In a recent <a href="https://www.afterbabel.com/p/ted-haidt-you-should-be-a-techno-skeptic">TED talk</a>, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt delivered an emphatic call for techno-skepticism. His argument? That smartphones, social media, laptops, and tablets in schools and AI are rewiring childhood in harmful ways. From eroding attention spans to diminishing social bonds and contributing to declining academic performances, Haidt believes that technology is the primary adversary of modern youth. He argues that we must focus on protecting brain development through puberty, prioritizing people and books over screens, and being wary of what he dubs “artificial relationships,” which undermine the ultrasocial nature of humans.
While I understand Haidt’s concerns, as someone who believes in human ingenuity and in technology&#8217;s ability to empower people, I couldn’t disagree more. Blanket skepticism risks overlooking evidence of technology&#8217;s positive impacts and the extraordinary opportunities it presents. We must reject the fear-based paradigm of technology and choose to be techno-optimists.
Haidt paints a grim picture, claiming that the shift to the smartphone-based childhoods of the early 2010s coincided with a rise in loneliness, anxiety, and depression among teens. He cites experiments showing reduced social media use lowers distress and points to “brain rot” from short-form videos disrupting adolescent brain development during puberty.
The problem isn’t that Haidt identifies risks. Every transformative technology carries some risk. The problem is that he consistently confuses evidence of risks with evidence that society should retreat from technological integration and innovation. Doing so would be a mistake.
The fear of technology harming society isn’t some novel phenomenon; it’s been playing out for <a href="https://behavioralscientist.org/history-panic-entertainment-technology/">decades</a>. When television first arrived, critics claimed that it would rot children’s minds. When video games became popular, they were blamed for a range of issues from declining academic performance to rising social isolation. Even when the internet first came about, many of the same things Haidt claims today were the claims of the day, including that it was a dangerous force that would destroy attention spans and harm a generation.
However, despite those warnings, each generation ultimately learned not only how to integrate the technology into society but also managed to preserve what mattered most.
Haidt’s central argument is that the rise of smartphones and social media coincides with rising mental health challenges and declining educational outcomes among young people. He suggests these trends are not simply correlated but imply a causal connection. He points to declining test scores, increased loneliness, and diminished attention spans as evidence. However, the challenge here is that the claims rest on evidence that is far less definitive than his rhetoric would suggest.
Critics like <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00902-2">Candice Odgers</a> have noted that Haidt’s synthesis leans heavily on selective data and has faced methodological pushback when reexamining meta-studies. The reality is that there are broader societal factors, such as the pandemic disruption, economic pressures, academic and familial stressors, and shifts in diagnostic awareness, playing a significant role in the youth mental health crisis being observed. And while, yes, social media usage is a variable, it is one among many, and certainly not the singular driving cause that Haidt makes it out to be.
One of the areas that Haidt takes aim at is educational outcomes. Haidt notes that test scores began declining around the same period that schools adopted more digital technologies and one-to-one devices. However, correlation is not causation.
The American educational system faces a litany of challenges that have absolutely nothing to do with smartphones. The material being taught is constantly changing. Schools are still struggling to recover from pandemic-era disruptions. <a href="https://www.k12dive.com/news/1-in-5-students-are-still-chronically-absent/821771/">Chronic absenteeism</a> remains a major issue, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. One <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/overview-teacher-shortages-2025-factsheet">estimate</a> indicated that nearly one in eight positions were either filled by teachers who were not fully certified or left unfilled. Pointing at technology as the primary culprit here requires dismissing many reasonable alternative explanations.
If screens were the true enemy of learning, we would not be seeing evidence that well-designed digital tools can dramatically improve educational outcomes. Looking at how artificial intelligence can help in the classroom can be particularly insightful. For example, look at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-private-schools-use-ai-tutor-rockets-student-test-scores-top-2-country">Alpha School</a> in Texas. The private school integrated AI tutors, personalized one-on-one learning, allowing students to complete their academic requirements within 2-3 hours a day. The results are promising. Their students ranked in the top 1-2% nationally, with improvements in MAP, AP, and average SAT scores. With the added free time, students can focus on passion projects, which not only foster their creativity but also connect them with the real world around them. The benefits of integrating AI technology extend not only to students but to teachers as well. Having that asset there to help students at their own pace frees up teachers to be better mentors and connect with their students individually. The Alpha School case offers an alternative vision in which technology can empower learning, reinforcing the point that we shouldn’t fear AI in education.
Currently, much of the social media debate treats it as a single, purely negative force. However, social media offers a variety of benefits to kids around the country.
For me, as a person with niche interests who never quite fit into a single clique in the offline world, social media served as a conduit to connect with people around the globe who shared my interests. It also served as an educational resource for me, with Google searches, Wikipedia page submissions, and YouTube videos giving me access to a wider array of educational content than what was available in my school library. Social media has lowered the barrier to accessing information, opened opportunities, and fostered community in ways that simply were not previously possible.
The Daily Wire itself exists in part because of its community of subscribers who discovered its content on social media, providing a platform for this publication to deliver content from personalities like Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and Matt Walsh to millions of people around the globe.
Even in terms of the mental health component, one must recognize that there is more nuance than critics like Haidt often acknowledge. For young people, especially those who feel isolated in their immediate environment, online communities fostered via social media provide necessary support systems that are incredibly valuable. The internet has helped millions of kids realize they are, in fact, not alone.
However, it is impossible to ignore another variable largely absent from the techno-skeptic narrative: the changing nature of childhood itself. When talking about rising loneliness or reduced socialization, critics often assume that technology is the primary culprit. But what if the problem existed before the child ever picked up the phone?
Over the past several decades, children have experienced a dramatic decline in independent play, outdoor exploration, and unstructured social interactions. Rather than participating in pickup games or having some unsupervised time with friends, those have given way to highly structured activities and constant adult oversight. To put it into perspective, if a child today were to attempt to walk alone to a park, it would raise concern. However, in the past, this barely registered on parents&#8217; radar.
Resilience isn’t simply built exclusively in the online or offline worlds. It’s built by navigating disagreements with friends, solving problems without adult intervention, taking risks, and learning from mistakes.
Ironically, Haidt recognized this issue when he coauthored <a href="https://www.thecoddling.com/">The Coddling of the American Mind</a> with Greg Lukianoff. In that book, he argued that a culture that was increasingly obsessed with safety was depriving young people of the necessary experience to develop confidence and independence. That argument remains compelling, and perhaps Haidt should listen to himself. In calling for broad restrictions on social media and artificial intelligence, Haidt echoes the very fearful and restrictive mindset he decried in this book. Kids will not be able to build resilience if they are shielded from all aspects of digital reality. Haidt’s call for techno-skepticism, if taken too far, becomes another form of coddling that underestimates young people’s capacity for growth.
If children are spending less time today “touching grass,” it&#8217;s because this generation is under constant supervision and has fewer opportunities for independence. These are the consequences of broader cultural and social changes that extend far beyond a smartphone screen. One could argue that the smartphone simply became a tool for children to fill the social void left by the disappearance of many traditional opportunities for childhood interaction.
I refuse to lend credence to treating our future children as fragile and incapable of handling the challenges presented by social media and AI. I am a techno-optimist. Our children face a future driven by these technologies. Coddling them and cutting them off from the technology entirely will leave them unprepared. Humans have always adapted to new tools and always will.
Let’s do our part to raise a generation that thrives in the digital age, masters the tools of their era, and cherishes the irreplaceable aspects of human connection.
***
James Czerniawski is the Head of Emerging Technology Policy at the Consumer Choice Center. His work has been featured in the New York Post, Newsweek, Newsmax, The Daily Wire, and more. Follow him on Twitter @<a href="https://x.com/JamesCz19">JamesCz19 </a>

