A Republican candidate for governor in Massachusetts is facing renewed scrutiny over his role in bringing a Chinese state-owned manufacturer into the Boston subway system, a decision that represents both a financial debacle and a potential national security risk.
Brian Shortsleeve, who is running in a three-way GOP campaign ahead of the September 1 primary election, has built much of his campaign around his tenure as chief administrator of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. But newly surfaced research obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire is casting that record in a harsher light, focusing on a $277 million contract awarded during his leadership to China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, or CRRC.
At the time, Shortsleeve defended the deal as fiscally responsible. “The decision we made today was a good business decision,” he said in December 2016, touting the new Chinese-built subway cars as a cost-saving measure for the struggling transit system. He also appeared at a 2016 ceremony marking construction at CRRC’s Springfield facility, publicly celebrating the partnership.
That relationship has since become a liability, with the project becoming plagued by delays and mechanical issues, and only a fraction of the promised cars delivered years behind schedule. In 2023, CRRC reportedly submitted unfinished cars for inspection, and in August 2025, federal agents detained several new MBTA subway car shells at the Port of Philadelphia amid an investigation into potential forced labor connections.
Security concerns surrounding CRRC have also grown over time. Lawmakers and industry experts have warned for years that Chinese state-owned rail manufacturers could pose a surveillance or sabotage threat to U.S. infrastructure. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/business/chinese-train-national-security.html?unlocked_article_code=1.cVA.i653.VI8KwYILj5Dk&amp;smid=url-share">2019 report</a> in The New York Times highlighted fears that subway cars built by CRRC might be equipped with technology capable of tracking passengers’ movements or communications.
Those concerns have been echoed at the federal level. In a <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/05/30/marco-rubio-dont-let-chinas-spies-near-the-nyc-subway/">2019 op-ed</a>, then Florida Senator Marco Rubio warned that CRRC is part of a broader effort by the Chinese Communist Party to expand its influence in critical infrastructure sectors, calling it “one tactic China is employing to supplant America.” Federal agencies have since classified CRRC among Chinese military-linked companies, and Congress has moved to restrict federal funding for transit projects involving such firms.
Independent research has reinforced those warnings. A <a href="https://www.rtands.com/passenger/intercity/crrcs-chief-obligation-is-to-the-chinese-state-report/">report</a> published in an industry magazine described CRRC as having “indelible ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” noting that executives often serve dual roles as corporate leaders and party officials. The company, the report found, operates in close alignment with Beijing’s industrial strategy, including efforts to dominate global transportation networks under initiatives like “Made in China 2025.”
Meanwhile, the Rail Security Alliance <a href="https://railsecurity.org/fiasco-mbtas-contract-with-crrc/">has called</a> the MBTA’s contract with CRRC a “fiasco,” citing delays, alleged coverups, and mechanical failures. The group and others have argued that Chinese state-owned enterprises benefit from heavy government subsidies, allowing them to undercut competitors and win contracts that may not serve long-term U.S. interests.
All of that is now intersecting with Shortsleeve’s political ambitions; the 53-year-old Marine veteran and Harvard MBA is positioning himself as a fiscal conservative capable of fixing Massachusetts’ economic challenges.
His business background has been emphasized in <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/02/19/brian-shortsleeve-governor-massachusetts-gop-baker-romney">local reporting</a>, and he argues that the state needs “a chief executive … that understands how to get costs under control, provide tax and regulatory relief and get jobs growing.”
But his record complicates that message. While he is now campaigning on a more hardline conservative platform—taking tough positions on immigration and energy policy and attacking Democratic Gov. Maura Healey—Shortsleeve’s political history reflects a more moderate, establishment trajectory. He worked closely with former Gov. Mitt Romney, serving as political director for his 2002 gubernatorial campaign and fundraising for both his 2008 and 2012 presidential runs.
Shortsleeve, a self-described “Cape Cod voter” and founder of venture capital firm M33 Growth, has donated to several Democrats in recent years, including members of Congress and state officials.
He has also shifted party affiliations over time, at one point registering as a Democrat before later switching between Independent and Republican. As recently as 2021, he moved to “unenrolled” status following January 6, before rejoining the Republican Party in 2023.
Political strategist Wendy Wakeman noted that Shortsleeve is now running “a little more Republican, a little more right” than in the past, as he competes in a primary shaped by the Trump-era GOP.
That dynamic leaves him in a delicate position. To win the nomination, he must appeal to a conservative base that has grown increasingly skeptical of establishment figures and foreign economic dealings, particularly those involving China. Yet to compete in a general election in deep-blue Massachusetts, he would likely need to regain support from moderates and independents.
The controversy over the MBTA’s CRRC contract underscores the tension at the heart of his candidacy. What was once presented as a pragmatic, cost-saving decision is now being reframed as a cautionary example of the risks tied to foreign state-owned enterprises—and a potential vulnerability for a candidate trying to redefine himself in a changing Republican Party.

