The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a case centered on a counselor in Colorado who could be punished under state law for helping gender-confused children become comfortable with their own body instead of pursuing irreversible transgender medical procedures.
The case pits the State of Colorado against counselor Kaley Chiles, who is challenging a Colorado law that <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> counseling that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” Chiles said that the law violates her First Amendment rights and has prevented her from taking several clients.
“When my young clients come to me for counsel, they often want to discuss issues of gender and sexuality. Yet my home state only allows my clients to pursue state-approved goals like gender transition,” she said. “Colorado’s law harms kids and censors speech. I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will do the right thing — for me, other counselors, and most importantly, kids everywhere.”
Chiles is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which argues that Colorado’s law, passed in 2019, is a direct attack on professional speech.
“This case is about censorship. The state of Colorado is censoring counselor speech on the issue of gender ideology,” Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Kate Anderson said on a press call attended by The Daily Wire. “Colorado is saying that if a counselor is going to speak with a minor, have a private, voluntary counseling session with a minor, and that minor is dealing with any kind of gender ideology, confusion, then that counselor has to encourage transition.”
“They can&#8217;t have conversations with that minor to help them become comfortable in their own body and align their feelings with their biology, even if that&#8217;s what that minor wants,” Anderson added.
She pointed to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling where the court sided with the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which had challenged a California law that mandated that crisis pregnancy centers provide information on how to obtain abortions.
Anderson said she expected this past ruling to come up during oral arguments, as well as the science demonstrating the lack of scientific support for transgender procedures.
Colorado’s law was previously upheld by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down similar laws implemented by cities in Florida. The Supreme Court has been skeptical of transgender ideology in recent years and has allowed states to ban transgender procedures on minors.

MixCollage-06-Oct-2025-02-23-PM-3955

Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge To Colorado Law That Pushes Kids Into Transgender Procedures

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Colorado

Free Speech

gender ideology

Supreme Court

Transgender

Comedian Dave Chappelle is getting ripped for telling an audience in Saudi Arabia, where mocking the royal family, Islam, or the government can land you in prison, “It’s easier to talk here than in America.”
“Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” Chappelle, a practicing Muslim,  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/world/middleeast/saudi-comedy-festival-riyadh-free-speech.html">declared</a> at the Riyadh Comedy Festival before a crowd of 6,000 people. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m gonna find out.”
Chappelle has been viciously critical of Israel, <a href="applewebdata://A52DFCE2-01FF-40DE-85E7-E5F7A517E32C/v">saying</a> in May 2024 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, “If you are in America, the best thing you can do is to make American Jews feel safe, feel loved and supported so they can know they don’t have to support a country that is committing genocide just to feel safe.” He continued his anti-Israel rhetoric in Riyadh, saying he feared returning to America, because, “They’re going to do something to me so that I can’t say what I want to say,” then adding he would alert his fans by using a code phrase: “It’s got to be something I would never say in practice, so if I actually say it, you’ll know never to listen to anything else I say after that. Here’s the phrase: I stand with Israel.”
Critics didn’t hold back. Author Dumisani Washington slammed Chappelle for his apparent hypocrisy: “A Black, multimillionaire comedian goes to Saudi Arabia, where there are African slaves, and complains about his lack of civil rights in America. Only a Westerner could be so privileged yet so deluded.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
So, Dave Chappelle, a Black, multimillionaire comedian goes to Saudi Arabia where there are African slaves and complains about his lack of civil rights (freedom of speech) in America. 
Only a Westerner could be so privileged yet so deluded to think that an Islamic regime is…
&mdash; Dumisani Washington (@DumisaniTemsgen) <a href="https://twitter.com/DumisaniTemsgen/status/1974629061059019116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Comedian Tim Young was equally scathing: “If Chappelle believes there’s freer speech in Saudi Arabia than in the U.S., he should do an entire set mocking Muhammad there and see how it goes.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If Dave Chappelle believes there’s freer speech in Saudi Arabia than the US… 
he should do an entire set mocking Muhammad there and see how it goes.
&mdash; Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1974668040265470305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Others, like commentator Jesús Enrique Rosas, pointed to the life-or-death stakes of dissent in the Kingdom: “Does Chappelle know you can get literally EXECUTED in Saudi Arabia for saying the ‘wrong things’? That oil money must have been SWEET.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Does Chapelle know you can get literally EXECUTED in Saudi Arabia for saying the &#39;wrong things&#39;?
That oil money must have been SWEET 🤌 <a href="https://t.co/nrb9NduFsr">https://t.co/nrb9NduFsr</a>
&mdash; Jesús Enrique Rosas &#8211; The Body Language Guy (@Knesix) <a href="https://twitter.com/Knesix/status/1974579681207959676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And conservative journalist Carmine Sabia nailed the heart of the matter: “I find it interesting that Chappelle, who was paid a fortune to perform in Saudi Arabia… would say there is more free speech there than in the U.S. — a nation that actually gave him a list of things he was not allowed to joke about.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I find it interesting that Dave Chappelle, who was paid a fortune to perform in Saudi Arabia, and good for him, would say that there is more free speech there than in the United States.
A nation that actually gave him a list of things he was not allowed to make quips about. <a href="https://t.co/rZT5pd096V">pic.twitter.com/rZT5pd096V</a>
&mdash; Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarmineSabia/status/1974833298078667155?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Even Bill Maher, not exactly a bastion of right-wing thinking, ridiculed Chappelle on HBO’s “Real Time,” saying,
“It’s not true. Do your hunk on Muhammad, Dave.”
This isn’t Chappelle “punching up.” This is Chappelle indulging in moral relativism at its worst — throwing stones at a country that made him rich, while cozying up to a regime that jails dissidents and executes critics.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dave-chappelle-attacks-israel-during-performance-in-middle-east?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Dave Chappelle Attacks Israel During Performance In Middle East</a>

