Americans can be thankful to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for continuing to arrest illegal aliens with serious criminal records over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Trump administration said Monday.
Arrests on Saturday and Sunday included illegals who have murder, sex crimes against children, burglary, and assault convictions, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. The arrests come as legacy media outlets have <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-detainee-data-fastest-growing-without-criminal-records-trump/">asserted</a> that the number of “non-criminal” ICE detainees has “surged” under Trump and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/immigrants-criminal-record-ice-detention">that</a> “immigrants with no criminal record” are the most common currently in federal custody.
“While Americans enjoyed a long holiday weekend with their families and friends, ICE law enforcement was hard at work arresting rapists, child sex abusers, and murderers,” a DHS spokesman told The Daily Wire. “Every American should be grateful to our law enforcement officers for putting their lives on the line each and every day to remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
The spokesman added that over 70% of illegals arrested by ICE have either been charged or convicted of a crime.
“Despite what the media and sanctuary politicians claim, 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.,” the spokesman said.
According to DHS, those arrested over the weekend included:
<ul>
<li>Mario Ynfante-Querol, an illegal alien from Cuba convicted in Wyoming, Michigan, of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct on a victim between 13 and 15</li>
<li>Wilson Gonzalez-Bravo, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of indecent liberties with a child in Chatham County, North Carolina</li>
<li>Balbir Singh, an illegal alien from India convicted of murder in Los Angeles, California</li>
<li>Jose Antonio Reyes-Morales, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of reckless death by auto or vessel (vehicular homicide) in Union County, New Jersey</li>
<li>Phomma Phommachak, an illegal alien from Laos convicted of aggravated rape in Nashville, Tennessee</li>
<li>Serafin Abelino-Medel, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of inflicting corporal punishment on spouse, assault with a deadly weapon, and threatening crime with intent to terrorize in Santa Ana, California</li>
<li>Edwin Rafael Marcano-Marquez, an illegal alien from Venezuela convicted of fourth-degree assault in Washington County, Oregon</li>
<li>Genaro Diaz-Ruiz, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of aggravated assault-family-strongarm in Wilson County, Tennessee</li>
<li>Franklin Urquiola-Serrano, an illegal alien from Venezuela convicted of assault causing bodily injury to a family member in Georgetown, Texas</li>
<li>Manuel Leonel Palma-Hernandez, an illegal alien from Guatemala convicted of aggravated arson — purposely destroyed structure in Trenton, New Jersey</li>
<li>Cuello Garcia-Alliant, an illegal alien from Cuba convicted of assault and cocaine possession in Miami-Dade County, Florida</li>
<li>Graviel Lopez-Castillo, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of possession with intent to deliver cocaine in New Castle County, Delaware</li>
<li>Svetlana Tillett, an illegal alien from Russia convicted of felony embezzlement in Dare County, North Carolina</li>
<li>Elmer Amilcar Lopez-Jimenez, an illegal alien from Guatemala convicted of first-degree burglary in Carson, California</li>
<li>Gregory Ricordo Davidson, an illegal alien from Jamaica, convicted of burglary in New York, New York</li>
</ul>
Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he would crack down on migration into the United States, saying that he would put a pause on asylum claims from countries like Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

MixCollage-01-Dec-2025-01-41-PM-8421

Thanksgiving Arrests: Here Are Some Illegals Americans Can Be Thankful Are Off The Streets

Crime

Department of Homeland Security

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Thanksgiving

U.S.