mbta-brian-shortsleeve-fb

Three-Way GOP Race Heats Up As China Deal Haunts Hopeful

Communist China

Elections

Massachusetts

Politics

Republican Party

ICE agents detained an illegal alien from Ghana convicted on 15 counts for stealing more than $8 million through an online dating fraud scheme targeting the elderly, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. 
Convicted three years ago in Boston, Massachusetts, for defrauding the elderly through fake dating profiles, ICE agents detained Kofi Ib Osei on Tuesday. Osei was convicted in March 2023 on seven counts of false statement to a bank, six counts of wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and two counts of money laundering. 
“Kofi Osei is a criminal illegal alien who committed fraud throughout New England,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told The Daily Wire. “On April 6, 2026, ICE arrested Osei from jail and took him into custody in Virginia. This is why we need local cooperation.”
Osei first entered the United States in 2010 and was convicted on March 22, 2023, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
The indictment against Osei revealed that he targeted victims across the country, from Florida to California, from 2016 to 2020, through a romance scheme that involved tricking individuals into sending money to bank accounts operated by Osei under fake names. This money was then used for buying cars and other personal items, according to the indictment.
To open bank accounts, Osei would use passports from South Africa and Lesotho under various names. 
One victim in the indictment included a woman who met Osei on eHarmony under the name “William Karlsen.&#8221; They communicated by phone and text, and Osei claimed he needed her to send him money so he could leave the oil rig he claimed to work on to visit her. Eventually, the victim transferred Osei over $200,000, according to the indictment. 
A second scheme involved Osei using the name “William Woodcox” and getting money from a woman he targeted on the dating website Plenty of Fish. That victim transferred him around $65,000 to help him after an accident in which he&#8217;d claimed to be involved. 
In total, the Justice Department said that Osei scammed hundreds of people out of $8 million. He was sentenced to 54 months in prison over the scheme. 
Osei was just one of the illegal immigrant criminals arrested this week by ICE. 
Others arrested by ICE this week included Pedro Joel Martinez, an illegal alien from El Salvador convicted for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14-years-old; Miguel Angel Vazquez-Garcia, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted for dealing child pornography in Wilmington, Delaware; Ader Aldair Ramirez-Quiroz, an illegal alien from Honduras convicted for importation of fentanyl in San Diego, California; and Anyeli Carolina Peley-Herrera, an illegal alien from Venezuela convicted for acquisition of personal identification by false authority in Bonneville County, Idaho, according to DHS. 
“Yesterday, the heroic men and women of ICE arrested child predators, child rapists, drug traffickers, and other scumbags,” Bis said. “Under President Trump, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”

MixCollage-08-Apr-2026-01-36-PM-7534

No Love Lost: ICE Nabs Illegal Who Scammed Grandmas In Online Dating Scheme

Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a response to Democrat Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, who was defending New England favorite Dunkin&#8217; from the ire of MAHA.
The exchange came after Kennedy Jr. took aim at Dunkin&#8217; during a rally last week at Brazos Hall in Austin, Texas.
“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,&#8217;” RFK Jr. said at the time. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to do it.”
“No one is taking away your Dunkin&#8217;. But isn&#8217;t it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe?” RFK Jr. wrote in response to Healey’s tweet, which included an illustration of a Dunkin’ beverage cup and text beneath it saying, “Come and take it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
No one is taking away your Dunkin&#8217;. But isn&#8217;t it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe? <a href="https://t.co/nV6KLOBf94">https://t.co/nV6KLOBf94</a>
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecKennedy/status/2029648656005996907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
His position was further clarified after the rally.
“Secretary Kennedy also announced the closure of the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) loophole, requiring any new food ingredient to provide proof of safety,” MAHA Action, a Kennedy-aligned nonprofit, said in a statement <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hhs-secretary-kennedy-announces-nutrition-requirements-for-medical-licensing-baby-formula-safety-standards-at-austin-rally-for-real-food-302701305.html">posted</a> on Monday. 
“Companies including Dunkin&#8217; Donuts and Starbucks will be required to produce safety data they were supposed to have maintained. The reforms aim to ensure American foods follow the highest safety and nutritional standards globally.”
RFK Jr. railed against the GRAS loophole during a “60 Minutes” appearance last month.
“That loophole was hijacked by the industry, and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply,” Kennedy said at the time. “In Europe there’s only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food.”
“There is…no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultra processed,” he added.