Canelo v Crawford

‘That Oil Money Must Have Been Sweet’: Chappelle Under Fire For Anti-US Remarks Made In Saudi Arabia

Anti-American

Celebrities

Dave Chappelle

Saudi Arabia

World

In February 2020, two professors participated in a <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/experts-debate-the-regulation-of-hateful-speech-on-campus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/experts-debate-the-regulation-of-hateful-speech-on-campus/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0_Nus6xBc7ezkBvs9uTOra">debate</a> hosted by Harvard on the subject of hate speech and whether it constitutes “violence.”
Lisa Feldman Barrett, a psychology professor at Northeastern University, argued that, yes, hate speech can be violence based on the stress responses in the brain when confronted with speech one finds offensive. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, called Barrett’s argument a “huge disservice to what we are trying to do at universities” and warned that opening up this concept to a room full of students will lead to them equating speech and ideas they don’t like to violence. And when violence is the perception, the only recourse is more violence.
Little did these professors know that they were sitting on a powder keg with a short fuse. Who can forget the chaos that ensued in 2020 and beyond? And since then, with just a few exceptions, numerous violent outbreaks in the public square have been initiated by those rallying around left-wing causes.
Given that the vast majority of college professors <a href="https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-faculty-survey-political-leanings-liberal-conservative-moderate-centrist-harvard-yale-variation-across-school-tenure-status-demographics-20241022" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-faculty-survey-political-leanings-liberal-conservative-moderate-centrist-harvard-yale-variation-across-school-tenure-status-demographics-20241022&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0suXDDFCeetl9-FSmRkqFb">identify</a> as “liberal” or “very liberal,” we now have a sizable petri dish in which young people learn that violence is an available tool at their disposal — a tool used to dispose of speech they want eliminated from the public square.
We saw the culmination of this earlier this month with the cruel assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk. According to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5506576-charlie-kirk-suspect-hatred-texts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5506576-charlie-kirk-suspect-hatred-texts/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0cG3uMfqu-15s9JBLWWPSQ">text messages</a> sent by the young man in custody for shooting Kirk, he “had enough of his hatred,” saying that “some hate can’t be negotiated out.” And what “hate” deserved silencing in this twisted mind of the killer? Allegedly, he was romantically involved with his roommate, a male who identified as a female, and Kirk was an outspoken critic of gender identity ideology, as are many others around the world.
Equating the widely held, scientific truth of biological sex to “hate” is absurd. But, regardless, “hate” speech should never be the subject of violence or censorship — especially not on college campuses. Once the bastion of the marketplace of ideas, universities are quickly becoming breeding grounds for uncritical thinking where uniformity of thought is encouraged and dissenters are silenced. Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Academic Freedom, where I serve as director, has intervened in numerous situations where conservative students and student groups — <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/turning-point-usa-suny-cortland-v-cortland-college-student-association/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://adflegal.org/case/turning-point-usa-suny-cortland-v-cortland-college-student-association/?utm_source%3Ddailywire%26utm_medium%3Doped&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3OgGQQHlGz-ZmvEMI4Y6gk">including TPUSA chapters</a> — have been attacked simply for espousing ideas that go against the grain.
Young people didn’t learn the idea of violence as a solution to discomfort in a vacuum. As previously mentioned, the left-wing bias that permeates academic faculty is eye-opening. <a href="https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/are-colleges-and-universities-too-liberal-what-the-research-says-about-the-political-composition-of-campuses-and-campus-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/are-colleges-and-universities-too-liberal-what-the-research-says-about-the-political-composition-of-campuses-and-campus-climate/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3eLAotLPKJODCTDdKgtwqX">Studies</a> show that, in 1989, the liberal-to-conservative faculty ratio was 2:1; by 2017, it was 5:1. A 2022 <a href="https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/NFH-VOICE-GRANT-REPORT-Politics-of-the-Professoriate-2.7.22-1-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/NFH-VOICE-GRANT-REPORT-Politics-of-the-Professoriate-2.7.22-1-1.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0F0adF8_CdxMyEku0U7Vcx">report</a> from the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement found 69.5% of professors identified as “solidly liberal,” while only 13.2% were “conservative.” A 2023 Harvard <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/5/22/faculty-survey-2023-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/5/22/faculty-survey-2023-politics/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3J3uwPJgWsq3OveEVAmblP">study</a> showed that its own faculty displayed a 26:1 liberal-to-conservative ratio. This lack of viewpoint diversity has played a significant role in fostering hostility toward free speech.
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The simple solution is for the adults in the room to acknowledge the consequences of faulty ideas and take steps to foster diversity of thought. This means hiring faculty who share different opinions. This means hosting respectful debates where students can witness civil discourse. This means that, if students disrupt respectful debate, campus leadership will take measures to hold unruly protestors accountable. And this means, most importantly, that we should move past the idea that speech protected by the Constitution is equivalent to “violence.”
There are only two ways to enact change in society: speech or violence. In our current political and cultural environment, we’ve seen where both ends of the spectrum draw their lines. But a democratic society cannot long exist when one party believes that it is acceptable to kill those with whom it disagrees. Virtually every civilization throughout history has chosen violence; our founders, on the other hand, chose a better path.
Now is the time to preserve that path.
* * *
Tyson Langhofer is senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom with <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source%3Ddailywire%26utm_medium%3Doped&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1sroCl7-wqa7zVSXPqasqY">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/ADFLegal&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759330618947000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0rr8NLbEmHuac-ozsbbWhA">@ADFLegal</a>).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Kirk Debate

