President Trump’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran avoids the obvious question: why trade away unprecedented leverage after unprecedented military success?
Over the past three years, the United States and Israel have inflicted more nuclear, economic, and military damage on the Islamic Republic and its terror proxies than at any point since the regime seized power in 1979.
The regime that stood at the height of its regional power on October 7, 2023, when its Hamas proxy unleashed a bestial massacre in Israel, now finds itself weaker and more vulnerable than at any time in its history.
A combination of economic pressure, military force, intelligence operations, and the extraordinary performance of American and Israeli servicemen, intelligence officers, and policymakers brought the regime to its knees.
Americans are therefore entitled to ask whether the Trump administration is about to surrender a significant portion of its leverage before the hardest phase of negotiations has even begun.
A decade ago, the Obama administration bet that sanctions relief and diplomatic engagement could moderate the Islamic Republic. Instead, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) delivered massive sanctions relief while putting Iran on a pathway to nuclear weapons as restrictions expired. Tehran used the windfall to expand its missile and drone programs, strengthen its terrorist proxies, and threaten the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, two waterways key to the free flow of energy.
President Trump withdrew from that fatally flawed agreement and, working with Israel, built unprecedented leverage against the regime. Even when Tehran played the Hormuz card at its weakest moment, the U.S. military began quietly reopening the strait and moved millions of barrels of oil per day. Saudi and Emirati overland pipelines moved millions more.
That’s why the emerging details of the new MOU are so troubling.
The agreement may allow Iran to immediately increase energy sales while potentially receiving relief from the banking and transportation sanctions that facilitate those transactions.
If so, the administration would be trading away one of America’s most effective sources of pressure before final negotiations — intended to strip Iran of its remaining nuclear weapon capabilities — even begin.
The MOU could amount to a $25 billion toll payment to Tehran from oil sales, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open through the midterm elections.
The administration may argue that such relief is limited, reversible, and necessary to stabilize global energy markets.
Yet the burning questions remain.
How much of that money can be repatriated? How can the regime use those funds? What restrictions remain on financial transactions? Will the administration stop enforcing existing sanctions?
Most importantly, how much damage will be done to the sanctions architecture that took years to build?
Tehran could also gain access to tens of billions of dollars in additional oil revenue and portions of the roughly $100 billion in Iranian funds frozen abroad. That would be a massive windfall.
If the MOU includes broad waivers covering banking and transportation transactions, that would represent far more than a narrow licensing arrangement. It would fracture the core architecture of American oil and financial sanctions.
Once the United States normalizes Iranian oil exports to major buyers such as China, India, and the United Arab Emirates, alongside the repatriation of oil revenues back to Tehran, the damage becomes difficult to reverse.
If companies, traders, insurers, shipping firms, banks, and governments become accustomed to doing business with Iran again, restoring today’s pressure campaign would take years, not weeks — precisely why sanctions relief should come at the end of successful negotiations, not at the beginning.
And prematurely weakening this leverage will make it even more difficult to secure the final nuclear agreement with Iran that the MOU is supposedly designed to deliver.
The regime has played this game successfully against multiple American presidents. Indeed, the only arena in which the Islamic Republic has consistently defeated the United States is at the negotiating table.
President Trump argued he still retains the military option. But leverage erodes. Deployments end, Washington’s attention shifts, and Tehran may simply pocket economic concessions while waiting for pressure to dissipate or for a next president not willing to stop Iran.
If negotiations fail — as they likely will — the administration should be prepared immediately to restore maximum economic pressure, return to military operations including in Hormuz, and suffocate the regime’s remaining sources of power.
There is one final instrument that every administration has neglected.
The Iranian people.
Economic pressure and military power can weaken the regime. Only the Iranian people can ultimately end it.
Nothing can match the power of tens of millions of Iranians who despise the regime that rules them. No one has sacrificed more to challenge the Islamic Republic.
Despite enduring killings, incarceration, torture, corruption, and economic ruin, they continue to resist.
The truly decisive question is not how long the United States can pressure this regime.
It is whether America is finally prepared to help Iranians finish the job themselves.
President Trump should immediately instruct his intelligence services to build a plan. Call it Operation People’s Fury. And have it ready for when Iranians courageously return to the streets, as they have done repeatedly for decades.
***
Mark Dubowitz is chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the presenter of <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.fdd.org/category/podcasts/the-iran-breakdown/__;!!F0Stn7g!CXgsIlEBML2AYFaX0372v0_L5qnUjHMgegvX8DDMWsMIjt3f0Sf06wIzQZDE2vGSfwN3STHRx9Y$">“The Iran Breakdown”</a> podcast.

President Trump Attends G7 Summit In Evian, France

Why Squander The Greatest Leverage Ever Built Against Iran?

DW Opinion

Iran

Iran Nuclear Deal

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Special Reporting

Strait of Hormuz

A leftist group has been fundraising to provide commissary funds to the so-called &#8220;hunger striking&#8221; detainees at ICE&#8217;s Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey, a Daily Wire investigation has found.
Democratic lawmakers have decried the conditions inside the Newark facility, that include claims of worms in the food, as the reason for the purported hunger strike. Meanwhile, sales from the detention center&#8217;s commissary store have surged 161%, jumping from $11,498 on May 26 to $30,013 on June 1, according to internal data recently obtained by The Daily Wire.
State inspectors visited the facility last week, reporting that the &#8220;overall sanitation and physical condition of the production kitchen and warehousing areas&#8221; was &#8220;satisfactory&#8221; and &#8220;free from signs of rodent or vermin activity,” NJ.com reported.
The New Jersey-based SOMA Mutual Aid Collective, a coalition comprised of SOMA Action, SOMA Justice, and SOMA Shares, has raised more than $50,000 through its <a href="https://givebutter.com/commissaryfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Commissary and Communication Fund&#8221;</a> during the supposed hunger strike.
The coalition, which says it&#8217;s run by volunteers, raised roughly <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20260529232050/https://givebutter.com/commissaryfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$68,000</a> as of the end of May and has now raised more than <a href="https://givebutter.com/commissaryfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$120,000</a> to provide funds for detainees&#8217; commissary accounts, according to The Internet Archive.
&#8220;Right now, over 1,000 people are detained at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, NJ — our friends, neighbors, and community members who have been taken by ICE and face deportation. In detention, men and women often purchase their own toiletries due to the poor quality of what they are given, along with staples like rice, noodles and sausage to make up for the frequent inedible food served,&#8221; the fundraiser website states.
&#8220;The SOMA Mutual Aid Collective is working with other organizations on the ground at Delaney Hall to help fund commissary and communication accounts to those who need — and we urgently need your support. We are trying to keep up with every request for commissary account funding at Delaney Hall as well as those who have been sent to other facilities throughout the country — and that list continues to grow,&#8221; it adds.
SOMA Justice was <a href="https://www.somajustice.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founded</a> by Rutgers University professor Khadijah Costley White, who authored “The Branding of Right-Wing Activism: The News Media and the Tea Party.&#8221; The group says it seeks to fight &#8220;racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other ideologies of power and oppression.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1112445" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1112445" class="size-medium wp-image-1112445" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2279778564-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2279778564-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2279778564-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2279778564-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2279778564.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />(Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)</div>
The SOMA umbrella asks contributors to &#8220;make a recurring donation of $55/month and help someone detained afford basic food and necessities they are being denied.&#8221; The beneficiaries of the funds, it says, are &#8220;immigrants whose lives have been upended by the current mass detention and deportation drive.&#8221;
The donations also help pay for detainees to make calls to family members, lawyers, and friends, according to the fundraiser website. Any &#8220;excess&#8221; funds raised will help pay for legal aid and bonds to free illegal immigrants from ICE detention.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYsR7KkFi37/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYsR7KkFi37/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Pax Christi New Jersey (@paxchristinj)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
Activist groups, like SOMA &#8220;are a cash cow for detainees,&#8221; former ICE New York Field Office Deputy Director Scott Mechkowski told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Shut off the free money and watch how fast they&#8217;re back in line for their trays,&#8221; he said.
Protestors have demonstrated outside Delaney Hall for weeks, advocating for the facility&#8217;s closure. Some demonstrators have clashed with authorities outside the facility, resulting in dozens of arrests.
Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said Monday that she &#8220;finally&#8221; toured the detention center &#8220;after being denied access for weeks,&#8221; but complained that her visit &#8220;was a closely controlled and limited tour of the facility.&#8221;
&#8220;That is unacceptable,&#8221; she wrote on X. &#8220;I was not allowed to meet or speak directly with the detainees, which continues to raise serious questions about the real conditions of the facility and the treatment of those held there. I will continue to push to speak with the detainees directly. They deserve to be heard and the public deserves answers.&#8221;
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded to Sherrill, saying he &#8220;personally granted&#8221; her access to Delaney Hall &#8220;as an act of good faith— despite you having exactly ZERO federal oversight authority.&#8221;
&#8220;Of course, you’re still trying to turn Delaney Hall into a political football for the radical left. You were told BEFORE you went in you would not have the ability to speak to detainees. This is a federal facility, Governor. You are NOT federally elected,&#8221; he said.
Mullin also suggested that Sherrill &#8220;spend more time&#8221; at state-run prisons, where he said the problems are worse.
&#8220;Delaney Hall has 2x more medical personnel per detainee than NJ state prison, and at least 2x as much square footage. Detainees are also 2x more likely to die in NJ state custody,&#8221; he said.
Gus Wilson contributed to this report.

