A new survey shows that GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) would beat incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in a head-to-head match-up with independent voters.
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/12/us-news/stefanik-would-trounce-blakeman-in-potential-gop-match-up-for-ny-governor/">survey</a> asked New York voters who they would vote for if the 2026 gubernatorial election were held today. Stefanik secured 41% of &#8220;Independent/Other&#8221; voters against Hochul, whereas fellow Republican, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, secured 29% of independents against Hochul.
Blakeman, who just recently won re-election as county executive, is reportedly seriously mulling over a run for governor.
Notably, Stefanik edged out Hochul by three points in their match-up with independent voters.
The survey, conducted by J.L. Partners, focused largely on different Republicans&#8217; chances against Hochul in the coming election. Stefanik, who officially announced her candidacy for governor this month, would perform much better than Blakeman, according to the poll.
In Blakeman&#8217;s hypothetical match-up against Hochul, he loses by 11 points with all voters. When Stefanik is matched up against Hochul, she only loses by three points. The margin of error for the poll is estimated at 4.4%.
Stefanik seems to be gaining on Hochul, too. As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-shows-elise-stefanik-has-kathy-hochul-in-striking-distance-after-ny-gov-endorses-mamdani">The Daily Wire</a> last month, a GrayHouse poll showed Hochul leading Stefanik 48% to 43% with New York voters. Again, the most recent poll shows Stefanik only down by three points.
Stefanik announced her bid for governor just days after Zohran Mamdani won the election to be New York City’s next mayor with Hochul’s endorsement. Mamdani has been criticized as anti-police and antisemitic, and ran on “free buses,” government-run grocery stores, sky-high taxes, and other extremely far-Left promises.
“Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America. Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills,” Stefanik said when she announced. “When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our Governor, she bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families.”
Stefanik has promised to introduce policies to lower the cost of utilities, energy, and groceries. The Republican has also boasted of her efforts to fight “woke insanity in our schools” and support small businesses. She’s additionally targeted Hochul for “cozying” up to Mamdani, whom she described as an “antisemitic communist.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stefanik-launches-gubernatorial-bid-to-oust-empire-states-communist-loving-red-queen">Stefanik Launches Gubernatorial Bid To Oust Empire State’s ‘Communist’-Loving Red Queen</a>

Elise Stefanik, Kathy Hochul

POLL: Stefanik Dominates With Independents, Beats Hochul

2026 Midterms

Elections

Elise Stefanik

Kathy Hochul

New York

Politics

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) launched a run for New York governor on Friday, challenging the “failed” incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and her embrace of leftist New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. 
Stefanik’s announcement comes just days after Mamdani won the election as New York City’s next mayor with Hochul&#8217;s endorsement. Highlighting Hochul’s support for radical policies and New York’s high cost of living, Stefanik said she would make the Empire State “affordable and safe FOR ALL&#8221; if elected governor. 
“Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America. Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills,” Stefanik announced. “When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our Governor, she bent the knee to the raging Defund the Police, Tax Hiking Communist causing catastrophe for New York families.”
In an ad posted alongside her announcement on social media, Stefanik said she would introduce policies to lower the cost of utilities, energy, and groceries. The spot also pointed to her record of fighting “woke insanity in our schools,” supporting small businesses, and targeted Hochul for &#8220;cozying&#8221; up to Mamdani, whom she described as an &#8220;antisemitic communist.&#8221; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Kathy Hochul is the Worst Governor in America. Under her failed leadership, New York is the most unaffordable state in the nation with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery bills. When New Yorkers were looking for leadership from our Governor, she bent… <a href="https://t.co/HXyQlNIjEj">pic.twitter.com/HXyQlNIjEj</a>
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href="https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1986750485055823895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Stefanik is a close ally of President Donald Trump and was the chair of the House Republican Conference from 2021 to 2025. 
While New York is a solidly blue state, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-shows-elise-stefanik-has-kathy-hochul-in-striking-distance-after-ny-gov-endorses-mamdani">recent polling</a> suggests the race could be close. One poll from GrayHouse, conducted last month, showed Hochul leading Stefanik in a hypothetical matchup, 48% to 43%. 
The poll also suggested that the race could tighten if Mamdani won the mayoral election. Around 47% of voters who identified as independents said that Mamdani’s election would make them less likely to vote for a Democrat in the governor’s race. 
Hochul campaigned with Mamdani throughout his mayoral campaign, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/opinion/hochul-endorsement-mamdani.html">saying</a> that she believed he had “the courage, urgency and optimism New York City needs to lead it through the challenges of this moment.” Mamdani was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdanis-party-nycs-new-mayor-celebrates-win-by-channeling-americas-marxist-icon?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Mamdani’s+Party%3A+NYC’s+New+Mayor+Celebrates+Win+By+Channeling+America’s+Marxist+Icon">elected</a> on Tuesday on a platform promising to freeze rents for two million New Yorkers, open government-owned grocery stores, and provide universal childcare. 
Shortly after Stefanik officially announced her gubernatorial run, New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox officially endorsed her. 
&#8220;Thanks to Kathy Hochul and Democrats, New York leads the nation in outmigration as the most taxed, least free, least affordable state in America,” he said. “There will not be a Republican primary and a year from now, Elise will lead our team to victory over Kathy Hochul, end one-party Democrat rule, and make New York affordable again.&#8221;

MixCollage-07-Nov-2025-08-08-AM-5984

Stefanik Launches Gubernatorial Bid To Oust Empire State’s ‘Communist’-Loving Red Queen