Free Speech Is Essential. Universities Must Do Everything They Can To Preserve It.

American Universities

Conservatives

Leftists

Liberals

TPUSA

Google Bay Bridge

We Just Got Proof Of A Huge Attack On Free Speech, And It Has Nothing To Do With Jimmy Kimmel

Big Tech

Donald Trump

Google

Jake Tapper

Jimmy Kimmel

Matt Walsh

Social Media Censorship

Twitter

YouTube

Congressman Jim Jordan on Tuesday celebrated Google&#8217;s decision to reinstate YouTube creators censored under President Joe Biden, calling the decision &#8220;a win for free expression.&#8221;
Jordan, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Daily Wire that Google and YouTube parent company Alphabet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unacceptable-and-wrong-google-admits-caving-to-censorship-pressure-from-biden-admin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> in a Tuesday letter to the committee that the company and its subsidiaries bowed to pressure from the Biden administration to censor conservative creators speaking out about election integrity and COVID-19.
&#8220;They had kicked some people off the YouTube platform altogether — you, your channel, you&#8217;re gone. They&#8217;ve agreed to reinstate those individuals, which I think is good. They&#8217;ve said they will not use the fact-checkers, like other platforms have done — which was a big problem because fact-checkers are typically really biased against conservatives. I thought it was, again, a win for the First Amendment, a win for free expression.”
Alphabet <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/google-reinstate-banned-youtube-accounts-censored-political-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged</a> in the letter its &#8220;commitment to free expression,&#8221; and said it &#8220;will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect.&#8221;
Creators banned under this regime include Dan Bongino and Sebastian Gorka, both of whom now serve in the Trump administration.
Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, recalled just how extreme the Biden administration&#8217;s censorship efforts were.
&#8220;Never forget the Biden administration established the disinformation governance board,&#8221; Jordan said on Wednesday&#8217;s edition of Morning Wire. &#8220;I mean, the most Orwellian-sounding thing you could think of — as if a bunch of bureaucrats can tell you what you can say, what you can read, what you can tweet, what you can post! That was frightening stuff.&#8221;
Fortunately, Jordan notes, &#8220;we had an election last November and, thank goodness, things changed.&#8221;
Still, Jordan isn&#8217;t ready to give up the fight, warning that the United States could soon fall victim to European speech restrictions — something congressional Republicans are fighting to stop.
European speech laws are creating complications for the American social platforms, Jordan said. In particular, the European Union’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act could <a href="https://fedsoc.org/events/the-digital-services-act-and-global-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">force</a> restrictive European speech codes on Americans.
Jordan takes that risk seriously.
Earlier this month, British authorities arrested Irish comedian Graham Linehan upon his landing at London’s Heathrow Airport after a flight from the United States. At issue were a series of X posts he wrote in April, which included jokes about transgender-identifying people.
“If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls,” one of Linehan’s posts in question <a href="https://x.com/judebrew/status/1965556461612007541" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>.
Americans are generally not in danger of arrest in the United States for mocking leftist ideologies, such as transgenderism. But they are still under threat of suppression and retaliation from companies like YouTube or other influential entities, Jordan says.
“I think it&#8217;s just a matter of time before that happens to an American,” the lawmaker told The Daily Wire. “We&#8217;re particularly concerned about that relative to YouTube.”

Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan Celebrates YouTube Ending Conservative Censorship: ‘A Win For Free Expression’

Jim Jordan Celebrates YouTube Ending Conservative Censorship: 'A Win For Free Expression'

Congress

Europe

European Union

Politics

Hollywood is freaking out over “Jimmy Kimmel Live” being pulled “indefinitely” following comments the late-night host made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Comedian Wanda Sykes expressed her frustration via a video on Instagram, saying she was scheduled to appear on Kimmel on Wednesday night. 
“Let’s see. He didn’t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week. But he did end freedom of speech within his first year. Hey, for those of you who pray, now’s the time to do it. Love you, Jimmy,” Sykes <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOuYySkCfPB/">said</a>.
Comedian Rosie O’Donnell shared a photo of Kimmel on Instagram. She <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOvFp-7DFqO/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in the caption, “[T]his is unacceptable — f*** this fascist administration and corrupt corporate executives — bowing to the orange monster — america [sic] is no more.”
“I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time in public + private defending comedians I don&#8217;t agree with,” comedian Mike Birbiglia <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOuQw82jJrf/#">posted</a> on Instagram. “If you&#8217;re a comedian + don&#8217;t call out the insanity of pulling Kimmel off the air — don&#8217;t bother spouting off about free speech anymore.”
“This isn’t right,” <a href="https://x.com/benstiller/status/1968451480723116289?s=46&amp;t=llvBxVWhJTM40ZH_WZC-gQ">wrote</a> “Zoolander” actor Ben Stiller in response to the news.
“Please, take it from me, it is very important to have Jimmy Kimmel’s back right now. Be vocal. Be an ideological consumer. Money is all their crown cares about,” comedian and actress Kathy Griffin <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOudUQMiRl6/#">said</a>.
Singer John Legend reposted a quote from senior editor at The Atlantic and MSNBC contributor David Frum to his Instagram Stories that said, “How dare you call us fascists just because our appointees threaten government retaliation against broadcast networks if their comedians don’t say what we want them to say.”
Not everyone in Hollywood was mad, though. Comedian Roseanne Barr pointed out the hypocrisy of those upset about Kimmel being indefinitely suspended, who had previously supported her being taken off the air. 
“Yeah imagine an administration putting pressure on a television channel to fire a comedian they didn’t like,” she <a href="https://x.com/therealroseanne/status/1968503495826301375">wrote</a>, responding to Frum’s complaints about the situation.
A spokesperson for Disney’s ABC on Wednesday explained the decision to take Kimmel’s show off the air.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue,” he added.
Sinclair, one of the largest broadcast companies in the United States, said Wednesday night that it would air a special tribute to Charlie Kirk this Friday in the late-night time slot that Jimmy Kimmel’s show had occupied.

Hollywood Melts Down Over Jimmy Kimmel’s Indefinite Suspension

Hollywood Melts Down Over Jimmy Kimmel's Indefinite Suspension

Charlie Kirk

Entertainment

Television

Attorney General Pam Bondi received swift backlash from conservatives after she threatened to prosecute Americans for using “hate speech.”
The attorney general endorsed “hate speech” prosecutions during an appearance on &#8220;The Katie Miller Podcast,&#8221; which is hosted by the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Bondi said that targeting purveyors of hate speech has become more important in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
&#8220;There&#8217;s free speech, and then there&#8217;s hate speech. And there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” <a href="https://x.com/theblaze/status/1967767257427386430">said</a> Bondi in a clip of the show released on Monday. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”
Conservatives bashed the attorney general over her tacit endorsement of the term “hate speech,” an amorphous category of language better determined by how it is received than by what is said.
“Get rid of her. Today. This is insane,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said in a <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1967955017551478895">post</a> on X. Walsh was responding to an interview Bondi did with Fox News&#8217; Sean Hannity on Monday. During the interview, Bondi revealed that the Justice Department is considering charging Office Depot after an employee allegedly refused a request to print flyers with Kirk’s face on them.
“The employee who didn’t print the flyer was already fired by his employer. This stuff is being handled successfully through free speech and free markets. This is totally gratuitous and pointless. We need the AG focused on bringing down the left wing terror cells, not prosecuting Office Depot for God’s sake,” said Walsh.
On Tuesday, Bondi attempted to clarify her use of the term “hate speech” and her department’s role in pursuing “hate speech” cases.
“Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over,” Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1967913066554630181">wrote</a>.
While Bondi narrowed her department’s remit to tackle hate speech, her use of the term at all gives credence to the term’s use on the political Left.

