President Donald Trump surprised the joint Daily Wire and Young America’s Foundation event in Nashville with an inspiring message on Friday.
“A very special hello to everyone gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. I love Nashville,” the president said in a video message. “Thank you all for coming out to join the Young America&#8217;s Foundation and The Daily Wire, and celebrating one of the most important milestones in the history of our country, America 250.”
Trump told the audience of young people that they have a crucial role to play in carrying on the American spirit like those who came before them nearly 250 years ago.
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of the nation&#8217;s founding, young people like all of you have a crucial role to play in revitalizing and reasserting the unyielding American spirit that first inspired the cause of independence two and a half centuries ago. Sounds like a long time, but it does fly doesn’t it.”
Conservative leaders, lawmakers, and activists gathered in Nashville for the “Freedom at 250” tour kickoff. In addition to the president, speakers included Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee, Daily Wire hosts Reagan Conrad and Michael Knowles, and Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
WATCH TRUMP&#8217;S VIDEO MESSAGE: 
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The president reminded the audience that the nation’s founding fathers understood that rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness did not come from government officials but from God.
“Together we believe in the principle that the government exists to serve its citizens and that our rights are given to us not by bureaucrats, but by Almighty God.”
“These ideas, embodied in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, have animated the conservative movement for generations,” Trump added. “This year, we celebrate and reassert those foundations of American freedom because together we make America great again, and that’s what we are doing. America is back stronger, bigger, and better than ever before.”
Trump then thanked the young audience for their support and patriotism and told them to never stop fighting or winning.
President Trump has maintained a close relationship with Young America’s Foundation, <a href="https://yaf.org/news/meet-the-yaf-activists-joining-president-trump-for-todays-free-speech-executive-order-signing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inviting</a> many of the group’s members to join him as he signed an executive order supporting the First Amendment rights of students nationwide.

Screenshot

WATCH: President Trump Delivers Surprise Message To Daily Wire And YAF’s ‘Freedom at 250’ Event

Donald Trump

Michael Knowles

The Daily Wire

Young America's Foundation

Self-described antifascist anarchists advertised their plans to protest at the <a href="https://yaf.org/events/nashville/">Nashville Freedom Conference</a> later this week, which will feature Daily Wire hosts Michael Knowles, Reagan Conrad, and Cabot Phillips, along with Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
A leftist Nashville group, which goes by the name 615 Antifascist, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/antifascist_615/">posted</a> a flyer on social media calling for people to &#8220;rally against transphobia&#8221; at the Nashville Freedom Conference on Saturday, February 7. The Freedom Conference, hosted by the Young America&#8217;s Foundation, is a two-day event that begins Friday and is expected to draw hundreds of young conservatives from across the country.
The anarchist group specifically called out Knowles, whom they accused of making &#8220;inflammatory&#8221; comments, &#8220;especially around transgender people.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been informed that Antifa intends to protest my speech on Friday. The last time they sent a goon to one of my speaking events, he ended up in federal prison,&#8221; Knowles said on Monday. &#8220;Looking forward to another opportunity to help correct America&#8217;s under-incarceration problem!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I&#8217;ve been informed that Antifa intends to protest my speech on Friday. The last time they sent a goon to one of my speaking events, he ended up in federal prison.
Looking forward to another opportunity to help correct America&#8217;s under-incarceration problem! <a href="https://t.co/nllaYT0aLX">pic.twitter.com/nllaYT0aLX</a>
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/2018402892525207641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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It&#8217;s unclear if the group has any plans to also protest on Friday, when Knowles is scheduled to take the stage.
Knowles commented further on the leftist group&#8217;s protest plans during his show on Tuesday.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a Nashville antifa — even in Nashville. Nowhere is sacred, I guess. This is the &#8216;rally against transphobia.&#8217; They&#8217;re still on this; they&#8217;re still on the trans thing,&#8221; Knowles said. &#8220;They never give it up because it&#8217;s the apotheosis of liberalism, because the transgender ideology is the culmination of centuries of the liberal impulse for radical liberation from everything, including morality, social order, religion, God, and even the self.&#8221;
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Knowles is used to leftists and anarchists showing up to make a scene when he speaks, and in one instance, three years ago, a protest became violent.
In 2023, a leftist protester attempted to disrupt an event featuring Knowles at the University of Pittsburgh by setting off homemade smoke bombs and shooting a firework into a crowd of protesters and police officers, injuring one person. The protester, 37-year-old Brian DiPippa, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protester-who-shot-firework-explosive-at-police-during-michael-knowles-event-sentenced">sentenced</a> to five years in prison.
Knowles has enraged radical leftists for years over his strong stance against gender procedures. During a 2023 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Knowles <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/knowles-at-cpac-there-is-no-meeting-halfway-between-truth-and-falsehood">argued</a> that &#8220;transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.&#8221;
The comment sparked a firestorm from leftists who falsely claimed that Knowles was arguing for the eradication of trans-identifying people.
The Nashville antifascist group said in its flyer that the Freedom Conference &#8220;will include leadership sessions, and a lineup of right-wing voices from media designed to &#8216;confront the Left&#8217;s narratives&#8217; and mobilize young conservatives across campuses and communities.&#8221; Other featured speakers at the event include CNN conservative contributor Scott Jennings, conservative activist Robby Starbuck, and pro-life activist Abby Johnson.
The anarchists told people to meet at a Lutheran church just a block away from the hotel in downtown Nashville where the conference is being held.
The antifascist group <a href="https://615antifascist.com/">says</a> it&#8217;s &#8220;a collective of anonymous individuals based in Nashville, Tennessee, united in the mission to combat Fascism in all its manifestations.&#8221; The group focuses on protesting the Trump administration&#8217;s policies and &#8220;rejecting oppressive social norms &#8230; such as racism, sexism, xenophobia, capitalism, and transphobia.&#8221;