Christmas is coming — and with it, the annual dread of finding gifts that don&#8217;t come with a side of corporate virtue-signaling. You know the drill: every purchase is a moral minefield, and every brand wants you to know their “Social Impact &amp; Belonging Division” definitely isn’t the DEI department they promised they’d get rid of.
Good news: The Daily Wire&#8217;s family of brands exists so you don&#8217;t have to give your hard-earned cash to companies that hate you. Whether you&#8217;re shopping for Dad, your husband, your kids, or that one uncle who won’t shut up about Bitcoin at Christmas dinner, we&#8217;ve rounded up the best woke-free gifts from the Daily Wire that&#8217;ll actually make people smile without second-guessing the pronouns of whoever made it.
<h3>🪒 Jeremy’s Razors: The Last Razor You’ll Ever Need</h3>
<a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/collections/jeremys-shaving"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1007807 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/JR-CyberMonday-1x1-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /></a>
Let’s face it — the men in your life deserve razors that don’t back down. Jeremy’s Razors is here to make sure his morning routine stays as smooth as his political convictions. Get up to 50% off Jeremy’s Razors Cyber Monday sale now.
This season’s lineup:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/legendary-razor-bundle?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">The Legendary Bundle</a> – Everything you need for a freedom-fueled shave, shower — everything he needs to look and feel his best: razor handle, blades, shave cream, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, and more. Think of it as the AR-15 of razors plus the rest of the arsenal to go with it— reliable, efficient, and guaranteed to make your bathroom mirror reflection stand taller.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/precision-5-razor-1-year-supply?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251119&amp;utm_source=editorial">Precision 5 Razor One Year Supply</a> – A gift that gives woke-free, exceptionally smooth shaves all year long.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/2-year-razor-bundle?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Shave Deal of the Decade</a> – Why stop at 1 year? Get a handle + 2 years of blades and say goodbye to shopping &#8217;til 2027.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/all-day-set?selling_plan=3028484309?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Hair &amp; Body Bundle</a> – Shampoo, Body Wash, &amp; Conditioner. Everything he needs to wash the nonsense down the drain. Made in the USA. 100% woke-free.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/womens-2gen-deluxe-collection?selling_plan=4060840149?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">The Women’s Deluxe Bundle</a> – Because women deserve better too. (And because she’s tired of paying extra for pastel.)</li>
</ul>
And for the love of common sense, don’t wait till Christmas Eve — Jeremy’s is running up to 50% off, free shipping over $100, and limited-edition holiday bundles that even Santa can’t compete with.
<h3>🦅 <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">The Daily Wire Shop</a>: Culture Meets Conservatism 
</h3>
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/gold-leftist-tears-tumbler?_pos=2&amp;_sid=9c145dd2a&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1007809 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DWS-CyberMonday-1x1-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /></a>
&nbsp;
Forget your Amazon cart — it’s time to shop up to 70% off conservative gifts for everyone on your list. The <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Daily Wire Shop</a> is fully loaded with talent merch, bestselling books, and gifts that trigger all the right people.
Holiday Bestsellers:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/gold-leftist-tears-tumbler?_pos=2&amp;_sid=9c145dd2a&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Golden Leftist Tears Tumbler</a> &#8211; The world&#8217;s greatest beverage vessel has returned, get your before they sell out again! (50% off today only)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/collected-poems-of-donald-j-trump?_pos=1&amp;_sid=74af27036&amp;_ss=rhttps://dailywire.slack.com/archives/C08GEQFK8N9/p1762549781057349">Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump</a> – For the literary patriot in your life. (Critics call it “the greatest book since the Bible.” Critics are wrong, but still.)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/yes-or-no?_pos=1&amp;_sid=c4a153be8&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Yes or No Game From Michael Knowles</a> – The game that makes Monopoly look like a gender studies class.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/am-i-racist-the-game?_pos=1&amp;_sid=9301aef57&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Am I Racist? The Game From Matt Walsh</a> – Spoiler alert: No. You’re just honest.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/fauxcahontas_statue?_pos=1&amp;_sid=0730fccb0&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Fauxcahontas Statue</a> – The only figurine brave enough to tell the truth about “heritage.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/michael-knowles?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Michael Knowles Sweaters</a> &#8211; Michael Knowles chose his tailors in New York because they make garments that fit right, feel right, and last. And now, he&#8217;s making them available to you.​​ Four classic sweaters made from 100% pure Scottish cashmere and 100% extrafine Italian merino wool. Knit in New York, New York.</li>
</ul>
Plus, <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/mystery-bundle-2025?_pos=1&amp;_sid=48eed3ec7&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">mystery bundles</a>, and the return of the best in gifts from your Daily Wire favorite hosts like Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Andrew Klavan, and more.
<h3>💨 Mayflower Cigars: A Legacy You Can Light</h3>
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/products/gold-leftist-tears-tumbler?_pos=2&amp;_sid=9c145dd2a&amp;_ss=r?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1007815 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Mayflower-CyberMonday-1x1-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /></a>
&nbsp;
The passion of Mayflower founder Michael Knowles brings premium handmade cigars worth the voyage. Up to 25% off. Use code CHRISTMAS at checkout.
Gifts Worth Crossing Oceans For:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://mayflowercigars.com/mayflower-trinity-8-cigar-assortment/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251119&amp;utm_source=editorial">ALL NEW &#8211; Mayflower Trinity 8-Cigar Assortment</a> – For the first time, all three of our signature blends — Mayflower Dawn, Mayflower Dusk, and the double-maduro Mayflower Dream—are available in one refined collection.</li>
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<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://mayflowercigars.com/mayflower-8-cigar-assortment/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">The Original Mayflower 8-Cigar Sampler</a> – Now 30% off. Get the original assortment that launched the voyage complete with Mayflower Dawn and Mayflower Dusk blends.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://mayflowercigars.com/accessories/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251107&amp;utm_source=editorial">Accessory Discounts</a> – Mayflower lighters and travel humidors, because presentation matters, and where there’s smoke, there’s fire.</li>
</ul>
Use code CHRISTMAS at checkout. Free shipping for all orders $250+.
<h3>🕯️ Up to 50% Off The Candle Club: For God, Country, &amp; Cozy Homes</h3>
<a href="https://thecandleclub.com/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251119&amp;utm_source=editorial"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1007817 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/TCC-CyberMonday-1x1-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /></a>
&nbsp;
For the person who lights candles to cover the scent of progressive despair, The Candle Club offers premium scents handpicked by Daily Wire talent. These candles aren’t made by some socialist hipster named Skylar — they’re poured with purpose.
<a href="https://thecandleclub.com/?utm_campaign=gift-guide&amp;utm_content=20251119&amp;utm_source=editorial">Cyber Monday Deal: Up to 50% off.</a> Stock up, because sometimes, it&#8217;s nice to just burn something without starting a revolution.
<h3>💊 Responsible Man: Health That Doesn’t Apologize</h3>
For the guy who thinks “self-care” means taking the stairs once a week, it’s time to talk about Emerson Premium Men’s Multivitamin — from Responsible Man, The Daily Wire’s answer to the dad bod-industrial complex.
This is the supplement for men who build things, lead families, and occasionally lift heavy objects without making TikToks about it. Each Emerson Tin is packed with nutrients, testosterone-friendly ingredients, and zero woke nonsense.
Holiday Deals:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://responsibleman.com/">Cyber Monday Deal: 75% Off the Emerson Premium Men’s Multivitamin</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>🧨 Final Thoughts: Give Boldly. Live Freely.</h3>
This Christmas, skip the generic gifts and buy from brands that actually share your values — not lecture you about theirs. Whether you’re shaving like a patriot, lighting a candle that smells like courage, fueling your health with Emerson Vitamins, or gifting cigars that make memories, every purchase sends a message:
The culture war doesn’t take holidays off — and neither should your shopping cart.

Gifts

The Official Woke-Free Gift Guide For 2025

Black Friday

Christmas

Daily Wire

Daily Wire Shop

Jeremy's Razors

Mayflower Cigars

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) posted a performance piece on Sunday — wringing her hands as she blamed the recently-ended government shutdown on President Donald Trump and claimed that he had almost single-handedly ruined Thanksgiving because of it — and got an impromptu review from actress and filmmaker Justine Bateman.
Murray, who voted to keep the government closed — and thus deprive millions of Americans of their food stamp (SNAP) benefits — more than a dozen times, claimed that Trump and Republicans were taking major steps to deprive families of food assistance as the holidays approached. Her main point of contention appeared to be the fact that President Trump had refused to override her vote — and the votes of a majority of Democrats — and do what they would not do, and she insisted that he was the real reason families were being made to suffer.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It&#8217;s nearly Thanksgiving and everyone should remember that Trump fought all the way to the Supreme Court to deny families SNAP benefits this month.
All of this after Trump &amp; Republicans passed the largest cuts to SNAP in HISTORY this summer.
It&#8217;s fundamentally immoral. <a href="https://t.co/tiDol5wegG">pic.twitter.com/tiDol5wegG</a>
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) <a href="https://twitter.com/PattyMurray/status/1993010172328022208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It&#8217;s nearly Thanksgiving and everyone should remember that Trump fought all the way to the Supreme Court to deny families SNAP benefits this month. All of this after Trump &amp; Republicans passed the largest cuts to SNAP in HISTORY this summer. It&#8217;s fundamentally immoral,&#8221; she said.
Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at <a href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.
Bateman chimed in with her review, addressing everything from the actress and her demeanor to the staging and the setting chosen for the video.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SocialMediaVideoCritique?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SocialMediaVideoCritique</a> 
Per: <a href="https://twitter.com/sunnylohmann?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sunnylohmann</a> 
&#8211; There are many unfortunate issues with this piece. 
&#8211; The actress appears to be at once under-rehearsed, and also weary of the task of performing. 
&#8211; Careful casting is a must when a project has an exacting director. The impression… <a href="https://t.co/DlAxrq3NyE">https://t.co/DlAxrq3NyE</a>
— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/status/1993109927670505549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;There are many unfortunate issues with this piece,&#8221; Bateman began, starting in on Murray immediately. &#8220;The actress appears to be at once under-rehearsed, and also weary of the task of performing. Careful casting is a must when a project has an exacting director.&#8221;
&#8220;The impression given here is that the director&#8217;s efforts to elicit a proper performance caused the actress to check out during her takes,&#8221; Bateman continued. &#8220;The resulting dialogue delivery is halting. Awkward pauses within the compound word &#8216;Thanksgiving&#8217; and before some prepositions are perhaps an effort by the actress to sabotage the piece itself.&#8221;
When she&#8217;d finished with the actress and her awkward delivery, Bateman turned her attention to the staging of the shot — and some of the issues that a good camera operator would certainly have noticed before making the film public.
&#8220;The utilitarian lighting appears to have been applied hastily and implies a parking garage or other industrial settings,&#8221; she noted. &#8220;The camera frame is vertical with some hazy video filled in at the sides. Avoid this at all costs. This implies an amateur effort. Properly orient your camera horizontally.&#8221;
&#8220;Finally, the setting is extremely distracting. The first impression is that the actress is standing in a bathroom stall. The low wall on her left as the semi-private partition. The orange object on the floor appears to be a toilet with closed toilet seat cover,&#8221; Bateman concluded. &#8220;The silver pipe on the wall suggests an old-fashioned flush system, where the tank is installed above. And the red box serving as the &#8216;flush&#8217; button.&#8221;