Pam Bondi

Calls Ignite For Bondi’s Resignation After AG Bungles ‘Hate Speech’ Message

Department of Justice

Executive

First Amendment

Hate Speech

U.S.

I started following Charlie Kirk the moment he stepped on the stage of American politics. I watched him mature in his role as founder of Turning Point USA, and I distinctly remember admiring him for shifting its mission with the realization that the battle for America was not just a political battle, but a spiritual one as well. I was so enamored that I used to imagine being on Charlie’s show — but who was I?
And then it happened. God gave me a chance to be courageous. As a teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia, one of the most controversial school districts in the country, I realized God’s truth was more important than my job security, and I took a stand. Alliance Defending Freedom represented me in a <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/cross-v-loudoun-county-school-board/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">lawsuit</a> against LCPS’s transgender policy. We sued to protect free speech and religious freedom, and to advocate for the truth of God’s design.
Charlie Kirk was the first major media personality to invite us to share our story.
Charlie used his platform to take someone considered a “nobody” and elevate her. That is the kind of man he was. He looked to elevate others rather than himself. I have no doubt that, though I was represented by a prestigious legal organization, it was talking with Charlie on his show that made my witness visible and opened other opportunities for me to see God’s goodness in the midst of spiritual battle.
I’m a high school government teacher. I knew, even as I cried over the loss of Charlie and grieved for his wife and children, that I had many students who loved him. I needed the courage to go into school and talk with my classes about this tragic moment for our nation.
Here is what I said to all of my classes:
<blockquote>“One of Charlie Kirk’s repeated themes was how important it is to talk to one another. He often said when people stop talking, that’s when bad things happen. In a marriage, when people stop talking, divorce follows. In society, when people stop talking, that’s when violence happens. One of Charlie’s missions was to train a generation—your generation—how to do politics the right way, how to engage in honest, respectful civil discourse, especially with those whom you disagree.
“One of the things we’ll be learning in studying the Constitution is that there are two ways to govern people: by talking or by force. Democracies govern by talking. That means engaging respectfully with each other, arguing to persuade one another, discussing, negotiating, compromising, and deciding together how to move forward knowing not everyone is going to agree on everything but figuring out how to live together well even in our differences.
“Over the last few days we’ve learned about healthy and unhealthy civil society. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is the epitome of unhealthy civil society. Charlie believed in faith, family, and freedom. Because he was so confident in what he believed and spoke boldly about it, he was silenced…. Again, there are only two ways of governing people: by talking or by force. If we stop talking, there is only one other option.”</blockquote>
In 30 years, I’ve taught four generations of youth. In many ways, the kids of each generation have been the same — trying to grow up, find their identity, and navigate teenage angst. But over the last two years, I’ve noticed a shift.
For almost a decade, when it was time to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, almost no students recited it. Some even refused to stand. Now everyone stands and recites the pledge. I’ve noticed a hunger for truth and a desire for more than slogans.
Now, more students courageously express their faith in school. It’s not every kid, but it is enough to inspire hope, and I believe that Charlie Kirk’s mission is part of the reason for it. His movement has had a ripple effect, even on the kids who have not necessarily followed him. His footprint is that big.
Charlie Kirk was hated because he was confident in what he believed, gifted at persuading others, and a man of integrity. Proverbs 29:10 says, “The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity and seek to kill the upright.” Jesus told his followers that “the world hates me, and they will hate you because of me.” Goodness evokes one of two reactions from people: hostility or attraction. Those who are attracted want to embrace and merge with that goodness. Those who are hostile to goodness see it as a threat. Simply living right and being a person of integrity will invite hostility.
To our youth: You have a choice. Now is the moment for courage, the time to decide to do what is right, even knowing that it may cost you greatly. My prayer is that this generation, inspired by Charlie Kirk, will stiffen their spines and stand to fight for the same virtues that he stood for so that we may win back the soul of America.
* * *
Monica Gill is a government teacher at Loudoun County High School.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Charlie Kirk Speaks At The Cambridge Union