Rear view shot of a young girl looking out of her window at sunset

Jonathan Haidt’s Fear Of Screens Misses The Bigger Picture

Childhood development

DW Opinion

Jonathan Haidt

Social development

Social Media

Technology

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that his government plans to pursue a social media ban for children under 16, aligning Britain with Australia and other countries that have moved to tighten regulations on major technology platforms.
Starmer said the government plans to introduce the legislation in Parliament before Christmas, paving the way for the ban to take effect in early 2027. The restrictions would cover platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, and other streaming and social media services. 
Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal will be exempt from the ban, according to the government. The restrictions also will not apply to educational services or music-streaming platforms.
In a social media video, the embattled and historically unpopular prime minister argued the ban is about improving the lives of children. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We are banning social media access for under 16s.
These days kids must find their feet in a world where technology intrudes into every area of their life.
I just can’t let that go on anymore. So we’re giving children their childhoods back. <a href="https://t.co/jn7iQrcwk8">pic.twitter.com/jn7iQrcwk8</a>
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) <a href="https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/2066421329859936656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
“Every parent wants the best for their kids. That&#8217;s what being a parent means. And for me, for my two kids, all I&#8217;ve ever wanted is for them to be safe and for them to be happy, and the rest is up to them,” he said. “These days, kids have to find their feet in a world that changes so quickly, where technology intrudes into every area of their lives, and we know that harms them.&#8221; 
Starmer admitted the proposal is a “big step” and “not an easy thing to do.” 
“It&#8217;s fair to say that this decision has been resisted, and it will face resistance from some of the most powerful companies in the world, but we will take them on, and we will win, because the need for action could not be any clearer,” Starmer said. “Social media is making our children unhappy and unsafe, and as a parent, as much as a Prime Minister, I just cannot let that go on any more.” 
Immediately, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, pushed back and warned against unintended consequences. 
“Blanket bans push kids out of curated, supervised, and beneficial online experiences and toward anonymous, less-safe services,” a YouTube spokesman said, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/uk-teen-social-media-ban-starmer-55de428636b586ff5553b604783f6fb3">Associated Press</a>, arguing that such a ban could drive teens to platforms that lack parental controls and other safety features.
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-media-to-be-banned-for-under-16s-in-landmark-government-move-to-givekids-their-childhood-back">The British government</a> cited a nationwide consultation that garnered over 116,000 submissions from parents, children, and experts, with overwhelming support for the crackdown. According to the government, nine out of ten parents said they support a social media ban for children under 16. 
Nigel Farage, leader of the Right-wing Reform UK party, raised questions about whether the proposed ban would be effective.
“Whilst the social media ban is well-intentioned, it’s unlikely to work given the mass adoption of VPNs. It will also mean the introduction of Digital ID via the back door,” he <a href="https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/2066429978300833820">said</a>. “The real answer here is handsets for children with limited features.” 
If enacted, the ban would follow similar measures adopted in Australia and reflect a growing global push to restrict minors&#8217; access to social media. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/french-lawmakers-approve-ban-on-social-media-for-kids-under-15">France</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-24/norway-plans-to-introduce-under-16s-social-media-ban/106604296?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Norway</a> have also moved to tighten rules for young users.
The movement is gaining traction in parts of the United States as well, with several <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/states-banning-cellphones-schools/story?id=125515186">states and school districts</a> passing laws that restrict cellphone use in classrooms. It remains unclear whether a full-scale ban, as seen in Europe and Australia, would pass constitutional muster in the United States.
Across the pond, however, kids appear to be dreading the looming ban. 
“You’re going to have a lot more time to fill. What will you do?” a reporter asked a student.
“Stare at a wall,” <a href="https://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/2066503177953018330?s=20">she replied</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 WATCH: School children react to the UK social media ban for under-16s live on BBC News <a href="https://t.co/BC9NSegMrf">pic.twitter.com/BC9NSegMrf</a>
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) <a href="https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2066430862158160244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2026</a></blockquote>

Millions Of Kids Could Soon Be Banned From TikTok And YouTube

Keir Starmer

News

The deaths of three Connecticut children from diphenhydramine overdoses have renewed concerns about a dangerous social media trend that encourages young people to consume excessive amounts of the over-the-counter allergy medication commonly sold as Benadryl.
In the past two months, three Connecticut children have died from Benadryl overdoses, according to the <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/oca/-/media/oca/oca-recent-publications/oca-statement-diphenhydramine-and-safe-storage-2026-06-10.pdf?rev=1feb34995f34436cbb121d417264c506">Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate</a> (OCA). If abused, the drug can lead to “serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death,” <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-warns-about-serious-problems-high-doses-allergy-medicine-diphenhydramine-benadryl">according to the FDA.</a> 
On Wednesday, the OCA issued a warning to parents and healthcare providers, emphasizing that “adolescents may misuse the medication.”
“We want parents to be aware that any medication, including prescription and non-prescription medication, is potentially dangerous to children of all ages. We strongly encourage parents to store all medications safely, to ensure they are not easily accessible to children,” the agency said in a statement. 
The agency said it could not confirm whether the deaths were linked to the so-called &#8220;Benadryl Challenge,&#8221; a TikTok trend that started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
“OCA has received media inquiries requesting information on whether the deaths are related to a TikTok challenge. OCA cannot confirm such a connection. What is most important is that providers and parents be aware that adolescents may misuse the medication,” the agency said at the time. 

The disturbing trend gained so much traction online that the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-warns-about-serious-problems-high-doses-allergy-medicine-diphenhydramine-benadryl">FDA issued a warning</a> alerting parents to its potentially deadly consequences.
Noelia Swymeler, a pediatric resident physician at the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa School of Community Medicine, said trends such as the “Benadryl Challenge” stem from the drug’s sedating effects.
Some teens intentionally consume excessive amounts of diphenhydramine and then fight the resulting drowsiness in an effort to experience hallucinations and a euphoric high, <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases-from-aap-conferences/social-media-challenge-encouraging-adolescents-to-engage-in-dangerous-over-the-counter-drug-use/?srsltid=AfmBOor0USeru-d12kUM8PkYkSUuJCHX5nPDiXKd_nUi27w7NwMX5PWs">according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. </a>
The trend&#8217;s apparent resurgence does not appear to be limited to Connecticut.
Last month, an Oklahoma father warned parents of the challenge after his 11-year-old daughter, Molly Miller, died from a diphenhydramine-related overdose, according to a local news outlet. 
Mason Miller, Molly’s father, said he found his daughter unresponsive. 
“When I went back there, she was laying on the ground covered in vomit,” Miller told <a href="https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/anadarko-dad-warns-of-social-media-dangers-after-daughters-death-linked-to-possible-benadryl-challenge">Channel 9 News.</a> “We started CPR and called 911. I was just praying, ‘God, raise my daughter.’” 