Senators Hold Their Policy Luncheons At The Capitol

Dem Senator Posts Performance Piece Blaming Trump For Almost Killing Thanksgiving, Gets Lousy Review

Food Stamps

Government Shutdown

Hollywood

Media

Politics

SNAP

What really happened on the first Thanksgiving? Why do we eat turkey? How long has football been associated with Thanksgiving? Are Americans still honoring the spirit of the holiday? 
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Morning Wire interviewed historian Melanie Kirkpatrick to get to the bottom of these questions – and more. 
According to Kirkpatrick, author of “Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience,” Thanksgiving goes back even before the Pilgrims. 
“Many of the European explorers who came to this continent called days of thanksgiving, and of course, the original thanksgivings were called by Native American populations,” Kirkpatrick explained.
“The pilgrims, after their first harvest, they gathered their people together and called a day of thanksgiving,” she explained. “And I&#8217;ll point out that it&#8217;s very wonderful when you consider that half of the pilgrims had died between the arrival of the pilgrims and the day of thanksgiving. But nonetheless, they gave thanks for the blessings of the harvest and for being together. And then, of course, Native Americans joined them.”
“There were about 90 Native Americans who joined them, and they celebrated for three days,” Kirkpatrick said. “We know all of that because thanks to two articles, two commentaries by two of the pilgrims.”
However, Kirkpatrick said, “a lot of the other stuff we traditionally associate with the pilgrims is not necessarily true.”
“There&#8217;s a famous painting of the first Thanksgiving, showing the pilgrims having a meal outside. That&#8217;s true,” she said. “But if you look at the other items in the painting, not so true. For example, the pilgrims are all dressed in dark colors. And in truth, they wore bright colors, which goes against what we all learned in kindergarten about how the pilgrims dressed.”
“Similarly, the Native Americans who were there were depicted as wearing elaborate headdresses, like you&#8217;d see in the Plains Indians. But that wasn&#8217;t true either,” she said. “They wore maybe one or two feathers.”
<h3>Did they really eat turkey at the first Thanksgiving?</h3>
Kirkpatrick says we don’t know what exactly was eaten. However, one of the pilgrims mentions “the great store of wild turkey that was available.”
“So they probably had turkey,” she said, adding that they had venison, too. 
“We know they had venison because the Indians brought as a gift a bunch of deer that they had killed,” Kirkpatrick said. “That was a standard feature of Thanksgiving Day up through &#8230; parts of the 19th century actually.”
Turkey became common on Thanksgiving as there were so many wild turkeys in New England, the author said. 
“I just saw a flock of turkeys out my window the other day – I live in Connecticut. So they were easy to find,” she said. “Also, they were, by the end of the 18th, early 19th century, they were domesticated, so they were special.”
Kirkpatrick added, though, that in New England in the 19th century, the central feature of the Thanksgiving Day meal was actually chicken pot pie.
“I know people in New England whose families still have that tradition of having chicken pot pie around the time of the holiday – not necessarily on Thanksgiving Day,” she said. “And as the holidays spread out west, American settlers brought their own food traditions with them. So you find beef being eaten on Thanksgiving instead of turkey, and as settlers from other places came to this country, they brought their own traditions with them, like lasagna and stir fries, curries. So the meal is still evolving.”
<h3>What do we know about the origins of the official Thanksgiving holiday? </h3>
“The early settlers in New England fixed the dates of their thanksgivings by community or by church,” Kirkpatrick said. “And then the governor of the New England colony would name a date.” 
The celebrations were very “ad hoc,” she said. But this all changed when the “Mother of Thanksgiving” stepped in to make the holiday official. 
“Along came Sarah Josepha Hale, who was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Magazine, the most popular and most widely read magazine of the early part of the 19th century,” Kirkpatrick said. “She was from New Hampshire, and she adored the thanksgiving holiday, and she decided to try to make it national. She saw it as part of American culture, part of our heritage, and she tried to persuade presidents of the United States to name a Thanksgiving Day.”
“Hale used the power of her magazine to write about Thanksgiving and encourage governors to coordinate the date so that they would have the same date,” she continued. “Finally, as the Civil War was approaching, she intensified her campaign. And in 1863, she wrote to Lincoln asking him to name a date when the whole country could celebrate. He did, and in 1863 was the first date that at least part of the country, the North, the Union, celebrated on one day.”
“Every president since Lincoln has named a day, an official date of Thanksgiving,” the historian explained. “Interestingly, it wasn&#8217;t until 1941 that Thanksgiving became official. Congress passed a resolution naming the fourth Thursday of November the date of Thanksgiving, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed it into law.” 
<h3>Thanksgiving And Football </h3>
Relatively soon after football developed in the United States, it was connected to Thanksgiving. 
The tradition of tying football with Thanksgiving started to grow around the 1870s, Kirkpatrick said. “The first football games took place in the late 1860s between Rutgers and Princeton,” she said. “And then there was a college championship game that was played in New York City, and New Yorkers really got into it, and it was played on Thanksgiving Day. So that tradition in New York sets the scene, sets the trend, and other cities followed suit. And then high schools and community groups would have it by the 1890s.”
“There was a tradition of having games on Thanksgiving morning, and the guys would go off to the games and the women would stay home and make dinner, and everybody would reconvene in the afternoon and celebrate Thanksgiving,” she said. 
<h3>How Thanksgiving has evolved </h3>
Discussing the evolution of Thanksgiving, Kirkpatrick said the “value has shifted somewhat,” but people still associate the holiday with charity and family and friends. 
“It&#8217;s not as religious a holiday as it used to be,” she explained. “For the first couple of hundred years, people went to church on Thanksgiving morning, too, before they went to football. But we don&#8217;t see that as much. It&#8217;s still religious in the sense that if a family is going to say grace before a meal, it&#8217;ll be on Thanksgiving.”
“But the values of generosity to the poor, for example, have long been associated with Thanksgiving,” she said. “The earliest example I found of that was, I think, 1624. And today, people participate in helping, making sure that the military gets a good Thanksgiving dinner, and prisoners and people who have a hard time affording the meal.”
“I think maybe the saddest image in American culture is somebody who has no place to go on Thanksgiving Day,” Kirkpatrick added. “It&#8217;s a day that&#8217;s associated with family and friendship, as well as food.”