Dunkin

RFK Jr. Takes Not So Sweet Dig At Democratic Governor In Dunkin’ Donuts Fight

Food

Health

MAHA

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Democrat Boston mayor Michelle Wu credited the Somali community for the achievements in the city’s history. 
The far-Left official is getting blasted for comments she made during a Somali-American community rally on Saturday. The clip started circulating on social media, leading to big pushback from viewers.
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@officeofmayorwu/video/7586790944276483358" data-video-id="7586790944276483358" data-embed-from="oembed" style="max-width:605px; min-width:325px;">
<section> <a target="_blank" title="@officeofmayorwu" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@officeofmayorwu?refer=embed">@officeofmayorwu</a> 
Two weeks ago, federal officials pulled Somali-Americans out of line at Faneuil Hall where they waited to be sworn in as naturalized citizens. We will not be quiet. Boston is the cradle of liberty and we stand with our Somali neighbors.
 <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-Boston-Mayor-Michelle-Wu-7586790777071307551?refer=embed">♬ original sound &#8211; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu &#8211; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu</a> </section>
</blockquote>
 <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
“You cannot talk about any achievement that the city of Boston has had in safety, jobs, and economic development, in education, without talking about the Somali community that has lifted our city up. We are proud and we are grateful for our Somali community and for our Somali-American neighbors. Boston and the country are clear that hate has no place in our society,” the Boston mayor said.
“We will use every attack to actually strengthen and expand the services available, to empower and work alongside our community members who are already doing so much good in the world and setting the example for the rest of the country.”
“Can you list those achievements here for everyone?” one commenter on X <a href="https://x.com/OfAthenry/status/2003463406901428350">replied</a>.
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Another commenter quipped, “Remember when the [Somalis] tossed the tea into the harbor?”
Her comments come on the heels of a massive Somali-tied welfare fraud scheme that was uncovered in Minnesota involving billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen from the state, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-somali-welfare-fraud-scandal-is-even-worse-than-you-think?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=The+Somali+Welfare+Fraud+Scandal+Is+Even+Worse+Than+You+Think">reported</a>.
“We believe that the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history,” Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller said on Fox News. “We believe we have only scratched the very top of the surface of how deep this goes.”
The mayor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boston-mayor-michelle-wu-blasted-for-white-jokes-at-st-patricks-day-breakfast?author=Tim+Meads&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Boston+Mayor+Michelle+Wu+Blasted+For+%E2%80%98White%E2%80%99+Jokes+At+St.+Patrick%E2%80%99s+Day+Breakfast">made her position clear</a> months after being elected to office. At a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in 2022, Wu caught heat for joking that she was “getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive, and white,” before quickly adding that she was allegedly referring to “snowstorms, [and] snowflakes.”
She also seemingly compared ICE agents to neo-Nazis this June. “I don’t know of any police department that routinely wears masks. We know that there are other groups that routinely wear masks. NSC-131 routinely wears masks,” Wu told reporters at the time, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sickening-dhs-rips-dem-boston-mayors-seeming-comparison-of-ice-agents-to-neo-nazis?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Sickening%E2%80%99%3A+DHS+Rips+Dem+Boston+Mayor%E2%80%99s+Seeming+Comparison+Of+ICE+Agents+To+Neo-Nazis">reported</a>.
“Mayor, just to clarify, are you comparing ICE to — you said — to NSC-131, a neo-Nazi group? Are you comparing them to a neo-Nazi group?” a reporter asked.
“What I said is that Boston police, and no police department that I know of at the local level, routinely wears masks” she replied.
The Department of Homeland Security fired back on social media, calling the apparent comparison “sickening.”

Mayor Michelle Wu

Boston Mayor Says Somali Community Gets Credit For ‘Any Achievement’ The City Has

Boston Mayor Says Somali Community Gets Credit For 'Any Achievement' The City Has