Michael Knowles/antifascist protest

‘Antifascist’ Anarchists Plan To Protest Nashville Freedom Conference Headlined By Daily Wire

General

Leftism

Nashville

Reagan Conrad

U.S.

Conservative leaders, lawmakers, and activists will gather in downtown Nashville on Friday as The Daily Wire and Young America’s Foundation launch the ‘Freedom at 250’ national tour, an event aimed at celebrating constitutional governance amid national unrest.
The rally, titled the “Freedom at 250: Its Defense Requires Action” tour kickoff, is expected to draw a capacity crowd of young conservatives and will feature remarks headlined by Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles.
Organizers say they intend to emphasize support for constitutional government, the rule of law, and civic responsibility amid a wave of protests and unrest that has erupted in cities across the country in recent weeks. Young America’s Foundation President and former Wisconsin GOP Governor Scott Walker said the event is meant to serve as a response to what he described as “well‑funded left‑wing agitation,” citing recent protests in Minnesota that have disrupted federal immigration enforcement operations.
“As America approaches its 250th anniversary, this rally stands as a call to uphold the rule of law and the timeless principles our Founding Fathers fought to establish,” Walker said, adding that the Nashville event would highlight “ordered liberty, civic responsibility, and a nation grounded in law.”
Local left-wing activist groups have announced plans to stage a counter-protest, underscoring the sharp political divide surrounding the event.
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, one of the headline speakers of the rally, said the gathering reflects a broader effort to equip young conservatives to confront what he characterized as ideological intimidation on college campuses and in public life. 
“The radical Left has stopped trying to win arguments and started relying on intimidation and outright violence,” Knowles said. “That’s why it matters that students are equipped with the intellectual tools they need to prevail in a hostile culture.”
Knowles referenced prior disruptions at his events by left-wing activists, saying he would continue to speak publicly despite threats of protest. 
The Nashville rally marks the first stop on a yearlong tour combining Young America’s Foundation’s campus outreach efforts with The Daily Wire’s media platform. Organizers say future events will focus on engaging young Americans on issues of constitutional governance, American history, and cultural influence.
In addition to Gov. Lee and former Gov. Walker, speakers scheduled to appear include Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan; filmmaker and activist Robby Starbuck; former Green Beret Nick Freitas; and country music artist Lee Greenwood. Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips will serve as emcee.
Ahead of the rally, Young America’s Foundation is also hosting a free student-activist training session aimed at equipping conservative students with organizing and advocacy skills.
The Nashville Freedom Rally will take place on Friday from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. CT.