Protestors Demonstrate And Clash With Officers Outside Delaney Hall Detention Facility In Newark

Leftist Group Behind Commissary Funds For ‘Hunger Striking’ Illegal Immigrants At Delaney Hall

Delaney Hall

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Karmelo Anthony has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of high school athlete Austin Metcalf.
The jury rendered the sentencing on Tuesday evening, hours after issuing a guilty verdict on a first-degree murder charge.
Anthony reportedly broke down in tears when the sentencing was announced. The 19-year-old also sobbed and was visibly shaking when the guilty verdict was read hours earlier.
Daily Mail reporter MaryAnn Martinez, who is inside the courtroom, said the prosecution argued before sentencing deliberations that the Metcalf family will suffer far greater than Anthony ever will, no matter the sentence.
&#8220;Nothing you do with your verdict, no matter what it is, nothing you do will take more from Karmelo, Anthony, or his family, than he took from a Austin Metcalf,&#8221; attorney Dewey Mitchell said. &#8220;Karmelo Anthony&#8217;s gonna have the opportunity to continue to be a son, to continue through his life and find out what he&#8217;s interested in, maybe meet the love of his life, have children. Austin Metcalf did not have the opportunity to meet the love of his life. Didn&#8217;t have the opportunity to know what it felt like the hold a plaque of graduation, isn&#8217;t going to know what it&#8217;s like to have children with someone you love. He&#8217;s never gonna have the time with his parents, where he grows up, and he gets out of those teenage years.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Closing arguments for Karmelo Anthony sentencing: 
Dewey Mitchell speaking for the state 
&#8220;Nothing you do with your verdict, no matter what it is, nothing you do will take more from Karmelo, Anthony, or his family, than he took from a Austin Metcalf. ⁰ 
Karmelo Anthony&#8217;s gonna have…
— MaryAnn Martinez (@MaryAnnreports) <a href="https://x.com/MaryAnnreports/status/2064480173848703330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Outside of closing arguments, the only person to speak during the punishment phase of the trial was Anthony&#8217;s mother. &#8220;Please have mercy on my son,&#8221; she reportedly told jurors while sobbing.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The only person to take the stand in the punishment phase was Karmelo Anthony&#8217;s mother. She begged for mercy. 
&#8216;Please have mercy on my son,&#8217; Hayes sobbed as she looked at the jury. 
Both sides have closed out their cases. The court is now working on a charging document and will…
— MaryAnn Martinez (@MaryAnnreports) <a href="https://x.com/MaryAnnreports/status/2064438116812038323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Anthony, who is black, fatally stabbed Metcalf, who was white, at a track event in April 2025 in Frisco, Texas. The case quickly garnered national attention, both due to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-of-karmelo-anthony-hosted-the-most-disgusting-press-conference-ive-ever-seen?author=Matt+Walsh&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Family+Of+Karmelo+Anthony+Hosted+The+Most+Disgusting+Press+Conference+I’ve+Ever+Seen">a narrative peddled by the Anthony family</a> and the glaring lack of coverage from the legacy media, which routinely highlights and escalates white-on-black incidents.
Legal commentators have said throughout the trial that the defense had an incredibly poor showing, and the state&#8217;s case was effectively airtight. Witnesses blew apart any racial narrative peddled by the Anthony family, and video evidence showed that Anthony was not surrounded by a mob of people, but only confronted by Metcalf after he was told to leave the team&#8217;s tent up to 15 times by different people. Also, of note, witnesses say Metcalf explicitly told Anthony he would not fight him.
The trial, from start to finish, lasted only nine days, including jury selection. The jury rendered a guilty verdict mere hours after they were set to deliberate.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jury-reaches-verdict-in-karmelo-anthony-murder-trial?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Jury+Reaches+Verdict+In+Karmelo+Anthony+Murder+Trial">Jury Reaches Verdict In Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial</a>

KAnthony

Karmelo Anthony Learns His Prison Sentence For The Murder Of Austin Metcalf

Karmelo Anthony Sentenced For Murder Of Austin Metcalf 

Austin Metcalf

Karmelo Anthony

A Collin County, Texas, jury on Tuesday found Karmelo Anthony, 19, guilty of murdering 17-year-old high school athlete Austin Metcalf.
Anthony, who was 17 years old at the time of the murder, was tried as an adult and is facing five years to life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction. Anthony broke down in tears when the verdict was read and was visibly shaking.
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;">
Credit: Wired in Live
</div>
CBS reporter J.D. Miles reported just before the verdict that more than two dozen deputies were outside the courtroom and a crowd outside the courthouse was gathering and chanting &#8220;Free Karmelo.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Tense scene in and around Collin County Courthouse. More than 2 dozen deputies outside the courtroom alone. Outside a crowd is gathering with chants of &#8220;Free Karmelo&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Jy0e6jRNhl">pic.twitter.com/Jy0e6jRNhl</a>
— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) <a href="https://x.com/jdmiles11/status/2064424313713770967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Anthony, who is black, fatally stabbed Metcalf, who was white, at a track event in April 2025 in Frisco, Texas. The case quickly garnered national attention, both due to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-of-karmelo-anthony-hosted-the-most-disgusting-press-conference-ive-ever-seen?author=Matt+Walsh&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Family+Of+Karmelo+Anthony+Hosted+The+Most+Disgusting+Press+Conference+I’ve+Ever+Seen">a narrative peddled by the Anthony family</a> and the glaring lack of coverage from the legacy media, which routinely highlights and escalates white-on-black incidents.
<div id="attachment_1112269" style="width: 904px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1112269" class="wp-image-1112269 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-894x576.jpeg" alt="" width="894" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-894x576.jpeg 894w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-300x193.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-768x495.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-1536x990.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot.jpeg 1694w" sizes=" (max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px" />GoFundMe: Austin Metcalf Family</div>
The high-profile trial started on June 1 with jury selection and wrapped in a matter of nine days. Video footage and witness testimony — even from defense witnesses — generally indicated that Anthony provoked the situation with Metcalf and deadly force was not needed, contradicting the self-defense argument from Anthony&#8217;s team.
Notably, Anthony did not take the stand during the trial.
The race narrative advanced by the Anthony family was also quickly dispelled during witness testimony. For example, a number of teen witnesses called to the stand by the state were black; they all said Anthony was in the wrong and spoke highly of Metcalf as a person and friend.
In an emotional moment, a male witness who knew both Anthony and the slain teen broke down crying about the murder, saying of Austin, “That was my brother, that was my brother that got stabbed.” <a href="https://x.com/SarahisCensored">Investigative journalist Sarah Fields</a>, who was in the courtroom, said the teen was asked directly if this case was about race. He responded, “No, Austin was a leader and he protected us.”
Video evidence also showed that Anthony was never surrounded by a mob, but was confronted by Metcalf alone. Metcalf explicitly told Anthony he wasn&#8217;t going to fight him, according to witness testimony.
Supporters of Anthony have been outside the courthouse since the trial started. They have made racial remarks and denigrated Metcalf. In seeming anticipation of any protest over the verdict, authorities secured the area early Tuesday morning.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 NOW: It’s 2:15am here outside the Collin County, TX courthouse where Karmelo Anthony’s trial is being held
And sheriff’s deputies have this placed LOCKED DOWN
I spoke with a couple deputies, and they’ve assured me they are READY to combat any sort of rioting that follows the… <a href="https://t.co/GTwoWnWcdN">pic.twitter.com/GTwoWnWcdN</a>
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) <a href="https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2064244936967377386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-of-karmelo-anthony-hosted-the-most-disgusting-press-conference-ive-ever-seen?author=Matt+Walsh&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Family+Of+Karmelo+Anthony+Hosted+The+Most+Disgusting+Press+Conference+I’ve+Ever+Seen">Family Of Karmelo Anthony Hosted The Most Disgusting Press Conference I’ve Ever Seen</a>