Boston

General

Leftism

Michelle Wu

Somalis

Massachusetts Mayor Brian DePena made waves for requesting the assistance of a translator during a court appearance on Friday.  
DePena requested that his personal assistant act as a translator during the proceedings, which the judge overseeing the hearing denied due to concerns that the staffer had not been independently verified. Because the judge and opposing counsel do not speak Spanish, it was determined that mistranslations could negatively affect the case, either intentionally or unintentionally, <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/massachusetts-mayor-asks-for-translator-in-court-hearing-due-to-his-poor-english">per</a> The Post Millennial.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
The mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts who is from Dominican Republic gets a translator in court because he can’t understand English <a href="https://t.co/9rcre4kLRN">pic.twitter.com/9rcre4kLRN</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2002911459387605464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The incident occurred during a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission and quickly went viral. It’s been <a href="https://www.brianforlawrence.com/about">revealed</a> that DePena hails from the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York in the early 1980s before moving to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1989. 
The hearing concerned former Lawrence Police Chief William Castro, who lost his policing credentials after a 2024 police chase and subsequent false report. Castro was accused of driving the wrong way down a city street during the chase. He later filed a report saying he was responding to an armed bank robbery. In reality, he had been going after someone who had allegedly cashed a bad check.  
Documents <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/lawrence-mayor-police-chief-investigation/3614726/">uncovered</a> by the NBC10 Boston Investigators revealed that DePena tried to curtail the investigation into the acting police chief, who is a political ally of the Lawrence mayor. 
Social media users have been reacting strongly to the clip, saying it’s shocking that an elected official is not able to speak fluent English.
“How is this even real life?” one response <a href="https://x.com/PlanetOfMemes/status/2002911650094211150">said</a>.
“This is absurd. We live in a parody world,” another person <a href="https://x.com/BraedenSorbo/status/2002953268541153776">echoed</a>. 
“If you can&#8217;t speak English, you shouldn&#8217;t even be eligible for citizenship, much less public office,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/OldeWorldOrder/status/2002913607743602801">wrote</a>. &#8220;How are you supposed to represent Americans if you can&#8217;t even understand our language?&#8221;
Per <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/geo/lawrence-ma/">census data</a>, Lawrence, Massachusetts, is over 82% Hispanic.

Brian DePena

Massachusetts Mayor Can’t Understand English, Needs Translator In Court

Massachusetts Mayor Can't Understand English, Requests Translator In Court

Court

English

Hispanics

Immigration

Democratic attorneys general in 19 states, led by California and Massachusetts, are suing the Trump administration over its $100,000 fee for H-1B visas.
The lawsuit announced on Friday argues that the fee imposed by the administration goes far beyond the actual cost for an H-1B application, and goes against the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“As the world’s fourth largest economy, California knows that when skilled talent from around the world joins our workforce, it drives our state forward. President Trump’s illegal $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates unnecessary — and illegal — financial burdens on California public employers and other providers of vital services, exacerbating labor shortages in key sectors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Friday.
“The Trump Administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise,” Bonta continued.
The visa is meant for a limited number of jobs, and there are only 65,000 new ones doled out annually. However, 20,000 more H-1B visas are issued for those who have a “master’s degree or higher” from a college within the United States.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, there have been “enough petitions” sent to the federal government for both caps for fiscal year 2026.
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H-1B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told The Daily Wire in a statement.
“The Administration’s actions are lawful and are a necessary, initial, incremental step towards necessary reforms to the H-1B program,” she continued.
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A September presidential proclamation stated that the program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor” and it has veered off from its original intention.
The proclamation added that companies “have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens, while at the same time making it more difficult to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers, with the largest impact seen in critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.”
The lawsuit comes at a major tipping point for immigration nationwide, as the Trump administration recently stopped immigration processes for people from 19 &#8220;high-risk&#8221; countries following the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national who entered as part of a refugee program following the botched 2021 troop withdrawal from the Middle Eastern nation. In addition, deportation efforts are still underway as the Supreme Court will soon be tackling whether or not birthright citizenship is constitutional.