MixCollage-29-Nov-2023-04-02-PM-8528

The Daily Wire, Young America’s Foundation Set To Celebrate ‘Freedom At 250’ In Nashville On Friday

Lee Greenwood

Rally

Robby Starbuck

Tennessee

WASHINGTON—The White House Correspondents’ Association on Wednesday unveiled its new seating chart for the White House briefing room, giving The Daily Wire a seat in the room. 
The Daily Wire was one of a handful of news outlets granted a seat in the redesigned room. In a letter to members of the White House press corps, the White House Correspondent’s Association said that the new chart took into account the emerging digital media landscape
Mary Margaret Olohan became The Daily Wire’s first-ever White House correspondent just over a year ago, following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Her assumption of that mantle marked the beginning of The Daily Wire’s Washington, D.C. operations, which continued with the opening of a D.C. Bureau in May and the addition of several new reporters.
There are surprisingly few seats in the briefing room, and reporters without set spots must arrive early and stand in the aisles, often for hours on end. Olohan has become a fixture of White House press briefings, asking questions from the standing room only area in the aisles of the room. 
Just this week, Olohan was seen breaking the news to President Trump in the Oval Office that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had issued a requirement that all federal immigration agents wear body cams. Earlier this year, Olohan broke the news that the Department of Justice was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-doj-considering-gun-ban-for-transgenders">considering a gun ban</a> for transgender-identifying individuals, exclusively <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-sign-executive-to-keep-men-out-of-womens-sports">reported</a> that Trump was signing an executive order to keep men out of women&#8217;s sports, and last month that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-vice-president-vance-to-headline-march-for-life">Vice President J.D. Vance was set to speak at the March for Life</a>. 
Among the other media outlets granted a seat in the room for the first time were Semafor, Axios, and NOTUS. Some outlets, including The Daily Beast and Buzzfeed, had their seats taken away from them.
In a letter to members of the White House press corps, the White House Correspondents&#8217; Association said that the new chart took into account the emerging digital media landscape, including newsletters.
A permanent spot is both a testament to the quality of The Daily Wire’s White House coverage and a guarantee that this coverage will continue unabated.

1537328164755172455

White House Briefing Room Gets Facelift, Daily Wire Gets Permanent Seat

Press

White House

Kyle Wagner, a crossdressing Antifa leader who incited violence in Minneapolis over social media, has been kicked off Venmo and Instagram, The Daily Wire has learned.
Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on Saturday, Wagner took to social media to encourage his followers to take up arms and clash with law enforcement on the streets of Minneapolis.
&#8220;Show up ready to go. Not talking about peaceful protests anymore,&#8221; Wagner said, calling on people to &#8220;march&#8230;with guns&#8221; and saying &#8220;the Second Amendment is the only thing that&#8217;s going to keep you f*cking protected from literal f*cking Nazi gunmen.&#8221;
&#8220;Get your f*cking guns, and stop these f*cking people,&#8221; he added.
After this initial call, the self-described Antifa member — clad in tactical gear and a bullet-proof vest, not the women&#8217;s clothing he often dons — solicited money from his followers.
“My link to my Venmo is in my bio,&#8221; he said. “It’s an emergency freedom and defense fund.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m not going to tell you what I’m spending my money on,&#8221; Wagner added. &#8220;I&#8217;m not gonna tell you why I need you to give me large sums of money right now. I just want you to understand that this is an actual guerrilla war in our streets now. They&#8217;re using live ammunition to kill our citizens. I need everyone to show up, fully prepared — whatever that means to you — to whatever degree you can.&#8221;
Within minutes of the video going live, supporters started sending funds over Venmo. Payment notes reviewed by The Daily Wire included, “For protecting women and children” and “Give them hell.”
Hours later, Venmo deactivated Wagner’s account for violating its terms of service. Users attempting to send money were met with an error message from Venmo stating, “We’re sorry, the transaction could not be completed. Please contact the person you are trying to pay.”
On Monday, Wagner&#8217;s Instagram account was deleted, and he appears to have been removed from Facebook and TikTok as well.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: Antifa leader in Minneapolis Kyle Wagner has been taken off <a href="https://twitter.com/instagram?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@instagram</a>. Earlier today he was taken off <a href="https://twitter.com/Venmo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Venmo</a>.
He had been using the platform to incite violence against ICE agents, raise money to fund riots. Nice to see reason prevail. <a href="https://t.co/ErZJNpkykR">pic.twitter.com/ErZJNpkykR</a>
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentScher/status/2015892824504332303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
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A GoFundMe campaign remains active in which Wagner asks for $50,000 to help him “replace my essential documents, apply for political asylum, and relocate my belongings into safe storage.”
Wagner says, “Every dollar will go directly toward helping me flee this persecution and secure a future where I am not hunted for my beliefs.”
He tells would-be donors that with their support, “we can make a difference and ensure that I am able to continue fighting for what is right.”
The Daily Wire reached out to GoFundMe for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Among Wagner’s previous calls to action were videos unrelated to protest activity, including clips in which he appeared dressed in women’s clothing. In one video, Wagner abandoned his tactical wear for a red spaghetti-strap dress, hoop earrings, and heeled boots.
“I do this all year, all the time,” he said. “I do this for me … I like to get real clean and pretty and go out and shoot pool or get dinner and go dance.”
Wagner is just one of many activists calling for retaliation for Pretti&#8217;s death, which led to widespread demonstrations across the city. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz deployed the National Guard on Saturday, though unrest continues. On Monday, protesters vandalized a hotel where immigration officials were staying.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott shared images of the damaged hotel, stating, &#8220;This is our Border Patrol being targeted at their hotel in Minneapolis—surrounded, blocked in, glass smashed, [and] people trying to force their way inside.&#8221;
&#8220;This is not a protest,&#8221; he added. &#8220;This is an attack on law enforcement.&#8221;
Walz on Monday called President Donald Trump, and had a conversation the president described as &#8220;very good.&#8221; Trump added that he and Walz &#8220;actually seemed to be on a similar wavelength,&#8221; and said the Democrat &#8220;was happy&#8221; that Border Czar Tom Homan was set to visit Minneapolis.