Jury Reaches Verdict In Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial

Verdict Rendered In Karmelo Anthony Murder Trial 

Court

Murder

Texas

trial

Lawyers agreed to add the lesser charge of manslaughter to Karmelo Anthony&#8217;s charging docs on Tuesday, just before the jury was set to hear closing arguments.
&#8220;MANSLAUGHTER is now on the table with Karmelo Anthony,&#8221; The Daily Mail&#8217;s MaryAnn Martinez <a href="https://x.com/MaryAnnreports/status/2064355974211592597">reported</a>. &#8220;The lawyers and judge in this case have agreed to include it in the charging document that jurors will consider today after closing arguments.&#8221;
Anthony, who fatally stabbed high school athlete Austin Metcalf at a track event in April 2025, was indicted on a first-degree murder charge. The trial has been speedy and closing arguments are set for Tuesday, before the jury begins deliberations. Most legal commentators have speculated that the case presented by the state has been airtight, and a murder conviction was expected later today.
Anthony could face a significantly lighter sentence if convicted on the manslaughter charge instead of the murder charge. The manslaughter charge carries two to 20 years in prison, while a murder charge carries up to life in prison.
To be convicted on the murder charge, the jury would have to find that Anthony intentionally or knowingly killed Metcalf. For a manslaughter conviction, the jury would find that Anthony recklessly caused Metcalf&#8217;s death; intent to kill is not required.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here are screenshots of the Judge&#8217;s charge to the jury in the Karmelo Anthony murder trial. It&#8217;s the instructions they follow to determine whether the defendant&#8217;s actions met the requirements of murder or manslaughter. If they don&#8217;t meet the requirements of either he will be… <a href="https://t.co/AYYmRt9qF9">pic.twitter.com/AYYmRt9qF9</a>
— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) <a href="https://x.com/jdmiles11/status/2064382136182882449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
While giving closing arguments, the prosecution told jurors that a conviction on manslaughter would mean that they believe Metcalf &#8220;impaled himself on Karmelo Anthony’s knife,&#8221; according to reporting from CBS 11 News reporter J.D. Miles. Arguing that this was murder one, the state said Anthony &#8220;had it in his mind what he was going to do.&#8221;
Anthony, they said, ran for an exit after stabbing Metcalf, he didn&#8217;t look for a coach or someone to help. “It’s a guilty, guilty mindset,&#8221; the prosecution said, according to Miles. “&#8217;He touched me, he did this, he did that,&#8217; [is] what would he have said if he was really confronted by both of the twins, his words alone belie the fact that this was one on one, this was not a mob of Memorial kids. &#8230; He had it in his mind what he was going to do.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More prosecution closing
On whether manslaughter would apply in this case instead of murder
“If you think AM impaled himself on Karmelo Anthony’s knife, find him guilty of manslaughter”
On witnesses
“They all said Karmelo Anthony provoked it”
Why self defense doesn’t apply…
— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) <a href="https://x.com/jdmiles11/status/2064372612159947133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Closing arguments have now completed, and jurors are starting to deliberate.
This is a breaking story. Refresh the page for updates.