D6D02C5F-008E-4A27-A9F4-F345022ACA74_1_201_a

Dems Sue Trump Admin Over Major Fee For H-1B Visas

California

Economy

Trump Administration

Visas

White House

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has launched a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/11/hud-boston-fair-housing-discrimination">sweeping civil rights investigation</a> into the city of Boston, accusing Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration of implementing housing policies that unlawfully favor black, Latino, and other minority residents. The probe, announced Thursday, represents one of the most aggressive federal interventions yet in the Trump administration’s broader effort to dismantle local diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives it argues violate anti-discrimination law.
In a <a href="https://www.hud.gov/sites/default/files/Main/documents/Letter-FHEO-Fair-Housing-Act-Investigation.pdf">sharply worded letter</a> to Wu, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity said, “The context of race, fair housing is not about ‘the absence of racial discrimination . . . but the presence of deliberate systems . . . to achieve and sustain racial equity.’ But this is wrong. The text of the Fair Housing Act is unmistakably focused on eliminating discrimination in the housing market and outlining the penalties for engaging in this kind of discrimination.”
Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor wrote to Wu, “At your office’s direction, however, City officials have set out to smuggle ‘racial equity into every layer of operations in City government.’” The letter added, “City Officials Have Enthusiastically Embraced and Appear to Have Implemented the City’s Proposed Racial Spoils System.”
HUD Secretary Scott Turner echoed that language, calling Boston’s approach a “social engineering project” driven by DEI ideology rather than legitimate housing needs. “This warped mentality will be fully exposed,” Turner said, vowing the city would be brought into compliance with federal law. Turner has previously criticized what he calls race-based policymaking and, earlier this week, blamed former President Joe Biden for housing pressures tied to immigration, citing HUD’s newly released “Worst Case Housing Needs” report.
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At issue are several city housing plans—most notably the Boston Housing Strategy 2025, the Assessment of Fair Housing, and the Anti-Displacement Action Plan—which call for targeted outreach to black and Latino families, increased lending in communities of color, and allocations of homeownership opportunities intended “particularly” for BIPOC households. One goal states that 65 percent of city-supported homeownership opportunities should go to BIPOC residents. HUD argues that these provisions constitute explicit racial preferences prohibited under federal civil rights law and past Supreme Court precedent that rejects “outright racial balancing.”
HUD’s letter also criticizes Boston’s use of racially based data tools, including maps that classify neighborhoods partly by racial composition to identify areas at “high risk” of displacement and thus eligible for more city investment. The department said these classifications revive the logic of “government-sponsored redlining,” even if intended to combat inequity. It further alleges that city agencies and nonprofit partners have implemented “race-conscious marketing and buyer selection,” and that Boston has pressured banks and developers to adopt race-based benchmarks.
The investigation reflects the Trump administration’s broader shift in civil rights enforcement, which has increasingly targeted DEI programs while cutting back on traditional fair housing oversight.
HUD will request documents from the city within 10 days, after which investigators may file formal discrimination charges or refer the case to the Justice Department.

Trump Admin Accuses Boston Of Illegal Race-Based Housing Policies

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Housing and Urban Development

Race

Social Issues

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton suggested Sunday that the Trump administration might soon begin to “murder” Americans.
Moulton, who is running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, made the radical claim during an appearance on CNN in which he suggested that the administration’s actions against narcoterrorists in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean may be replicated against Americans.
“The President of the United States and his secretary of Defense are conducting murder on the high seas. They&#8217;re committing murder and Americans should care,” <a href="https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1997768199379505464">said</a> Moulton. “None of us like drug traffickers, but we have laws that say that drug traffickers don&#8217;t get summarily executed, and if it&#8217;s happening off the coast of America with people that we don&#8217;t know, just give it time before Donald Trump starts doing the same kind of thing to people we do know right here at home.”
The administration has declared major drug cartels in South America as terror groups, and positioned roughly 15,000 troops in the Caribbean Sea to combat narcoterrorists trafficking fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States. The U.S. military has destroyed roughly two dozen boats and submarines in international waters that the administration said were trafficking illicit drugs.
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Democrats ramped up criticisms of the Trump administration’s war on drugs after a report from The Washington Post last month claimed that War Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a “kill them all” order carried out against survivors of a destroyed drug-running vessel.
Top military officials have contested the report. Adm. Mitch Bradley said in a closed-door hearing in Congress last week that Hegseth never gave such an order. In one September incident that has become the basis for Democratic claims of war crimes, Bradley made the call to send a follow-up strike against a vessel that he deemed was still a threat.
Democrats have pushed to have the classified video of the follow-up strike made public. Sen. Tom Cotton, who has seen the video, appeared on NBC News on Sunday and said he had “no problem” with releasing it as long as doing so does not risk national security.
“I will say that the [Department of War] may have valid concerns about revealing what we know about tactics and techniques that these cartels are using or about our sources or methods,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-cotton-has-no-problem-with-releasing-video-of-drug-boat-double-tap">said</a> Cotton. “I would trust Secretary Hegseth and his team to make the decision about whether they can declassify and release the video. But again, there’s nothing remarkable on that video in my opinion.”

