217;s earlier claim that he had lied about there being risks associated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
&#8220;I am saying, I am simply trying to say that the people that you have put on that panel, after firing the entire —&#8221; Bennet attempted to interrupt.
&#8220;You are evading the question!&#8221; Kennedy pointed out.
Bennet, incensed, shouted back, &#8220;No, I’m asking the questions here! I’m asking the questions, Mr. Kennedy, on behalf of parents and schools and teachers all over the United States of America who deserve so much better than your leadership. That’s what this conversation is about.&#8221;
Kennedy had the last word in response, saying, &#8220;They deserve the truth. And that’s what we’re going to give them. For the first time in the history of that agency!&#8221;

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr Testifies At Senate Finance Hearing

‘They Deserve The Truth!’: RFK Jr. Squares Off With Colorado Senator In Testy Hearing

'They Deserve The Truth!': RFK Jr. Squares Off With Colorado Senator In Testy Hearing

COVID-19 Vaccine

President Donald Trump posted edited and AI-generated videos on Truth Social Wednesday night, mocking Democrats such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and California Senator Adam Schiff.
Trump also posted two videos celebrating Cracker Barrel&#8217;s decision to forego changing its logo after backlash from customers and a phone call with the president. Trump&#8217;s social media blast began just after 10:00 p.m. ET Wednesday, when he posted a short clip of Sen. Schiff speaking on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.&#8221; The video of Schiff, whom Trump calls &#8220;Pencil Neck,&#8221; was edited to make the senator&#8217;s neck extremely long.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143582465780366/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
Around 15 minutes later, Trump posted a video of himself dancing while a CNN host talks about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftists-panic-even-nyt-says-democrats-face-voter-registration-crisis">massive losses</a> for Democrats and gains for Republicans with voter registration.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143628007589229/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
At 9:20 p.m., the president posted a video showing a pole vaulter with his head superimposed, soaring over a banner featuring the new Cracker Barrel logo. In the video, poll vaulter Trump rips down the new logo to reveal a banner with the traditional &#8220;Uncle Herschel&#8221; Cracker Barrel imagery. Trump also posted a video that had been going around X last week, showing the president dancing to &#8220;Y.M.C.A.&#8221; with Uncle Herschel.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143635413560059/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
&nbsp;
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143662429499960/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
Trump then ripped into Democrats with multiple posts, including an AI-generated video showing Governor Pritzker sumo wrestling with former New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, set to the &#8220;Chariots of Fire&#8221; theme in the background. Trump and Pritzker have traded barbs over the past week as the president mulls deploying the National Guard to Chicago to address the city&#8217;s violent crime. Trump&#8217;s son, Eric, posted a <a href="https://x.com/EricTrump/status/1963091795472240874">video</a> on X earlier this week that showed him stepping onto the dohyō against a sumo wrestler.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143645294071041/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
The president also went after Governor Newsom. In one video, Newsom&#8217;s head is superimposed on a man who&#8217;s slapping and kicking a punching bag with Trump&#8217;s image on it. The AI-image of Newsom lets out girlish yelps that wouldn&#8217;t be out of place at a Jonas Brothers reunion tour as he serves up dainty palm-slaps.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143647388212083/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
Another clip mocking Newsom shows the governor saying that he received &#8220;Trump 2028&#8221; hats in the mail. The video was edited to place one of the hats on Newsom&#8217;s head.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115143655123481643/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
Trump often rages against Democrats, the legacy media, and sometimes fellow Republicans on Truth Social, but Wednesday night was especially active — even for the president. The meme dump attacking Democrats comes as the party attempts to paint Trump as an authoritarian dictator who is seeking to grab more power by using the military to crack down on crime in big cities.
Newsom&#8217;s press office X account, which has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gavin-newsom-is-embracing-a-new-social-media-strategy-as-2028-rumors-swirl-trump-parodies">focused</a> on posting memes and rants mocking Trump in recent weeks, posted a picture of an overweight Trump shortly after the president&#8217;s meme rampage on Wednesday night.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/kVwdI5Jr4e">pic.twitter.com/kVwdI5Jr4e</a>
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovPressOffice/status/1963431098505142700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some on the Left have questioned Trump&#8217;s health after he was diagnosed with a condition that causes swelling in his legs. The president has also been pictured with bruising on his hand. Some people even speculated over the weekend that Trump had died or was suffering from a severe illness.
On Wednesday, Trump <a href="https://abc7.com/post/president-donald-trump-addresses-health-rumors-days-public-events/17729308/">responded</a> to the rumors, saying that he was &#8220;very active over the weekend.&#8221;