Venmo/Antifa

Crossdressing Antifa Leader Who Incited Violence In Minneapolis Kicked Off Venmo, Instagram

Antifa

Crime

Minneapolis

Minnesota

Money

PayPal

If you haven’t already seen The Daily Wire’s “The Pendragon Cycle &#8211; Rise Of The Merlin,” you’re missing out. The next best thing? The board game inspired by the epic original series.  
&#8220;Pendragon&#8221; is a highly anticipated seven-part cinematic retelling of Stephen R. Lawhead’s novels that reimagine the dawn of the Arthurian legend. The series centers around the rise and fall of kings and the birth of Britain, weaving together themes of love, war, destiny, and magic. 

Designed by The Daily Wire, this narrative-driven game of deduction brings the Arthurian epic to life. Connor Brinton, the game’s co-creator, said the ultimate goal is to give gamers a truly immersive experience into the Pendragon saga, from the iconic locations and legendary characters to the magical abilities and enchantments.
Now, fans of the show can dive beyond the screen and into the Pendragon legend itself.
Brinton says the game took over a year to develop, design and collaborate with creatives and experts to ensure the game would authentically represent the story. Brinton, who also worked on The Daily Wire&#8217;s <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/games/products/yes-or-no">Yes Or No</a> card game, said the reason they created a board game was to give fans a &#8220;real experience&#8221; they can take home.
&#8220;When it came down to what do we make for Pendragon, the natural inclination was to figure out some kind of game that we could provide customers — like, a real experience to take home with them,” Brinton said.
“There’s something fun about people gathering around and playing it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It’s different than anything that we built before. It’s a lot more ambitious. But I think it melds well with this kind of show.&#8221;
How does the game work?
“Explore the sacred isle. Unearth the hidden truth. Prove yourself worthy of the Grail.”
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Discover the secret: One character, one location, and one weapon are hidden from the truth.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Explore the sacred isle: Roll, move, and face enchantments as you travel the board.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deduce the truth: Make calculated guesses to reveal what your opponents are hiding.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Use your powers: Each character has one special ability you can use.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Claim victory: Go to the correct location and make a final guess, if you dare — the right answer wins.</li>
</ol>
&#8220;If you are a fan of the show, you&#8217;re really going to enjoy the game,&#8221; Brinton said.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1028937" style="width: 586px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1028937" class="wp-image-1028937 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-576x576.jpg" alt="" width="576" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-576x576.jpg 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Pendragon-game-key-art-1.jpg 2000w" sizes=" (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" />Daily Wire Pendragon Game</div>
Available for pre-order now, you can purchase the game <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/games/products/pendragon-game">HERE</a>. 
And if you haven’t yet watched “The Pendragon Cycle &#8211; Rise Of The Merlin,” check it out <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-pendragon-cycle">HERE</a>.