Seth Moulton

Dem Congressman Suggests Trump Will ‘Murder’ Americans Like Narcoterrorists

Congress

Department of Defense

Department of War

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

Drugs

Fentanyl

Pete Hegseth

Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) will not primary challenge Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in the 2026 election. She is instead opting to run for re-election to her current seat.
“Hearing from so many people from throughout our Commonwealth encouraging me to run for the United States Senate was deeply humbling and a testament to the strength of our movement,” Pressley <a href="https://x.com/AyannaPressley/status/1995949427249610967">posted to X</a> in a statement on Tuesday.
“It would be an honor to serve the whole Commonwealth-but with our daughter in her last year at home before college and a district that has been in the crosshairs of this White House, I am certain that the Massachusetts 7th is where I belong in this moment,” she continued.
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The only major primary challenger to Markey next year for the seat is now Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).
The move comes as the Democratic Party is at a political crossroads in terms of both the age and ideology of candidates it runs. The congresswoman is 51 years old, and Markey is 79. Moulton is even younger at 47, and he’s been an advocate for having different Democratic leadership in the Senate besides Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
&#8220;Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership. If [Schumer] were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare. Maybe now [Markey] will finally join me in pledging not to vote for Schumer?&#8221; Moulton posted to X on November 9 when a handful of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to take steps toward reopening the federal government.
As for Pressley, she is one of the original four members of the far-left “Squad,” which started with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Pressley, who all took office in 2019.
The debate has manifested most notably when President Joe Biden was swapped out for Vice President Kamala Harris as the 2024 presidential nominee. However, it is also showing up in other places, including the Maine Senate primary between 41-year-old veteran Graham Platner and 77-year-old Gov. Janet Mills.
“Congresswoman Pressley is a powerful fighter for working families and a national leader for her work in Congress,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) posted in response to Pressley’s announcement.
“No one fights harder than [Ayanna Pressley], and she will continue to be a strong, effective voice for Massachusetts,” she added. If Warren opts for re-election, it would not be until 2030, which is the year she turns 81.
Markey’s seat is rated as “Solid Democrat” by the Cook Political Report.

Ayanna Pressley

Squad Member Will Not Challenge Fellow Dem Senator As Party Frets Over Trump

Ayanna Pressley Will Not Primary Sen. Ed Markey As Democrats Navigate Trump-Era Direction

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A staffer for Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey faces charges for drug trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm.
Lamar Cook of Springfield is accused of trafficking 200 or more grams of cocaine and illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.
“The Governor’s Office has been made aware of the arrest of an employee, Lamar Cook,&#8221; a Healey spokesman told<a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/employee-for-gov-healeys-office-fired-following-his-arrest/3835936/"> NBC 10 Boston</a>.
“The conduct that occurred here is unacceptable and represents a major breach of the public trust. Mr. Cook has been terminated from his position effective immediately. This criminal investigation is ongoing, and our administration will work with law enforcement to assist them in their work,” the statement added.
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According to the Hampden District Attorney’s office, there’s an “ongoing and active” investigation going on by state authorities and Homeland Security Investigations into cocaine trafficking in Springfield, which started when authorities came across two packages at the Hotel UMass in Amherst with “suspected cocaine” inside.
In addition, authorities seized 9 kilograms of the drug on Saturday while busting a “controlled delivery operation” at the Springfield State Office Building, where Cook, 45, worked. Authorities searched the building with a warrant on Monday.
However, the Hampden DA’s office said in a press release that there could be “additional charges” as part of the Hotel UMass seizure of the 13 kilograms of cocaine.
Cook pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Thursday and faces another hearing on Friday, according to<a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/who-is-lamar-cook-from-western-massachusetts-deputy-director-to-alleged-drug-trafficker/"> WWLP</a>.
&#8220;Eight kilos?? Whoa. That&#8217;s a LOT of dope,&#8221; Fox News Contributor and law enforcement expert Paul Mauro posted to X.
The arrest sparked criticism of the governor.
&#8220;A top aide to Gov. Maura Healey is a drug trafficker. This is beyond shocking. This is a reflection not just on our governor and her failed leadership and management skills, but on our entire state, and we shouldn’t tolerate it. Gov. Healey owes Massachusetts an explanation,&#8221; Brian Shortsleeve, a Republican running for governor in Massachusetts, posted on X.
Healey came under fire last year for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-gov-refuses-to-help-deportations-as-ice-busts-alleged-illegal-alien-child-rapists-in-her-state">refusing</a> to comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation orders.

Boston, MA – August 8: Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a morning press conference announcing significant action related to the state’s emergency shelter system.