Experts say social media trends continue to encourage dangerous misuse of common medications.
“The fact that we continue to see spikes in harmful diphenhydramine use years after the challenge first went viral shows just how powerful and dangerous social media trends can be,” <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases-from-aap-conferences/social-media-challenge-encouraging-adolescents-to-engage-in-dangerous-over-the-counter-drug-use/?srsltid=AfmBOor0USeru-d12kUM8PkYkSUuJCHX5nPDiXKd_nUi27w7NwMX5PWs">Swymeler said.</a>

Social media

The Deadly Online Trend Parents Thought Was Gone Is Back

drug abuse

TikTok

Katy Perry celebrated the advent of June with an announcement that many of her fanatic followers would consider to be out of this world and her critics wish had been lost in space.
“I know so many of you are doing so much for this month, but me? I’d like to introduce the earth to the world’s first gaylien!” Perry crowed in a <a href="http://instagram.com/reel/DZDritwyxy_/">post</a> on social media.
This announcement joins the laundry list of Pride-related shoutouts that no one asked for.
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Perry&#8217;s “gaylien&#8221; wore a tangerine orange beanie and a black, white, and orange sweatshirt emblazoned with a green alien face. The person in the costume wore a mask that looked like a shriveled gray mummy with stereotypically beady alien eyes. 
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Despite rumors that the man in the alien costume was her boyfriend former Canadian Prime Minister <a href="https://people.com/katy-perry-shares-new-photos-justin-trudeau-miranda-kerr-instagram-11964886">Justin Trudeau</a>, the alien was likely just a backup dancer.
Perry proceeded to join the alien in doing a dance that appeared to be a mix of a forgotten &#8217;90s workout routine and a mating ritual from a lame bird of paradise.
In the video, the man in the alien costume jumped up into the air and proceeded to do an extended squat. He shook his legs and his butt in seizure-like contortions while swaying his hands and wrists in a circular fashion. He then feigned a melodramatic collapse on the floor, came back up to do off-brand Michael Jackson moonwalk step, then fell to the floor again.
The gaylien will reportedly be making appearances at Perry&#8217;s European summer festivals to celebrate pride.
Perry has been notorious for being supportive of gay rights, with her hit song “I Kissed a Girl” being famous for its depiction of a lesbian relationship. She has also shown an interest in space with her song “E.T.” and her widely mocked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blue-origin-sent-celebs-up-for-minutes-they-came-back-with-astronaut-egos?author=Lauren+Bair&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Blue+Origin+Sent+Celebs+Up+For+Minutes.+They+Came+Back+With+Astronaut+Egos.">Blue Origin flight</a>.
Perry&#8217;s &#8220;gaylien&#8221; also seems to ride on the wave of renewed public interest in aliens, especially after the U.S. government has released documents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-opens-secret-ufo-vault-tells-americans-to-decide-whats-real">detailing</a> UFO sightings.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry’s ‘Gaylien’ Will Make You Wish You Weren’t On Planet Earth

Aliens

Celebrities

Dance

Entertainment

Gay Rights

Media

Music

pop music

Pride

Pride Month

Seattle’s thin blue line is refusing to bow to City Hall’s woke thought police.
In an attempt to muzzle the rank-and-file, Mayor Katie Wilson’s administration tried to strong-arm the Seattle Police Officers Guild into scrubbing a social media post highlighting a bloody triple shooting. But the cops aren&#8217;t backing down from the anti-police regime. Instead, they’re firing back with a clear message: You won’t intimidate us.
The drama erupted after a horrific ambush outside a Capitol Hill nightclub left three people leaking blood onto the pavement. The police union blasted out a video of the carnage with a direct, common-sense demand: “Mayor Katie, how many more examples do you need? Don&#8217;t take away the vital tools officers rely on.”
The post hammered Wilson for freezing the expansion of city surveillance cameras that feed the Real-Time Crime Center — vital tech desperately needed to hunt down killers while the department suffocates under an unprecedented staffing crisis.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson ordered the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild to DELETE this post criticizing her, per KOMO News.
.<a href="https://x.com/MayorofSeattle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorofSeattle</a> really doesn’t want you to see this post! Would be a shame if it went viral! <a href="https://t.co/KJuLWdsrn3">https://t.co/KJuLWdsrn3</a> <a href="https://t.co/9ovpD9mn12">pic.twitter.com/9ovpD9mn12</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2059747247017824568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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But instead of tackling the violent thugs terrorizing Seattle’s streets, Wilson’s spreadsheet warriors immediately weaponized City Hall to protect her fragile ego.
By the next morning, the mayor&#8217;s office fired off a threatening email to Seattle Police Officers Guild President Kent Loux, falsely claiming the post broke police policy and municipal code. The brass-knuckle directive demanded: “Please pull the post immediately.”
“That’s an order,” Loux told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6_WhDZ4JL0">KOMO</a>, exposing the political hit job. “I looked at the content of the email. I thought, well, that sounds like a threat.”
Making the mayor’s temper tantrum even more embarrassing? City Hall got the facts completely wrong.
The thin-skinned bureaucrats claimed the union leaked sensitive city camera footage. In reality, the video was publicly available, lifted straight from KOMO’s news broadcast. Loux even sent the clueless politicians the link to prove it.
“In no way do I feel like I&#8217;m being unprofessional by alerting the public to a publicly sourced video pointing to the fact that these work and these capture good data for us,” Loux said.
The guild hit the mayor back with a cease-and-desist order, legally freezing any attempts to discipline officers over the free-speech dustup.
Realizing they brought a butter knife to a gunfight, Wilson’s team did a U-turn, retracting their censorship demand and claiming they &#8220;look forward to working with the police union.&#8221;
Don&#8217;t hold your breath. Loux says the guild will keep blasting Wilson’s soft-on-crime lunacy.
“We&#8217;re not changing our tone, our rhetoric,” Loux warned. “We&#8217;re not going to be threatened or intimidated.”