Trump Goes On Late-Night Meme Rampage Mocking Democrats

Adam Schiff

Gavin Newsom

General

JB Pritzker

President Donald Trump again blasted the attention given to the Jeffrey Epstein case on Wednesday, calling it a “Democrat hoax” after victims of the convicted sex offender gathered on Capitol Hill to demand more transparency.
While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the large group of Epstein victims who gathered nearby, just outside the Capitol Building. The president doubled down on referring to the Epstein controversy as a “hoax,” saying that it “never ends.”
“From what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given out, but it’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president,” Trump said.
The president then pointed to his action in Washington, D.C., where he deployed the National Guard and ordered federal agents to crack down on violent crime in the city.
“So what they’re trying to do with the Epstein hoax is get people to talk about that instead of speaking about the tremendous success like ending seven wars. I ended seven wars,” he added. “Nobody is going to talk about that because they’re going to talk about the Epstein whatever.”
Following the rally, numerous Epstein victims met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to call on the federal government to release more information on the investigation. One Epstein accuser said it was “devastating” to hear the president marginalize the ongoing controversy, and another called on the president to meet with her “because this is not a hoax.”
The Department of Justice said in July that it found no evidence of an Epstein client list, but Epstein victims said at the rally that they would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-know-the-names-epstein-victims-say-they-will-release-their-own-client-list?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=%E2%80%98We+Know+The+Names%E2%80%99%3A+Epstein+Victims+Say+They+Will+Release+Their+Own+Client+List">compile their own,</a> revealing the names of Epstein associates who abused them.
“We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world, and it will be done by survivors and for survivors,” said Lisa Phillips.
Another Epstein victim spoke out publicly for the first time on Wednesday, revealing that she was “Minor Victim 1” in Epstein’s 2019 indictment. Marina Lacerda <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/09/03/house-epstein-files-victims-news-conference/#link-JL4EG73GKZGY5E2ONYQ66PU74M">said</a> that she was forced into Epstein’s New York mansion, along with dozens of other girls, when they were “just kids.”
Lacerda said she was offered money to give a massage to an older man, adding that she dropped out of high school to work for Epstein. She called on the government to release the Epstein files “not only for transparency, but for the American people.”
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-led-oversight-committee-drops-massive-trove-of-over-33000-epstein-docs?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Republican-Led+Oversight+Committee+Drops+Massive+Trove+Of+Over+33%2C000+Epstein+Docs">released</a> more than 33,000 pages of Epstein documents, but critics blasted the heavily redacted document trove.

Trump Rips Epstein ‘Hoax’ As Victims Rally To Demand Transparency

Capitol Hill

Executive

Jeffrey Epstein

Just days ago, Rudy Giuliani <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rudy-giuliani-hospitalized-after-vehicle-struck-from-behind-at-high-speed?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rudy+Giuliani+Hospitalized+After+Vehicle+%E2%80%98Struck+From+Behind+At+High+Speed%E2%80%99">made headlines</a> for surviving a car accident after stopping on the side of a highway to help a woman reporting domestic violence.
This recent act of public service from &#8220;America’s Mayor&#8221; reflects a lifetime of public service, from taking down the Mafia in the Southern District of New York’s famed 1980s &#8220;Commission Trial,&#8221; to prosecuting high-profile terrorism cases that were tied to the first World Trade Center bombing in the 1990s with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy.
Unfortunately, that history of fearless, nonpartisan justice stands in sharp contrast to the SDNY’s posture today, where partisan lawfare seems to dominate.
That’s why it’s so encouraging that a group of judges <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/18/us-news/judges-approve-trump-pick-jay-clayton-to-remain-interim-us-attorney-for-southern-district-of-new-york/">ruled</a> in late August that Trump appointee Jay Clayton can remain in place as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Clayton has the potential to restore the SDNY back to its former glory during the Giuliani years.
He is a longtime Republican who clerked for a Reagan-appointed judge and served as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration.
For far too long, the SDNY has seemed to specialize in partisan lawfare.
For example, SDNY Judge Lewis Kaplan presided over journalist E. Jean Carroll’s 2019 civil <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1226626397/trump-defamation-trial#:~:text=What%20this%20case%20is%20about,former%20president%20was%20also%20liable.">lawsuit</a> against Trump, which accused the sitting president of rape and defamation.
Carroll <a href="https://dailydodge.com/e-jean-carroll-testifying-in-civil-case-says-she-cant-recall-date-of-alleged-trump-attack/">couldn’t remember</a> what year the alleged assault took place, never mentioned it in her diary, and claimed that the numerous similarities between her account and a 2012 &#8220;Law and Order&#8221; episode were an “astonishing” coincidence.
But despite all these holes in Carroll’s story, the Left saw a chance to undermine Trump and leaped at it. Democrat billionaire megadonor Reid Hoffman <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/05/10/what-was-reid-hoffmans-role-in-funding-e-jean-carrolls-case/">funded</a> the entire lawsuit through his nonprofit American Future Republic, and it was anti-Trump commentator George Conway who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usxxlZosnNs">urged</a> Carroll to sue in the first place.
Kaplan not only oversaw this farce but also put his thumb on the scale for Carroll. He <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rape-case-lawyers-banned-from-speaking-about-dna-judge-rules-2023-3">ruled</a> male DNA found on Carroll’s dress inadmissible, even after Trump offered to provide a sample. He <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-fails-narrow-rape-accusers-case-trial-looms-2023-03-28/">admitted</a> additional defamation charges that punished Trump for defending himself on social media. He even <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23793781-tacopina-mistrial-filing/">interrupted</a> a line of questioning from Trump’s lawyer in a way that signaled clearly to the jury where his sympathies lay.
<div id="attachment_968215" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-968215" class="size-large wp-image-968215" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-865x576.jpg" alt="Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of New York City's Department of Investigation, speaks during a new conference at the US Attorney's Office-Southern District of New York (SDNY) in New York, US, on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on bribery and fraud charges following a federal corruption investigation, calling into question the political future of the man in charge of running the biggest US city. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
The SDNY also conveniently <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-charged-bribery-and-campaign-finance-offenses">charged</a> New York City Mayor Eric Adams with bribery shortly after he started <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/nyregion/eric-adams-mexico-border-migrants.html">speaking out</a> against the Biden administration’s open border policies.
When the Trump administration ordered the charges dropped, multiple prosecutors <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5297120/eric-adams-federal-prosecutors-resignations">resigned</a> in outrage after failing to make a single peep about the lawfare campaign against Trump.
These partisan prosecutions even extend to the realm of antitrust enforcement. 
 