Major Drug Bust Shakes Up Massachusetts’s Dem Governor’s Office

Cocaine

Crime

maura healey

What do you call seven million old white people gathering all over the country?
Not a Barry Manilow reunion tour.
It is, of course, the “No Kings” rallies, which happened over the course of Saturday with seven million protesters, nearly all of them members of the AARP, gathering around the nation in order to protest kings.
You may have noticed we don&#8217;t have kings here in the United States. We have a constitutional republic.
No matter what you think of Donald Trump, Donald Trump has been subject to the dictates of Congress. He has been subject to the dictates of courts. There are actual laws and regulations on the books that prevent the president of the United States from instituting tyrannical power over the rest of the country.
One of the most amusing things about these “No Kings” rallies is the supposition by the Left that they stand in opposition to grand expansions of executive power.
That is absolute bull. It is nonsense. I&#8217;m old enough to remember Barack Obama. I&#8217;m old enough to remember Joe Biden, who tried to use the Occupational Safety and Health Organization in order to cram down vaccine mandates on 80 million Americans, and our company had to sue to stop him.
I remember President Biden telling the Supreme Court that while they were attempting to stop him from getting rid of student loans, he would circumvent them and find another way to do it.
The idea that these people who are opposed to Donald Trump do so to oppose expanded executive power is ridiculous. It is the Democratic Party in the United States which has, writ large, expanded the power of the executive branch wholesale over the course of the last century. Since Woodrow Wilson, the expansion of the executive branch of government has been nonstop. It has sometimes been paused under some Republicans, but it is rarely reversed.
When it comes to the modern Democratic Party, the idea that they want to delegate power back to the states or delegate power back to Congress is a lie. As soon as a Democrat is in power, they simply want to run roughshod over the Constitution of the United States.
Thus the very premise of these “No Kings” rallies is false.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2299-old-white-people-rally-against-kings"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Left-wing Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/18/no-kings-protests-october-18-turnout">reported</a>:  “According to a statement from the ‘No Kings’ protest organizers, Saturday&#8217;s turnout was ‘one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history’ with over two million more people taking part than participated in similar protests in June of this year.”
Of course, you remember how much of a difference it made when they protested in June.
You don&#8217;t? You forgot already?
You forgot already because it didn&#8217;t matter at all. It is now Monday and everyone already forgot.
“More than 2,700 events were planned as part of the protests across 50 states as of Saturday, as well as several internationally, including in London, Paris, Rome and Lisbon, Portugal.”
I get a kick out of places that actually have kings saying that they&#8217;re going to have “No Kings” rallies.
These rallies are ridiculous. If you look at the pictures of people who are dressed up as lobsters in Massachusetts or Superman in New York City or inflatable chickens, you think to yourself, “I don&#8217;t think these are the folks who are going to change America in any real way.”
<div id="attachment_988687" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988687" class="size-large wp-image-988687" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-864x576.jpg" alt="People participate in a &quot;No Kings&quot; national day of protest in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 18, 2025. From New York to San Francisco, millions of Americans are expected to hit the streets to voice their anger over President Donald Trump's policies at nationwide &quot;No Kings&quot; protests. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2241486145.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
And that&#8217;s putting aside the people who arrived at these rallies in order to promote violence against the president of the United States, or against people on the right-wing. Those people were in plentiful supply. Politicians showed up. They spoke alongside radical agitators and organizers.
We&#8217;re all supposed to pretend that that never happened, speaking alongside terrorist supporters, people who despise the country. If you&#8217;re a politician, like Bernie Sanders or Chris Murphy from Connecticut, and you speak alongside Qatari mouthpiece Mehdi Hasan, or you speak alongside people who have openly promoted terrorism, that&#8217;s kind of a big deal.
My favorite moment of media coverage came when MSNBC <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/msnbc-interviews-a-unicorn-and-bear-at-no-kings-rally-looking-as-ridiculous-as-we-can-to-protest-ridiculous-trump/">interviewed</a> a person dressed up as a unicorn.
(A rally is truly serious when people dress up as inflatable unicorns.)
<blockquote>Reporter: Angel, I&#8217;ve never interviewed a unicorn live on MSNBC.
Unicorn: Always a first time for everything.
Reporter: Angel. Talk as loud as you can. Because you got kind of a big snout here. … I&#8217;ll say that again. I said it&#8217;s hard to hear you, but tell me what brings you out and to be inside this high unicorn costume today?
Unicorn: Well, we&#8217;re here to represent the loving, hardworking community of Los Angeles. We&#8217;re here peacefully protesting, looking as ridiculous as we can, just so maybe we appeal to the president because he is a ridiculous leader that is normalizing abuse of power, and we cannot stand and act like nothing is happening.
Reporter: I&#8217;ve never heard a more serious message come out of a pink unicorn.</blockquote>
I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s true because I think that half of the MSNBC staff are pink unicorns.
It was an impressive showing, with great intellects. People like actor John Cusack, who was last relevant when he was standing outside a bedroom window holding a boombox in a movie from 1989.
But if you thought that Cusack was the only old actor who showed up to pay tribute to the “No Kings” rally, I present to you: (drum roll) Robert De Niro, who seems to have chosen poorly when he drank from his choice of Holy Grails. He is now aging extraordinarily rapidly and also apparently turning into a hobbit.
He praised Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, for saying F.U. to Trump, (which she may be saying from jail soon, depending on how her mortgage falsification case goes).
“I like what Letitia James is doing,” he declared “She&#8217;s fighting back. She&#8217;s saying F*** you. &#8230; I will not be taken down by this person. I am not afraid of him.” He also had comments about Stephen Miller, calling Miller, who happens to be Jewish, a Nazi.
Bernie Sanders yelled, “We&#8217;re here because we&#8217;re going to do everything we can to honor the sacrifices of millions of men and women who, over the last 250 years, fought and sometimes died.”
I can&#8217;t take him seriously. Nothing you do can make me take him seriously, because he&#8217;s not a serious person. The fact that the Democratic Party has elevated him as an ideological thought leader after spending his entire life being a useless pustule on the ass of American society is indeed a reflection of what their party stands for.
Sanders spoke of how much these people loved America.
Yet there were a shocking number of non-American flags over the Washington, DC rally. There was a giant Palestinian flag in solidarity with Hamas, of course. In Los Angeles there were tons of Mexican flags, so many that the CNN reporter noted it.
Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts decided that he was going to give a speech while donning a trans flag. J.B. Pritzker, the would-be presidential candidate from Illinois (who typically has to be lowered into these things by crane) stood in front of a bunch of signs, including a F*** ICE sign.
For the sake of his bodily health, I hope it was a very short march.
A Barry Manilow reunion tour would have been a heck of a lot less screechy.