2026 Seattle International Film Festival

Socialist Mayor Orders Police Union To Scrub Post That Called Her Out

Crime

Police

Seattle

Donald Trump has once again taken over the internet. 
No, not the president of the United States. The albino buffalo from Bangladesh.
Nicknamed after the commander-in-chief, this rare animal has become a local celebrity in the city of Narayanganj and a viral sensation online because of its uncanny resemblance to Trump, particularly its blond combover.
Crowds have flocked to the farm to catch a glimpse of the unique buffalo, with videos and photos flooding social media.
Ziauddin Mridha, the farm owner who purchased the animal from a cattle market ten months ago, said he didn&#8217;t notice the resemblance at first. 
&#8220;My younger brother jokingly named it Donald Trump after seeing the hair on its head,&#8221; Mridha told <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/rare-buffalo-steals-spotlight-in-bangladesh-for-looking-exactly-like-donald-trump-11510390">NDTV</a>.
&#8220;It is very calm in nature. Albino buffaloes are generally peaceful and do not become aggressive unless provoked,&#8221; Mridha added.
Depending on who you ask, the same could probably be said for the real Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🇧🇩 ☪️ 🐃 Bangladesh&#8217;s &#8216;Donald Trump&#8217; buffalo attracts fans
Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photos with an unlikely social media star &#8212; a rare albino buffalo with flowing blond locks nicknamed &#8220;Donald Trump&#8221; which is due to be sacrificed within days as part of an… <a href="https://t.co/AxSmyzW5p2">pic.twitter.com/AxSmyzW5p2</a>
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/2057464612933582906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mridha <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYlYtaLFUJs/?hl=en">said</a> crowds have visited throughout May, many watching as handlers poured water over the buffalo&#8217;s hair before combing it behind its horns into the perfect Trump-do.
One resident named Mim was skeptical of the comparisons she&#8217;d seen online and felt they were exaggerated until seeing the animal in person.
&#8220;It actually looks like Trump. The name suits it well,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/rare-buffalo-steals-spotlight-in-bangladesh-for-looking-exactly-like-donald-trump-11510390">said.</a>
Another visitor agreed, saying the buffalo&#8217;s &#8220;facial structure&#8221; and hair strongly resembled the president.
<div id="attachment_1100879" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1100879" class="wp-image-1100879 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276758738-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276758738-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276758738-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276758738-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276758738.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Salahuddin AHMED / AFP via Getty Images</div>
Unfortunately, to the internet&#8217;s dismay, the beloved buffalo, along with 12,000 other livestock, is expected to be slaughtered within the coming days for Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival called the &#8220;Feast of the Sacrifice.&#8221;
Maybe if notified, the real Trump could step in to save the day.

ChatGPT Image May 22, 2026, 04_13_08 PM

This Trump-Looking Buffalo Is Taking Over The Internet

Animals

Donald Trump

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Summer is coming. Do you know where your children are?
Chances are you do because they haven’t left your sight. They are sitting at home, staring at a screen, scrolling through TikTok videos, texting friends, and gaming the hours away.
As researchers have documented at length, most especially in Jonathan Haidt&#8217;s &#8220;The Anxious Generation,&#8221; screens have contributed to an anxiety epidemic, fractured attention spans, and increasing emotional fragility in American children.
The answer to this crisis is not merely to cut down on screen time, but to replace screen hours with tangible, immersive, unstructured time in the natural world.
Author Richard Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” to describe how less time in nature harms modern-day children’s health, development, and wellbeing. But it’s not enough to simply get kids outside. Children don’t need to spend another week at an organized wilderness camp or to enroll in an additional sport. This only takes children out of their digital box to put them into a more physical one.
What children most need this summer is, well, nothing.
Every day this summer, have your kids spend at least one hour outside. No structure. No agenda. No goal. Let them climb trees, make up games, roll in grass, and be bored. If they do that, here’s what will happen.
First, they will slowly recover their attention spans. In Haidt’s research, he found a clear link between social media use on the one hand and fragmented attention and reduced sustained focus on the other.
While extended screen time <a href="https://screentimeinstitute.org/the-impact-of-screen-time-on-childrens-cognitive-development/">stunts</a> the ability to focus, being outside does the opposite. Sometimes, this starts with boredom. Unable to satisfy the urge for distraction with a swipe of the finger, kids outside are encouraged to think. They will notice details they had been too distracted to see before. They will build worlds and invent games from their own imaginations instead of accepting the pre-packaged slop of the internet.
The brick wall they used to ignore outside becomes the rampart of a fortress. Never-before-noticed outdoor furniture covers become the perfect hideaway. The spiderweb in the side yard is no web at all, but an enchanted passageway only the most courageous dare cross.
In days, you’ll notice the once glossy-eyes of your phone-addicted child become full of life.
Second, unstructured time outdoors yields resiliency and independence. Too often in our suburbanized lives, we have professionalized play. Kids are directed to sports, games, and activities with rules they did not create, structures to which they must conform, and parents and coaches always watching. This overly structured life may shield children from present difficulties or even teach them valuable lessons, but it robs them of opportunities to think outside the box and traverse challenges on their own in the long term.
When kids are outside, they’re exposed to the elements. They run and they fall. They get dirty and they scrape their knees. Then, they learn to get back up and keep running. They get a little turned around and have to remember which way home is. They take risks, learn with every misstep, and begin to put experiential knowledge into practice. Without parents watching, they feel free to make mistakes. And they also know if they do, they will have to try to fix them themselves. In short, they learn to become young men and women.
Finally, children who spend time outdoors learn to love the natural world around them. Kids who grow up hiking, fishing, and gazing at the mountains learn that the greatest trees were never planted, the best roads aren’t paved, and the comfort of air conditioning can never beat the beauty of the open sky.
But you don&#8217;t need wilderness to spark wonder. Even in suburbia, a backyard, community garden, or neighborhood park can teach kids to love creation. And if you decide to drive outside the city for some extra breathing room, all the better. No matter the method, know that kids who experience God’s creation are more likely to be good stewards of it.
One hour outside: That’s all it takes. So this summer, offer your kids the freedom to play without a plan. Give them room to experience life outdoors. Let’s raise a generation that can reconnect with the natural world and just be kids again.
***
Clare Ath is the cofounder and executive director of Vita et Terra, a conservative Catholic environmental nonprofit that champions care for creation.

GettyImages-1655484099

‘Bored’ Kids Are Making A Comeback. Some Parents Say It’s Changing Everything.