Zohran Mamdani

There is some good news out of New York. It&#8217;s not a lot of good news out of New York, but it&#8217;s some good news.
There&#8217;s a brand new poll from Suffolk University showing that in New York, Andrew Cuomo — who is really the only hope of stopping Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral race — is catching up to Zohran Mamdani. The poll found that Mamdani no longer leads Cuomo by 20 points or 15 points, but the lead is down to ten, and Mamdani is stuck at 44%.
Typically, when somebody wins the New York mayoral race, they win well over a majority. Here you have Mamdani at 44%. You have Cuomo at 34%, and you have Curtis Sliwa at 11%. There will be a lot of talk if Mamdani ends up mayor about why Curtis Sliwa stayed in the race.
The reality is that Curtis Sliwa is not going to be the next mayor of New York. And if his vote share is larger than the margin of victory for Mamdani, that will leave some questions to be asked. 
<ol>
<li>   Why is the New York City population so insipid?</li>
<li>   Why didn’t Sliwa drop out?</li>
</ol>
As David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, says, Sliwa “is one person in New York City whose voters could have an outsized impact on the outcome.”
This is the first poll since Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race.
Most of his support has bled to Cuomo.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2305-rabbis-for-mamdani-and-other-idiotic-ideas?elementPosition=7&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><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>
Mamdani is running a terrible final week of this campaign. He has decided that his closing message is going to be that New York City is famous for Islamophobia and if you don&#8217;t elect him, it&#8217;s because you don&#8217;t like Muslims, which is a wild statement in a city that suffered 9/11 (where apparently the only victim of 9/11, according to Zohran Mamdani, was his own female relative, who was wearing some sort of hijab on the subway and somebody gave her a mean look).
So now his final closing pitch is, “Why won&#8217;t you give me the mayoralty? If you don&#8217;t, it&#8217;s because you&#8217;re mean to Muslims.”
That is the mark of a person who truly feels entitled to everything. If you won&#8217;t give him the mayoralty of the financial center of planet Earth, it must not be because he&#8217;s a bad candidate, an out-and-out communist, a sympathizer with jihadists, but because you are mean to Muslims.
Lest you truly believe that Mamdani is some sort of soft-hearted, wonderful person, I want to point out a <a href="https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1982974662175752646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1982974662175752646%7Ctwgr%5Ea2e8d1de8daa0c8f2de3ff7e8ee90b7b4f37eb71%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Fzohran-mamdani-bashes-the-cops-and-israel-in-wild-unearthed-video-when-the-boot-of-the-nypd-is-on-your-neck-its-been-laced-by-the-idf%2F">clip of him from 2023</a>. You want to know where his ideology comes from? His ideology is deeply, deeply ensconced in the Red-Green alliance between communists and radical jihadists that is characteristic of so much of the Left these days.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
September, 2023.
Zohran Mamdani: &#8220;We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it&#8217;s been laced by the IDF.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/sr8pQyKvCq">pic.twitter.com/sr8pQyKvCq</a>
— MAZE (@mazemoore) <a href="https://twitter.com/mazemoore/status/1982974662175752646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @mazemoore/X.com
That quote from him in September 2023 shows him explaining that basically, his hatred for capitalism springs from his dislike of the “Zionists.” 
Mamdani stated:
<blockquote>The importance for me of international solidarity is that it takes me out of the American political landscape and reminds me just how tame some of the things that I’m actually calling for in the next board. And it reminds me of the necessity of grounding ourselves in the struggles as opposed to the fights around the struggles. For anyone to care about these issues … We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF. We’re in a country where those connections abound. Especially in New York City, you have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capitalist interests over here.</blockquote>
So you see, it&#8217;s really the Jews in Israel who are tied to the capitalist interests in New York City. And capitalism, of course, is bad. If you missed it, he said, “When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.”
This was not 15 years ago. This was two years ago. He was a full grown-ass man when he said this sort of garbage.
But if you point this out, you’re “Islamophobic.”
He only cares about “affordability.” How is he going to deliver affordability? No one knows. But if he just says “affordability” over and over and over, then affordability will magically appear in New York City. It&#8217;s like Beetlejuice. If you say affordability three times, then magically all of the rents go down.
He has no idea how he&#8217;s going to do anything. But that doesn&#8217;t matter. The reason people support Mamdani is because he&#8217;s “fetch” and he&#8217;s “brat.”
There are a lot of idiots in New York, and those idiots in New York are fully on board with the idea that if you don&#8217;t vote for Zohran Mamdani, it must be because you are some sort of racist, or because you hate gay people, or because you are one of those “capitalist tools.”
One can only hope that the non-idiots in New York will show up to vote.
* * *
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US-POLITICS-VOTE-NEW YORK-MAYOR