People Protest in Washington, DC as Part of the No Kings Rallies

Old White People Rally Against ‘Kings’

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President Donald Trump threatened to strip Boston of its status as host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup following an eruption of public unrest.
“If somebody is doing a bad job, and I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, who’s head of FIFA,” Trump said Wednesday. “I would say, ‘Let’s move into another location,’ and he would do that.”
Last week, over 100 people took over a Boston street, setting off fireworks and illegally racing. According to prosecutors, the event appeared to be mass-coordinated, where “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-police-cruiser-destroyed-julian-bowers-william-cantwell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drivers perform burnouts, donuts, and illegal street races, often live-streaming the activities</a>.” The event ended with a police cruiser erupting in flames.
Trump reiterated the threat to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Mararet Olohan in the Oval Office Wednesday.
&#8220;Somebody said, &#8216;Would we think about taking the World Cup away from Boston if they don&#8217;t straighten it out?'&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;And the answer is yes, we have the right to do that.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> he might take the World Cup from cities that don&#8217;t straighten out crime:
&#8220;Somebody said, &#8216;Would we think about taking the World Cup away from Boston if they don&#8217;t straighten it out?&#8217; And the answer is yes, we have the right to do that.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/p1DFtzPasK">pic.twitter.com/p1DFtzPasK</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1978568693199032494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump added that he would take the same action in California if he felt Los Angeles wasn’t prepared to host the 2028 Olympics.
To prepare for 2026, President Trump assembled the FIFA World Cup Task Force through executive order. He instructed the task force to coordinate with executive agencies and assist with the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishing-the-white-house-task-force-on-the-fifa-world-cup-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planning, organization, and execution of events surrounding the World Cup. </a>
FIFA President Gianni Infantino expects the tournament to generate $40 billion in economic activity and create 200,000 jobs.
When announcing the task force, Trump and Infantino emphasized safety and hospitality. “It’s important that everyone coming to America feels safe and welcome,” Infantino said.
In an effort to prepare Boston to become a host city, President Trump offered to send the National Guard to Boston, but claimed Mayor Michelle Wu would not accept “because she thinks it’s bad politically.”
“Boston is honored and excited to host World Cup matches,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told The Daily Wire. “We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to our beautiful city, the cradle of liberty and city of champions.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren weighed in on the dispute in an interview with Bloomberg, saying, “Michelle Wu is doing a terrific job.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t like anyone who doesn’t bend the knee, so frankly I’m not surprised that he’s trying to pick some sort of fight with Michelle Wu, but I don’t think it’s going to work,” Warren said.
Including Boston, the 2026 FIFA World Cup secured 16 host cities: 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. To finalize host status, each city signed a legally binding contract with FIFA, outlining the rights, responsibilities, and obligations.
In 2023, the Seattle City Council released its Host City Agreement, which contains a clause titled “Revocation of Host City Selection.” The clause states that FIFA’s host city selection assumes the city will meet “all requirements and act in full compliance with its obligations resulting from, or in connection with, this Host City Agreement.”
If the city fails to meet its obligations, FIFA reserves the right to revoke host status.
Meaning, if Trump requests FIFA intervene, President Infantino could potentially invoke this clause and argue that Boston no longer meets its contractual requirements. The City of Boston could then contest the decision in court.
“We hope every one of our 16 host cities will be ready to successfully host and fulfil all necessary requirements,” a FIFA spokesperson said following Trump&#8217;s comments. “Safety and security are the top priorities at all FIFA events worldwide.”
“Safety and security are obviously the governments&#8217; responsibility, and they decide what is in the best interest for public safety,” the spokesperson added.

Trump Threatens To Pull World Cup Matches From Liberal City Over Safety Concerns

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