Children

Internet

Upstream

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
I saw her big announcement on Instagram. Stay in touch on Facebook. They posted about it. Did you hear the news?
Any person under 30 has heard these conversation hooks enough times to know how much of modern life happens online. Personal news, events, and drama all center on the posts and comments circulating. Today, <a href="https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1490558/us-gen-z-social-media-usage-by-brand/">65% of Generation Z</a> is on Instagram, and 58% is on TikTok. I’m not one of them.
I know just how much I miss out by not liking, sharing, or following. There are friends whom I only hear about in whispers through the grapevine now, life updates that I learn about after the fact, and social functions that I miss out on. But despite this, I’m stalwart in my anti-social media stance.
I’m at an advantage, having never been allowed on social media during the young teenage years when the scrolling habit starts, but seeing just how much life happens online, and what I miss out on, has only compelled me further to stay offline.
The mental health consequences of social media have been recounted thousands of times, but what truly disturbed me about some of my generation’s social media habits was how disconnected they were from each other, despite being more “connected” than ever. Real connection has been swapped for the updates in Instagram posts from people who haven’t spoken in years.
Rather than being friends who share their deepest secrets, acquaintances who catch up occasionally over coffee, or complete strangers, everyone is trapped in a parasocial hell. Neither friends nor enemies nor strangers, many of my peers exist to each other only as the curation of whichever posts happen to pass through one another’s feeds. If they are lucky enough, they bump into each other in real life to catch up on everything else.
The fear of missing an update ever looms, too. Staying away from the feed for too long could mean missing something apparently important, and the very existence of the awaiting algorithm is temptation to log in and check what everyone else is doing. I know I miss out by not being on social media, but without the curated feed in the first place, the temptation (and fear) is gone.
By missing out, I know that I’m also cutting off many old connections from seeing into my life, and tepid friendships unfortunately turn cold as life brings each of us into new seasons. But this also leaves us free to move on with our lives — and happily catch up if we meet again. In contrast, even a “private” social media account makes every personal update available to any old interlopers still following from bygone eras. Or, as one of my friends from adolescence unfortunately found out, a hacked account can quickly be set from private to public to advertise a crypto scam — along with every old post. And in the era of AI, deep fakes, data mining, and digital stalking, having a low online profile is even more appealing.
Plus, there are moments that most of us would rather not have immortalized online. Who wants their teenage phases forever left for a future employer or first date to find? Even as an adult, I find that there are seasons to life that ebb and flow. Retaining a sense of privacy and discretion is a lost art. Rather than blasting our lives to the world, we once had a narrow sphere of public life: weddings, births, obituaries, and anything else that made the local paper.
Instead of scrolling social media, here’s how I stay connected. I do still check the local paper (rather, its online website) for any happenings, and I write up the annual Christmas card for my parents and immediate family each year and include my own small set of updates.
There are, however, less ancient swaps for social media updates. For instance, whenever I have an important life change, I personally email or text friends and family who should know — and who won’t hear it firsthand from me sooner. In turn, I ask them how they’re doing and ask about their lives. I’m also upfront with anyone new I meet who mentions social media: “I’m not on social media,” I simply say, “but do you have an email or phone number?”
Besides these one-on-one avenues, I’m also signed up for a few email newsletters for associations I’m interested in, rather than following their social media feeds. And finally, I’m judicious about joining every group chat for mutual friends or interest groups, muting most notifications and manually checking each one to catch up a few times each week. 
My small confession is that I don’t get away with no social media accounts. I use LinkedIn to stay professionally connected, I keep an eye on news trends via an empty X account, and I have a friend-less Facebook account if I ever need it for a golden marketplace find. But it’s a far cry from the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1314973/global-daily-time-spent-on-social-media-networks-generation/">hours</a> of posting, liking, and scrolling that my generation averages.
Instead, I spend that time enjoying the company of real people I know, intentionally seeking out opportunities and activities I enjoy, and cultivating personal connection.
Yes, there are opportunities I miss. There are friends who fall away because we’re not liking each other’s pictures. There are major life updates that I hear second-hand. But I’m not pining over a curated highlight reel of someone else’s life. I’m not trapped in the parasocial zone with old acquaintances. And I know that every person in my life is truly in my life — not just there online.
I’m not the only one in my generation logging off: my own reasons are the same ones I’ve heard echoed from the intentionally offline among 20-somethings. So, to any trepidatious fellow Gen Zers, we invite you to log off and join us. The real world awaits.
***
Jordan Jantz is the assistant editor at IW Features as well as a freelance writer, editor, and website designer.