Pendragon-Game-article-thumbnail-16×9

The Daily Wire Releases New Pendragon-Inspired Board Game

board games

gamers

King Arthur

Merlin

Stephen R. Lawhead

The Pendragon Cycle

The highly anticipated series “The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin” promises to deliver a version of Merlin unlike any seen before. Actor Tom Sharp, who takes on the iconic role in the adaptation of Stephen R. Lawhead’s bestselling series, says the character will surprise even longtime fans.
“Well, you know, it’s Merlin. So he’s an iconic character that’s probably known in most cultures around the world,” Sharp told The Daily Wire. 
Calling it his “biggest role to date and biggest production to date,” he emphasized that this Merlin is more than the mysterious, on the fringes secondary character that most Arthurian legend retellings make him out to be. 
“This is set before King Arthur, but instead of just a magical advisor … he’s also seen as a young warrior, which would be different for people to see. And it’s a grittier, more grounded tone … He’s hands on. He’s at the forefront,” Sharp explains.
The production draws heavily from Lawhead’s original story, which is a combination of Celtic mythology, Christian themes, and historical drama. The novels center on the rise of Britain from a land of chaos into a civilization awakened by faith. As previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dailywire-announces-release-date-for-the-pendragon-cycle?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=DailyWire%2B+Announces+Release+Date+For+%E2%80%98The+Pendragon+Cycle%E2%80%99">reported</a>, this series aims to preserve those themes, honoring Lawhead’s vision while building an immersive, cinematic world.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9P9t-qTJPU4?si=hAlKkma9hqIkoYzo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Sharp confirmed that staying true to the original was a priority behind the scenes. “We stuck as closely as possible to the books and as faithfully to the source material as possible when making this show,” he assured longtime fans. 
One pivotal moment from the source material is considered a turning point in Merlin’s life and received special focus during production. Sharp described it as a “tentpole scene” that carries significant emotional weight. “If this scene falls down, the whole show falls down,” he said, noting that “fans of the books … they’ll know what I’m talking about.” He couldn’t reveal much else except to say that the scene appears in episode six.
Authenticity was also a major theme while filming “Pendragon,” the lead actor revealed. Rather than relying on CGI, the series was filmed in stunning locations across Hungary and Italy. Sharp explained how this made things easier for him and the rest of the cast. 
“Shooting on location beats CGI and green screen every day of the week,” he said. “It’s more immersive for the audience … For actors, it’s less acting required. You’re reacting off real things.”
Watch the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-pendragon-cycle%20?utm_campaign=pendragon&amp;utm_content=20260122_tpdc_plantype_desktop&amp;utm_medium=website">7-part series now</a> — only on DailyWire+. New episodes every Thursday.
He continued, “If you see me running with a wolf or someone’s on fire or I’m charging into battle on a horse, swinging a sword, it’s all real.” Even the bulls in episode one, Sharp noted, were living, breathing animals.
While Merlin is often portrayed as a wise yet inaccessible mystical being, Sharp said he approached the character through the lens of humanity. “One of the challenges of playing him was how do I make him relatable because he’s so mysterious,” he said. “As an actor, I focused purely on his humanity and how the audience can connect to him.” 
Sharp also emphasized Merlin’s moral restraint. “He could easily rule in a tyrannical position, but he chooses not to… Someone with all that power, not wanting to be the ruler, is a great quality.”
The actor also mentioned the character’s other distinctly human qualities. “He’s also heavily, deeply flawed as well with a lot of tragedy and pain in his life from the beginning and throughout. And obviously, when you&#8217;re immortal, you&#8217;re quite a lonely person… [there is] a distance between him and other characters,” he said.
Sharp shared one lighthearted behind-the-scenes moment involving his first scene with actress Brett Cooper, who plays Ganieda. The pair met in full costume, with her clad in the gown of a regal princess and him presenting as a mud-covered Merlin as they both encountered a giant wild boar.
“This is not your traditional romantic setting,” he joked.
Ultimately, Sharp is excited for fans to see the series and called it a “dream come true” to play the character of Merlin. When asked about his favorite scene, he referenced the first season’s last episode. &#8220;The very final scene of the show in episode seven is my favorite personally,” Sharp said, noting that “the fans and any newcomers to the story will understand why.”
“That scene gave me a very surreal out of body experience. It was amazing and very euphoric on set. I kept talking about it for days afterwards … that memory will stay with me for life.”