The Karmelo Anthony Trial Took An Unexpected Turn At The Last Possible Moment

BREAKING: Lesser Charge Added To Karmelo Anthony Charging Docs

Judge

When South African refugees were told they would be shown videos on how to assimilate to American culture, they expected a crash course in local customs and habits they may not have known.
Instead, they sat wide-eyed as they watched videos teaching them how to shower, use a toilet, and brush their teeth.
Several Afrikaners, members of South Africa&#8217;s white minority to whom President Donald Trump has granted special refugee status, told The Daily Wire they were shocked by the videos.
&#8220;When we were watching it, we laughed at a lot of these videos and made comedic remarks because they pointed out the obvious regarding not going to the bathroom outside and how to use a microwave even,&#8221; said Adriaan, an Afrikaner refugee who arrived in December. &#8220;We found it very funny, but we understood as well the idea of like people from Somalia who&#8217;ve never had electricity &#8230; they were mostly made for people that can&#8217;t speak English, that have never lived in a first world country.&#8221;
&#8220;It was just plain ridiculous,&#8221; Marie, another Afrikaner refugee, said.
The videos are produced by an initiative of the nonprofit organization the International Rescue Committee, which is called SettleIn. The program boasts that its content was &#8220;developed under agreements financed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families and Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, United States Department of State,&#8221; according to its website.
SettleIn&#8217;s website adds that its content does not &#8220;necessarily represent the policies or official views of those agencies and should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MUFOZmn0jDQ?si=XbyX0oIkGkxpkgeV" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
One of the videos on SettleIn&#8217;s YouTube channel promotes &#8220;personal hygiene,&#8221; saying that &#8220;In the United States, this means taking regular showers or baths, applying deodorant daily, washing and grooming hair, and washing clothes frequently.&#8221;
&#8220;Only toilet paper should be flushed down the toilet,&#8221; it adds.
The video goes on to say that &#8220;practicing proper personal hygiene promotes good health, prevents the spread of diseases, and may influence relationships with others,&#8221; adding: &#8220;Personal hygiene is also important for getting and keeping a job.&#8221;
An accompanying <a href="https://www.settleinus.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/English_Hygiene-in-the-US_factsheet-low-res.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guide</a> also advises refugees against urinating and spitting &#8220;in public.&#8221; It also instructs them to &#8220;wear clothing that is clean,&#8221; &#8220;wash hands when they are dirty, after using the bathroom, and before and after eating,&#8221; and to &#8220;use a tissue, not your hand or the sleeve of your shirt&#8221; to wipe a runny nose.
<div id="attachment_1109445" style="width: 1792px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1109445" class="wp-image-1109445 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779.jpg" alt="" width="1782" height="940" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779.jpg 1782w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779-300x158.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779-768x405.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-04T140520.779-1536x810.jpg 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1782px) 100vw, 1782px" />Credit: Settle In on YouTube</div>
Another <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xv4ylUdHBg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> advises refugees not to run from the police during encounters with law enforcement.
&#8220;Don&#8217;t run or reach for anything suddenly,&#8221; the video advises.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QLFYsEq5su4?si=CAJrNTqUG_KJewk7" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
One of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLFYsEq5su4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">videos</a> features a refugee woman telling her fellow newcomers that homes in the United States are &#8220;not like when we are back home living in the refugee camps, you have to be so clean person, clean your home, take your trash out.&#8221;
The International Rescue Committee, which partners with the federal government as part of its U.S. Refugee Admission Program (USRAP), has <a href="https://www.rescue.org/press-release/irc-deeply-troubled-refugee-resettlement-slots-one-nationality?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">condemned</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s refugee policy to decrease refugee admissions and to prioritize white Afrikaners facing racial persecution in South Africa.
The Trump administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/realigning-the-united-states-refugee-admissions-program/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended</a> USRAP on January 20, 2025, and subsequently terminated agreements with refugee aid nonprofits, including the <a href="https://www.rescue.org/article/how-have-trump-policies-impacted-refugees?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Rescue Committee (IRC)</a>.
A federal judge initially blocked the suspension in early 2025 and ordered the government to reinstate its agreements with resettlement groups like the IRC. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled the administration could lawfully suspend refugee admissions, but it left in place the requirement that the government keep funding domestic services for refugees already in the country.
SettleIn is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services&#8217; Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to the International Rescue Committee <a href="https://www.rescue.org/page/us-program-offerings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. It is part of the committee&#8217;s Switchboard, which provides training to refugee support organizations and case managers, which is &#8220;100% financed by federal funds,&#8221; citing an <a href="https://taggs.hhs.gov/Detail/AwardDetail?arg_AwardNum=90RB0053&amp;arg_ProgOfficeCode=40&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Office of Refugee Resettlement grant</a> that has provided the organization more than $20 million in taxpayer funds since 2023.
The program offers some practical advice on filing one&#8217;s taxes, obtaining a driver&#8217;s license, and buying and renting a residence in the United States.
It also provides a cultural guide for refugee organizations and case workers on working with Afrikaner refugees. The packet neglects to mention the racially motivated killings of white farmers in South Africa and other race-based laws discriminating against Afrikaners.
The guide paints Afrikaners as settlers who took part in &#8220;displacing native peoples,&#8221; which it said in combination with the British Empire holding Afrikaners and black Africans in concentration camps &#8220;helped consolidate a concept of Afrikaner nationalism through collective suffering at the hands of the British.&#8221;
&#8220;From 1948 to 1994, Afrikaners participated in establishing and implementing the South African government’s system of Apartheid, a regime of racial segregation. In the post-Apartheid era, South Africans including Afrikaners continue to grapple with issues of identity, reconciliation, and socio-economic transformation,&#8221; the guide reads.
Such federally-funded programs &#8220;are intended to support refugees from a broad range of countries of origin, educational backgrounds, languages, and lived experiences,&#8221; a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Office of Refugee Resettlement-funded resources, including those developed by technical assistance providers, provide practical information to help refugees navigate daily life in the United States, including topics such as healthcare, education, transportation, housing, employment, and other essential services,&#8221; the spokesman said.
&#8220;Some materials also provide information about common household and community practices in the United States, recognizing that refugees arrive with varying levels of familiarity with U.S. systems, institutions, and cultural norms,&#8221; the official added.
In a statement, the IRC said &#8220;SettleIn and Switchboard are resources designed to support the full range of refugees resettling in the United States—a population that comes from dozens of countries, speaks hundreds of languages, and arrives with enormously varied backgrounds and levels of familiarity with American systems and infrastructure.&#8221;
The videos, the organization said, &#8220;are intentionally comprehensive so that resettlement organizations can use what is relevant for the populations they serve, and resettling refugees can access the information most helpful to them.&#8221;
Refugee names have been changed. Blake Schaper contributed to this report.

Afghanistan Refugees Arrive at Dulles International Airport

Taxpayer-Funded ‘Cultural Orientation’ Program Teaches Refugees How To Shower And Use A Toilet

Immigration

Refugees

South Africa

There is a quiet crisis destroying the lives of American children happening right in front of us, but about which far too few people know. It is the crisis of child sex trafficking. Tens of thousands of kids — boys and girls — are trapped in it, and most all of it takes place online.
I learned the story recently of a girl I’ll call Lisa. She was first sexually abused when she was only a toddler, just two or three. Her attacker posted degrading and graphic pictures of the abuse on the internet. That’s where federal investigators first saw her. The good news was that, based on certain identifying clues in the photos, they believed they could pinpoint Lisa’s location. The bad news? The government has only a handful of investigators with forensic expertise dedicated full-time to fighting child trafficking. And the scope of the crisis is overwhelming. It’s time we did something about it.
There are thousands and thousands of children like Lisa. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recorded 20.6 million files — images, videos, and other files — of suspected child sexual abuse in 2017. In 2025, it was 61.8 million files. That’s a 200% increase in less than a decade. To give you a sense of the sheer number of abusers involved, consider this: in a single, six-month period last year, 338,000 separate IP addresses — individual online users, essentially — posted or shared images of child rape. All of that in just six months.
What does that mean in real terms? It means that tens of thousands of children are trapped and waiting to be rescued. The global police agency Interpol estimates there are 89,000 children for whom law enforcement has identifying images, but who have not been located. This means there are nearly 90,000 kids who could be found and rescued if we just devoted the time and manpower to find them. How do I know it’s possible? Because of Lisa.
Investigators in her case began analyzing what they found online, zeroing in on clues in the images her abuser shared. A shadow here. The outlines of buildings there. A glimpse of playground equipment in the background of a video that one analyst recognized as unique to certain cities in the American South. They worked and analyzed and narrowed her location until, finally, they were able to find her and bring her to safety.
Lisa’s rescue was no one-off. In another case, investigators were able to isolate the audio of a bird call in the background of a video to locate and rescue a child based on the range and habitat of that particular bird. And in yet another case, federal investigators analyzed an image depicting a young victim in the backseat of a car, with a blurry highway sign through the window. Their analysis of that single sign led to a search that rescued an 11-year-old girl only 13 days after the images were first discovered online. That’s what the best cops can do when they have the means.
It’s time we gave them what they need.
One man who has been showing the way is Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and football legend. His nonprofit group, the Tim Tebow Foundation, has been a powerful advocate for America’s missing and exploited children. Every year, the Tebow Foundation partners with federal law enforcement to surge resources to the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks to help rescue kids. That surge means more forensic analysts, more investigators — and more children rescued.
This program has had tremendous success. But it’s only two weeks, once a year. We ought to make that surge bigger. And it’s time to make it permanent.
Tim and I have worked on legislation together to add 200 full-time cops and forensic experts to Homeland Security to analyze every piece of child abuse evidence they can get their hands on. Our legislation would also create a new training program to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts, so that all levels of law enforcement can tackle this problem together. Taken as a whole, it would constitute one of the largest investments in fighting child trafficking this country has ever made.
Congress has the opportunity to pass this legislation now. It’s part of the latest funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, which currently awaits action on the Senate floor.
The crisis we face is real, and the thousands of kids trapped in trafficking cannot wait any longer. Let’s go rescue them.
***
Josh Hawley serves as Missouri&#8217;s senior U.S. senator.