The SDNY is currently <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/video/justice-department-sues-visa-monopolizing-debit-markets#:~:text=Description:%20Today%2C%20the%20Justice%20Department,developing%20new%20and%20innovative%20alternatives.&amp;text=Review%20the%20YouTube%20Terms%20of%20Service%20and%20the%20Google%20Privacy%20Policy%20.">playing host</a> to a Biden-era Justice Department lawsuit against Visa. Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland accused the company of driving up “the price of nearly everything” by monopolizing the debit transaction market.
In fact, it was Biden’s own inflationary policies that were driving up prices. Visa, which has a high market share because of its popularity but nothing close to a monopoly, just provided a handy scapegoat.
Meanwhile, the district always seems to drop the ball when it comes to getting actual justice for actual victims.
They <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/business/sam-bankman-fried-campaign-finance-charge.html#:~:text=Federal%20prosecutors%20pursuing%20the%20criminal,The%20authorities%20have%20said%20Mr.">failed</a> to charge crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried until his whole fraudulent empire was collapsing around him, even though the writing was on the wall long before the crash.
By that point, it was already too late. Bankman-Fried was the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-political-donations-2022/">largest single donor</a> to Democrats in the 2022 midterms, ploughing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/14/sbf-ftx-political-donations/">over $40 million</a> into PACs that helped Democrats keep the Senate and hold Republican gains in the House to historic lows.
Damian Williams, then the U.S. attorney for the SDNY, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/united-states-attorney-announces-charges-against-ftx-founder-samuel-bankman-fried#:~:text=BANKMAN%2DFRIED%20was%20arrested%20yesterday,fraud%2C%20plain%20and%20simple.%E2%80%9D">made it clear</a> that these donations from SBF and his cronies were funded with “stolen customer money.” The people SBF defrauded might get their money back, but voters have no such remedy. There’s no way to un-air the ads his ill-gotten gains bankrolled.
The sex trafficking case against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs provides another example of the SDNY’s failure. Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor on the case, botched it so badly that the Justice Department <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxDE8izOUc">fired</a> her just weeks after the verdict came down.
Although Combs was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/nx-s1-5454769/sean-combs-found-guilty-on-2-counts-but-acquitted-on-most-serious-charges">convicted</a> of prostitution offenses and faces up to 20 years in prison, the jury <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jury-reaches-verdict-sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-rcna214785">found</a> him not guilty on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Incidentally, Comey also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-james-comey-maurene-trump-dda5d1f40f08346bd97696ce4791e8ec">worked</a> on district’s prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. That case <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse">ended</a> with a conviction and a 20-year prison sentence but left so many unanswered questions that it’s difficult to call it an unqualified win.
During her confirmation hearings, Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pam-bondi-senate-confirmation-hearing-attorney-general-nominee-planned-remarks/">promised</a> to end “partisan weaponization” and “restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice – and each of its components.”
The SDNY is a particularly dysfunctional component that’s been fouling the gears of our justice system for far too long.
By ending the disastrous tradition of “blue slips,” the administration can take a major step toward the restoration of truly impartial justice.
There is no better way to honor the now recovering “America’s Mayor” than by restoring one of his top legacies back to its former glory.
* * *
James Skyles is a legal policy analyst and the principal of Skyles Law Group. He has written for some of the largest legal publications in the United States, including Law.com and Law360.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-03-Sep-2025-10-30-AM-275

Giuliani’s DAs Tackled The Mob. Now The Same Office Targets Political Enemies.

Menu