Man carving roasted turkey at traditional Christmas table

A Historian Explains The History And Traditions Of Thanksgiving

The History And Traditions Of Thanksgiving, Explained By A Historian

America

Football

new england

Pilgrims

Turkey

Every year it’s the same story. Thanksgiving rolls around, and suddenly half the country is being told to feel guilty about eating turkey. According to the Left, Thanksgiving isn’t about gratitude or family — it’s a celebration of genocide, colonial oppression, and white supremacy.
That’s right. Headlines in the Washington Post and Time have called the holiday a “harmful lie” and blamed centuries of violence on the Pilgrims. In 2021, the Post ran a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/23/violence-root-our-thanksgiving-myth-has-been-hemispheric/">piece</a> titled, “The violence at the root of our Thanksgiving myth has been hemispheric.” In 2019, Time Magazine published an <a href="https://time.com/5457183/thanksgiving-native-american-holiday/">article</a> titled, “The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie.”
&#8220;Indigenous&#8221; writers and progressive outlets talk about “decolonizing” Thanksgiving, claiming that the story we learned in school—Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a feast—isn’t just inaccurate; it’s a cruel myth hiding the truth of colonization. In 2023, The Nation published a <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/thanksgiving-debate/">piece</a> arguing, “Thanksgiving’s roots are intertwined with colonial aggression.&#8221;
&#8220;I do not think we need to end Thanksgiving. But we do need to decolonize it,” it said.
Some go even further. The World Socialist Website <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/11/27/uynt-n27.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">paints</a> Thanksgiving as a symbol of everything wrong with America today: millions going hungry while billionaires swim in cash, AI replacing workers, and government programs cut to the bone. For them, that turkey on your table is just a reminder of a bankrupt social order, not a family meal. And activists have signed a change.org <a href="https://www.change.org/p/end-the-wall-street-journal-s-thanksgiving-insult-to-native-americans">petition</a> telling newspapers like Wall Street Journal to stop publishing Pilgrim accounts, calling them racist. On social media, activists and progressives argue that celebrating Thanksgiving honors oppression rather than gratitude.
Conservatives, of course, see this differently. To us, Thanksgiving is about more than a history lesson — it’s about what makes America…well, America. Yes, history was messy. But it wasn’t all darkness. The Pilgrims and the Wampanoag made a treaty, shared a meal, and cooperated — a model of people from different backgrounds working together. That first feast shows grit, ingenuity, and faith in God. The Mayflower Compact? That’s the first written constitution in the New World, the kind of experiment in self-government that would later inspire the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. Those are things worth celebrating.
We don’t deny the wrongs in history. But leftist attacks on Thanksgiving are less about truth and more about hatred of anything that celebrates America’s virtues. Gratitude, family, cooperation, hard work—these are values that built this country, not lies to hide injustice.
So when the woke brigade tells you Thanksgiving is a holiday of shame, remember: it’s really about remembering who we are, what we’ve survived, and what we can still be thankful for.
And maybe, just maybe, pass the turkey without an apology.

Marching bands and patriotism celebrated in Plymouth’s annual America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Parade

Thanksgiving Under Siege: Choose Gratitude Over Woke Outrage

Activists

Leftist

Native Americans

As families gather this holiday season, finding entertainment that is both edifying and enjoyable shouldn’t require a culture-war battle. For years, it has. Here’s the good news: Americans are winning.
As a religious-freedom advocate and mother of a large family, I live that struggle from both angles. In my work defending conscience rights, I see how culture shapes values. At home, I face the daily challenge of ensuring my children know their Christian faith and develop well-formed consciences in a world often working against them.
For families like mine — with kids at home in countless afterschool activities and others in college — Thanksgiving weekend offers rare time together. But finding wholesome entertainment that captivates everyone? That&#8217;s been the real challenge. Movie nights should be simple, not exercises in scrolling through endless streaming menus filled with questionable content.
Fortunately, the tide is turning. A new generation of filmmakers is proving that you can beat Hollywood at its own game by offering quality entertainment with uplifting messages. 
Two summers ago, in July of 2023, Angel Studios released “<a href="https://www.angel.com/press/sound-of-freedom">Sound of Freedom</a>,” earning over $250 million even though the Hollywood establishment tried to bury it. The film exposed international child sex trafficking while becoming a cultural phenomenon that rattled the entertainment elite. Then there are the <a href="https://kendrickbrothers.com/">Kendrick Brothers</a>, longtime producers of Christian films that inspire audiences by addressing marriage, online pornography addiction, and community rebuilding.
New on the scene is the <a href="https://www.thewonderproject.com/">Wonder Project</a>, a revolutionary enterprise producing its own original content for theaters as well as a subscription-based channel on the Prime streaming service offering over a hundred “value-driven” titles with classics like “The Sound of Music” and “Lincoln” alongside original productions like the “House of David” series. The platform also provides edited versions of popular films, making true co-viewing possible without scrambling for the fast-forward button.
I recently watched one of the Wonder Project&#8217;s original productions, “<a href="https://sarahsoilfilminspires.com/">Sarah&#8217;s Oil</a>,” at a nearby movie theater with my four youngest children, all close in age to the film&#8217;s 11-year-old protagonist. We witnessed something rare: a movie that held their complete attention while teaching profound lessons about courage and faith. The true story follows Sarah Rector, an African American girl in early-1900s Oklahoma, who believes oil lies beneath her barren land. She is proven right — becoming one of America’s first female African American millionaires at eleven.
What makes “Sarah&#8217;s Oil” exceptional is what it proves possible. A film tackling racial injustice and economic exploitation while remaining appropriate for children. No lectures about systemic racism. No victim narrative. Just an inspiring American story of perseverance, faith, and determination. It illuminates the good, the true, and the beautiful — something Hollywood has largely forgotten how to do.
In an age where every family member often retreats to their own screen and algorithm-curated bubble, shared cultural experiences have become almost revolutionary. Grandparents, parents, and children gathering around the same story. Laughing together, being moved together, is how values are shared across generations. It&#8217;s how family bonds are strengthened. When a film can captivate both an 80-year-old grandmother and a 9-year-old grandchild, it creates common ground for the kind of conversations that matter. These shared moments are the antidote to the isolation afflicting both young and old. Hollywood once understood this.
Counter-culture media initiatives like the Wonder Project have made smart business decisions by listening to families and giving them what they want: Content that unites, stories that inspire, heroes worth emulating.
Every family that chooses wholesome entertainment over progressive-left propaganda sends a market signal Hollywood can&#8217;t ignore. Every packed theater for a faith-based film is a referendum on the entertainment establishment. Every streaming subscription to values-driven content proves what Americans actually want.
This Thanksgiving weekend, make a statement. Choose entertainment that edifies and entertains. Be part of a movement for change that is winning. American families are taking back the culture, one movie or series at a time. Hollywood thought we wouldn&#8217;t care.
The market is proving them wrong. And we are just getting started.
* * *
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is director of the<a href="https://conscience-project.org/"> Conscience Project</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
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Rear view of a family watching TV on sofa at home.