Domestic abuse victim with hands pressed against glass window

Josh Hawley: Child Sex Trafficking Ends When We Give Investigators The Tools They Need

Child Sex Abuse

Human Trafficking

This is part three of a Daily Wire series exposing the Biden administration’s previously unreported efforts to enact radical anti-family policies in the name of protecting transgender-identifying children. In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-biden-admins-scramble-to-find-data-to-support-its-pro-trans-foster-care-reform">part two,</a> we saw how Biden officials pushed a policy even radical LGBT activists told them to drop.
Today, we see that the rule was just the tip of the iceberg. As Biden receded from view and Kamala Harris launched her campaign, Biden officials were laying the groundwork for what they would do if they kept the White House. The plan would have fundamentally changed child welfare across the country — enshrining transgenderism in federal law without a single vote.
***
Shortly before the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump&#8217;s campaign dropped a game changing ad.
“Kamala is for they/them,&#8221; the ad warned viewers. &#8220;President Trump is for you.&#8221;
It has since become clear that Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-learned-to-embrace-the-transgender-culture-wars">embrace of the transgender issue</a> helped fuel his return to the White House. But what if Vice President Kamala Harris had eked out a victory? Would her administration have continued President Joe Biden&#8217;s embrace of radical gender ideology? Would she have walked it back? Or would Harris have taken things even further?
A 78-page plan reviewed by The Daily Wire shows how the Biden administration was planning to make affirming transgenderism the national standard within child welfare services without having to pass a single law. The crux of that plan was the creation of the Child Welfare Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression Institute (SOGIE). Funded by a $20 million <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_75ACF124F80019_7590_GS10F0064W_4730" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grant</a> from the Department of Health and Human Services, <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USACFCWIG/bulletins/3bb7416">SOGIE</a> was on track to employ a 40-person team to push transgenderism on child welfare agencies across the country.
&#8220;This is a comprehensive, detailed strategy to turn child welfare systems in all 50 states into training camps and havens for radical gender ideology,&#8221; Laura Hanford, the senior policy analyst at the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Not a word about the major risks of sex-rejecting procedures, or about the comorbidities for gender confusion and its high correlation with sexual abuse, especially in such a vulnerable population.&#8221;
Even the people behind the plan acknowledged its radical nature.
Angela Weeks, a University of Connecticut employee tasked with administering the SOGIE grant, wrote to colleagues in August 2024 that “we wrote a proposal that was innovative, so much so that some other reviewers thought we should tone it down.&#8221;
But &#8220;we chose to go big,&#8221; Weeks said, adding that it was &#8220;thrilling to see&#8221; the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an <a href="https://acf.gov/about">agency</a> within HHS, &#8220;wanted a contractor who would lead this work in a way that can create real change.”
The Biden administration first mentioned the SOGIE Institute in <a href="https://sam.gov/opp/076cf3af202e48eeac9766ab3a7e02b5/view#history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January 2023,</a> when HHS announced it was looking for a contractor to help its <a href="https://acf.gov/cb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Children’s Bureau</a> address the &#8220;unique needs of transgender and gender diverse individuals&#8221; in child welfare systems. This was pursuant to Biden&#8217;s <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/06/21/2022-13391/advancing-equality-for-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-and-intersex-individuals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Executive Order 14075,</a> which mandated the federal government “combat unlawful discrimination” and “address the significant disparities that LGBTQI+ youth face in the foster care system.”
The SOGIE Institute cited this order in its project work plan, stating it offered an “unprecedented opportunity” to make child welfare services “more responsive” to the “unique needs of [LGBTQIA2S+] youth and their families.&#8221; It called President Biden&#8217;s LGBTQ+ affirming foster care<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/30/2024-08982/designated-placement-requirements-under-titles-iv-e-and-iv-b-for-lgbtqi-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> rule</a> an “inflection point,” charging child welfare agencies to take radical action.
In the fall of 2024, the SOGIE Institute set about transforming local and state child welfare agencies across the nation.
The draft work plan outlines five years worth of initiatives, including efforts to collect data about the sexual orientation and gender identity of children in foster care, and trainings to help child welfare workers “maximize SOGIE knowledge and practice competencies.”
The institute also had plans to handpick child welfare workers from state and local agencies to participate in a “SOGIE Champions&#8221; program, where they would participate in a &#8220;robust training and coaching program that teaches the skills and knowledge necessary to implement evidence informed LGBTQIA2S+ best practices.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1107955" style="width: 732px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1107955" class="wp-image-1107955 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.35.28-AM-722x576.png" alt="" width="722" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.35.28-AM-722x576.png 722w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.35.28-AM-300x239.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.35.28-AM-768x613.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.35.28-AM.png 1139w" sizes=" (max-width: 722px) 100vw, 722px" />Screenshot from the SOGIE Institute project work plan.</div>
Biden officials were particularly interested in recruiting &#8220;champions&#8221; from child welfare systems in conservative states that opposed President Biden’s LGBTQ+ affirming foster care<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/30/2024-08982/designated-placement-requirements-under-titles-iv-e-and-iv-b-for-lgbtqi-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> rule</a>, records show. Liliana Chakrabarti, a child welfare program specialist at the Children’s Bureau, told SOGIE leaders that her staff had created a list of potential allies in 20 states whose attorneys general had opposed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/states-press-hhs-over-illegal-rule-that-could-force-foster-care-providers-to-facilitate-trans-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rule</a>, an August 2024 email shows.
The SOGIE Institute planned to welcome its first group of “SOGIE Champions” in January 2025. Liliana Chakrabarti did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment.
The institute also planned to recruit and train “Lived Experience Consultants” who had been supported by child welfare systems and identified as &#8220;LGBTQIA2S+ or are parents or caregivers of LGBTQIA2S+ young people.” These individuals would consult with local child welfare agencies and help them embrace gender affirming policies.
The SOGIE Institute only operated for six months. But during that time, the group <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USACFCWIG/bulletins/3c5fab1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hosted</a> <a href="https://www.payab.pitt.edu/files/10TipsFosterSafteyLGBTQIA2S.pdf">webinars</a> on “Supporting LGBTQIA2S+ Young People and their Families Receiving Child Welfare Services&#8221; and “Ten Tips on Fostering Safety for LGBTQIA2S+ Youth in Foster Care.&#8221;
The “tips” included using non-gendered language, hanging pride flags in child welfare offices, and introducing yourself using chosen pronouns.
The group published a <a href="https://www.payab.pitt.edu/files/CWSOGIEInstituteGlossary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">glossary of terms</a> that defined each letter of the LGBTQIA2S+ acronym, saying it would be used “for all the work throughout the Administration of Children and Families&#8221; and also provided definitions of terms such as “queer,” “transgender,” and “transition.”
&#8220;Child welfare is already widely tainted by gender ideology,&#8221; Hanford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;One can only imagine how much more thoroughly this 20-million-dollar plan would have rotted child protective systems, and how many more families would have been destroyed, had President Trump not won the election and halted the project.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1107951" style="width: 857px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1107951" class="wp-image-1107951 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM-847x576.png" alt="" width="847" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM-847x576.png 847w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM-300x204.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM-768x522.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM-1536x1045.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-03-at-10.39.46-AM.png 1597w" sizes=" (max-width: 847px) 100vw, 847px" />Screenshot from the SOGIE Institute project work plan.</div>
The work plan showed one of the long-term goals of the SOGIE Institute was to address the problem of “over-representation of LGBTQIA2S+ in foster care,&#8221; but Chakrabarti recommended that the SOGIE Institute focus on a more “realistic” goal.
“I think a more realistic long term goal would be: increased satisfaction of services by LGBTQIA2S+ youth in care,” wrote Chakrabarti.
Transgender activists believe not supporting a child&#8217;s transgender identity is a form of harm and abuse. Parents across the country, including in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murdered-by-gender-ideology-mother-whose-daughter-committed-suicide-blasts-child-protective-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a>, <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/m-c-and-j-c-v-indiana-department-of-child-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana</a>, and <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/17/exclusive-gender-confused-kids-taken-non-affirming-parents-one-family-fight-son-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a>, have had their children taken away by child welfare services for affirming their child’s sex. In the first part of this series, The Daily Wire reported on an Oregon mom who lost custody because she would not affirm her daughter&#8217;s transgender identity.
Erin Friday, a lawyer and president of Our Duty-USA, told The Daily Wire that gender-affirming child welfare systems are unnecessarily increasing the number of kids in foster care.
&#8220;The child welfare system was designed as a safety net for abused children, with family reunification as its primary goal,&#8221; Friday said. &#8220;It has since morphed into a system that wants to add to the foster care ledger.&#8221;
&#8220;The primary beneficiaries are LGBTQ-affiliated nonprofits that can then seek additional taxpayer funding,&#8221; Friday added. &#8220;This scheme simultaneously uses the increased numbers to justify the false notion that parents are abandoning their gender dysphoric children.&#8221;
Under President Trump, HHS has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-sends-new-guidance-to-all-50-states-on-trans-kid-disputes?author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=19&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Sends+New+Guidance+To+All+50+States+On+Trans+Kid+Disputes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alerted</a> all 50 states that affirming “biological reality” does not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law.
“Removing a child from their home must be based on objective evidence or imminent risk of serious harm. So a state’s decision to break up a family cannot be based solely on a parent’s objection to radical gender ideology or irreversible sex rejecting medical interventions,” said Alex Adams, the assistant secretary for the ACF, in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWhuT4EHHdQ&amp;t=2s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> published by HHS.
Despite this recommendation, few states have clarified their legal code to ensure that affirming a child’s sex is not labeled as a form of child abuse. Many American parents who won’t affirm the transgender identity of their children are at risk of losing custody of their kids to the state.
President Trump canceled the $20 million SOGIE Institute contract in January 2025 with Executive Order <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14151</a>, which eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, according to the <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_75ACF124F80019_7590_GS10F0064W_4730" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grant</a> listing. But despite the loss of funding, members of the group have continued to push their views.
Before the creation of Biden&#8217;s SOGIE Institute, Weeks was the director of a collaborative of transgender activists organizations that provides guidance and training to child welfare agencies implementing gender affirming policies called the <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/">National SOGIE Center</a>. Partners of the collaborative include the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal. The National SOGIE Center has continued to produce LGBTQ+ resources and published a &#8220;<a href="https://coming-out-guide.sogiecenter.org/">Coming Out With Care</a>&#8221; guidebook in the fall of 2025.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/she-wouldnt-call-her-daughter-trans-the-state-took-custody?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=Investigation&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=She+Wouldn%E2%80%99t+Call+Her+Daughter+%E2%80%98Trans.%E2%80%99+The+State+Took+Custody." target="_blank" rel="noopener">PART ONE: SHE WOULDN’T CALL HER DAUGHTER ‘TRANS.’ THE STATE TOOK CUSTODY.</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-biden-admins-scramble-to-find-data-to-support-its-pro-trans-foster-care-reform?author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=The+Evidence+Problem+At+The+Heart+Of+Biden%E2%80%99s+Trans+Rule">PART TWO: THE EVIDENCE PROBLEM AT THE HEART OF BIDEN&#8217;S TRANS RULE</a>