Inside ‘The Pendragon Cycle’: Tom Sharp Delivers A Version Of The Merlin Never Seen Before

Inside ‘The Pendragon Cycle’: Tom Sharp Reveals The Merlin Fans Haven’t Seen

DailyWire+

Entertainment

Television

Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro principally values a habit of telling the truth in any leader of the Republican Party.
Shapiro spoke about what he values in GOP politicians in an interview with The Daily Wire on the sidelines of the Turning Point USA AmericaFest conference that ended on Sunday.
“The number one thing that I would look for from any Republican leader at this point is simply telling the truth,” said Shapiro after he was asked a question on the future of Republican politics.
“I think the president has a habit of doing this in sort of pithy, short versions,” Shapiro said of President Donald Trump.
“He has a capacity for saying unpopular truths, which is great. We need more conservative leaders saying things that are true, even if, in the short-term, they&#8217;re not quote-unquote coalitional,” he continued, “because, again, you&#8217;re going to need to break whatever is here and you need to rebuild it stronger, and the only way to do that is with some true leadership.”
Shapiro spoke on the main stage at AmericaFest on the opening night in a speech that generated headlines because of its bomb-throwing, but put forward a message on the importance of truth in politics.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
“Because victory — true victory — cannot be achieved without truth. Victory without truth is victory for a lie. And that is no victory at all. And unity without truth is no unity. It is merely solidarity in falsehood,” said Shapiro in a version of his speech posted on <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/ben-shapiro-only-cowards-tolerate?r=nyv5h&amp;utm_source=flipboard&amp;utm_content=topic%2Fmossad">The Free Press</a>.
In the interview, Shapiro said that the conservative movement has drifted away from a commitment to truth as more “clowns” have come into the movement.
“You have people who were not conservative, who have entered, who have brought their non-assimilated, non-conservatism into the conservative tent,” said Shapiro. “To sort of pretend that the leadership of the movement ought to be vested in people who are either brand new and don&#8217;t hold those principles or people who have abandoned the key principles that have upheld the conservative movement for the last several decades, I think, is an enormous error.”
“A movement without principle is not a movement at all. It&#8217;s an agglomeration of people who are following whoever happens to be the leader that day,” he said.

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro Reveals ‘Number One Thing’ He Looks For In GOP Politicians

AMFEST

Media

Politics

Republican Party

Many Americans in recent years have returned to religion in a revival that accelerated because of the work of the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, according to Dr. Ben Carson.
Carson, who served under the first Trump administration as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, spoke about Kirk’s legacy in an interview with The Daily Wire on the floor of Turning Point’s AmericaFest conference that ended on Sunday.
An American faith revival has “really been going on for the last couple of years,” said Carson. “I think it accelerated quite a bit with what Charlie was doing.”
The Trump administration alum said that many in Generation Z are finding faith because they recognized that the direction of the country without religious values was “not one that was going to lead to good things.” Many turned to religion after asking how the United States can “be a great nation.”
“The young men in particular are really coming back to church, and the young women will catch up, too,” said Carson, noting that women growing up today are facing complicated choices between balancing a career and having children. The doctor is optimistic that expanding opportunities for virtual work will improve women’s ability to balance both.
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Carson’s think tank, the American Cornerstone Institute, has launched an initiative to aid in the work that Kirk did and to reacquaint young people with the United States’ founding and religious values: the Little Patriots program. Through the program, Carson hopes to set young Americans on a good path early in their education before “Marxists” in the education system corrupt their thinking with leftist and victimhood ideology.
“The two biggest teacher unions are full of Marxists, and so it&#8217;s a battle, but I think we have the better message, to be quite frank, and we just have to make sure that we don&#8217;t get discouraged and that we&#8217;re willing to fight as hard as they do,” he said.
As a veteran of the first Trump administration, Carson said that President Donald Trump’s second term is “incredible.”
“I think the Lord did us a favor by allowing Trump to lose – or at least to be perceived as losing – so that he wasn&#8217;t there for four years so he could really think about what happened, what were the obstacles, what were the things that really worked, so that by the time his next term came around, he was ready,” said Carson.