​​Cuomo Closes The Gap As Mamdani Plays Victim

9/11

Andrew Cuomo

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Islam

Mayor

Muslims

New York City

President Donald Trump asked a New York appeals court on Monday to overturn his felony conviction in the Manhattan hush money case, arguing that the trial &#8220;was fatally marred&#8221; by the prosecution using his official acts as president as evidence.
Trump&#8217;s lawyers submitted a 96-page <a href="https://static.politico.com/8b/9e/8663b7e849cf87d9220333fb3a36/2025-00648-people-of-the-state-of-v-people-of-the-state-of-appellant-s-brief-66.pdf">legal filing</a>, accusing the trial court of violating the evidentiary presidential immunity, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year &#8220;bars the &#8216;use of evidence about&#8217; a President’s official acts while in office.&#8221; The filing also argues that the district attorney used &#8220;a convoluted legal theory&#8221; to concoct a &#8220;purported felony,&#8221; and that the judge who oversaw the hush-money trial should have recused himself since he made political contributions to Democrats, POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/28/donald-trump-appeal-hush-money-conviction-00624382?nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nname=playbook&amp;nrid=00000172-d89e-d8b6-abff-fdff182b0000">reported</a>.
“President Trump’s legal team filed a powerhouse appeal in the Manhattan DA’s Witch Hunt, as the President continues his fight to put an end to the Radical Democrat Lawfare once and for all,&#8221; a spokesman for President Trump&#8217;s legal team said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire. &#8220;The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately overturned and dismissed. President Trump will keep defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn as he focuses on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”
If successful, the president&#8217;s appeal to the New York Supreme Court would erase his status as a convicted felon, after a Manhattan jury found him guilty on 34 counts of business fraud. The hush money case was brought by Manhattan Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and the trial was overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-overseeing-trumps-hush-money-case-donated-to-bidens-2020-presidential-campaign">donated</a> to Democratic causes, including to former President Joe Biden&#8217;s 2020 campaign.
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The hush money trial was held in the middle of Trump&#8217;s 2024 presidential campaign, with the May 30, 2024, conviction marking Trump as the first former president convicted of felony crimes.
&#8220;This is the most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history,&#8221; the legal filing begins. &#8220;After years of fruitless investigation into decade-old, baseless allegations—and under immense political pressure to criminally charge President Donald J. Trump for something—New York’s district attorney (DANY) manufactured felony charges against a once-former and now-sitting President of the United States.&#8221;
The case stemmed from Trump&#8217;s hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, which he made in 2016 to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006. Trump has maintained that he never had an affair with Daniels.
In Monday&#8217;s legal filing, Trump&#8217;s lawyers argue that prosecutors should have been prevented from pointing to conversations that were held between Trump and his former communications director, Hope Hicks, while Trump was in the White House. During the trial, the DA subpoenaed Hicks, who testified about conversations she held with Trump in the Oval Office, including a discussion she had with the president on “how he would like a team to respond to” a forthcoming Wall Street Journal story. Judge Merchan rejected the defense&#8217;s argument that the prosecution may not use Trump&#8217;s White House conversations as evidence. Weeks later, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling protecting presidential immunity in Trump v. United States.
&#8220;The trial court erroneously held that President Trump’s communications with Hicks were not official because, in the court’s view, they were &#8216;about personal matters involving an alleged affair and a sexual encounter that occurred prior to [President Trump] taking . . . office,'&#8221; Trump&#8217;s legal team argued.

Donald Trump

‘Meritless Hoax’: Trump Asks Appeals Court To Throw Out Hush-Money Conviction

Court

Executive

Hush money

Manhattan

Stormy Daniels

In a moment ripped straight from the sidelines at Talladega, Governor Kathy Hochul claimed on Monday that when a crowd of New Yorkers began chanting &#8220;Tax the rich!&#8221; at a rally for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, all she&#8217;d heard was, &#8220;Let&#8217;s go Bills!&#8221;
Hochul gave the implausible explanation when she was asked about the chanting and whether she would stand firm on not raising taxes despite Mamdani&#8217;s repeated calls for higher taxes on wealthy New Yorkers — and on corporations that do business in the city, whether they are located within the city limits or not.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Kathy Hochul oddly drags Buffalo Bills into ‘tax the rich’ chant that overwhelmed her appearance at Zohran Mamdani rally <a href="https://t.co/tTLLtrO6Nv">https://t.co/tTLLtrO6Nv</a> <a href="https://t.co/1vBIiNrzL6">pic.twitter.com/1vBIiNrzL6</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1982874181663375694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Given the reception that you received last night at Zohran&#8217;s rally where people were chanting, &#8216;Tax the rich, Tax the rich,&#8217; are you going to hold the line on raising taxes even if it means losing an endorsement or getting a primary challenge?&#8221; the New York Post&#8217;s Stephen Vago asked.
&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t hear what they were chanting,&#8221; Hochul claimed, before adding, &#8220;I thought they were saying, &#8216;Let&#8217;s go [Buffalo] Bills.&#8217; I wasn&#8217;t sure. When you&#8217;re up there, I heard some noise. I heard a lot of cheers. But later on it became clear to me that there&#8217;s a — I know there&#8217;s a passion for that.&#8221;
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Hochul left out the fact that she was in New York City at the time — where they have two NFL teams — and therefore a little over six hours away from Buffalo, New York, by car. She went on to say that she really hoped Democrats could harness the &#8220;energy&#8221; behind those cheers in order to win back control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) shot back, &#8220;The #BillsMafia won’t forget. What a trainwreck @KathyHochul is every single day.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BillsMafia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BillsMafia</a> won’t forget
What a trainwreck <a href="https://twitter.com/KathyHochul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KathyHochul</a> is every single day. <a href="https://t.co/dBgS5giRI2">https://t.co/dBgS5giRI2</a>
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) <a href="https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1982901908508754197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Others pointed out how similar that moment was to the time the &#8220;Let&#8217;s go, Brandon&#8221; chant was born — when NBC reporter Kelli Stavast heard a crowd of NASCAR fans at Talladega chanting &#8220;F*** Joe Biden&#8221; and claimed she believed they&#8217;d been chanting &#8220;Let&#8217;s go, Brandon&#8221; to cheer on winning driver Brandon Brown.