Untitled design – 2026-06-03T121716.946

READ IT: The Biden Administration’s Clandestine 5-Year Plan To Trans Child Welfare

Child Welfare

gender ideology

I work in healthcare. I’ve spent my adult life caring for vulnerable people. I never imagined I would become one myself.
I also never imagined the man I trusted, who took an oath to “Do No Harm,” would harm my life forever.
At first, my ex-boyfriend seemed normal, calm, and successful. We bonded over our jobs in healthcare. We laughed a lot and built what I believed was a genuine relationship.
But the person I thought I knew didn’t exist.
A few months into our relationship, I found out I was pregnant. The moment I told him, everything changed. His calm demeanor disappeared.
That was when his secrets spilled. He revealed he was still legally married.
Then he commanded I abort our child. He spoke obsessively about appearances, his family, and his future career. He repeatedly pushed for an abortion.
I firmly said, “No.”
&#8220;You don’t have to be involved,” I said. I was financially stable and able to raise a child on my own.
Days went by, and then his apology came.
I was shocked; he had completely changed. He was saying he would be the man I needed him to be, and he wouldn’t fight against our baby. He offered acts of kindness. He even started getting me hot chocolates daily. Little did I know that he was slowly poisoning our baby and me with the abortion drugs he’d bought online using his ex-wife&#8217;s information.
Tragically, that wasn&#8217;t even the worst of it.
After going to bed one night, I woke up around four in the morning feeling like someone was staring. He was awake, hovering over me. Then, in a flash, he pinned me down and forced crushed abortion drugs into my mouth. I knew what he’d done.
As someone in healthcare, I understood how quickly these crushed drugs would absorb through my gums.
I fought him off and ran to call 911. He took my cell and my keys, blocking me from leaving. I rushed to the kitchen, trying to rinse the powder from my mouth. But he continued to restrain me, buying each minute for the drugs to do their intended purpose of killing our kid.
He kept yelling the same things at me: “My father will cut me off. My family will be ashamed. My career will be ruined.”
At no point did he show concern for our child or for me.
When he assumed the drugs had sufficiently aborted our baby, he returned my belongings, and I went straight to the hospital.
After arriving, I began hemorrhaging. Blood was everywhere. The ER staff had to clean me and change the sheets because it was so severe. And the trauma didn’t end there. The medical staff had to support me through the tragedy of miscarrying my child in front of them.
Then the police came. Detectives found crushed drugs and recovered evidence that corroborated my account.
Today, my <a href="https://people.com/ohio-surgeon-got-abortion-pills-using-wife-information-force-fed-one-pregnant-girlfriend-bed-11970700">ex-boyfriend has been charged</a> with this crime and pleaded no contest. He’s lost his medical license but could still avoid prison time altogether. A terrifying fact that haunts me. But this story is much bigger than mine.
What happened to me is a reality that should terrify every American.
I had no idea that these abortion drugs could be obtained online with no oversight, no in-person exam, no safeguards, no follow-ups. Just a man on a computer in the comfort of his home using his ex-wife&#8217;s information to order these drugs and have them arrive at his doorstep two days later.
People can argue endlessly about abortion, but no woman should fear being drugged against her will. No woman should wake up to someone forcing abortion drugs down her throat.
What happened to me violated every principle of healthcare.
I’m speaking out for the first time because silence protects people who commit acts like this. And, unfortunately, I’m one of many women harmed by these mail-order drugs.
Look at <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/rosalie-markezich-story/">Rosalie Markezich in Louisiana,</a> who lived a nightmare like mine. Now she&#8217;s suing the FDA because her ex-boyfriend ordered the drugs online and pressured her to take them. All because the FDA removed basic safety rules that required in-person visits.
Our leaders need to take women’s safety seriously, not just for me, but for anyone who could end up in this situation. I hope Rosalie’s lawsuit will be resolved to restore important safeguards so abusers can’t get abortion drugs in the mail. No one should suffer. If the drugs are powerful enough to end human life and cause massive hemorrhaging, then they shouldn’t be treated casually.
My ex-boyfriend made a choice. He chose deception over honesty, force over consent. And to violate two human beings, me and my baby.
No woman should endure this. And no society that values women’s safety should look away.
***
Jona Affholder lives in Ohio and is an abortion drug poisoning survivor.