Woman enjoying mindful hike in forest with backpack on sunny day

I Said No To Social Media And Found Something Most People Are Missing

Positive views of capitalism among American adults have hit a record low of 54%. Sixty-five percent say the country is headed in the wrong direction. And 54% of Americans say they have little to no confidence in the FBI to investigate Charlie Kirk&#8217;s assassination impartially. Support for this nation is eroding, and it’s being accelerated not just by the predictable agitators on the Left, but increasingly by figures on the horseshoe Right.
Tucker Carlson sits at the center of this grievance party phenomenon, where progressive socialists and former-right podcasters converge to paint a portrait of a broken America. As someone whose friends and colleagues are being pulled in by these takes, it’s time we acknowledge that &#8220;just asking questions&#8221; has gone too far, it&#8217;s tiring, and it&#8217;s doing real damage.
Carlson has been telling audiences that the American capitalist system is &#8220;completely doomed,&#8221; made up of a &#8220;corrupt oligarchy&#8221; that hoards wealth while destroying the working class. He says this with the same energy as Hasan Piker and Bernie Sanders. You can dress it up in flannel, a navy blazer, or a Twitch hoodie — the message is still a lie.
The U.S. unemployment rate sits at 4.3%. Prime-age labor force participation is at a multi-decade high. Young people are not “screwed,” they&#8217;re competing in the most dynamic economy on earth. Over the last century, free markets lifted America to the world&#8217;s largest GDP, providing the tax base for infrastructure, defense, and schools. Because companies compete for your money, they are forced to innovate. That competitive drive gives you the internet, the iPhone, and medical treatments keeping your grandparents alive. The American Dream exists because capitalism rewards labor, skill, and entrepreneurship, regardless of starting point.
Tucker even wants to thwart capitalism’s future. He told Ben Shapiro he would ban self-driving cars to protect Midwest truckers — a specious position that would cost the rest of us dearly. Autonomous vehicles are projected to cut logistics costs 30–50%, add upwards of $70 billion to the GDP, and create high-skilled jobs in software, fleet management, and data analytics. Tractors didn&#8217;t kill farming; they multiplied output, allowing farmers to do more with less, and freed labor for entirely new industries. Every major innovation follows that same pattern. Short-term disruption equals massive long-term gains for everyone. Tucker&#8217;s demagoguery doesn&#8217;t save families; it raises prices, slows growth, and guarantees the stagnation he claims to hate.
His position is not conservative. It is the exact mirror of the grievance-party Left.
Tucker’s worldview, that nefarious forces are conspiring against the American people, doesn’t stop at the economy. In his recent New York Times interview, he stated explicitly that President Donald Trump &#8220;had no choice&#8221; but to join Israel in striking Iran, calling him &#8220;more a hostage than a sovereign decision-maker.&#8221; He claims Israel, Jewish donors, and evangelical Christians control U.S. foreign policy. He said Citibank poses a bigger threat to Americans than Hamas and Hezbollah. When asked about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion — a proven 1903 forgery by Russian secret police — he waved it off: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what that is. I&#8217;ve heard references to it. It&#8217;s like czarist forgery or something.&#8221;
There’s a lot to unpack there.
First of all, Trump’s decision to strike Iran was driven by the nuclear and ballistic missile threat that the Islamic regime posed and a decades-long urge to take out the world’s largest funder of terrorism, which had been bullying America and her allies for decades. That is America First. That is not some slavish loyalty to Tel Aviv. Trump defied neocons, pressured NATO, brokered the Abraham Accords without a single American troop, and has repeatedly pressured Netanyahu to stand down. He is not anyone&#8217;s puppet. He never has been.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbies like every other interest group, including Saudi Arabia, Big Tech, and public sector unions. There is no evidence of &#8220;control.&#8221; Tucker&#8217;s &#8220;spell&#8221; and &#8220;hostage&#8221; language is the same occult-tinged conspiracy he once mocked when it came from the Left.
As for the Protocols, that document was debunked in 1921 by The Times of London, weaponized by the Nazis to justify genocide, and has zero basis in reality. Tucker knows this. His &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8221; is not intellectual humility. It is a deliberate wink. There are 15 million Jewish people worldwide, 6 million of whom live in America among 340 million citizens. Jewish Americans succeed through the same merit, education, and entrepreneurship available to everyone. If you want to talk about foreign influence operations, look at Qatar funding Ivy League campuses, Chinese influence in our social media ecosystem, and Shanghai billionaires funding anti-American protest movements. Those are documented. Those are real.
On Citibank being a threat to Americans…there was a Hezbollah-linked shooting in Michigan last month, and I use Capital One, pay my bills, and budget monthly. So no, Citibank isn’t keeping me up at night, and if it does for Tucker, I would suggest he lay off the ALP pouches.
Tucker&#8217;s final avenue for institutional sabotage is the FBI&#8217;s handling of Charlie Kirk&#8217;s assassination. Listen, friends, I understand why many of us are skeptical of the FBI. Both President Barack Obama and Joe Biden&#8217;s DOJ weaponized federal power against conservative leaders, grandmothers, and a sitting president in ways this country had never seen. That consequential distrust was justified, but here the goalposts have moved to an unrecognizable place: Trump is in office, Kash Patel is running the FBI, Dan Bongino walked out and told us everything, and somehow, even now, it&#8217;s all still a cover-up. At some point, the conspiracy has to end, and the evidence has to begin.
The fact is that Tyler Robinson’s guilt is overwhelming. Prosecutors have matched DNA on the rifle trigger, the towel wrapped around the bolt-action, and the spent casing to Robinson. ATF ballistics confirmed the weapon. Before the shooting, Robinson wrote a letter to his roommate stating he &#8220;had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I&#8217;m going to take it.&#8221; He posted confessions on Discord. Video placed him on the Utah Valley University campus hours before the shot. He surrendered voluntarily within 33 hours after his father tipped off authorities. The investigation wasn&#8217;t sabotaged; it was solved.
Carlson isn&#8217;t defending Kirk&#8217;s legacy. He&#8217;s exploiting a martyr&#8217;s death to erode trust in the institutions conservatives fought to reclaim.
Carlson has been transparent about where this is all heading. He wants a new political party: isolationist on foreign policy, restrictionist on immigration, and — crucially — interventionist in the economy. Ben Shapiro identified it correctly: that&#8217;s a National Socialist Party, and history has a unanimous verdict on that experiment.
Every government that has tried centrally managed economies — the Soviet Union, Maoist China, Venezuela, Cuba — followed the same arc. First, they promise protection from the chaos of the market. Then, they pick winners and losers. Next, shortages, stagnation, and repression follow, inevitably. The Soviet Union&#8217;s GDP per capita in 1990, after 70 years of central planning, was one-seventh of America&#8217;s. Venezuela, once the wealthiest country in Latin America, saw its economy collapse 75% between 2013 and 2021 after nationalizing industries and freezing prices. These aren&#8217;t outliers, they’re the rule. Carlson&#8217;s &#8220;carve-outs&#8221; for truckers and banks are just the polite, populist entry point to a far uglier destination.
Here is the uncomfortable truth about why we&#8217;re even having this conversation: America is so extraordinarily prosperous that we have the luxury of entertaining these ideas. Our poor have air conditioning. Our working class has smartphones. Our life expectancy, even accounting for recent dips, is historically high. When you&#8217;ve never known genuine scarcity — not theoretical scarcity, but Cuban-pharmacy-shelf scarcity — it becomes very easy to romanticize the idea that the system is rigged.
That’s precisely the audience Carlson is playing to: comfortable enough to be frustrated, not desperate enough to remember what actually fails.
Tucker Carlson is not a conservative. He&#8217;s not America First. He is Tucker Carlson First. He’s a man who has found that grievance sells, that &#8220;just asking questions&#8221; about Jewish cabals and FBI cover-ups generates more clicks than defending the free market ever will. His brand is built on the premise that America is broken. He loses his audience if America heals. That is not patriotism. That is a business model.
Reagan proved the alternative. Trump is proving it again. Free markets, applied honestly, have produced the greatest reduction in poverty in human history. They’ve lifted over a billion people out of it in the last three decades alone. Strong borders, enforced consistently, are not racist; they’re necessary. An America First foreign policy means striking Iran when our nation is threatened, not when Tel Aviv asks. Rejecting antisemitic conspiracy theories is not defending Israel — it&#8217;s defending logic, because 15 million people do not secretly run a planet of 8 billion. Sorry.
Tucker Carlson is a talented broadcaster who chose the wrong hill to die on. He can come back, but until he does, I would treat his content the way you&#8217;d treat a teenager having a tantrum: acknowledge the emotion, reject the premise, and don&#8217;t let her near the car keys.