New York Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Holds Election Rally With Bernie Sanders And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

WATCH: Hochul Says She Thought Socialists Chanting ‘Tax The Rich’ At Her Were Saying ‘Let’s Go Bills’

Democratic Socialism

Let's Go Brandon

Socialism

Taxes

Wealth Tax

Just one day after the first New York City mayoral debate, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani shared a smiling photo with a Brooklyn imam who had been named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — a terrorist attack that killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and wounded more than 1,000 others.
Mamdani grinned while standing arm-in-arm with Imam Siraj Wahhaj at his Bedford-Stuyvesant mosque.
“Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. A beautiful Jummah,” Mamdani wrote on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. I was also joined by CM <a href="https://twitter.com/dr_yusefsalaam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dr_yusefsalaam</a> of Harlem. A beautiful Jummah. <a href="https://t.co/4kcN4CGlUk">pic.twitter.com/4kcN4CGlUk</a>
&mdash; Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1979353018589237717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Wahhaj took the stand in defense of the notorious “blind sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman, the radical cleric convicted of conspiring in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. “After the bombing, the U.S. government recorded the sheikh encouraging further violence against targets in New York and New Jersey,” ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/blind-sheikh-linked-1993-world-trade-center-bombing/story?id=45582741">reported</a>.
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Some statements Wahhaj has made in the past:
“I <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/siraj-wahhaj-on-jihad">pray</a> one day Allah will bless us to raise an army, and I’m serious about this. We were very close, recently. We had made intention to raise an army of 10,000 men in New York City.”
“I’m not telling you, no, don’t pick up a gun, no. Just march. March through the city of New York. Let them hear your voice. Let them hear it at night. Let them hear it 24 hours, until the whole city can’t sleep.”
As Daniel Pipes <a href="https://www.danielpipes.org/77/the-danger-within-militant-islam-in-america">reported</a>, in 1992, Wahhaj stated, “If we were united and strong, we&#8217;d elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him. &#8230; Take my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”
In a September 1991 speech in Toronto, titled “The Afghanistan Jihad,” Wahhaj <a href="https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/10/18/this-photo-should-end-zohran-mamdanis-campaign-n4944999">stated</a>, “Those who struggle for Allah, it doesn’t matter what kind of weapons [you use], I’m telling you it doesn’t matter! You don’t need nuclear weapons or even guns! If you have faith in Allah and a knife! If Allah wants you to win, you will win! Because Allah is the only one who fights. And when his hand is over your hand, whoever is at war against my friends, I declare war on them…. The Americans are not your friends … The Canadians are not your friends … The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here&#39;s Mamdani&#39;s Imam, Siraj Wahhaj, calling America &quot;filthy&quot; and &quot;sick&quot;, saying it&#39;s an honor to die in Jihad and saying that getting involved in &quot;politics is a weapon in the cause of Islam&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eBR4SoI7X6">pic.twitter.com/eBR4SoI7X6</a>
&mdash; Daniel Greenfield &#8211; &quot;Hang Together or Separately&quot; (@Sultanknish) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sultanknish/status/1979996171759141120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Conservative political figures blasted Mamdani:
Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis stated on X: “If you had told people after the 9/11 attacks on the WTC that, within a quarter century, NYC would elect a mayoral candidate who campaigns with an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of the WTC, you would have been considered to have a few screws loose. Yet, here it is. From fighting jihad to embracing it. What a slap in the face to the memories of those killed in both the 1993 and 2001 jihadist attacks on the World Trade Center.”
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If you had told people after the 9/11 attacks on the WTC that, within a quarter century, NYC would elect a mayoral candidate who campaigns with an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of the WTC, you would have been considered to have a few screws loose.
Yet, here it is.… <a href="https://t.co/RHp8FmCzoi">https://t.co/RHp8FmCzoi</a>
&mdash; Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1979981822667960541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) posted: “&#8217;I am not a jihadist.’  [poses arm-in-arm with an indisputable jihadist  💋👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🔥]  You are being LIED TO, and let’s be honest—you know you’re being lied to.”
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“I am not a jihadist.”
[poses arm-in-arm with an indisputable jihadist 💋👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🔥]
You are being LIED TO, and let’s be honest—you know you’re being lied to. <a href="https://t.co/aJQc1BxRKG">https://t.co/aJQc1BxRKG</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1979654209873256675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Former CBS correspondent Lara Logan chimed in: “Imagine being a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and voting for this?”
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Imagine being a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and voting for this? <a href="https://t.co/Pk5HwVR268">https://t.co/Pk5HwVR268</a>
&mdash; Lara Logan (@laralogan) <a href="https://twitter.com/laralogan/status/1980078068292268457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Zohran Mamdani Visits “The Story With Martha MacCallum”