This Thanksgiving, Choose Movies That Will Bring Your Family Together

Amazon Prime

Angel Studios

Entertainment

Family Values

Film

Movies

Thanksgiving used to be the day America took a deep breath. Before the Christmas rush, before the end-of-year chaos, far from the noise of politics, we had one day carved out in the calendar to pause and give thanks. It was our national reset button. And if there is anything this country needs in 2025, more than another round of outrage or another podcast argument, it is a reset.
We complain about America more than ever. Some of that is healthy. Debate sharpens ideas. Debate is what the Founders built us for. But there is a difference between debating and despising, between improving and destroying. Somewhere along the way, the loudest voices in our culture stopped sharpening and started tearing down.
Look at the people we rely on for leadership and guidance. So many of them make a living by telling us what is wrong with America. They can recite every failure, every flaw, every imperfection. But ask them to explain what is still good here, what is worth defending, what deserves celebration, and the conversation suddenly dries up. Gratitude has become rare. Optimism has become suspicious. Thankfulness has become countercultural. All the while, hate has become the new business model.
But gratitude is the very thing that built this country.
You do not get rid of darkness by yelling at it. You get rid of darkness by turning on a light. The Pilgrims understood this. They buried half their community the first winter, but their instinct was thanksgiving. They held a feast not because everything was perfect, but because God had carried them through. Hardship did not cancel gratitude. Hardship grew it.
That spirit shaped every American generation that followed. Gratitude kept families together during the Great Depression. Gratitude sent young men to Europe and the Pacific to defeat tyranny. Gratitude hung flags on every porch after 9/11. Our nation has never been perfect, but it has always been grateful. That is why it endured.
And this is why our modern crisis is not simply political. It is spiritual. We have lost the ability to see the good in front of us.
Real conservative leadership builds instead of destroys. Conservatives build families, communities, churches, businesses, movements, and nations. And you cannot build without a foundation. America has the strongest foundation of any nation in history. The most durable constitution. The freest markets. The widest path for upward mobility. The broadest protection of religious liberty. And the revolutionary truth that our rights come from God, not government.
This deserves not just defense but celebration. Thanksgiving is our reminder that gratitude is not naïve. Gratitude is protective. Gratitude gives clarity. Gratitude strengthens the nation that embraces it.
We are eighteen months away from the 250th anniversary of the United States. Very few nations reach this milestone with their founding documents intact. Even fewer do so with the same core ideals. While other nations rewrote themselves or collapsed under their own weight, America remains. But instead of preparing for a national celebration, we have become experts in diagnosing flaws and blind to blessings. Critique has a place. But critique without gratitude becomes entitlement. Critique without perspective becomes narcissism. Critique without light becomes darkness.
Thanksgiving is the antidote. And it is time to remember the things we should be unapologetically thankful for.
America has the strongest military on earth.
America has the most charitable citizens in the world.
America is the number one destination for people seeking freedom.
America leads the planet in medical breakthroughs and cures.
America produces more food and more energy than any nation in history.
America sends more missionaries around the world than all other nations combined.
America is still the safest, freest, most opportunity-rich place to raise a family anywhere on earth.
The good news is that Americans still want gratitude more than gloom. The numbers prove it. Bible sales in the United States are up 11% in the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
Volunteerism has also rebounded after the pandemic slump. The latest Census Bureau report shows that 28.3% of Americans — about 75.7 million people — volunteered with organizations between September 2022 and September 2023, up from 23.2% in 2021.
Gallup finds that Americans are increasingly embracing larger families, with 45% now saying that three or more children is ideal, the highest number recorded since 1971. Even charitable giving is rising. Giving USA reports total donations grew to $592.5 billion in 2024, an increase of 5.5%.
All of this demonstrates that the country actually wants gratitude and generosity. The evidence is right there. We just have people in the way who profit from telling us the opposite.
This is why Thanksgiving matters now more than ever. It invites us to disconnect from the noise and reconnect with what is real. And maybe this is the reminder America needs most: you cannot break bread on social media. You cannot share a meal in a comment section. You cannot hug your family between Instagram stories. You cannot laugh until your stomach hurts while doomscrolling. Gratitude happens around real tables with real people.
This Thanksgiving, I’m going to break bread. Hug my family. Hold hands during grace. Tell stories. Let my kids stay up late. Laugh until the turkey comes up. Watch football with people I love. Build memories no algorithm can fake.
I encourage others to, for one day, return to the things that built this country, the things worth defending.
America is divided. Politics is exhausting. The culture feels chaotic. But Thanksgiving cuts through all of that. It brings us back to the basics. It reminds us that a nation built by grateful people will only be restored by grateful people.
So, take the day to give thanks, not just for your family or your blessings but for your country. For all our flaws, for all our disagreements, for all our imperfections, America is still the greatest story of human freedom ever written.
And gratitude might be the most patriotic act left in America today.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Thanksgiving with family