Ben Carson

Ben Carson Says Charlie Kirk ‘Accelerated’ An American Revival

Charlie Kirk

Religion

WATCH DAY FOUR OF AMFEST HERE: 
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americafest-day4__1__720

LIVE UPDATES: Turning Point USA’s AmFest Brings Out Surprise Guest Nicki Minaj

Turning Point USA

Grab your best red, white, and blue, and get ready for some patriotism, because The Daily Wire and Young America’s Foundation are coming together for an epic celebration of freedom in honor of America’s 250th birthday.
Your favorite Daily Wire hosts are hitting the road for “Freedom at 250,” a series of rallies throughout America’s semiquincentennial year meant to coincide with YAF’s legendary student conferences. Governor Scott Walker, YAF’s president, said the group’s partnership with The Daily Wire will help reach more students than ever before.
“While the radical Left continues its attempts to demonize and undermine our nation’s heritage and values, it is more important than ever to inspire and equip the rising generation with the ‘informed patriotism’ President Reagan called for in his farewell address,” Walker said. “Freedom that allowed America to flourish is special and rare, and its defense requires bold action.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 Young America’s Foundation is excited to announce a new expanded partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdailywire</a> to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence: Freedom at 250.
Coinciding with YAF&#8217;s life-changing student conferences in 2026, a series of Freedom at 250 rallies… <a href="https://t.co/CDA5C0QFqD">pic.twitter.com/CDA5C0QFqD</a>
— YAF (@yaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/yaf/status/1998422600700080255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
Freedom at 250 will focus on our founders’ revolutionary bid for independence, grounded in the belief that all people are created equal, with their rights coming from God rather than from government. Those beliefs survived a civil war, making the United States a more perfect union, liberating Europe from tyranny, and taking down the Soviet Union’s “Evil Empire.”
The freedom so many before us fought for and defended has guided the United States for 250 years. That freedom is worth celebrating all year long!
Michael Knowles, Cabot Phillips, Mary Margaret Olohan, and Reagan Conrad are already booked for Nashville’s Freedom at 250 rally in February at the historic Country Music Hall of Fame.
After the tour kicks off in Music City, Freedom at 250 will make stops in Santa Barbara, California; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and more cities will be announced!
Freedom at 250 builds on The Daily Wire and YAF’s years-long collaboration to bring bold voices to students nationwide at YAF’s student conferences. The always anticipated narrative-disrupting campus lectures will continue as part of Freedom at 250.
Our country’s milestone 250th birthday is a perfect time to remember President Ronald Reagan’s challenge to Americans.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs protection.”
Freedom will be protected and celebrated throughout 2026.
To secure your spot at a rally, click <a href="http://yaf250.com/">here</a>. We will see all you patriots in the new year.