Mamdani Poses With America-Hating Imam Who Defended Terrorists

Radical Islamic Terror

World Trade Center bombing

President Donald Trump awards Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, New York Attorney General Letitia James&#8217; grandniece may be a fugitive from the law, and the U.K.&#8217;s Labour Party turns to digital ID to curb illegal immigration.
It’s Wednesday, October 15, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Awards Charlie Kirk The Highest Civilian Honor</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986115" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Honoring-A-Patriot.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump posthumously honored Charlie Kirk on Tuesday, on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, with the country’s highest civilian award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In front of a large audience in the Rose Garden, the president presented the award to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. The event was attended by many family members, friends, and acquaintances of Kirk from within the administration, Kirk’s conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, and elsewhere.
“Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion. He was a champion in every way — I got to know him so well,” said Trump. “It was a horrible, heinous, demonic act of murder. He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America. He loved this country, and that’s why this afternoon, it’s my privilege to posthumously award Charles James Kirk our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
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Erika Kirk also spoke at the event.
“Today, we’re gathered not only to celebrate Charlie’s birthday, but to honor a truth that he gave his entire life to defend, and that’s freedom. The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that the national interest of the United States has always been freedom,” she said.
“Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution, and those words are not relics on parchment; they are a living covenant. The blessings of liberty are not man’s invention, they are God’s endowment. Charlie lived for those blessings, not as abstract words, but as sacred promises,” she added.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Letitia James’s Fugitive Family Member</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986113" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Letitia-Shelters-Fugitive.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: New York Attorney General Letitia James may have sheltered a fugitive in her Virginia home for the past five years. 
James was charged with bank fraud last week for allegedly lying on mortgage papers to get a lower interest rate on a house in Virginia. While James owns the home, the current tenant is her grandniece, Nakia Thompson, and her three children, who have lived in the house since 2020. 
Thompson is officially listed as an “absconder” in the database of North Carolina’s Department of Adult Correction, according to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15187603/letitia-james-niece-virginia-home-fugitive.html">Daily Mail</a>. She’s wanted by authorities in Forsyth County for skipping out on her probation.
A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Corrections said Thompson was “sentenced to probation for misdemeanor convictions for assault and battery and trespassing.” He confirmed that she is considered a fugitive from the state, but he added that because her crimes are considered low-level, she is “non-extraditable.”
Won’t stay silent: In opposition to the standard legal advice to keep quiet after being charged with a crime, James is loudly speaking out against the Department of Justice, claiming to be a victim of a political prosecution.
“We see powerful voices trying to silence truth and punish dissent and, yes, weaponize justice for political gain. We are witnessing the fraying of our democracy, the erosion of our system of government,” said James at a rally for New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani on Monday evening.
Limiting her ability to attract supporters to her cause, James is perceived widely on the right to be guilty of pushing the same kind of political prosecutions she is now denouncing. James campaigned for New York attorney general on a platform of investigating President Trump.
After winning her election, James eventually pursued Trump on a civil charge related to defrauding banks, though no banks claimed to have ever been defrauded by Trump. James won the case in a bench trial, and Trump was hit with a civil penalty of nearly half a billion dollars. That penalty was later thrown out by an appeals court in a major victory for the president.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.K.’s Labour Turns To Digital ID To Curb Illegal Immigration</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-986111" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Britain-Tries-Digital-ID.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The U.K. recently approved a controversial new law that mandates a digital ID as a way to curb illegal immigration. Morning Wire spoke with Guy Dampier, senior researcher on nationhood at the Prosperity Institute, about the new law. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: So, Guy, a lot of frustration boiling over in the U.K. right now over immigration, and now we have this heated debate over digital ID. Let’s start with Prime Minister Starmer – he’s defending his party’s immigration policies and accusing the conservative Reform party of pushing supposedly “racist” policies. Catch us up, what’s the story here?
Dampier: The issue is Reform’s policy on residency for immigrants. &#8220;Indefinite Leave to Remain&#8221; means that an immigrant can, after five years, get access to the same welfare benefits as a British citizen. The vast majority of people who get ILR will stay forever. That matters because in the last few years, there was an immigration wave of around 4 million people. Most of those were low-skilled and will be a drain on the taxpayer. One estimate said that it would cost around £80 billion, another said over £200 billion. Whatever the true figure is, it will be a huge cost at a time when the British economy is doing very badly. Reform have announced that they will abolish ILR, forcing those who have come to apply for new visas, which will include new checks on their qualifications and language skills. That also matters because the current rules are incredibly lax. The language test only requires that you have B1 English, which is enough to struggle through a book for small children, but nowhere near enough what you need just to read a newspaper. As most of these 4 million migrants come from Africa and the Indian subcontinent, Labour have branded it “racist.” 
Morning Wire: Now, the Labour Party has actually also admitted that this &#8220;Indefinite Leave to Remain&#8221; law needs to be reformed. What are they suggesting?
Dampier: This is why it is so incoherent. They were calling Nigel Farage racist. On Monday, they announced policies that were not a million miles away. The Home Secretary, Shababa Mahmood, has said that immigrants who want residency will now need better English skills, no criminal record, and evidence that they have volunteered in the community to show that they are integrating. The problem for Labour is that while they want to win over voters who are upset about immigration, they don’t really believe in reducing immigration. So they end up promising things they won’t deliver, and then when they get called out, they lash out. The problem for Britain is very simple: the country has become rapidly more foreign, with over 16% of people born overseas. Most of those came in the last few decades or even the last few years. This is changing the face of the country: around 38% of school children are now from an ethnic minority group. At the same time the economy has ground to a halt. And there is increasing evidence that migrants are overrepresented when it comes to accessing welfare and committing crime. So people are asking a simple question: if we want fewer immigrants, and if immigration isn’t good for the economy, then why are politicians refusing to seriously reduce the numbers?
Morning Wire: As we mentioned at the top, we also have this new digital ID that’s supposed to help crack down on illegal workers. But that has been very controversial. How would that work?
Dampier: This is the so-called Brit card. Labour have long been advocates for digital ID. In fact, the last Labour government, over a decade ago actually introduced ID cards. But they were immediately scrapped by the conservative government which followed them. Labour are now arguing that it would stop illegal immigrants from being able to work and rent. But there is already a digital Visa verification system which is supposed to do this. It just isn’t adhered to. There’s no reason to think that this would be any different. In fact, there are many European countries which already have ID cards and still have a major problem with illegal immigration. In Germany, for example, you are supposed to carry your ID card with you everywhere. But the country has one of the highest numbers of illegal immigrants in all of Europe. This won’t really fix the problem. What it will do is add on another layer of bureaucracy and further reduce the freedom of native British people. There is also another potential danger. Paul Mason, a well-known Labour activist who is close to the senior leadership of the party, suggested that digital ID could be used to help regularise the illegal immigrants who are already here. That is somewhere between 3/4 of 1 million and 2 million people. Instead of discouraging illegal immigration, it could end up being used to reward it.