Thanks And Giving: The American Virtues We Forgot

family

WASHINGTON—As lawmakers spend Thanksgiving with their families in their home districts, they’re also taking the opportunity to highlight the accomplishments they’re most grateful to have delivered this year.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole’s office released a Thanksgiving “menu” of the year’s “deliverables,” highlighting accomplishments — such as ending what they called the “harmful Democrat-led shutdown.”
“The House Appropriations Committee has been resolute in completing our work, line by line. No shortcuts, no stuffing – just steady FY26 stewardship,&#8221; the menu said. &#8220;No matter the challenge, tight calendar timeline, or work ahead of us, our members delivered through discourse, targeted funding, and America First priorities.&#8221;
Leaning into the Thanksgiving theme, the committee said they have “carved out” a path to regular order, “restored accountability,” and “set the table” for the remaining fiscal year bills.
“I’m thankful that American families can look forward to a more peaceful and affordable holiday season with the government back open and running on all cylinders,” Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science said in a statement.
Rogers said families can “breathe a sigh of relief” at the Thanksgiving dinner table this year and credited the “historic tax relief” that they passed into law this year.
This month, the Ways and Means Committee <a href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/11/17/big-beautiful-success-story-2026-tax-refunds-projected-to-be-largest-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Americans could see an extra $1,000 increase in their tax refund next year — which may be a “record-breaking tax refund season.”
Additionally, the White House shared the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/11/good-news-you-may-have-missed-everyday-proof-the-trump-agenda-is-delivering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news</a> that prices for Thanksgiving meals are down over last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The “menu” included other deliverables, such as all 12 of the House appropriations bills advancing through committee, with three of those bills already signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The three-bill minibus was part of the shutdown-ending deal.
Attention now turns to the remaining bills in the regular appropriations process, which were delayed by the longest shutdown in American history.
“With every FY26 bill reported out of committee, sixty percent of discretionary spending advanced across the House floor, the first conference committee in nearly a decade, and three full-year appropriations bills signed into law by President Trump — we have real, proven momentum,” Cole said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) previously <a href="https://x.com/CurtisHouck/status/1973754821858533633?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it was their goal to complete the normal appropriations process — something Congress has not done “for many years now.”
Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) said in a statement that passing individual spending bills is “not only the responsible way to govern, but it also restores transparency, stability, and accountability to the budget process.”
He said he was thankful for the work of the committee to “ensure Congress returns to regular order.”
Additionally, the Appropriations Committee reported having “steadfast conservative stewardship amid a 406% increase in Democrat amendment attempts and 228% increase in roll call votes, protecting Republican priorities while advancing FY26 progress.”
Lawmakers highlighted additional items they were grateful for this year from their specific subcommittees.
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Judge Carter said he secured a $1.4 billion investment in “major construction projects for VA hospitals and cemeteries so our veterans receive the care they deserve and a final resting place worthy of their sacrifice.”
Legislative Branch Subcommittee Chairman David Valadao said he was grateful that Congress is getting back to “regular order” and was proud that their Legislative Branch bill “strengthens security across the Capitol complex, supports the hardworking sworn officers and staff who keep this institution running, and ensures the Capitol remains open.&#8221;
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Chuck Fleischmann said the energy and water bill makes “historic investments in improving our energy independence, strengthening our nuclear security, improving waterways infrastructure nationwide, and securing America’s place as the preeminent global scientific leader.”
He said he believes a “new Golden Age is dawning on America,” and predicts “the best is yet to come.”
“Let us all come together and be thankful for all the blessings God has given America,” Fleischmann said.
Lawmakers also expressed gratitude for service members, veterans, homeland security personnel, firefighters, first responders, staff, constituents, and others.
Many said they’re looking forward to getting back to work after the holiday and watching as the rest of the funding bills make their way across the finish line.
But first: time for some turkey and family.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)

Here’s What Top Republican Lawmakers Are Grateful For This Thanksgiving

Congress

House Republicans

Mike Johnson

&#8220;Extreme gratitude” has sustained retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient Gabe Martinez after he lost both of his legs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan 15 years ago.
Martinez spoke to Morning Wire about his injury, recovery, life after the military, and the Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund that helps wounded veterans with severe injuries and disabilities.
Martinez was in seventh grade on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial planes and flew them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The tragedy spurred Martinez to enlist in the Marines in 2006, immediately after graduating high school.
In 2008, Martinez found himself on his first deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit assigned to Navy ships across the Middle East. Two years later, in 2010, he was on his second deployment, this time in Afghanistan.
“Thanksgiving 2010 is obviously a day I&#8217;ll never forget. I remember everything about it,” said Martinez. “I was in for about three years at that point. We were going to the Helmand province of Afghanistan. … We knew it was going to be a tougher deployment. That was a real brutal year for some of the Marine Corps units out there.”
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fifteen-thanksgivings-later-a-double-amputees-story/id1576594336?i=1000738496974" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
About an hour into the convoy near a Taliban stronghold, an IED exploded underneath one of the vehicles in Martinez’s line. Martinez’s immediate job was to hunt for secondary explosives hidden in the surrounding dirt. The wreckage of the destroyed vehicle made his metal detector worthless. He was forced to dig in the dirt with his hands, carefully sweeping for more potentially buried explosives. 
Martinez had just finished investigating one spot and was moving to another area where the dirt appeared to have been recently disturbed when another IED — a 25-pound bomb in a glass jar — exploded beneath him.
“I remember getting tossed up into the air, and then I landed in this crater that the IED had created,” he recalled. “I remember everything was red — like all my vision was red — and I remember thinking, like, something really got rattled loose up, you know, up in my head. And what I realized is that it was blood going down from my skull into my eyes. The piece of shrapnel had gone through my helmet and into my forehead.”
“I remember wiping that free and looking down and seeing that my legs were, they were still there. One was hanging off to the side, one was on my chest,” Martinez said.
A whirlwind 48 hours followed. Martinez and two more Marines, one concussed from the first IED and the other with his legs also blown off from a bomb just after Martinez, were loaded together on a helicopter and rushed to the nearest medical facility capable of performing surgery. Within an hour of his injury, Martinez, still conscious, was able to call his wife using a satellite phone on the base.
Doctors at the facility finished amputating what was left of Martinez’s legs. From there, he was flown back to the United States and arrived in Bethesda, Maryland, less than two days after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan.
After finding out that he would survive, Martinez’s thoughts shifted to how he would live with his injury. But despite the difficulties, he was mostly grateful to be alive.
“I didn&#8217;t really know what life looked like for me, especially now having no legs — lost both my legs at 22 years old, I was recently married — and so life was very uncertain at that point. In my mind, I figured that was pretty much it. I didn&#8217;t have legs, so I was figuratively and literally half the man I once was,” said Martinez.
“The day I woke up in the hospital in the United States was when I met the Semper Fi &amp; America&#8217;s Fund, and they were able to answer a lot of that for me, you know, because fortunately-slash-unfortunately, they had a lot of experience with my situation,” he continued. “My mentality then is similar to how it is now — and it&#8217;s gratitude despite ups and downs. It&#8217;s extreme gratitude.”
The Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund <a href="https://thefund.org/hero-stories/marine-sergeant-gabe-martinez-why-i-became-a-marine/">provided</a> Martinez opportunities to push himself and conquer new challenges despite his disability.
“My wife still to this day says I was like a ‘yes man.’ Like, I said yes to anything and everything, whether it was rock climbing, skiing–things I&#8217;ve never even done before, I found myself doing it. And it was great for my recovery because it showed me what I could do. And really, there weren&#8217;t any limits to what I could or couldn&#8217;t do,” he said.
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The toughest challenge for Martinez was leaving the military and losing the community that had sustained him throughout the early days of his injury. Martinez again found himself relying on the Semper Fi &amp; America’s Fund. The fund assigned Martinez a case manager who checked in on his progress and connected him with other veterans in similar situations.
In the military, the anniversary of wounds like Martinez’s is called “Alive Days,” and so Martinez’s Alive Day comes around Thanksgiving every year. (He suffered his injury the day after Thanksgiving in Afghanistan, which happened to be the day of Thanksgiving in the United States). 
Having his Alive Day fall on Thanksgiving has reinforced the gratitude he felt early on at just surviving and being able to return home.
“For me and my Alive Day being either on or around Thanksgiving was one of those blessings in disguise because it brings me back to that day 15 years ago … and like I said, gives me that reset perspective,” he said. “I&#8217;m able to, you know, look around and see my family, my kids, you know, my wife and family — kind of how my future has evolved from 15 years ago.&#8221;
“It gives me that perspective of even though every day is not perfect, even though many days I wish, you know, I had my legs or this didn&#8217;t happen to me, it gives me so much to be thankful for. And then being on Thanksgiving just kind of amplifies that while I&#8217;m surrounded by family and friends and all the chaos that ensues with that,” he continued. “I mean, it&#8217;s a huge blessing, and it&#8217;s a great reset for me to kind of have that perspective.”