A Teacher’s Tribute: What Charlie Kirk Taught Me And My Students

Christianity

Education

Loudoun County

Students

Teachers

Turning Point USA

Virginia

Closing arguments were finally <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/asia/jimmy-lai-hong-kong-trial-intl-hnk">completed</a> at the end of August in the National Security Law trial of Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai. Mr. Lai stands accused of colluding with foreign powers and faces life in prison. In all likelihood, the court will find Jimmy Lai guilty and sentence him to prison. 
While we await the final verdict, the West should make a plan to help free Jimmy Lai.
To say Jimmy Lai has lived a remarkable life is an understatement. Born in mainland China, the now 77-year-old Lai moved to British Hong Kong when he was 12, where he believed he would have a better future. Starting out working in a factory, Lai worked his way up, eventually owning his own factory before starting the world-famous fashion brand, Giordano. As a billionaire with homes in London, Paris, and New York, Lai could have easily rested on his laurels and enjoyed a quiet retirement. However, Lai had a great appreciation for the political and economic system that allowed him to build his wealth.
As a British colony, Hong Kong enjoyed the rule of law and free market economics that allowed it to thrive. However, the handover of the city back to communist China loomed large. In an effort to fight for the values that made Hong Kong great, Jimmy Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper. Becoming one of the largest pro-democracy newspapers in Hong Kong, Apple Daily and its founder fell in the crosshairs of the communists in mainland China through its pro-liberty content. Lai himself drew attention through his annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Massacre, a huge sore spot for Beijing.
While <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hong-kong-freedoms-democracy-protests-china-crackdown">promised</a> a degree of autonomy for 50 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gradually encroached on the freedoms of Hong Kong, a city of 7.4 million people. The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution, promises freedom of speech and rule of law; the past few decades, however, have seen a gradual erosion of these rights. For example, millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49340717">protest</a> a proposed law that would allow Hong Kongers to be extradited for trials in mainland China. While this law was retracted, it wasn’t long before something similar was implemented to take its place.
That brings us to the <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/what-is-hong-kongs-article-23-law-10-things-you-need-to-know/">National Security Law</a> (NSL), which came into effect in 2020. Essentially, the NSL criminalizes any speech or behavior that the government sees as threatening its authority. For Jimmy Lai and other pro-democracy activists, this put them in danger. As was feared, the NSL has resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people. In a city once famous for its independent courts, the NSL has seen a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/china/hong-kong-47-verdict-intl-hnk">conviction rate</a> near 100%.
It was shortly after the implementation of the NSL that Jimmy Lai found himself in legal trouble. In August 2020, Lai was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/900758905/prominent-hong-kong-publisher-arrested-under-new-national-security-law">arrested</a> and paraded through Apple Daily’s office, allegedly for colluding with foreign powers. The truth, however, was that Lai objects to the authoritarianism of the CCP and wants to fight to preserve the freedoms that made Hong Kong great.
<div id="attachment_971739" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971739" class="size-large wp-image-971739" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg" alt="HONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 10: A handout photo from Apple Daily showing Hong Kong business tycoon Jimmy Lai led by police officers during a search at the headquarters of Apple Daily after Lai, was arrested at his home on August 10, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong police arrested seven people, including business tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday on charges of violating the territory's new national security law. Police officers raided the pro-democracy newspapers headquarter while leading Mr. Lai and the company's chief executive, Cheung Kim-hung, through the offices in handcuffs. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1227987205.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Handout/Getty Images</div>
It isn’t just the cause that makes Jimmy Lai a hero: Lai didn’t need to face the risk of arrest. In addition to his various homes around the world, Lai is a British passport holder. He could have fled Hong Kong at any time after the NSL became law. Many Hong Kongers already have. Running, however, is not in Jimmy Lai’s nature. As he <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/jimmy-lai-and-fight-freedom-hong-kong-1">put it</a>, “I am one of the troublemakers. I cannot cause trouble and then leave.” Lai risked everything by fighting for liberty and again risked it by staying when he could have left.
Even while he waits for a verdict, Lai faces terrible <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/09/04/jimmy-lais-life-at-serious-and-immediate-risk-in-detention/">prison conditions</a>. He is being held in solitary confinement, 23 hours a day. He has significant health problems but is being denied proper care. There is a good possibility that Lai could die in prison simply due to the conditions of his imprisonment, which is why the West must act quickly.
What can be done? For starters, political figures across the West should continue calling for Lai’s release. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/13/china/trump-jimmy-lai-closing-arguments-intl-hnk">President Trump</a> has joined the chorus of <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-dissident-beijing-cant-break-jimmy-lai-hong-kong">international voices</a> calling for Lai’s freedom. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to fulfill his country’s obligation to stand up for Hong Kong’s autonomy. Lai is a British passport holder and therefore he is Starmer’s responsibility. In addition to public pressure, Starmer must also pause the construction of a new <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c864w2942vdo">Chinese mega embassy</a> in London. China should not be allowed a larger presence in the British capital while it actively persecutes dissidents.
Western governments can also sanction those involved in the administration of NSL trials. The U.S. has already <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-sanctions-six-individuals-for-undermining-hong-kongs-autonomy">sanctioned</a> several Hong Kong officials, but it can expand them to include senior HK officials such as Chief Executive John Lee, as well as the judges involved in these trials. The “One Country, Two Systems” framework promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, something the NSL interferes with.
Finally, other economic tools can also be applied. Legislatures should consider efforts such as tariffs on Chinese goods as a way to put pressure on Beijing. Restricting the flow of advanced microchips into China would hit the Chinese government where it hurts and impose a cost for its oppression of Hong Kongers like Jimmy Lai.
The Chinese will, of course, counter by saying this is foreign interference in an internal matter. The problem with that argument is that China’s promises to Hong Kong are recorded in a legally binding international treaty, the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8616/">Sino-British Joint Declaration</a>. Sanctions are an appropriate response to breaking that treaty.
So, why should the West care about what happens to Jimmy Lai? First, what happens in Hong Kong doesn’t necessarily stay there. The Chinese government already has an extensive network set up to threaten dissidents living abroad. The construction of the mega embassy means these efforts will only continue and affect more British citizens. Second, Lai represents a voice for liberty in Hong Kong and China as a whole. If we want freedom to thrive, the world needs people like Jimmy Lai.
The clock is ticking for Jimmy Lai. Any day now, the judges hearing his case could sentence him to life in prison. His health and prison conditions mean his stay behind bars could quickly lead to his death. If the West wants to preserve its own freedom and that of Hong Kong’s, it needs to act to save Jimmy Lai.
* * *
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, Real Clear Politics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