Appeals Court Keeps Abortion Pill Mifepristone Available, But With Restrictions

My Ex Bought Abortion Drugs Online, Poisoned Me, And Aborted Our Baby. Now I’m Speaking Out

Abortion

Abortion Drug

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" 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.
***
Celebrations are so engrained in the history and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/on-opening-day-keep-your-eye-on-community">culture of baseball</a> that the <a href="https://x.com/MLBEurope/status/1912877725813010517">first ever recorded high five</a> came after a Dusty Baker home run in 1977. Joy is baked right into the soil of the diamond. 
Great traditions and celebrations also include the likes of the “Bash Brothers” — Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco — smashing meaty forearms after a homer, players spraying champagne on teammates after clinching a playoff berth, and even Ozzie Smith’s <a href="https://x.com/BSmile/status/1254401583087071233">beautiful backflip</a>. But as the modern game embraces a louder, more expressive era, a critical line is beginning to blur. There is a fundamental difference between celebrating with your teammates and hotdogging at your opponent. One builds the game up; the other tears sportsmanship down.
Look no further than the viral antics of the San Francisco Giants’ outfield. After clinching victories, Harrison Bader, Drew Gilbert, and a hilariously enthusiastic Jung Hoo Lee have huddled in center field to unleash a bizarre, Key &amp; Peele-inspired communal hip-thrusting routine. Old-head former players <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/former-giant-slams-team-hip-thrusts-outfield-losing-record">like Will Clark</a> grumbled about it, especially with the team grinding through a tough season under Tony Vitello, and MLB’s front office eventually sent a subtle &#8220;keep it family-friendly&#8221; warning.
But at its core it’s completely harmless. It is goofy, insular, and entirely about the bonds of the clubhouse. It’s simple fun between teammates.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Giants postgame celebrations have escalated <a href="https://t.co/ctJ6oTdueq">pic.twitter.com/ctJ6oTdueq</a>
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) <a href="https://x.com/JomboyMedia/status/2054223181230096783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
The same can be said for the beautiful art of the bat flip. While American critics historically decried it as &#8220;showing up the pitcher,&#8221; we only have to look to the high-respect, intensely competitive baseball cultures of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/sports/baseball/bat-flipping-draws-shrugs-in-south-korea-but-scorn-in-america.html">South Korea&#8217;s KBO</a> and Japan&#8217;s NPB to see its true context. 
There, a bat flip isn&#8217;t a personalized insult; it’s a release of pure kinetic energy and personal triumph. The focus remains on the accomplishment, not the loser.
When done right, a bat flip can encapsulate the raw theater of sports. Consider the 2015 American League Division Series, when Toronto’s Jose Bautista launched a tie-breaking, sky-scraping three-run home run into the Rogers Centre sky. His subsequent <a href="https://x.com/JomboyMedia/status/1978162377620082842">bat flip</a> — a defiant, majestic hurl of lumber — stands as one of the single greatest moments of modern baseball history. It was the organic climax of an incredibly tense, emotionally draining inning. Yet, the next year it led to an ugly, benches-clearing brawl when the Rangers hit Bautista with a pitch and second baseman Rougned Odor took exception to a slide into second base.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1106275" style="width: 402px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1106275" class=" wp-image-1106275" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-492830792-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="392" height="261" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-492830792-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-492830792-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-492830792-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-492830792.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 392px) 100vw, 392px" />Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images</div>
That fight never should have happened. Bautista wasn’t staring down the pitcher or showing up the Texas Rangers; he was reacting to a city-shaking moment. This is where baseball&#8217;s infamous &#8220;unwritten rules&#8221; require a heavy dose of contemporary prudence. Those rules exist for a reason: to prevent chaos and preserve a baseline of dignity. But they must be tempered with situational awareness. A game-winning postseason blast or slam-the-door strikeout warrants a theatrical release; an unprompted ego trip does not. The unwritten rules are meant to guard the respect of the game, not act as a fragile ego-saving mechanism for a pitcher who just gave up a 450-foot bomb to dead-center.
But then we cross the line into the unsportsmanlike.
Just last week, Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe struck out a St. Louis Cardinals batter and immediately turned toward the opposing dugout to fire off a series of aggressive, WWE-style crotch chops. MLB swiftly handed down a one-game suspension, and rightly so. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Abner Uribe with a triple chop toward the Cardinals dugout and Pat Murphy wasn’t happy about it <a href="https://t.co/tutsuCvSTq">pic.twitter.com/tutsuCvSTq</a>
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) <a href="https://x.com/JomboyMedia/status/2059473061926076469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
Uribe wasn&#8217;t celebrating with his catcher; he was actively taunting his peers. Even his own manager, Pat Murphy, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48887705/brewers-manager-pat-murphy-calls-abner-uribe-mound-antics-unacceptable">pulled no punches</a>, calling the behavior entirely “unacceptable” and “embarrassing.”
When a celebration transforms from an internal burst of team camaraderie into an outward display of playground antagonism, something has gone wrong. Baseball is a game built on the tension of failure. If you fail seven out of ten times at the plate, you&#8217;re probably a Hall of Famer. Because the game is inherently humbling, it demands a baseline of mutual respect between the lines.
If you want to thrust with your buddies in the outfield, mimic a sketch comedy show, or throw a high-five that alters pop culture history, go for it. Let the clubhouse chemistry spill onto the field. But the moment you turn your joy into a middle finger aimed at the guy holding the bat or standing on the mound, it isn&#8217;t pageantry anymore. It’s just cheap.