MRN_251015_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Honors Kirk, Letitia James Accused Of Housing Fugitive, UK Advances Digital ID

Morning Brief: Trump Honors Charlie Kirk, Letitia James’ Crime Family, And UK Digital ID

Charlie Kirk

Keir Starmer

Letitia James

Media

Morning Wire

United Kingdom

Virginia

White House

Actor Alec Baldwin was involved in a car accident on Monday alongside his younger brother, Stephen Baldwin.
The 67-year-old confirmed that he crashed his wife Hilaria’s Range Rover in East Hampton, New York, on Monday morning, as he posted an update on social media.
“This morning, I was in this car accident. The guy cut me off in a truck, big garbage truck — I mean a garbage truck the size of a whale … it was the biggest garbage truck I’ve ever seen,” Baldwin said in the video update. “To avoid hitting him, I hit a tree. I hit a big fat tree and crushed my car, my wife’s car.”
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The actor said he felt “bad” for totaling his wife’s car and thanked first responders for their help following the accident. Neither Alec nor Stephen was injured.
“My wife’s car is pretty smashed up. Big tree, big fat tree,” he repeated.
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The celebrity brothers were in town for the Hamptons International Film Festival, which began on October 5 and wrapped up on Monday. 
Baldwin also mentioned his wife, saying, “Hilaria, I love you more than anything. I’m very proud of you.”
He ended the video by saying, “I’m going to LA to see my family, can’t wait. I’m going out to California to gather my family, to spend a few days there and then I’m home,” and joked that he was “fine” other than being crazy, which he indicated by pointing at his head making a circular motion.
Photos of the aftermath obtained by TMZ show the Baldwin brothers standing beside the smashed vehicle. There are also images of the white Range Rover smashed up against the tree.
Hilaria has also been making headlines after being eliminated from “Dancing With the Stars,” which she <a href="https://www.the-sun.com/tv/15344993/hilaria-baldwin-claims-bullying-got-her-eliminated-dwts/">claimed</a> was due to “very coordinated, very strategic bullying.”

Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin Crashes Wife’s Range Rover Into A ‘Big Fat Tree’

Alec Baldwin Confirms He Crashed Range Rover Into A 'Big Fat Tree'

Celebrities

Entertainment

U.S.

Federal prosecutors reportedly indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday after a months-long investigation into potential mortgage fraud.
Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former personal lawyer who the president installed as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month, presented the case for the indictment to the grand jury, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/justice-department-secures-indictment-of-new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james-0cc2ce4f?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAjz3_xVxqjqGd7DOAjeW9OF_fgoGbzqZNeWtCjLpTn-BtEnWes9wDcj_m33JUg%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68e822e1&amp;gaa_sig=8uhDExWB_EYX_l_bkm5ln2OOTBmY2wZMaB-DdqgJDjcxIxhcKe5QqAAS2ER6wvES1alU0eaHvP7KW_UXYdeMtA%3D%3D">The Wall Street Journal</a>. The Justice Department has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/payback-trump-admin-targets-new-york-ag-letitia-james-over-housing-fraud">investigated</a> James since May over a mortgage she took out in 2023.
The indictment against James accused her of bank fraud, according to WSJ.
In a statement on Thursday, James <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1976404730038391230">said</a> that the charges against her are a result of the “weaponization” of a justice system directed at her “all because I did my job as New York state attorney general.”
“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,” said James.
To ascend to the office of state attorney general, James campaigned on investigating and prosecuting Trump. She won a civil penalty against the president of $450 million. In the case, James accused Trump of inflating his worth to defraud lenders, though no lenders had claimed that they were defrauded. An appeals court in August <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/appeals-court-throws-trumps-454-million-civil-fraud/story?id=124848691">tossed</a> the nearly-half billion dollar penalty dropped on Trump in James&#8217; civil suit.
The investigation into James stemmed from an April <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/1ffb28b3-31d0-4df6-9694-7e970c059050.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_9">referral</a> to the Department of Justice made by federal housing regulator Bill Pulte, who said James “falsified records” to get more favorable loan terms on a Virginia property.
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“Based on media reports, Ms. Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms. This has potentially included 1) falsifying residence status for a Norfolk, Virginia-based home in order to secure a lower mortgage rate and 2) misrepresenting property descriptions to meet stringent requirements for government backed loans and government assistance,” said Pulte’s letter.
Trump appointed Halligan as interim U.S. attorney last month after <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115239044548033727">expressing</a> frustration over the pace of investigations into some of his top political and legal foes, including James and former FBI chief James Comey. Halligan brought charges against Comey last month of allegedly making a false statement and obstructing a congressional hearing.