China Imposes National Security Law In Hong Kong

The Clock Is Ticking For Jimmy Lai. Time For The West To Act.

China

Democracy

Great Britain

Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai

Opinion

Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles made an appearance on &#8220;Fox News @ Night&#8221; on Thursday to discuss the impact of Charlie Kirk’s assassination on our nation.
Host Trace Gallagher asked Knowles to react to a comment that Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard made comparing Kirk’s assassin to the terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11.
“There’s a common characteristic between Charlie Kirk’s assassin and the Islamist terrorist organization Al Qaeda who attacked us on 9/11 in that they both sought to silence those who they did not agree with. They both recognized that their ideologies, their views, would not stand up to being challenged,” Gabbard said.  
Gallagher asked Knowles to expand on the idea.
“Of course I think that’s why Charlie’s death is hitting so many millions of people in such a profound way,” the podcast host began. “You know, all of us were friends with the guy, but he had so many more millions of admirers … grown men who have broken down sobbing &#8212; and they texted me this. And they couldn’t figure out why. But I think it’s because Charlie was the most significant political figure of his generation. We all thought he was going to be president someday.”
He went on to explain how the radical Left saw Kirk as a threat because he was powerful without being in power.
“He didn’t hold office. And he didn’t pass laws. And he didn’t wield direct political power,” Knowles observed. “All this guy did was go into hostile territory and sit down and try to talk out the issue respectfully, generously, graciously, as always. And I think a lot of people feel a great fear and sadness that not only did this great man die, but that the idea might have died as well.”
The podcast host also noted how Kirk was consistent in his messaging.
“One of my favorite things about Charlie, and I had many favorite things, is that he applied eternal principles to constantly changing political circumstances. And he was the very best at going out and having open discourse in an open field in this case. And if the opponents would not tolerate that in the end … the Left simply would not tolerate that and murdered him for it, then I think that we need to restore order in a way that has a little bit more force to it … to prevent these tragedies from happening in the future.”

Michael Knowles

Michael Knowles Reflects On Why Charlie Kirk’s Death Feels So ‘Profound’ For People

assassination

General

Graham Linehan Appears In Court Charged With Harassment

A Comedian Was Jailed In The UK For Jokes. Is Britain Now North Korea?