San Francisco Giants v Athletics

Baseball’s Biggest Culture War Isn’t About Politics

Baseball

Upstream

At the Cannes Lions festival in France, the most prestigious gathering in advertising where awards are given for effective campaigns, they’ve spent decades talking past right-of-center consumers entirely. Not represented in the work. Not studied in the research. Not discussed on the panels. Treated as a problem to manage rather than an audience to understand.
This year, we want to help change that. At LSKR Connects, sponsored by The Daily Wire, we’re building the day around the consumer conversations the industry too often avoids: overlooked audiences, the dangers of brand safety, and creative conformity. It&#8217;s a full day of fireside sessions focused specifically on the consumer, and the marketing strategies that actually can connect with all Americans.
<blockquote>
<h3>Introducing LSKR Connects, sponsored by The Daily Wire</h3>
 Matthew Mazzone, LSKR&#8217;s Chief Creative Officer and Christine Hoffmann, Executive Vice President of Ad Revenue at The Daily Wire, joined heads to make LSKR Connects, with the goal of forcing the conversation Cannes has spent decades avoiding. A full day of sessions on June 24, built around four topics that the rest of the festival won&#8217;t touch:
<ul>
<li>The Market You’re Missing — Addressing brands antigrowth strategies </li>
<li>The Influencer Orbit — Where trust is won and lost</li>
<li>Institutional Pressure — How brands drift from their core consumers</li>
<li>Original Thinking in a Conformist Market</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
Mazzone, the Chief Creative Officer at LSKR, an advertising firm that’s focused on appealing to the whole consumer market, says that the advertising executives who descend on Cannes later this month are focused on the wrong type of creative. 
“Brands deserve agencies that understand their customers and respect the value they deliver,” Mazzone told The Daily Wire. “LSKR exists because a massive segment of American consumers has been overlooked by the advertising industry, and brands are paying the price.”
“Creative should not be designed to impress the industry,” Mazzone told The Daily Wire, describing what typically happens at Cannes. “It should be designed to connect with the customer. At the end of the day, every creative decision should answer one question: does this help the brand connect with its core consumer and sell more goods and services?”
Surveys consistently show that a majority of consumers are increasingly willing to spend extra with brands that align with their values, and are less likely to buy from a company that takes a political stand they disagree with. 
<div id="attachment_1104197" style="width: 498px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104197" class=" wp-image-1104197" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM-300x152.png" alt="" width="488" height="247" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM-300x152.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM-1024x518.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM-768x389.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM-1536x778.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-4.38.40-PM.png 1576w" sizes=" (max-width: 488px) 100vw, 488px" />Ipsos Global Trends</div>
A whopping 62% of Americans buy brands that reflect their personal values, a double-digit increase in the last decade.
<div id="attachment_1104227" style="width: 479px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104227" class=" wp-image-1104227" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM-300x167.png" alt="" width="469" height="261" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM-300x167.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM-1024x569.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM-768x426.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM-1536x853.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-28-at-5.11.23-PM.png 1736w" sizes=" (max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px" />Ipsos Global Trends</div>
Hoffmann, the Executive Vice President for advertising revenue at The Daily Wire, knows first-hand from her experience in conservative media how important it is for products to “reach the right audience.”
“Consumers who genuinely align with a brand’s products, values, and customer base are ultimately more valuable than passive scale alone,” Hoffmann said. “Our audience is highly engaged and deeply invested in the content they consume, which creates stronger and more authentic opportunities for brands that show up thoughtfully in those environments.”
“We want to join the broader conversation around how marketers can move beyond overly broad, one-size-fits-all strategies and think more intentionally about resonance, trust, and audience alignment,” Hoffman said.
The Daily Wire has led the charge against the politicization of the advertising industry, exposing how advertising industry executives colluded to keep advertising money away from conservative news organizations. Last year, the top advertising agencies in the world were forced to pledge <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-ftc-secures-landmark-agreement-to-end-political-collusion-in-advertising-industry">to the federal government</a> that they would no longer allow political bias to influence their actions.  
The forgotten consumers
These conversations about “left out” consumers aren’t just a gut feeling. It’s based on real data.
Kim Whitler, a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, has studied the negative impact on companies that choose to engage in activism. Whitler finds that executives think they’re doing the right thing, even if it hurts their company. 
She says too often business leaders are acting on their “own agenda” and end up making what she calls a “value-destroying activism decision.”
“Having worked with over 1,000 business leaders navigating reputation- and value-destroying activism decisions,” Whitler, a speaker at LSKR Connects, told The Daily Wire. “The most common and most consequential is the belief that ‘doing the right thing’ is a matter of personal conscience rather than legally prescribed responsibility.”
Anne Marie Malecha, who runs a top crisis communications firm, Dezenhall Resources, says the companies get themselves in trouble when they &#8220;start performing for someone other than their customer.”
“Somewhere along the line, a brand decides the people whose opinions matter most are not the people actually buying the product. The activists. The trade press. A loud sliver of social media. A consultant that told them what the &#8216;modern consumer&#8217; wants,” Malecha said. “Whatever it is, the company stops asking who their actual customers are and what those actual customers need from it and starts asking what would make a smaller, vocal noise makers approve of it.”
&nbsp;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1103629" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="559" height="372" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-2.jpg 512w" sizes=" (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px" /></div>
“Trust and revenue are declining before most brands know they’re in the middle of a crisis,” she said.
Anson Frericks has seen the consequences firsthand. He had just stepped down as an executive at Anheuser-Busch InBev when it brought on Dylan Mulvaney to promote Bud Light. The marketing team was so far removed from the customer base that the company didn’t even see the backlash coming. 
“When companies hire only employees from NYC, agencies from only NYC, and look at their customer base through the lens of NYC, they are missing the needs of a majority of their customers and only realize it after sales suffer,” Frericks told The Daily Wire. “No one wins.”
Josh Culling, the president of Dezenhall Resources, says the “groupthink” created by the fact that these advertising executives are often clustered together in the same coastal cities is a critical issue for the industry.
“Consumers in the middle of the country have a fundamentally different frame of reference to those on the coasts, and are too often ignored or dismissed,” Culling said. “Brands that are too comfortable living amongst their geographic and socioeconomic peers, and too uncomfortable wading outside that comfortable cohort, leave billions of dollars of shareholder value on the table.”
It’s not only a bad thing for the companies leaving money on the table, it’s a bad thing for the consumers. They deserve the industry’s attention.  
So here&#8217;s the questions worth asking at the most prestigious creative event on earth: Can creativity really be called creative if it only speaks to half the consumers? Why are we drawing inspiration from only half the talent and only half the consumer base?
&nbsp;
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1103631" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-3-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="574" height="382" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Cannes-3.jpg 512w" sizes=" (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px" /></div>
Cannes has spent decades celebrating creativity while quietly enforcing conformity. LSKR Connects, sponsored by The Daily Wire, is the first time the other half of the conversation gets a seat on the Croisette.
The cream of the industry will be there. The question is whether they&#8217;re ready to hear something they haven&#8217;t heard before.

LSKR

The Consumers The Ad Industry Isn’t Talking To — And Why We’re Going To France With LSKR To Change That

Bias

Conservative Media

Industry

The Texas church where Democrat James Talarico has delivered his radical sermons is pushing radical gender ideology on children, featuring books filled with sexually explicit content and transgender ideology.
Talarico, the Democrat nominee for the crucial Senate election in November, attends St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin. There, children have access to a library stocked with “banned books” that promote ideas rejected by most Christians, including books that contain descriptions of anal rape, incest, and oral sex, according to a Daily Wire review of its offerings.
Books found in the St. Andrew’s catalog include the book “Gender Queer,” which includes illustrations of oral sex and masturbation, and the book “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which discusses anal rape and incest.
“This Book Is Gay,” <a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Book-Gay-Juno-Dawson/dp/1492617830" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> a chapter on the “ins and outs of gay sex,” while the book “Becoming Nicole” tells the story of a gender-confused teen boy who identifies as girl with the support of his family. In “The Courage to Be Queer,” the author <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/eEmUCgAAQBAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that “God is queer.”
Other books in the church catalog include “Trans Kids, Our Kids: Stories and Resources from the Frontlines of the Movement for Transgender Youth,” “Called OUT: The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians,&#8221; and “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family.”
Talarico, looking to flip a Senate seat in a state President Donald Trump won by 14 points in 2024, has faced criticism over comments he made on transgender ideology. It will likely be a central theme in the campaign against him — in his first speech as the official Republican nominee on Tuesday night, Republican Ken Paxton referred to Talarico as both &#8220;Six-Gender Jimmy&#8221; and &#8220;James Tala-FREAKO.&#8221;
Republican congressman Brandon Gill on the same stage went after Talarico over the Daily Wire report earlier this year on the time he said the thing he loved most in the world was &#8220;trans children.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-james-talarico-says-he-loves-trans-children-in-unearthed-clip">WATCH: James Talarico Says He Loves ‘Trans Children’ In Unearthed Clip</a>
St. Andrew’s, the church where Talarico <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/2029210425879892253?s=20">delivered</a> his sermon that asserted that &#8220;our trans community needs abortion care too,&#8221; <a href="https://www.staopen.org/banned-books" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> it offers banned books so that children can find “affirmation in the books they read.&#8221; It boasts that the books “shift our perspective, develop empathy, and see more clearly the call to justice among all people.&#8221;
“We are a safe haven for controversial narratives right in the heart of Texas, the state that takes the top prize in challenged books. Take a moment to browse our collection of banned books and see what you notice &#8230; common themes … particular experiences and identities being censored,” the church says of its banned books collection.
Talarico has voted in the state legislature against keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports and claimed it was “abusive” and “destructive” if parents did not accept their child&#8217;s alleged gender identity.
He has also stated his belief that &#8220;god is nonbinary,&#8221; and that Jesus was a &#8220;radical feminist.&#8221;
St. Andrew’s is <a href="https://www.staopen.org/about-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part</a> of the Presbyterian Church (USA), generally known as a liberal denomination with unorthodox views on gender and sexuality. Talarico&#8217;s church refers to itself as a “Reproductive Freedom Congregation,” <a href="https://justtx.org/rfc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meaning</a> it believes “abortion is a blessing.&#8221; The Democrat candidate himself has argued that the Bible doesn&#8217;t oppose abortion.
The church <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-turns-out-james-talaricos-church-is-as-weird-as-he-is" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently</a> held a training linked to the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest movement.

Featured Session: State Of Being: How To Care in 2024 with Ilana Glazer, Danny Brown, State & Local Politicians, and the ACLU – Conference – SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals

‘God Is Queer’: See The Sexually Explicit Books James Talarico’s Church Gives Kids

James Talarico

Ken Paxton

Senate

Transgender

Menu