Letitia James Indicted Following DOJ Probe Into 2023 Sweetheart Home Loan

Crime

Department of Justice

Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny is getting slammed for a video clip that appears to show him remaining seated during the singing of “God Bless America” at the New York Yankees game Tuesday night.
The <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/10/08/bad-bunny-remains-seated-during-god-bless-america/?adid=social-tw">short clip</a>, first shared with TMZ, reported as not having any common indicators of AI generation, includes the crowd singing “guide her,” which is part of the line “stand beside her and guide her.”
The U.S. Flag Code recommends standing, placing your hand over your heart, and facing the flag when “The Star-Spangled Banner” is sung, but it makes no similar recommendations for “God Bless America.” However, it is seen as a sign of respect to stand for the song during sporting events, and most individuals seated near Bad Bunny at the Yankees game are seen standing in the clip. The custom started after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when MLB started playing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch to honor first responders, victims, and the military.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXCLUSIVE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXCLUSIVE</a> 🚨 Bad Bunny remained seated during &#8216;God Bless America&#8217; at a Yankees Game, video shows. <a href="https://t.co/jKOfQ4Qj3G">https://t.co/jKOfQ4Qj3G</a> <a href="https://t.co/rkP9NnGgdH">pic.twitter.com/rkP9NnGgdH</a>
— TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/1976005408708763998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The recording artist, whose legal name is Benito Ocasio, has already frustrated many Americans who believe he has disrespected the United States. Ocasio was selected to perform at Super Bowl LX in February despite previously refusing to tour in the United States due to his anti-ICE stance.
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Ocasio referred to ICE agents as “motherf***ers” and “sons of b****es” in a video he posted to Instagram.
The three-time Grammy Award-winner said during a recent interview that he didn’t book any tour stops in the United States because he was worried ICE agents would target concert attendees.
“There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Social media users also pointed out that none of Bad Bunny’s songs are in English.
He later addressed the backlash he and the NFL received following the Super Bowl halftime announcement, advising viewers to learn Spanish if they didn’t like it.
Bad Bunny did part of his monologue in Spanish during a recent appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” The singer then switched to English, saying, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”
There have been calls to boycott the NFL and replace Bad Bunny as the halftime performer ever since the announcement was made. 
President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-absolutely-ridiculous-that-nfl-chose-bad-bunny-for-super-bowl-halftime-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weighed in</a> on Bad Bunny being chosen as the Super Bowl halftime performer, saying, “I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy, and then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Bad Bunny

Super Bowl Halftime Performer Bad Bunny Refuses To Stand For ‘God Bless America’

Super Bowl Halftime Performer Bad Bunny Refuses To Stand For 'God Bless America'

Major League Baseball

New York Yankees

Patriotism

singer

Super Bowl

WASHINGTON—As the government shutdown rolls into the weekend, Republicans are making something very clear: this may be the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown,&#8221; but it&#8217;s a different New Yorker who&#8217;s really to blame.
It started on Wednesday, when Vice President JD Vance surprised the White House press corps at the day&#8217;s briefing.
&#8220;The reality here, and let&#8217;s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,&#8221; Vance <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1973442899892191464">said.</a>
From there, it was off to the races. House Speaker Mike Johnson took the talking point and ran with it, highlighting an alleged rift between New York&#8217;s senior senator and the congresswoman from Queens in several interviews and <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1973501784909029810">on X,</a> where he proclaimed &#8220;Chuck Schumer is driving his party OFF A CLIFF because he’s TERRIFIED of AOC and the far left. That’s not leadership.&#8221;
All manner of prominent Republicans have invoked the looming Schumer-AOC contest as the reason for the shutdown, including Treasury Secretary <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1973727982280663179">Scott Bessent,</a> Senators <a href="https://x.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1973756759904039089">Bill Cassidy</a> (LA), <a href="https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/1973024614487056463">Tom Cotton</a> (AR), and <a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-marshall-chuck-schumer-is-afraid-that-aoc-will-primary-him/">Roger Marshall</a> (Kansas), as well as <a href="https://x.com/RepDonaldsPress/status/1973172460943274034">Reps. Byron Donalds (FL)</a>, and <a href="https://x.com/NancyMace/status/1973223980036501796">Nancy Mace</a> (SC).
Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) told The Daily Wire that the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown&#8221; has &#8220;nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics.&#8221;
&#8220;Chuck is so consumed by the threat of a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that he’s willing to put his own job security ahead of the American people,&#8221; Lawler said.
He slammed Schumer for &#8220;cowardice&#8221; and said his actions only &#8220;hurt hardworking New York taxpayers.&#8221;
This is hardly the first time lawmakers have blamed the opposing party and their policies for shutting the government down. In 2013 it was Harry Reid and Obamacare; in 2017, Donald Trump and the border wall. But this time around, Republicans are going beyond blaming Democrats or even Democratic leaders. Notably absent from these conversations is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) who has been as active on the issue as Schumer.
The attempt to drive a wedge between Schumer and AOC — whether to alienate the moderate and radical wings of the Democratic Party, or signal that there&#8217;s no daylight between them — seems to be as much about defining the post-shutdown conversation as it is about assigning blame. Like President Donald Trump, who is leveraging the shutdown to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-meeting-set-to-axe-democrat-agencies">curtail the federal government</a>, congressional Republicans seem intent on using this shutdown to their advantage.
On Friday afternoon, Senate Democrats for the fourth time <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/votes_new.htm">blocked</a> a continuing resolution that would reopen the government. Republicans&#8217; rhetorical strategy continued apace.
NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez pointed The Daily Wire an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/26/schumer-government-shutdown-democrats-strategy">Axios report</a> that indicates Schumer &#8220;has been plotting this government shutdown with far-Left radical activists for months.&#8221;
She said she believes Democrats&#8217; low approval ratings are &#8220;only going to keep getting worse&#8221; because Schumer and &#8220;rank-and-file Democrats&#8221; including Georgia Senator John Ossoff are &#8220;more focused on appeasing the deranged rage of their liberal base that wants illegal aliens to have free healthcare.&#8221;
&#8220;There are two very big reasons why Chuck Schumer would make a toxically-leftist policy like free healthcare for illegals as his &#8216;why&#8217; for this shutdown: crazy Democrat primary voters love it, so it could help in an AOC primary. And he is desperate to win over this radical group of openly socialist Senate candidates leading in Democrat primaries across the country that want to end Schumer’s reign as Senate Democrats’ leader if any of them win in the midterms next year,&#8221; Rodriguez said.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) <a href="https://mariodiazbalart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-diaz-balart-schumers-shutdown-shows-democrats-are-disarray">observed</a> that the continuing resolution, already passed by the House, is the &#8220;same clean bill Senate Democrats — including Schumer — voted for in March.&#8221;
So, what changed?
Sources with knowledge of the issue told The Daily Wire it all began after Schumer voted to fund the government until Sept. 30, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327600/house-democrats-outrage-spending#:~:text='Deep%20sense%20of%20outrage%20and%20betrayal':,Democrats%20react%20to%20Schumer%20announcement&amp;text=When%20Senate%20Minority%20Leader%20Chuck,the%20face%2C%22%20she%20said.">reportedly</a> receiving backlash from Democrats.
A month later, a <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/4/4/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-leads-chuck-schumer-in-hypothetical-2028-matchup-by-19-points">poll</a> showed AOC leading Schumer in a hypothetical 2028 matchup by 19 points.
“Because Schumer allowed the government to be funded several months ago, the Left wing rose up against him,&#8221; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on his <a href="https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1973513750926991502">podcast</a> this week. &#8220;You want to understand why we have a shutdown? It’s one thing: Schumer is looking over his left shoulder and he sees AOC running up behind him — and he is terrified he is going to lose his job,” Cruz said.
Perhaps the surest sign Republicans&#8217; strategy is working is that AOC keeps responding. On Tuesday, she told <a href="https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/1973186304205865213">MSNBC</a> that the shutdown is &#8220;so not about me.&#8221; Two days later, she and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — the leaders of the Democrat Party&#8217;s radical wing — released a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5535687-sanders-ocasio-cortez-aca-subsidies-shutdown/">three-minute video</a> on the shutdown.
The next day, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-says-schumer-jeffries-are-leading-democrats-s-rcna235300">NBC</a> pressed AOC again about a possible Senate run. The congresswoman equivocated, saying “I think the answer is that people are sick of politics being determined by these horse races.&#8221;
Schumer&#8217;s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Untitled design (50)