Purple heart

Gabe Martinez Lost His Legs In Afghanistan 15 Years Ago. Here’s What Thanksgiving Means To Him.

Afghanistan

Marines

Veterans

BOSTON — &#8220;We were not going to get to Thanksgiving.&#8221;
That&#8217;s the assessment of Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the man who was in charge of keeping planes in the sky as Democrats kept the government shutdown for the longest period in American history.
&#8220;Had the shutdown not ended, we were not going to get to Thanksgiving,&#8221; Duffy told The Daily Wire from the Secretary&#8217;s Cup at Fenway Park in Boston. &#8220;Would have been not just mass chaos, I think we would have seen airlines actually ground their fleets.&#8221;
&#8220;It was getting bad fast,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So what we&#8217;ve seen now is our controllers have come back online. We have more normal staffing levels. We&#8217;re almost back to staffing levels that we had before the shutdown. So what we&#8217;re doing now is analyzing the data to make sure that we have the numbers going in the right direction towards safety.&#8221;
&#8220;And when that happens,&#8221; he added, &#8220;we&#8217;re going to allow the number of flights to go back up again.&#8221;
The government shutdown, which began on October 1, ended on November 12 when President Donald Trump signed the funding bill passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was the longest shutdown in American history, and Duffy, as well as other administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, had warned of significant Thanksgiving travel issues if it had continued.
As it is, the FAA predicted on Friday that this Thanksgiving travel season would be the busiest in 15 years, also predicting that Tuesday would be the peak travel day for those flying, with more than 52,000 flights.
<div style="width: 615px" class="wp-caption alignnone align-center"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/inline-images/2025-AJR-050_Holiday_Summer%20Forecast%20Thanksgiving_605x380_SM04.jpg" alt="Line graph showing flight volume during Thanksgiving week. Courtesy FAA. " width="605" height="380" align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="20637729-e9d1-425e-80f1-fee3ea08cf84" />Line graph showing flight volume during Thanksgiving week. Courtesy FAA.</div>
“Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”
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The FAA said air traffic controllers would use a range of strategies to keep flights operating safely, encouraging passengers to be &#8220;patient, be kind and follow crew member instructions.&#8221;
<a href="https://newsroom.aaa.com/2025/11/aaa-thanksgiving-travel-forecast-2025/">According to AAA</a>, almost 82 million Americans are projected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. That&#8217;s an increase of 1.6 million travelers compared to last year, &#8220;setting a new overall record.&#8221;
For his part, Duffy is encouraging those flying for the holidays to dress well to bring “civility” back to air travel.
“People dress up like they’re going to bed when they fly,” <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1991334266974658936?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Duffy shared on Fox News earlier this month</a>. “We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up.”
A video released by the Transportation Department shows passengers flying in business suits and dresses, then pans to modern-day passengers in pajamas, sweatpants, and other casual garb.
“Things aren’t what they used to be,” Duffy said. “Let’s bring civility and manners back.”
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO WITH SEAN DUFFY:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I spent a day at Fenway Park with <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDuffy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDuffy</a> attending the Secretaries&#8217;Cup!
We chatted about everything, including our big families, how close airlines were to grounding entire fleets, and how important it was for his mariners to beat Kristi Noem’s coasties in football. <a href="https://t.co/4iXh0pHMWr">pic.twitter.com/4iXh0pHMWr</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1993766989819728360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sean Duffy: Airlines Were Days Away From Grounding Entire Fleets Ahead Of Thanksgiving

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gobble-youre-pardoned-trump-touts-success-roasts-dems-in-annual-thanksgiving-tradition">roasted</a> his political opponents during the traditional turkey pardoning ceremony, including a crack about Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker&#8217;s weight.
&#8220;I had a little bit of a Pritzker joke, I was gonna talk about &#8216;Pritzker in size,&#8217; but when I talk about Pritzker, I get angry because he&#8217;s not letting us do the job,&#8221; Trump said at the ceremony. &#8220;So I&#8217;m not gonna tell my Pritzker joke.&#8221;
&#8220;Some speech writer wrote a joke about his weight, but I would never want to talk about his weight. I don&#8217;t talk about people being fat,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;I refuse to talk about the fact that he&#8217;s a fat slob. I don&#8217;t mention it.&#8221;
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Trump on JB Pritzker&#8217;s weight😂
&#8220;I would never want to talk about his weight. I don&#8217;t talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he&#8217;s a fat slob. I don&#8217;t mention it.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/z2fSF1LSET">pic.twitter.com/z2fSF1LSET</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1993386594766930320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump and Pritzker are at odds over the governor&#8217;s opposition to the president demanding crime be cleaned up in Chicago specifically, and illegal immigrants in the city be deported.
Pritzker has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/still-no-response-from-jb-pritzker-after-insane-stretch-of-deadly-violence-in-chicago?author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Still+No+Response+From+JB+Pritzker+After+Insane+Stretch+Of+Deadly+Violence+In+Chicago">refused to address</a> the growing crime issues in Chicago, including after the recent brutal public transit attack in which a 26-year-old woman was set on fire by a career criminal with more than 70 arrests.
After a shooting last week, Trump again offered to send in the National Guard. The president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115595274389789024">wrote</a> on Truth Social, “The people are chanting, BRING IN TRUMP!!!”
“Pritzker needs help badly, just doesn’t know it yet,&#8221; Trump said back in September. &#8220;I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC. Chicago will be safe again.&#8221;
Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at <a href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.
Pritzker has also done nothing to stop the attacks and assaults on federal immigration officers in his state, instead staunchly opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement&#8217;s (ICE) efforts.
“Our message to JB Pritzker: Get out of your mansion and see Chicago,” Assistant Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/06/dhs-debunks-governor-pritzkers-harmful-lies-about-operation-midway-blitz-chicago">said</a> in October. “If J.B. Pritzker actually walked the streets of his own city, he would see domestic terrorists and violent rioters attacking police officers and the scourge of violent crime as a direct result of his own policies.”
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gobble-youre-pardoned-trump-touts-success-roasts-dems-in-annual-thanksgiving-tradition?author=Tim+Rice&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=‘Gobble%2C+You’re+Pardoned%21’+Trump+Touts+Success%2C+Roasts+Dems+In+Annual+Thanksgiving+Tradition">highlighted</a> by Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice, who was at the turkey pardoning ceremony, few political opponents were spared by Trump on Tuesday. The president also ribbed former President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gobble-youre-pardoned-trump-touts-success-roasts-dems-in-annual-thanksgiving-tradition">‘Gobble, You’re Pardoned!’ Trump Touts Success, Roasts Dems In Annual Thanksgiving Tradition</a>