BenYAF

The Daily Wire And Young America’s Foundation Announce America 250 Celebration

College

Declaration of Independence

Trump leans on both Ukraine and Russia as peace negotiations grind on, Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak heads to Capitol Hill, and a new memo reveals Biden knew his immigration policies would have chaotic consequences—and chose to proceed anyway.
It’s Tuesday, December 9, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251209-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wir</a>e:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Zelensky Rallies European Support Amid U.S. Peace Talks</h2>
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Topline: President Zelensky met with European leaders on Monday to rally support for the war.
State of play: Peace talks have made some progress over the past few weeks, but that progress has stalled. After President Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1997812364931195249">appeared</a> frustrated on Sunday and suggested that Zelensky was ignoring the peace plan, the Ukrainian president addressed the current framework on Monday.
According to Zelensky, the disagreement is over the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east. The Trump administration reportedly wants Ukraine to hand over control of the rest of the Donbas to Russia, which controls most of it already. In return, Ukraine would get security guarantees and financing to help rebuild. But Zelensky says he can’t because the Ukrainian constitution forbids ceding territory that way.
Zelensky’s corner: Zelensky wants a freeze along the current lines of the conflict. And he doesn’t appear to be alone. European leaders seem frustrated, too.
Zelensky appeared in London on Monday and met with the E3, or the top leaders in Europe: U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“The principles remain the principles that we&#8217;ve operated on for a very, very long time, which is that we stand with Ukraine. If there&#8217;s to be a ceasefire, it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire,” <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1998077179251261884">said</a> Starmer.
Merz was the most vocal about disagreements with the United States:
“We are still and remain strongly behind Ukraine and giving support to your country because we all know that the destiny of [Ukraine] is the destiny of Europe,” <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1998077179251261884">said</a> Merz. “I&#8217;m skeptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the U.S. side, but we have to talk about that.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Daily Wire To Testify Before Congress </h2>
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Topline: Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak will testify to the Senate on Wednesday as an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wires-luke-rosiak-will-testify-before-the-senate-on-massive-federal-dei-scheme">expert</a> on what he calls the government’s longest-running, largest, and most corrupt DEI program. Morning Wire spoke to Rosiak ahead of his appearance in the Senate. (The following interview has been lightly edited.)
Morning Wire: The Senate Small Business Committee oversees the Small Business Administration and its government-wide minority contracting program called 8(a) or “set-aside contracting.&#8221; Luke, you’re getting prepared to testify–that’s very exciting. First, how did this come about–it’s actually years in the making, right?
Rosiak: About 15 years ago, I was sitting in a cafe doing some computer programming when I got offered a job. A well-dressed black man was sitting next to me and said he noticed that I was programming in C++, and that he needed to hire some people quickly for the computer programming company he owned.
The problem is I was coding in a different language that looks nothing like C++. I tried to figure out how he owned a computer company and didn’t know that. He said it was an 8(a) contract from the government, and that he just gets contracts and then finds people to do the work.
It struck me that this is a pretty poor way to run the government. I’m not even a professional computer programmer; I just dabble in it. But for all I know, he was ready to hire me to build some sensitive government system.
Anyway, instead of taking the job, I dug into this 8(a) program, and what I found was that that’s more or less exactly how it works.
Morning Wire: Explain to us–what exactly is going on here?
Rosiak: If you’re a racial minority, the government can give you a contract without trying to find the best price or the best person.
More than five percent of all federal contracts are reserved for minorities and women, who are often really just men who put their company in their wife’s name. The program was created in 1978 to help black people, but now it’s gone really off the rails. Indians get preference for contracts even though they have a higher median income than whites, and they’re overrepresented in fields like IT, which didn’t even exist prior to the civil rights era. 
Morning Wire: So some of the people receiving these preferential U.S. government contracts are actually foreigners, people who are minorities because they’re immigrants.
Rosiak: Yes. But what I’m going to tell the Senate is that the scandal here is a little different than you might think. It’s really a loophole exploited by the government and big corporations, you heard Accenture mentioned in that video, to circumvent competitive bidding.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Early Warnings About Border Chaos</h2>
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Topline: A new report reveals that former President Biden was told he could’ve stopped illegal immigration, but chose not to during his tenure in the White House. 
A shocking <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/us/politics/biden-immigration-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The New York Times said that President Biden was warned while on the campaign trail, before he even assumed office, that some of his immigration policies would lead to political chaos. That&#8217;s exactly what happened as the consequences of Biden’s policies began to unfold at the border.
The record amounts of illegal immigration that swamped the border, then towns, then major cities, drove the immigration issue to become a priority for voters in the next election. The issue also likely played a major role in President Trump&#8217;s victory.
According to The New York Times, there were a number of memos and meetings where aides and experts brought up immigration and warned the Biden team that his policies needed to be stricter or the border would descend into what it became, which was millions of illegal immigrants coming across in a free-for-all.
In a 2020 memo from aides cautioned Biden’s “inner circle” “that his promises—coupled with pent-up demand from the Trump years and economic hardship from Covid—could provoke a spike in border crossings,” according to the Times.
The memo offered potential solutions to tighten permissions for illegal border crossers, “including making it easier to quickly reject asylum claims; holding people in ‘reception centers’ until their cases could be heard; transferring some migrants to other countries; and continuing to make some asylum seekers wait in Mexico, while ensuring they had access to shelter,” the Times reported.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda: After the fact, many former officials are saying there were many mistakes made on the Biden team and by Biden himself, who knowingly went against this advice. They scrapped rules such as asylum restrictions and remain in Mexico, which kept people in Mexico rather than releasing them into the United States after they crossed illegally.
After the changes, the number of illegal crossings ticked up–8 million illegal immigrants crossed into the country and many were released. Border authorities conducted poor vetting because Biden wanted a very quick, expeditious process. That let in terrorists, traffickers, and cartel members that led to chaos across the country, such as in Aurora, Colorado, where Tren de Aragua took over apartment complexes.

Luke Rosiak

Morning Brief: Get A Sneak Peak Of Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Luke Rosiak’s Senate Testimony

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