Republicans Are Calling It The ‘Schumer Shutdown.’ Why Are They Making It All About AOC?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Chuck Schumer

Democratic Party

JD Vance

Leftism

The Trump administration froze around $18 billion in infrastructure projects for New York City on Wednesday, citing &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221; diversity, equity, and inclusion &#8220;principles.&#8221;
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought <a href="https://x.com/russvought/status/1973386129320665329">announced</a> the move on Wednesday, <a href="https://x.com/russvought/status/1973388530215735570">adding</a> that the billions of dollars in now-frozen funding were earmarked for the Hudson Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway.
&#8220;Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,&#8221; Vought wrote on X. &#8220;More info to come soon from [the U.S. Department of Transportation].&#8221;
The Hudson Tunnel project seeks to build a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River and fix the existing North River Tunnels for Amtrak and NJ Transit traffic, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-new-york-infrastructure-funding-trump-schumer-jeffries/">reported</a>. The project focusing on the Second Avenue Subway aims to extend the Q line into Harlem and add new stations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has <a href="https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-announces-gateway-tunnel_nations-largest-infrastructure-project--will-receive-massive-688-billion-in-fed-funds-largest-federal-transportation-grant-in-history-the-money-for-gateway-is-now-allocated-and-all-systems-go-marks-long-effort-by-senator">made</a> the Hudson Tunnel project a top priority in recent years, securing billions of dollars in federal funding for what he called &#8220;the nation’s largest public works project.&#8221; Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who represents parts of Brooklyn, have spearheaded Democratic resistance to Trump’s government funding proposal.
Jeffries told Vought to &#8220;get lost.&#8221;
&#8220;Again with this guy (and his baseless threats),&#8221; Jeffries <a href="https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/1973413881549631872">said</a>. &#8220;Russ, you are the poster child for privilege and mediocrity. Get lost.&#8221;
Schumer and Jeffries are getting ripped by the Trump administration after their party refused to agree to a deal with Republicans to keep the government funded.
The Trump administration&#8217;s decision to hold funding also comes shortly after the president threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election in November. Mamdani is currently leading by a significant margin in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/nyc-mayoral-election-polls-2025.html">polls</a>.
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&#8220;He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115287641147640374">wrote</a> on Truth Social on Monday. &#8220;He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him? This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed!&#8221;
The administration&#8217;s freeze, however, does not appear to be tied to the mayor&#8217;s race, and it remains unclear which &#8220;DEI principles&#8221; the White House is concerned about.
New York Democratic leaders have been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration this week. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday over allegations that the state is handing out commercial driver licenses (CDLs) to illegal immigrants with no name given on the CDL.
&#8220;Kathy Hochul continues her campaign to make New York one of the most lawless states in the country. &#8230; ALL illegally issued CDLs endanger American families on the road. My recent emergency action to restrict CDLs will work to counteract these disastrous, America-Last policies,&#8221; Duffy <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1973190834926584160">wrote</a> on X.

Donald Trump/Chuck Schumer

Trump Freezes $18 Billion For NYC Infrastructure Over ‘Unconstitutional DEI Principles’

Russ Vought

Trump Administration

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