Comedy

Thank God we fought a revolution in this country so that we are not ruled by the idiotic rules of the modern United Kingdom.
Graham Linehan is a comedian and comedy writer who was just arrested in the UK — for his tweets.
Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in the UK. In mid-August, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/19/world-news/uk-free-speech-struggle-30-arrests-a-day-censorship/">titled an article</a>, “UK free speech crackdown sees up to 30 people a day arrested for petty offenses such as retweets and cartoons.” The Post wrote:
<blockquote>Bernadette Spofforth lay in jail on a blue gym mattress in a daze, finding it difficult to move, even breathe. “I just closed down. But the other half of my brain went into Jack Reacher mode,” she said, referring to the fictional action hero. “Every single detail was in this very vivid, bright, sharp focus.”
She remembers noticing that you can’t drown yourself in the toilet, because there’s no standing water in it and the flush button is too far to reach if your head were in the bowl. She’d end up being detained for 36 hours in July 2024. Three girls had just been <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/20/world-news/uk-teen-pleads-guilty-to-murder-of-three-girls-at-taylor-swift-themed-dance-party/">murdered in Southport</a>, England, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party. But Spofforth was not under suspicion for the crime.
Instead, horrified, and in the fog of a developing tragedy, she’d reposted on X another user’s content blaming newly arrived migrants for the ghastly crime — clarifying in her retweet, “If this is true.” Hours later she realized she may have received bad information and deleted the post — but it had already been seen thousands of times. &#8230;
Her story is one repeated almost hourly in the UK, where data suggests <a href="https://freespeechunion.org/police-make-30-arrests-a-day-for-offensive-online-messages/">over 30 people a day are arrested</a> for speech crimes, about 12,000 a year, under laws written well before the age of social media that make crimes of sending “grossly offensive” messages or sharing content of an “indecent, obscene or menacing character.”</blockquote>
Four police vehicles arrived at her home days later.
Linehan <a href="https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/i-just-got-arrested-again">wrote on</a> Substack:
<blockquote>The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets. In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet (and no, I promise you, I am not making this up.)</blockquote>
The tweet read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the ba**s.”
Linehan was arrested for that tweet. He was also arrested for another tweet in which there was a gigantic trans protest in London, of which he tweeted a photo, captioned, “A photo you can smell,” followed by a tweet in which he wrote, “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
“At Heathrow police station, my belt, bag, and devices were confiscated,” he wrote. “Then I was shown into a small green-tiled cell with a bunk, a silver toilet in the corner and a message from Crimestoppers on the ceiling next to a concave mirror that was presumably there to make you reflect on your life choices. &#8230; At one point, I said ‘I bet I know who made this complaint. Lindsay Watson’ (demented ex-copper troon who was fired for his online conduct). Then, lo-and-behold, one of my lawyers sent me this reply to the ‘bollocks’ tweet.”
The reply stated, “That weird ex-copper claims he has reported this to police and is trying to get other troons to do so. Just FYI.”
Welcome to England, the birthplace of the Magna Carta, where they are tearing down the institutions that make a functional society.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2272-the-uk-s-free-speech-crackdown?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
It&#8217;s not just that these folks in the UK are interested in tearing away free speech and saying you’re not allowed to tweet a bad thing, that bad tweets might land you in jail: They are importing people from parts of the planet who hate and despise all of the centralizing Western principles, such as free speech.
I write in “Lions And Scavengers” about the coalition of scavengers, about the idea that you have barbarians — the people from outside who hate our civilization — who join forces with the lechers inside our civilization who believe that they are marginalized by our traditional institutions and values, and then they make common cause together. 
That&#8217;s the UK in a nutshell.
It is no coincidence that on Tuesday, the Home Secretary of the UK, Yvette Cooper, said that the UK is going to take in refugees from Gaza. She stated:
<blockquote>I confirm that the Home Office has put in place systems to issue expedited visas with biometric checks conducted prior to arrival for children and their immediate accompanying family members. We have done the same for all the Chevening scholars and are now in the process of doing so for the next group of students from Gaza who have been awarded fully funded scholarships and places at UK universities so that they can start their studies in autumn this year.
Later this year, we will set out plans to establish a permanent framework for refugee students to come and study in the UK so that we can help more talented young people fleeing war and persecution to find a better future, alongside capped and managed ways for refugees to work here in the UK.</blockquote>
Congrats to the people of Great Britain. They don&#8217;t just have to contend with the insanity inside their borders, but out of some sort of misplaced sympathy, they are going to be importing people who almost certainly do not share their values.
There are plenty of other countries on planet Earth that are more akin ideologically and culturally to the people of Gaza, but according to the wonderful folks in the UK, those countries don’t exist.
There&#8217;s been some opposition within Westminster to taking in refugees from Gaza.
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick expressed apprehension at the idea of resettling Palestinians in the UK. He wrote in The Telegraph, “The truth is that Gaza&#8217;s Arab neighbors are prepared to offer humanitarian support, but consider the idea of inviting Gazans into the country at any scale a risk only a fool would take.”
Which, of course, is true.
This is a misapplied sense of guilt directed at the Third World by the Labor Party in the UK, a belief that in the oppressor/oppressed matrix, the UK is an oppressor; Israel is an oppressor; the people of Gaza are the oppressed, and therefore the people of the UK must accept people who believe that Western civilization is in and of itself wrong and terrible.
As a side note, we should point out at this point here that Qatar — which is essentially Hamas with nicer suits — owns much of London.
“A cursory look at Property Week shows that the Qatari Investment Authority, Qatari Holding and Qatari Diar own 23,253,699 square feet of London, making Qatar the largest owner of London property. Reports vary about the sum invested, alleged to be £35 billion. Qatar’s square footage is more than HM The Queen’s Crown Estate,” Sunday Guardian Live <a href="https://latest.sundayguardianlive.com/world/10394-qatar-largest-owner-london-property?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a>.
If you ever wonder why Europe is so warm toward importing people who truly hate their civilization, a big part of the reason is this — money.

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