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Trump Says He Won’t Call JB Pritzker A ‘Fat Slob’

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WASHINGTON—In a stunning show of executive authority, President Donald Trump today exercised the power granted to him under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution “to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.”
The lucky duck was a turkey named Gobble. Unlike in previous years, those assembled in the Rose Garden on this drizzly Tuesday morning knew which bird would be spared right away: First Lady Melania Trump’s office asked Americans to choose which bird her husband would pardon, and he alone was present at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Gathered on the dais were a who’s-who of the Trump Cabinet: Vice President JD Vance with his wife, Usha, and their children; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“This is a big day, a pardon day for a very important beast,” Trump said, prompting a gobble from Gobble. “That’s a well-trained turkey. See how happy he is?”
At one point during the event, Weather Report’s 1977 jazz fusion hit “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Birdland</a>” played over the Rose Garden speakers, a clever musical wink for those who caught the tune.
Trump joked that when he first saw a picture of Gobble and runner-up Waddle, he wanted to “call them Chuck and Nancy,” a reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump jokes that he wanted to call today&#8217;s turkeys Chuck &amp; Nancy💀😂
&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t say this. I was going to call them Chuck and Nancy, but then I realized I wouldn&#8217;t be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/LT49QgTnJU">pic.twitter.com/LT49QgTnJU</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1993376794062545075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“But then I realized I wouldn’t pardon those two people. I would never pardon them, I don’t care what Melania would tell me.”
Schumer and Pelosi weren’t the only Democrats to draw a presidential jab at the ceremony. Touting his administration’s success in cracking down on crime in Washington and Memphis, Trump called on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to allow them to do the same in Chicago.
“Governor Pritzker, if you’re listening, let’s get your act together,” Trump said before noting that he would not “talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob.”
“I don’t mention it,” Trump said, adding that “I’d like to lose a few pounds.”
“But I’m not gonna lose it on Thanksgiving, I’ll tell you that. Because I’m gonna have a turkey, but it’s not gonna be that one.”
Trump also joked that all of President Joe Biden’s turkey pardons were null and void because his predecessor signed them with an autopen — but that he intervened to spare last year’s turkeys, Peach and Blossom, from the slaughterhouse.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> declares last year&#8217;s presidential turkey pardons INVALID because Biden used an autopen.😂
Thankfully, he intervened and granted Peach and Blossom a valid pardon to kick off today&#8217;s ceremony. <a href="https://t.co/BaxdOaLhIZ">pic.twitter.com/BaxdOaLhIZ</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1993370734060802197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Waddle, who Trump joked was “missing in action,” also received a presidential pardon and will step up as the National Thanksgiving Turkey should Gobble be unable to discharge his duties.
“Gobble, you’re pardoned!” the president said, evoking his famous television catch phrase.
About an hour before the pardon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ushered Waddle into the briefing room to meet the White House press corps. Leavitt stood by with her son (wearing a “Mama’s Little Turkey” shirt) as an excited press pool shouted questions at Waddle.
One journalist immediately asked if Waddle had a comment on Ukraine. The turkey had no comment.
<div id="attachment_1005925" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1005925" class="size-large wp-image-1005925" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2248382649-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2248382649-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2248382649-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2248382649-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2248382649.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Waddle and Karoline Leavitt’s son, Niko (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)</div>
After departing the White House grounds today, Gobble and Waddle will return to their home state of North Carolina, where they will take up residence at NC State University alongside Chocolate and Chip, the turkeys Biden pardoned in 2022.
Alex Davidson, Senior Director of Public Affairs at the National Turkey Federation, said that Gobble and Waddle will be “agricultural ambassadors for the rest of their lives.”
Davidson also gave The Daily Wire the inside scoop on how the turkeys are selected. Every year, the National Turkey Federation’s rotating chairman designates a state from which the turkeys will hail — generally the chairman’s home state. The current chair, Butterball CEO Jay Jandrain, picked North Carolina, “the second largest turkey state in the country, after Minnesota,” Davidson says.
This year’s presidential flock was raised by Travis and Amanda Pittman of Wayne County (“I like Wayne County,” Trump remarked when thanking the Pitmans, noting that he did well there in the last election).
Davidson says that presidential turkeys are selected at a young age and raised just like any other bird, though they are given early exposure to lights and music to prepare them for the hustle and bustle of the national stage.
As pardon day gets closer, the flock of around 50 birds is whittled down to two finalists. According to the National Turkey Federation, the <a href="https://www.eatturkey.org/presidentialflock/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">winning turkeys</a> are those that have the best “physical appearance and temperament,” proof that looks matter, even in Washington.
Trump also touted the cost of turkey and other Thanksgiving foods. Turkey prices are down 16% from last year, according to a <a href="https://www.fb.org/news-release/cost-of-thanksgiving-dinner-declines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new report </a>from the American Farm Bureau Federation. All told, the cost of an average Thanksgiving dinner is down 5% from 2024.
It’s generally held that Abraham Lincoln performed the first turkey pardon when he spared a bird at the request of his son, Tad. But the turkey pardon really traces its roots back to 1947, when the National Turkey Federation sent a 47-pound bird to President Harry Truman, a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5620579/turkey-presidential-pardon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">peace offering</a> after the group sparred with the White House over postwar poultry rationing.
John F. Kennedy is said to have given the first presidential <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/presidential-turkey-pardons-not-long-history-you-might-think-f2D11663410" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turkey pardon</a>, remarking “we’ll just let this one grow.” But as with most good things in Washington, the pardon tradition really took shape under Ronald Reagan.
After being grilled about pardons for those involved in the Iran-Contra scandal during a 1987 press conference with Charlie the Turkey, the <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/informal-exchange-reporters-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gipper quipped</a> that, had he not been assured Charlie would head to a children’s farm, he “would have pardoned him.”
Since 1989, turkeys have been pardoned in an official White House ceremony, a tradition begun by President George H.W. Bush. Today, the pardon is just a high point in a long series of events for the turkeys, who are brought to Washington a few days early to make the rounds with the media. Gobble and Waddle reportedly did 20 interviews on Monday, before turning in for a night at the Willard InterContinental Hotel.
The hotel staff loves when the turkeys check in, Davidson says — and apparently the fowl are not that foul, as far as these things go. The National Turkey Federation prepares their swanky suite with layers of plastic and wood chips, and federation staffers clean up after the birds head up to Pennsylvania Avenue.
“We leave it like we found it,” Davidson said.

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‘Gobble, You’re Pardoned!’ Trump Touts Success, Roasts Dems In Annual Thanksgiving Tradition

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