Tucker Carlson, former FOX News host and current host of The Tucker Carlson Show

In Tucker Carlson’s World, It’s Not America First, It’s Tucker First

America First

Tucker Carlson

In her first public remarks since the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Erika Kirk delivered a sweeping and emotional response to critics. 
Accusing the media and broader cultural forces of fueling violence and distorting the truth, she blamed them for contributing to the climate that she says led to her husband’s death.
“Seems to me that nothing will ever be enough for the evil in this world. Our country has become unrecognizable,” Kirk said. “These people have perverted the truth to the point that they motivated the murder of my husband.”
Kirk framed her comments not only as a defense of herself and her late husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, but as a broader indictment of what she described as systemic “indoctrination” and dehumanization in American institutions, particularly media and education.
“They have continuously tried to assassinate the president, and anyone who stands in their way is labeled hateful, racist, fascist and every other trigger word that is grossly dishonest,” she said, referencing multiple attempts on the life of President Donald Trump.
Kirk pointed to the alleged background of the shooter as a school teacher as emblematic of a deeper problem. “He [Charlie] didn’t trust the radicalized liberal teachers, and this past Saturday, it was a school teacher, of all people … that attempted to change our history for the worse with bullets,” she said. Much of Kirk’s statement focused on her experience attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner itself, where she said she went in part to confront members of the press directly.
Kirk described the event as surreal, saying it was strange to see that “for one night, you’re able to put aside all of your differences for the sake of freedom of speech, and then by Monday morning, things will go back to being an absolute bloodbath.”
That sense of contradiction, she argued, was underscored by the chaos that erupted when gunfire broke out. “If you were in that room, you had no way of knowing what the status of the shooter was … it was just utter chaos,” Kirk said. “And so during an act of shooting, these journalists are using their phones to find moments to capture for clips.”
She accused members of the media of prioritizing content over safety. 
“They were so concerned about getting a video in a room with an active shooter that they could have accidentally … filmed themselves being shot,” she said. “Many of those people have become so desensitized that fight or flight became secondary to the opportunity of putting themselves into the story.” 
Kirk tied that moment to a broader critique of what she sees as a culture increasingly detached from basic human empathy, adding, “This culture we’re living in absorbs disagreement as a form of personal betrayal. It turns having an opposing viewpoint into a moral crime worthy of punishment.”
She argued that this environment leads to something far more dangerous: “If you strip someone of their humanity long enough, you will arrive at the chilling conclusion that they don’t deserve to exist at all.”
Kirk also addressed the personal toll of the past several months, saying she has been the subject of relentless attacks. “Every morning, I wake up to a new headline lying about me,” she said. “I have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/t-mobile-distances-itself-from-chief-switching-officer-druski-after-sketch-mocking-erika-kirk">comedians dressing up in whiteface</a>. I have people saying I’m not fit to be CEO, and I have Candace Owens claiming I murdered my husband.”
She reserved particular criticism for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, revisiting remarks he made following a recent assassination attempt. “That is what Jimmy Kimmel did to the First Lady,” Kirk said. “He said that she had the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-hits-back-at-critics-over-melania-widow-joke-and-refuses-to-apologize?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Jimmy+Kimmel+Hits+Back+At+Critics+Over+Melania+%E2%80%98Widow%E2%80%99+Joke+And+Refuses+To+Apologize">glow of an expected widow</a> … just 48 hours before that nightmare almost became a reality.”
Kimmel is a familiar foe for Kirk, as in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing, Kimmel drew outrage after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-affront-to-human-decency-kimmel-ripped-for-falsely-claiming-suspected-kirk-assassin-was-maga?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98An+Affront+To+Human+Decency%E2%80%99%3A+Kimmel+Ripped+For+Falsely+Claiming+Suspected+Kirk+Assassin+Was+MAGA">attempting to link</a> the suspected assassin to the MAGA movement. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during a monologue. 
He went further, mocking Trump’s public response to the killing: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay.” Kimmel was suspended and later reinstated, giving a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-returns-addresses-charlie-kirk-comments-in-teary-non-apology?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Jimmy+Kimmel+Returns%2C+Addresses+Charlie+Kirk+Comments+In+Teary+Non-Apology">teary non-apology</a> on air for the rant.
Kimmel now insists his comment about Melania should be taken as “a very light roast joke” and “not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.”
Melania, for her part, sharply rejected that explanation. “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” she wrote. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” She went further, calling the host “a coward” and urging ABC to act: “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
For Erika Kirk, these incidents are not isolated missteps but part of a broader pattern — one she argues reflects a media environment increasingly willing to blur the line between commentary and dehumanization. “There has never been a president who has faced this many assassination attempts in American history,” she said. “And after each one, the reaction from the far left has been at best a shrug and in some cases a sick disappointment that the shooter was unsuccessful.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/hJGlNvggZI">pic.twitter.com/hJGlNvggZI</a>
— Erika Kirk (@MrsErikaKirk) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrsErikaKirk/status/2049534498514383108?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
She also expressed growing distrust in institutions she once may have taken for granted. “I have to tell you, we have an even bigger problem when it comes to the systemic indoctrination and radicalization of our own citizens,” she said, again pointing to education as a key concern.
Despite the tone of frustration and anger, Kirk closed her remarks with a call for unity and a return to dialogue, something she said was central to her husband’s mission in founding Turning Point USA. “This is why my husband created Turning Point USA, so we could have civil discourse and debate and open dialogue,” she said. “Because when we stop talking to each other, bad things happen.” Quoting the book of Romans, she added: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
“I am choosing to fight for America, for my children, for your children, and for our humanity,” Kirk said. “By the grace of God, we will succeed, and America will remain what she was always called to be — a shining city on a hill.”

CBS News Town Hall With Erika Kirk

Erika Kirk Blasts Media, ‘Radicalization,’ In First Remarks Since WHCD Shooting

Erika Kirk

Politics

The President has had enough. Many of us have had enough. Enough of the fake MAGA grifters who absurdly sought to hijack the political movement he created and, having failed miserably, now plot to destroy it. I don&#8217;t call them Woke Right because they are not Right, if by that we mean conservative. Indeed, their rantings and ravings, written screeds (to the extent they write), and platforming of preposterous and vile guests — when they&#8217;re not interviewing each other to reinforce their cackle-laced bigoted theories and crackpot conspiracies — are every bit as repulsive and foul as the racist and antisemitic poison spewed by the Klan and neo-Nazis. Hence, it&#8217;s more accurate to label them Woke Reich. Indeed, they have more in common with newly arrived Islamist insurgents, Trotskyite and Maoist college faculty, and present-day Democrat Party officialdom than anything akin to MAGA patriots.
We are familiar with some of these individuals from their past broadcasting careers, which typically ended in public humiliation and abrupt firings. Others were largely unknown comics, backbencher politicians, or basement-dwelling recluses. Most have no real accomplishments or proficiencies, shallow experiences, and depthless knowledge. There is simply nothing profound or compelling about the Woke Reich, especially the biggest, loudest, and nastiest among them. In fact, the most memorable part of their daily diatribes is the many applications of their favorite word: f*ck. They use it so often that it&#8217;s as if they have a medical condition, like an uncontrollable tic or disorder.  They use it as a noun, pronoun, verb, and adverb, all in one spittle-fuming daily rant.
Of course, there are those who try to deliver their sordid dingbat and Jewish conspiracy theories with high-toned, pseudo-sophistication, which can be extremely difficult when plagiarizing thoughts and ideas from Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And still others seek to present themselves as Socrates, always inquisitive and asking questions in the supposed pursuit of truth and facts when they are nothing more than thuggish, incoherent buffoons rewriting history and babbling incoherencies about the news, politics, or the culture, as if unwittingly imitating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Corey">Professor Irwin Corey</a>.  From time to time, they lurch into unhinged invectives about President Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Erika Kirk, or more rational and unneurotic broadcasters and podcasters.
You wouldn&#8217;t think that this cabal could draw a crowd, other than curious rubberneckers. Yet, they do, albeit inclusive of foreign government-generated bots and assorted overseas American-hating audiences. But there are also those who are attracted to the cult of personality created by some of these grifters. Indeed, a word has been invented to describe them: “influencers.” Who do they influence? Poll after poll suggests they don&#8217;t actually influence anybody. It appears to be a word generated by the liberal media to exploit and promote the worst of them as foils against the president, MAGA, and the GOP, intended to create the false impression that these reprobates and miscreants hold enormous power over all of them. They don&#8217;t.
For example, the Woke Reich podcasters almost uniformly oppose the president’s decision to preemptively attack the Iranian terrorist regime and eliminate its nuclear capabilities and 47-year history of murder and terrorism against our country. They are zealously opposed to virtually any American military action, stridently insisting on an unwavering adherence to an absolute pacifism and, hence, rote isolationism. America, they chant, is colonialist, imperialist, the geniture of immoral forever wars, and so forth, as if they are mouthpieces for Vladimir Putin or some other anti-American fascist or Marxist despot. They insist the president campaigned on that platform, ignoring his repeatedly stated &#8220;Peace Through Strength&#8221; foreign policy doctrine and first-term actions. Today, several of them have joined numerous congressional Democrats, leftist manipulators, and Islamist agitators in openly rooting for the genocidal Iranian regime against our own armed forces, despite the fact that it has killed and maimed thousands of Americans. And, of course, the Israelis — that is, the Jews — dragged us into this war, as they have manipulated all of our foreign policy decisions.
The internet junkies and podcast fanatics who do swallow this up, as opposed to the mere onlookers and oddly entertained, seem to think these are the only forms of communication worth digesting. For many, this is their entire communications diet. It&#8217;s not part of their world but all of it. They live in this bubble. All day long. Every day. It’s not a way to get information, communicate, and socialize. It’s a myopic existence. Cult followings develop. Many business models are developed around it. Many of the most successful are essentially grifters who are the best at manipulation — not persuasion — through communication techniques developed and honed by past propagandists. This is one reason foreign governments, particularly the most heinous governments, spend time and resources on the internet. There are no limits to what they can do. One of the best ways to demonstrate this is to look at the comments certain posts and posters attract. It doesn&#8217;t tell you everything, but it tells you a lot.
It also explains how some of the biggest podcasters are among the least accomplished outside the internet environment, and even more succeed in preaching like old-time bigots, antisemites, and demagogues. Draw a crowd by any means, grow it, and maintain it. For too many, the more repulsive and cancerous, the more successful.
The Woke Reich are the useful idiots of the Left, the Democrat Party, and even foreign adversaries. They have nothing in common with MAGA, the GOP, or conservatives.
***
Mark Levin is a legal and constitutional scholar, host of The Mark Levin Show on the radio and Life, Liberty &amp; Levin on the Fox News Channel, and the author of 10 New York Times bestselling books.

American Media Control

Mark Levin: Woke Right ‘Influencers’ Are Poisoning The Country With Anti-American Rhetoric

Conservatism

Influencers

Woke Right

In the immediate aftermath of the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — an incident that forced the evacuation of President Donald Trump and underscored once again the real-world consequences of escalated political rhetoric — a Wisconsin brewery owner and former Democratic candidate sparked outrage by publicly rooting for the president’s assassination.
Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company and founder of the affiliated Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, sparked outrage after posting online that he was disappointed Trump survived a recent attempt on his life.
“Well, we almost got #freebeerday,” Bangstad wrote. “Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
HOLY CR*P 🚨 This brewery called Minocqua Brewing Company in Wisconsin upset that Donald Trump didn’t get assassinated tonight is owned by Kirk Bangstad
Kirk Bangstad is a Democrat who ran for Wisconsin State Assembly
He founded a Democrat Super PAC that raised millions to… <a href="https://t.co/WFAZ2pZtkB">pic.twitter.com/WFAZ2pZtkB</a>
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) <a href="https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2048251323263672650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
The remark was not an isolated one. Bangstad’s brewery has openly marketed merchandise tied to the idea of Trump’s death, including <a href="https://minocquamarketplace.com/products/is-he-dead-yet-unisex-t-shirt?_pos=1&amp;_sid=27c660dfd&amp;_ss=r">shirts</a> emblazoned with phrases like “Is he dead yet?” and <a href="https://minocquamarketplace.com/products/free-beer-day-yard-sign?_pos=4&amp;_sid=dd17ae6b5&amp;_ss=r">references</a> to a “free beer day” that would take effect if the president was assassinated. They also sell <a href="https://minocquamarketplace.com/products/trump-voodoo-doll?_pos=2&amp;_sid=27c660dfd&amp;_ss=r">voodoo dolls</a> with the faces of President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Stephen Miller, FBI Director Kash Patel, and an anonymous ICE agent. The brewery’s online store features political products such as “WOKE Coffee” and “Progressive Beer,” tying its commercial brand directly to left-wing activism.
Bangstad, a Democrat who previously ran for Wisconsin State Assembly, has long positioned himself as a political agitator. His Super PAC has raised millions of dollars to support liberal causes and Democratic candidates, while also launching a series of lawsuits targeting Republican policies and figures, including an effort to remove Trump from Wisconsin’s ballot.
But Bangstad’s rhetoric has often been just as controversial as his political efforts. According to <a href="https://www.wpr.org/news/minocqua-brewing-company-kirk-bangstad-oneida-county-controversy-donations-criminal-defamation">reporting</a> from Wisconsin Public Radio, he has been at the center of multiple defamation cases and legal disputes. In one incident, he posted a sexually explicit parody image targeting a local newspaper editor, prompting criminal defamation charges and significant personal distress for the victim. The editor reportedly told police she began sleeping with a knife near her bed after seeing the image.
Bangstad has also been found liable in a separate civil defamation case, resulting in a $750,000 judgment, later settled for $580,000, one of the largest such penalties in Wisconsin history.
Despite these legal setbacks, Bangstad has embraced a combative public persona. He describes himself as a “fighter” and frequently frames his disputes as battles for free speech and justice. 
Bangstad’s political organization operates in a similarly controversial way. <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&amp;committee_id=C00765529&amp;recipient_name=NCPS&amp;recipient_name=effervescent+blue">Financial records</a> show that the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC has spent large sums on opaque or unexplained expenses. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid to little-known entities with no public presence, while former employees allege that PAC funds were used to pay brewery staff for non-political work.
Several former workers <a href="https://www.channel3000.com/news/investigates/former-employees-question-minocqua-brewing-super-pacs-use-of-donations/article_ab03c045-1864-4cad-b2e9-ad89bc111775.html">told local reporters</a> they were paid through the Super PAC despite performing routine bar duties. One employee described receiving checks labeled “organizing” even though no such activities were conducted.
While such practices may raise ethical questions, Super PACs operate under looser rules than traditional political campaigns. That regulatory gap has led some watchdogs to warn about so-called “scam PACs,” where political donations are redirected toward the organizers themselves rather than meaningful advocacy.
Bangstad has dismissed criticism of his spending and business practices, often responding aggressively to those who question him. Former employees and associates say he has used social media to target critics personally, including their families.
At the same time, Bangstad has cultivated a reputation among some leftwing activists as a provocative, anti-establishment figure. His newsletters reportedly reach tens of thousands of subscribers, and his brewery has become a destination for politically aligned customers.
The most recent episode underscores the increasingly volatile intersection of politics, activism, and commerce, where businesses double as ideological platforms and public figures blur the line between advocacy and provocation. Ironically then during his 2020 Assembly campaign, his website <a href="https://www.bangstadforwisconsin.com/">prominently declared</a>, “PUT THE HEALTH OF WISCONSINITES AHEAD OF PARTISANSHIP.” 
At a moment when law enforcement officials are still investigating the motive behind the White House incident, Bangstad’s response underscores a deeper problem in American politics: a culture in which outrage and extremism is tolerated, celebrated, branded, and monetized, no matter the human cost.

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Dem-Owned Brewery Promising ‘Free Beer Day’ If Trump Is Murdered Whines About Failed Attack

assassination attempt

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